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Show Monday, April 24, 2006 Sports Sports Editor: Jonathan McBride Phone: 626-7983 White defeats purple 28-17 By M. Jared Wilhelmsen asst. sports editor j The Signpost On a sunny spring day, the Weber State University football team completed, their spring program with a little scrimmage called the purple and white game. Unfortunately for the purple team, the white team got the better of them, easily defeating them 28-7 in front of a couple hundred people at Stewart Stadium. "I thought the white team were real smooth in what they were doing," said Ron McBride, Weber State head football coach. "The purple team wasn't smooth. It was a matter of one side was smooth and one side wasn't." The white team, coached by Matt Hammer, looked good on the offensive side of the ball, leading his team to victory. The white team got on the Scoreboard first when junior running back Adrian Con way put the ball across the goal line on a 1-yard run. Purple quickly responded when senior wide receiver Terry Larsen caught a senior quarterback Shawn Wood pass for a 14yard touchdown reception. The fans cheered for every good play, not caring which team was winning. The atmosphere on the field was pretty light-hearted. Nobody was going all out, trying to impress anyone else. It was a nice, friendly game, but at the same time, it was still very competitive. Neither team wanted to lose the game; it was a matter of pride, as Weber State senior quarterback Ian Pizarro put it. "It's all about pride," Pizarro said. "We had no bets going on, at least I didn't bets are against NCAA rules." Leading the white team to victory was Pizarro, who was named the Wildcats starting quarterback at the start of the regular season in August. Pizarro finished the game 12-19 in passing with 136 yards in the air and two touchdowns. "Pizarro was nice and smooth," McBride said. "He took charge of the huddle and made passes when he needed to make them." For the purple team, Woods was 6-14 passing with 73 yards and one touchdown. One outstanding player for Weber State was senior linebacker Brady Neilson, who finished the game with nine tackles, one of which was unassisted. Another, junior defensive lineman B. Weber State University freshman Trevyn Smith for the purple team tries to get away from a defender from the white team on Saturday during the purple and white game at the Weber State University Stewart Stadium. The white easily defeated the purple team 28-7 in front of a couple hundred fans. A. Harrell, finished the game with seven tackles, three of which were unassisted. This will be the last time the coaches get to work with the players until fall practice begins. Many of the players are going to stay on campus this summer, working in the weight room with other teammates and trying to get better in their certain positions. Many of the team members are optimistic about next season's team and are looking forward to the beginning of the season. McBride was impressed with backup Men finish season with win S^^^S^I^ P H O T O [IV BRICE KELSCH | Itl! sir.\TO-il Weber State University men's tennis player Mathis Saberon chases down the ball during his match Friday against the University of Northern Colorado. Saberon won his singles match 6-3, 6-4. By M. Jared Wilhelmsen asst. sports editor | The Signpost The Weber State University men's tennis team knew this would be their last game of the season and they went out strong to defeat the University of Northern Colorado 6-1 at Weber State's Edman Courts Friday. "We played good, it was a good match for the seniors to finish with," said Jared Bumham, Weber State men's tennis head coach. Weber Slate started the match strong, winning the doubles point when they won two out of the three doubles matches. The Wildcats continued their domination as they tookfive out of thesixsingles matches for the 6-1 victory. The two outstanding Weber State freshmen Sascha Kiehne and Fabio Mancarella both dominated their opponents and easily won their matches. Kiehne only lost two games in his singles matches and easily defeated opponent Chris Minihan 6-1, 6-1. Mancarella also only lost two games during liis singles match against Pete Weyhrich and quickly defeated him 6-0,6-2. "Those two went out and took care of business today," Bumham said. "They really played well." Weber State senior Mathis Saberon won his match at the No. 3 seed 6-3, 6-4, hanging on to win his last match as a Wildcat. The other Weber State senior, Zach Rideout, also won his final match as a Wildcat, defeating Paul Tschetter 6-1, 6-1. The final Wildcat to win on Friday was freshman Chris Williams, who won 6-4,6-0. "Individually, we had a lot more success today," Bumham said. "It was kind of one of those years where everybody didn't play well every match." Weber State failed to make die Big Sky Conference tournament this year, finishing with a 5-18 overall record and a 0-5 conference record. Coach Burnham anticipated this would be a season of learning. With the majority of the Weber State players being freshman and never playing at a collegiate level before, Bumham knew his team would have to learn through experience. "There is no quick fix in tennis," Bumham said. "The more you play the better they can be." Burnham is staying positive about next season and the returning players he will have. "I am really excited," Bumham said. "With this talent coming back next year, we should do well." You can reach reporter M. Jared Wilhelmsen by calling 626-7983. quarterback Woods, and especially Pizarro. McBride also talked about how well he thought the corners did against the receivers. With the purple and white now in the books, Stewart Stadium will remain empty for a while until Weber State kicks off the fall season irr*August. "\ am glad that I could come back," Pizarro said. "My goal is to be the best quarterback in the Big Sky and lead my team to victory." You can reach reporter M. Jared Wilhelmsen by calling 626-7983. First round woes too much to overcome By M. Jared Wilhelmsen asst. sports editor | The Signpost The Weber State University women's golf team wrapped up their 2005-06 season with a seventh-place finish at the Big Sky Championship at Palm Valley Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz., Wednesday. "We kind of dug ourselves a hole the first day," said Jeff Smith, Weber State women's golf head coach. "Nobody played well the first day." Weber State could not rebound from a disappointing opening round of 323, which put them in last place after day one of the tournament. The Wildcats did much better in the final two rounds, shooting a 308 and a 304, but were only able to hurdle one team to finish in seventh. The second and third round totals were the fourth-best of the tournament on their respective days. If it weren't for their round of golf, the Wildcats would have been in the hunt for a Big Sky Championship. The University of Montana topped the Scoreboard with a 54-hole total of 904 to take home the first-place finish. Weber State shot a combined score of 935 for the tournament. "We were right there the second and third day," Smith said. "The key to college golf is consistency; two-thirds of it was a great success and one-third of it wasn't." Weber State was again led by sophomore Katie Higham who shot rounds of 78, 74 and 74 for a three-round total of 239. This tied her for sixth place individually. Weber State senior Amy Mombert and sophomore Aubree Nickle both shot 237 to tie for 29th, while junior Jessica Thomas shot a 239 to tie her for 32nd and senior Heather Balli shot a 242 to finish tied for 39th. "Katie really played well and Aubreeprobablyimproved more than anyone else on the team," Smith said. "Aubree went from 10th to second throughout the year." It seemed to be an upa n d -dow n season for the Lady 'Cats. When the team would not place well in one tournament, they would rebound the next. In Weber State's first match of the season at the Colorado State University Ram Fall Classic, the Wildcats finished in 16th place. Weber State would respond to the poor finish in their next match at Wolf Pack Invitational, finishing in sixth place. The Wildcats could not keep their momentum and finished 15th at the Heather Fan* Memorial. Just like history predicts, Weber State rebounded in their final match of 2005, getting a seventh-place finish at the Boise State Fall Classic. The Wildcats would then have to wait out the long Utah winter, not being able to practice very often, and when they did, it was only driving from a tee box into the snow on a cold day. In early March, the Wildcats were back in action at the Montana State Bobcat Desert Classic where they finished 13th. The best tournament of the season for Weber State was their next match at the Northern Illinois Snowbird Classic where Weber State finished third. At this tournament, Weber State played some great golf. Their final round 307 was the secondbest round by any team. In the next two tournaments Weber State finished in 15thand 16th-place. "We played well throughout the season," Smith said. "We were able to get some young kids some good experience." Weber State is going to have to replace two players now that the season is over. Balli and Mombert are both seniors and will not be back next season due to graduation. This creates a little hole for Coach Smith. Balii and Mombert were two of his more consistent players. Mombert and Balli are both Academic Ail-Americans. "They're just great leaders, and they are great student athletes," Smith said. "They're as good as I have ever had. They took care of a lot of stuff for me and all the girls look up to them." Weber State will now look for some of their younger players to step up and take the role Balli and Mombert will leave behind. With Higham only a junior, a big part of the Weber State tram will still be here. Smith is expecting Higham to be the one the girls look to. Smith commented that he is not worried and knows the women will do well next year and will step up to the challenge. You can reach reporter M, Jared Wilhelmsen by calling 626-7983. |