On Eve Of Home Opener, Ducks Recall Teammate Lauren Jones
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Her ankle still tender from injury, Lauren Jones knew her debut with the Oregon acrobatics and tumbling program would have to wait for another time. That didn't dampen the freshman's enthusiasm for the Ducks' 2015 home opener, scheduled for Saturday against Concordia of Wisconsin in Matthew Knight Arena at 6:30 p.m.
Jones was giddy with anticipation, which she expressed to junior teammate Sydnee Walton. "She didn't tell me what it was," said Walton, who had known Jones since the two were young girls growing up in Georgia. "But she'd tell me, 'I'm so excited for the meet. I have something real big planned.'"
On Thursday, two days after Jones passed away from what public health officials determined to be meningococcemia, UO coach Chelsea Shaw found out what Jones had planned. She had made a sign with Walton's name and number, for a fan to display when the Ducks took to the arena floor Saturday evening.
That was one of several revealing items Shaw found in Jones' dormitory, while helping Jones' parents collect her things following her tragic passing. "The thought that she'd even think of somebody else, plan that far in advance to set up something nice for someone, just reaffirmed what kind of person she was," Shaw said.
On Friday, one day before their home opener, Shaw and Walton addressed local media to shed light on the kind of friend, teammate and student-athlete the Ducks lost three days earlier. The picture they painted was of a young woman for whom gestures like the one she'd planned for Walton were routine.
Jones, Shaw said, was known to wait in the lobby of her dorm — Barnhart Hall — when she knew a teammate would be returning home, to greet her and ask about her day. "She was always thinking of other people," the first-year UO coach said. "She's forever changed our lives, as a coaching staff and as a program and as a community. We're so thankful we got to have even the little time we did with her."
Jones attended practice with the Ducks on Monday, and fell ill overnight. She was admitted to a local emergency room early Tuesday, then sent home to recover before her condition suddenly worsened and she was again hospitalized.
A moment of silence was observed in Jones' memory prior to Oregon's home men's basketball game Wednesday, and again at PK Park for the baseball team's home opener. Another will be held Saturday before the top-ranked Ducks host the first-year program of Concordia.
Walton will wear Jones' jersey No. 51 for the meet, after which, she said, it will be retired. Special shirts were made in Jones' memory, and the entire team will wear patches honoring her.
"They're suffering," said Shaw, who noted that her entire team since received an antibiotic to guard against the bacteria that causes meningococcemia. "But they're strong. They've come together. They didn't just lose a teammate, they lost a sister, and that's been the hardest part."
Walton said she's known Jones since the age of 7, when they attended a cheerleading camp. Jones' parents, Shaw recalled, said Oregon was "her dream school — and when Sydnee came here it was just icing on the cake."
A base on Oregon's roster, Jones was battling the ankle injury and more in her efforts to crack the rotation. "She would come back from any time off and pick up exactly where she left off, never backtracked," Shaw said. "I think her future here was very promising."
Along with being a talented athlete, Jones was "a great representative of what we want our program to be about," Shaw said. It was the qualities that made her such that Shaw and Walton sought to highlight Friday.
"Lauren was simply a great person," Walton said. "She was so strong in her faith, and every day she lived life to the fullest. She was truly my idol, because she did everything she could for other people."
