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Show -l IPA~E 10 MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1000 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SPORTS 'Birds demolished by Davis SU hits the links Southern Utah's golf team plays in the penultimate tournament of its fall schedule today in Simi Valley, Calif., competing in the Country Wide Home Loans Intercollegiate Tournament, hosted by CS Northridge. The tournament is scheduled to be played at the par 72, 6,809 yard Wood Ranch Country Club. This will be the second time SUU has competed in the tournament. The first time SUU was there, in the fall of 1997, the Thunderbirds finished 12th of 15 teams. Current senior John Busby was a freshman on that squad and is the only T-Bird who has competed on the course. Busby finished 75th in his second collegiate tournament that year. Robb Kaas finished 20th to lead the T-Birds in • 1997, with a three-round total of 231 (plus-15). Tyler Barlow finished at 239 to finish in 47th place, while Todd Mullen shot 243 for 58th place and Dave Loughton shot 245 for 63rd. The Thunderbirds are ·coming off a 14thplace finish at the New Mexico State/Herb Wemberty Classic. SUU was tied for seventh after shooting 292 in Friday's opening round, but the T-Birds strtlggled to a 311 in the second round to fall to 12th place and despite a third round 303 the best the 'Birds could finish was 14th. SUU posted a score of 906 through three rounds. For the second straight tournament senior John Busby led the Thunderbirds, shooting a three-round total of 220 over the 7,040-yard par-72 track to finish in a tie for 28th place, nine shots off the lead. Sophomore Robb Evans, who has been playing with a stress fracture in his leg, finished 46th at 226, while freshman Grier Hatfield shot 227 for his best collegiate finish (52nd). Sophomore Jake Turley finished 69th at 233 while freshman Clint Melling shot 244 to finish in a tie for 84th. "We're capable of shooting three rounds under 300 on this course, but we're young and some of the guys are still learning what it takes to compete at this level," Church said. "I saw some improvement this week, and that's what we need to keep seeing with our young team. I'm really encouraged after what I saw. "It was nice to see the team playing up to its capabilities, if it was only for one round,· Church added. "Now we need to learn to finish rounds better. Our scores have been good thorugh the first 14 holes every round but we've surrendered way too many strokes to par over the last four holes. We need to develop the mental toughness it takes to finish. Expected to travel to the New Mexico State tourney are Busby, Evans, Turley, Hatfield and a player to be named. BY JASON ERICKSON AS5lSTANT SPORTS EDITOR battle back on a 64-yard pass from Matt Cannon to Denton with 6: 11 left in the second quarter. SUU would score just one more time in the game. It J.T O'Sullivan passed for 439 yards and five touchdowns would come in the third quarter with Cannon carrying the • while Matt Brown rushed for three touchdowns as the UC ball two yards into the end zone making the score 35-20 for Davis Aggies (6-0) crush the the Aggies. Thunderbirds (2-4) 56-20 Saturday. UC Davis scored three more The Aggies got out early in the first times, all on O'Sullivan passes. The quarter, ~ith; a five-yard touchdown Thunderbird defense gave up 56 by Matt tsrown. The 'Birds battled points, and 588 offensive yards. right back with the help of a 69-yard "This was a complete disaster," run by Clay Denton, setting up a Gregory said. · we didn't get four-yard run by Rod Madsen anything right today." making the score even at seven. It was a very un-Cannon like day, That was as close as the 'Birds as he rushed the ball 18 times for would ever get. With 2:53 left in the only 50 yards and one touchdown. first quarter Brown ran in another "The Aggies defended Cannon touchdown, helping the ~ggies go up very well today." Gregory said. 14-7. Brown wasn't done scoring, as ~ · cannon just couldn't get it going." he went again in the second quarter · ~ Denton led the way for the 'Birds, to go up 21-7. ~ rushing for 79 yards. Madsen had "We never could get it going ~ 50, and Charles Henderson finished todayi • coach C. Ray Gregory said. ~ with 40 yards rushing. "The Aggies aren't 5-0 for nothing." 1 Things won't get any easier for w . UC Davis wasn't done, scoring ~ SUU, as it will be on the road again with 7:561eft in the second ~ again.The Thunderbirds will be in quarter on a 31-yard pass to Michael Clay Denton was SUU's leading rusher Pocatello to play the Idaho State Oliva from O'Sullivan to make it 28-7. Saturday with 79 yards. The Aggies Bengals on Qct. 21 . The next home Once again the 'Birds would try to game for SUU will be on Oct. 28 defeated SUU at UC Davis 56-20. Practice begins for hoop squads ' SUU's basketball teams began official practices Saturday in the Centrum Arena, preparing their upcoming seasons. Both squads look to have promising seasons that will give Thunderbird tarn~ a lot to cheer about. "We're excited about getting started," SUU men's head coach Bill Evans said. "The guys have worked hard in conditioning and individual workouts and I think they're ready to go. I'm pleased with the team's attitude and toughness to this point; I think we're further ahead at this point than we were last year. The team posted a 16-13 record with a 10-6 mark in MidCon play last year. The Thunderbirds finished in a threeway tie for second-place (with Valparaiso and UMKC) in the regular season, then won a pair of games in the conference tournament before falling to Valparaiso in the championship game. Returning for the Thunderbirds are leading scorer and rebounder Frederick House, a consensus all-league and all-newcomer team selection at small forward last season, as well as point guard Jeff Monaco, another all-league and all-tourney player. Justin Sant, who started 23 games at off-guard and another at the point last year, also returns, as does center Chris Wallin, a starter in a dozen games. The Lady T-Birds are also looking forward to getting the season started. In last year's conference tournament, SUU lost to eventual champion Youngstown State in overtime. "I know that our players and coaches are pretty excited to get this season going,· SUU women's head coach Joe Hillock said. "We had ·a good off-season in which our players worked hard on conditioning and weight training and we anticipate that the hard work will show on the court this season." Leading the charge in 2000 will be a pair of second-team all-Mid-Con selections in senior forward Sarah (Pratt) Mortensen and junior guard Megan (Lofthouse) Woolston. The names have changed, but their games ~emain the same. Mortensen led the team and Mid-Con in rebounding last season, securing 8.9 caroms a game. Coupling that with an 11 .0 ppg average made her a dominant threat in the paint for the 'Birds. Woolston returns as the team's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder from a year ago (1 4.0 ppg/5.8 rpg). The sharpshooter is also a career 38-percent from beyond the arc and an 80-percent shooter from the free throw line. Woolston scored in double figures in 21 of 27 games last year, five of those contests with 20 or more points, including a career-high 27 points in a win over Northwestern State at the Boise State Christmas Classic, garnering her all-tournament honors. SUU fans w ill be able to get a sneak peak at this year's basketball squads in the annual B-Ball Bash on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. In the Centrum . The first game for the Thunderbirds will be Nov. 6. -· Cross country runs to first place in Las Vegas The Southern Utah University men's and women's cross country teams ran to a first-place finish at the UNLV Invitational Saturday. The men's eight-kilometer race returned to the .Invitational after a two-year absence. The Thunderbirds topped Long Beach State 18-43 in the two-team event. SUU captured the top three finishes and five of the top seven for the victory, led by race winner Mark Wright (25:05.9). Thunderbirds Zak James and Curtis Moore finished with the second and third places behind Wright. James finished at 25:07.2 and Moore at 25:08.0. Others finishing for the 'Birds were Adam Brown (25:56.0), Dustin Hudspeth (26:20.7), Cody Moat (26:29.0), Gregg Harris (26:45.6) ,and Charles Hacken (27:05.2) . The Thunderbird women successfully defended their title in the 5k race as they edged out the University of Utah in team standings by a score of 49-66. Only one point separated Long Beach State (77) and San Diego State (78) for third place, and UNLV and Cal State Dominguez finished fourth and fifth. Senior Teresa Rice was the- top SUU finisher for the women, taking fifth place (19:03.5). Not far behind was teamate Jandee Hood in sixth place (19:04.0). Natalie Quilter finished in ninth (19: 14.6), and in 12th was Robyn Adams (19:19.4). Others finishing for SUU were Kelly Moore (19:3.3.7), Kelly Snodgrass (19:47.7) , Ashley Miller (20:49.4), and Chelsea Martin (21: 17.8). The meet concludes the season for SUU, which now has two weeks to prepare the Mid-Continent Conference Championships. The men look to win its fourth staight Mid-Con title. SUU has been very dominant in the Mid-Con under the direction of coach Eric Houle, who was last year's Mid-Con coach of the year. . SUU also won its first-ever Mountain Regional Championship last year. This year the Regional Championships will be held in Macomb, Ill. , on Oct. 28. . 1 • ..., < Z QC 5 ~ g; ~ ~ ~ Mark Wright, Zak James, and Curtis Moore. |