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Show UNIVERSITY Journal ( X BACK PACE Monday, August 28, 2006 L 1 V EDITOR X Xi I r i McKenzie Romero, 586-548- 8 Fitness, guts mandatory for runners 4 A personal look at the SUU mens and womens cross country teams by the Journal sports editor Running is a sport unlike any other. In football, baseball, etc., players can have strengths in one skill and weaknesses in another, allowing individual talents to compensate where they struggle A runner is different. His or her ability is based almost entirely on two factors: fitness and raw guts. I was able to observe tins last w eek when I took a trip up Cedar Canyon with the mens and women's cross country teams. As the editor of this section, I will be running a collection of columns throughout the semester outlining my visit to practices with different sports teams on campus. The goal of these columns is to provide a more personal look at the athletes and team dynamics. The first teams I am featuring are the mens and women's cross country teams, coached by Eric Houle and Jeramie Murray. I met them on the track at 8 a.m. sharp Wednesday morning. While most college students had been relishing an extra hour of sleep whenever possible during the week leading up to school, members of the cross country teams were completing W'arm-u- p laps and stretching in anticipation of a rigorous hill workout on a dusty gravel road. Why? Based on what I observed that morning and the memories of my brief stint as a runner during high school, I believe all runners are masochists. The entire competition is based on pain. But its a beautiful and fulfilling pain. You could see it on their faces as they ran. The mens team completed a run, the women six. The road was hilly, fraught with ups and downs. So were the workouts. As they took off down the road, they were determined and fresh. The farther they traveled, the hills got steeper and the temperature rose. Dirt and sw'eat and struggle covered their bodies. They kept running. Raw guts. When running uphill they tried not to slow down, but to speed up instead. On the downhill they would lengthen their stride, the stress would leave their faces, and they w'ould coast down the other side. I saw one member of the mens team pound his chest in a Tarzan-lik- e imitation of one who had conquered nature as he reached the bottom of a particularly steep hill. A true athlete must be dedicated to his or her sport to be a formidable opponent. This w'as also particularly obvious among these runners. When discussing the possibility of injury' during the season, one female runner expressed how heartbreaking it would be to sit out a race because of injury. The thought of staying behind at the starting line as her teammates began the race was unbearable. It is this dedication that keeps these athletes, w'ell, on their feet. I saw the pain as they finished the most difficult of workouts. Then I saw that pain leave their parts their faces as they completed their runs, replaced by smiles as they took long drinks of water and joked with their teammates. After an experience that would have left me lying on the side of that dusty road begging to be put out of my misery, all they could think about W'as iesting a while and doing it again the next day. Raw guts McKenzie Romero is the sports editor for the University Journal. She can be reached at mromerosuujournal.com : i i 'fa rtK. A. A. r , .... i., lx. ' -- m BEN Senior defender Jill Page and sophomore forward Shaley Ipson from the SUU Soccer team compete for the ball during a team scrimmage at practice Tuesday. The soccer team DRAPER UNIVEHSITY ,A. JOURNAL lost to BYU in an exhibition game and against Boise State in the first game of SUUs season. The team is scheduled to play at Long Beach State Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. Season yet to take flight as team loses two By MICAH IVERSON com miversonsuujournal Coach Brian Stock and the rest of the Thunderbird soccer team look to make noise in but have taken tw'o straight losses the Mid-Coto open the season against in state rival BY U and Western Athletic Conference foe Boise State. First game nerves were evident in the first half of tire contest versus BYU on Aug. 19. as the Thunderbirds fell dowm with goals in the 21st and 42nd minute by the Cougars. From the opening whistle you could see the jitters, Stock said. Then you compound that by playing a team like BYU in Provo with a big crow'd and at night, it all definitely adds up. Southern Utah could only muster tw'o shots 2-- 0 X-coun- By try McKenzie romero mromerosuujournal.conn With seven freshman runners on the women's cross country team and 13 on the mens, SUU coach Eric Houle said this season will almost be like starting over, especially for the women. Having such a young women's team creates both challenges and opportunities, Houle said Its the most struggling year I've had since Ive been here in terms of distance, Houle said. We think we have talent that we can develop but it's going to take time. Houle said he expects strong on goal in the game by Ashley Westphal and Brooklyn Phillips, but in the final 45 minutes the settled down and kept BYU off the scoreboard. In the second half w'e made some tactical adjustments and some personnel changes and w'e really clamped down, Slock said. cut the Cougars shots by more than The half in the second frame and fixed the problems they had in the first half on defense. We were more focused on solving our defensive issues than we were getting the ball forward, he said. Our kids played with a ton of heart and they didnt back down. The intensity was there tlie entire 90 minutes. Nerves played yet another role in the 1 loss Saturday at Boise State for the Thunderbirds. 3-- were outshot 14-- but just 4 on The shots on goal. The lone goal for the came in the 88th minute off the foot of Ei ica Berlin, a sophomoie forward from West Lafayette, Ind. The goal came just 13 seconds alter the third and final goal from Boise State and was assisted Dam Lavigne. by The biggest thing for us is gi ing tow'ard We had the goal, Stock said after the game opportunities, we just werent able to capitalize. After the first goal from Boise State by Erin Wofford in the fourth minute, SUU clamped dow n on defense and the game remai ned until the 83rd minute when the Broncos struck agaiq with a goal from Annie Tom. Boise State would not waste any time putting 6-- 7 0 See SOCCER, Page 10 teams run with young Birds? performances from sophomores Platt and Madison Syndergaard as W'ell as new recruit Kate Eborn. As reported in the summer edition Sharia of the University Journal, Eborn is an Idaho state champion and graduate of Bear Lake High School. Houle said he hopes tire other freshman members will rise and improve along with Eborn and that more talented freshmen will join the team next season as well. Theoldestmembersot the womens team are sophomores, Houle said. Syndergaard said it feels a little overwhelming to be in a leadership position and only be in her second Despite that, she said her hopes are high. I think were being a little underestimated, she said. I think can pull something out and do a pretty good job. We dont know what the freshmen are going to do, no idea, so I think something pretty good could come out of it. The mens team has more balance between youth and age, Houle said, which puts them in the hunt for the conference title. Joining the men are fieslunen Adam McDonald, Rex Shields and Derek Zabnskie, the No. 1. 2 and 4 recruits in the state, as well as several walk-omembers that year. w-- n have already demonstrated talent, Houle said. are better than The wa'k-on-s weve ever had, Houle said. The additional athletes that support and develop the team are a great young group with a lot of potential. As far as veteran runners, Houle said he expects junior Jess sophomore Baumgartner, Shaun Vernon and sophomore Dave Sheeran to lead the team, Upperclassman recruit Mark Currell, from Spokane, Wash., w'ill also add some age, Hoult said. Senior Karl Siebach, a four-yea- r member of the team, raid he thinks See YOUNG, Page 10 Offense switch meant to boost record By JEFF WILBUR jwilbursuujournal com 4 Coming off a losing season is never something a football team looks forward to, but this ears SUU squad is determined to turn the setbacks into victories. Combining a few major changes to the offensive attack while keeping the generally solid defense focused on their proven techniques, the T Birds are committed to being the team to beat this season. Last season it was merely the team that got beat, ending up second to last in the Great West Conference with a conference) record. It was obvious to coach Wes Meier that changes needed to be made. One cf the biggest things was to look at (1-- 4 BEN DRAPER UNIVERSITY JOURNAL Defensive back Brett Smith gets his foot wrapped at practice Aug. 8 by head athletic trainer Ricky Mendini. The Thunderbird football team is scheduled to play its season opener against Montana Tech on Saturday Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Eccles Coliseum. what we did riht and what we did wrong, We tried to force too many Meier said tilings and too many passes downfield. We want to focus on having more of a balanced attack tins vear. We want to focus more on our running backs, Kyle Coop and Johnny Sanchez, and go for first downs more often. Such a sigm Scant change to the strategy may be difficult for the offense to adjust to, but Meier is confident. Weve got a great offense going in tins year, and were going to mix it all up and take what the defense gives us, he said, It will be a little different dqjending what their weaknesses are, but our team will be ready. the Thunderbirds are not looking to shake up as many tilings on defense. Were at that point with a lot of our athletes that have now been in the program long enough and are good enough players now that they can be more confident, Meier said. defense had a solid year in 2005, The totaling more than 700 tackles as a team. Our defense did well last year, but we are better this year, Meier said. We are going to try to be more basic and not try' to throw too many tilings in the mix. How-ever- Junior defensive lineman Brian Brooks said he agreed. We'd like to stick to what were good at and focus on w hat w e have to do to keep our offense on the field, he said. The defensive secondary has strong starters in comerbacks Derrick Brown, Dave Zelasko, and Spencer Meier, and their counterparts Joey Hew Len and Jeremy Edwards should be valuable additions at wide receiver. Offensive linemen Tim Husselbee and Mike Knight stood out as key players in the middle. There have also been changes in the coaching positions. Vincent Taunauu has moved to coaching the defensive line after working on the offensive line last year, and Jared Martin, who led the running backs and special teams, has switched to the offensive coordinator slot. s ended last Friday and Summer the team is ready to start prepping for its first game against Montana Tech Saturday at 6 p.m. at tlie Eccles Coliseum. |