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Show Your Sports MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2005 PAGE B6 Clearing the airBreaking records: "Few things1 com' from page B8 squad who finished one of the most challenging schedules jevcratl 1-16. Softball recently ;had freshman Katie Welling named NCAA Independent ; Player of the week, and is Jhitting a whopping .455 !(FYI: that stat is scheduled to jchange). Baseball has a state-ofthe-art facility set to open this year, not to mention a schedule with visits to perennial baseball powers ASU and Arizona (ever heard of Barry Bonds and Kenny Lofton? Just a couple alumni from those respective schools' programs...) Utah Valley State is not an athletic power at an NCAA Division I level (yet); I don't believe that, and I am confident that many of the sports writers at the school feel the same way (after all, most of us do watch a lot of SportsCenter and very little American Idol; it just isn't the same since Kelly won, and we all want to run over Clay Aiken). That doesn't mean that we don't have special players on the campus, doing special things that deserve our honest admiration. And if that is what there is to report, then I will continue to do so, and continue to hope that they Steve Lundquist/NetXNews continue to turn the sports Willie the Wolverine puts his high flying act on display every world on its ear. home game, adding more excitement to the atmosphere. Customer Service Answer the Call! Great Careers in Orem Join our team at Convergys, America's leading provider in outsourced customer carei Contact or take incoming calls from current customers regarding a variety of products and services. If you have excellent sales and customer service skills, we want to talk to you! Great Pay! Sales & Service Representatives • • • • • • Tuition Reimbursement! • • • • Competitive Compensation Morning, Afternoon, & Evening Shifts Flexible Schedules Offered Wide Variety of Positions Available Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance Tuition Reimbursement Program (Effective First Day of Employment) 401(k) Savings Plan Career Advancement Opportunities Casual Work Environment Paid Training Included Track season preview Landon Smith Sports Writer When you think of the college athletes at Utah Valley State, the first thing that comes to mind is the basketball team (the billboards on I15 have only made the sport more popular). The wrestling and soccer teams receive quite a bit of attention from the students and community. The activities center is always packed for the volleyball games. It's hard not to think about the baseball and softball teams each day when you see the new baseball stadium here on campus. But the group with the most student athletes, and the least recognition, is the track and field team. Yes we have a track team here at Utah Valley State. Chances are that you have a track athlete in one of your classes and you didn't even know it. The team has 50 athletes running, throwing and jumping in events throughout the western United States. The team has competed in the BYU Invite, Weber State Invitational, and the Mountain States Games at Idaho State and there have been eight school records broken early off in the season. This is a respectable accomplishment to the team considering the fact that the indoor track meets are basically a warm up for the regular season. This has been very exciting for first year head coach Scott Houle because the main goal that he has stressed to the team is that he wants to break as many school records as possible this season. "If they have a goal to go after the school records, they are going to be better athletes on a personal level," said coach Houle. Some of the athletes that have broken records are Jor- dan Pope in the 200-Meter, Markio Nakahisma in the pole vault, Gavin Shaw in the weight throw, and Amanda Olson in the mile run. Despite the team's early success, there are still factors that coaches and the team are facing during the beginning phases of being a Division I track and field team. One of these factors has been Utah Valley State's status as a provisional member of the NCAA. According to NCAA rules, the Wolverines may not compete in post-season play in any sport until 2009, unless they join a conference and then it would be 2007. "It's been hard to recruit some of the best athletes to come here because we cannot compete in the NCAA Championships. We have had a lot of kids shy away because they know that they will not be in the championships and that's understandable from their standpoint," coach Houle said. Another issue with the team has been the lack of proper facilities. There is not a track for the athletes to train and compete here on campus. The team trains in the RE. Building and on the track up at Mountain View High School. This has been a problem for the coaches during recruiting. "It's like taking a football recruit to the public park and saying this is where we will be playing our home games," Houle said. "It's been very difficult because when you get to this level, the kids want to be proud of their own facilities." Plans and a location have been completed for the building of track, but the only real problem delaying the process is money. "Once we get the funding for the field, we will finish off the design work and get it pushed through the legislature," assistant coach Kirke Adamson said. "Outdoor tracks are fair- ly easy to build so if we got the funding quickly it could be ready for next season." But even with the disadvantages that the track team has faced, there are many exciting aspects to this year's team. One of those bright spots is Noelle Pitkus-Pace. PikusPace (who is currently ranked first in the women's World Cup Skeleton standings) will join the team in early march to compete in the high jump. She is currently taking internet classes because she still competing in the skeleton in Switzerland. But as the team prepares for the outdoor season, they have nowhere to go but up. Coach Courtesy Graphic Sophomore Mark Lott will be looked upon, to continue his winning ways from last fall's cross country season. Houle and coach Adamson, who previously coached at Orem High School, know that building a successful track program is going to be a lot of work, but they are up to the challenge. 'it's fun and exciting for us because we know that the sky's the limit. There is so much potential for this program and school," Houle said. "Because the blocks have been laid out and it's up to us to finish the job." ^v Christopher Designs Crissctit r*Lihc no \Jlhcr... For immediate consideration, call our recruiters today at: 765-7300, ask for extension: UVS-TFA7 Flexible Shifts! or, apply online at: www.convergys.greatjob.net Media Code: UVS Job Code: TFA7 CONVERGYS Background check required. EOE/AAP/M/F/D/V Sierra-West J E W E L E R S 1344 South 800 East. Orem • Southeast of University Mall • 801-226-6006 • 800-411-8067 60 East 10600 South, Sandy • East of South Towne Mall • 801-984-6870 34 West 7200 South. Midvale, Utah • Open Tues.-Sat. 11-7 • 801-521-0900 www.sierrawGstjewelers.com |