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Show Spring footbaii to start here Monday Thunderbird Head Coach Tack Bishop to welcome 95 gridders-largest contingent ever EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a t.hree-part series on the Thunderbird football squad. Part II, on Friday, will focus on the offense, while part III, on Monday, will feature the defense. The Southern Utah University football staff will welcome 95 players into camp when spring drills open Monday, representing the largest group ever at SUU spring practice. "We've got by far the biggest group ever in camp this year," SUU Head Coach Jack Bishop said. "We usually have somewhere around 70 players in spring practice, but this year we have 95. For one reason or another, we have ignificantly more walk-ans this year than we've ever had in years past." Bishop said even with the large numbers, the tluust of spring practice will remain much as it always has been: to school the players on fundamentals, get them to work as units, and to build team unity. "There are certain Quarterback Rick Robins things we try to accomplish each spring, and even though we'll be stretching our staff a little bit thin this year, we'll still work on fundamentals: blocking, tackling, those kinds of things, try to work ow new players into the system and get the guys to function as units and build that sense of team that is necessary," he pointed out. Bishop noted that although the Thunderbirds were hit fairly hard by graduation and the loss of players to LOS missions, the core of the team is returning. "The key nucleus of last year's team is returning," he said. "We have a quarterback who has started the past three seasons back, a good group of skilled receivers and backs returning as well as a defensive line we feel very good about. We have a lot of new faces, but we also feel as good about this year's recruits as we ever have." "We were able to sign as good a group of offensive linemen as we've ever had and most of those guys are in spring ball, plus we have some other players in spring ball who should be able to step right in and help us next fall." The 'Bird braintrust is hoping a strong group of recruits will blend with a key nucleus of returning players to help the Thunderbirds bounce back from a di appointing 1994 campaign. The Thunderbirds' hopes for back-to-back American West Conference titles were high last fall but a loss at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the final game of the season ended the T-Birds' hopes for a repeat and handed the crown to the Mustangs. As a result of the disappointing finish to the 1994 season, as well as the loss of a handful of key players to graduation, Bishop changed his recruiting 1995 SCHED.ULE Date 9-2. philosophy this year, concentrating on junior college players who should be able to step right in to the Thunderbird program, rather than recruiting young players and relying on players who have been in the system to step into the vacated roles. "This year we went into the junior coll gc ranks more heavily than we ever have in the past," Bishop noted. "And we feel we really helped our team. Our junior college guys fit our needs tremendously." In particular, the Thunderbirds recruited heavily along the offensive front, and the results of that effort should be evident this spring, as five JC linemen are currently on campus, ready to - - - - participate in spring workouts. The TBirds also recruited a host of JuCo defensive backs, but the £rui ts of that labor won't be seen until fall, as three of four are still working to complete their associate degrees. There are a few things Bishop knows he will have, however, when ...,__ _ _ _ _.....__...__ ___, practice begin Defensive end f eff Galyean Monday at the - - - - - - - - - - - Thunderbird practice facility: in Rick Robins he has an experienced quarterback who has started the last 33 games in a row; he has an experienced defensive line led by two-time first team all-conference selection Jeff Galyean; be has a handful of experienced linebackers; he has a strong group of returning receivers; and although he may not have a wealth of returning depth in the defensive back.field, he does have last year's top tackler back. The practice schedule calls for three scrimmages, including the annual Red/White game, slated for Saturday, April 29 at 6 p.m . at the Coliseum of Southern Utah. The teams will also square off in full scrimmages April 13th at 3 p.m . and April 22 at 10 a.m. Practices will be held Monday through Saturday at the Thunderbird practice facility, with the exception of April 14-17 when the team takes a break for Easter vacation. Pre-practice sessions begin at 4 p.m. daily. Softballers sweep Mesa, Fort Lewis Yell, cheer squads Two days- four wins. Those are the kind of results every coach and team would like to see, and Joy Peterson and her Lady 'Bird softball squad saw them Monday in Grand Junction, Colo., and yesterday in Durango, Colo. In Monday action, SUU humiliated Mesa State in double dip shutouts, 10-0 and 7-0. Yesterday, it was a bit closer as the women topped the Skyhawks of Fort Lewis 3-2 and 10-7. The non-conference wins moved the SUU record to 8-22-1. Heidi Miller took the win in the first game yesterday, giving up only six hits and one earned run. SU survived a trio of errors and scored a run in tluee separate innings as second baseman Heather Olsen, right fielde( Kami Shrock and shortstop Stephanie Lickliter all knocked in runs. Fort Lewis rallied in the bottom of the even th, the final inning, scoring a pair of run before being shut down by Miller. There were come-from-behind fireworks in th~ extrainning nightcap as the 'Birds came out with a three-run first inning, then saw the Skyhawk women score five in the bottom half of the first frame. The seventh inning began with SU down 7-5, but the Cedar City women scored a pair to tie, then, in the top of the eighth, came across with three more to take the lead. Janet Jensen, who went all the way for the win, slammed the door on Fort Lewis in the bottom half of the eighth. Fort Lewis helped the SUU cause with four errors in the game, also stranding eight runners; SU left nine on base. Olsen and Shrock led the SU hitters with 3-for-4 games while Rebecca Rhoades, Kristina DeGooyer and Kellie Culligan each picked up a pair of hits. The Lady 'Birds come home wi th WAC double header against New Mexico on Friday and Colorado State on Saturday. I set '95-96 tryouts Positions on SUU's yell squad (men) and cheer squad (women) along with the mascot, Tommy Thunderbird, will be held on Saturday, April 22, with a clinic set the day before. The April 21 clinic, which is closed to the public, is slated for 3 to 5:30 p.m . and 6 to 9 p.m. in the Centrum. The tryouts begin Saturday at 8 a.m . There is a $2 fee for admission. Applications can be picked up from Tammy Melton in the Centrum athletics office and will require a $3 entry fee upon filing. All applications must be received by 5 p.m., April 19 to be eligible. For stunting practice information, those interested are encouraged to call Cory Rivers at 586-6689. |