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Show DAILY THE - Ute Swim Coach Accused by Pair Of ERIC WALDEN ruirui j F (a Myriad Penalties Charges of sexual harassment, underage drinking, verbal abuse and improper training have been leveled at the University of Utah swim team and coach Mike Litzinger. Brendon Bray, a former U swimmer who left the program following the 2000 season to transfer to the University of Washington, and Konrad Thiel, a U swimmer who announced Saturday that he was quitting the team, have accused Litzinger of demeaning and mistreating his athletes, and violating Don't Deter Utes' Rout of South Fla u in After racking up season-best- s total offense and (509 yards) points and improving to 1 overall, that does not come as a surprise. It was a blowout from the outset, as the first quarter saw USF fall behind 0 as it could manage but 11 yards of offense (thanks to a mere three possessions resulting in a pair of and a fumbled kickoff and just 1:58 in time of possession). Meanwhile, though the Bulls eventually recovered sufficiently from their slow start to accumulate 403 yards of their own, the U defenders were never fazed enough by Bulls quarterback Marquel Blackwell and his offense for the game to be in jeopardy. "Our DBs had a big job, and it was good to see them make big plays," said D'Shaun Crockett, who made his first start at cornerback. "South Florida caught a lot of balls, but we didn't give up the big play, and that was the key." Offensively, U quarterback Lance for 238 Rice, who went yards and 4 touchdowns, said Utah was able to capitalize on the Bulls' aggression. "We had some great plays. They pursue to the ball well, so we knew we could get them on some misdi- - 'SsJp& 4-- - Rice-Eccl- es way. At :f V- - J h le Though the Utes ultimately succumbed to the physical taunts of the South Florida Bulls, lost their composure, lost their shutout and had to "settle" for a 1 win, there wasn't too much disappointment on their part once the contest was finally over. "Getting a win going into a bye week is tremendous," said safety interDave Revill, whose ception return with 13:31 left in the "We just game put Utah up 52-week. Going keep improving every into the bye and then going into the game against Wyoming on Oct. 20, we feel good about where we 52-2- rd 47-ya- 7. ' see FOOTBALL, page 10 U A 2i are. - BYU LANCE GAMERO Chronicle Sports Writer yy, - If you arrived at the Utah soccer game last Friday 10 minutes late, you missed half the scoring. The Utes were downed Weber State Bobbie Benegas Friday afternoon led the way, putting up Utah's first hat trick of the year (and also Benegas' first hat trick of her collegiate career), scoring three goals in one game. Utah has shut out opponents on its home field three of the four games it has played there. The Utes have outscored opponents 1 at Ute field a statistic that looks increasingly jfi 6-- 0. ft If-- ( ' ' 1 MJ 15-- impressive heading into conference u C I Kari Keddington and 1011-1- 3 All Day Provo, Utah the U - " ; VOLLEYBALL Utah (6-3-- 0) SDSU (4-5-- 0) 1011 at San play this week. Benegas scored just over three minutes into the game on an unassisted goal. She got another goal just over a minute after that one when Amy Kofoed gave her a good look. Kofoed scored her fourth goal of the season seven and a half minutes into the half on a penalty kick, tying the school scoring record for most goals with the soccer teap held another visiting team scoreless at Ute field on Friday. SOCCER vs Invitational - occer Stomps Weber, Loses to Portland WOMEN'S TENNIS at Utah 1'. Adam Tate gained 122 rushing yards and added a pair of touchdowns. coaching staff is ignorant to distance and 11 r v' i. I it comes see swimming, page 1 three-and-ou- ts Possessed of a 38-- 0 lead in the waning minutes of the third quarter, all that remained for the Utah football team to accomplish Saturday Stadium was to night at and retain the stay disciplined shutout. Well...it was a nice thought, any- second-yea- r "this iri'VT'H'li"" 21-- ERIC WALDEN Chronicle Sports Editor NCAA regulations. that j? I Chronicle Sports Editor when 1: I d Thiel alleged in an email that the U coach and his. staff engaged in "unusually friendly touching of members of the women's team" and made "graphic jokes...about women's genitalia" He also said that, among "this batch of freshmen and some of the sophomores," there was rampant underage drinking, causing him to not "feel safe around them when they are totally trashed from alcohol instead of just socially drinking. All of them become aggressive, dangerous to themselves and others, or so sick that someone sober had better be looking after them." Meanwhile, both Thiel and Bray said Litzinger was guilty of using training techniques that could result in permanent injury, as well as constantly berating athletes for poor performances. The coach said the accusations were little more than disingenuous rantings from athletes upset at knowing they were not part of the team's future. "We're making some changes to the program, and some guys feel a little disenfranchised. Brendon was a good swimmer, but he felt things didn't really work out the way he wanted. Konrad was a good athlete, but very average as a swimmer, and he probably felt concerned he wasn't going to be included on the travel team," Litzinger said. "When careers are coming to an end, and you've got kids who are going to transfer, there's always going to be a little baggage left behind." He added that the only accusation to have even the slightest merit was the charge of underage drinking, and even that, he said, was misrepresented. "We had one incident this past spring, and we dealt with it," Litzinger said. "We suspended one player for the first day of the conference championships. It was taken care of internally." Meanwhile, Litzinger added that the "charges of sexual harassment are completely unfounded," and said the same was true of Thiel's assertions i VP7 tes Ex-Athle- CHRONICLE UTAH 3 p.m. PT Diego, Calif. vs UNLV (5-5- ) Utah (9-4- ) 1012 at 7 p.m. Crimson Court (HPER CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN see SOCCER, page VOLLEYBALL vs SDSU Utah 1) (9-3- ) (9-4- ) 1013 at 7 p.m. Crimson Court (HPER SOCCER vs Utah UNLV 1) EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU (6-3-- 0) (4-3-- 2) 1013 at 7:30 p.m. PT Las Vegas, Nev. 581 - 7041 11 |