OCR Text |
Show m-T- he Daily Utah Spokes Frenz's Last Home Meet Will Feel Like I st a JAMES EDWARD Chronicle Assistant Sports Editor A little over four years agp a confident young gymnast arrived at the University of Utah with high expectations from both the coaches and from herself. Throughout the 1993 preseason, that confidence only increased for Alysa Frenz as she continued to make vast improvements. When the opening meet of the 93 campaign rolled around, the scene sliifted from the practice gym to the Huntsman Center. From that moment on gymnastics was never the same. "I was scared out of my mind," Frenz said about performing in her first collegiate meet over four years ago. hi that meet she only competed on ban and "totally messed up," she said. This weekend, when the Utes host Southern Utah in the Sizzler Supermect, the only thing different for Frenz will be that the year is 1996 instead of 1993. When it comes right down to it, nothing has changed for Frenz and her nerves competing in front of the large Utah crowds. "Each year it gets pushed in my face, and just when I think I'm getting better, I'm back to square one as soon as the season starts," Frenz said. If only the meets took place in the practice gym, where Frenz would be the calmest Ute on the team. Her uneasiness in competition is the absolute opposite of every other aspect of her life. Nothing seems to get her stomach churning except for the large crowds. There is no doubt in Frenz's mind why the roller coaster ride exists. Growing up in California, she competed for SCATS gymnastics club. It was a rare occasion for the gymnasts at the club to find themselves in an actual competition because the club focused almost exclusively on just practicing. This practicing approach lasted for seven years and it shows. That is a big part of my problem in college," Frenz said. "Because I never got the experience while I was younger to compete and get die confidence." Had Frenz known about her fear of spectators, maybe she would school instead. However, there was no have opted to attend a low-keof way knowing. nervousness, she doesn't regret for one Despite Frenz's career-lonsecond her decision to be a Ute. But she docs regret one thing as she prepares for her last regular season home meet this Saturday. "The fans arc so supportive, but I haven't taken full advantage of them, that's what I'm kind of sad about," Frenz said. There have been a couple meets throughout Frenz's career and she admits they were rare occasions where she wasn't afraid of the audience. It wasn't because she suddenly discovered the crowds' sup-see "Frenz" on page II "A Utah's Boy an 10-m- John Wooden Team Wednesday. Van Horn joins junior cen- ters Tim Duncan of Wake Forest and Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, junior guard Oil .'...riii. Ray Allen of Connecticut, senior guard Tony Delk of Kentucky, Cincinnati sophoforward more Danny Fortson, Georgetown sopho- ii.ii.iii Tech Stephon guard Marbury on the team. Van The Horn averaged 21.8 points and 9.2 rebounds during the season, leading his team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The Wooden team is voted on by 1,000 sports journalists across the country. The team was named Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Athletic more guard Allen Ivcrson, Club where The Wooden senior guard Kerry Kittles of Award for college basketball's Villanova, junior guard Jacque Vaughn, and Georgia player of the year will be awarded tonight. Pitino's Poised to Make Wildcats' Rematch with UMass a Roaring Success . 1 g - All-Americ- Utah forward Keith Van Horn was named to the y - Keith Van Horn Utah Chronicle Photo Jeff Beckstrand - While his team has the numbers, doesn't Rick Pitino believe that necessarily will add coach Kentucky Massachusetts over an to Saturday night in the Final advantage up LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) No Fear ... Not!: Alysa Frenz doesn't look nervous when she competes for Utah, but ever since her first collegiate meet in 1993, she has been scared to death of the big Ute crowds, and her fear hasn't decreased. Four. It certainly wasn't that much of a factor when Massachusetts prevailed 92-8over the Wildcats in the Great Eight on Nov. 28. Kentucky got much more production off its bench than did UMass 32-in scoring, 10-- 5 in rebounds and 12-- in assists. While a deep bench has been one of Kentucky's strengths this season, Pitino believes a thin bench has actually benefited Massachusetts. "Their lack of depth makes thema great basketball team," he said. "If they had to substitute and take (Edgar) Padilla, (Carmelo) Travieso or (Donta) Bright or those guys out of the game, they wouldn't be as 2 Benoit's Perfect Night Bucks Milwaukee Again - RICK VAZQUEZ Chronicle Sports Writer 0 0 good. The atmosphere was electric. Anticipation and excitement were pulsating through the air as the crowd waited with baited breath for the matchup with the storied "Our depth makes , Milwaukee Bucks. Well, not exactly. The Delta Center crowd probably had its biggest reaction of the night when Country recording artist Neil McCoy was shown on the arena Jumbotron. The rest of the night the Jazz, led by a performance by David Benoit (6-- FG), simply overpowered an inferior Bucks team, winning The victory marked Utah's 18th consecutive victory at home, and their 24th win out of their last 25 games in Salt 13th straight loss Lake City. It also marked a for the Bucks. To the Bucks' credit, they did manage to keep the audience awake for most of the game. After the Jazz opened with an 18-- run to start the contest, Milwaukee called on its secret weapon: the mighty Sherman Douglas. Douglas hit all five of the shots he took in the quarter, range. 'The Bucks closed including one from three-poin- t the quarter hitting seven of their final eight field goals, " closing the deficit to 28-1defense Buck over the interior soft the The Jazz attacked 6 98-8- team-recor- d 2 f N 9. a next two quarters by repeatedly driving to the basket where the Bucks were forced to foul. The Jazz got to the foul line 26 times where they connected for 21 points. -- Cold shooting coupled with sloppy, ball-handlin- g in the third period. allowed the Bucks to close to Glenn Robinson, the 'Bucks leading scorer with 30 points, had 14 in the period. "We got off to a pretty fast start, but in the second half we got a little complacent," said Jazz head coach Jerry " " Sloan. As Robinson stepped up his game for Milwaukee,; 68-6- 3 1 - Chronicle Photo Spencer Young Aren't you glad you used Dial? John Stockton drives past Milwaukee's Lee Mayberry during Utah's 2 win over the Bucks last night. 98-8- . - 'seeJaxzonpagell, a great basketball team because there is very . to his bench. ' Kentucky uses 10 players, ranging from Antoine Walker's 26.7 minutes a game to Allen Edwards' 9.6, and they have all started at least one game When guards Tony Delk and Anthony Epps need a rest, Pitino can call onJeffSheppard or Wayne Turner to fill in. When the frontline of Walker, Derek Anderson and Walter McCarty needs a break, Mark Pope, Ron Mercer and Allen Edwards are there to step in. The competition for minutes has brought out the best in the Wildcats while creating minimal dissension through the course of the season. , "Everybody has had their opportunity," Anderson said of playing time. "Everybody has started a game, from the freshmen, on up. They had their chance. Everybody knows how the coach gives you that chance and how you should take advantage of it." Kentucky believes it learned from the loss to Massachusetts. "We don't take anything away from them," said Walker. "They beat us and they beat us well. Marcus Camby had a great game and played like the superstar that he is. At that time they were a much better team than we were. At that time we were trying to find ourselves and trying to find our rotation and get our chemistry down." Besides Camhy scoring 32 points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking five shots, Kentucky also turned the ball over 23 times and was outrcbounded 36-3Since that game, Epps has taken over at point guard and Delk moved to off guard, making for a more efficient offense that averages 92.2 points. "It taught me where changes had to be made and taught us where .improvements lie," said Pitino, who's team won a school-recor27' ' straight after the loss. "Now I think we're a 100 percent better team than before," Walker ; 20-poi- 7 Us little difference between certain positions, where for them there is." And Kentucky is deep and it seldom misses a beat when Pitino goes , d . see "Wildcats? on page II |