By Chris Gibson staff reporter The TCU men's and women's track and field teams are set to begin their outdoor season this weekend at the Louisiana State University Quadrangular meet Saturday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. The Frogs, LSU, Texas A&M and Oklahoma are the four teams entered in the meet. The Horned Frog men are just two weeks out from a fourth place finish in the NCAA Indoor Nationals in Fayetteville, Ark. TCU had a successful indoor season, capturing the Western Athletic Conference team title and placing all seven of its national qualifying members on the All-American team. "We're really looking forward to using our success in the indoor season as a springboard to the outdoor," said Monte Stratton, head coach. "One of our goals every year is to finish in the top 10, and we have the talent to do that." The Horned Frog women are coming off an indoor season filled with multiple injuries and seeing its only preliminary qualifier (senior Dywana Crudup) dropped from nationals in place of additional 4x400-meter relay teams. Stratton said he hopes that the women will use the indoor season as inspiration to do better in the outdoor season. "Everyone was really heartbroken when Dywana didn't make nationals," Stratton said. "I think it will just inspire her to do even better in the outdoors. We are really looking for our distance core to take on a lot of the burden and hoping our freshmen will run like they are sophomores." The men relied on a strong core of sprinters to gain a majority of their team points in the indoor season and Stratton said that the outdoor season shouldn't be any different. Juniors Darvis Patton, and Kim Collins along with seniors Lindel Frater and Ricardo "Flash" Williams will all be counted on to repeat their strong indoor performances. Patton said that the team is ready for the outdoor season. "We are all just really wired, and excited to get started," he said. "We proved everybody wrong by finishing fourth in the indoors, and we're just ready to do even better in the outdoors." The outdoor season sees two additional events that are not part of the indoor season. The 4x100-meter relay event and the 400-meter hurdles both give the Frogs additional areas in which to gain points. Stratton said that the men's 4x100-meter is a traditionally strong event for TCU and that this year doesn't seem to be any different. The team of Frater, Williams, Patton and Collins enter the season as one of the top two relay teams (Florida) in the country.
Chris Gibson
By Paul Freelend Skiff staff A nationwide search for a new director of Intramural Sports will begin April 1 to replace Lance Steffen, who has decided to move closer to his family in Nebraska. "We are all sorry that he is gone," Director of Recreational Sports Steve Kintigh said. "He did a miraculous job here at TCU. He strengthened our officials program and left a good set of supervisors to manage our program." Karrie Curry, a senior psychology major and student assistant in charge of Intramural Sports, will take over the day-to-day operations. Curry has worked for the recreational sports department for more than two years. She was not available for comment. "Karrie was the one Lance set up to run things after he left," Kintigh said. "She knows the entire system and how all the computers work. She has been going here for four years, and she is respected by all of the other supervisors. She was even interested in Lance's job but it requires a master's degree." Kintigh said Steffen brought excitement to the intramural program. "Lance turned regular, mundane programs into events," he said. "He could take a chess tournament, bring in food, music and an announcer and make the program special. He made things fun and exciting for everyone." Steffen, who received his bachelor's degree at Chadron State College in Chadron, Neb. and his master's degree at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, will travel to Kearney, Neb., to run his family's business. Steffen's father-in-law called to request that his daughter, who is pregnant, and son-in-law move closer to their family. "It is very hard to compete against family," Kintigh said. "It's sad to see him leave, but at the same time we are supportive of his move. His wife was a hall director in Colby Hall so they were a genuine TCU family." Kintigh said the position of director is one that has a revolving-door nature. "Coming and going is a regular part of Lance's position," he said. "We normally expect two years at the most from a professional candidate and Lance stayed two and a half. After that time, people usually move up to bigger programs like the ones in Austin or College Station. The longest stay of a TCU intramural director has been five years." The selection process will begin April 1 but the university has already started accepting applications. People have applied from University of Maryland, University of Oregon, Oklahoma State University and other universities. "We would like to have the selection wrapped up by the end of May," Kintigh said. "It will be done no later than July 1."
Paul Freelend
I would like to ask a question to everyone who has given any attention to this season's NCAA men's basketball tournament. Do you feel that there is parity in today's college game? If your answer is yes, then give yourself a pat on the back. The fact that two No. 1 seeds and three No. 2 seeds were eliminated before the Sweet Sixteen illustrates my point. I will pose another question to which I would like everyone who filled out a bracket for their respective gambling fix to answer honestly. How many people actually thought that the Sweet Sixteen would include No. 10 Seton Hall from the East region, No. 8 North Carolina from the South, No. 6 UCLA from the Midwest and No. 6 Purdue, No. 10 Gonzaga and No. 8 Wisconsin from the West? I will say this much, Arizona was not much of a No. 1 seed in the West; so seeing Wisconsin advance may not be quite so surprising. And, after seeing the Badgers' defense yield less than 60 points a game in each of the first two rounds, I might even venture to say that they will be in the Final Four. But, then again, I might not. With all the upsets and crazy finishes that have happened already, no team is safe. No. 1 Duke may have been handed the championship after so many top seeds were knocked out, but they still have to fight for their life in the East region. I had picked the Temple Owls to beat Duke and reach the Final Four - they fell to Seton Hall. I will stay in the East for a moment. The Florida Gators have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after beating Butler and Illinois. If you saw the first-round matchup with Butler, you know the Gators got a little lucky. Of course, that is the nature of March Madness. Just ask North Carolina and UCLA. Some, including myself, would say that neither the Bruins nor the Tar Heels deserved spots in the tournament. If UCLA had not defeated then No. 1-ranked Stanford two weeks before Selection Day, they probably would have found a spot in the National Invitation Tournament. North Carolina received a generous No. 8 seed from the selection committee despite finishing behind Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Virginia was relegated to the NIT. North Carolina and UCLA both had sub-par seasons by their standards and took the Cinderella route to through the tournament, one that is surprising to me. Speaking of Cinderella, the West has turned into a mess of Cinderella wannabes. Where do I start? Well, No. 10 Gonzaga is playing the familiar role. The Bulldogs made it this far last season, again as a No. 10 seed, before bowing out to eventual national champion Connecticut. I would like to know who picked Gonzaga to beat No. 2 seed St. John's. Yes, the Red Storm was another of my Final Four selections. I actually thought St. John's was a lock coming out of a West region with Arizona as the No. 1 seed. But, I was wrong again because I did not take into account how well-dispersed the talent has apparently become across the country. I am paying for my error in Cinderella-judgment. So, I paid for entrance into my annual NCAA tournament pool and definitely felt confident in my Final Four selections. My picks consisted of Temple, St. John's, Stanford and Iowa State. Not bad by any means - at least I did not think so. Well, my bracket went down the porcelain bowl after Stanford was upset by North Carolina. As I have been saying, there is parity in college basketball. I am currently in third place in my pool, which is something to be proud of, but I have one Final Four team remaining - Iowa State. So, needless to say, I will be jumping on the Cinderella bandwagon for the duration of this madness. My new Final Four just became Wisconsin, UCLA, North Carolina and Seton Hall.
Danny Horne is a senior broadcast journalism
major from Carrollton, Texas. |
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