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Show SUU w-ill host sports acrobatics national championship s outhern Utah University will host the 1994 national championships of the United States Sports Acrobatics Federation in Cedar City July 24-31 . The championships, which will attract athletes and fans of the sport from throughout the nation, will be held in the Centrum on the SUU campus. Opening ceremonies for the championship competition will be held at 7 p.m. July 26 in the Centrum; competition is scheduled daily July 27-30. The Federation has selected Brian Head as the site of the athletic village, with the Brian Head Hotel as the main host of the athletes and their coaches. Competition will include men, women, and mixed pairs, women's trios, men's forces, women's tumbling, and men's tumbling. Competitive levels will be intermediate, advanced, and elite. The championships will conclude July 31 with a closing banquet in the Steve Gilbert Great Hall in the R. Haze Hunter Conference Center. Serving as director of the national meet will be David Leite of San Jose, Calif. The United States Sports Acrobatics Federation is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, the International Federation of Sports Acrobatics, and the United States Gymnastics Federation. In addition to the opening ceremonies, the general public is invited to attend all sessions of the competition. Meet organizers expecially recommend the evening competitions, beginning at 7 p.m. July 28, 29, and 30, when athletes in the elite classification will be competing. Tickets for the championships will be on sale at the Centrum box office. Lady 'Bird cagers ink four T hree former junior college players averaging 12 points per game. She helped lead and a Utah State 3A MVP have Skagit Valley to first place in the Northwest signed letters of intent to pay Athletic Association of Community Colleges women's basketball at SUU next season. tournament last year. Transfers signed by Thunderbird Coach Larry The graduate of Nooksak Valley High School Shurtliff include Janel Cassat, a 6-2 forward, and in Nooksak, Wash., also earned MVP honors in Teresa Smith, a 5-10 guard-forward, both from the conference's 1994 all-star game. Ricks College, and Tami Newton, a 5-9 guard Shaheen earned all-state honors both her junior from Skagit Valley Community College in and senior years with the Panthers, who won a Washington. l----,;;Qlfili;1 i-..--...,..--, state championship her Mandi Shaheen, a 5-7 junior year and finished guard from St. George and second her senior season. Pine View High School, is She was a second team the lone freshman signed all-state selection as a by Shurtliff to date. sophomore. Her junior "We think we have year she was named the added a nice mix of players state's 3A MVP, and she who should complement was chosen MVP at the our returning athletes and 1994 state all-star potentially make us even tourney. stronger next seasons, " "Mandi is a top student Shurtliff said. "We have and a solid player," added a little size, we have Shurtliff points out. "She some players with some was named the most experience, and we are valuable player at four excited about Mandi different tournaments this Shaheen. We think she is last season. We will a good young player and probably use her talents as has the potential to be a a point guard. 11 fine Division I athlete." Smith is a two time allCassat (who just got District 18 NJCAA player, married, and was Janel and she was selected MVP Hansen as a junior college at the 1994 district player) and Smith played tournament. Shurtliff together for one season at describes her as "a Ricks. That year, 1993, mentally tough player the Vikings captured the Lady 'Bird coach Larry Shurtliff. who can play at either the District 18 NJCAA 'two' or 'three' position. championship and finished third in the national She had a very strong career at Ricks." tournament. She is a good three-point shooter who averaged "Cassat did not play during the 1994 season," 18 points last year for the Vikings. Smith is a Shurtliff explains. "She will have one year of native of Shelly, Idaho, and an all-state high eligibility with us. She is a player who can work school player in Idaho. inside or outside. She can pass well, and she can "Because of the flexibility of both our shoot the three pointer. That will help us with returning and new players, we are looking at our ability to adapt to different circumstances." some new wrinkles in our game, 11 Shurtliff says. She was an honor student of the year and most "We are even thinking about a high post valuable player for her high school team which combined with a double low post. There are a finished fourth in the state in Oregon. She is lot of possibilities offensively for us." SUU loses four players from its 16-11 1993-94 from Central Point, Ore. Newton, who Shurtliff describes as "more of a team: 5-11 forward Amanie Niemann, 5-10 'two guard,"' shot an amazing 72 percent from forward Becky Schofield, 5-8 guard Sue Shurtliff, beyond the three-point line last season while and 6-0 forward-guard Jaime White. |