Sports the university star
softballstandings
The Texas State softball team received votes from the ESPN.com and USA Softball Collegiate polls Tuesday, announced by the Amateur Softball Association. Florida is No. 1 in the polls, followed by Stanford and UCLA. Texas State did not place among the top 25 teams.
8 - Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sports Contact — Lisa Carter, starsports@txstate.edu
Track, field team celebrates wins, prepares for meet By Jessie Spielvogel Sports Reporter
The Texas State track and field team has found 14 to be its lucky number. The team brought home 14 first-place titles for the third time this season after competing at the Trinity Alumni Classic Thursday in San Antonio. Brandon Thomas, pre-psychology freshman, competed for the first time since his hamstring injury. He won first place in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 21.62. He also placed third in the 100meter event. “I did not run in the first two meets because I was working with the trainers,” Thomas said. Thomas knows he is not back to competing 100 percent. “I am going to try my best for the rest of the season, but I can only improve,” Thomas said.
Clay Holland, exercise and sports science senior, won the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a season-best of 14.56. He also placed second in the 400-meter hurdles, accomplishing another season best at 53.76. For the women, Sara Olayiwola, finance senior, won first place in the long and triple jump events. “They weren’t my personal bests, but they were still good jumps,” Olayiwola said. Olayiwola said her ultimate goal at every meet is to place among top three in both events. Her personal best for the triple jump is 40 feet. “I have only reached 40 feet one time. I have been getting 39 feet consistently, though,” Olayiwola said. “This whole season has been good for me because I have remained consistent in both events.” Olayiwola said she jumped
lower than her personal best in the long jump and still managed to place first in the event. “Even though it was a foot below my personal best, it still ranks me number three in the conference,” Olayiwola said. Iris Darrington, interdisciplinary studies junior, won two first place titles and had a seasonbest record in the 200 meters. She won the 100-meter event in 11.83 and the 200 meters in 24.48 for her season-best. Katie Miller, undecided freshman, and Kristina Viniar, international studies senior, placed first and second, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. “I really want to get to a better time,” Viniar said. “I am not hoping (and) expecting to do better.” The team will travel to Austin Saturday to participate in the University of Texas Twilight meet.
Competition Results MEN’S RESULTS: Kevin Aje, economics sophomore, placed second in the 100 meters. Stefon Hargrove, undecided freshman, placed third in the 200 meters. Justin Longoria, exercise and sports science junior, placed second in the 400 meters. Steve Farris, pre-psychology freshman, finished fifth in the 400 meters. Eric Sheppard, finance senior, finished third in the 800 meters. Michael Webley, accounting senior, finished fifth in the 800 meters. Jonathan Hernandez, health and wellness promotion junior, placed third in the 5,000 meters. Michael Richards, political science sophomore, placed fourth in the 5,000 meters. Michael Morris, biology freshman, placed fifth in the
5,000 meters. Ikenna Obonna, finance sophomore, won the triple jump and took second in the long jump. WOMEN’S RESULTS: Renee Shepard, exercise and sports science sophomore, placed second in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200 meters. Lindsey Maxwell, exercise and sports science sophomore, placed second in the 400meter dash. Kaneesha Skinner, undecided freshman, placed fourth in the women’s 400-meter dash. Ryann Bradford, marketing senior, Natoria Edwards, undecided freshman, Karissa Reiter, biology sophomore, and Heather Bullin, exercise and sports science junior, finished consecutively in the women’s 800-meter event. Steffanie Armstrong, nutri-
tion and foods sophomore, took first place in the 1500meter run. Bullin placed second in the 1500 meters. Whitney Perkins, health and fitness management senior, and Amanda McKinney, nutrition and foods sophomore, placed fourth and fifth in the women’s 5,000 meters. Brooke Hewitt, communication disorders junior, won the high jump. Jennifer Matthews, agricultural education graduate, placed second in the pole vault. Kayla Smith won the shot put with a mark of 12.45. Katy Hanie, exercise and sports science senior, won the discus with a toss of 47.27, just .03 shy of meeting the NCAA Regional Qualifying standard. Taylor Hubbard, exercise and Austin Byrd/Star file photo sports science senior, won the HIGH LEAP: Dmitri Kabakov, senior, competes in the pole vault at the UTSA Relays March 28. The javelin throw with 32.41. Bobcats captured 14 first-place titles at the Trinity meet Thursday in San Antonio.
Baseball teams, fans mourn deaths By Phil Rogers Chicago Tribune
On one side of Wrigley Field, manager Clint Hurdle and his Colorado Rockies were trying to unravel how Ubaldo Jimenez’s attempted pickoff of Ryan Theriot had turned into a balk. On the other, Theodore Roosevelt Lilly replayed the 1-0 pitch that Garrett Atkins lined into left field. The seventh-inning single broke up a no-hitter in the Cubs’ home opener, played in weather better suited for Mounties than Rough Riders. It spared Lou Piniella from making the least popular decision a manager can make — pulling one of his pitchers when he’s flirting with history. But the usual postgame questions and answers rang hollow Monday in both clubhouses. Harry Kalas, a Hall of Fame broadcaster who used to mimic big-league voices while attending Naperville High School, died in a Washington broadcast booth early in the day. Mark “the Bird” Fidrych was found dead under his pickup truck at his farm outside Boston a few hours later. Seldom has baseball had a grimmer doubleheader. “I just saw Harry (on Sunday),” said Hurdle, whose Rockies lost two of three to the Philadelphia Phillies, the defending World Series champions whose exploits had been either dissected or celebrated by Kalas since 1971. No one at Wrigley could say the same about Fidrych, 54, the eccentric, mop-topped righthander who talked to baseballs as well as people. Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell played shortstop behind him from 1977 to 1980. Trammel considered Fidrych a good friend but hadn’t seen him for years. He could see him in his mind’s eye, of course. He saw him as the kid who electrified the American League in 1976, winning 19 games and throwing an incredible 24 complete games. Then later as the happy 40-something who would stop by Fenway Park to say “hi” when the Tigers were in town, with Trammell as the manager. Trammell described Fidrych, nicknamed “the Bird” for his alleged resemblance to Sesame Street character Big Bird, as
“genuine” and far more talented a pitcher than most remember him as being. “He enjoyed himself,” Trammell said after the Cubs’ 4-0 victory. “He lived life the way he wanted to. He didn’t get to live as long as we would have liked, unfortunately.” A torn rotator cuff — thank you, Ralph Houk, who once pitched him for 11 innings in consecutive starts — kept fans from getting to know Fidrych better as a pitcher. He made only 27 starts after 1976 and is remembered for his quirky, free-spirited mannerisms. He often dropped to his knees to landscape the mound and constantly talked to himself or even the ball. Don Baylor, the former Cubs manager who now is Colorado’s hitting coach, was with Oakland in 1976 when teammate Bill North charged the mound to take on Fidrych. “Bill thought he was saying something to him, and he went out,” said Baylor, who had just learned of Fidrych’s death. “People were all over the infield. I remember (Detroit first baseman) Willie Horton saying, ‘He’s a good kid, he’s a good kid.’ We thought, ‘OK, Willie.’ If Willie said he was a good kid, then he’s a good kid.” Trammell, drafted by Detroit in 1976, has vivid memories of watching Fidrych pitch to Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Dwight Evans of the Boston Red Sox in a 1977 exhibi-
tion game in Winter Haven, Fla. “They had a pretty good lineup,” Trammell said, rolling his eyes at his understatement. “I remember Mark pitched, and he broke five bats in three innings. Pretty impressive. He had a heavy sinker, a sharp slider and great control. He threw a heavy ball at 93, 94 mph. He was pretty special.” Trammell wasn’t in tears as he talked but admitted he was in shock about his friend, who was 54. “I’m sad,” he said. “We had a great win out there today, but Harry Kalas, Mark Fidrych in the same day? That’s a big blow.” Baylor shared that pain, and maybe more. As the American League Most Valuable Player for the Angels in 1979, he had been scheduled to participate in an Angels Hall of Fame ceremony Thursday in Anaheim. His wife had talked him out of traveling on a scheduled day off between Phoenix and Denver. No doubt she was worried about Baylor’s own health, as he has been fighting cancer since 2003. It turned out he couldn’t have made it if he’d wanted. The ceremony was canceled as the Angels franchise mourned Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old pitcher killed by an allegedly drunken driver. “This is no way to start the season,” Baylor said. “We’re losing way too many baseball people, and we’re losing them way too soon.”
Charles Fox/Phialdelphia Inquirer BROADCASTING LEGEND: Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas died April 13.