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Show Thursday. May 30. 1991 The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Eleven Sports U was a year for Lady Utes ireGOirdl-settoim- g r Softball team's future looks bright By Clifton Schmidt Chronicle Sports Writer Now that the softball season has officially ended for the Lady Utes, it's time to take a look back at their season. While Utah started and ended the season on sour notes, they accomplished a great deal during the time in between. When the Utes began to practice way back in January, they had high hopes for a better season than the year before. That year, head coach Jo Evans' first at the Ute helm, they finished last in the WAC. This year started though, as rough as the year before had ended. One week into practice, two Utes quit and depleted the Utah forces. Evans termed it a "critical time" for the team, which felt discouraged and let down, and they hadn't even played a game yet. accomplishments were great. Green became the Ute career leader in batting average at .342, was WAC Player of the Year and a "That was another low of the second season," said Evans but she felt that her team would be ready to play when conference time rolled-aroun- d. Before that time, however, a trip to the Midwest was on the schedule. Utah cruised through it, going 2 and winning the Illinois State 7-- Tournament. Utah then opened WAC play against the preseason favored New Mexico Lobos. The two teams split and the Utes gained needed confidence by beating the 16th ranked team in the country. From there on, Utah cruised through their WAC schedule, winning the regular season title on the last game of the season against San Diego State. After two 0 losses to Utah State, it was time for the WAC tournament and everybody knows what happened there. Utah and Creighton met for the title and played two games, lasting 56 innings, with the Utes eventually coming out on top. "That was really a big accomplishment for our team but I think they were too exhausted after winning to realize what they had done," Evans added. Utah's biggest high of the season came when they went to Texas A&M for their regional in the NCAA Tournament. There, they defeated the Aggies in the final and advanced an fire the first game of the season. At the UNLV Spring Tournament, Utah was put up against No. 1 ranked and defending national champion UCLA. to the College World Series. At the series, a 0 loss to No. 2 ranked Fresno State wasn't bad, but their ousting, 0 defeat at the hands of Missouri was a painful one. In 2-- played tough against the Utes Bruins but eventually lost Though they lost that game, it set the tone for the season that the Utes 5-- 3. wouldn't be afraid of any team. 2-- fact Evans termed it, "the biggest low of the year." team fk i v v-- ' But while they ended the season with a loss, the Utes' 1-- In retrospect, the departures probably helped the team more than they hurt the team. The Utes had a meeting, aired their feelings and decided to pull together. But as the team was pulling together, their play was still in doubt. While the outfield looked good, being anchored by returning Charmelle Green and the pitching staff's two returning starters, the infield was very suspect, with four freshmen starting. They were quickly thrown into the The Utah went 3-- 2 in the tournament and felt good about what they had done. A week later, though, they lost four straight games on a road trip to Arizona and Arizona State. . .. it (fj ' y f an selection. Janet Womack tied the Ute record for most victories in a season with a 22-1- 0 record, pitched a against Colorado State in the WAC no-hitt- er Tournament and became the U. career strikeout leader. While Womack received most of the attention, Melissa Halkinrude had a fine 6 record. 6-- Most importantly, that young infield has now played a year and has the experience of playing at the College World Series. "The infield is going to be stronger than this year after competing in the world series," Evans said. "It will give them a lot of confidence." While the Utes only lose two seniors, Evans feels that the leadership and playing ability of Green and Christina Freeman will be missed. "How do you replace a Charmelle Green?" Evans commented. Well, she is certainly trying. Already Utah has recruits to fill in the pitching, hitting and fielding needs they have. Evans said that Utah won't have to fill in a coaching need. Because of her team's success, she has already received offers for head positions at other schools but says she will stay put at the U. "If I had been here four or five years and we had accomplished what we did this year, I might think about it," Evans said. "But I'm not considering leaving at this point." Now that the Utes have had such a successful year, will they be able The Lady Ute softball team had their most successful season since 1985 this year. While the season ended on a sour note at the College World Series, the Utes had plenty of reasons to give each other high-five- s during the year. to repeat next year? Evans feels that they have the talent to do so. "We know how to win, what it feels like and where we want to be... we won't settle for anything less than this year," Evans said. If the Lady Utes can accomplish next year what they did this year, it's too bad we have to wait 12 months for it to happen. Air Jordan will make for a vs. Magic Graf back to old form NBA final series match memorable with French Open win But if Graf By she year, Associated Press Writer return It looks like Steffi Graf is back, whipping opponents in less than an hour, as she did when she was No. 1 in women's tennis, Graf moved quickly into the third round of the French " with Wednesday a 6-- 1, victory over Petra 6-- Langrova ot Czechoslovakia. took about 45 minutes. Back in the good old days, like 1988 when Graf was on her way to the Golden Slam the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic medal she routinely gold opponents in less than an hour. She won the French Open final that year in 33 minutes, dispatching Natalie -- of the Soviet Union. Plagued by problems in 1990 that affected her play, Graf was replaced atop the Zvereva rankings by Monica Seles last fall. Seles beat Graf in the 1990 French Open final. A sinus ailment and constant pestering about the relationship between Graf's father and a model took its toll on her tennis. attention off her. "Maybe because I'm not the No 1 favorite to win and that helps a little," Graf said. "But it has more to do with me personally. A "I 0 It the top. thinks being the underdog will help take the Graf Open wins in Paris this can erase the slim margin that Seles has and to Salvatore Zanca different person year. I wasn't into am a. than last the tournament as I think I am now. I am more eager and playing better than I did at this stage last year," she said, d Graf Had a tough match against Magagalena first-roun- . the Maleeva, three Graf youngest of the Bulgarian-bor- was n sisters. extended into a in the second set, the first time she needed to go to a tiebreak in the first round since 1985 in a Grand Slam tournament. But that gave her motivation tiebreaker for the second round. "I wanted to play better today and that's why I was a little more motivated, said, Grafs third-roun- d Graf match is against Shaun Stafford, a former NCAA champion from the University of Florida. Fasten your seatbelts, sportsfans, 1991 NBA Finals should make for a memorable ride. In what is an NBC executive's dream matchup, the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Magic Johnson, will represent the Western Conference against the newly crowned Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls and Michael Air Jordan. It should not only be a ratings winner on television (what with teams from two of the nation's three biggest markets involved not to mention the world's two best players to keep the rest of the country glued to the tube), but will be one of the most intriguing championship series in any sport in a long time. Analyzing the series may be jumping the gun a bit, what with the Lakers still needing a win over Portland to clinch the Western Conference title, but the HollywoodWindy City final is as good as set in stone. The Trail Blazers may have had the best record in basketball during the regular season, but let's face it, they dug themselves into too big of a hole in losing three of the first four games against L.A. Those of you who feel the Lakers will lose three straight are probably either from the the Great Northwest, still hung over from Mayfest or BYU fans who feel e will pull it Danny out somehow (just like he did against that abominable Catholic school in the 81 NCAA what's-his-nam- tournament). WRITE THE EDITOR! Loren Jorgensen the Get real. At about 9:30 p.m. tonight in the Great Western Forum the Lakers Chronicle Sports Editor will be congratulating each other for being the best in the west, all the while preparing for the upcoming league championship series against the Bulls. It's a tribute to the Lakers and coach Mike particularly to first-year Dunleavy that L.A. is one game away from "Showtime" again. A year ago the Lakers, the team that owned the Western Conference in the 1980s, were embarrassed in a second-roun- d playoff series against the Phoenix Suns. When Pat Riley decided to step down as coach, many experts felt the dynasty was definitely over. The offseason additions of Sam Perkins and Terry Teagle would help, but the fact remained that Portland, Phoenix, San Antonio and even Utah appeared at least as strong, if not stronger, than the Lakers. The Laker naysayers seemed to have valid arguments, especially when L.A. started the season off on a horrible note during the first month of the season. The Lakers had problems off the court as well, not the least of which came when star forward James Worthy asked a certain Houston escort service to do more than the law would allow. He ended up being escorted to jail. Yet despite losing regularly at the beginning of the year, the Lakers bounced back and started looking like the team of old. They even took over the Pacific Division lead for a short period of time midway through the season, before settling for the second best record in the Western Conference. Now they find themselves in a familiar position as June approaches headed for the NBA Finals. The Bulls, in contrast, are in unchartered water for them. The franchise, in 25 years of existence, has never been to the finals before. It's about time especially for Jordan, who is the most flamboyant, if not best player ever. He's been a human highlight film for seven years in the NBA, and now, with Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and others to compliment him, he's on a team capable of winning the whole enchilada. The Bulls have looked unbeatable, dropping just one of 12 games in the playoffs and easily knocking off the defending champion Detroit Pistons, but the finals will be far from a cakewalk. For one thing, the Eastern Conference isn't as strong as the west. If the Bulls had played Houston, Golden State and Portland to get to the finals (as the Lakers have) there is little doubt they would have more than a single playoff loss. The Lakers and Magic, with their finals experience, will be a stiff test for the Bulls. It should be a series to remember with Chicago edging the Bulls in seven. |
