By Steven Baker Staff reporter When the NCAA Cross Country Championships are held Monday, it will mark the first time two TCU male runners have competed in the race. Seniors David Lagat and Adrian Martinez qualified for the race because they were each one of the top four finishers after the teams that qualified for the NCAA South Central Regional Championships last weekend. It is the first time for Martinez, while Lagat has run in the competition twice. Martinez said this is something that he has been competing for since high school. "Last summer I ran smart in preparing for this season," he said. "I ran 12 miles five or six times a week. So even though I haven't been as focused this year as in the past, I am physically and mentally ready for the race." After failing to reach nationals in high school, Martinez said he was angry as a freshman runner, and he disliked running by his sophomore year. By the end of Martinez's junior year, he said he was getting slower and slower in the races. At the 1998 Southern Methodist Invitational 8,000 meter race, Martinez finished in fourth place (26:34) compared to Lagat's second-place time of 25:52. But by the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Lagat had improved his time by one minute (24:52) and Martinez was in 30th place (26:12). "I trained extremely hard the summer before my junior year, running 10 or 12 miles every day," Martinez said. "I became anemic." Lagat said experience in two previous NCAA championship races helps him because he knows how to compete in the extended running field. "You have to be among the front runners at the beginning of a race because if you get too far behind, it is hard to pass a lot of runners at the end," he said. "You need to have the flexibility to run faster at the beginning." Martinez said his strategy for the race is to be relaxed, but at the same time not get more than five meters behind the first-place runner. "I will try to position myself relative to the other runners, not relative to time," he said. "I will try not to let the excitement get to me." Lagat and Martinez will be running in a field of about 255 runners Monday at the championships in Bloomington, Ind. Martinez said the course was picked specifically for its level of difficulty. This is a competitive course because of the turns and the size of the hills, he said. Although the men's team did not qualify for nationals, both Lagat and Martinez said the team pushed them in reaching this point in their cross country careers. "Sometimes the other runners would say they couldn't keep up with me and David because we ran so hard in practice," Martinez said. "People expected Lagat to go to the nationals, because he may be a little bit better than me. But I have pushed Lagat too. It is a mutual situation."
Steven Baker
Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas - Already considered the best catcher of his generation, Texas' Ivan Rodriguez solidified a spot among the greats Thursday by being winning the American League's Most Valuable Player award. Rodriguez edged Boston pitcher Pedro Martinez to become just the ninth catcher in either league to win baseball's top individual honor, joining the likes of Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra. "That means a lot," said Rodriguez, the first MVP catcher since Thurman Munson of the Yankees in 1976. "I respect those guys a lot. To be compared to them is something special." Rodriguez earned the comparisons by hitting .332 with 35 homers, 113 RBIs, 116 runs and 25 stolen bases. He became the first catcher with 20 homers and 20 steals in the same year and he's the first AL backstop to have 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs in the same season. This was the third straight year he's set a personal best in average and homers, and it's the second straight year he's had bests in RBIs and steals. "I prepared myself in the offseason with weights and running to make myself stronger physically and mentally," Rodriguez said. "I told my trainer I was going to hit 30 home runs this year and I hit five more." Rodriguez was able to dedicate his offseason to a fitness routine because it was the first time he didn't play winter ball in his native Puerto Rico. The Rangers got him to agree to that while negotiating his contract. "It helped keep me in shape and more fresh for the season," said Rodriguez, who earned a $250,000 bonus for winning the MVP. "But I just love to play baseball." Rodriguez broke into the majors at age 19, mostly because of a powerful arm. The extra baby fat he carried earned him the nickname Pudge, which stuck. Now sporting a rock-solid physique and a few days shy of turning 28, Rodriguez has become a complete player. He just won his eighth Gold Glove and his sixth straight AL Silver Slugger award for being the best hitter in the league at his position. He's popular, too - fans have voted him to start the last seven All-Star games. "Talking about all phases of the game, along with being durable, what he's done at his age, I would argue, that he's the best," said Texas manager Johnny Oates, himself a former catcher. "Since I was old enough to know major league baseball, there's never been any catcher who can do more as well as he does," The list of MVP catchers is a roll call of some of the best who've played the position: Bench, Berra, Munson, Elston Howard, Mickey Cochrane, Roy Campanella, Ernie Lombardi and Gabby Hartnett. Munson and Elston Howard are the only ones not in the Hall of Fame. The only thing missing from Rodriguez's resume is a championship. Texas won the AL West in three of the last four seasons but has yet to get out of the first round. "They're going to put a good team together to go to the playoffs next season," Rodriguez said. "Probably next year is going to be the year." Rodriguez is the third Ranger to win the award, joining recently traded Juan Gonzalez (1998, '96) and Jeff Burroughs (1974). Martinez, the unanimous AL Cy Young winner, had one more first-place vote than Rodriguez, marking only the fourth time that's happened. Rodriguez's 13-point victory was the closest since 1996, when Gonzalez beat Seattle's Alex Rodriguez by three points. "The guys I competed with, they all had dream seasons," Rodriguez said. "But that's baseball. I feel I had a good season and I felt confident that I had a shot to be MVP and it came true. I'm so happy for it."
By Joel Anderson staff reporter To get an idea how much has changed since TCU last faced Texas-El Paso, which will be forever remembered as a turnover-marred 24-17 loss to the Miners, consider this: Current senior backup quarterback Patrick Batteaux was the team's leading receiver that night, catching eight passes for 184 yards and a touchdown. Junior tailback LaDainian Tomlinson, currently the nation's fourth-leading rusher at 146.6 yards a game, was then an unheralded freshman who had what he termed "one of the worst games of my life." Tomlinson lost two fumbles in that contest and rushed for 77 yards.
The Frogs were then headed to an ignomious 1-10 season, but with little more than two years separating TCU from that embarrasing finish, the drastic changes since that airy night in El Paso should put the Frogs' current situation in perspective. With a Saturday victory over UTEP, TCU (5-4, 3-2 WAC) will clinch its second consecutive winnning season and possibly, its second consecutive bowl berth. It would be the first time TCU appeared in two straight bowl games since 1959. But first, the Miners come to town to put a damper on TCU's flirtation with history. Franchione said he isn't concerned about his team overlooking a UTEP squad beating Rice last weekend, snapping an eight game Miner road losing streak. "I don't think there's any danger of our players looking past this game," Franchione said. "They probably have more marquee players than any other team in the conference. They are as talented as any team in this league." UTEP (5-6, 3-3) boasts the Western Athletic Conference's second-best offensive unit, averaging 391 yards a game. Franchione said the Miners pose more of a problem than the WAC's top-ranked offense, Hawaii, because of UTEP's capability to run and pass the ball equally well. "They are not a one-dimensional team," Franchione said. "This is a tougher team to face than Hawaii. They have a lot of weapons. That's what makes them difficult to defend." The Miners' defense isn't quite as formidable as their offense. UTEP gives up 381 yards a game, and has held an opponent under 20 points only once in 11 contests this season. Still Franchione has concerns about a UTEP team that defeated the same Rice team that beat TCU by three touchdowns just four weeks ago. "We have a lot of respect for UTEP," Franchione said. "This is a scary team. That win (against Rice) gave them some momentum." Edge Box
Joel Anderson |
TCU head coach Dennis Franchione was then New Mexico's head
man, leading the Lobos to an upset victory over Brigham Young, en route
to New Mexico's first bowl berth in 36 years.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |