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Show — * ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE SPORTS A season to remember www, dailyutahchronicle.com Thursday, April 27, 2006 U women made school history in 2006 Matt Patton Chronicle Writer Elaine Elliott has coached many great teams during her 23 seasons as the head coach at Utah, but none of them have been quite as special as the group that shell now have to see split apart after a magical year. Of course, she's seen plenty of great squads, helping her teams to 13 conference championships, 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, and 17 20-win seasons, but this one had a particular rareness that will be hard to top. "There's a uniqueness to it, you just sort of get this rush," Elliott said. "I think people know what's happening with Utah women's basketball, but this made them say, 'I watch.' They're saying something about it, and they're involving themselves at a level that before they weren't, and there's a real energy to that." That energy and much-deserved attention came as a result of the unexpected success the Utes achieved this season, led by seniors Kim Smith, Shona Thorburn and Julie Larsen. The Utes cruised to a 27-7 final record, a Mountain West Conference Championship and a trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament—the furthest ever for the women's basketball team. And.what is it that made this team succeed? "What this group did was, they really grew to the best place they could have gotten together as a group," Elliott said. "Every player on a team has choices to make, and the choices are going to be positive or negative for a team, and these kids made all the right choices. They just turned all the right directions to make it happen in the end." But now Utah will have to try to protect its conference title next season without Smith, Thorburn or Larsen. Smith will leave the Utes with innumerable accolades, including four-time MWC Player of the Year, the all-time record holder for both scoring (2,281) and rebounding (1,015)m t n e MWC, and she was just named Third-Team All-America by the Associated Press. She started every game of her collegiate career and scored in double figures 124 times in her 130 games. She finished the year averaging 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds, and she hit 52 percent of her field goals. Thorburn finished second in the nation in assists per game (7.3), and she is the career record holder for assists in the MWC and at Utah (699). She was especially productive during the Skatin'Vtes^'i returning to campus Utes'recent tournament run, averaging 147 points, seven rebounds, and 8.3 assists. Larsen wrapped up the year by leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.504), which was good enough for the MWC season record for 3-point field goal percentage. She finished the year averaging 10.3 points per game. She scored a career high of 24 points as she torched BYU by nailing six 3-pointers, helping the Utes win the MWC title game. Despite losing three essential athletes, Elliott remains optimistic of the Utes' future. "It's what college athletics is about, you get a great player, and that great player is going to leave," Elliott said. "That's the reality of it, but there's a real motivation in looking at the next group, and figuring out how we can make this one work, there's always a constant energy in coming back and working again." The next group will be spearheaded once again by three seniors: Heidi Carlsen, Camie Oakey and Shauna Brouillard. "I have all the trust in the world in those three kids, they led the way in all the right decisions with the role and the part they played in the development of this team," Elliott said. "We wouldn't be here had they made other choices, so the trust they've developed for me in them is immense." The tournament also gave vast experience to the remaining Ute players that can't be gained in any other way than by having the success the team had. "We're going to have to see what h we can do to keep that momentum going," Elliott said. "It was a special VN.,^/^-' thing." m.patton@ chronicle.utah.edu Chris Bellamy Chronicle Soccer season in review Matthew Piper Chronicle Writer Considering that the Ute soccer program hadn't ever reached the NCAA College Cup until coach Rich Manning began his tenure at the U, you might think he'd be satisfied with four-straight tournament appearances in his first four years. But after four-straight early exits, a fairly successful 2005 season left something of a bitter taste in all of the Utes' mouths. Regular season The Utes (14-7-1) started off scorching hot, recording a clubrecord six-straight wins over nonconference teams by a combined score of 14-2. Over that dominating stretch, eight different players scored for the Ute offense, which consistently controlled a hefty portion of possession. Just as soon as fans began to wonder if this year's squad was the best in Utah history, the team did a complete 180. The Utes dropped five of their next six matches on an extended road swing, including losses to eventual Sweet 16 teams Arizona, Cal (at Ute Field), Pepperdine and Cal State-Fullerton. When the conference schedule rolled around, the Utes welcomed the opportunity to turn over a new leaf. They ran off their second sixgame winning streak of the season, this time topping opponents by a combined score of 12-3 before playing to a 1-1 draw in front of a packed crowd at BYU Injuries With forwards Letro, Kim Lloyd and Chelsea Card, defenders Wayman, Tasia Duarte and Katie Battazzo and goalkeepers Lynzee Lee and Amy Edman all returning from season-ending injuries in 2004, the Utes did an exceptional job of recovering from a laundry list of injuries this past season. The toughest loss suffered in 2005 was that of true freshman forward Jen Christoffers, who tore her ACL after scoring two goals against UVSC and sparking the Ute offense through the first four games. Midfield A weakness for the Utes this season, the midfield was nonetheless relatively solid at keeping possession. Sophomore Kiley Jones did an excellent job from the holding midfield position, winning a large number of key 50-50 balls and setting up the offense. Fellow sophs Whitney Dorsey and Amanda Sanchez gave consistently inspired efforts but failed to generate much offensively in 2005. Freshman Katy Reineke was the U's biggest offensive threat from the midfield, showing off her deadly left foot on a handful of occasions. Reineke established herself as a threat on set pieces for years to come. Defense The strength of the Utes all year, the defense allowed a paltry 16 goals in 22 games. Junior fullback Wayman and outside back Michelle Deatherage were among the most intimidating tacklers in the conference, though Deatherage missed out on awards because she had less offensive exploits than Wayman (three goals, three assists). U forward Adele Letro pushes the ball upfleld during Utah's NCAA first-round loss to Arizona. Backpn thick ice See S O C C E R Page 19 Assl. Sports ..^.,-v Editor ^^•* The Skatin' Utes are back. The three-year hiatus for the U hockey team will end this fall, as a pair of students has spearheaded an effort to return the club team to campus after its unceremonious departure in February 2003. The former team, which at the time was on the verge of achieving Division-I club status, was given a two-year suspension for a litany of rules violations. The suspension ended last year, and J.M. Le Cointre and Jason Petho have brought it back to the U The two, along with several others who have already expressed interest in joining the team—in any capacity—held a recruitment meeting in early April to get new skaters. "We just want to let people know (about the team), get us all together, get people on the e-mail list...getting the basics club organization together," Petho said. "We're looking to see who's interested in playing, but above that we're looking to see who's interested in help: ing out," Le Cointre said. In the fall, Le Cointre and Petho got the ball rolling, talking to school administrators about what it would take., to bring the team back. The initial re-,, sponse, Le Cointre said, wasn't exactly. an enthusiastic one. "I'm pretty sure the first time we called asking about the hockey team, the basic answer was no," Le Cointre said. That was back near the beginning of Fall Semester, but from then on, Le Cointre and Petho" continued to put time and effort into getting hockey back on the U campus—and their efforts have paid off. • But that doesn't mean it's been easy. "We had to jump through rings of fire, pretty much," Petho said. "But (administrators) have been really helpful." When they initially got things started last semester, they held a meeting in the art building with not only Susan Miller—the head of the campus recreation department—but several lawyers and representatives from risk management as well. "There was a whole room full of them and they basically asked us, 'Tell us why you want to do this,'" Le Cointre said. Administrators stipulated that the two write a constitution and bylaws, get the club's paperwork in order and find a faculty adviser—which they found in U assistant professor Steve KernThen, administrators sent them a memo outlining "eight or nine require-' merits'that we had to do. None of them were really unreasonable," Le Cointre said. Among them was a rule requiring that any member of the 2002-03 Ute hockey team must repay his share" of the team's outstanding debt before rejoining Utah hockey. "(Administrators) . would like to model our program after the rugby and lacrosse programs," Le Cointre said. Also, for their first year back at the U, the Skatin' Utes will play a shortened 30-game schedule rather than the typical 40-game slate, and will remain in the state of Utah, as .per the administration's request. Many of the previous club's infractions occurred during road trips, as the team committed several travel violations. ; "We are staying in-state for the first year," Le Cointre said. "The administration expressed that they would like us to do that." Naturally, financing is needed not only to officially get the ball rolling, but to maintain it on a day-to-day basis. This includes paying for ice time, referees, scorekeepers and even uniforms. For that, Le Cointre and Petho recently went to the Associated Students of the University of Utah, where they were given $1,390 in startup money. "Most of the money will basically just be for recruiting, getting the word out for next year," Petho said. "(ASUU) was really helpful; they were really supportive of getting our hockey team back." Le Cointre and Petho say they still have a lot of work to do before the season starts next September—including finding a head coach and securing ice time at a local hockey rink. One thing that is mostly out of the way is the scheduling. The 2006-07 is already set, as the Utes are slated to begin their comeback season on Sept. 22 against UVSC in Provo. The team's home opener will follow a week later, once again against the Wolverines. c.bellamy@chronicleMtah.edu |