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Show "BIRD SPORTS Gymnastics begin tonight talented team we've ever had,” added Bauman. The Lady /Birds main goal tonight is to hit their routines and have near perfect positions. “If we hit, it’ll be a good meet,” said Bauman. “The key By LONNIE EVERILL JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER The SU gymnastics squad opens the 1998 season tonight at 7 p.m. when it hosts UC Santa Barbara in the Centrum. The quest? To see if the hopes of a trip to the NCAA championships for the first time can become a reality. “Qur goal is to beat everyone we compete against,” said ‘Bird gymnastics coach Scott Bauman. This season, the 'Birds return the core of last year’s squad, which was the highest scoring in school history to success is consistency, consistency, consistency,” Bauman continued. The ladies will be competing against an up and coming team tonight, a team which Bauman feels will be much stronger than last year, possibly a 190-plus team. “They will be a very tough opponent for our first meet,” he continued. Like the Lady ‘Birds, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos have squad with a mix of youth and experience. The Gauchos have just one with a 193.200 Regional Qualifying Score. senior on the roster, Kim Weigle, along with four Juniors Kimberly Nomura, juniors and four sophomores to go with a who holds the SU all-around record with a score of 39.05, and Tamara Turley return as does senior Dawn Kisselburgh, perhaps the most talented gymnast in school history— she holds three school records. In freshman class. Along with this, the Gauchos have a new coach. Megan Fenton, a Utah native who trained at Rocky Mountain Gymnastics SPORTS COMMENTARY Final weekend of football upon us The 1997 NFL season will come to a close Sunday in San Diego. After weeks of intense playoff games, two teams remain standing as the Green Bay Packers battle the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII. Though the Packers are trying to repeat as champions, the Denver Broncos clearly have more riding on this game. Denver has never won a Super Bowl in four tries. At the same first AFC 2 returning, the ‘Birds lost Tamara Turley on the beam. Grant and bars specialist Jennifer Noble. The gaps will ultimately have to be filled by a relatively untested freshman class. The freshman class, including Suzi Clark, Alisa Green, Heather Slack and Bethany Orten, will need strong performances tonight for the ladies to be successful. According to Bauman, his hopes are they will do just that and be ready to step it up at any moment. “1 feel the freshmen will come on strong. This ‘is without a doubt the strongest freshman class we've had since I've been here. All four of those girls have the potential to break school records every time out,” he said. “Combine our returning athletes with the newcomers and we should be looking at the most the at the dream most players never get to realize. The great Dan Fouts never made it to a Super Bowl. Dan Marino, statistically to ever the best quarterback play, made it back in 1984, but lost to Joe Montana's The two teams match up g’Birds in their first meet of © the season. £ Even with the teams’ 2 similarities and the fact Even with the talent will try to become Super Bowls in his career, he is very fortunate. Unlike many other great quarterbacks, Elway gets one final shot Z well and make this a good & competition for the Lady DeWald. the Broncos to win the big game since the Raiders, Elway will have to lead his Broncos to an NFL championship. Despite the fact that Elway has already lost three Zat UCLA. Franklin and Maika Brockbank return as well as sophomore Jodi Miller time, team way back in 1983. Perhaps more important than anything else, is that this may be the last chance John Academy before competing addition, juniors Kim some key pieces of their squad including, four-time post-season qualifier Julie RYAN FLOX they match up well, injuries could decide this meet. The Lady 'Birds have been nursing some ailments in the pre-season and two gymnasts are questionable for tonight’s meet. Sophomore Jodi Miller DeWald, one of the /Birds best vaulters, has a sprained ankle and freshman Alisa Green, an up and coming powerhouse on the bars, is suffering from a shoulder injury. The Lady ‘Birds will go with three all-arounders for tonight’s meet and possibly a fourth depending on DeWald’s ankle. “1 feel really good about it,” Bauman said about tonight’s meet. This will be the first look into how the Lady ‘Birds’ season will unfold, and what to expect in the long run. 49ers, and hasn’t returned since. Elway led the Broncos to three Super Bowls during the '80s, but lost them all. In 1986, they were beaten by the New York Giants 39-20, then were the next year by the Redskins beaten 45-10. badly Elway again led the Broncos back to the big game again in 1989, but the result was the same as they were destroyed by the 49ers 55-10, the most lopsided Super Bowl ever. It has been said that this is the best team John Elway has played on. For the first time, Elway has a running back in Terrell Davis who honest, and makes keeps the opponent’s defense the great quarterback’s job a little easier. However, the Broncos are overmatched by the balanced and powerful Packers, led by Brett Favre, who is destined to join John Elway in the Hall of Fame if he continues to play like he has the past few seasons. Elway has pulled off a number of miracles in his Hall of Fame career, but this would be his greatest if he could find a way to beat the mighty Packers. A Even though I have been a Packers fan since I was a little kid, I have also been a John Elway fan. It would be nice to see him finally win the big game and get rid of his reputation of being a choker. And since it seems likely that my favorite quarterback, Dan Marino, will never get his Super Bowl ring, my pain would be eased somewhat if Elway could get his. Men lose in OT while women slam Chicago St. By CHAD LAMB JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR What looked to be a blowout turned into a nailbiter as the Chicago State Cougars picked up an 81-79 overtime win last night over the ‘Birds. SU, which led the Cougars by as much as 14 in the second half, had no problem breaking the half-court press of Chicago State early on. However, sloppy passing and several turnovers allowed the Cougars to go on an 18 to five run and pull within one at 59-58 with five minutes remaining. The Cougars took their first lead of the game at 63-62, but the ‘Birds were able to reel off five straight points to hold a four-point lead with 1:30 remaining. After tying the game at 67-67, Chicago State stopped SU’s last run to forcing the game into overtime, as Tyrone Ellis missed a jumper from the to of the key. In the overtime period, turnovers were once again a problem for the 'Birds, as the Cougars took advantage in jumping out o a six-point lead and controlling the temp the remainder of the game. The 'Bird defense held the Cougars to 34 percent shooting. However, guard Jermaine Hicks with 27 points and forward Rahsaan Mitchell with 23 seemed unstoppable as they made shots from anywhere on the floor. The loss leaves SU with a 1-6 record in the conference heading into tomorrw night’s game against Northeastern Illinois at 7:35 in the Centrum night. “Our improved outside shooting enabled Larsen to accomplish a lot more By BEN GUNDERSON JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER down low for us where we needed it,” It was a rarity of sorts last night as the Lady ’Bird cagers won a laugher over the Chicago State Cougars in the Centrum 90-56. The win pushes the ladies overall record to 9-8 on the year, and brought their Mid-Con Conference record to 2-5. The Lady ‘Birds had no trouble against the hapless Cougars, outshooting Chicago State through the entire game, eventually climbing to a 34-point lead in the blowout win. Center Myndee Larsen led SU in scoring with a total of 24 points, while Jessica Littlefield was able to provide another 20. Forward Sunny Myers’ shooting was right-on, as she pulled up for four three-point baskets for the said Head Coach Joe Hillock. The Lady ‘Birds demonstrated a sound defense as well, holding the Cougars to 38 percent shooting from the field. Turnovers were almost nonexistent for the ladies as well—which has been their sore point in past games. Myers led the team in rebounds with a tally of nine contributing to the team’s net of 53 boards, which almost doubled Chicago State’s 27 team rebounds. “Tonight I thought we did a really good job stopping the Cougars from penetrating our defense and letting them shoot,” Hillock continued. The ladies now prepare for a league contest against Mid-Con doormat Northeastern Illinois tomorrow night. |