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Show ,,. C. --------------------~••• 1RUNA0 1A••--------------------- SPORTS lllETHUNDERBIRD · SOlJilIBR.N l.ITAHUNIVERSITY •THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1993 • PAGE 10 Gym.nasts top 190; beat USU Kim Francis hit a 9.85 on beam to lift SUU past the Aggies BY DOUG BERGEVIN Thunderbird Sports Writer The Thunderbirds came out of Logan with the biggest win in SU gymnastic history Monday night after setting a team meet record 191.80 and soaring over fellow WAC members Utah State, Boise State, and University of Denver. Utah State chased the T-Birds but came up short with a 191.65, Boise State soored 190.65 and Denver lagged behind with 185.90. This meet pitted SU against WAC powerhouses USU and Boise who this year were ranked 15th and 16th in the NCAA. Going into the fin al rotation the 'Birds led Utah State by a half point The Aggies fought h ard on the floor and scored high. The TBirds executed their beam routines with skill but the lastT-Bird gymnast had to score a 9.7 to tie the Aggies. SUU senior Kim Francis did more than tie the squad withUtah State. She responded with a personal and team beam record 9.85 and wrapped up the win fo r suu. SUU'l Kim FTancis nailed a 9.85 on beam to push thl! Lad-y Thunderbirds past USU Monda-y. Ladies finish season 12-15 Two magic words summarize the 199293 season for the SUU women's basketball team: "improvement" and "optimisim." The Thunderbird women dosed the year with three consecutive road victories and wins in six of the final nine games. Their 12-15 season record represents a six-game turnaround for the 1991 -92 season . "It looks like we have turned the comer," said SU U Coach Larry Shurtliff. "Certainly we are pleased with the improvement in our record. The progress became very obvious about midseason. At that point, no one could take us lightly; the very good teams had to play to win against- us." letterwinner,-· Angie Al"CV~-a- fo~r-~ and Libby Price, a two-year regular, are scheduled for graduation. Alvey led the ~ in assists with 4.9 per game and three-point shooting at 53-147 and she averaged. 9.7 points per game. Price ranked third on the squad in rebounding with 5J per game and fifth in scoring with 8.3 ppg. Her 48 percent field goal ac:curacy ranked high also. In addition to sweeping home-and-home games with Grand Canyon University, University of Nevada, Cal State Northridge, and Northern Arizona University, the Thunderbirds took wins over San Jose State, Weber State, Marist, and the University of New Meixco. "W e beat some good teams, and we extended some very good teams. We lost a couple of good players (forward Karrie Henry and guard Denise Parker] to injuries, but we adapted and adjusted well. "I'm pleased with the way our players performed," said Shurtliff. Freshman Cherri Shurtliff, who came off the bench early nearly every game of the year, and finished the sea.son as the team's top scorer and rebounder. She averaged 13.4 points and 6.6 rebounds. She . ~n.~~ --~n 4?.-.8. ~l'Ce!'t of h.~~ _field ~ al __ atrempts and led the team in bloded snots with 31. Becky Schofield, a forward, was next on both the scoring and rebounding ladders. She averaged. 10.9 points in a balanced Lady 'Bird offense and ripped off an average of 5.6 rebounds per game. "Our recruiting looks good right now, and we will have Jamie White who redshirtrd with us last season," Shurtliff said. "We don't have too many places where we need help, and it looks like we will be able to ·t he -peop need:,._ ·- -· .. nna ewe Numerous personal and team records were stacked up by the squad while old ones came down. The three top all-around scorers for SU broke each of their all-around personal .bests. Julie Aguirre took the top all-around spot for the meet with a 38.65, beating out Julie Wagner of Boise who took second with a 38.50 and SU's own Jodi McKay who scored an all-around personal best of 38.30. Jill Eagles scored a personal best in the all-around with 37.85. On the vault Julie Aguirre tied her season best and tied teammate McKay's score with a 9.50. Mika Goldstein scored a 9.35 and Eagles followed closely with a 9.30. Four personal bests were slated when the TBirds went to the bar routine. Cris Becker and Aguirre both chalked up new records of 9 .75 and McKay and Eagles set their individual records at 9.65 and 9.55, respectivdy. In addition to these records the 'Birds gave themselves a new team record on bars at 48.40 On the floor, considered by SU Head Coach Scott Bauman as the team's strongest event, the squad set a team record of 48.40. Their previous high of 48.30 was set against Utah State last year. Contributing to the new record was McKay who scored a personal record of 9.80, Francis who picked up a 9 .75, and Aguirre who scored a 9.65. Eagles and Llsa Gomez each contributed with 9.60s. The Thunderbirds remained steady on beam and applied the finishing touch to their competion with this last rotation. The team set a record with a score of 48.20. Francis scored the meet winner 9.85 and Aguirre scored a personal best of9.75. Becker tied her individual record and set her season best with a 9 .70 and Susie Specht chalked up a seasoo high 9.50. "It was a great meet," said Bauman. "Going into the last rotation, with u up by five-tenths of a points. We knew Utah State wasn't going to miss on floo, so we knew we had to hit on beam-and we did." Softhallers take two from MSC BY JAKE CUDN EY Thundnbird Sports Writer The SUU softball team picked up two wins Monday at the expense of Mesa State, 4-2 and 9--0, in Grand Junction, Colo. The games were a h itters' holiday as the Thunderbirds picked up a total of 23 hits over the two games. The leading hitters for the 'Birds were pitx:her-first baseman Lorrie Muir (5-7 including a home run), third baseman Denise Johnson (5-8 along with a home run), shortstop Kirn O lsen (5-8), and second baseman Tera Fowers (2-5 and a home run) . ___ H~-~loy Pete~~-~~-~~t_th~ key to the game was the hitting and consistency of the fielding that was the key for the Thunderbird victory. She said, "We had an awful lot of hits, we only made two rnistake.s. Pitx:hing was not quite as good as what we' re used to, but we'll take the . wins. Peterson pointed to Johnson and Olsen who hit .625, and Hoern and Shrock and each hit .500 for the day as important factors in the wins. She was also quick to point out that the team played well in the . ·---- - field. She said, "W ith two error: in two ball games for as early as it is that's pretty good especially with all the freshmen we have-" The first game of the series started off well for the Thunderbirds as Kim Olsen hit a single in her first time at the plate. Olsen was driven in by Fowers as she hit the first of Southern Utah's three home runs. In the bottom of the first Mesa State scored its only two runs of the series which , created a 2-2 tie that would last into the fifth. The fifth inning provided the third of the Thunderbird runs. Muir got on base on a fielder's choice, and Johnson got the ·-RBc Toefuial ·su·run-came fu-me · · seveath from -Audrey Richards. The second game proved even more lucrative for the SU bitters, as they picked up l3 hits on their way to a 9-0 win. SUU went on to score one run in both the first and third innings and three in the fifth before getting four runs on five hits in the sixth. Two of the sixth inning runs came on home runs by Muir and Johnson. Fowers and Gennifer Turley picked the final Thunderbird runs of the afternoon. |