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Show 1 aimjEgocl GCfflbBGl started working as assistant coach under Turner. Now that Thigpin is head coach, she is trying to make the transition as smooth as possible, she said. The new womens basketball coach has been named and is hoping to bring positive change this season by focusing on growing the team and strengthening team chemistry. Jenny Thigpin, who started coaching the team as an interim coach at the beginning of the season, has now been officially made head coach. The previous coach, Catherria Turner, was fired at the beginning of the season. There was an internal investigation on Turner last year on claims that she was discriminating against some players who left the team. The Dixie State University Athletic Department never disclosed the ' actual reason for her dismissal, though. DSU Athletic Director Jason Boothe is excited for Thigpins new role as coach, 1 it r-- , he said. r( We feel like Thigpin is the best fit for us and all the student athletes, Boothe said. Her unique personality and style helps bring a lot to this team. She also has i 1 Coach Jenny Thigpin yells to players on the womens basketball team during a game on Jan. 17. Thigpin is replacing former head coach Catherria Turner who was fired at the beginning of the season. a lot of experience coaching. Boothe said he and the athletic department did not look at any other candidates for the position. Thigpin was the assistant coach at the time Turner was fired, and it just made sense for her to become the new coach, Boothe said. All the players respect her a lot. Thigpin came to DSU two years ago and It really doesnt change much for the team, Thigpin said. Turner was a great coach, and I learned a lot from her. The sudden change in leadership was difficult for some of the players, Thigpin said. The players have been challenged with a lot of adversity, Thigpin said. I have received huge support from everyone, though, starting with the president Biff Williams, and the athletic administration, tire boosters and the players. Taylor Maynes, a senior business administration major from Salem, Arizona, is the team captain and cant be more excited for Thigpin to be the new coach, she said. Thigpin also has a different coaching style than Turner, Maynes said. Thigpin is notable for believing in all of her players and giving constructive feedback, as well as pushing all the players to the best of their abilities, Maynes said. Thigpin is a great person not only off the court but as a coach, Maynes said. Its been a little rough for the first little Coach bit, but we hope to finish strong best. to be us our really pushes This is not the first time Thigpin has been the coach of a womens basketball team. Thigpin began her basketball career as at Arizona State Univera student-athlet-e sity for three years and at the University of California, Fresno her senior year. Before starting as a coach at DSU, Thigpin coached the Buchanan High School girl's basketball team in Clovis, California, and . . . the womens basketball team at Fresno Pacific University. As tire head coach at Buchanan High School, Thigpin led the team to a 22-- 7 record and reached the Final Four of the Central Section Playoffs in California. Some of the goals Thigpin hopes to achieve as coach at DSU are to work on growing the team, improving team spirit and increasing the number of wins. Right now, the teams wins are outBoth Thigpin numbered by losses and Boothe said the team is not the best it could be at this point in the season. The team is not quite where wed life it right now, Boothe said. It will take a few years to get it back and start being competitive in the league again. Thigpin and the players will be focusing on growing a stronger team by recruiting new younger players that will hopefully lead to a more established team in a few 4. years, Thigpin said. Ive been pushing all the players really hard this season, Thigpin said. They are all doing their very best. Im proud of whai theyve been able to accomplish in such little time. Right now, the womens basketball team will be taking it one game at a time and will continue to strive for improvement, Maynes said. Theres a lot of tough competition in the league, Maynes said. But we have good athletes and a good team and a really good coach now. The DSU Womens Basketball teamed) r play Notre Dame de Namur University i (e 5 p.m. on Saturday at home. Wrestling Wrestling club dominates 3 teams in home brawl BY PORTER LARSEN PLarsenDSN The Dixie State Wrestling Club continued its winning ways this weekend when it hosted the Southern Utah Brawl at the DSU Student Activity Center. Although the DSU wrestling team is still considered a club, it competes in the NAWA classification, which is the only lower division that is collegiately sanctioned. Coach Wayne Briggs said he believes its just as competitive as any other division because a lot of bigger schools are being forced to cancel their wrestling programs due to Title IX. In just its fourth year in existence, the DSU wrestling program is already making its presence known. The Storm have been beating Division I programs and holding their own in tournaments all year; on Saturday, DSU hosted one of its own. Just a week after defeating the likes of the University of Southern California and Arizona in Los Angeles, the DSU Wrestling Club hosted the Southern Utah Brawl. The brawl would pin the Storm up against Brigham Young University, University of California Los Angeles, and Glendale Community College. BYU, UCLA and Glendale CC wrestling teams came into St. George last week to face the Storm, and all of them left with a loss. Dixie State dominated the Southern Utah Brawl, winning six of the 10 weight classes and won the overall score by tallying 80 points. UCLA finished second with 42, BYU had 31 and Glendale finished with 25. Coach Briggs said he praised his team for its resilience and comradery. The guys have been awesome, Briggs said. They have really stuck with the tough training regiment and stayed together. We literally practice every day while these other schools only get together once or twice a week. Thats why were seeing this success. The six individual champions for DSU were Jesse Vaughn (125 pounds), David Alldredge (133), Pierce Stowman (165), JJ Dougherty (174), Brian Curtis (197), and Ryan Peterson (235). Jordan Curtis a senior business adminis- tration major from Perry, pins his opponent in his match on I Saturday. Dixie State club wrestling won I the Southern f Utah Brawl, taking down Tj f y ) 'AX: BYU and UCLA in the process; Dixie State won six of the 10 weight classes and won the overall with 80 points. DIXIE STATE INTRAMURALS MEET NEW PEOPLE, HAVE FUN, STAY ACTIVE -.I - |