OCR Text |
Show 8 Fj Friday, THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE bri ar y 7. 20H arsden Wants Consistency ASAD KUDIYA Chronicle Sports Writer ' ( h I will head to Tonight, the No. 4 U gymnastics team (3-to compete against the Aggies in the U's secLogan (3-road trip. ond meet in a four-meUtah State has been dominated by the Utes in the overall series, with Utah's record at 3 against USU The Red Rocks are coming off a 196.400-194.75- 0 over Minnesota and look to increase their record, along with an average score of 196.775. Increasing that score may seem to be a daunting task, but coach Greg Marsden says it is realistic. "We know wc can improve and everyone is progressing " in the Marsden said. "We just need to work on a few things in order for us to compete better." Utah has been struggling on the vault, but the only event they are actually deep in is on the beam. "All of our gymnasts are doing a nice job on the beam and it's tough to put in the other gymnasts who can do well because there is no reason to take out anybody that is competing," Marsden said. Last week was Theresa Kulikowski's first meet of the year, as she replaced Veronique LeClerc on beam. "Veronique was struggling but she is doing better now," Marsden said. The chances of LeClerc reentering the line-u- p on beam are good, considering Kim Allan's sore knee that may sideline her. The surprise on beam has been Gritt Hofmann, who has put up great scores despite being first in the line-u"This has been a breakthrough year for Gritt," Marsden said. "Our confidence in her grows and we may put her a little later in the line-up- ." But there are problems in other events from no depth. "We only have six capable gymnasts that I want to put in the line-u- p in those events right now," Marsden said. The Utes will need all six of the gymnasts in those events to compete well. Utah got a big boost last week from Annabeth Eberle, who posted a career-hig- h score of 39.625. 2) 2) I I ' et 52-- line-up,- Jackson said it would be "a nice win" if the Utes could beat Marc Errs hoops continued page from who averages 13.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg, CSU has a talented duo of bruisers. "They're very physical and strong," guardforward Trace Caton said. "And they're very good in their gym." CSU is 1 at home this year, its only loss coming in a 7 loss to conference-leading Wyoming. "A lot of teams in this conference play well at home," Britton Johnsen said. That said, it may take longer than the weekend for Majcrus to make his history. 225 lbs.), 6 tage and have won the last four with 2 this season. the Rams, CSU is "Colorado State is good and they're playing good right now," guard Marc Jackson said. "That's a nice win if we can grab that win. We're going to look for that one first" CSU is led by 240 lb. sophomore center Matt Nelson, who leads the team with 14.9 points and is second with 5.8 rebounds per game. Along with forward Brian Green 14-- CSU. 6, 13-- 79-7- rbrunnerohronicle.utah.edu p. all-arou- I Catherine of Siena Catholic Newman Center at the University of Utah I St. I I - i proudly presents - 1 I I a play by A.R. Gurney I Frank and Barbara Layden I I I "performed by - X o ac o tz is Utah competes against Utah Utah went 2 against Mesa State a year ago, as both losses came by just 3-- Coming off a Mountain West Conference tournament championship in 2002, the U softball team starts its 2003 season this weekend with high expectations. The Utes kick off the season in Arizona at the Fiesta Bowl Tournament. Utah opens play Saturday against Texas Tech, then battles Iowa State. After that, the Utes play their next three tournament games against ranked opponents. Utah plays against No. 23 Oregon State, No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 13 Arizona State. "I like challenging our team early because then we know where we stand and what we are capable of," coach Mona Stevens said. "I'm not sure how we'll do this weekend, but I do know we are much more prepared than in years past because we've been able to practice on the dirt before the season starts because of nice January weather." Next, the Utes go to the UNLV Classic from Feb. one run. So far this year, the Mavericks were swept in four games by Grand Canyon University by scores of 1 and "We always like to play Mesa State because they give us a good gauge of where we stand," coach Tim Esmay said. If Mesa State's performance against GCU is any indication, the U baseball team can gauge a healthy start to the season. rbrunnerchronide. utah. edu 27-1- 4, 7-- 4, 7-- 2. 9-- 8:00 p.m. with a social hour beginning Rowland Hall St. ".a"Y .'4'If r over) kets: $100 donation per ticket -- J f (21 & X.": ($75 tax deductible) f;"r0f ?rr in Call 350-281- f" ' ' - The 1 oixl 8oflxira or visit Newman Center 70 So. University Street Loycien Proceeds benefit the St. I I 1 I 6 to purchase tickets If (0-4- ). 843 South Lincoln Street ' ; i " r - I Marks Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. ' Catherine ot Siena Newman Center Expansion Project 1 continued from page 6 I 1 shooting just under 24 percent from I the floor. Behind Marshall's strong early play, the Utes opened up a comfortable lead. But as the first half started to wind down, they began to get a bit lackadaisical. The Falcons stole the momentum, going on an 3 run before the halftime buzzer sounded. I 1 1 J( 33-2- 6, WOMEN'S HOOPS 8-- Different Skatin' Utes Team Falls Out of Playoffs The U club hockey team is finishing up a season that could be written up as a "Tale of Two Teams." The Skatin' Utes, which at one time had their eyes on the national tournament after winning 13 out of 15 games, have since fallen victim to major roster changes and injuries, and have consequently lost a chance at postseason action. "We were a whole new team after the break," U coach Stan Weiss said. This was no more evident than was beaten when Utah soundly Thursday by Colorado a team they had beaten earlier this year. Colorado has secured a spot as the No. team in the west in the ACHA national tournament to be held in California in two weeks. Since the Christmas break, the team lost leading scorer D.J. Jellitto, who went pro with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. Veteran Jason Lowder, team sparkplug Lucas Mead and several other key players also left. "Overall we had a season of ups and downs," Weiss said. "I'm looking forward to next year." The future looks bright for the program as the Skatin Utes will move up to Division-- I club status next year in the Hockey West League. This move will attract better recruits while offering Salt Lake hockey fans an opportunity to watch (12-3-1- Baseball The U baseball team kicks off its season this Saturday as the last Mountain West team to do so. The Utes travel to Grand Junction, Colo., to begin its 2003 slate against Mesa State The Utes were picked to finish fourth in the conference after their best win total ever in 2002. The Utes went leading the nation in doubles (154) and ranking in the top 25 in scoring, batting average and slugging percentage. In Logan. (17-12-- 5) 14-1- 6. Saturday, February 15. and Sunday, February 16, 2003 State tonight "Annabeth was phenomenal last week after being inconsistent in the first few weeks of the season. We are really depending on her and Melissa Vituj in the Marsden said. The only thing that may hold the Utes back from dominating are mistakes that keep cropping up. Falls, breaks, sticks on landings and back hand springs on the floor have hurt the Utes scores. "The main thing we need to do is be consistent," Marsden said. akudiyachronicle.utah.edu Softball, Baseball Start Season This Weekend RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Sports Editor 1 1 a softball team kick off 2003 at Bowl Tournament. Fiesta the The U The trend continued after the break, as the Utes went scoreless over the first four minutes of the second half until point guard Kclsy Stireman's e jumper broke the dry spell. They managed to pull away from the Falcons as Smith rebounded from an first half performance, connecting on five of six shots, including three from beyond the arc, in the second stanza to finish with 19 to go along with seven rebounds. Marshall ended the night with 14 mid-rang- 0-- 6, two-poi- nt ), college hockey game at Steiner Arena. J. AARON GOLDSMITH higher-calib- er points and nine rebounds (five offen- sive). Though they did remain undefeated in conference play with the win, the Utes certainly weren't at their best Thursday night. "We'll just have to move forward," U coach Elaine Elliott said. "I think the last five minutes were our most focused defensively.. .we finally made the kind of plays we needed. But we certainly didn't have that early on." cbellamychronicle.utah.edu |