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Show Thursday, April 13, 1989 Chronicle - Page Ten PORT Ahone, Portgll end Ute oaveem NCAA Jim tourney will be last high note for seniors Burton. Baseball By Dirk Facer Chronicle assistant sports editor national championships will also represent the end of their collegiate careers. Ahone, a graduate of Cottonwood High, and Portell, a 1988-89 When the women's gymnastics season connative of Yakima, Wash., share more than just their final cludes at the NCAA Championships Saturday night, the meet In 1986 as freshmen, both gymnasts were members curtain will fall on more than just the current campaign. of the Lady Utes' last national championship team. In For Utah seniors Sonja Ahone and Hilarie Portell, the addition, they share common ground academically as well. Last quarter the tumblers earned perfect 4.0 GPAs. ' "Sonja and Hilarie have really been good, consistent performers for us," Utah Coach Greg Marsden said. "They are stable, both in athletics and academics." Consistency has become a trademark for the senior tumbling duo., Ahone is a steady competitor on the vault and in the floor exercise for the Lady Utes, while Portell,5 an performer, excels on the uneven bars and on the balance beam. Career bests for Ahone include a 9.80 on the vault and a 9.65 in the floor exercise, while Portell counters with top scores of 9.60 on the vault, 9.70 on the beam and floor routines and 9.85 on the bars. As their gymnastics careers at the U. near an end, neither Ahone nor Portell is taking time to concentrate on anything else but the upcoming national championships. "I think this team is by far the strongest we have had since I've been here. But on the same token, some other teams have become equally as strong," Portell said. "Me and Sonja were here through the dynasty stage and evolved into now. If we win, it would be quite an accomplishment." "I'm not thinking about this being my last meet too much. I'm just trying to' enjoy it," Ahone added. "I feel V , like if we caii just go out there and do our job, do the best we can and have fun, things will work out for the best." ' However, in a more reflective view, both gymnasts will v probably miss the program as much as the Lady Utes will no doubt miss tneir contributions. "Each year got better for me, but I would have to say the last two were the most satisfying," said Ahone, who plans on opening her own marketing business after com- -' pleting her education. "But when I looked up in the crowd at regionals, I knew I would miss competing." Portell, who is considering attending law school,: echoed similar feelings about concluding her stellar gymChronicle photo by Aaron Ashcraft nastics career. : :, -Utah seniors Hilarie Portell and Sonja Ahone lead the ' an emotional thing to think about, but I have had so NCAA Ute the into team 1989 gymLady gymnastics many special moments," Portell said. 'Perhaps that's what nastics championships this weekend in Athens, Ga. has been so fulfilling about this year. I've put gymnastics Both gymnasts will finish their collegiate careers at the in perspective. I've always done gymnastics because I love it. This has been the most fulfilling year of my life." competition. ,r " , v --"It- u r ff; the Student places at national meet , Chronicle sports writer - wS' JlimBtBlll iliilnMO). Milium rwi riii iiMr trend. In the peak of ocean domain, it formed wheels, adapted to land and took on the identity of skateboarding. Welcome to the '80s. What came from water and settled on land has our V ; v v..-.- If you have enough change in your pocket, you can great Dodger Yankee World Series of the past. It's pretty fun controlling Whitey Ford against Duke Snider. A Rose by any other name wouldn't get so much publicity about a gambling problem. But Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle to his fans, may soon be banned from baseball because of his gambling. Not just any gambling either. CBS report- ed Monday that Rose had bet on Cincinati Reds games while he managed the team. If those charges are proved, Rose will be barred from the sport he has given so much to. A question to ponder about the whole Rose situation is; If Pete is found guilty and barred from baseball, should he still be admitted into the Hall of Fame? ; I say why not; the Hall is for great baseball players, not necessarily great men. And speaking of baseball controversy, let's give Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs a break. He was stupid enough to think he could get a way with four years of infidelity and a victim of bad luck when he picked a baseball groupie who wanted to make a fast buck a la Jessica Hahn. Boston area salesmen have made a fast buck off the Boggs affair. On Red Sox opening day Monday, shirts reading: ".356 lifetime batting average and you thought it was the chicken" referring to the longtime Boggs ritual of eating only cooked chicken on game day. re-ena- ct ' . 0-- 21 start. And speaking of early season hot shots, Texas Ranger shortstop Scott Fletcher is one of the AL's RBI leaders with six. Sure it's early, but Fletcher, who has gone for what seems like for- ever without a homer, seems to be earning the multimillions he signed just prior to the '89 sea- 9M ing. "I started snowboarding in North Carolina at age 19 and loved it," While planning his education, see "boarding" on page eleven ;.- ; 3-- ed Moller recalled. "I'd drive 15 hours just to ski for a day." But two or three times a year was a tease. There had to be a better way. with starting and reserve players, some current ; stars, like Jose Canseco and Dale Murphy, and old timers, like Carl Hubble and the Babe him-sel- f. Sure it's only the second week in the season, but howboiit them Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles? They are Nos. 1 and 3 in the AL East with only 154 games left. The Os' cur- rent 4 record is a far cry from last year's mountains. The sport of snowboard-in- g is shaking the nation. In a related cycle, snowboarding could silently transform a boy from the waters of Florida to the mountains of Utah. Case in point: Allan Moller,a University of Utah sophomore majoring in marketmild-manner- try. You can choose from several big league teams, T-sh- irt The surfboard shows a similar migrated to the mountains . . '"wwmip.,,',,, Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how, come on a safari with me. --The Beach Boys It began in water. Science tells us that life evolved from the ocean. Through progressiontransition and millions of years of development, we formed limbs and crawled to shore. . 's slopes on a siniowboairdl By Greg McGavin Let's go around the horn with some baseball bits. So you saythe grand old game is boring when a batter fouls off eight or nine pitches on a count, only to ground out to second for the inning's final out? Here are a few things you might try to make the world's most strategic : a little more fun: game ' for the Fantasy league baseball teams are fun whole family. All you need to do is get a few friends (or family members) together and form a league. Hold a draft where "owners" can pick a team made up of current ball players from around the big leagues. Pick nine players-o- ne at every position, including the designated hitter. Now that you have a league together, decide which offensive categories your players will be judged on. Runs batted in, stolen bases and average are three good stats to use. If you want to make the game easier and just as fun, try keeping only one stat, like RBI. To add even more fun to your new league, make up a schedule and have each team go head to head, You can bet each "owner" will be in a rush to get to the morning newspaper's sports page and check each player's stats. If you don't haye enough friends to form a fantasy league, just go down stairs in the Union building and give the video game " Atari RBI" a . nd . V to fantasy league - all-arou- r from Hall of Fame son. A couple of Utah players have begun the week with a nice start, St. George's Bruce Hurst threw a onehitter against the Braves on Monday. BYU's Cory Snyder drove in a personal record-tyin- g six RBI in Wednesday afternoon game against the Red Sox. -- t v : Chronicle photo by Kristan Jacobsen Allan Moller, a University of Utah sophomore, placed high in the National Collegiate Snowboarding Championships last week in Vermont. .' . |
