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TEAM’S FIGHT AGAINST UO’S UNFULFILLED PROMISES

AFTER YEARS OF ALLEGED UNEQUAL TREATMENT, THE WOMEN OF BEACH VOLLEYBALL ARE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY

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OREGON SENATE BILLS ADDRESS HOUSING CRISIS IN LANE COUNTY

BY JOSEPH CHIU DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS

Senate Bills 1530 and 1537 were introduced in March with the objective of addressing homelessness issues and the Oregon housing crisis, beginning with affordability concerns for low-income residents

Following the Senate and board meetings in early March, Senate Bills 1530 and 1537 were officially signed on March 5. Both of these bills look to address homelessness and housing issues by investing money into possible solutions that involve extending affordability.

SB 1530 appropriated large funds of money to the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, which was highlighted with $65 million being administered to emergency shelters and $40 million allocated to homelessness prevention services.

In addition to the money distributed to different programs, the bill will issue millions of dollars to different cities in Oregon for infrastructure projects to support the housing production process.

SB 1537 will address the housing supply and affordability crisis by allocating for increased housing production. The bill includes a $500 million investment package to provide funding for new housing developments.

housing production outcomes,” Hernández said, “driving Oregon closer to the ambitious housing production goals Gov. Kotek set in Executive Order 23-04 to address our state’s housing shortage.”

In a statement by SEIU Local 503 on March 30, the union showed evident support for these bills and is “committed to working with coalition partners and elected leaders” to address Oregon’s lack of housing crisis, and believe all residents should be able to afford rent and basic necessities.

“We feel that [these bills] will help our members be able to stabilize their living situation,” Johnny Earl, SEIU Local 503 vice president, said. “Large groups of our members have always lived in Springfield, but more are forced to even live further out outside of Eugene to be able to afford to live in these areas.”

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Day on April 9, 2024, at Amazon Park in Eugene, Ore. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

Other provisions of the bill include establishing an urban growth boundary to retain the state’s urban development and land growth and requiring at least 30% of all homes to be affordable based on income levels. SB 1537 will also provide resources for climate-friendly homes that incorporate energy-efficient designs to lower energy costs for low-income residents.

“I agree that we should give that kind of money towards projects like that,” UO student Wesley Krier said. “Especially students that can’t necessarily afford it right now, but are trying to better themselves by going to college and making money in the future. I think we should help them out with keeping them in their houses.”

In an email statement, OHCS Public Information Officer Delia Hernández stated the bill would also distribute $75 million to establish the Housing Project Revolving Loan Fund. These loans to cities will award grants to housing developers’ low and moderate-income housing projects to cover the eligible cost.

Sections 5, 17 and 55 of SB 1537 each discuss the enforcement and detailing of affordability requirements. Essentially, establishing this program and its award grants will authorize programs for affordable housing developers and support housing development.

“The intention for this fund is to maximize

For SEIU members, the components on these bills were the number one item on their list of needs when they were surveyed over the last few years, and was the number one thing that they pushed in their legislative campaigns.

“It’s a great win for all of us. It’s a great win for students, it’s a great win for our community and our members,” Earl said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to actually have some sense of something to fall back on if times get really tough to stabilize their living situation.”

Student activists are pushing for medical abortion services to be added to the University Health Center following the closure of PeaceHealth’s University District hospital.

(Alyssa Garcia/Emerald)

The apartment complex 959 Franklin is located across from the University of Oregon at Franklin Street in Eugene, Ore., on April 10, 2024. (Eric Becker/Emerald)

LOCAL ALBERTSONS BANS EUGENE WEEKLY DISTRIBUTION, ONE LOCATION REVERSES

Eugene Weekly was told in March that its weekly publication is no longer welcome in Eugene Albertsons locations due to headquarters disliking the Weekly’s politics BY ANDRES BAISCH • DESIGNED BY GABRIELA MARTINEZ

Eugene Weekly discovered in March that it had been disallowed from distributing its printed editions in local Albertsons stores.

According to the Weekly’s editor Camilla Mortensen, the alternativeweekly newspaper became aware of the ban when a few of their delivery drivers had been notified that they were no longer welcome at the grocery chain.

The ban comes just over a month after the Weekly returned to print following its embezzlement scandal in December 2023, which caused the entire newsroom at the time to be laid off.

Mortensen spoke about the curveball the ban throws into the paper’s ability to reach its loyal readers.

“Since we were embezzled, we don’t have a full-time circulation manager,” Mortensen said.

In a recent Weekly newsletter, Mortensen asked readers where they got their print editions of the Weekly. According to Eugene Weekly, readers who had asked Albertsons staff about the ban were told that headquarters do not like

the Weekly’s politics.

“It could be a variety of reasons [for the ban], usually what will happen is the readers will push back,” Mortensen said. “We’ll just put it into ‘Slant’ so readers know it’s not our decision not to be at Albertsons, and also give the readers a chance to push back and let Albertsons know what they think of that choice.”

Mortensen said that similar situations have occurred with The Source Weekly, Bend’s locally-owned “indie” newspaper.

“I reached out to [editor-in-chief Nicole Vulcan] at The Source Weekly,” Mortensen said. “She actually said that The Source Weekly is not allowed in any of the ‘big box’ type stores in their area,” Mortensen said.

The Daily Emerald reached out to The Source Weekly, who declined to comment on the matter.

Brian Bull, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, said having a variety of news sources available is important.

“The Weekly has been a steady wellspring for budding talent, as well as a source of community news,”

Bull said.

Bull said that having a balanced mix of media, whether written publications or local television news, serves us all well.

“Even with similar coverage of events and people, there can be significant differences among the news organizations along lines of format and audience,” Bull said. “I think customers are savvy enough to determine if there’s a political leaning to this weekly alternative. Removing the papers entirely deprives people of making that choice for themselves.”

On April 10, the Weekly was notified that the paper would be back on the shelves at the South Eugene Albertsons location exclusively. According to Mortensen, management at the store said readers were “relentless and that [management] has found a spot for [the Weekly] to be back in the South Eugene Albertsons.”

The Daily Emerald reached out to Albertsons for comment on the situation. They have yet to respond as of press time.

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SATURDAY MARKET

The Spring Saturday Market is back for its 55th year! The Eugene gem is held every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Park Blocks downtown. Head over and enjoy the local artisans, live music and International Food Court.

Albertsons in South Eugene will still carry Eugene Weekly in stores. (Lulu Devoulin/Emerald)”

OREGON MENS BASEBALL VS GONZAGA (4/16)

This Tuesday at noon, the Ducks take on the Bulldogs at PK Park! Kick off the spring term right with some peanuts and cracker jacks. Tickets start at $10, see you there!

As a casual sports fan at best, I had a shocking realization while avidly checking the NCAA Women’s College Basketball championship scores; I was eager to know what team would come out on top. That is, the fact that I was actually invested in the sport for the first time in my life.

Both individually and on a cultural level, the buzz was significantly louder (or at least comparable) for the women’s March Madness tournament rather than the typical fan-favorite of the men’s tournament.

In terms of viewership, the women’s tournament soared above all expectations. As reported by Forbes, the University of South Carolina’s final win against the University of Iowa set a new record of 18.7 million average viewers, peaking at 24 million, making it the most-watched basketball game since 2019.

With such overwhelming hype from an often neglected sport, I’ve felt deeply curious about the significance of this cultural shift. Why do we care about women’s basketball all of a sudden?

The primary catalyst is the emergence of this season’s superstar players. Caitlin Clark, the record-breaking Iowa senior, served as the tournament’s poster child while a plethora of other talented and charismatic players also came to the forefront.

This is thanks to a perfect storm of on-the-court skill and social media prowess. Players such as Clark and University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers appeared in thousands of TikTok edits, hyping them up as athletes whose personalities shone both on and off the court.

“I’ve been more engaged with women’s basketball because of the talent in the college scene. Names like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese

COX: WHY DO WE SUDDENLY CARE ABOUT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL?

THIS YEAR’S NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT GAVE US A TASTE OF THE FUTURE

BY GRACIE COX • DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN

have put [the sport] on the map like never before,” UO first-year Kainoa Ching said. “The NCAA women’s tournament is creating opportunities for these talents to potentially make their way to the WNBA.”

On a less obvious level, women’s college basketball maintains a certain “freshness” that the men’s game, in its constant support, has lost over time.

As a result of being constantly undermined, women’s teams always have something to prove. This leads them to play with a certain rawness and creativity that makes games engaging.

While overall support has skyrocketed for women’s sports, much of the commentary made reflects the everpresent misogyny towards female athletes. Symptoms of this include a double standard for athletes playing aggressively and using trash talk, as male players are expected to do so while female players, especially Black athletes, are shunned for acting “masculine.”

One of the most infamous examples of this occurred in last year’s championship when Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese gestured at Clark wavedher hand in front of her face and received massive backlash from supposed fans of the game.

Another challenge with increasing heightened viewership is the need to, as a result, hold women’s games to a comparable standard to the men’s. This heightening of expectations pertains not only to skill but also to player and team behavior.

This is a double-edged sword. For genuinely terrible teams, it’s important to acknowledge their skill level instead of praising them for daring to play it in the first place.

As for the well-performing teams, they deserve

to have their greatness recognized for what it is instead of boiling their success down to a singular talented player. As expected, such teams have impressive stats as a whole and dynamic chemistry, not just the saving grace of star players.

The media’s portrayal of Louisiana State coach Kim Mulkey is a great example of why we need to hold women’s teams, including their coaches, to a higher standard. Often praised for her talents as a passionate female coach, Mulkey’s toxic behavior toward players has also been ignored for years.

For instance, Mulkey’s former player, Brittany Griner, claimed that the coach “encouraged gay players to hide their sexuality” and clashed with them about their appearances, as reported by The Washington Post.

Additionally, if we are so inclined to follow and support other women’s college basketball teams, our lack of support for UO’s team is ridiculous. Yes, they may have had a difficult season, but at the same time, some attention from the community may prove to be the boost that they need.

Sitting in the student section at a basketball game (a common occurrence at UO women’s games) isn’t enough, especially when standing is the expectation at a men’s game. So for next season, make an effort to show up and stand up for Duck athletes of all genders.

Sabrina lonescu takes pictures after the game with Oregon fans. The University of Oregon women’s basketball team beat the Southern Oregon Raiders 76-55 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., on Oct. 29, 2023. (Kemper Flood/ Emerald)

THE WOMEN SUING UO ‘FELT LIKE CHILDREN’

In their filed complaint against the University of Oregon, beach volleyball players describe years of alleged unfair treatment and lack of resources from UO

BY MADDY MOORE

DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS

“Is it always like this?” Delaney Hopen asked her teammate Josie Cole after numerous times of being allegedly denied treatment from University of Oregon athletic trainers in 2020. The women’s beach volleyball athlete, who is now a landscape designer at Portland planning firm Cameron McCarthy, had recounted times where she would wait for more than an hour for a trainer to arrive, but if she arrived late, she wouldn’t be given the treatment she needed.

“This is normal,” Cole, the team’s captain from 2018 to 2021, replied. “This is how it’s been the whole time I’ve been here. This isn’t anything new.”

A Dec. 1, 2023 class action lawsuit filed by 32 current and former women’s beach volleyball and women’s club rowing athletes accuses the University of Oregon of Title IX sexual discrimination. The university has denied all allegations.

The complaint revealed that women make up a little over 49% of varsity athletes at Oregon while receiving only 25% of its athletic funding and 15% of its recruiting budget.

“There were a lot of situations where I just felt like my team and my teammates weren’t given standard respect,” Hopen, who played on the beach volleyball team in the 2020-21 season, said.

Before coming to UO for her master’s degree in architecture, Hopen played indoor volleyball at the University of Idaho. During her undergraduate career, Hopen “was super happy there. I loved the team environment and I loved all the girls so much,” she said.

After graduating from Idaho, Hopen had discovered UO had a new beach volleyball program and reached out to then-head coach Janice Harrer. In her independent research, she believed the program would be a good fit.

But her and her teammates’ experience said otherwise.

The athletic department’s staffing “was super challenging for me,” Hopen said. The particular staffing issue she noted was the beach volleyball team’s lack of an available trainer.

The team’s one athletic trainer handled two other sports, according to Hopen, making it difficult to have reliable access to appointments.

“[It] is very odd from a very pretty well-known athletic department and medical staff,” she said.

In the 115-page legal complaint, Zoe Almanza, a team member from 2019 to 2023, said that on a campus tour before committing to Oregon, the university said the team would receive scholarships and stipends by her second year there. Almanza

stated she never received fulfillment of those promises.

This pattern of unfulfilled promises from UO is described by 32 current and former team members, including Almanza.

After Almanza and her other teammates complained about the unfair treatment, “Oregon told the women they should just be grateful for what they were given, even though it was nothing close to what the men’s teams were given,” the complaint read.

During the 2020-21 season, the team set up a meeting with Lisa Peterson, the University of Oregon’s former senior women’s administrator. Peterson told Hopen and her women’s beach volleyball teammates that their unfair treatment from UO can’t be improved because they “don’t make money,” Hopen said.

The meeting was intended to address why UO’s athletic recruiters had falsely

Natasha George (21) saves a point. The Oregon beach volleyball team defeated Bushnell 5-0 on Senior Day on April 9, 2024 at Amazon Park in Eugene, Ore. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

promised scholarships, equipment and facilities to the beach volleyball players. But, according to Hopen, the university blamed the lack of financial and physical resources on the number of beach volleyball fans.

The resources for student-athletes “greatly” vary among men’s and women’s teams, according to the complaint. Men’s baseball and football teams receive multiple uniforms and team clothing each year, which they get to keep once the season ends. UO’s football team equips its athletes, whether on scholarship or not, with access to replacement equipment at all times.

The women’s beach volleyball team has one gear drop at the start of the season with gear that is often used, ill-fitting and sometimes from other teams, such as the indoor volleyball or women’s golf teams.

Bailey Glasser, the law firm representing the two women’s teams, said UO harmed each plaintiff by creating a “sex-based barrier” to financial aid and inflicting intentional “degrading and stigmatizing second-class treatment.”

The firm argued in the complaint that financial awards and resources should be allocated to student-athletes based on the number of players on teams rather than the number of fans each team has.

Due to a lack of financial assistance, some members say they had to take on staff responsibilities and outside work, all while still playing as an athlete.

In the complaint, Cole wrote that she did “so much of the administrative work to keep the team organized, she felt like an assistant administrator and coach rather than a student and a player.”

UO denied Cole’s allegations, stating that the beach team had a head coach, an assistant coach and three team managers “that handle the administrative work for the team.”

However, the work Cole did for her team, without any athletic financial aid,

led her to work another job in order to afford necessities like food. Cole played her fifth and final year of beach volleyball at Tulane University, where she said she “finally” encountered a Division I beach volleyball program that “supports and respects its athletes.”

“It’s just such a bad environment right now,” Hopen said. “Playing outside when you don’t know what’s gonna be in your sand, or if you don’t have flip flops ready at practice to run to the bathroom … It gets exhausting.”

The exhaustion from Hopen’s time with the beach volleyball team, paired with the commitment to her master’s program, drained her over the three years she spent at Oregon. After not enjoying her season on beach volleyball, she tried to move on, feeling alone in her negative experience with Oregon.

Reflecting on the athletic department’s treatment of her and her team, Hopen felt that in a lot of Oregon environments, she “felt like I was kind of being treated like a child.”

“This is wrong. I know what’s going on here’s wrong because I was in a great department with great leaders, and great people and great staff,” she said. “I want it to get better.”

UO denied all allegations of sexual discrimination listed in the complaint in an 89-page response on March 4.

“I really do feel like I had a similar love for [my] teammates at Oregon that I did with Idaho,” Hopen said. “Our experience at Oregon was just so hard.”

Alina Valenti (33) celebrates a point. The Oregon beach volleyball team defeated Bushnell 5-0 on Senior Day on April 9, 2024 at Amazon Park in Eugene, Ore. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

HOBBS: PRESIDENTIAL MISTRESSES ARE ICONIC

OPINION: IN PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS, THE MISTRESSES ARE LEFT WITH ALL THE SHAME AND RESPONSIBILITY

BY MONICA HOBBS • DESIGNED BY GABRIELA MARTINEZ

The media has played a large role in villainizing popular figures throughout history. Sometimes it’s valid, while other times it gets blown out of proportion. What doesn’t sit right with me is the defamation of presidential mistresses.

Slut-shaming is the usual response to these women. The public perceives that, in some twisted way, the entire affair is their fault.

Monica Lewinsky is a prime example. An ambitious 21-year-old woman came to the White House in 1995 as an unpaid intern. Five months later, Lewinsky and former President Bill Clinton began a sexual relationship, according to audiotapes. It lasted for 18 months.

Mainstream media cemented how Americans should view Lewinsky. They referred to her as a “ditzy, predatory White House intern,” a “thong-snapper,” and “a stalker and seductress.”

Lewinsky became the one

laughed at and what every young girl should avoid.

Let’s look at the bigger picture. A young woman, fresh out of college, is pursued by a 49-year-old man who is the PRESIDENT of the United States. The most powerful man in the country who can make or break her career. The affair involved two people, yet all the shame was left for Lewinsky.

“She was really villainized in the media,” Kenya Becker-Perez, a first-year UO student, said. “I think it was an abuse of power and to demonize her the way they did is not OK.”

Lewinsky was nearly “humiliated to death” and said herself, “I was patient zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale.”

I look back at my own experiences working in the newsroom. There were times when men of a higher position acted inappropriately. Me being a woman and an intern, I dismissed the behavior. You have to pick your battles: speak up or keep the job.

Lewisnky was a career woman who knew what she wanted and went for it. I believe she’s iconic for that. She was the beginning of a new era in feminism, and her story deserves to be rewritten.

Aside from Lewinsky, the public shaming of presidential mistresses persists. Marilyn Monroe and her secret relationship with former President John F. Kennedy is an ongoing conspiracy. Speculation about the Kennedys’ involvement in her death still circulates.

Her memorable “Happy Birthday” at JFK’s birthday party assisted the rumors. And, I must say, it was one of the most iconic moments of that period. In her cream rhinestone-adorned dress — scandalous for the time — Monroe sang the sexiest rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Similar to Lewinsky, Monroe was slut-shamed in the media. Being sexually active as a woman in the 1950s and 60s was deemed inappropriate. So, having an alleged relationship with America’s beloved JFK reinforced the stigma.

“When a powerful, successful woman is dating the president of the U.S., they want to protect the country rather than her,” first-year Tayllor Barnes said.

At this point, presidential involvement with mistresses is quite common. Former President Warren Harding was the most comedic as a lifelong womanizer. First Lady Florence Harding estimated the number of her husband’s mistresses at seven.

“It’s a good thing I’m not a woman,” Harding told the press. “I would always be pregnant. I can’t say no.”

Harding refused to ever divorce his wife due to her chronic kidney issues. Yet he pursued other women and considered them to be his true loves.

“There isn’t one iota of affection in my home relationship,” he wrote in 1913. “It is merely existence, necessary for appearance’s sake.”

Despite the public’s animosity, presidential mistresses are more iconic than we give them credit for. The feminist movement hasn’t historically supported them, only contributing to societal shame. It’s time we hold our presidents more accountable for their romantic side quests. After all, it takes two to tango.

Carter Killin/ Daily Emerald

NEVER SEEMED SO FUN BANGING CHAINS

Alton Baker Disc Golf Course’s property manager Myron Clements speaks about his journey to become course manager

BY CADEN TRAW • DESIGNED BY LIZ BLODGETT

Disc golf is a quietly growing and evolving sport. Experiencing a boom in players and followers during the first stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of the sport has reached new heights. As one of the many players part of the COVID-19 influx myself, even I have seen how much the community of disc golf has changed.

The greater Eugene-Springfield area is home to several courses of all difficulty levels, with each course providing something different to offer. However, Alton Baker Disc Golf Course is a poster child for the evolution of disc golf.

Alton Baker Park, located on the northern edge of the Willamette River, is home to an abundance of different activities. Prefontaine’s running trail, a fenced off-leash dog park and the Cuthbert Amphitheater are a few of the many things the park has to offer. But the disc golf course is arguably the most unique and inclusive aspect of the park. Managed by Myron Clements, the course has undergone significant changes since he took over in early 2023, creating a new and refreshing atmosphere to the course.

When asked about making changes to a course in the mind of a course designer, Clements laid out a couple important steps in designing a disc golf hole.

“The first thing I look at is safety. If something isn’t safe, it isn’t fun,” Clements said. “The second spot, I try to put myself into the mindset of the player. It needs to be accessible.”

Accessibility is another important aspect of the

sport’s growth. Now that more people are starting to familiarize themselves with disc golf, more people from different walks of life are expressing interest in playing.

However, a lot of the higher-difficulty level courses host rough terrains and require a lot of walking. People who aren’t able-bodied are extremely limited by those kinds of courses. So, for Clements, accessibility is one of his driving factors when designing a course.

“Disc golf doesn’t discriminate. There is nobody who can’t play disc golf, and there is nobody who is excluded from our sport,” Clements said. “I have a gentleman with cerebral palsy who plays here, and he has a mobility scooter. His son has cerebral palsy, and he plays too. They struggle, it’s hard, but they love it. It’s a place where they can be free and feel equal to everybody around them.”

When posed with the question of asking how the purchase of the property was for him, he took an affectingly long pause before describing it as soul-crushing.

“Our bid came out to be just over 40 pages long,” Clements said. “It was a brutal process getting through it and a lot of people wanted it. It became a dogpile, you get in there and you fight, and whoever is left standing gets it.”

Clements also has years of experience as a salesman and disc golf professional. In 2019, he worked at Disc Golf Depot in Portland, where he fell in love with selling discs and

making connections with customers. He made notable attributions to customers coming back and telling him the disc they bought from his recommendation became their favorite as well as making it about the person first and the sale second.

With that valuable experience in Portland, he opened his own store in Eugene in 2021 called Oregon Disc Golf. Ever since Clements earned the rights to manage the property, he has transferred his Oregon Disc Golf shop on to the Alton Baker course.

The new and improved Alton Baker Disc Golf Course is emblematic of the evolution of disc golf as a whole. Clements has done an excellent job designing the course to have a hybrid of challenge and engagement, all while making it as accessible as possible given the nature of the property.

Alton Baker has further solidified its status as a hub for Eugene’s disc golf community, playing host to hundreds of tournaments and events since Clements has taken over. If you love going outside, getting active and socializing with your loved ones, Alton Baker Disc Golf Course should be at the top of your list.

Support students and build your resume as a board member! Learn more or let us know you’re interested by emailing elections@uoduckstore.com

Current Open Positions

• One (1) Student-at-Large position for a two (2) year term

• Two (2) Sophomore positions each for a two (2) year term

• One (1) Graduate position for a one (1) year term

• One (1) Faculty-at-Large position for a two (2) year term

• One (1) Classified Staff/Officer of Administration for a (2) year term

All candidates must be The Duck Store Members enrolled in the academic year of the position as of Spring Term 2024. Nominations are accepted during the Annual Meeting or by emailing elections@uoduckstore.com prior to the annual meeting.

save the date

The Duck Store Annual Meeting

Thursday, April 18th , 2:00 p.m.

Via Zoom (link at events.uoduckstore.com)

OREGON A&T HEADS TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

THE NO. 4 DUCKS WILL SEEK THEIR FIRST NCATA TITLE SINCE 2014 IN WEST VIRGINIA

With the regular season tied up after Tuesday night’s victory in Southern California over No. 6 Azusa Pacific, No. 4 Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling (3-3) will head to the NCATA National Championships in West Virginia with an even record and a point to prove.

Despite starting the season strong, with a victory over now-unranked Hawaii Pacific, the Ducks never found their stride through March and April. An opportunity squandered away at No. 1 Baylor — Oregon entered the team event trailing by less than a point, only to lose by almost nine — was compounded by a home loss to No. 2 Quinnipiac that sent head coach Taylor Susnara’s team under .500 for the first time on the season.

The group bounced back with an away victory over Hawaii Pacific, which featured the program’s first perfect-10 score in the open pyramid since 2021, but couldn’t get the streak going and fell on Senior Night to Baylor.

The Bears, who’ve long been Oregon’s rival in A&T (they share every national championship in existence and the coach who brought them, Baylor’s Felecia Mulkey), enter the tournament atop the NCATA rankings. They’ll be the biggest obstacle for the Ducks early, especially since Oregon could encounter them in an early round.

“For me, number two is essential for the bracket,” Oregon head coach Taylor Susnara said. “I mean, previous years when we were a little bit lower in the rankings, it makes us see Baylor in the second round if we make it that far and I’m not saying that it can’t happen and we couldn’t win and beat them and go to the championship, you know, with that lower seed, but history shows that they’re going to make it all the way.” Last year, the two met in the championship round,

BY OWEN MURRAY • DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN

where Baylor prevailed and emerged with its eighth-straight title. Since then, they’ve gone on a 35-meet winning streak, including two victories over Susnara’s group. In order to grab a first title since 2014, that run will have to end — one way or another.

Oregon’s spot in the top eight is precarious; despite its relatively unenviable record, it’s held its spot there by virtue of its difficulty of schedule — it’s faced No. 1 Baylor twice, No. 2 Quinnipiac once and No. 6 Azusa Pacific once. There’s no top-8 victories on the Ducks’ report card, but every one of those losses was by less than ten points, and that plays in their favor.

In West Virginia, however, quality losses won’t be enough. The focus will be on closing out meets: something that Oregon has struggled to do this year. Often, it enters the team event trailing by just a few points or even leading, only to give it up. That can’t happen in the championships.

A first national title this decade isn’t all that’s on the line for the Ducks, though. In the championships, individual athletes or smaller groups can qualify for finals in four events — acro, pyramid, toss and tumbling — through an outstanding performance in

talent for each team” and “provides opportunity for individual groups to participate even if their teams did not qualify,” per its website.

The group that achieved that perfect-10 in the open pyramid at HPU (bases Bella Swarthout, Cami Wilson and Ava Gowdy, and top Makena Carrion), for example, would likely qualify for and compete on the final day of championships even if Oregon itself loses out prior.

There likely won’t be major changes to any of Oregon’s events — the Ducks head to competition soon, which begins on April 25, running potentially through April 28. After their loss to Baylor, Susnara emphasized that at this point in the season, they’re focused on rest and recovery over additions. They’ve made those adjustments; anything done now will be to tweak routines or fix flaws.

The 2024 NCATA Championships will stream live on ESPN+, with Oregon’s schedule to be announced shortly.

The University of Oregon Ducks acrobatics and tumbling team played the University of Baylor Bears in a home match at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., on April 5, 2024. (Spencer So/Emerald)