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Show PAGE14 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SPORTS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER l , 1999 Gridders open home season Satu_ r day "We got after them pretty good last year, but two years ago Ft. Lewis played us right Southern Utah opens the 1999 season Saturday against Fort Lewis College, SUU's down to the wire. They looked good last week in a close loss and we expect them to be oldest football rival. The game is the season-opener for Southern Utah after last a better team than they were last year,· said Gregory. weekend's scheduled game against Western Montana was cancelled due to an NCAA The Skyhawks are coming off an 0-10 season, but have a host of experienced players rule (17.10.3) which states teams may not play before the Thursday preceding Labor returning, including Wilson (6-1, 190) and Angerman (Jr., 5-11 , 177), who both played Day unless they are involved in certain exempt contests. in all 10 games last season. Angerman was the team's top receiver in 1998 with 24 The Ft. Lewis Skyhawks are a NCAA Division II team, and come into the game with a receptions for 221 yards and a touchdown, while Wilson threw for 450 yards and a pair 0-1 record after dropping a 27-20 decision to Western New Mexico last Saturday. The of touchdowns. completing 46 of 113 passes with eight interceptions, as a freshman. game was exempt from the NCAA ruling, because it was considered a pre-season Angerman pulled in four passes for 104 yards last week while Wilson completed 19 of classic. 38 passes for 274 yards and a pair of scores while also leading the team in rushing Entering 'its 37th season as a four-year institution and its seventh at the I-AA level, after.carrying 15 times for 61 yards, including one SO-yard scamper. Tailback Ryan Southern Utah is an even 18-18-0 in season openers, 9-8 in season openers at home. Wynn (Fr, 5-9, 176) carried 21 times for 52 yards. SUU has won its last two season-openers, one at home (1997. 44-13 vs Illinois Seniors Brook Madsen, Josh Roberts, Terry Rose and junior Matt Cannon are the State) and one on the road (1998, 45-35 at Montana). The last time SUU lost a season1999 SUU captains. They were elected opener was in 1996. when the 'Birds fell by their teammates. at home to Northern Iowa. 31-21. In last week's home loss to Western Saturday's game will be the 29th New Mexico last week, Ft. Lewis meeting between Southern Utah and watched a 20-7 second quarter lead Fort Lewis, representing SUU's longest disappear as WNM scores 20 running rivalry. Southern Utah holds an unanswered points. Then FLC had its 18-10 advantage in the series and has come-back att€mpt thwarted when a won the last five contests between the receiver dropped a ball in the end zone two teams. as time expired. Because of the rivalry, team members FLC quarterback Nick Wilson threw say it won't be hard to get ready for the scoring strikes of 53 and 67 yards to game. Danny Garcia and Izzy Angerman to put · "This is our oldest rivalry and I would FLC up 14-7, then Rusty Evans tacked guess one of their oldest rivals. If you on a pair of field goals to put the can't get up for your oldest rival Skyhawks up 20-7 late in the second something's wrong." said Head Coach period. C. Ray Gregory. On the defensive side of the ball, SUU and FLC were formerly members redshirt freshman DeMeco Moore (LB. of the Rocky Mountain Athletic 6-1, 218) racked up 15 tackles, five Conference, but the rivalry dates back to ;t_ solo, with 2.5 sacks and five total 1963, SUU's first season as a four-year ~ tackles for loss to lead the team against school. The teams met twice that :> Q WNM. The Skyhawks also have a · season and met every following year ~ handful of last year's leaders returning, until 1987 when the rivalry was ~ including OLB Stentz Whitaker (Sr, 6-1 , interrupted. ~ 200, Sr) . the team's leading tackler in All of Southern Utah's athletic ffi 1998 with 89 stops and a team-high four programs were affiliated with the RMAC ..., sacks and interceptions leader Dave from 1965 to 1985 when the conference Repetition is the name of the game as Coach Aaron Alford goes over a play with comer Bliesmer (Sr, 5-11, 207), who had 78 operated at the NAIA Division I level. tackles to go with his four interceptions· back Nate Sund/off, a sophomore from Murrary, Utah. SUU will face off against Ft. Lewis SUU left the RMAC in 1986 when it last year. The bad news for FLC, at 7 p.m. this Saturday moved its affiliation to the NCAA however, was that senior strong safety Division II level during its transition to Luis Dominguez Paris suffered a season-ending injury against Western New Mexico. NCAA Division I competition. Even with all the success the 'Birds have had against FLC, they say that this should The teams resumed playing each other in 1997 and this will be the third straight be a good game. season the teams have met since renewing the rivalry. "We expect them to have a good game plan against us. This is the third straight year Last year the 'Birds stomped FLC 37-6 at Eccles Coliseum in front of a crowd of 1,449 they've played us, so they know exactly what we do,· said Gregory. fans. Harriers begin defense of Mid-Con titles SUU's men's and women's cross country teams kick off the 1999 season Saturday, competing at the Northern Arizona/George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz. The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 11 a.m. and the women's 5-k run will follow at 11 :30 a.m . Both races will be held at the Buffalo Park Recreation Area. The 'Birds will compete against Grand Canyon and the host Lumberjacks, as well as a number of junior colleges. Both SUU squads finished second to NAU in the event last year. Head Coach Eric Houle begins his ninth season at the helm.of SUU's cross country program. Houle led the Thunderbirds to their sweep of the Mid-Con men's and women's titles last season. Houle was named the conference's Coach of the Year - for the second consecutive year - for his efforts. The Thunderbirds enter the 1999 season looking to extend the dominance they have enjoyed in the MidContinent Conference into the next century. Since entering the Mid-Con in 1997, Southern Utah has won three out of a possible four titles combined. With nine all-conference runners returning between the two teams, expectations are high for another title run in the conference this year. Last year's cross country teams were the best in school history. The men's squad repeated as Mid-Con champion, while the women rebounded from a runner-up finish in 1997 to win their first conference championship, completing a clean sweep at the Mid-Con Championships at Bullfrog Lake, Ill. Both squads went on to the NCAA Mountain Regional meet in Provo, Utah. The women placed eighth while the men only had three runners compete due to injury. Sophomore Zak James placed 10th in the men's regional, becoming the firstever Thunderbird to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championship. James finished 69th out of 253 runners at the national meet in Lawrence, Kan. The Sl)U men. will be looking for the "three-peat• this season with senior Jody Benson and junior Curtis Moore anchoring the team. Benson, the 1997 Mid-Con individual champion and Runner of the Year, returns after red-shirting in 1998. Moore, the 1998 Mid-Con individual champion and Runner of the Year, will complete SUCJ's dynamic duo while looking for his third conference individual championship. Moore also won the American West Conference title in 1995. Two Mid-Con first-team members also return in juniors Mark Wright and James. Sophomore Daniel Ibarra and freshmen Charles Hackenheimer, Dustin Hupspeth and Rob Oslund round out the roster. The women will look to repeat as champions without the services of one of their best athletes. The Thunderbirds lost the defending Mid-Con women's individual champion Wendy (Allen) Chatfield, who is takiing time off for personal reasons. Chatfield is a twotime first-team All-Conference selection. Five of the eight returning Thunderbirds, however, garnered all-Mid-Con honors last season and will lead SUU's quest for a second-straight title. Junior Kelly Fugal and sophomores Robyn Adams (also named Mid-Con Newcomer of the Year) and Jandee Hood earned first-team honors, while senior Mary Ann Schauerhamer and junior Teresa Rice were named to the Mid-Con's Second-Team . Juniors Rachael Porter and Shelby Steele and sophomore Robyn Truman will also return this season. Freshmen Ilene Dixon and Kelly Snodgrass will be looked upon to make an immediate impact in 1999. 1 "This weekend's races will be a good starter for us," Coach Houle said. "We are real strong at the first four . positions on the men's team, but in cross country, you are only as good ~s your number-five runner and that is a question mark for us. We do have young freshmen and it is too early to tell how they will perform. If they step up, we can make some noise at NAU . "Our women's squad has improved over last season," Houle continued. "It all depends on how our two freshmen (Ilene Dixon and Kelly Snodgrass) mix with our returners, but NAU's women's team is real strong. We are going to focus on strengths and we want to be able to tell where we are as a team after Saturday's race. We will have some success at the meet.· SUU's next competition of the season will come at the prestigious Big Cross Invitational on Sept. 11 , in Pasco, Wash. |