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Show Monday, March 12,2007 """DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Kins of the hill Utes' Einarsson crowned national champion just themselves." Unfortunately for Einarsson and Co., the Utes' alpine team didn't enjoy quite as much Snorri Einarsson just keeps getting better success as their Nordic counterparts. They battled miserable conditions from start to and better. After finishing second in Wednesday's finish, and the inclement weather certainly ioK freestyle, the freshman Nordic phenom had a negative impact on the relatively inexcaptured the first national championship of perienced Utes. Defending national champion Scott Veenis his young career, narrowly edging Denver's led the men's team with a pair of sixth-place Rene Reisshauer in the men's 20K classic. The two were dead even for the last 100 finishes, while Mikaela Grassl and Chirine meters of the race, but with the finish line Njeim each contributed a pair of sixth-place rapidly approaching, Einarsson somehow efforts in the slalom and giant slalom, refound a higher gear and won the sprint by spectively. Although the Utes put together a very remore than two seconds. The Tromso, Norway native barely had time to catch his spectable showing ut this year's championbreath before he was mobbed by an elated ships, they aren't content with their, fourthplace finish. group of teammates and coaches. "We had some strong individual perfor"It was an unbelievable moment to be at the finish line with the team," said U head mances and improved a lot from where we coach Eli Brown. "This has been a great were last year," Brown said. "It's been a great week, but to see Snorri crowned national experience, and I think next season we'll be even better." champion was icing on the cake." While virtually all coaches end their reAlthough Einarsson's impressive showing was doubtlessly a highlight for the Utes, spective seasons with a promise of future several other skiers came up big for Utah en success, Brown's talk of next season isn't route to the team's fourth-place finish at the mere coach-speak. Utah, which was one of just a handful of schools to qualify a full weekend's National Championships. Sophomore Sara Schwciger, who has skied team for nationals, will have all of its skiers well for the women's Nordic team all season back for its 2008 campaign. Utah's roster features primarily sopholong, led the Utes with a ioth-place finish in the women's 15K classic. Freshman Sarah mores and freshmen, meaning that the vast MacCarthy wasn't far behind, and finished majority are still getting their proverbial feet wet. With a little more experience under 22nd overall. "I am so proud of our girls for giving it their collective belt, there is no telling how their all," said Brown of his dynamic duo. good the Skiin' Utes can be. t.quinn@chronicle.utah.edu "They were definitely racing for more than Tom Quinn The Daily Utah Chronicle w.k Daria Bijak prepares for a pass as Nicolle Ford and Katie Kivisto yell encouragement. After an early lead, the Utes lost to No. 1 Florida after a few slipups during the floor at the Huntsman Center on Friday. UTES FALL TO TOP-RANKED FLORIDA continued from Page 7 one of the crispest beam sets the Utes have had this season. Her reward was a 2007 team- and personal-high of 9.95 for the Red Rock junior. Not only did Postell's beam routine make her the front-runner in the AilAround, but her near-perfect score put the Utes in front of the visiting Gators, who were busy limping off one of their third-worst floor routines of the season. "Beam was good and we needed that," Ford said. "Everybody looked like they were pretty confident up there...which is what we're trying to get people to do." The Utes' season-high 49.375 on beam turned their .05-point deficit into a .15-point lead going into thefinalrotation. Once the score posted on the JumboTron, the 12,202 people in attendance erupted into a frenzy that could have triggered car alarms in Presidents* Circle. "The crowd was great tonight. I do think the swimmers set the tone and kind of got us going," Marsden said. "It was a much more enthusiastic crowd than some other meets we've had. They make it fun for us." The ovation was so intense that Gator senior Katie Rue was forced to plug her ears as she prepared to start the final rotation off on beam. To the Gators' credit, the buzz of the Huntsman Center did not break their concentration. All six of Florida's beam workers steadily plodded their way through their routines without a fall or major mishap. Unfortunately for Utah, the same could not be said for its performance on floor. "A number of (the U gymnasts) had tears in their eyes. We all realize it was right there for us and we let it get away," Marsden said. "But don't get me wrong. Florida...they're a great team. You don't come all the way across the country...with the crowd the way it was and handle it the way they did if you're not a great team," The energy from the crowd seemed to juice up each Ute gymnast, and the Red Rocks let that energy spill onto the floor. Freshman Stephanie Neff got a late start on her last tumbling pass and stepped out of bounds. Floor specialist Annie DiLuzio—who has been out with an Achilles tendon injury for the past two weeks—did not have enough stamina to finish her final pass, which resulted in another fall out of bounds for the Utes. With the meet visibly slipping away from the Red Rocks, Kristina Baskett nailed her routine for a 9.9, leaving Postell as the lone Ute left to perform. With the meet all but out of reach'for the Utes, Postell still had a chance to end the meet on a good note with a win in the Ail-Around. Although Postell became the third Ute to step out when she couldn't keep her triple twist in bounds, her performance was still impressive and her score of 9.775 was still good enough for a first-place finish in the all-around. "I know I over-tried and I'm sure other people did, too," Postell said. "It was just silly mistakes...just really little things." The Utes, however, would have to settle for their first home loss of the season and just their second loss in the Huntsman Center since the team uncharacteristically dropped three home meets in 2003. The loss is also the third for the Red Rocks in four meets. Still, nobody on the Utah team feels this is the time to panic. In fact, the Utes' confidence has been steadily rising since their meltdown against Georgia on Feb. 16. "I think (the team) is going in the right direction, even though we've taken a little while to get there," Postell said. "Tonight was, I think...definitely a plus." tpizza@ chronicle.utah.edu BASEBALL SNAPS EIGHT-GAME STREAK, TOPPLES T-BIRDS continued Iran Piigc 7 he'd "like to hope" that the week off helped his team's progress along, he was actually disappointed with the team's performance in the series opener on Thursday. Utah fell behind 5-0 and in keeping with the club's early season trend, couldn't put together any major scoring rallies. There was a run here and a run there, but nothing consistent, and the result was a 7-6 loss. "In that first game, I thought we made a step backward...thought maybe the week off hadn't helped as much as I thought it did," Kinneberg said. "But we kinda snapped out of it in the seventh or eighth on Friday." Senior third baseman Jay Brossman went vfor-5 with three RBI, but the most impressive performance of the day came on the mound. In a prime display of long relief, Ute sophomore Stephen Fife took the hill in the fourth inning and pitched six straight innings of nearly flawless ball, striking out eight batters while giving up just two hits and a walk. He earned his second victory of the season in a 9-3 Ute win. But that was just a precursor to Saturday's performance, which was the team's first double-digit output since an r8-i victory over New Mexico State on Feb. 11. Nearly a month had passed since that time, but Kinneberg hopes it's evidence that his team is starting to round into shape. "Hopefully, that's the way it's gonna be," Kinneberg said. "That's the way it should be." But now, the toughest stretch of the season may finally be over. "It's been a tough 16 games," Kinneberg said, referring to the fact that the Utes have played their entire schedule up to this point on the road. They finally took to the U field over the weekend, and with that out of the way, it's now warm and sunny enough in northern Utah for the team to actually hold a game at home—two, in fact. The Utes play host to Gonzaga for a two-game set at Franklin Covey Field, beginning today at 2 p.m. As always, the Utes weren't able to play any home games for the first several weeks of the season due to unpredictable weather conditions in this area. But now that March has arrived and spring is just around the corner, it's safe to come out and play in Salt Lake City. "The road is hard, and it will be nice to finally be at home," Kinneberg said. Brad DeVore, who is being worked back into the rotation after missing some early time with tendonitis, will start Monday, and Chad Cullers will follow on Tuesday. The Bulldogs are 10-10 on the season and recently lost two of three to the BYU Cougars. "Gonzaga's been a good club over the last few years," Kinneberg said. "They're well-coached and...they're going to be a tough team." c.beUamy@ chronicle.utah.edu A&E is looking for fantastic writers. E-mail Ben at b.zalkind(S>chronicle.utah.edu. New Donors earn $35 today and $75 in your first week! Donating Blood Plasma! Study while you donate. Free WiFi Available. Help us Save Lives by Calling: 606 West Temple 609 South State St. 2520 W. 4700 S. 531-1279 363-7697 965-9160 Biomat USA UNDECIDED? GOOD... WE'RE LOOKING FOR STUDENTS WITH AN OPEN MIND. THE WERNER INSTITUTE f Putting owt a student publication? Need Funding? Get funding for the 2007-2008 academic year. Pick up funding irequests from Jake Sorensen in Union Room 236. Return requests by 4 p.m. March 16,2007 for can:;;; v--:> ^ior; by the Publications Council. I-OR NKiOriATION ANh U N i m ION A graduate program all about keeping options open - careers too. 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