Sports
COUNTDOWN
• 3 days until football’s Kay Yow Spring Game at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Page 8 • wednesday, april 18, 2012
Gymnastics
INSIDE
• Page 7: More on tennis’s new outdoor tennis facility.
Technician
Gymnast on quest for NCAA honors Rachel Fincham looks to bring individual championship back to Raleigh.
New soccer training complex sets grand opening ceremony
Jonathan Stout N.C. State soccer’s Wolfpack Training Complex will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the complex’s grand opening at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 27. The complex, which is located on the former upper Miller intramural field, will be open for tours after an address from Athletics Director Debbie Yow during the ceremony. The newly constructed facility features a replica grass field of the pitch at Dail Soccer Stadium as well as a smaller turf field and a field to practice on-goal set pieces. The complex will also play host to the Grassroot Soccer 3v3 Tournament the following day. The funds raised at the tournament will benefit Grassroot, an international nonprofit that helps prevent the spread of HIV among youth in Africa. Source: N.C. State Athletics
Baseball loses to Campbell, 8-6 The No. 18-ranked baseball team lost to the Camels at Taylor Field in Buies Creek on Thursday. The Wolfpack halved a four-run deficit later in the game but the comeback was not complete; the Pack lost 8-6. State built up to a 3-0 lead in the second half but went downhill from there. By the bottom of the fifth, the game was tied at 4-4. Campbell scored four more runs in the sixth inning, a lead the Pack could not manage to recover from. The team returns to play on Friday at 6:30 p.m. when State hosts Boston College for a three-game series. Source: N.C. State Athletics
Staff Writer
Junior Rachel Fincham will be representing N.C. State in the National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Duluth, Ga., April 20-22. “I’m really excited,” Fincham said. “It’s definitely something you work toward your whole life.” When Fincham began her gymnastics career at the age of four, competing in a national championship wasn’t on her mind. But as she got older and started competing, it became a dream. “When I started out it was because I would flip around my living room all the time and my mom would want me in something to control that,” Fincham said. “It was a dream; I never voiced it all the time because you don’t want to get your hopes up for something that’s not going to happen.” By receiving a score of 9.9 on the uneven bars during the regional championship meet, she qualified individually for the championships. Although Fincham is proud to represent the University at nationals, she
BRENT KITCHEN/Technician archive photo
Sophomore Rachel Fincham is congratulated by coach Mark Stevenson following her uneven bars routine. Fincham led the team with a 9.825 in the event. State beat West Virginia 194.550-194.475.
hoped the team would be joining her. “I wish that my team could go with me, but it’s definitely good to have any kind of representation at nationals for our team,” Fincham said. Fincham said she will take the
same approach that she has used all year in preparation for nationals. “We’ve been doing it for 14 weeks in a row at this point, so I’m just going to do the same thing I’ve been doing all season—trying not to overwork myself and keep my mental state the same.”
Tennis
Pack enjoys new outdoor facility
athletic schedule
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that got the ball rolling. However, the pursuit of the dream began two years earlier for Choboy, along with a young man named David Rozek. Rozek, a design major and member of Choboy’s tennis team, was asked to perform an immense favor by his coach— come up with a design for an outdoor stadium. “I was thinking maybe he’d draw up a blueprint or something,” Choboy said. “If he put something on a piece of paper, it could be something we could have. Then he came up with the idea. He said, ‘Coach, if you give me a little bit of time, I’ll build a 3-D model of the stadium you’re talking about. I’ll design it and build it to scale.’” Six months later, Rozek, who
After watching first-year basketball coach Mark Gottfried bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the nation, football coach Tom O’Brien’s bunch seems to lack the punch for a fan base that constantly craves instant success. Since O’Brien’s arrival at N.C. State, he has focused on developing players to become better instead of signing a lot of top-ranked recruits. Although O’Brien is confident in his team’s current situation, there are fans who are worried. “While I do feel like T.O.B’s ‘Three Star Nation’ approach is effective at what it’s supposed to do, I never understood why he never thought he could apply the same methods to higher-ranked recruits,” Rickey Smith, a junior in human biology, said. “If one has a stronger base set of abilities to improve upon, then the end product will be much stronger.” O’Brien’s coaching successes include Denver Broncos linebacker Nate Irving, Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year Russell Wilson, quarterback Mike Glennon, defensive end David Amerson and linebacker Audie Cole. While these players have been leading examples of the successes during O’Brien’s reign in
tennis continued page 7
recruits continued page 7
Thursday-Saturday Track ACC Championships Charlottesville, Va., All Day
Quote of the day “We have some kids out there that we think will help us win an ACC championship.” Coach Tom O’Brien
Students worried about lack of recruits
Deputy Sports Editor
Women’s Tennis ACC Tournament Cary, TBA
Saturday-Sunday Softball vs. Maryland Raleigh, 1 p.m.; Sat. 1 p.m. & 3 p.m., Sun. 12 p.m.
football
Rishav Dey
Thursday-Sunday Men’s Tennis ACC Championships Cary, All Day
Baseball vs. Boston College Raleigh; Fri. & Sat. 6:30 p.m., Sun. 1 p.m.
NCAA continued page 2
Coach Tom O’Brien optimistic despite having no commitments for upcoming season.
Wednesday Softball vs. Elon Raleigh, 6 p.m.
Friday-Sunday Men’s Golf ACC Championships London, N.C., All Day
The uneven bars, Fincham’s favorite event, is what she will be competing in for the national championships. “As I got older I realized that bars was my favorite event,” Fincham said. “Usually your favorite is your best, so I worked toward that one more.” Fincham credits her parents, teammates and coaches for inspiration. Her father was a standout collegiate athlete, instilling the determination and passion to perform at a high level. “He put passion into everything that he did and it taught me how to put passion into the things I love, especially gymnastics.” Some athletes and coaches have strange pre-game rituals or specific music they listen to beforehand to prepare for the upcoming game. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III wears strange socks, LSU head coach Les Miles eats grass if he’s stressed, and Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher eats two Girl Scout cookies before each game. Fincham said she has a few superstitions, but nothing out of the ordinary. “I won’t change the way I do my hair for meets, so if it works it stays,” Fincham said. “And I always have to cough before I do bars.” After completing her final year of gymnastics next season, Fincham
john joyner/Technician
The Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Tennis Center hosts outdoor games for both men’s and women’s tennis teams.
N.C. State tennis is proud of new stadium and looks forward to its future. Nolan Evans Senior Staff Writer
If you asked men’s tennis head coach Jon Choboy to describe the team’s previous outdoor tennis facility, he would use one simple word—terrible. “We didn’t have [a stadium],” Choboy said. “What we had was six courts with a fence around it and cracks all over the courts. It was just terrible. It was worse than high school facilities.” “It wasn’t something that I had to convince people [about], that we had a poor facility,” Choboy continued. “It was well-known.” Although the journey has been a long process, Choboy has had a vision for the team for many
years. He pushed the issue with administration, making the case that tennis is an outdoor sport and his team deserved better than “the worst facility in the country.” Following a 2007 season that saw an Elite Eight run for the team, Choboy asked then Athletic Director Lee Fowler for a few minutes of his time. “I said, ‘Lee, we’ve done some good things here,’” Choboy said. “’We’ve put up some good numbers and put together a couple of good teams here, and I can’t do this by myself. I need your help. The men’s and women’s programs need a facility.’ He said right away, ‘I know you do. We’ve got some money coming through for a couple different avenues here, and on that list we’re going to build a tennis stadium. I understand what you’re saying. I agree.’” That was the year and moment