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Show DAILY WERALD Tuesday, April 25, 2006 Stewart,Biffle, Busch have. Wyoming budget no longerlast in MWC up-and-down day ii n Phoenix THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS LARAMIE, Wyo. — The University of Wyoming's athlet- _ Jenna Fryer THE ASSOCIATE ics budget is growing, with the Cowboysno longer ranked last in the Mountain West Conference in on sports. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Stewart is in championship form,Greg Biffle has the worst In an interview with the Wy- that gap dramatically to the point where we surpassed CSU. Bartais also excited about Wyoming's successes on the field.Although among team sports only women's basketball and women's soccer had winning seasons this year — with women's basketball reaching the WNIT — Barta said it’s still luck imaginable and Kyle Buschis eerily similar to his big brother. All that became clear at Phoenix International Race- a far cry from three years ago, way, a race in which the dramasurrounded the drivers who didn’t win. year, up from $16.5 million first night race of the season even began, when Stewart's Barta a said, and t ess midpointis about $21 million when Barta tookover in 2003. when many Cowboys and Cowgirls teams were deadlast in their respective sports. “Today,all of our teams — minus three or four — are either competing for a championship or It started hours before the crew realized it had made a serious error that would cost the defending Nextel Cup champion or $22 million per year. But the Cowboys have moved aheadof Colorado State and out oflast place,Bartasaid. his third-place starting position. NASCAR requires drivers to begin each race using the “Weused to havethe very smallest budget in the Mountain West Conference.First it was sametires that were on during qualifying, and Stewart nolonger had his. A crew member eight-out-eight, and when TCU JASON BABYAK /AssociatedPress joined (in 2005) it was nine-out- of-nine,” he said. “We've closed Tony Stewart, right, dumps water onto Kevin Harvickin victory lane after Harvick won the NASCAR Nextel Cup Subway Fresh 500 auto race Saturdayat PhoenixInternational Racewayin Avondale, Ariz accidentally returned the set to Goodyear, which promptlydestroyed them. The punishment was being sent to the back of the field, a drop of 40 spots on the starting grid at a race track with little room — or Adding Phoenix to the list of raceshe’s lostthis season, Biffle has nowseenat least four wins slip away. And this was time — for passing. Stewart quickly dug himself outofhis hole. the most devastating one yet He advancedalmost 33 spots in the first 100 laps, no small feat considering he started at Heled six times for a racehigh 151 laps,onlyto lose the lead whenHarvick passed him the backof the pack alongside error-prone drivers who could with 10 to go. Biffle still had a Stewart, who raced his wayinto the leadon lap 218. Although he with two laps to go. He went shot atfinishing second, but his luck ran out the same wayit hasall season: He ran out ofgas haveeasily wrecked his car. Butthatwasn't enoughfor from second to 16th in a matter of seconds,leaving him 21st in the standings and 166 points out couldn'tholdit for more than six laps, he held on to finish second to winnerKevin Harvick. of qualifying for the Chase. “Wedid whatgot ustoa the 43rd spot and finished sec- “It's frustrating as hell,” said crewchief Doug Richert forced to speak for the team ond, so I'm pretty happy. Wejust nevergot ina hurry. Wegot in left without commenting. championship last 5year,” Stewart said. “We worked our wayfrom because Biffle was so upset he “Our whole year has been spots to where we weren'treally likethis. I feela little snakebit.” catching people anymore,and couldn't get by people and we had to work too hard and punish the tires too much. * Thereis a silver lining for Biffle, though. He's now led the most laps in three different races, only “Weutilized the first 200 (laps) real wisely to get to the to lose a strongfinish because of a mechanicalfailure, accidentor other freak mishap. Hadhis team beenstruggling, his season mightbe in bigger front.” Stewart is a.notoriously slow starter every year, usually needing until midsummer to hit his stride. Not so this “I have no doubt Greg’s Biffle, meanwhile, would probablykill for some of Stew- 2 es a Iareaneh Mage me 4010-6 Russell Holmes d ond bend ote tree Freshman Yosleyder Cala was named to the third team. Senior “He's got the cars that can do it and he's not doing nothing wrong, so I don’t think he needs to changeanyofhis approachorthe team needs to changetheir approach.” That might not be true for Busch, whowill likely find himselfin serious trouble with NASCARlater this week when the sanctioning body issues its penalties. NASCARofficials werefurious with Busch, who started from the pole Saturday night but lost any chance to win when contact with Casey Mearssent him spinning and Rob Neilson, senior Victor Batista and sophomore Ivan Perez received honorable mention status. “When weget accolades we believeit is a team award,” said BYU coach Tom Peterson. “To havefive guys recognized showsthe respect other coaches havefor the talent on our team.” UCIrvine, which wonthe regular-seasontitle, swept the major MPSFpost-season awards with outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky named playerof the year, Brent Asuka honored as freshman of the year and John Speraw recognized as coachof the year. scheduled to be in Orem at 7 going to makethe Chase,” Kenseth said. “He's running so strong there's no doubt in my mindhe's goingto be in the top 10 at the end of the year. art's karmaright about now. 1.044 Kevin Harvick can't do anything. Busch seemed at this.pointlast season, and he rallied to make the Chase. driver to beat inthe Chase for the championship. 7 8 DAILY HERALD : WOODLAND,Calif. — Hive Cougars were named to the 6 men’s volleyball all-conference teams, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced Monday wasalso 2Istin the standings ous groundshortly put himself in position to be the (te) Dale Earnhardt Jr 1,045 9 Kyle Busch to have forgotten thatrule. Hesought out Mears on the track, gave him retalia- tory nudge, then drove his car to the garagefor repairs.It earned him five-lap penalty from NASCAR,and a meeting withofficials after the race. good in lot of sports. Now we talk about going from good to great, so we're consistently fighting for the top.” Barta said he wasn’t discouraged by the lack of success in football and men’s basketball because both sports havelaid foundations for future success. — coming off a victory over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bow! — started 4-1 last fall before losing its last six games tofinish 4-7. Men's basketball struggled all year, then reached the Mountain West title game before falling to San Diego State to end the season at 14-18. “It's in the paper every day how weare doing,and it's about wins and losses. Welook at thatjust like the fan does. You can't hide from that,” Barta said. “With that said, I go deeper than thatto see if our foundation is solid, so when wetakea dip it isn't so deep and so far down and it’s hard to climb back up.” “AmI disappointediin some of our records? Yes,” Barta said. “But I am not discouraged bythe fact that if you take a five-year window we'restill moving up.” } Information from: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, http:/www. wyomingnews.com. Five Cougars earn MPSFhonors D UVSC baseball: The Wolverines(13-29) travel to Salt Lake City today to take on Utah at 3 p.m:at Ute Field. The game was originally be able to make up someseri- standings,history has shown he should surge this summer and | Following race 8 of 36 Wie gt RkDriver Pointe Top 10 1 MattKenseth 1.218 «7 2 Jimmie Johnson 1.209 8 a Kei sey Kahne 1,167 7 f MGehalan aces 7 Ss mpsauat C44 5 ae Jett Gordon 1.045 «6 Biffle can also take solace « that teammate Matt Kenseth keeps running well, he should season: He's got five top-five the field. Although Stewart is only in fifth place in the points al | NEXTEL CupSeries into the wall. On the same lap, far behind Busch’sspin, a larger accident occurred that forced NASCARtostop the raceto clean upthe track. Ared-flag means drivers jeopardy. But aslong asBiffle finishes — including a victory — throughthe first eight races. That's bad newsto the rest of aa NASCAR TOP 10 are off the bottom of the standings. We've made hugestrides,” Bartasaid. “We've got to do that consistently now. We're getting The Wyoming football team p.m., but because of bad weather during the four-gameseries in early April, games were moved around, whichleft today’s game as a Ute home game. This will be the fifth of six scheduled games between the schools during 2006. Utah won BYU/UVSCROUNDUP the first three (6-11, 5-18, 6-12) before the Wolverines edged the Utes in the fourth game 54. The Wolverines are coming offof a series at Nevada where they lost twoof three. Utah (20-18) lost three of four at New Mexico last weekend. D BYU baseball: The Cougars (1722 overall, 446 MWCO) play a pair Lions beat Dartmouth 53-0 to advance to the semifinals. The Cougarstook a 10-0 lead on a penalty from Salesi Sika and score from Jeff Hullinger with Sika making the conversion. Carig Clark also found the end zone ona run for a 15-0 lead. Alipate Tuilevuka scored to makeit 20-Q.at BYU,then Clark and Hullingeralso scored to close out the first-half scoring. BYU tallied three moretries in the secondhalf, including a of non-league games on Tuesday strong push-over by Ikani Tau- and Wednesdayat the University of Northern Colorado (14-25) in meopeau. Cal Poly scored late in Greeley at 2 p.m. Mitch Jensen (04, 7.91)is scheduled tostart today's game for BYU, BYU won twoofthree earlier this season in Provo against UNC. The games at UNCwill be carried live via audiostream,as the gamewith a phase playtry. “We knew that wehad to ‘comeout hard andpressure right from thestart,” said BYU coach David Smyth. In other action, the University of Utah narrowly beat a very talented Army team 8-5 to win the Pool berth to the semifinals Linkstothese sites are available at Stanford. The Uteswill face at www.byucougars.com. off with the Pool A defending will Saturday’s game at AFA. D BYUsoftball: The Cougars (31-16)will be in Cedar City today to face Southern Utah in a doubleheadersat 1 p.m. D BYU rugby: At Berkeley, Calif., the Cougars advanced to the semifinals of the national tournament, blasting Cal Poly SLOonSaturday,55-7, in the quarterfinals. BYU will play at Stanford University May 5-6. The Cougarswill face Penn State, the Pool C champion. BYU beat Penn State in February by the score of 42-10. The Nittany national championCal Berkeley. D BYUlacrosse: At Draper, the fourth-ranked Cougars blew out No. 13 Utah 16-6 on Saturday. Marshall Kay had six goals for the Cougars,giving him as manypoints as the entire Utah team scored. Dane Cole hadthree goals and Josh Austin and Drew Shumway added two each. Tyler Monteath, Jordan Theurer and Zach Davis had one goal each: Austin added three assists, while Monteath had two and Davis, Kay and Theurer had one each. GOLF Players not sold on new Houston Open course Chris Duncan HUMBLE, Texas — TheShell Hous- ton Openwill move to the weekendbefore The Masters next year, a change organizers hope will lure a morestar- studded field. It's not the date, but the course that could keep many away. Tournament Course at Red- stone, where Stuart Appleby shot 19 underlast weekend to win the event, got a lukewarm responsefrom the players, most of whom wereseeingit for.the first time. Vijay Singh wontheprevious two Houston Opens at the adjacent Jacobsen/Hardy course at Redstone. The event moved to the 7,457-yard Rees Jones layout this year. Singh said too manyofthe holes look the same. “The golf course did not grow on me,”said Singh, the 2000 Masters winner. “Normally, the more you play, the moreit grows on you.I just hope they go back totheold golf course nextyear. I think that's the consensus of mostof the players.” Bob Estes, whofinished second to Appleby, didn't like the distance betweenholes. The second tee was morethan a quarter mile fromthefirst green and thoughplayershadcarts waiting to shuttle them,Estes said the process backed upplay. “It’s just so spread out, the rounds werereally long, and that’s the downsideofit,” Estes said. Appleby led wire-to-wire and won by six shots. Naturally, he liked the course, but said it was not the ideal tuneup for Augusta. But he added that no coursereally is and said most players only play the week before majors for the competition. “Certainly,if I play like this next year going into Augusta,I'll have the nextevent to gain the momentum and the vibe going in,” hesaid. Others did have compliments for the newcourse north of Houston, which former PGA champion David Toms helped Jones design. John , who drew the largest galleries last week despitefinishing tied for 59th, said the new course was more demanding than the old one off the tee. “The other one, you can rip driver onall the par 4s and par 5s andthis one here,you can't,” he said. “But I do likeit.It’s an awesomegolf course.” Outside of a few long walks, Estes enjoyed it, too, noting,“It’s definitely hard enoughtochallengeall of us.” Larry Mize, who won The Masters in 1987said The Tournament Course does havesimilarities to Augusta. “You've got big, undulating greens and your ironplayis as keyas it is at Augusta,” said Mize, who finished at even-par last week. “You can get some Augusta-like putts out here.I think it can workas a warmup.” The Houston Open was often played the week before the Masters in the late 1980s and early '90s. It was two weeks before The Mastersin 2002, the final year it was played at the TPC at oodlands. It got the late April time slot in 2003, and tournamentdirector Steve Timms said organizers asked the PGA Tour for a change. While acknowledging organizers hope to draw more marquee stars, Timms said the request was also made to protect the course’s condition. Last week,the course was in transition betweenits winter and summer grasses, requiring more water. Estes said the fairwaysfelt overwatered. Timms said the course will play firmer and faster — and morelike Augusta — in late March because of a reduced need for water. The Jones layoutwill host the eventfor at least the nextsix years. “We're on a heavily overseeded golf course,and playing earlier, withthe ten: peratures here as they are in late March, that works perfectly for us,” Timms said. Timms isn’t expecting Tiger Woods to changehis usual routine of skipping the tournamentbefore any major. But Timms expected to draw a few more marquee names than this year’s did. “We were going totake whatever date we got and dothe best. we could,” he said. “This will give us a higher probability ofattracting a good field. Now,it’s just upto us to doall the things we need to do to makethis an event players wantto playin.” DAVID J. PHILLIP/Associated Press Vijay Singh reacts after hitting his tee shot on the 18th hole during the first pound of the Houston Open on April 2¢ Tigeralso a winnerin stock car aie McMorran THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HUNTLY,New Zealand — Tiger Woods hunkered behind the wheelofhis vehicle, its motor coughing noisi .One of the world’s most visible athletes was suddenly unrecognizable undera flame-re- tardant suit, helmet andtinted visor. On Monday,the world’s: best golfer became a celebrity stock car racer. Woods,in New Zealandfor the wedding of caddie Steve Williams, won STEPHEN BARKERThe Associated Press the secondof twocelebrity Tiger Woods drives in a dirt-track stock car celebrity race in Huntly, stock car races on a dirt track New Zealand, on Monday. in this small coal mining town ', \ * 55 miles south of Auckland throughhis Steve Williams — evenafter starting at the Foundation to raise funds to back ofthe field. provide ting careers for Woods was a designated disadvantaged youth, Woods “blocker”in the first race, forced his way from the back which also included several ofthe grid to the front. fulltime V-8 circuit drivers. He _He took the lead on the sixth started on the outside of the of 12 laps over a 400-meter first row for the race in this oval, and, despite a crash into of motorsports where the wall which left his car crashes are not only legal, but sparking andtires smoking, often encouraged. he held on to win. Woods had His job was to prevent no second thoughts when Wilother cars from and liams asked him to take part. front-runners on his “T’mjust so excited to be team, and Woods didn't finish here,” he said in greeting the among the leaders in the 12Jap capacity crowd of more than race. 7,000 that jammed the Huntly In the second of two celebri- Placemakers ray. “Stety races organized by Williams vie puts his heart and soul into this sport and when Stevie asks me to do something, I'm therein a heartbeat.” Betere ts fae Woods said he expected tobe involved in crashes but added his inee ea , who was driving a stock car in a race for the first ee vende ig etom ca = feet from a cable New Zealand’s Sighen bangee fate Sen ‘Woods and Williams made the jump from the Nevis Highwire near the SouthIsland t of own, during a flying visit to the resort by helicopter and private jet. |