OCR Text |
Show RAGE 10 MONDAY THE THUNDERBIKD NOVF x- - BCR 1, 1987 mean TS L 'Barefoot' punter boots philosophy Thunderbirds were really able to pull together as a team and that the spirit has continued through BY JANETTE JENSEN SUSC's barefoot punter, Jeff McComb, has a philosophy that is a driving force behind his success. "I've got to have my own way, and when someone says can't do something, that only makes me work harder to prove them wrong." McComb's philosophy and attitude has helped to place him first in NCAA Division II and eighth in the nation in punting. McComb came to SUSC in 1985 and was the team's starting quarterback for the last four games of that season. However, beginning with this year, McComb is concentrating fully on his kicking game. "I would really like to get a tryout for the National Football League. That has been a goal of mine since was a kid, and, because of my size, could more realistically achieve that goal through punting rather than by playing quarterback," he said. I I I McComb is very pleased with the team here SUSC and he looks at the future of this ball club with a great deal of optimism. "I've seen some changes in the past three years, all of them positive," McComb said, in reference to some new recruits, he describes them as being "just as good as the players that some of the larger schools are recruiting." McComb believes that, beginning with the 1986 season, the in ' nro ti r I .awiYM't , 'Bd retool' jelf McComb's ability has earned him the status of Division II v r leader in punting. Lady 'Birds await District seed BY TIFFANIE FLORENCE The Lady Thunderbirds suffered a hard loss Thursday evening when they were defeated by the Fort Lewis Raiders. The 'Birds won the first set, but lost their momentum and concentrat on in the next three sets of the match. The loss dropped the record to 0 for the season, with a 10-- 5 mark against NAIA District Seven teams. The win advanced the Raiders' overall record to 19-1"The team played well in the first set, we concentrated, served well and made few mental 13-1- 3. errors," said Coach Joy Peterson. The Raiders were able to capitalize on the errors made by the 'Birds in the next three sets. The 1 were defeated by scores of 1 6 and 15-1"We made 15 serving errors that cost us two sets of the match," said Peterson. "We are not yet mentally mature and that is making for a tough time at this point in the season." The 'Birds are now awaiting their schedule in the NAIA District Seven Tournament, which will take place Friday and Saturday. The winner of the tournament will advance to the Tournament on November 5-- 9, 5-- 13-1- 4. The women's team got hit with the flu bug and only three runners made the trip, but all three placed high, with Jackie Gengler taking first overall on the 2.8 mile course with an 18:31. Jill Anderson placed fifth while Karen Talbot managed a ninth place finish. Coach Joe Lopour had praise for his team. "We did a real good job in the worst possible conditions," he said. "We really cut some time off our previous bests. It was raining bad and several teams pulled out but we stuck it out and ran in rain and mud. I'm real proud of our kids." Soccer club alive and kicking The 1987-8- 8 SUSC Soccer Club is participating in the Brigham Young University Beehive Invitational Tournament. The tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Haws field. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament. "There is going to be very' tough competition participating in the tournament," team's success last year (8-- 3 on the year) was exciting to see, owing to the change to a higher conference division. The team went into the '86 season with a lot of pressure placed upon it due to this change, and that made the taste of victory very sweet indeed." As to the future of the Thunderbirds, McComb believes that the team need only continue in the same direction with recruiting and the team could see itself in a possibly higher division. McComb is a team player. "We go into every game together and win or lose, we go out of every game together," he said. "I believe that when you play on a ball team, your first consideration should be for the team's success, then you can worry about your individual success," he added. Ironically enough, it was the Santa Clara game where (a disappointing loss for the McComb set a conference record by averaging 54.5 yards on five punts. This aided his average this year of 44.7 yards on 34 punts. The total ranks him as the Division II leader and puts McComb eighth in the nation for punting. With McComb's attitude and determination, continued success for him and the team seem assured. SUSC softballers win national crown BY DALE CUMMINGS 0. Cross country squad tops San Berdoo Running in a torrential downpour on a dirt road turned to mud, the SUSC team defeated Cal State San Bernardino in a cross country meet Saturday. Outstanding performances by the men included a second by David Dix, who covered the 5.2 mile course in 28:38. Cary Hamblin came in third with a respectable 29:03. Also placing for the men, in their winning first place effort, were Lynn Segrist placing sixth, Chico Nez seventh, Steve Srancom eighth, Lee Huron 10th, Bret Wehrli 11th and Ken Rever 13th. to this season as well. McComb said, "The according to captaincoach Stan Kontogiannis. The 'Birds begin play on Friday, at 2 p.m., against BYU's J7 team. Immediately frilowing the game, the SUSC hosts Ricks College. "This is going to be a test of our strength and endurance," said Kontogiannis. "We will be playing a minimum of a 150 minutes without a break." The SUSC intramural softball team flew out of Cedar City, Fla., as decided underdogs in the National Collegiate Sport Festival slow-pitc- h competition and came back national champions. The four teams participating in the tournament were determined by a preliminary tournament held last spring in Daytona Beach. By winning one of the four weekly tournaments, SUSC, along with Stephen F. Austin, Southwest Louisiana, and Western Kentucky, was invited back. Western Kentucky and Austin went into the singleelimination tourney as That was until they met SUSC. In the first game against Western Kentucky, the SUSC team jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first, but Western Kentucky came back with two of its own in the bottom of the inning. SUSC tied the score in the second and then had a five run outburst in the top of fourth to take a 2 lead. Western Kentucky gave it one last shot in the bottom of the sixth scoring three runs, but they came up short and went down in defeat Eric Freitas proved to be the difference with some great defensive plays and key hits for SUSC. In the finals, filmed by ESPN, the took it to Stephen F. Austin early, scoring five runs in the first inning. A rally by A.ustin in the bottom of the inning came to an abrupt halt when K.C. Jones made a diving catch that seemed to deflate the hard hitting team from Texas for the rest of the game. Mark Griffin added a double and a home run on the offensive end, as SUSC went on to a 15-- 2 rout. Captain Jeff Lewis praised the team for its effort. "It was a total team effort the whole way. If had to pick one key player. I'd say Freitas with his defense was the key." Team members of the national champions are Lewis, Jones, Freitas and Griffin along with Curtis Jones, Doug Greenhalgh, Kelvin Orton, Gary Alger, Alan Cardon, Scott Haney and Mike Wright. headed for Daytona Beach, 7-- 7-- 5. |