The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 21, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 29, 1997 Page: 4 of 8
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Teams take first in LSC
By jared Schroeder
Sports Editor
Two shiny new Lone Star Conference tro-
phies were sitting on the flqor of the coaches'
pfficcs Monday.
' The trophies are the result of the mens
and womens cross country teams' first place
finishes In the LSC Championship Meet in
Stephcnvllle Saturday.
Coach Jon Murray said the teams arc
coming together as the yeargocs on.
'' "They ran well" he' said. "Arizona
showed some signs of them coming together
but this confirmed It."
Both teams competed in the Arizona State
ijnivcrslty Invitational Oct. 17.
The mens team won its seventh consecu-
tive championship by 27 points. Texas A&M-
.IJingsvllle University finished second.
MUrray said he was unsure about the
mens team because TAMK has a strong team
.this year.
"I was nervous" he said. "Our guys ran a
good team race. The pack was the closest it
Has been all year."
v- The coach said his three to seven runners
were the difference in the race because they
&ayed close. There was a gap of 3:19 between
fc
the first and seventh finishers The entire
team finished In the top 18 slots; 63 runners
competed In the race.
The top two runners Musa Gwanzura'
and Fallody Moonga finished first and sec-
ond. Gwanzura ran a 24:26 in the eight' kilo-
meter race Moonga ran a 24:33.
Times
Women Mn
Vivian Ruljtert 17:41 Musa Gwanzura 24:26
Freda Valdez 17:54 Fallody Moonga 24:35
Cast Florida 10:10 SamStalcup 20:43
Joste Martinez 10:47 Dustin Hawes 26:40.
Joyce Martinez 10:59 Chuck Pinion 26:55
Taya Owens 21:11 Kyle Jackson 27:33
Molly Trammell 21:23 James Daglcy 27:45
wmmmmmmmmmmmmmMmmmmmmmmmm
Six of the seven mens runners ran season
bests career bests for freshmen Sam Stalcup
and James Baglcy. Stalcup finished third on
the team ninth overall with a time of 26:43.
Dustln Hawes and Chuck Plnson were Just
behind him with times of 26:46 and 26:55.
Every member of the womens team at the
LSC meet ran season best times in the groups
six championship in seven years.
Angelo State University finished second
with 53 points 27 points behind ACU
Harding University was third with 114 points.
The women look three 6f the top five
spots with Vivian Ruljters winning the race
and defending her conference title in the! five-
kilometer race.
Behind Ruljters were Freda Valdez in sec-
ond and Cast Florida in fifth.
Murray said the women arc improving
but there are still some things the team needs
to work on before the regional race Nov 8.
"There are some areas wc need to improve"
he said. "Especially in the Women."
Four womens teams and three mens teams'
advance to the national race from each region.
Murray Said the womens team should
advance If they run as well as they have been
but the competition will be good.
"Wc should get third if wc run as well as
we did In conference" he said. "We're going
to have a great race at nationals but Adams
State is by far the best."
Adams State University Is No. 1 in the
Division II National and the South Central
Region polls. ACU is 11th in the nation and
third in the conference.
The coach said the mens team will have
to beat New Mexico Highlands University to
make it to nationals.
NMHU is ranked third in the region and
ACU is ranked fourth. '
Good but not
great weekend
ly Robert lentley
Sports Writer
The ACU tennis team came
out of the ITA-Rolcx National
Tennis Tournament in Memphis
Tenn. this weekend successful
but fell short of expectations.
Juniors Andrew Cole and
Dustin Hawk finished fourth in
mens doubles sophomore Jason
Klrkland finished fourth in mens
singles.
Junior Julie Mavity finished
eighth in the womens singles
and fourth in doubles with
Charll Jones.
"It doesn't really feel good or
bad" said coach Hutton Jones.
"Wc were ln the top1 four and I
feel thats successful but I'm not
satisfied."
Coach Jones said he was
pleased by the play of Kirkland
normally the teantfs number four
player "He has really found his
groove" Jones said. "Klrkland'
has risen a couple of levels and .
established himself as probably
being higher in our lineup."
At the ITA-Rolc rcgtonals
Kirkland beat both Hawk the
teams number one player and
Cole the teams number three
player.
Cole and Hawk advanced tq
the semifinals before losing
against Robert Dixon and Marcus
Nllsson of Bloomsburg 7-6 6-2
"Dustin and 1 didn't play as
well as we could have" Cole
said. "Which is good because we
know that if we get another shot
at those guys we've seen what .
they have and wc just need to
play a little bit better to beat
them.. . '
Sec Tennis' page 5 '.
Homecoming Runaways
Amtndi Rehcr
: Running awav with it
Craig Cole slips away from Cowboy defenders
during Saturday's game. Colesctired tcAjchddvvhs
of 19 and 49 yards.
iiilliB
Necessity breeds invention
as Wildcats defeat Texans
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Ey Jared Schrocdcr
Sports Editor
iTarleton State University was pre-
pared for the football teams traditional
.offensive strength the running game
limiting ACU to 133 rushing yards
Saturday.
I; So freshman quarterback Josh Rabe
implemented a passing game in the 23-
J7 Homecoming victory in front of
about 8000 at Sholwell Stadium.
f Coach Jack Kiser said they invented
a passing game out of necessity.
. "It stemmed from not being able to
rim the ball" he said. "We seem to be
able to pull cut just enough of the pieces
to win almost every week."
V The ACU passing offense has not
been one of the key 'pieces' for the
Wildcats this season.
.' "We passed the ball around pretty
Veil" Kiser said. "Which is something
we hadn't done in the past."
.; Wide receivers Craig Cole and
Detrick Johnson had five catches Ryan
ienn and Cody Walton also had three
catches each.
Cole turned two 10-yard pass routes
Into to 49 and 19-yard touchdown runs.
The senior scored last seasons game-
winning touchdown with a similar run.
Cole and safety Vic Burke were
named the Lone Star Conference South
Division Players of the Week Monday.
One of the differences was Rabe who
played most of the game because Aaron
Darden had a sprained thumb on his
throwing hand.
Klscr said Rabe is more of a drop-
back passer while Darden is more
mobile. The coach said Rabe had the hot
hand and currently has the starting posi-
tion. Rabe was 20-30 for 279 yards two
interceptions and two touchdowns. He
was all-city and all-district at South
Garland High School last year passing
for 1338 yards and eight touchdowns as
a senior.
Stopping the TSU passing game was
also important. Burke helped accom-
plish that with three interceptions.
Two of Burke's interceptions and a
Jody Clayton Interception halted drives
Much to be decided in season's final three weeks
Angelo State University and Texas
A&M-Klngsvllle University lead the
Lone Star Conference with three weeks
remaining in the regular season.
Both teams are undefeated in confer-
ence. Behind them are the University of
Central Oklahoma 7-1 5-1 and ACU
6-2 4-2
Behind ACU are four teams with 3-3
conference records.
TAMK and ASU have yet to play
each other but TAMK defeated UCO
earlier in the season.
The Division II football playoff
structure begins with 16 teams four
from each region.
ACU is in the West Region and is
ranked seventh in the regional poll.
The poll and the final rankings only
indirectly affect which teams go on to
the playoffs. A committee in each
region decides which teams advance.
ACU has Texas A&rM-Commcrce
TAMK and UCO remaining on its
schedule.
UCO which leads the North Zone of
the LSC plays three teams with a
cumulative record of 7-15 to finish out
the season.
There Is no conference playoff game.
The champion will be the team with the
best zone and cross-over records.
Regional Poll
West Region
1. Angelo State University
2. Texas A&M-Klngsvlllc University
3. University of central Oklahoma
4. UC-DavIs
5. Western State University
6. New Mexico Highlands University
7. ACU
0. ChaoVon State University
9. University of Ncbraska-Kcamcy
10. Eastern New Mexico University
Each team in the conference played
two cross-over games before beginning
zone play.
Inside of die ACU 40-yard line.
Burke leads the conference in inter-
ceptions with nine interceptions. He is
averaging more than one a game and has
217 return yards and two touchdowns
"He is one of the big reasons we are
so good in pass defense" Kiser said.
Burke and the rest of the secondary
will have to work even harder during the
next few weeks because of injuries.
Reserve defensive back Frank Allen
may have torn his anterior cruciate liga-
ment during the second quarter.
Starting cornerback Justin Lucas suf-
fered a concussion on a tackle in the
fourth quarter.
Kiser said Lucas should be able to
play Saturday against Texas A&rM-
Commercc. The Wildcats defeated TAMC 26-10
Sept. 13 in a non-conference game at
Pennington Field in Bedford. Saturdays j
game does count in the LSC South Zone f
standings.
Mistakes lead to weekend losses for spikers
By Robin Davis
Sports Writer
Coach Cathe Bragg said last Wednesday that West Texas A&M
University will take advantage of a team that does -not minimize Its
ball handling errors.
Braggs postulations proved to be prophetic as the Wildcats' eight
receiving errors and 20 hitting errors led to a loss in three games to
WTAMU In Canyon.
Then ACU repeated Its mistakes committing two ball handling
errors against Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday. The errors
contributed to the teams loss in three games to ENMU in Portalcs N.M.
WTAMU ranked fifth in the nation ran its home court winning
streak to '22 matches improved to a 25-3 overall record and an 8-0
record in the Lone Star Conference.
'' The Wildcats committed nine hitting errors In game one allowing
WTAMU to jump ahead early. Tatum Wales started off the gamewlth
two straight kills to lift the Buffs to a 2-0 lead.
"Wc let them jump ahead because we did not play consistently
and West Texas Is a talented team" Emily Hale said.
ACU never came back and Amy Jeffries served out the final seven
points including two aces. Kara Sllger said the team did not focus
mentally on the match and lost its momentum
The Wildcats jumped out early in game three with a 2-0 lead. But
after holding a slim 6-5 advantage the Buffs ran the match out on a
9-2 run.
"We panicked and did not Tclax" Sllger said. "We did not play
with confidence; we played scared."
Carey Smith contributed two serving aces. Briltney Binder had 21
assists while Barbara Pyle added nine kills
Lisa Thomason had 10 kills and Deena Victor contributed 21
assists to the Buffs' victory.
On Saturday the team repeated its mistakes committing 21 hitting
errors and two ball handling errors. The mistakes contributed to the
team's loss to.ENMU 3-1510-15 9-15.
"Wc did not do well defensively" Hale said. "Wc were trying hard
and it was not because they were very good. We Just lost."
The loss dropped ACU to a 6-14 overall record and a 2-6 record in
the LSC. ENMUs victory ended the Wildcats' remote hope for a play-
off berth dropping the team to last place In the LSC South Division.
"The whole team was disappointed about the losses and not mak-
ing the conference tournament" Sllger said. .
Hale had 16 kills and Brlttney Binder contributed 31 assists.
Irma Cobos had two serving aces while Tara Dougherty added 18
kills to the Zlas victory.
Even though the team will not qualify for the conference tourna-
ment it is focusing on winning the last part of the season
"Our goal is to come out strong the next four games" Sllger said.
"We want to end on a positive note."
Hale said the team is continuing to work hard and get along
despite the losses.
"We are getting along" Hale said "Some things just happen and
you don't know why." . ' '"" -; y t -i. i
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 21, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 29, 1997, newspaper, October 29, 1997; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth99761/m1/4/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.