OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, November 1, 2000 Page 10 Sports Women's At conference meet, women take title and men finish in second By Quynn Tebbs sports writer The Signpost This past weekend at the Big Sky Conference cross country meet the women's team had its biggest payday this year. It cashed in on the Big Sky Championship. Going into the race, Weber State University knew it was going to be a battle with the defending Big Sky champs. Northern Arizona. -3S! t i ft. Vv s1f Senior Keenan Gordon runs through a drill at football practice. Gordon was part of WSU's defensive success against Idaho State. FRANCISCp CIRCLE ONE fWeber W. New Mexico WSU UNLV Utah Virginia Tech Miami Clemson Florida St. Michigan Northwestern Kansas City Oakland Buffalo New England Miami Detroit Tampa Bay Atlanta San Francisco New Orleans Name Phone: cross country takes Big Sky During the early part of the race, NAU had four women in front of WSU's runners. "We wanted it that way," said Coach Jim Blaisdell. 'That way we could see where NAU was.' At the two-mile mark the Lady Wildcats made their move and went to work catching up with NAU. When the WSU runners began passing NAU runners, the Lumberjacks fell apart. They couldn't keep up with us," Blaisdell said. "We had four girls in before NAU's second place runner."Weber placed five of the top 1 0 runners in the race. In Big Sky competition the top 10 runners earn First Team All Big Sky honors. This (!.' -OK"-''' 4 jK ,- . .v- T9 FROM EACH MATCH-UP Stateyvs. Montana State w I Tiebreaker: Guess the score of the Western New Mexico WSU GUESS THE SCORE is the first time in WSU history that the top five scoring females have made the All Conference team. WSU placed runners in third, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. Included, in order of their finish, are Rebecca Bennion, Cynthia Losee, Genny Minnoch, Janae Johnson and Carrie Long, the sole senior on the team. This victory was special to Long as a senior. "I was amazed," Long said, "I can't find the words to explain how I feel. When we crossed the line in our pack, we knew we had won the Big Sky and we were all jumping up and down and running around trying to find anyone to celebrate with." Bennion ran the fastest time for Gordon and 'D' By Scott Boyson asst. sports editor The Signpost The football team improved its ranking in the Sports Network Division I-AA national poll, moving up from No. 24 to No. 20. With the offense struggling last week at Idaho State, it was the defense that kept the Wildcats in the game as the Wildcats held the Bengals from scoring any points late in the third quarter after an interception and a big return t, landed the Bengals on the 5 yard o line. "Our red zone defense has been a: 3 phenomenal this year," said free 2 safety Keenan Gordon, is The defense came up big again ending a Bengal drive early in the fourth quarter when Gordan inter- cepted ISU's Shane Griggs' pass to DeRonn Finley after the ball was 2 tipped by WSU's Spencer Sigoda. 8 Even though the Wildcats allowed o the third most passing yards of the season to Idaho State, they were able to keep the Bengals out of the end . zone when it really counted. Gordon attributes much of the SIGNPOST PICKS Jose Carvajal Scott Boyson Mark Gray Brody Purser (50-39) (52-37) (50-39) (51-38) WSU WSU WSU WSU Utah UNLV Utah Utah Miami Miami Miami Virginia Tech Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Florida St. Michigan Michigan Northwestern Northwestern Oakland Oakland Oakland Oakland Buffalo Buffalo New England Buffalo Detroit Miami Detroit Miami Atlanta Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Tampa Bay I New Orleans San Francisco San Francisco San Franciscol RULES: Circle he w inner of each aame. tear nut the entry torm and bring it in m the Siitnpust office in r;iom 267 of the Shepherd Union Building by 5 p.m. this Friday. Only one entry per WSU student, faculty, or staff member. The person u ho picks the most u inners of each of the games correctly wins a large specially piva from Pier 49 San Francisco Sourdough Pij. In the event of a tie. the piv.a vvill ito to the one u ho picks the closest score of the upcoming WSU game. the 'Cats at 17:39:33. "I knew going into the race I could place in the top five," Bennion said. "When 1 placed third, I was very pleased. It was more exciting to see all the hard work of our team paid off." As for the men, they did not fare as well as the women, but did finish a very close second to the No. 5 team in the country, NAU. NAU beat the Wildcats with a score of 31-41. "We knew NAU was fifth in the nation going into the race, and that it was going to be a battle," Coach Chick Hislop said. "It was so close, that now our guys know we can beat NAU in regionals." See Cross page 1 1 getting it done defense's success to maturity and experience. "With this year's defense compared to last year's, everybody has a year of experience," said senior free safety Keenan Gordon. "Last year we had a lot of first-year guys starting on defense so they didn't really know what to expect for the Big Sky." Of the defense, 1 1 are seniors, all with at least one year of varsity play or junior college experience. In addition to the experience factor, the 'Cats are slacked with defensive Big Sky Honors candidates. Both weakside linebacker Jason Allen and Gordon were named to the Second Team All-Big Sky in 1999. Defensive tackle Joel Barrow was named Honorable Mention All-Big Sky in 1998 and senior defensive end Aaron Pelch earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky in 1999. One key to Gordon's performance is his attitude toward the game, even when he makes a mistake."If I do give up a big play I am able to come back and shrug that one off as opposed to my younger See Gordon page 1 1 10) Support your local athlete Jose " 'I Carvajal sports U editor As far as athletics goes, Weber State isn't doing too poorly for itself. With the unexpected success of the football team and the recent, expected success of both the men's and women's cross country teams. Wildcat fans have a lot to be excited about. And they're starting to show their school spirit. The spirit was in Pocatello, Idaho Saturday. As the 'Cats battled with the Bengals in a key Big Sky game, WSU fans filled almost an entire section at Holt 1 Arena. And as some sports continue their seasons, and some are just beginning, it's up to the fans to keep it going. Vital to any athletic program are students having school spirit and showing it. The women's volleyball team is still making a run at the conference tournariient and will have its final home match Thursday against Idaho State. As they're winding down, the men's and women's basketball teams are just beginning. Your student fees are going to , these athletes and it's your responsibility to take advantage of the entertainment they offer. The least you can do is go and socialize. Heaven knows there isn't much else to do in Ogden. But go. To an athlete, there's a difference between playing in front of a sold-out crowd than playing in front of a few hundred fans. And now you can't claim that they're not winning, because they are. And they're not just winning, they're winning because you're paying for it. So go out and take a look at what you're paying for. It's the least you can do. CONGRATS TO THIS WEEK'S WINNER Larry Birt 77M 1 |