Dealing with a stacked deck.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

At times, Lance Deal can't help but chuckle to himself.

As he stands on the perimeter of the hammer cage at Hayward Field, dutifully watching a group of Oregon throwers attempt to grasp the nuances of the event, he will sometimes resort to techniques which can only be described as blasphemous to the former world-class thrower.

`I find myself trying stuff that didn't work for me,' said Deal, the 1996 silver medalist in the hammer throw who was trained by Stewart Togher, one of the world's foremost authorities on the event.

`My vast knowledge of the hammer came from (Stewart), and I feel comfortable with that. But when a tried-and-true Togher technique isn't working, I have to try something else, and that's blasphemy.'

Of course, not many people can match Deal's physical gifts, which Togher helped refine into a hammer thrower who competed in four Olympics (1988, '92, '96 and 2000), holds the U.S. record at 270 feet, 9 inches, earned nine national outdoor titles and owns 16 of the top 20 throws all-time by an American.

Now in his second season as the full-time Oregon men's and women's throws coach, Deal continues to make the transition from athlete to coach.

`I still feel quite a bit like a rookie,' said the 43-year-old Montana State graduate. `The hardest part is learning how to work eight hours-plus each day. As an athlete, you practiced for a couple of hours, had lunch, then hit the weight room for a couple more hours and that was it. As a coach, the rest and recovery aspect is more intense.'

For example, Deal said he used to be able to fall asleep at night by thinking about throwing, but now, with a dozen or so collegiate athletes on his mind, when he thinks about coaching at night, he can't sleep.

Still, he wouldn't trade his current position for anything.

`I love it. It would be one thing if I didn't like it, but I like coaching more than I thought I would, and I like it more every day,' Deal said. `I have a great group (of throwers) to work with. Each day, when I walk out on the track, at some point I say, `I love this job,' and it's almost always because of one of those kids.'

This year, those `kids' include an exciting mix of veteran all-Americans, school record-holders, talented transfers and promising newcomers.

Most will be on display Saturday at the 16th annual Pepsi Team Invitational, a four-way meet between Oregon, Washington, Indiana and Missouri at Hayward Field that is scheduled to begin at noon.

The Ducks' women's javelin unit might be the deepest in the nation.

Senior Sarah Malone, the UO record-holder with the new implement since her freshman season, is coming off an outstanding year in which she placed second at the Olympic Trials and raised her PR to 179-7.

The two-time all-American from Newberg placed second at the Pac-10 meet, first at West Regionals and third at the NCAA championships. She will be joined by two former all-Americans - juniors Elisa Crumley and Roslyn Lundeen - who both redshirted last season due to injuries.

Crumley and Lundeen stand second (169-7) and fourth (166-11), respectively, on the all-time UO list with marks dating back to 2002. Both have trained hard in an effort to overcome those previous setbacks.

The javelin is the one throwing event in which Deal never competed, so he relies on the insight of his athletes to build his base of information.

`Sarah is the elder statesman and the big sister of our group, if not the entire team,' Deal said. `I rely a lot on the athletes to talk to me about the javelin, and she has been a wealth of information.'

Senior Bree Fuqua has already made her mark in the shot put and discus this year with a pair of 1-foot PRs at the Montana Open during spring break. She broke a 22-year-old school record in the shot put with a 53-9 effort and won the discus at 165-4.

The Wisconsin transfer placed fourth in the Pac-10 and West Regional meets last year and was an NCAA championships qualifier.

`Bree doesn't like the limelight. She's a quiet leader that does all the work,' Deal said. `She has been progressively moving those marks out in practice, and it's finally coming out in the meets.'

In the women's hammer, Brittany Hinchcliffe, a junior transfer from WSU, is an ex-gymnast with tremendous potential. If she can come close to matching her PR of 200-3, she will soon break the school record of 191-4 set by Jordan Sauvage in 2003.

She threw 184-1 in her outdoor debut at the Oregon Preview, which ranks fourth all-time. Senior Katie Kersh is No. 7 on the UO hammer list with a PR of 174-11.

On the men's side, fifth-year senior Paul Etter, in his second season at Oregon after transferring from Clackamas Community College, is the known entity.

He set his PR of 203-4 in the hammer throw at the Oregon Preview on March 19, an effort that ranks No. 9 on the all-time Duck list.

`Paul's on fire. He had a 4-foot PR at the Oregon Preview, and he's getting more comfortable with the fact that he's one of the better throwers in the Pac-10,' Deal said. `He's a tough guy and a hard worker. He works through the stiffness and soreness that comes every day without complaint.'

Sophomore Brandon Tower is the top returner in the shot put and discus, and a trio of newcomers - Lars Mueller Laursen of Denmark, junior transfer Matt Adams of Glendale CC (Ariz.) and freshman Brian Wuethrich of North Bend - are expected to handle the javelin chores.

Mueller Laursen has the best mark of that group with a PR of 233-6, but the Copenhagen native is still on a European training schedule that puts him well behind the rest of the Oregon throwers. The 23-year-old first-year Duck is expected to have at least two years of eligibility.

DUCKS AT A GLANCE

Coach: Lance Deal, second season, men's and women's

throwers.

Top returners: WOMEN: Sarah Malone, sr., Newberg, javelin; Elisa Crumley, jr., Hillsboro (Glencoe), javelin; Bree Fuqua, sr., Polson, Mont., shot put, discus; Roslyn Lundeen, jr., Victoria, B.C., javelin; Katie Kersh, sr., Willow Creek, Calif., hammer. MEN: Paul Etter, sr., Everett, Wash., hammer; Brandon Tower, soph., Beaverton, shot put, discus.

Top newcomers: WOMEN: Brittany Hinchcliffe, jr., Olympia, hammer. MEN: Lars Mueller Laursen, fr., Denmark, javelin; Brian Wuethrich, fr., North Bend, javelin, shot put; Matt Adams, jr., Chino Valley, Ariz., javelin, discus.

Noteworthy: Junior Megan Kriz, who stands third on the all-time UO list in the women's hammer throw (185-0), has retired from the sport due to chronic back pain ... Britney Henry, a junior transfer from LSU, will sit out this season due to NCAA rules. She owns the LSU school record in the hammer throw (205-11) and a PR of 207-9. She beat Hinchcliffe's unofficial Washington state prep record by 1 inch ... Michael Hill, a transfer from Linfield College, will redshirt this year and have two seasons of eligibility left.

CAPTION(S):

Lance Deal, in his second year as a full-time assistant coach at the University of Oregon, leads a throwing corps that includes Sarah Malone (from left) in the javelin, Bree Fuqua in the shot put and discus and Paul Etter in the hammer throw. DUCKS AT A GLANCE Coach: Lance Deal, second season, men's and women's throwers. Top Returners: WOMEN: Sarah Malone, sr., Newberg, javelin; Elisa Crumley, jr., Hillsboro (Glencoe), javelin; Bree Fuqua, sr., Polson, Mont., shot put, discus; Roslyn Lundeen, jr., Victoria, B.C., javelin; Katie Kersh, sr., Willow Creek, Calif., hammer. MEN: Paul Etter, sr., hammer; Brandon Tower, soph., shot put, discus. Top newcomers: WOMEN: Brittany Hinchcliffe, jr., Olympia, Wash., hammer. MEN: Lars Mueller Laursen, fr., Denmark, javelin; Brian Wuethrich, fr., North Bend, javelin, shot put; Matt Adams, jr., Chino Valley, Ariz., javelin, discus. Noteworthy: Junior Megan Kriz, who stands third on the all-time UO list in the women's hammer throw (185-0), has retired from the sport due to chronic back pain ... Britney Henry, a junior transfer from LSU, will sit out this season due to NCAA rules. She owns the LSU school record in the hammer throw (205-11) and a PR of 207-9. She beat Hinchcliffe's unoffical Washington state prep record by 1 inch ... Michael Hill, a transfer from Linfield College, will redshirt this year and have two seasons of eligibility left.