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Show Thursday, March 8, 2007 Page 10 Sports T'Wolves ( nut iimi'd jrnm ', X who could ;ilso make a major impact Jordan dcl.isle is coming com-ing oil of an injury suffered at the beginning of last year, hut he's been throwing well thus lar Taylor Lyons, Nelson, Nel-son, and fanner Wolfe will probably also see lime on the mound ' I .vn though we don't have someone you can throw up there that will shut learns down like we've had when we weie really successful, I feel like we have the pitching that will help us win games," Nelson said "If someone's not having a very good day, there's no reason to slick with him for a long lime, we'll jusl give someone else a chance. I would feel good about lour or live, and maybe even six pitchers who I think ( ould be successful on the mound " I radilionally, olfense is on ol I impanogos' strengths and it should be again Ibis year. I he lop returnee on olfense is junior shortstop Brett Lope., who hil . !'') last year as a sophomore, good enough for second on the team. "I le's not only a good ollensive player, but he's woi ked hard to improve his defense. I le's also had a lot of success over the summer," sum-mer," Nelson said of his star shoi Islop "I le's going to he a verv . very good player." I he I Wolves' trio of speedy outfielders, I owler, Robbie Carler, and Lyons, will also be counted on to help carry the offensive burden. "They can really run, and we're hoping that can be and advantage to us," Nelson said. "But obviously we haven't figured out how to steal first base yel, so we have to get people on base to make things happen. We're not really going go-ing to be a long ball team, we'll have to play for a run or a few runs in an inning, but I like our chalices." I-1 oni a delensive standpoint, stand-point, the outfield will be one of the slate's best with I owler, Carler, Lyons, and (irant Jimenez chasing down fly balls. " I luce ol the four have sprinter speed, so it could be a very good outfield. Nash, Robbie and Taylor have outstanding out-standing speed," Nelson said. " Irant Jimenez is also a very good outfielder. He doesn't run quite as well, but I think he's as good as the other three." The infield should also be solid with Lopez, and second baseman Jordan Cooper providing pro-viding the double play com-bination com-bination The corner spots remain a bit of a question mark, and will depend in part on who is pitching. The T'Wolves return their starting catcher in Jordan Sperry. Mitch Foster could also see some playing time behind the plate, and his bat should be a force in the middle mid-dle of the lineup. Although the program has only four seniors, don't count Timpanogos out this season, or any other season. With one of the state's top coaches, and more tradition in the program's brief existence than most other schools will ever have, the T'Wolves will find a way to win more often than not. 1 impanogos' season starts Friday with a home game against Springville. The T'Wolves' schedule is highlighted high-lighted by a trip to San Diego for a tournament in the beginning begin-ning of April. WANTS WATER, WELL RIGHTS & IRRIGATION. Call Ross at 642-0119 Looking For a Great UKI'K. mt )t JF Jr -rJl wnJi Richard K. Sharp, M.D Family Practice 766-4214 We Accept Most n Insumnrifi Plnns r J DrvCreek UVSC men's hoops finishes best Division season in school history with a victory Jeff Mathewson Mi I'Al ii ' ',W'I ,1'ONU 111 Saturday night was a night of accomplishments for the men's basketball team of Utah's newest university. Setting a school record for the most wins at the Division I level in a single season, finishing finish-ing the 2006-07 campaign on a nine-game winning streak and sending its four starting seniors se-niors out with a home victory were just a few of UVSC's achievements on Saturday. Those weren't the only things that had UVSC head coach Dick llunsaker grinning from ear-to-ear. 1 lis Wolverines also captured cap-tured the United Basketball League championship in the process, using a huge second-half second-half run to get by Texas Pan-American, Pan-American, (Sfi-57. "It's terrific to come out and win a championship and I couldn't say enough good things about this team and the wonderful ride we have had this year," Hunsaker said. "This team has exceeded expectations. It's a real special time and a special run for Utah Trio of Wolverine hoopsters earn honors NOR Ml ( OUNIY finishing the 2006-07 season with a 22-7 record and 12-1 mark against fellow Division I Independents has earned Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker and sophomore guard Ryan Toolson postseason recognition. recogni-tion. Toolson was named Col-legeinsider.com Col-legeinsider.com Independent MVP and Hunsaker was named Collegeinsider.com Independent In-dependent Coach of the Year. Toolson led UVSC in scoring scor-ing at 15.5 points a game. He led the nation in free throw percentage (97 percent, 96-of-99), the second-best mark in NCAA history. He had streaks where he hit 43 and 44 consecutive con-secutive free throws. The Wolverine guard had nine games where he scored 20 points or more and he scored in double figures in 23 of 29 games. Toolson shot 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line. He scored a career-high 28 points in a home win over New Jersey Tech. In that game he was 8-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the 3-point 3-point line. "Ryan had a tremendous season and the recognition is very deserving," Hunsaker said. Hunsaker boasts a 104-43 104-43 record in five seasons at UVSC. This year he helped guide the Wolverines to the best finish by an Independent school since Notre Dame finished fin-ished 23-6 in 1985-86. Hunsaker Hunsak-er picked up win 100 when his team beat North Dakota State 66-64 on February 15. v " Valley State." Throughout the first half, UVSC was outplayed by the Broncs and found themselves in a .'50-27 hole early in the second sec-ond half. However, the home team's luck quickly changed, thanks in large part to the blistering shooting of Andy Toolson. Toolson came off the bench to give his team a much-needed much-needed spark, leading the Wolverines on a 20-5 run over the next six minutes to put his team up 47-35. T(xlson was unconscious from the field all night, drilling 9-of-15 shots on his way to a game-high 26 points. Unfortunately for the boys from Edinburgh, Tex, Tool-son Tool-son wasn't the Wolverine raining down on them from outside. Senior David Heck combined com-bined with Toolson to make a lethal 1-2 punch from outside. Heck drilled two of his three treys in the Wolverine run, finishing with 13 points in his UVSC swan song. "Toolson's my shooting buddy," bud-dy," Heck said. "If I see him open, I pass it to him and if he - if . - 'm-'xi1 ? r' Aft ft I i j. 1t, i . v IHL ; : COBB CONDIENorlh County UVSC's Ryan Toolson shoots in traffic ugainst North Dakota State on Feb. 15 at the McKay Events Center. "Any coaching award is a tribute to your staff and players," play-ers," Hunsaker said. Fairbanks honored: UVSC sophomore Robyn Fairbanks was named the Division I Independent Inde-pendent Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Tuesday, Tues-day, the second week in a row and sixth time this season she has earned the award. The Canadian center and All-America candidate capped an impressive season with 29 I W Gift Cards y from Gardner Village Buy online nt gardnervillage.com c 2m -Wm 2m82E) Prosper K one of the fastest growing companies anil jusl opened a new office. Are you motivated to make up to 1 20k this year? Do you enjoy working in an energetic environment? OUR SALES CONSULTANTS ENJOY: No (old Calling Professional Work Environment, Flexible hours Full Benefits available Weekly Payroll and Spiffs Convenient Office Access Paid Training Multimillion Dollar Monthly Sales Quality leads provided call (866) 602-3640 x-6S9i ft apply online visit our website: www.prospercareers.com Or email your resume to suessprosperieorning com sees me open, he passes to me. We definitely got something going." With Toolson and Heck lighting it up from outside, the Broncs didn't stand a chance, as the Wolverines continued to pour it on to earn their 22nd victory of the season. With the victory, the Wolverines Wol-verines finished with the best record out of any Independent school since Notre Dame finished fin-ished 23-6 in the '85-'86 season and nobody was more proud than coach Hunsaker. "It's been a real thrill to coach these kids this year," he said. "There are still a lot of hard knocks, work and battles to go through for this program, but right now, we're just going to enjoy this time that we have." I UVSC women cap season with win vs. Texas Pan-Am: The Utah Valley State College women's basketball team capped its most successful season at the NCAA Division I level with a 60-53 win at Texas-Pan American Ameri-can on Saturday. The Wolverines finished the season with a 15-13 record. points and 12 rebounds for her 1 1th double-double of the season sea-son in UVSC's only game of the week, a win at Texas-Pan American. She was ll-for-16 from the floor and also had one block and one steal. Fairbanks is fourth nationally national-ly in scoring with a 23.7 points per game average. She finished fin-ished the season ranked first among independent players in scoring and field goal percentage percent-age and second in rebounding. including a 5-5 mark in United Basketball League play. "It feels great. It's an amazing amaz-ing accomplishment," said UVSC head coach Cathy Nixon of the team's first winning season sea-son since jumping to Division I. "I told them after the game that it's the biggest credit to them how they've worked hard and stayed focused all year." Robyn Fairbanks recorded her 1 1th double-double of an impressive sophomore season with 29 points and 12 rebounds while shooting ll-for-16 from the field. "She's carried us all year long," Nixon said. "It's not easy to do when every single game teams have focused so much on stopping her." Rebekah Peterson had 12 points and six rebounds for the Wolverines, who hit 51 percent per-cent from the field while holding hold-ing the Lady Broncs (12-17) to 30 percent. Peterson kept the Wolverines Wolver-ines afloat offensively early in the first half when both teams were struggling to hit a field goal. Peterson scored on a driving layup and hit a 3 from Brinkerhoff goes the distance, Heaps homers in UVSC win NORTH COUNTY LEWISTON, Idaho Freshman Fresh-man Jace Brinkerhoff pitched a complete-game six -hitter in UVSC's 7-3 win over Air Force on Saturday at the Banana Belt Tournament. The Wolverines Wol-verines improved to 3-8 on the season with the win while Air Force dropped to 4-1 1. Brinkerhoff struck out seven and walked one in earning earn-ing his first collegiate victory on the mound. Kevin Arendse, another young freshman, caught the game for Brinkerhoff Brinker-hoff in his first collegiate start behind the plate. UVSC struck first on an RBI single from Josh Hinckley Hinck-ley scored Tyler Garretson. The game remained 1-0 until a four-run fourth inning gave the Wolverines a cushion. UVSC scored all four runs after af-ter its first two batters of the inning were retired. Austin Heaps hit his first home run of the year for the first run of the fourth before Ryan Jones drove home a run and Dan Bulow added a two-run two-run single. Air Force got on the board in the fifth with a single run but that was answered when Heaps added another RBI on a sac-fly to score Adam Open-shaw. Open-shaw. Matt Alexander hit a two-run two-run home run in the sixth for the Falcons to trim the lead to 6-3 before Bulow doubled home another run, his third RBI of the day, for the final 7-3 margin. Heaps and Bulow accounted account-ed for four of UVSC's eight hits and five of the seven runs scored on the day. Washington State 17, UVSC 7: At Pullman, Wash., Washington Washing-ton State pounded out 13 hits, and Utah Valley State pitchers Spring Ahead to the Habitat for Humanity Restore! OUTLET PRICES on r New & Used Building Materials: v Cabinets, countertops, lighting, doors, windows, & much more! Stop hibernating and spruce up your home for Spring! HaWtat for Humanity j J9 South 1680 West, Orem riCly 801-344-8527 www.hfhuc.org lfilu)l f (Call for directions and hours) the corner as part of a 13-5 UVSC run. Fairbanks scored on four straight field goals in the first half to help the Wolverines build a 27-19 lead at the break. Fairbanks hit 6-of-9 in the half for 12 points while Peterson scored nine points. After scoring the final four points of the first half, Fairbanks, Fair-banks, Sandy Marvin and Julie McMurray all hit 3-pointers and Fairbanks hit a jumper to begin the second-half scoring for UVSC, stretching the run to 15-1 and building a 38-21 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the game. The Lady Broncs didn't get (heir first field goal of the second sec-ond half until Tiona Wilson hit a jumper with 13:46 left in the game, cutting the UVSC lead to 38-23. McMurray hit another 3 and Fairbanks scored and was fouled to catapult the lead to 44-25. The lead was still 19 at 49-30 49-30 when UTPA made a game of it, using an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 4940 with 3:40 on a three-point play from Robin Garrett. walked 14 Cougars and hit four others as Washington State beat UVSC 17-7 in the first day of the Banana Belt Tournament on Thursday. The Wolverines got two hits and three RBI from sophomore DH Josh Hinckley, who gave UVSC an early 2-0 lead on a double in the top of the first inning. But from there, it was all Washington State, as the home team capitalized on UVSC's inability to hit the strike zone, scoring seven straight runs to take a 7-2 lead after four innings. WSLTs Matt Fanelli capped a two-out rally in a four-run fourth inning with a single that scored Zach Borba and Jared Prince. Wolverine first baseman Dan Bulow had an RBI single and later scored on a balk in a three-run three-run fifth to momentarily get UVSC back in the game at 7-5. But the Cougars quickly put the game out of reach with a six-run six-run inning to take a 13-5 lead. k Wolverine Softball teams drops two: At Tempe, Ariz., the UVSC softball team dropped its first two games of the WilsonDeMarini Sun Devil Dev-il Invitational, losing to North Florida 84 and Houston 7-6. UVSC had leads in both games but allowed Houston and North Florida to score the bulk of their runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. "We have to keep improving improv-ing and recognize that despite the two losses," said UVSC coach Todd Fairbourne. Natalie Paulsen was the top hitter for UVSC in the two games, going 3-for-6 with four RBI. She hit a two-run home run against North Florida and she had a two-RBI single to go along with her double against the Cougars. |