Rifle team ends fall season with third-place finish
Coach says team played to his expectations, looks forward for lighter spring semester

The TCU women’s rifle team ended the fall season Saturday with a third-place finish at the U.S. Military Academy Invitational in West Point, N.Y.

The third-place finish equaled the team’s only other third-place performance, which was at the Horned Frog Invitational. The Frogs finished second in all other matches this fall.

Senior captain Michelle Parker topped her own TCU record in the .22 caliber event by two points, scoring 1,111 points.

“All of the teams this weekend were top 10 teams (in the NCAA rankings), and for us to do as well as we did, I was really pleased,” head rifle coach Roger Ivy said. “Considering all we had to go through with traveling to New York and some of the other things, I think everyone shot really well.”

Parker said the West Point matches were a good way for her to end the semester, but some of her teammates were a little intimidated.

Hillary Morgan/ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Senior Jennifer Millner peers down the barrel of her rifle looking to accurately hit another target. The TCU rifle squad finished third in its fall event Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

“I think if we keep going the way we are, we can do pretty well (next semester),” Parker said. “It’s hard to tell because everyone has been fluctuating. I just hope the want and desire to keep getting better is there.”

Ivy said despite only having one shooter (Parker) with previous rifle experience and no scholarships, his team has performed up to his expectations.

“There were a few surprises, but overall, it was a pretty good semester,” he said. “(Parker), (senior) Dena (Putnam) and (senior) Jennifer (Millner) have been our top shooters and (senior) Liz (Bitar) has done a good job filling in when we needed her.

“We probably have one of the longest seasons of any sport, so staying focused and continuing to shoot well next semester will be a big challenge.”

Putnam said her scores this semester haven’t been what she wanted, but the team has done well overall.
“I spent the whole semester getting used to a new gun, so I don’t think I’ve really been shooting my best,” she said. “As far as everyone else, they are shooting really well. This part of the semester has been swamping everyone, so hopefully, next semester will be lighter for people, and we will have more time to put into (shooting).”

Ivy said with so many seniors on this year’s team, they have a good shot at doing just that.

“We are usually bubbling around the top 25 or 30 in the nation,” he said. “I think this year, if we can hold things together and continue to improve, there is no reason why we can’t finish up there. A lot of what we deal with in shooting is the mental aspect and concentration.

“This time of year is always hard because everyone is dealing with tests and having time issues. We just need to work on staying focused, keep practicing and getting better. We don’t need to have any let downs going into next semester’s (NCAA) sectionals.”

The women’s rifle team began the process of cleaning their equipment this week in preparation for the spring semester. They will resume competition Jan. 20, when they will travel to El Paso to participate in the UTEP Invitational.

Notes

Team faces unintended obstacles

This past weekend at the U.S. Military Academy Invitational in West Point, N.Y., the team had problems just getting to the match.

“First of all, something should be done about whoever runs that (Newark) airport,” Ivy said. “I have seen airports all over the world, and that one is by far the worst. Then, the directions we were given were really bad. The girls didn’t mind though; most of them were asleep in the back.”

At the University of Missouri-Kansas City match, Oct. 21, the Frogs were forced to shoot in a public range. Coaches and team members said the added distractions presented a problem.

“I don’t want to make any excuses, but it sounded like a war zone in there,” senior Dena Putnam said. “I think the Kansas City Police Department was above us shooting their (handguns), and other people were shooting shotguns and things. It was really loud and distracting.”

Ivy reiterated that fact, but he said the team needed to stay better focused in those situations.

“It was real loud and noisy, and it really affected our shooters, “ he said. “I think it really affected some of our individual scores, because we’re not used to shooting in that situation, but overall we did pretty good as a team.”

Chris Gibson

By Josh Dubow
associated press

NEW YORK — Arizona’s Randy Johnson was the overwhelming winner of the National League Cy Young Award Tuesday, his second straight award and third of his career.

Johnson, who also won the 1995 award with Seattle, received 22 of 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Johnson also got seven second-place votes and two third-place votes for 133 points.

Atlanta’s Tom Glavine finished second with 64 points. Greg Maddux of Atlanta was third with 59 points, followed by Robb Nen of San Francisco (20), Darryl Kile of St. Louis (8) and Kevin Brown of Los Angeles (4).

Johnson joined Maddux and Sandy Koufax as the only back-to-back winners in the National League. Maddux won four straight from 1992-95 and Koufax won in 1965-66. The “Big Unit” also became the eighth pitcher to win three Cy Youngs in his career. Boston’s Pedro Martinez won his third Monday.

Roger Clemens has five, followed by Steve Carlton and Maddux with four each. Koufax, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer also have three.

After going 14-2 with a 1.80 ERA before the All-Star break, Johnson faltered down the stretch as Arizona fell out of the pennant race. He won only five times in his final 16 starts, going 5-5 with a 3.81 ERA after the break.

Nevertheless, Johnson finished the year with a 2.64 ERA — second in the league to Brown (2.58) — while leading the league in strikeouts (347) and winning percentage (.731), and was tied for first in complete games (8) and shutouts (3).

“Our guys realize that we are lucky to have Randy and that we don’t have to face him,” former Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter said in September. “This is a 37-year-old guy who throws 98 mph. He’s a remarkable athlete, and I feel lucky to have had him pass my way.”

Johnson joined Nolan Ryan as the only pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in three straight seasons and became the 12th player to reach the 3,000-strikeout plateau.

Glavine (21-9, 3.40 ERA), a two-time Cy Young winner, led the league in wins and was a key component to the Braves’ NL East-winning team. Maddux went 19-9 with a 3.00 ERA to earn three first-place votes.

Nen, who got two first-place votes, was the most dominant reliever in the league, going 4-3 with 41 saves and a 1.50 ERA.

Kile, who was the only other 20-game winner, got the final first-place vote.

The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999, 2000 Credits

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