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Show Friday! February 9,2007 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE A little bit of everything UTE WOMEN LOSE THIRD GAME IN A ROW Utes' sole senior leads by example Many of the Utes' problems stem back to their youth. "There are lessons that this team has not yet learned and we don't have anythingto learn (them) from," Elliott said. j The Utes will try to avoid a four-game slide! on Saturday at the Huntsman Center where( they will face Colorado State at 3 p.m. I n.dicou@\ chronicle.utah.edii games, the senior has averaged 11.4 points per game. Incidentally, the Utes have Three years ago, Monroe picked up three of their four College shooting guard Ricky conference wins during that Johns was at a crossroads in span. In back-to-back games against BYU his life. After and TCU, two region Johns scored MVP seasons a career-high with the TriUtah @ A!r Force 18 points for bunes, Johns Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007 the Utes. was trying to Colorado Springs, Colo. & p.m decide where With time to finish his running out collegiate basketball career. against Colorado State last That's when the 6-foot-3 Wednesday, Johns broke sharpshooter from the Bronx through the Rams' defense decided to take a trip to the U to score the game-winning layup, then iced the victory for a routine recruiting visit. "I remember I went to a with a pair of free throws. "We've always believed in • football game and there were so many Utah fans t h e r e - Ricky and knew what he was some even had their chests capable of, but he's really painted with Utah," Johns come up big for us the past said. "It was such a great col- couple of games," Utah forward Shaun Green said. As the lege atmosphere." Between Johns' visit and Runnin' Utes' lone senior this U coach Ray Giacoletti's rig- year, Johns' infectious, hardorous recruiting habits, the working attitude hasn't only guard decided to sign with rubbed off on his teammates, the Utes shortly after the but also on his coaches. 2004-2005 season. "Everyone knows how hard With Johns' signing came he works," Giacoletti said. a torrent of experience, will- "That's one thing that our power and a contagious work coaching staff and our team ethic—all the things the Utes definitely takes notice of. The desperately needed after los- guy doesn't know 'quit' and ing point guard Mark Jackson that's admirable today." and No. i draft pick Andrew Johns took his unselfish Bogut in 2005. game to the international "Ricky has always, been level last summer, traveling someone who works extreme- south to play for the Jamaican ly hard in practice," Giacoletti National Team. The versatile said. "The other guys feed off shooting guard aided the Jaof his energy and he's a lead- maican team to a first-place finish at the Centro Basket by-example kind of guy." After persevering through Championship, finishing the a tough junior season of re- tournament with 9.6 points lief duty, the prolific shooting per game while shooting 60 guard is now starting to find percent from the field. a niche midway through his "Any time you can have final season at the U. your players involved in sum. "It's not just about shoot- mer leagues is helpful," Giaing," Johns said. "Anybody can coletti said before the season. shoot the ball. It's about do- "But to nave someone play on ing what you can to help the the international level is unteam. Sometimes it's shooting believable." and driving, but most of the Whatever the playing field, time it's passing." Johns has made it his own, usLENNIE MAHLER/ ll;c Daily Utah Chronicle Johns' prototypical pass- ing his feverish work ethic to get himself and his teammates first, hustle-always play has Ricky Johns draws a foul on his way up for a layup in the Utes' seasontranslated into success for ahead of the competition. opener against SUU. Johns, the only senior on the men's basketball team, him recently. In his last five c.brunner@chronicle.utah.edu has averaged 11.4 points per game in his last five games. Cody B runner The Daily Utah Chronicle NEXT: Diamond cutters continued from Page 6 LOBOS.73. UTES 65 I WOMEN UTAH (14-9, 7-3 MWC) NO. 02 32 45 03 15 05 12 14 22 33 MIN. 20 24 33 ' 18 Warbuiton 37 Carlscn 25 Murphy 5 Tokumara 1 Sawyer 3 Warner 34 200 PLAYER Whlpplc Fitlpe Perry Ulster FG-fGA 3M-3A FT-fIA RBS 0-5 4-4 6 0-2 3-5 2-2 4 1-2 0-1 3 1-3 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0-1 5-6 5-15 2-7 5 0-0 4 3-6 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 - 0 - 0-0 4 8-16 5-5 2-3 21-52 7-18 16-18 30 PF AST BLK 5 1 0 3 1 3 3 2 0 4 1 0 4 4 0' 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 28 12 3. SI PTS 4 1 0 9 2 3 1 2 2 17 0 8 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 7 65 NEW MEXICO (16-7, 6-4 MWC) NO 15 33 13 40 41 03 10 11 34 44 PLAYER E-Nunu Marsh Monlgcmer Biody Klmble Weissmann Beggln Shelter Kast Hartill MIN. FG-fGA 3M-3A 26 1-5 0-0 2-6 29 0-0 10-19 4-8 38 31 2-7 0-3 26 0-5 0-0 9 0-0 0-0 17 2-4 0-2 7 0-0 0-0 1 0-0 0-0 2-4 16 0-0 200 19-50 4-13 HALFTIME ATTENDANCE: FT-FTA RBS 0-0 10 9-10 4 2 5-5 12-12 5 4-4 5 1 0-0 2 1-2 0-1 0 0-0 0 0-0 2 31-34 37 PF 4 4 1 1 4 1 0 1 0 1 18 / ST 1 2 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 1 11 8LK ST PTS 1 0 2 0 2 13 0 2 29 1 2 16 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 10 73 Utah 28, New Mexico M 1,253 UTES TO RETIRE SMITH'S NO. 4 AT HUNTSMAN CENTER i continued from Page 7 •< \ ; i 1 fort to maker her dream a reality. It rubbed off on her teammates, Carlsen recalled. [ While other so-called great players often overlook the "little things" as they try to fill up the stat sheet, Morgan Warburton remembers that it was the details that Smith worked hardest at. "That's what I learned from her," Warburton said. "To take advantage of the little things (and) never let up on a play." Smith's jersey will be retired on Saturday when the Utes (14-9, 7-3 MWC) take on Colorado State at the Huntsman Center at 3 p.m. looking to snap a three-game skid. n.dicou@ chronicle.utah.edu Ute softball opens up 2007 season on the road SHIRE FULFILLS DREAM continued from Page 7 Tom Quinn The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah softball enjoyed a banner year in 2006, winning the conference championship and posting the sixth 40-win season in school history. With the 2007 campaign set to begin this weekend, the Utes are all even at o-oDand determined to start the season off on the right foot. "This team couldn't be any more ready to play," said first-year head coach Angie Jacobs. "We've been practicing indoors and we are very excited to move outside and get at it. Playing inside for the last month takes its toll, so we are excited to get outside and to play ball." The Utes' season will begin this afternoon at the Kajikawa Classic in warm, sunny Tempe, Ariz. The tournament, hosted by Arizona State, will feature some of the top programs in the country, including nationally ranked Stanford. While some coaches might cringe at the thought of playing such a tough schedule right out of the gate, Johnson sees today's showdown with Stanford as an opportunity to measure her team's progress. "This is going to be a great chance for us to RED ROCKS DEBUT NEW STARTING LINEUP continued from Page 6 why she has gone through a rash of inconsistency in the early part of the season, she knows that she is just one solid meet away from regaining the confidence that has helped her to a second-place finish in the Ail-Around at Nationals last year. The less intense atmosphere of a meet against Utah State could be exactly what the 10-time AllAmerican needs to get herself back in the groove for the remainder of the season. A meet against Utah State seems like a perfect opportunity for the Utes to go out and calmly hit routines the way of which each gymnast is capable, and it will likely be the last time they have such an opportunity. Not only do Utah's scores after i I 1 see our strengths and weaknesses," she said. "It will give us the opportunity to come back to town and make adjustments based on what we learn down there." Whatever "adjustments" Jacobs makes based on the Utes' play at this weekend's Kajikawa Classic will likely be the first of many changes the roster will undergo over the course of the season. The graduation bug hit the Utes particularly hard in 2006, leaving Johnson with a team that is big on talent but short on experience. Utah returns just four starters and seven letter-winners, the most notable of which is two-time all-conference center fielder Diana Phillips. Also back for the Utes is the twoheaded pitching monster of Karina Cannon and Meghan Dyer, both of whom were big reasons for the team's success last season. "Meghan and Karina have incredible abilities and are very competitive," said Jacobs. "They bring a lot of experience and knowledge and we are going to build on that. We expect 15 to 20 wins from each of them this season." Both Cannon and Dyer will have to be at their best this afternoon for the Utes to have any hope of beating No. 8 Stanford. The Cardinal, which advanced to the NCAA Super Regional in 2006, returns five All-Pac-ioDplayers and 10 letter-winners. Following their showdown with Stanford, the Utes will face Cal State-Northridge, Texas A&M and Nevada before taking on No. 17 Texas on Sunday. The Longhorns, as Utah softball aficionados may remember, were the team that eliminated the Utes from last year's NCAA tourney. Infielder Desiree Williams, recently named to the National Player of the Year watch list, led the Longhorns with 12 home runs in 2006. The Utes will also need to keep an eye on junior pitcher Meagan Denny. Denny, the twotime Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, maintained a 1.52 ERA last season. While the Utes might seem out-gunned on paper, they aren't ready to give up just yet. The team has worked hard during the offseason, and now Jacobs and Co. feel like they are ready for anything. "We're trying to get the team to think outside of the box so we can always be prepared," Jacobs said. "We don't want to see any huge surprises." tquinn@chronicle.utah.edu Feb. 9,2007 • Dee Glen Smith Spectrum • Logan, Utah • 6:30 p.m. Utah Utes (6-0) Utah State Aggies (5-5) Ute notes: Aggie notes: The Red Rocks dropped one spot to No. 4 in the national rankings after Alabama took over the No. 3 spot this week. Utah has won 21 out of 24 possible event matchups. One of Utah's Ail-Around trio of Kristina Baskett, Ashley Postell, and Nicolle Ford has posted the event-high in every meet so far this season. At least one of those three gymnasts has had a fall in every meet in 2007. The Aggie gymnasts will be at home for only the second time this season. Jessica Parenti-Otte has won the Ail-Around for the Aggies three out of the team's five meets. Megan Lewis has won Ail-Around honors in the other two Aggie meets. The Aggies posted a season-high 194.225 two weeks ago in a three-team meet with Boise State and San Jose State. Food for thought: The Red Rocks are 81-3 in meets against Utah State. The last time the Utes lost to the Aggies was Jan. 27,1979. Live scoring available at www.utahutes.com. the Utah State meet start counting toward qualifying for Regionals, but the Utes will have to start putting together a better overall performance if they hope to contend with the caliber of teams on the horizon. After the Utes travel to Logan, they will face only top-25 opponents, including four straight meets against top-10 teams. Marsden's hope is that his team will be able to step up their performance when they need to. "I think Georgia is Georgia; I can't imagine how we wouldn't be up for that meet," Marsden said. "We're still working on things and trying to get better. We've got to resolve some things or we might not be able to hang with them." That journey toward improvement will begin with the Utes needing to rise above their compe-. tition's level Friday, and proving to themselves that they have what it takes to keep their No. 4 national ranking. Notes: Freshman Stephanie Neff was tested for mononucleosis, commonly known as mono, after trainer Tom Iriye found the area around Neff's spleen to be particularly sensitive. Combined with Neff's flu-like symptoms, Neff's blood was drawn and results are pending. This is just one of a laundry list of setbacks the freshman has experienced since joining the Utes. Greg Marsden said he is contemplating putting in an appeal for a medical exemption so that Neff doesn't lose a year of eligibility just because she did one exhibition bar routine in last week's quad meet. t.pizza@chronicle.utah.edu mers in a row to make three major teams and I didn't make any of them...but in the back of my mind I had Utah on my brain." Besides being perpetually optimistic, Sarah has a work ethic that has helped her overcome every one of the challenges a worldclass gymnast must face. That work ethic has continued at Utah. Because she didn't have a gym close by when she went home for Christmas break, she was one of the freshmen that U head coach Greg Marsden called out for not being in proper shape when she came back for the start of Spring Semester. But when Sarah got back to the U's Dumke Center, she worked. She pushed herself so hard, that it literally took only two weeks before Marsden inserted her in the exhibition slot on beam and vault against Minnesota. Fittingly, her debut in collegiate gymnastics didn't come without adversity, either. After she nailed her vault score of a 9.875, she watched as U captain Nicolle Ford struggled through her routines with strep throat. Shortly after, Sarah Shire found out she had a 30-second, touch to prepare to do a routine for score. 7, After she finished warming up?, Sarah glanced up to the stands;; found her mother—who had driv-j en over 600 miles to see her first1 collegiate performance—gave her' a look of confidence and proceed-; ed to nail the routine for a 9.8. \ Tears filled Robyn Shire's eyes! as she watched her daughterj leap into the arms of teammates-! All the hard work, all the sacri-; fice and the decision to attend' a school more than 1,300.milesi away from home was finally pay-] ing off—both for Sarah and forj ; her parents. "I was very, very proud of her,"> Robyn Shire said. "It was pretty: overwhelming. I'll admit, I had aj little tear...well, I had a couple." : t.pizza@\ chronicle.utah.edu |
