SPORTS BRIEFLY.

Byline: The Register-Guard

THE REGION

Area golfers advance at Oregon Amateur

PORTLAND - A number of golfers with area ties advanced past their first-round matches Wednesday in the Oregon Amateur at Portland Golf Club.

The University of Oregon's Landon Banks and Chris Dukeminier moved on, as did Oregon State University's Mitch Gillis, Christian Green and Clayton Moe.

Other men advancing to today's second round include Eugene's Jack Dukeminier, Chris Polski, Nick Warren and Craig Winter, and Florence's Jesse Schutte.

In the women's division, ex-University of Oregon women's golf coach Lara Tennant, former Sheldon High School golfer Kendra Little and Oregon product Johnna Nealy advanced to today's second round.

Springfield's Omlid nabs major tourney spot

CORNELIUS - Springfield's Erica Omlid earned a spot in the Girls Junior World golf tournament with a birdie on the first playoff hole Wednesday in the Peter Jacobsen Junior Challenge at Forest Hills Golf Course.

Omlid, who finished tied for second place in the girls (age 15-17) division, will travel to La Jolla, Calif., for the July 11-14 event.

Eugene's Jack Pennington (boys 14-15) and Sulman Raza (intermediate boys, 12-13) won their divisions.

Eugene prep products make 4A first team

Churchill seniors Jerad Thompson and Josh Hogan were first-team all-Class 4A baseball selections along with Sheldon's Alex Besaw. Thompson was picked as a pitcher while Hogan and Besaw made it as infielders.

Monroe's Kurt Hartshorn and Central Linn's Travis Anderson were first-team selections as infielders at the 2A/1A level. Waldport's Beau Biron and Reedsport's Chris Kaufmann were picked as outfielders. Monroe's Bill Crowson was named coach of the year.

Challengers win two games at Portland

PORTLAND - The Bi-Mart Challengers improved to 16-5 overall Wednesday by beating the Mid-Sound Crushers of Tacoma 4-2 in eight innings and Malarkey Roofing of Portland 16-4.

Alex Besaw and Mike Dickman combined on a five-hitter against the Crushers, and Kyle Haskin was 2-for-4 with two RBIs against Malarkey Roofing.

The Challengers will host an auction Friday at 6 p.m. at the Eugene Hilton to raise funds for lights at Swede Johnson Stadium. Baseball broadcaster and former major leaguer Steve Lyons will be the featured speaker. For more information, call 342-5608.