Daley Stevens is somewhat of an outlier on the Lane United Football Club roster. The team consists mostly of Division I players looking to hone their skills in the off-season. Stevens, however, didn’t play on a scholarship from a major Division I school: he played for the University of Oregon club soccer team.

It’s a fact that still confuses his teammates. At the beginning of the season, he would get asked all the time about how he didn’t get a Division I offer and how he slipped through the cracks. Stevens has moved on from being missed out and now uses his past — and his 5-foot-5 stature — as motivation, not an excuse.

“To see that I was one of the top players on the team by the end of the year told me that the past is the past and I can still do something moving forward,” Stevens said.

Stevens, along with three of his Oregon club soccer teammates, became important players for Lane United, all getting on the field by season’s end.

Stevens sat down with the Emerald to discuss his experience with Lane United and what it’s like to play on a semi-professional soccer team with four of his club teammates.

Would you say that not getting recruited has been fuel to your Lane United experience?

“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder in high school because I was a smaller player. I think that was something where in high school I used it as an excuse. I told myself I wasn’t getting offers because I was small. Now, for Lane United, I’m saying how about I use that for motivation. For me, it’s kind of flipped from where it was in high school.

“I’m capable of whatever. I just have to work that much harder than the next guy.”

How difficult is it, from a soccer standpoint, to play at your height?

“It’s a bit challenging. In today’s game there is a lot less of a negative connotation to being small. But when I was in high school, it was all big guys. For me, I had to out-quick everybody and that was a challenge.”

How has being a player-coach for the Oregon club team helped you strictly as a player for Lane United?

“Coaches that have worked with me have told me that one of my greatest strengths is soccer IQ and the ability to read and understand the game. As an outside back you’re usually anticipating two steps ahead where the ball is going to go and you have to be there before it happens. If I didn’t have that, I would be exposed more often.”

What does it say that four players from the Oregon club team ended up being factors on Lane United?

“I think it’s pretty cool. We had four guys from our team that were definitely a factor on a semi-professional team. You don’t see that everyday.”

“It definitely says something about the tradition of club soccer here at the University of Oregon.”

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Incoming Oregon freshman sprinter Ariana Washington made it clear earlier in the week that her goal was to make it on the podium at the IAAF World Junior Championships.

” To (set a) personal record and get on the medal stand,” Washington stated after the first heat of the 100 meter dash on Tuesday.

Despite finishing seventh in the 100 meters, Washington eventually accomplished her goal. Washington, and the United States women’s 4×100 team, took home the gold with a time of 43.46 on Saturday.

“This is my new home, so a gold medal at my new home is the most amazing feeling,” Washington told the Oregon track and field Twitter account. “I just can’t wait to be an Oregon Duck.”

GOLDEN GIRLS!!!! #Oregon14 #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/XgkM8Sr0Pt

— USATF (@usatf) July 27, 2014

Washington was the second leg on a team that featured fellow American sprinters Kaylin Whitney, Jada Martin and Teahna Daniels. The United States beat out second place Jamaica (43.97) and third place Germany (44.65) to win the gold medal.

Washington is just one of three incoming Oregon track and field commits that competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships. Raevyn Rogers didn’t make it out of the qualifying round after tripping and falling in the women’s 800 meter. Ashlee Moore finished in 13th place of the women’s heptathlon.

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Oregon pole vaulter Cole Walsh was eliminated from semi-final contention at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships after failing to clear the 5.10 meter mark.

On his first attempt at 5-meters, Walsh was out of sync.

“My first jumps aren’t always the best,” Walsh said after the event. “I usually take a little bit longer to get the right pole, to get my run locked in. I would say the first jump kind of sets the tone.”

Walsh couldn’t get over the bar on his first two attempts, but easily cleared it on his third and final chance. He hoped that his successful third attempt would be a momentum shift.

“The 5-meter jump, when I cleared it, I blew thorough the pole I was on and I felt like everything was ready to go,” Walsh said.

“I felt like I was ready to go, and I wasn’t.”

Walsh never reclaimed the same feeling he had when he set a personal best of 5.35 meters at the USA Junior Championships earlier this month at Hayward Field. He missed on all three of his attempts at 5.10 meters.

“I never got a rhythm,” Walsh said. “I don’t feel like I was locked in the same way that I was at Junior Nationals.”

Walsh, who redshirted for the Ducks last year, is taking his performance at the World Junior Championships as a learning experience that he can utilize heading into next season.

“Every bad jump day has something that you can take out of it,” Walsh said. “I feel like I know what I need to improve on. I feel like this experience gave me a lot to improve on.”

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Oregon distant runner Maggie Schmaedick entered the 5,000 meter race at the IAAF World Junior Championships without much of a strategy. Instead, Schmaedick had a personal approach to the race, focusing on herself rather than keeping pace with the pack.

“My coach told me don’t even worry about pace because there are four, or five girls that are completely untouchable’ and I was completely okay with that,” Schmaedick said with a smile after the race. ” I just wanted to go in there and give a good solid competitive effort.”

Schmaedick finished the 5,000 meter race in 12th place with a time of 16.19.01. Beating her personal best time of 16.18.24 was a goal of hers heading into the race, Schmaedick values the experience of racing against some of the best women distant runners on the planet.

“I’m a little bit bummed not to get the (personal record), but I’m really glad I had the opportunity to run this race because it’s against really excellent competition,” Schmaedick said. “I feel really blessed that I got to run here.”

Running here — at Hayward Field — is something Schmaedick appreciates every time she steps foot on the track. With three more years left in her career at Oregon Schmaedick, a Eugene, Oregon native, will have plenty more opportunities to relish running in the town she grew up in.

“It never gets old and it never loses its specialness,” Schmaedick said.  ‘I love running here and I’ll always love running here.”

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After a second-to-last place finish in the 800 meter portion of the women’s heptathlon, incoming Oregon freshman Ashlee brown was content. Relaxed for the first time in two days, and seven events, at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Moore reflected on her experience — a 13th place finish and a personal best score of 5466 points in the entire heptathlon  — at Hayward Field.

“I’m just excited,” Moore said after the conclusion of the 800 meters. “I finally came out and did what I know what I can do and I couldn’t be happier with the results.”

Moore entered the 800 meter ranked seventh in the 24-athlete field. Due to a commitment to basketball, as well as track in high school, Moore didn’t have a chance to prepare as much as she may have wanted to.

“I did basketball and track all four years,” Moore said. “Basketball takes up my whole preseason so I don’t get a lot of training. After basketball — which ends in March — that’s when track starts. So, I kind of just went from the court straight to the track.”

Since basketball is no longer in the picture, Moore can devote her time to preparing for track. With that extra time, Moore thinks she can surprise people when the college track and field season begins next year.

“I’m happy that the season is over, but I’m excited to come back and start training year round and see what I’m able to do,” Moore said.

“I’m going to come back next year and surprise some people.”

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After the qualifying round of the women’s 100 meter dash on Tuesday, incoming Oregon freshman Ariana Washington talked about how starting off slow was a common denominator in her races.

In the semi-final of the women’s 100 meter dash, Washington struggled out of the blocks once again, but qualified for the finals with a time of 11.73.

Before the finals, getting off to a fast start will once again be her main focus of improvement.

“I want to focus on my start, focus on clearing my head and not stressing so much about the race beforehand,” Washington said.

Washington joins fellow United States representative Kaylin Whitney, who ran a 11.44 in the semi-finals, in the eight-person final group.

The women’s 100 meter final will happen at 8:40 p.m. at Historic Hayward Field.

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Incoming Oregon freshman Ashlee Moore got off to a fast start in the heptathlon at the IAFF World Junior Championships on Monday. Moore achieved a personal best in the 100 meter hurdles  — the first segment of the competition  — with a time of 13.59 and finished second to Netherlands heptathlon athlete Nadine Visser.

“I finally ran 13.5 so I’m really happy about that,” Moore said. “I definitely had a real good start.”

An eighth place finish in the high jump, the second event of the heptathlon, landed Moore in fifth heading into the afternoon session.

Despite the promising start, Moore was worried heading into the shot put — one of her weaker events.

“I definitely kind of lost my momentum in shot put, but It’s not my strongest event,” Moore said.

A throw of 9.87 meters in the shot put, and a time of 25.05 in the 200 meter dash, gave Moore a combined total of 3331 points after the first day and ranked her 11th in the 24-athlete field.

Great Britain’s Morgan Lake, who leads the heptathlon after the first day, broke the World Junior’s record in the high jump with a jump of 1.94 meters. Lake broke the previous record of 1.92 meters held by Sweden’s Carolina Kluft, who won the heptathlon gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, and Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam.

“The high jump was a big surprise, getting a personal best and the junior record,” Lake said. “So, yeah, I’m really happy with the high jump.”

The field remains tight heading into the final day of the heptathlon. Moore trails Lake by 490 points and Visser, who finished in second after the first day, is behind by only 169 points.

“In the heptathlon anything is possible,” Visser said. “People can make mistakes.”

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Ariana Washington is already getting acclimated to her new home at Historic Hayward Field. Washington, who enrolled at the University of Oregon this summer, made the short walk from the dorms to the track to compete in the qualifying round of the women’s 100 meter dash at the IAAF World Junior Championships on Tuesday evening.

After not running in weeks, Washington finished the second heat in first place with a time of 11.67 to qualify for the semi-final on Wednesday. Her time was good for ninth overall.

“It’s good to get back into the groove and get used running with spikes on,” Washington said after the race.

Washington got off to a slow start, but emerged from the crowd in the last 50 meters to take the lead. Washington awknowledged after the race that the start of the race is something she needs to improve.

“That seems like a common denominator right now in all my races,” Washington said. “We’re working on my start a lot and definitely working on a lot in the dorms. Just trying to react to the gun faster.”

Qualifying for the semi-final is just one step towards Washington’s goal for the World Junior Championships. Washington aims to achieve a personal best in the race and eventually end up on the medal podium.

“It would mean a lot to me because I know that it’s just setting off my career as an Oregon Duck already, before I even get here,” Washington said.

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Incoming Oregon freshman Ashlee Moore finished 23rd in the shot put portion of the heptathlon with a throw of 9.87 meters.

Moore, who starred at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, started the heptathlon with a personal best in the 100 meter hurdles. Her time of 13.59 seconds placed her in second after the first event.

In the high jump segment of the heptathlon, Moore failed to clear the 1.73 meter mark and finished tied for eighth.

After three events, Moore currently sits in 13th place of the competition with four events remaining. Moore has a cumulative score of 2449 points.

The 200 meter dash will be the final element of the evening for the heptathlon. Moore has a personal best of 24.79 in the race.

Great Britain’s Morgan Lake is the heptathlon leader after three events. Lake leads the pack with 2901 points.

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– Hayward Field will play host to the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships from Tuesday through Sunday. Oregon will have three current and three future track and field athletes representing the team at the championships. Ashlee Moore (heptathlon), Raevyn Rogers (800) and Ariana Washington (100) will compete at Hayward Field for the Junior Championships and run for the Ducks next season. Fellow Junior Championships competitors Christian Brennan (400), Maggie Schmaedick (5,000) and Cole Walsh (pole vault) will be sophomores for Oregon next season.

– Emerald sports reporter Ryan Kostecka named Diamond Woods golf course and Oakway Golf Course as two of the top courses in the Eugene area.

– The Eugene Emeralds fell 3-2 on Sunday night to the visiting Hillsboro Hops. With the victory, the Hops clinched a playoff spot in September by winning the Northwest League South Division’s first-half championship.

– Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich, quarterback Marcus Mariota and linebacker Derrick Malone will be at Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday from Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.

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