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Show -'BIRD SPORTS ' Ill Softball starts league play today Final homestand The SU softball squad ventures into new territory Troy Cox_Invitacional in February facing similar today facing the UMKC Kangaroos for the first ever opponents of SU's. meeting between the two schools and the firs t MidAgainst Wichita State-a team the 'Birds beat- the Con game for the SU women's softball program. Lady Kangaroos dropped 8-0 and 9-1 decisions to the Today's matchup is part of a four-game series that Shockers. The teams also met Loyola-Chicago, with includes a double header today and tomorrow i n SU dropping 5-2 and 3-2 decisions and UMKC falling Kansas City, Mo. Only Saturday's games will count 7-3 to the Ramblers. toward the Mid-Con The Kangaroos carry a standings. team batting average of For the first time since .199, but have three 1995 the Lady 'Birds will hitters at .300 or better. be competing for a Kacy Manning leads the conference championship team in RBI with three as members of the Midand has the 'Roos' only Con. The ladies will also home run. UMKC has a be looking at a bid for the team ERA of 7.32, with conference's at large bid Erin Brown{0-3) leading into the NCAA the way at 5.11. toumament. SU was a Junior catcher Christy member of the WAC until Burge needs just one the conierence voted to home run to become the exclude affiliate members school's career leaderafter the '95 season. she and Bonnie Cahill The 'Birds have had {1978-8 1) each have 10. almost two weeks off Burge is also in fourthsince their last game place on the all-time SU • where they were shutout hits list with 117 and by Utah State in two needs six hits to pass Lori home games. The ladies Mott for third-place, and have not picked up a win 5 hits to move into since a 1-0 victory on Feb. second-place ahead of Ca tcher Christy Burge leads the team in home runs 27 over Wichita State at Cahill. the Troy Cox Invitational. with 10 this season. Heather Olsen, who Although the team bas a finished her career last record of 1-11 currently, things are looking to shape season, is SU's all-time leader with 177 hits. Burge up heading into Mid-Con play. already holds the record for doubles with 35. In their first conierence games against UMKC, the Cami Niko currently leads the team with a .342. 'Birds will be facing a team that has played just six batting average. She has 13 hits, six runs and eight RBI games this season. UMKC also participated in the on the season. for baseball today The SU men's baseball team will conclude its final homestand of the season today and tomorrow facing Portland State in a three-game series at Thunderbird Park. The 'Birds will be l ooking to keep their three-game win streak alive as they face the Vikings beginning at 2 p.m. today. The SU baseball program is off to one of its best starts in years with a 13-13 record. Wins this " weekend will be very important as the 'Birds spend the remainder of the season on the road. The 'Birds have fared well on the road this season, with quality wins over UNL V, San Francisco and Grand Canyon. SU won the fivegame series over Grand Canyon 3-2. A big change from last season is the 'Birds aren't spending as much time trying to catch up at the end of games. In most of their wins, th ey have had the lead and have fought off several comebacks to pick up the win. The baseball team plays as an independent and is currently not affiliated with any conference, which causes problems with scheduling and sends the 'BiTds on tbe road often as it is tough to bring teams to Cedar City. The 'Birds will participate as members of the Mid-Con in 2000, which will bring more home games and the men will p]ay a schedule similar to that of the women's softball program who already participates in the league. The remainder of the schedule wilJ take SU to San Francisco for a four-game series April 9-11, then the ' Birds will return to Utah to face in-state foes Utah {April 15-16) and BYU (April 21-22). SU finishes up the season in California for a rematch with UC Riverside April 25-26, and a final five-game series with CS Northridge May 8-10. Kisselburgh born to tumble By JAKE MARSHALL JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT Ever since Dawn Kissleburgb was nine years old, she has loved to show off. Whether it was tumbling on the kitchen floor or flipping over the couch, she loved to put on a performance for any audience she could find. It was at this young age of nine that her mom decided to enroll her into a gymnastics class. Dawn's family knew she was destined for gymna.stics greatness from the very beginning. Before she had the chance to chalk her hands or tape h er wrists, she already had .her own gym right next to her Fountain Valley,.CaW., home, by way of the next door neighbor's tree. The tree was perfect for climbing, swinging and doing flips out of. When her mom saw what she could do in a tree, she couldn't h elp but wonder what would happen if she had a few lessons. It didn't take long to figure out that this nineyear-old was ready to compete. Within the first two months of lessons, Dawn had -progressed at a very rapid rate. She earned recognition in her first year and never looked back. At age 13 Dawn's family moved to Washington, where her gymnastic success continued full scale. By the time she was a freshman in high school, she was already one of the top performers in the state. During her sophomore year she placed first in the vault competition and as a junior she was second in the all- around competition. In 1994, as a senior in high school in Vancouver, Washington, Dawn was named Washington's Athlete of the Month by the local TV station for her performance at the state championships. Dawn was also honored as the outstanding gymnast for her first-place finish in the all around competition at that m eet. By the time she was out of high school Dawn was a four-time district champion, a state champion, a 15-time EUte All-American and owned a pair of national high school vault championships. Dawn chose SUU over Iowa State, Texas and Denver University, and says she has loved every minute of it. Dawn is the current school record holder in the vault (9.90), the beam {9.875), and the floor exercise (9.90). If you think that all of this success has come easy for K.isselburgh, think again. Her body will probably never be the same. Starting from the ground going up, she has broken both feet, pulled her achilles tendon, hyper-extended both knees, had a stress fracture in her back, broken her left wrist and sprained her neck {just to name a few). Dawn said that she wanted to "go big" in her last meet against BYU last week, and s he did with a 9.775 on vault and beam, and a huge 9.900 on the floor-which tied her own school record. · Although she will miss the competition, her body is ready for the rest. Dawn will continue her ~ studies here at SUU, majoring in biology, with an ~ emphasis in botany and a minor in chemistry. 5 Next year she plans on being a student-assistant ~ coach for the SU gymnastics squad while she ~ finishes her degree in biology. After college, Dawn ffi plans to continue her desire to fly high and join the United States Navy and become a helicopter ffi 0 p ilot. - a Dawn Kisse]bUigh holds three SU gymnastics records. |
