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Show •••IPflMAOHI•• SPORTS TiffiTHUNDERBIRD• SOUIHF.RNUfAHUNIVERSilY•TIIUR.SDAY, OCfOBER 15, 1992 • PAGE 10 Houle' s harriers trek to Idaho State Pocatello meet will see Pett, Woolston, and cadre of young runners Saturday BY JAKE CUDNEY Thunderbird Sports Writer Rick Robins will lead the Thunderbird offensitJI! attack at home saturda:y against the Gaels. 'Birds look to break losing streak The SUU Thunderbirds hope home will be the tonic as they hope to break a two-game losing streak against St Mary's C.Ollege Saturday at 1 p.m. at the C.Oliseum of Southern Utah. Sarurday's game opens a three-game homest3nd for the 'Birds, who have lost back-to-bade games two times this season. St Mary's marb the next to last non<x>nference game for the Thunderbirds this year and the last before the three consecutive Western Footba1l C.Onfcrence tilts. SUU hosts Sacramento State and Cal State Northridge in the next two weeks before returning to the road for the final confcrcncc clash with Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo. SUU doacs out the season at Idaho Stan:. Getting bade into the familiar atmosphere of the C.Oliseum can do nodung but help the Thunderbirds. "We hope gffling bade home will give US a boost," said SUU Head Football Coach Jack Bishop. "We've been playing well most of the time, but not all the time and not at the right times. Hopefully, playing at our own place will hdp us come together again." St Mary's comes into the game looking to break a Losing streak as well. After beginning the season 3-0, the Gads have dropped three straight, two on the road and one their home turf. For Southern Utah the tlSk will be to get the snuggling offense bade on trade, however in the last two ball game, although they were Losses, the offense has improved wnsiderably. Quarterbaclc Ride Robins had his best game as a Thunderbird against the Bronws of Santa Clara, completing 14-of 24 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, without throwing for an intuception. "This is a very big game for us," said Bishop. "St Mary's is a good football ream, but we've had pretty good success with them the last three years. This game should give us a chance to prove to ourselves and our fans that we can be a good football ream." After having a week away from competition , the men's and women's cross country teams look to improve their showings at the Idaho State University Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho, Saturday. The competition for the T-Birds will include teams that they have met this season as well new-found foes. Included among the teams that SU has met this year are Utah State, Ricks College and the College of Southern Idaho. Boise State, Montana, Eastern Montana, Virginia Tech, and Idaho State are among the teams that the Thunderbirds will be battling for the first time this season. Along with these teams, the women will be running against the team from Montana State. Coach Eric Houle said that the workouts have been lighter for both the men and women this week. He said that the reason for this change from the hard workouts of the week before was to help the team become less sluggish than they were in the previous week's meet the Biola Invitational in la Mirada, Calif. Houle says that one reason he went to the lighter workouts is that the gap between the first and the fifth runners for the men's and women's teams increased at the Biola Invitational. The separating time for the women increased from I :30 to 2 minutes, while the men's time increased by 55 seconds to a difference of 2:30. Houle said, "We hope that the gap improves. It's got to improve if we're going to wmpete. It's got to be down to around a minute." Houle said that he is looking for improved performances from Dennis Keith, Jeff Snow and Moore MarshalL He said, •we hope that they move up the paclc and move the team up in the standings. lf they can stay dose we won't have a problem." At the Biola Invitational Keith, Snow, and Marshall finished with only a difference of two seconds separating them. Houle also said that the team seems to be improving with each tournament He said, "They're not getting slower that's for sure. looking at the different wursc and the performances it looks li1ce we' re getting faster." Following the Pocatello meet, the teams will wmpete in the Weber State Invitational October 30. Oldroyd links academics and athletics Matt Oldroyd kad.s the Thunderbfrd golfers. Although he had both athletic and academic scholarships wrapped up, it was definitely the attraction of playing golf that originally brought Matt Oldroyd to SUV. After one year playing for the Thunderbird golf team and two years on a Mormon mission in Manchester, England, it was definitely the attraction of SUU' s academic program which brought Oldroyd bade. Now, as a senior academically, but a junior for athletic digibility purposes, the Richfidd High School graduate is mixing his golf and his preparation for what he hopes will be a career in medicine. "I essentially came here to play golf," the lanky 160-pound Oldroyd affirms. "Things worked out well my freshman year before I left for England. In all reality, however, it was the academic program and the school atmosphere-not golf-that brought me bad, In fact, I wncentrare on my studies and didn't even play golf my sophomore year after I returned." "I have had to alternate my attention between golf and school work," Oldroyd grins. "Qualifying was important first, then preparation for the MCAT took priority, and now that's over, I need to resharpen my golf game." The intertwining of golf and academics is a daily thing for Oldroyd. Because of laboratory courses in comparative anatomy and parasitology this quarter, his practice routine varies from that of other team members. "Most days, I am !ate to the afternoon practice with the team. I do try to practice in the mornings as much as I can," the 23-yearold biology major and chemistry minor says. "I really am a little different from most of the team members. Golf figures in the future career for many of them. Golf is not my career. My career is medicine, and I have to ~q,.phasize my academic schedule." While Oldroyd is different from most of the other squad members in age (he is one of only two upperclassmen on the team), he fits in well with the other players. "Definitely, I am the 'old' man' on the team, but there is a lot of camraderie among the players," Oldroyd says. "I certainly don't take a chaperon role; I don't have to. We have a great bunch of guys on the ti:am; Coach Oohn) Evans is great with us; and we are having a very enjoyable year. The program is looking up, we a.re getting invitations to great tournaments, and that makes things fun for all of us." In high school, Oldroyd lettered four years and played on three Richfidd High teams which finished second in state competition. He was region medalist both his junior and senior seasons. I ' |