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Show I THUNDERBIRD SPORTS THE THUNDERBIRD· SOUTilERN lJfAH UNIVERSITY· THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1993 • PAGE I 0 Thunderbirds battle for share of AWC crown BY JOHN McCLOSKEY Thund~rbird Sports them.• Challis agrees. "The last two weeks !SUI has pla ed better than they have all year,• he ys. There also earns to be a rrong ense of unity and confidence to go along with the team's mprovement Arnold says, "!Before the N rthrid e game,] there was a ling of better tbaU m.9 Hunsaker a d , -1 unity. It was th first time I'd cit it all year. wouldn't trade ur There was a feellng that scheclul for anything." we Jd win no H d coach J ck matter what." Hunsaker Bi hop is very p ud of adds, "The off: n and his team' performance this year. "I'm en th d fi n5e h uUed rogether. We're finally a more proud than before unit.~ becau e f the adversity Sim mTimm, we'v had to go throu h," says Bi hop. an th r enior 0lineman added, "In di "lt w uld've n ea y lode, noom [be re th quit but they didn't. Everything in athletics is orthrid~ game.I peopl knew w w re ba ed n winning, but Free sa/ery Joe Scraw pic~d off 1wo we' re al o in the panes agauu1 North ridge, ont u hich Ju, goin)l win .n Bishop bu in . of r turmcl 52 )'Ord /or a TD, again gll'lng said he elt it t . "The minu we g t to the accomplishment and him the A WC de/ensiue plaJf!f award. radium l commen1ed improv ment." that I knew 'J win,9 The improvement the he ays. ·tt wa like a cl ud had gone ' Bird sh wed against rthri was very away." evident. ~we came close ro putting a compl IC gam r th r f. r the fir t time," If th ThunJ rbirds ar n rra k and they re • ble t mish th season in the a Hunsaker. "The d nsc did what they clear with a win vcr Sa rare, many needed to do and the o n e got the first peopl will laugh. Others will ay that a down nd the ints wh n we n ed Hunsaker says the schedule was o ugh, that if SU would have won its do games with th ir high-caliber op nenlJ, the Thunderbirds would hav been in the national playoff . Senior defensive end Bru Arnold ays, -rd rather play th harder ream , i makes v u a Editor The Thunder irds stayed in the h11nr for a har of the American West Conf. rence Cham i nship owning Cal Sta Northrid re 20-17 Sarurday. Tb win rai ed SU's c nference record t 2-l, nd m re imporcmcly, it et up a play ff gainst rival acrnmenro re for a share f the AW crown on Sarurday in Sacram n , C Ii . The winner will ti UC Davis t 3-l. Th 'Birds h. f percenmge o 70 per nt. Seni r lineba ker and team captain Jared conference championship to a team with a 3-7-1 r cord doesn't mean anything. The Thun erbird ootball players chink otherwi c. "In 10 year w 'II be a I to ay we were conference champion ." ay Hun a r. We'll remember it with respect and we'll be proud of it." "If w win a inst Sac Statl!, it shows that a our lev I. we're the best," a ds soph more pla · kicker Jason Par ons. Challis ays, "In furure years, all ou will Rei he ream' record. Pco le n't know that thi wa one the best Southern Univ r iry i tball teams ever. We've proven we can ta n the Id with anyone we play." Pe rle won't know that the Thund r irds are aer than th ir I sing reco , and they may lau h at the that SU c. n till har the AW crown with a win thi week,.and. This d sn't matter m the tball tt'am or I ch . If the Thund rbirds win, they will carry the con~ rence tit.I with pnde. Th y will know r.lmc it means a much to them t 37-1, n icdoe UC • i at 10- 1. "We' ll end up winner ," ay Hun aker. "Thal i~ a tribute t us team. We kept banlmg, pla rin , and w r mg hard. We didn't~ inr th tank. nJ give u . The fa t tliat we finished winners will always bring a mile ~ m fu •• Kickoff is set r 6 p.m. m a mm nto, Calif., (7 p.m. MST). Cagers host Dona Zagreb tonight Swim club surfaces The Thunderbird men' ketbaU team ki off the 1993- season night with an exhi iti n game against BC Dona Zagreb. Th gam will give SU ches a I le at how the ream plays against ou i competition be re the official season-opener r::,v. 26 when the Thunderbirds h st Western Si:rue Coll BC Dona Zagre is a la t minute replacem nt r C tia Une. th m originally eduled r the . 18 datr with the 'Birds. Dona Zagre will play all the reams on Croatia Lln 's original sch ule. "We n't kn lot a t them, but on the other hand, they n't know anything about us eith r," SU head coach Bill Evans said. "We do know chat they are a unger m, age-wise, than the in rnational opponenra wc usually pl y. In the past, the international ~ ha e bttn m de up o older players, but thLS ream i made up of college-age players, from 18 ID 22 year old. "We al$0 know they att big," be added. "The have Ix players 6-10 or bigger, so they could p nt problems . . " or u sn:e-wise. Dona Zagreb ha three players lis at 6-10, twO at 6-11 nd one t Uett, while the T-Bird have jwt one pla r listed over 6-8. SU does h ve seven players ov r 6-fooc.6 b ever. "Their ire may present pro !ems f, r us, but wc think ur athleti ability will be a le co offset that advantage,• Evans said. "We will o som things efensively chat they won't do, and probably ha en't seen." Evan said the Thunderbirds are I king forward to the game. "We've been practicing against ourselves for a couple of weeks n · , so w 're ready to see what we can do against someone else," he pointed out. ~we've had seven r eight guys srep rward in practice, but we need to sec who's going to p up in a real gam situation. "We're prepared ro do the things we want to do [during m regular season!, offen ivdy. Defensively. y,re're just ing to have to try adjust to them, h added. ·we have a lot of younger guys nd this will be a n w experi nee r th m, but they got valuable experience in our intra-squad scrimma~ and even in the BBall Bash; it helps to play in fr nt of people. 9 BC Dona Zagreb will be a bU4y team r then week. The ream will have games under its It when it comes ar Oty. The tram i.s scheduled lay the University of San Francisco Tu sday night, and Northern Arizona Wednesday night pri r to th me at U. Frida , it is on Weber State Univenity, followul by a rurday game at Umh, a Monday game at Utah State an a Tu ay game at BYU. A3ked give an rall assessment of h the team has progressed so far, Evan said he i pleased with ch p gress the team ha shown, especially considering the number of new faces n the squ d. ·we have a lot of guys learning the same thin at the me time, ut we really hav n't had a gauge co see how far along W'e aret he n . ·To guys have given a good re, but we also lut we ha e a long way to go before we get to where we need to be. One thing is for sure though: we are a more athletic ream [than last yearl and wiJI make a lo< of things happen. Hopefull , th wilJ be good things. "We're e ired to sec how well we do Thursday," he concluded. BY STEVE ROHRBECK Thunderbird pons Wrirc If you wim, or are interested in staning, then SUU's n t dub wan you. Although it was ju t recently rganized, SUU' new swim du i off to a fast mn. Club P idem Michael Hillm n aid, "Right now it i. very exciting see me tumour for the lub; 15 people have igned up to parti ipate far, and we are hopeful that even m re people will come out and participate. Hillman is ~ itcd about the strong support, becau of the uni ue of drc:um ran around the form tion of th dub. Swim Club Adviser Jean Reeves id, "The rudcnts wanted to form this club so they on cted me about it, and I agreed to become their advise.r. The club wa creared from the tudents' level and presented to the faculty, opposed to the faculty creating an organization f. r the students." The club's fir t priority has been secur time in the poo~" Hillman said, "Right n we are ricing with the school to try and arrange a schedule of njghdy practices that will fit into the school' already set tim , and also be most productive for our dub.~ · Club members are h peful that they will able to get a lot of time in the pool this winter, ma.ldng the du 's aspirations for sprin possible. Reeves aid, ·Tue future goals of me club inclu trying becom an official team by spring quarter and partid ring in the NCAA' spring meets.~ The new club wiU make avail.ab( a schedule of nighL'I that it wiJI bt in the pool as n as possible. Lf studen Id like more inforrna ·on about the club, meetings are held every Tu day night at 6 in the I bby of the P.E. Building, or please contact Hillman at 865-16 5, or Reeves at 586-7827. |