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Show w 7 i November 4, 1 999 ri Sw?n fw- i ; Athlete of the Year : earn honor -- sport star as he swatted five balls over the fence for home runs during intramural softball action. by Steven R. Ford H7top 77mes staff just play sports to get some exercise. I'm "I just like to be involved in all sports," said McQuirt, a Little Rock, Ark. native who has only been out of technical school for a little more than a year. court, the all-arou- v I I : ; 1 1 tut V f Ms- 7j 4 ; -" - K A I i -- 13-ye- ar earlier this year. nd The former high school basketball player has remained very active since arriving at Hill. He participated in the intramural sports program, competing for the 388th LSS in basketball, softball and football. In basketball, the guard averaged over 30 points per game. "I got a little game. I'm all right," McQuirt said, smiling. "I don't make silly mistakes on the court. I think I make good decisions." McQuirt was also a member of the Just Do It summer league basketball team that finished the regular season undefeated and swept through the playoffs, winning the championship 6 against Force 99. "I tried real hard last year to make the base team," McQuirt said. "They just put me as an alternate, sayingj didn't have any game experience. Then they picked me up for the summer league. When they did let me play, they just saw I wouldn't quit. I was going to give my best out there. ' 61-4- Photo by Steven R. Ford Hill's Athlete of the Year, Terry McQuirt, stands on the familiar hardwood of the Hess Fitness Center. A former high school basketball player, the 21 year old coached his 11, 12 and old Junior Jazz team to the 1999 league championship "I think I'm decent at all sports," he said. "I don't For his accomplishments as an athlete, Airman Terry McQuirt of the 388th Logistics Support Squadron was recently named Hill AFB's 1999 Athlete of the Year. The athletic McQuirt proved he isn't a one- - McQuirt coached the 7-- the league team. a is "Terry superior leader, teacher and coach," wrote Lt. Col. Brian. E. Robinson in a letter to the Maj. Mark Fluker, commander of the 388th LSS. "Terry's team did not have the best set of individual talent in the league. He overcame this by inspiring his players to play, in nearly unbeatable form, as a team." McQuirt was surprised when hearing of the honor, thinking that there were other, more deserving athletes on the base, but he does recognize that being named Athlete of the Year means that all his hard work and effort paid off. But he also thinks that getting involved in base athletics helps a person develop his or her social skills. "I believe if you're working out and taking care of your body, you're going to feel better. And if you come out and get involved with people you work with and see how they actually are, you just get a better overall feel for people," McQuirt explained. All-St- ar scores balls with strikes and ended by Steven R. Ford staff The pins seem to be falling in bunches at the Hill Bowling Center as four more honor scores were recorded by local bowlers. All scores were sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress or the Young American Bowling Alliance. "I think we have more consistent lane conditions," said Dan Kwas-niewsk- i, the 11-13-y- old Tarheels of the Junior Jazz program to their league championship, finishing with a 1 record. He was eventually voted by the players to coach Pins fall as Hill ho wler Hilltop Times com- petitive, and I hate to lose." Proving that being an all around athlete is not always measured by the game you bring onto the a recreation assistant at Bowling Center. "You don't have to make as many adjustments because of the type of oil that we're using on the lanes. We have lane conditioning equipstate-of-the-a- rt ment." And the bowling gods declared that a teen shall lead them as old Matt Wischmann rolled a remarkable 279 game on Oct. 2, coming just shy of the fabled 300 mark. With that kind of ability, the right-handshould have plenty of opportunities to chase the holy grail of bowling scores in the years 14-ye- ar er to come. Jeff Palmer just missed the 300 mark by onelieart-breakin- g pin, 13 a 299 on Oct. during recording league play. That same night, Shawn Ingalls also narrowly missed his chance for the 300 game, finishing with a 290. old Kwasniewski, who has been bowling since the age of three, had an amazing night for most bowlers Oct. 17, rolling an 808 series. Kwasniewski also came of a perfect within one three-pi- n 300 which would have been his in game one, finishing with first a 289. Game two was also a as he finished the last seven 41-ye- ar pin-rock- er with a 279. Kwasniewski would follow that with a 240 game. "When I got the first game with the 289, 1 had the first 10 strikes and my heart started beating," Kwasniewski said, "but I just didn't get the ball out where it needed to go. I left a three pin. I thought this might be the time because I'd been there before, but it just didn't materialize. I picked it up, got the 289, went onto the next game. I started with the first four strikes, got a single pin spare and struck out the rest of the game." "It was just exhilarating to know that I had the world in my i re '"i t hands. I could throw the ball just about anywhere and I was getting a strike or a nine count. I only had one open 14-ye- ar frame and that was in the tenth frame of the third game." Carrying a 222 average, one might wonder why the avid bowler would compete in a handicap league since he no longer has one. But Kwasniewski says that handicaps even things out, letting the average bowler compete with those really good bowlers. Kwasniewski, who has rolled 800 series in back-to-bac- k the past, has one lifetime achievement that he's still shooting for. With the number of pins dropping lately at the Bowling Center and Kwasniewski's natural pen- chant for strikes, the 300 game pinnacle might not be far off. "MM?: i Photos by SrA. Christopher Gish old Matt Wischmann, above left, takes a shot at the pins at the Hill AFB Bowling Center, the same house that helped him roll a 279 game. Lefty Shawn Ingalls, above, just missed out on the Mt. Everest of bowling, a perfect game, settling instead for a very respectable 290 game. Dan Kwasniewski, left, rolls his usual strike ball, looking for the kind of ' magic that recently produced an 808 series. |