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Show MONDAY • AUGUST 28 • 2006 WWW.NETXNE\/S.NET Quick feet Webster's Wisdom Ben Webster What will Beck's legacy be? It is no doubt that BYU has been known for their outstanding quarterbacks often being referred to as quar. terback U. Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer are among some of the legends that have tossed the pigskin for • the Cougs. The thing is John Beck is on the brink of climbing the ladder of BYU passing records. He should easily be the second leading passer after this , season but it doesn't mean he will be named among the greats. After last season Beck sits on 7,139 yards passing that's less than 2,500 yards of second place, Jim McMahon at 9,536 but Beck is only 12-14 as a starter. If Beck has a slightly better passing season than he did last year he could reach the 10,000 mark. Beck threw for 3,709 yards last year. Ty Detmer is the only BYU quarterback to pass the ten grand mark and he went way past with 15,031 yards before he left the Cougars. Can BYU fans really picture John .-... Beck as the second leading passer in school history? Whether they can or not he almost certainly will be, barring injury. John Beck will be next to the top above others like Young, McMahon, Wilson, Bosco, and Brandon Doman. If Beck doesn't win this year he will be some bum with a load of yards. Beck didn't win in his only bowl appearance, he hasn't led them to a conference title, they haven't had a winning season during Beck's tenure and perhaps worst of all for Cougar fans he hasn't beaten the nemesis from the North. The Utes have had the Cougars number the last four years. Utah beat BYU when BYU was favored and when they were not. They ended BYU's consecutive game scoring streak while Beck was at BYU. If Beck was a senior last year he would go down as a loser, he still could. It didn't help that Gary Crowton : was his head coach and offensive coor'..' dinator for two years. That could have got anyone down. But it is time to forget about the past and it is Beck's time '.- to shine. This year has potential to make or V, break what people think about John .. Beck. His offense should be deadly. Beck is entering his senior year at the ;• . Y and has to do something big to make a name among other prolific Cougar *• passers. The running back position is as sol: id as it has been since Luke Staley ran for BYU. Curtis Brown is set to have a huge year and Fui Fakapuna will be a bruiser in the backfield. A quarterback loves to have guys behind him who can take some of the pressure off and take some of the .,, pounding. Running back could be BYU's strongest position. Beck has two possible NFL tight [• ends to get the ball to this year as well. . John Harline made some incredible , catches last year and is ready to do it again. Daniel Coats had a nice freshman year but has lost a little bit and :.. he is playing in Harline's shadow but i • he has the ability to catch passes over £."• the middle. This will help Beck and the :>. Cougars. J:-.-: A problem that may cost BYU some Returnees to lead UVSC cross country team in upcoming season Ben Webster Sports Editor The UVSC cross country team is eager to continue to improve and does so with almost everyone returning from last year. The girl's side didn't lose anyone and the boy's team only lost three runners. "High school is a lot different from college," Coach Scott Houle said. "It will help to have runners who feel comfortable going against some of the tough competition from some big-name colleges like Michigan, Minnesota and others. They can just race and have fun when they have done it before." Although there are so many athletes returning Coach Houle has done his job in recruiting. The team added 17 freshmen to the roster, eight girls and nine boys. "Our girls should be competitive right away, there isn't a big difference in the distant they have to run from high school to college so they will help us this year," coach Houle said. The freshmen boys may need some time to get used to the jump from a 5k race in high school to 8k race in college. Girls only go up to 6k after a 5k in high school. "It takes some time to adjust for the men, their distance gets longer. It takes some time to get used to. Sometime it takes a couple years to make that transition," Houle said. One of the top runners in the state returns for the Wolverines, local runner Joe Bendoski from Provo enters his junior year. "You have to be pretty good to be one of the top runners in Utah," Houle said. On the girls side Coach Houle expects juniors Rebekah Meier-Poppinga and Kirsten Barney, and freshmen Karinne Bentley to anchor the team. "We have more depth and talent than we have had the last couple of years," Houle said. "We have been more aggressive in recruiting and we got athletes that normally would go to BYU or some where else." The main goal this season for the Cross Country team is to win the Independent Championships at the end of the season in Fort Wayne, Indiana among other things. "We want to win the championship, obviously that is our top goal this year but we also feel that we can do good at one of the biggest meets in the country in Minnesota. We want to place in the top 15 for boys and girls. Those are our two top meets," Houle said. The team's first meet is September 2 at the Idaho State Invite in Pocatello. The next week, September 9, the team will compete at the BYU Autumn Classic, the only meet in Utah County this season. Courtesy photo/UVSC Athletics UVSCs Karinne Bentley feeling good during a Cross Country meet in 2005. 2006 Cross Country DATE September 2 September 9 September 23 September 29 October 14 October 28 PLACE MEET Idaho State Invite BYU Autumn Classic Roy Griak Invite Utah Fall Twilight SUU Color Country Independent Championships Pocatello, ID Orem, UT St. Paul, Minnesota Salt Lake City ,Utah Cedar City, Utah Fort Wayne, Indiana Girls Soccer Hammers Westminister David Gillespie Sports Writer After two consecutive tough exhibition losses to in state teams Utah and Weber State, the UVSC girl's soccer team took their frustration out on Westminster College and blew them out 7-0 in their final "friendly" of the year. The brutal day-time heat couldn't match the Wolverine's hot shooting as six different players scorched the opponent for the seven goals on 26 shots. "You have to remember Utah Valley State was once in their shoes. Our team has come a long way in our expectations," Coach Brent Anderson said. The scoring started early as sophomore forward Jenni Wright, from South Jordan, tapped in a pass from midfielder Alyssa "Jo" Woodbury only three minutes into the game. Seven minutes later Woodbury fired a 20 yard rocket that rolled off the goalie's hands and into goal. Wright then came back scoring in the 16th minute as well. With the game well in hand, Mallory Schott, Capri Stevens, April Graf, and Adrienne Schneider also tallied goals in the match. Though Westminster could have been mistaken for the Panguitch Purple People Eaters, UVSC showed they could stick to a game plan and not settle for mediocre play. "We had a game plan and we did it. We are maturing as a team and learning the system," Coach Anderson said. The game plan included having the defenders attacking more than what they did in their first two losses in exhibition play. Attacking is exactly what they did as three defenders scored goals for UVSC. Two of which, came from a remarkable 35 ya, Js away. "I'm very pleased with the defender's attackandthatwehadalotofgoalsbyanumber of different players," Anderson said. The defense not only scored but posted a shut out, limiting Westminster to just one shot on the day. With the defense attacking, the game wasn't just one-sided on the Scoreboard but one sided on the field as well. The defense built a wall at midfield, not letting anything get passed them. The Wolverine ladies took a commanding 5-0 lead into halftime and added goals in the 61st and 85th minute to finish off the scoring. "It is good for us to score goals and win games," Anderson said, "This gives us an idea of what we are capable of when we play soccer." Their next home game will be their first regular season contest at home on Sept. 9 against Dixie State. |