By Gibbs Colgin Skiff staff The new cardiovascular room opened in the Rickel Building Friday with positive feedback from both faculty and students. Mary Ellen Milam, head of recreational sports, said the new cardio room was opened mainly because the old room was crowded, and a bigger space became available. The new room is across the hall from the old room. "We were better able to lay out the room and add more equipment," Milam said. The old room had machines in a circle facing the center and four TVs in the middle, but the new room is set up in a theater style. The machines are set up in rows, and each is elevated behind the other with the TVs in the front of the room. "This room is much better because of the TV hookup," Jenna Otin, a senior deaf education major said. "Before, one of the TVs could have been out of order, and you'd be looking into nothing. But now, there are more TVs, so that won't happen." The new room consists of seven treadmills, seven stair masters and three bicycles. Milam said each machine is programmed to a TV, so the person working out can control the channel and volume of what he or she is watching. Eight TVs line the front of the room and show the major networks and cable stations. Headphones may be used to hear the TVs, but each person must bring his or her own pair. "I think (the new room) is definitely an improvement from the old one because it was really loud," kinesiology graduate student Kristin Demarest said. "The new room is also spaced out better." Milam said the old cardio room will be turned into a wellness center for students. Students will be able to come in and receive nutrition counseling and personal training in a more private setting, she said. Students will be able to have their body fat and blood pressure measured in the new center.
Gibbs Colgin
By Danny Horne staff reporter Even after the Lady Frogs won their first road game, a 66-59 victory against UT-El Paso Saturday, head coach Jeff Mittie said he would like to see his team play better on the road. The Lady Frogs are 1-6 on the road this season. They are 7-3 in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Mittie said a team must be able to play and win on the road, no matter the environment, if they expect to be competitive. "The team has to be able to pull together," Mittie said. "If they don't play well together, that problem will be especially magnified on the road. Another problem lies within a team's confidence to win on the road. Obviously, if they don't think they can compete on the road, they won't." Mittie cited one problem for TCU as the lack of offensive production. If players could get some offensive consistency in road games, they could win more, he said. As a team, the Lady Frogs average 80 points per game at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. They average just 61 points per game away from home. "For some reason, when we play on the road, we do not shoot the ball as well," Mittie said. "I give credit to the opposing defense for clamping down on our perimeter shooting, but the basket is still 10 feet high no matter where you play. I would like our overall shooting to improve." Mittie stressed the importance of his bench play in road games. He said players like junior forward Sally Spencer, sophomore guard Jodi Harlum and junior center Karen Clayton have to contribute off the bench and take some pressure off the starters. Mittie said there must be a balance between perimeter shooting and inside post-play to have an effective offensive attack. This is especially important on the road, he said. "We have just recently started to have the inside game as an integral part of our offense," Mittie said. "(Freshman) Kim Walter has really stepped up her play which should open up the game for our outside shooters." Mittie said his main road philosophy is to get everyone involved in the offense as early as possible and to get early points from the inside game. That approach was evident in the game against Texas-El Paso, when the Lady Frogs grabbed an eight-point lead early in the game. Mittie said he has been pleased all season with the defensive play. The Lady Frogs allow 63 points per game at home and 73 points per game on the road. "Specifically, we played very well defensively against UTEP on Saturday," Mittie said. "When you allow just 59 points in a road game, you played well defensively." Mittie said the team was relieved to get its first road win out of the way, so they can focus on the rest of the season. "I have always taken the approach that road games were beneficial to the team because, as the road team, players only focus on the game," Mittie said. "Players do not have the distraction of playing in front of the student body or having to impress any family members that may be in the stands." The Lady Frogs have four road games remaining in their schedule starting with Saturday's game against Southern Methodist University. "One thing every road team must remember is that you can't change your style of play too much and expect to win," Mittie said. "We play an aggressive style of basketball, and we won't be changing that style on the road."
Danny Horne
By Paul Freelend Skiff staff Any concerns TCU men's tennis head coach Michael Center had about his team before the Texas Indoor tournament were erased with the team's performance over the two-day tournament. The 16th-ranked Horned Frogs claimed titles in both the singles and doubles divisions in the top flight of the tournament. All-American Esteban Carril defeated teammate Scott Eddins 3-6, 6-1 and 6-4 in an all-Frog final to win the singles title.
"I thought that we had a great weekend," Center said. "We took both titles in our flight, and we had two guys in the singles final. We competed really hard, and it was a great start to our season." Overall, the Frogs won 23 of 31 singles matches and eight of 11 doubles matches throughout both flights of the tournament. TCU had four individuals reach the semifinals in the singles brackets, while four doubles teams reached the quarterfinals, with two teams making the semifinals. The tournament consisted of 13 teams from Texas, Nebraska and Florida State. The Frogs made their debut performance this year at the tournament, which was intended to give teams an opportunity to build confidence going into their respective seasons. "We really enjoyed our weekend," Center said. "It is a tournament designed to let teams get their feet wet at the start of the season. There was a good field there, and I was pleased with the performance that we had." The performance gives the Frogs positive momentum as they enter their dual match season. TCU will open dual-match competition Saturday against Florida State and follow up with a road trip Sunday at New Mexico. "My biggest concern this past weekend was that we had to play dual matches the next weekend," Center said. "We wanted to get some matches under our belt before then. Florida State has had some strong teams in the past, and New Mexico is the higher ranked of the two. We have to play New Mexico on the road, and it is always tough to win there."
Paul Freelend |
Afterwards, Eddins teamed up with Jimmy Haney to win the
doubles title, beating Andy Leber and Ola Bentzen of the University of
Texas at Arlington.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |