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Show SPORTS WEDNESDAY 1/12 PAGE 7 IW Daily Utah Chronicle Red Rocks climb to No. 1 Gymnastics Rankings January 10, 2005 No. 1 2 3 Utes topple Bruins early in season After such an exciting meet at home, the Utes will head north this weekend to comComing off of a victory over pete in a meet against Utah the top-ranked team in the na- State. There could be sometion, the U gymnastics team what of a letdown after the opening meet of the season at now holds that honor. The Utes are No. I in the na- home. "[Competing at Utah State] tional rankings, while UCLA will be challenging for all of slipped one spot to No. 2. Although the Utes are the us," Marsden said. "Rather top-ranked team in the nation, than being in the comfort of the honor doesn't hold much our own facilities, we have to weight at this point in the sea- go out on the road." son. This situation cannot be "It's run to talk about, but compared to last year's when we know it's early in the sea- the Utes defeated UCLA in son," said U gymnastics coach California. After the meet, the Utes had to play tough teams Greg Marsden. Asad Kudiya Sports Reporter Utah gymnast Ashley Postelj releases and looks to reconnect with the bar during Friday's win over UCLA in the Huntsman Center. such as Nebraska along with rival BYU. Utah will not only have to deal with getting ready for a less exciting meet, but they will also be without one of their best gymnasts. Sophomore Rachel Tidd, who won two events last week, was recovering slowly from a back injury. On Monday, however, Tidd tweaked her back in practice on a dismount from the bars. "It was discouraging because she was going to start tumbling and we didn't even get to that," Marsden said. "It was spasming yesterday." Recovery time for Tidd is uncertain, but Marsden knows he can't rush her back to competition. "We have to be as patient as we need to," Marsden said. "We need to put her in control of the situation because she can listen to her body." Fortunately, the back injury should not last too long. "We had it checked out and there wasn't any structural damage," Marsden said. The worst-case scenario is that Tidd would miss the rest of the season, but be completely healthy for her junior season. Besides the injury to Tidd, the Utes are healthy and everyone else is just about at full strength. Rachel Tidd finesses her way to a 9.95 on akudiya@ the bars during the Utes' win over UCLA chronicle.utah.edu last week in the Huntsman Center. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 After a somewhat disappointing opening weekend, the Ute ski team will get a chance for redemption this week in Wyoming. Ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, the 2003 national champions finished third in the Ute Invitational last week. "We are a little disappointed with our performance, but I feel very good about this group," U head coach Kevin Sweeney said. "This was a tough weekend, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives." The Utes now head out on the road to Jackson, Wyoming for the AlaskaAnchorage invitational. Denver and Colorado, the two teams who finished in front of the Utes last week, will be in the field. While the third-place finish was not what the U wanted, there were some promising results. U All-American Ben Thornhill brought home first place in the giant slalom, highlighting the men's alpine effort. April Mancuso, also an All-American, finished third in the giant slalom and fifth in the slalom. Another AllAmerican, Lina Johansson, took fifth Date Preseason Jan. 10 Rank 5 1 Rankings are determined as follows: Preseason: High Score Jan. 10-17: Total Season Average Feb. 21-an: Regional Qualifying Score in the giant slalom. "I didn't feel very well, but overall the team skied well," Johansson said. "This was a long, tough weekend, but I'm pleased with our results" head alpine coach Aaron Atkins said. "We looked solid and I'm looking forward to our next invitational." The nordic team performed up to par as well. The Utes won the 5-kilometer freestyle, and were bolstered by some big individual performances. Sandra Gredig led the women, finishing third in the freestyle and sixth in the classical. Ashley McQueen came in fifth in the freestyle. "The women's cross country team looked great this weekend," Sweeney said. "Sandra skied very solid overall Ute football seniors receive all-star invites Finishing ranked among the top teams in the country has proven fruitful for some U football seniors, who have been invited to play in various postseason all-star games. This Saturday, three Utes will suit up for the West team in the Shrine Game. The event takes place in SBC Stadium in San Francisco, and will be attended by safety Morgan Scalley, wide receiver Paris Warren, and offensive lineman Chris Kemoeatu. Jan. 22 will see linebacker Tommy Hackenbruck suit up alongside defensive end Jonathan Fanene in Las Vegas for the LVAAC game. The most well-attended game for the U is the Hula Bowl, also held on Jan. SEE SKIERS PAGE 10 Utah Invitational Skiing Results 1 2 3 4 5 High Score 197.675 197.300 195.900 195.900 195.700 195.475 195.325 195.200 194.925 194.850 194.625 194.450 194.250 194.200 193.975 193.875 193.875 193.825 193.800 193.725 193.425 193.225 193.050 192.350 192.275 Utah's Ranking by Week U skiers hit the slopes of Wyoming Joe Beatty Sports Editor Team Utah UCLA Oklahoma Michigan Arizona State Michigan State Auburn Oregon State Iowa State Georgia Washington Florida Arkansas Nebraska Maryland Alabama Denver Illinois Minnesota LSU Arizona Cal State-Fullertori Missouri Central Michigan Sacramento State 22. Denver 568.0 Colorado 488.0 Utah 486.0 Alaska-Anchorage 452.0 New Mexico 421.0 Utah skier April Mancuso dps around a gate while competing against other colleges in the giant slalom event during the Utah Invitational at Park City Mountain resort Thursday. Kemoeatu and Scalley will be there, and will be joined by running back Marty Johnson and defensive tackle Sione Pouha. Several Utes are expected to be invited to the Senior Bowl on Jan. 29, but the roster will not be released until Jan. 23. Joe Beatty The international flavor in today's NBA Bill Walton loves to remind us that international basketball is thriving these days. NBA fans are constantly bombarded with reports of the foreign influx of talent. In the last five years, more than two-thirds of NBA teams have spent at least one firstround pick on alien forces. When analyzing the chances of NBA success for an international player, scouts will often fail to consider the hoards of imports who fail to see NBA action. You know them as the skinny, white guys with platinum blonde hairstyles on the bench, stone-faced and petrified, scowling through their downcast, sunken eyes at a style of basketball that they fail to comprehend. These towel-wavers know perfectly well what shots they hit at a high percentage, owing to the thousands of hours they've spent in a gym working at all ranges. Thus, after Antoine Walker launches an off-bal- WOMEN'S HOOPS COLORADO STATE AT (9-4) UTAH (11-4) Jan. 13,2005 7 p.m. @ Huntsman Center anced mortar shot from 25 feet, they understandably recoil at the sight of his release hand, paraded high above his head in arrogant anticipation of an unlikely success. American basketball fans bestow mythical "street cred" upon those who throw down flamboyant dunks and jog with a swagger—and the NBA caters to these endorsement machines. American coaches are overshadowed by the players they coach in profile, pay, and profanity-laced interviews. They cannot possibly motivate icons like Vince Carter, who can afford enough luxuries to quench the thirst of competitiveness. "You could be working on your jump shot," or you could be on your yacht taking shots with some local 'associates' of the banging hot variety. Remember, whichever you choose, that you have enough money to do the latter for the rest of your SKIING UTAH AT ANCHORAGE INVITATIONAL Jan. 13-14,2005 all day @ Jackson, Wyo. American coaches are overshadowed by the players they coach in profile, pay} and profanity-laced interviews. Matthew Piper Columnist life—every single damn day. The reason it seemed like the Italians shot 95 percent at the Olympics is that they work to be fundamentally sounder than the high-profile Americans. It's not Commie trickery, they aren't hiding performance enhancers of mass destruction, and the court of international opinion (FIBA) did not eliminate the chances of an American success. It's just that instead of carousing about after two-hour prac- SWIMMING/DIVING UTAH AT COLORADO STATE Jan. 13,2005 all day @ Fort Collins, Colo. tices, foreign players spend their en- avoid. There's no reason not to enter tire week in gyms working tirelessly a zone defense, and if you do, it's not at all facets of the game. By process essential that you frantically attempt of proximity, the lives of these play- to score immediately. ers revolve around their teams. Crafty point guards like Tony ParkForeigners are also influenced by er are thriving, dodging and darting athletic mentalities that lend them- through zones, drawing defenders selves to free-flowing games. In into a state of confusion and frustrasoccer, players are trained to move tion. It's no coincidence, then, that to positions at which their team- slasher Steve Nash is a former soccer mates can advance the ball to them player. International players at offunder duress, and to be conscious ball positions often find themselves of the whereabouts and movements relying on American point guards of other teammates in case they re- who wait for them to set slcreens so ceive a pass. The progression of or- they can spray 20-foot jumpers. ganized support groups advances It therefore makes good sense for the ball down the pitch. When this foreign bigs like Andrew Bogut to approach is applied to basketball, forsake immediate paydays overseas there become fewer opportunities and flourish in the spotlight of the for turnovers, and "isolation" is not a popular formation, but something to SEE BASKETBALL PAGE 10 GYMNASTICS UTAH AT UTAH STATE (1-0) (0-0) Jan. 14,2005 6:45 p.m. @ Logan, Utah MEN'S HOOPS UTAH AT WYOMING (13-3) (8-6) Jan. 15,2005 4 p.m. @ Laramie, Wyo. |