Oregon

The UC Irvine men?s basketball team?s 2008-09 schedule includes three teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season, including USC in the regular-season opener at the Galen Center on Nov. 15 and at home against Oregon, Nov. 21. The other NCAA Tournament team on the slate is Big West Conference rival Cal State Fullerton. The Anteaters play host to the Titans in the Big West Conference opener Jan. 3 and visit Titan Gym in the Big West regular-season finale on March 7. Cal State Fullerton defeated UCI, 81-66, in the championship game of the Big West Conference Tournament last season to earn the school?

Danny Pulido stood before the Newport Harbor High football team for the first practice this fall a largely forgotten legend, and, some might say, a cautionary tale. Few among the Sailors players, Pulido said, had the slightest inkling that the 1997 Newport Harbor graduate who played three seasons of varsity football and competed in two CIF Southern Section title games, left the program as its all-time leading receiver, with a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Pulido, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver, outside linebacker and safety, who also started as a freshman on the varsity basketball team and played multiple seasons on the varsity baseball squad, was one of the most decorated athletes to come out of Newport Harbor in the 1990s.

UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano said Wednesday he will not leave the school for a similar job at the University of Oregon. Serrano, named 2007 National Coach of the Year after leading UCI to the College World Series in his third season at the helm, said remaining loyal to UCI was the primary factor in his decision. “I’m staying at UC Irvine,” Serrano said from Las Vegas, where he is vacationing. Serrano said Friday he had agreed to visit the Oregon campus to discuss specifics of the job. But his trip, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, was postponed by Oregon officials after it was announced Monday that Nike founder Phil Knight was donating $100 million to the school’s athletic department.

UC Irvine baseball coach Dave Serrano said Friday he will fly to Eugene, Ore. Monday to discuss the possibility of becoming the University of Oregon baseball coach. Serrano, named 2007 Coach of the Year by Baseball America after leading the Anteaters to the College World Series in his third season at the helm, said he reconsidered his earlier decision to thwart efforts by Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny to interest him in the position. "I was approached about three weeks ago by Oregon and their athletic director flew down here to meet with me," Serrano said.

OMAHA, Neb. — For most of the 283 NCAA Division I college baseball teams, Rosenblatt Stadium, the site of the College World Series, is a mystical, magical place to be dreamed of and never realized. But the 2007 UC Irvine Anteaters, a program that did not exist when most of its stars were in high school six years ago, the sights, smells, sounds, and sweetness of Omaha in June will forever be viewed as reality. In a season of firsts, the group of brothers Coach Dave Serrano said made up this team, finally played their last game, losing to defending national champion Oregon State, 7-1, in front of 29,921.

EUGENE, Ore. — Junior guard Jessica Richter scored 30 points to lead the Vanguard University women's basketball team to a 64-60 exhibition victory over the Univeristy of Oregon Monday night in front of 2,651 at McArthur Court. Richter made 10 of 19 field-goal attempts, including three of six from three-point range, and was seven of 12 from the free-throw line to propel the top-ranked team in NAIA Division I to a surprising win over the Pac-10 squad. Vanguard senior Kelly Schmidt added 19 points, including seven of seven from the foul line, to help the Lions prevail.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — UC Irvine sophomore Selanee Henderson finished second, two shots off the leader, to lead the Anteaters to a fifth-place team finish at the Oregon State Invitational at the Trysting Tree Golf Club Tuesday. Henderson shot 74-69-73 to finish at par 216. She was bested only by medalist Stephanie Sherlock of Denver (214). UCI junior Jane Chin shot par 72 on the final 18 to move up to 11th place (223). Freshman Patti Chawalitmetha (230) was 35th , while freshman Henna Cho (238)

When you shoot seven-under-par 63 on the first day of a two-day amateur tournament, you're probably going to come out the next day pretty relaxed. When University of Oregon golfer Joey Benedetti performed the feat on Saturday to earn a two-stroke lead at the Costa Mesa Country Club, it made Sunday a lot easier. Benedetti, who will be a junior at Oregon this fall, played steady golf on Sunday on the par-72 Los Lagos course, carding a two-under 70 to post a two-day score of nine-under 133. It was good enough to win the championship flight of the Costa Mesa City Golf Championships.