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Show PORT I'Al.t 14 THURSDAY 226 Daily Utah Chronicle " - o k A A consistent In 21 years as coach, Elaine Elliott has had 15 Tye Smith Sports Writer trying to fix things that are broken, and I'm always looking for ways to improve." Last weekend, the U wom- en's basketball team (20-completed a season sweep of Air Force, winning easily on the road as it notched another season. 10-- 5, 1) 20-w- in Not exactly the norm at n seasons have become a habit for the Utes ever since the arrival of head coach Elaine Elliott. With the win against Air Force, Elliott quietly recorded her 15th season at the U with 20 wins or more. An impressive accomplishment by any standard, Elliott has done so in just 21 years as the Utah head coach. most schools, 20-wi- Characterized by her players as a person with an extreme commitment to winning, there is no question as to whether or not Elliott has made her mark at the U. In her illustrious career, her teams have failed to record a winning record in just one of 21 seasons. In the 1993-9- 4 camthe finished Utes the paign, but still finished at year conference play with a record of 9-- 5. "I guess the reason I have been successful is that I am competitive, and I do hate to lose," Elliott said. "Every loss motivates me to get better. I'm not the kind of person that sits back to let things happen to me and says 'que sera.' I keep - of Wyoming University head coach Joe Legerski, who served as an assistant to Elliott for 12 years, described her coaching style as "intense, prepared and intelligent." Legerski attributes Elliott's longstanding success to her painstaking "attention to detail" while always "covering all of the bases in every aspect of the game." Now considered by many as the best women's coach in the history of the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference, Elliott's accomplishments It i i Matthew Ouellette Sports Writer This season promised to be a great one for U senior gymnast Melissa Vituj. She was coming into her 2004 campaign on the strength of three outstanding years for which she was honored as an eight times: floor exercise three first-teabalselections, one first-teaance beam, one second-teabalance beam, two second-teavault, and one second-teaall around. She was also named team P co captain and at the m m m m m During that campaign, Elliott directed her team to a perfect record of 14-- 0 in conference play, while securing a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament the highest seeding ever obtained by a team from the state of Utah. Elliott took advantage of the high seeding, continuing her historic run with two wins in the NCAA tourney before losing in the sweet 16 to the eventual national champions, Notre Dame. U ,. In Elaine Elliott's worst season where the team finished 28-- 4 f0 J 1 bizA' 1 J J m V ' ; . ul II I SI 11 Melissa Vituj turned In her best score of the year with a 39.650 last Friday against Arizona State in Tempe. It included a 10.0 on the floor exercise. TRACK UTAH at the team finished with a conference record of Her best season came in the 2000-200- 1 season, and was perfect in conference play witha record of 14-The team also made it to the Sweet Sixteen that year. U, 9-- 5. 0. No team from Utah had ever advanced to the third round of the NCAAs, and by finishing the year with a remarkable record of 28-- Elliott had led her team to one of the best seasons in the history of the 4, state. Amy (Ewert) Jacobsen, voted MWC of the Year and MWC Defensive Player of the Year for her play under Eler liott during the Utes' historic 1 season, said that 2000-200- MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS February 26, 2004 All Day Colorado Springs, Colo. improvement might seem insignificant to some, but not to Arizona State, which lost the meet to the Utes by half that margin. Vituj's performance in Tempe was easily the best of her season, and it was also only .025 points less than her career high in the all around. With at least five meets left, Vituj still has plenty of time to turn around her senior campaign. She has shown flashes of brilliance in every meet especially her bars dismount, the triple twisting flyaway. "Nobody else in the country is doing it, and only a few gymnasts in the world have done this dismount," Marsden said. "She stuck it at Arizona State, and only took a little step at Michigan. She hasn't missed it yet." The only thing holding her back from bigger scores has been small mistakes, which Marsden feels are the result of Vituj putting too much pressure on herself. UTAH st the indictment. The running back's attorney, Ed Garland, said his client was innocent and would turn himself in on Thursday. "Mr. Lewis wants everybody to know that he did nothing wrong," Garland said. "He was not part of any drug deal and any contention that he was is false." Lewis is charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms of cocaine and using a cell phone in the commis questioned year-after-ye- trend of ar lower scoring for the Utes. In several games this season, the team has shown that it can score points, but the offense does not seem to ever set a tone for the game, which is the goal for any offense. The inconsistency throughout the year has hurt the team immensely, and the updated version of the new offense after Majerus left has the Utes running a lot more yet it has not been a complete success. The most apparent change to the half-couset with acting head coach Kerry Rupp has been quicker shots and rt SEE LEWIS ey PAGE 16 (5-1- UTAH ) 2004 6pm New Orleans, La, pletely ignore freshman Andrew Bogut and senior Tim Frost, especially since Bogut has put up very impressive numbers in his first year at theU. It seems like the Utes sometimes go to the low post and work the inside-ou- t game like but not they should, nearly enough. This is where I have a large problem with their philoso- Asad Kudiya Asst. Sports Editor more direct passes, which have led to shorter possessions. The shorter possessions have aided the flow of the game, since it really negates the chance of desperation heaves at the buzzer. But on the flip side, it sometimes takes away from the tone that the Utes are trying to set. Regardless of whose version the offense is playing, that of Rupp or Majerus, the team still has to rely on a lot of jump shooting, even though the solution is absolutely simple for the Utes to be successful. It's not like the Utes com SKIING TULANE 27, Ma-hal- throughout the years, but former coach Rick Majerus' record spoke for itself, so there was never a public outcry against the offense. Some liked the motion style and how much passing was involved, and it worked in the late '90s, but now it seems to be sputtering, especially with (1-- ( PAGE 16 sion of the first count, according to U.S. Attorney William S. Duffey. The indictment came out of a drug investigation that has led to 30 convictions and helped dismantle a cocaine-traffickin- g ring in the city, said. He refused to whether Lewis Duffey say was tied to that drug ring. In an affidavit, FBI special agent Hoyt said that an informant contacted Lewis on his cell phone on June 23, 2000, to discuss selling cocaine to Lewis' friend. The conversation was recorded, according to the agent. "The cooperating source told Lewis that he she was willing to sell the narcotics to Lewis' associates for a price that Lewis can tax," meaning the price could be marked up for a profit, Mahaley said in the affidavit. "Lewis responded 'Yeah," the agent said. The U basketball team's offense has been somewhat BASEBALL February ELLIOTT It's simple: Bogut is the key to success UTAH at February 27, 2003 7pm C Huntsman Center "I can't put my finger on it, but I wanted to play well for Elaine," Jacobsen said. "I didn't want to let her down. She was always committed to SEE advantage. ATLANTA Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, who had the second-higherushing total in NFL history last season, was indicted Wednesday on federal drug charges. The Atlanta native is accused of trying to help a childhood friend buy cocaine in the summer of 2000 just before he signed a six year, $35.3 million contract with the Ravens. No drugs were ever purchased, according to the moueUrttechronicle.utah.edu (6 - 5) (6 - 1) Elliott's devotion to both the sport and her players is what makes her a special coach. Jacobsen described Elliott as a coach with the ability to maximize any situation to her Lewis federally indicted Indeed it did. In the Red Rocks' last meet at Arizona State, with Annabeth Eberle sidelined by injury, Vituj came up huge. She turned in an score of 39.650 that included the first 10.0 of her career. Her scores were good enough for second place in the and first on the vault (9.925) and floor (10.0). "With Annabeth out, Mel really stepped up and finally put together the meet she's been expecting all season," Marsden said. Her season average in the all around had been 39.046, which any good mathematician will tell you is more than sixth-tenth- s of a point lower than her score at ASU. That GYMNASTICS UTAH STATE at , V V a at the sixth-tent- 1 - ( provide plenty of examples of her intense desire and her commitment to winning. Perhaps the finest example of Elliott's coaching skill was seen in the coaching job she did during the 2000-200- 1 season. end of last season. With all of these accolades preceding Vituj onto the apparatus came the added pressure of improving upon them each meet. This pressure might help to explain why Vituj has, by her own standards, struggled a little this season. She had a fall in four of the first six meets, and wasn't really able to put together four solid events in one night. "She'd been putting a lot of pressure on herself, so we talked about relaxing and just enjoying this last year," Mars-de- n said. "I think it really helped a lot." . y : Vituj finally coming around i" seasons. 20-wi- n at WSC REGIONAL CHAMP. February 27, 2004 TBA Crested Butte, Colo. phy. I understand that the team has a great shooter in Nick and also people who can hit jump shots like Richard Chaney. But let's be honest: This team isn't even close in talent to the one in 1997 with Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn. That team had talent that could penetrate and do well with multiple passes and finding the second and third side to get the open shot. Along with Van Horn and SEE BOGUT PAGE 16 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BYU at (14-1- UTAH (20-5- February 28, 2004 4 pm Huntsman Center ) |
