Going into the 2002 NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., the Ducks had high hopes, sending five capable athletes to the Bayou.
After three days of intense competition that ended Friday, Oregon took home four All-American honors and nine points, good enough for 27th place. The overall point total was the highest the team had earned since 1995 when Oregon amassed 10 points.
It is also the first time since that season that the Ducks finished in the top 30.
“I think we competed hard and four-out-five of our athletes competed well,” head coach Tom Heinonen said of Oregon’s contingent. “Four out of the five either met or exceeded expectations.”
Overall, South Carolina earned its first championship in school history by earning 82 points, 10 points ahead of second-place UCLA. Pacific-10 Conference powerhouse USC finished with 57 points behind Angela Williams’ win in the 100 — a record-setting fourth NCAA title for the departing senior.
Host Louisiana State finished fourth with 43 points.
Junior Mary Etter finished the 2002 season for Oregon on Friday, coming through in the discus and finishing in eighth place. The finish earned Oregon one point, giving the squad its final total.
Etter’s final throw of 173 feet, 2 inches was a foot behind Florida’s Rachel Longfors for seventh place, and less than nine feet behind eventual winner Chaniqua Ross of UCLA (182-0).
“I came in ready to go and make it happen,” Etter said. “I told Sally (Harmon, Oregon assistant coach) beforehand that I was going to throw at least 170 feet today and make the finals, and I did that on my first throw.”
Entering the meet with a top throw of 177-5 during the season, Etter was ninth in the nation. She bettered that by one spot, earning her second All-American honor. Her first came as a freshman in 2000.
The Everett, Wash., native is the first discus thrower to earn two All-America honors at Oregon since Quenna Beasley in 1985.
“I improved a spot from where I was seeded, but I’m still frustrated,” Etter said. “I’ve changed my technique the past two weeks — I’m trying to speed it up — and have been throwing 180 feet pretty regularly in practice. I know there’s so much more there, and was hoping that it would come out today.”
Heinonen was impressed with Etter’s resiliency to come back and compete well at the Championships after finishing 19th in the discus a season ago.
“Last year, Mary just tried too hard in Eugene,” he said.
Etter’s final legal attempt in the discus, a throw of 173-2 — the day’s best for the junior — capped off a successful season for the Ducks. While the squad finished 27th — not normally an impressive finish for a collegiate squad — Oregon improved greatly from a 60th place finish in 2001.
The year before that, the Ducks were 45th, and in 2000, placed 51st. The Ducks have traveled a long road since 1993 when the Heinonen’s squad finished fourth, but he is confident they will be moving up in the standings in the near future.
“That’s certainly what we expect,” he said.
Looking ahead to next season, the Ducks are set to return all five NCAA participants — although Etter hinted that she might be redshirted — as well as 2001 participant Niki Reed.

Final championship notes
Williams, considered one of the top runners in the NCAA and now in collegiate history, competed in a USC uniform for the last time on Saturday and did the unthinkable. She won the 100 at a time of 11.29, giving her four NCAA titles in the event, a record.
“When I won this event as a freshman, I remember the huge roar from the crowd and how it felt to see and hear people cheering for me,” she said. “When I won it tonight, there was that same reaction from the crowd and it felt to me like my career had the proper bookends”
On the team side, South Carolina made history with its first NCAA title. The Gamecocks also broke the NCAA record in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:26.46.
“I can’t put into words how I feel right now,” said South Carolina 200 runner Lisa Barber. “Winning the school’s first NCAA title — ever — wow! I am so proud of our entire team. We knew we had a chance if we just worked hard. We are thrilled. I am so proud of the men’s and women’s teams.”

Oregon said it
“You’d better believe it. I’m going to be there.” — freshman Roslyn Lundeen on the prospects of competing the 2003 NCAA Championships, slated for Sacramento, Calif.
“Since I was on the bubble for the final I couldn’t watch the second flight and had to get away. I was so nervous, I went over and watched the (New Jersey Nets) basketball game.” — Etter on her final collegiate competition of the season.
“It was strange environment in that it didn’t seem like a championship meet. There wasn’t a lot of people here (1,495 spectators on Wednesday) or much crowd support. Early on I had to keep telling myself to focus because the NCAA championship was on the line.” — junior Becky Holliday, disappointed with the lack of a crowd on the first day of the NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge.