By Steven Baker staff reporter A two week break didn't slow down the men's and women's cross country teams. They ran Friday in the North Texas Invitational to first and third place finishes. For the men, it was their highest placing of the season. Head cross country coach Dan Waters said there was some improvement with the men's team, but they still have not ran their best race. He said there is a need for the third and fifth place runners to have better races. "They need to get a lot tougher through the middle parts of the races," Waters said. "But David Lagat ran an outstanding race, and Adrian Martinez ran a better race today. Martinez and Jared Pope really pushed a lot harder in the middle part of the race." Lagat, Martinez and Pope all finished in the top the Top 20 in the men's 8,000 meters: senior Lagat came in first place at 24:29; senior Martinez in fifth at 25:18; junior Ryan Womack in 14th at 26:27; and senior Pope in 18th at 26:40. Pope said the team really dug in and did their best. "Compared with two weeks ago (at the Southern Methodist Invitational), I think we showed a whole lot more heart," he said. Waters said he wanted the women to finish closer to University Texas-Austin who placed first with 32 points and Rice who placed second with 40 points in the 5,000 meter race. "The women need to be hitting on all five cylinders on the same day," he said. "If we can get that done by the end of the season, then we will be doing well." Before the race Waters told sophomore Katie Singleton to go out and beat some of the Texas-Austin runners. And she did. The only Texas-Austin runner to finish ahead of Singleton was Maureen Sweeney in first place, at 17:38. The men and women could learn from Singleton's physical and mental toughness, Waters said. "If you tell Katie to run through a brick wall, she'll ask how fast and how many bricks she should knock down," he said. "She ran a fabulous race - the best of her life." Singleton crossed the finish line first with a third place time of 17:50. Other TCU runners in the top 20 were sophomore Glady's Keitany in fifth place who finished at 18:12; sophomore Georgeanne Biancardi in 12th at 19:01; and freshman Shannon McKinney in 20th at 19:17. Waters said the absence of sophomore Robin Schacht, out with a hip injury, hurt the women's overall finish. "Schacht is a total animal on the cross country course and is probably one of the toughest people I've met," he said. "She is such a talent and has such a bright future ahead of her, we are not going to take any risks about putting her on the cross country course." Singleton said she was proud of her performance, but that the rest of the team is beaten up. "We really miss Robin," she said. "In the great scheme of things, today's race really doesn't matter. District and conference are what is important." Behind TCU women were Tarleton State in fourth place, 125 points; Texas A&M Commerce, 134 points; Southwest Texas State, 147 points; Southeastern Oklahoma, 163 points; North Texas 190 points; Northwood University 248 points; SMU, 272 points; and Southwestern Oklahoma, 286 points. The men and women will travel to College Station to run in the Texas A&M Invitational Friday.
Steven Baker
By Todd J. Shriber staff reporter The TCU Horned Frogs fell into a precarious position in the race for the Western Athletic Conference football title with a 26-19 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs Saturday night before a boisterous crowd of 37,112 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, Calif. TCU, predicted by many to be a contender for the conference championship, doomed itself with penalties and an inability to establish its running game.
Junior LaDainian Tomlinson entered the game as the nation's second-leading rusher after racking up 269 yards on the ground against Arkansas State. However, Fresno State's defense stymied Tomlinson with a defense that appeared to shadow TCU's primary offensive threat everywhere he went. Tomlinson finished the night with a scant 49 yards on 20 carries. TCU was once again able to score on its first drive of the game when freshman quarterback Casey Printers hit freshman receiver Kevin Brown with a 29-yard scoring strike. Fresno State would tie the score at seven right before half-time on Billy Volek's one-yard quarterback sneak touchdown. Senior safety Reggie Hunt returned the opening kick of the second half for a 95-yard touchdown, but the ensuing extra point was missed due to a bad snap. The mistake would prove critical. The Frogs took a 16-7 lead into the fourth quarter but were only able to add a field goal after not being able to get into the end zone from the Fresno State six-yard line. Fresno State added a field goal of their own, making the score 19-10, but the Frogs couldn't hold on as the Bulldogs notched 172 of their 349 total yards in the fourth quarter. Volek would hit Rodney Wright with a 16-yard touchdown pass with just over a minute left. The game was tied at 19 after TCU blocked the extra point attempt. The drive was aided by consecutive pass interference calls against TCU. TCU finished with more than twice as many penalty yards as they did rushing yards. The Frogs had 11 penalties for 126 yards while netting only 59 yards rushing. In overtime, Volek hit Charles Smith with a 7-yard touchdown pass that would decide the game.
Todd Shriber
As a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, I know more about baseball and its history than anyone should. This being the case, my stomach has turned as I have watched the results of the "Major League Baseball All-Century Team" fan ballots come in. It's worse than supporting a political candidate whose strength is his stance on the issues rather than his picture on an issue of "Time." First of all, there is the case of Pete Rose. He currently ranks ninth in the voting among outfielders (the "team" will include nine outfielders), and there is much debate whether he should be allowed to stand on the field with the rest of the living members of the team during the World Series in light of his lifetime suspension from baseball. I have my opinion on Rose's suspension, but the reason he should not be allowed on the field has nothing to do with that. He simply has no business being on the field as one of the greatest 25 players of all time. Sure, Rose collected more hits than anyone in history. He approached the record by putting up good, occasionally great, numbers for the first 20 years of his career. But he spent the last five years of his career playing like somebody's grandma in order to break the record. In the end, despite all the hits he collected, Rose did not place anywhere near the top 100 in career batting average or on-base percentage. So the fact that Rose ranks ahead of players like Stan Musial, Frank Robinson, Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds is a joke. But it's not the biggest joke the voting has produced. That distinction belongs to Nolan Ryan and his first-place ranking among pitchers. Being in Texas, I know that writing anything that suggests Nolan Ryan was anything less than God in a baseball uniform is liable to get me lynched, but simple fact is that Ryan would have a hard time laying claim to a spot on an all-"last 25 years" team, let alone an All-Century team. This is not to say that Ryan was not a great pitcher. He was. A Hall of Fame without Nolan Ryan would be a farce. But he simply does not belong on a list of the top five pitchers of all time. Ryan's seven no-hitters are impressive and unlikely to be matched. But, like Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak and Orel Hershiser's scoreless innings streak, it is really a freak stat that doesn't prove much when comparing him to the other all-time greats. His career strikeout record is his primary legacy. 5,714 is a lot of strikeouts, a total that surpasses his nearest competitor by 1,573. But what looms even more unbreakable is his career walk record of 2,795, which is 962 more than anyone else. This brings me to my primary point. Despite the fact that it was nearly impossible to get a hit off this guy, Ryan still found a way to lose ballgames. His .526 career winning percentage is easily the worst among 300-game winners and one the worst figures among Hall of Fame pitchers. For the sake of comparison, let's look at Ryan's record compared to two right-handers, Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander, who currently rank 14th and 16th, respectively, in the voting. Each pitcher won 49 more games than Ryan in their careers, and Ryan lost 84 more games than Alexander, 104 more than Mathewson. To use a more contemporary comparison, Tom Seaver, who currently ranks 11th in the balloting, began his career at about the same time as Ryan. Ryan ended up with 13 more wins than Seaver and 2,074 more strikeouts, but he also walked 1,405 more batters (even though Seaver ranks 17th on the all-time walks list) and lost 87 more games. The common argument in Ryan's defense is that he pitched for bad teams, so it wasn't his fault that he lost all those games. But that really isn't true. He didn't pitch for bad teams. He pitched for mediocre teams. Only one of his teams lost over 90 games, but he played for three division winners. In his prime years with the Angels, Jim Palmer and Catfish Hunter, not Ryan, were considered the American League's premier pitchers. In his years with the Astros, he had trouble distinguishing himself above Joe Niekro and Mike Scott as the ace of that staff. It's fun to watch an old man strike out 300 people and throw no-hitters, I admit. And that deep Texas twang is endearing. But winning, not personality, makes a great pitcher. So to elect a pitcher with Ryan's record as one of the top six pitchers of all time is indefensible. Save your careless voting for Election Tuesday.
Stephen Suffron is a senior broadcast journalism major from League City, Texas. He can be reached at (sdsuffron@delta.-is.tcu.edu). All stats were compiled from totalbaseball.com.
By Paul Freelend skiff staff The TCU Volley Frogs opened their Western Athletic Conference season against the No. 3 nationally ranked Hawaii Rainbow Wahine on Friday. While the Volley Frogs put up a fight, it was Hawaii who emerged from Honolulu with the win, defeating TCU in three games, 15-5, 15-7 and 15-13. "We still hate to lose," head coach Sandy Troudt said. "We wanted that third game really bad. But when we looked at what they had done to other teams across the country, we felt pretty good about what we had accomplished." TCU leaped out to 3-1 and 4-0 leads in the first two games. The Rainbow Wahine rallied, though, behind freshman outside hitter Lily Kahumoku, who led Hawaii with 12 kills while junior outside hitter Jessica Sudduth added 11. "In games one and two, we got out to an early lead," Troudt said. "Afterward, though, we had a hard time adjusting to Hawaii's blocking and attacking. We were fortunate in that we were playing against their number two setter since their top setter was injured." In the third game, it was the Rainbow Wahine who jumped out to the early lead, forging ahead to a 6-1 lead before the Volley Frogs rallied to close the tally to 14-13. Noticeably absent from the third game was Hawaii's senior middle blocker Heather Bown, who was nursing a bruised shin. Bown sat out the third game after hitting eight kills in the first two games. "Bown didn't play in the third game so we were able to pull in a few more points that game," Troudt said. "We knew what Hawaii was going to do coming into the match. We felt we were well prepared for them but they just played extremely well. Hawaii is not a complicated team but they do what they do very well." Sophomore outside hitter Marci King led the Volley Frogs' attack with 11 kills while freshman outside hitter Stephanie Watson put down 10 kills. Sophomore setter Lindsay Hayes provided 29 set assists for TCU. Troudt said she was extremely pleased with the play of her underclassmen in front of a hostile crowd of 6,900. "Amy Atamanczuk started in (Watson's) spot but she played well when she got in." Troudt said. "Her performance was huge for such a young player. Marci started to struggle in game two so we gave her a rest. When she came back in the third game, though, she started playing strong again." The Volley Frogs play their first WAC home match against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday in the Rickel Building. SMU is currently sporting a 10-7 overall and have yet to play a WAC contest, while TCU will bring in a record of 6-9 (0-1 WAC). "We are really excited about our match with SMU," Troudt said. "It's going to be a war. SMU lost a close one to Houston last night, and they play UT-Arlington on Wednesday so we'll be ready for them. We are always pumped and excited when we play SMU. Both teams are different but also very compatible and competitive. It's going to be a great match."
Paul Freelend
By Matt Stiver staff reporter For TCU seniors Lucie Dvorakova and Daria Zoldakova, sometimes an inch makes all the difference. Playing for the Flight A Doubles Championship, Dvorakova and Zoldakova lead Joanne Masongsong and Vladimira Uhlirova of the University of Texas-Austin 7-6. Needing one more game to clinch the Rice Tennis Classic title, Dvorakova and Zoldakova fell behind 40-15. If the Longhorns earned one more point, the match would be tied. After Dvorakova hit a service winner, TCU head coach Roland Ingram said the next point was critical.
The Frogs won the next two points and the championship. Dvorakova described the play nonchalantly. "The ball bounced right in front of me, and I went and hit it overhead," Dvorakova said. "It landed in." Ingram said the team played well. "This was a very strong tournament," Ingram said. "We had teams from Duke, a top five team; Texas, top 10; Mississippi, top 10; Tulane, top 30; Kansas, top 50; and Rice, top 50 and (TCU No. 51)." At the three-day tournament, the Frogs entered six singles players and three doubles teams. On day one, Zoldakova, freshman Dorrit Huppes and freshmen Brenna Shackleford advanced by winning their singles matches. Zoldakova advanced to the flight B final, where she was defeated by Julie DeRoo of Mississippi, 6-3, 6-1. Zoldakova said she played a talented opponent. "(DeRoo) used to play on the (professional) circuit, so she has a lot of experience," Zoldakova said. "Her strokes, I think, were great. When I was under pressure, I started making easy mistakes - mistakes that I shouldn't have made." Senior Jessika Kjellgren, despite having a case of what Ingram called bronchitis, played her singles matches. In the first round, she was defeated by Kathy Snell of Duke, 6-2, 6-1. In the consolation round, Kjellgren rallied but fell to Erin Waters of Rice, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. It was then that Ingram said he decided to pull Kjellgren from her doubles pairing. "She could hardly breathe," Ingram said. "I finally made her stop and say, 'enough is enough.'" Ingram said Dvorakova and Zoldakova stormed into the finals. "They played with a confidence in the first three rounds that I have never seen them play with," Ingram said. "They knew what to do. You could see it in their walk and in their stance when they returned serves, that they were ready to compete. "Up until the finals. Then it dawned on them that they were playing a team from Texas, which has dominated this region for so long." Things started out well for Dvorakova and Zoldakova in the final. They jumped out to an early lead but soon fell behind 4-3. Ingram said he felt the time was right to have a conversation with his players. "Whatever I told them didn't work," Ingram said. "They lost two straight games. It was at this point (down 6-3) that (assistant coach Lauri Moore) decided enough was enough. She went down and talked to them, and they won five straight games." Dvorakova said Moore had the right words. "She told us to have fun and smile," Dvorakova said. "So we said, 'OK, let's go have fun' and we did."
Matt Stiver
By Victor Drabicky staff reporter The women's soccer team was outshot 45-5 and outscored 4-0 in its losses to No. 24 University of San Diego on Friday and No. 9 University of California-Los Angeles on Sunday. But head coach David Rubinson said he was happy with the way the team played for most of the University of San Diego Puma Invitational Soccer Tournament.TCU fell 1-0 to UCLA, but Rubinson was pleased with the team's effort.
Junior forward Terra Mayfield said the team's defense played a big role in keeping the game close. "As a team we played timidly and offensively we struggled," Mayfield said. "However, our defense stayed organized under the pressure and helped keep us in the game." The Horned Frog defense held the Bruins scoreless for 70 minutes of play despite allowing 18 shots. Sophomore goalkeeper Keith-Ann Wagner made seven saves in the game and said she was proud of the team's play. "We were happy with our last game," Wagner said. "Even though we were a little short in the last 30 minutes, we still managed to end on a good note." However, the Horned Frogs did not fend as well in their 3-0 loss to San Diego on Friday. Late in the game, TCU allowed two goals within a minute to secure the win for San Diego. Rubinson said he was unhappy with the team's play in the final minutes of the game. "The game was a little disappointing," Rubinson said. "We never could find a rhythm, and we didn't play with the heart we needed to win the game." Wagner said the team's fatigue led to some mental mistakes and poor decisions. "We got tired and made some mistakes," said Wagner. "We started to tackle poorly and just sort of gave up near the end." Offensively, TCU struggled in the first two games without sophomore midfielder Tiffany Goetz, the team's assists leader, and freshman forward Sherry Dick, second in scoring for the team, who are out for the season with injuries. TCU managed only one shot on goal to 21 by their opponents. Rubinson said the impact of losing the girls has been felt, but the team must move on. "We definitely missed Sherry and Tiffany," Rubinson said. "We really need someone to stand up and score some goals for us. We just need to deal with losing some players to injury." Wagner said a simple change in attitude could help the team deal with its offensive struggles. "Our hearts need to be there," Wagner said. "We need to communicate positively on the field and keep playing for each other if we want to win games." The Horned Frogs return to action at 1 p.m. Friday as they begin their Western Athletic Conference season against the University of Texas - El Paso at the TCU Soccer Complex.
Victor Drabicky |
The option has been the staple of TCU's offense since coach
Dennis Franchione took over the head coaching reigns last year, but Saturday's
rushing performance by the Frogs was one of the more dismal in his short
tenure in Fort Worth.
"Lucie hit one of the most unbelievable overheads,"
Ingram said. "On Texas' chance to tie the match at 7-7, (the Longhorns)
hit a great lob to the back of the (TCU) baseline. Lucie went back and
knocked the heck out of it. That ball was in the air for 76 feet, and it
landed right in."
"I think the girls played well," Rubinson said.
"They showed a lot of heart and fought hard the entire game. UCLA
just managed to capitalize on one of our mistakes."| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |