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Show 6 Tuesday, March 11,2008 SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com Baseball Softball Softball Golf Baseball Women's Hoops Utah (4-7) @ Gonzaga (7-6) Southern Utah (4-14) @ Utah (10-10) Southern Utah (4-14) § Utah (10-10) Utah@ Farms Collegiate Invite New Mexico State (5-3) @ Utah (10-10) TBD@ No. 12 Utah (27-3) 10 a.m., Fresno, Calif. 2 p.m., UteField 4 p.m., Ute Field All Day, San Diego, Calif. 70p.m., Fresno, Calif. 5 p.m., Las Vegas, Nev. It's smaller in Texas in BRIEF Robarts gives Red Rocks talent, improv Jon Gilbert STAFF WRITER It was a Saturday in November, and Kyndal Robarts despised what she saw out her window. The green grass and cool air she had seen and felt the day before had turned white and frigid overnight. "I was freaking out," Robarts said of the first real snow of the winter. Robarts' reaction wasn't a surprise. The freshman gymnast grew up in San Marcos, Texas and had experienced snow only a handful of times before moving to Utah to join the Red Rocks. Since she arrived on campus, San Marcos' weather is pretty predictable—hot and humid. the expectations of her coaches Temperatures rarely plummet be- and teammates have been conlow 40 degrees in January and of- stantly rising. ten rise above 70 degrees in FebRobarts has competed in all ruary. So when the week of Feb. 24 four events at different times for recorded highs in the 50s, Robarts the Utes and has been a threewas excited about not having to event performer five times. Utah wear a jacket for the first time in head coach Greg Marsden sees months. her as the next great all-around Robarts has also been "freak- performer at the U. "She is one of the athletes that ing out" about her opportunity to contribute to the U gymnastics will determine what kind of team team. As she has become more we will have in the future," Marsand more a part of Utah's starting den said. ANNA KARTASHOVA/fltf fts«/l«!)l»CGnwWr rotation, she has experienced her The freshman started in the fair share of excitement. gym at a young age at Texas State Kyndal Robarts has made a positive impact on "It's kind of nerve-wracking," the Red Rocks in her first season. Robarts has See ROBARTS Page 8 Robarts said. competed in all four events this season. Tate, Burnett impress at Pro Day Cody Brunner This time of year, Leilani Mitchell and the rest of the U women's basketball team should start seeing their names etched and hearing their names announced in conjunction with awards more often. The Mountain West Conference named Mitchell its women's basketball Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year on Monday. Mitchell joins fellow teammate Morgan Warburton as a member of the All-MWC First Team. Kalee Whipple finished behind her teammates and wound up on the All-MWC Second Team. After leading a team picked in the preseason to finish No. 5 in the conference, U head coach Elaine Elliott was named MWC Coach of the Year. The Utah women will face the winner of tonight's matchup between Colorado State and UNLV in the first round of the MWC Tournament at 5 p.m. MT on Wednesday. Tony Pizza HsrSHOOPS ASST. SPORTS EDITOR The work is far from over, but a select few former Utah football players can finally rest more easily now. The athletes, who started preparation for the U's Pro Day immediately following their Poinsettia Bowl win over Navy, showcased two months of strenuous weight room work by performing a number of drills for 18 NFL scouts. The results were a mixed bag. Some Utes did well enough to earn private auditions after the initial workouts. Others were left with the disappointment that accompanies not performing to your potential. "You'd always love to do better, but all you can do at the end of the day is prepare for nine weeks (for Pro Day) and hope that it pays off on draft day," former Utah safety Steve Tate said. Tate has been one of the few athletes at the U receiving NFL Draft buzz this offseason. The Skyline High School product was listed by ESPN as a snub for the NFL Combine—which normally boasts the best talent in the upcoming draft—despite getting alk-conference honors following the 2007 season. Luke Nevill and Johnnie Bryant were named to the All-MWC Second Team on Monday for their efforts this season. Nevill averaged 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.63 blocks per game. Nevill led the conference in blocks, and his other two statistic compilations were among the top IO in the MWC. Nevill's .573 field goal percentage also led the league. Bryant was No. 6 in the conference in scoring at 15.8 points per game. Bryant led the league in 3-pointers made per game with three and also led the country in scoring by a non-starter. Nevill moved up from his third-team selection last year, while this was Bryant's first nomination on an MWC allconierence team. Lawrence Bohra, who was a candidate for MWC Defensive Player of the Year, was beat out by Air Force's Tim Anderson. Tony Pizza Utah defensive end Martail Burnett received interest from a number of NFLjteams during Pro Day on Monday. See UTES Page 8 How will the Runnin' Utes fare in the 2008 MWC tournament? Pixie dust could be what the Utes desperately need in Vegas Think of Utah head coach Jim Boylen as Peter Pan. Aside from the amusing notion of Boylen wearing the forest-green, form-fitting outfit, the analogy can work. Boylen has seen his first year on the hill play out quite CHRIS typically—up KAMRANI and down, up and down. His frantic, inspiring attempts to get his "Lost Boys," better known as the Utes, to take a delicate dose of fairy dust couldn't come at a more opportune time. After losing yet another conference heartbreaker—this time at the hands of UNLV—-the Lost Boys are looking to take flight and prepare to scrape for their lives. After an impressive mid-season, four-game winning streak, the Utes were overwhelmed at the battle against those damned pirates of Provo. That critical defeat sent the Lost Boys into a tailspin that transformed their conference record from a respectable 6-4 to a disappointing 7-9. Now that the regular season is over and done with, it's time for this crew of young guns tofly,fight and crow. To extend the Peter Pan analogy further, take a look at one of the Peter Pan spin-off movies. In thefilm"Hook," Peter Pan is a 40-something, blood-sucking lawyer who returns to Neverland in an attempt to save his children, resurrect happy thoughts and settle unfinished business, all within less than a week's time. Ditto for the Utes. The problem is that these Runnin' Utes must find those rousing happy thoughts to catapult them into an upper echelon come this weekend. "This is a growing process," Boylen has said on countless ac- counts. But for this season's intents and purposes, Boylen (aka Pan) needs to treat this next week as a week-long growth process. The pirate armada awaiting the Utes in Las Vegas is stronger, more talented and hath no mercy upon its adversaries. Now the No. 6 seed in the MWC tournament, the Utes have the ability to make an impressive run toward the tournament crown. Despite all the negatives over the past five games, the positives from learning how to take a loss could be strongly weighed with this team. Sophomore point-man Luka Drca has been quarterbacking this team during the past few weeks and has a tremendous feel for the game. Center Luke Nevill has adjusted to his role coming off See KAMRANI Page 8 ^tes d°nt hQue enough clutch to survive the championship Not a chance in hell. Don't get me wrong—I*d love to see Jim Boylen cap his inaugural season at the U with a run at the MWC Championship and maybe even a berth into the NCAA C h a m p i o n - CODY ship, but it's BRUNNER just not going to happen. There are _ ^ ^ ^ _ ^ ^ ^ _ endless numbers of reasons, but three of them stick out in my mind above the rest. Reason No. 1: New Mexico. Reason No. 2: UNLV. Reason No. 3:BYU. Those are the teams, in order, that Utah will likely have to go through to get to the championship. I couldn't draw up a tougher route if I tried. The Utes are 1-5 against those teams this season, and their sole win was against the Rebels in the Huntsman Center. Honestly, it'll be a surprise to me if they even get out of the first round. New Mexico is playing the best ball in the conference right now. Led by co-MWC Player of the Year frontrunner J.R. Giddens, the I«obos are fresh off an upset win over UNLV and trying to earn a bid to' the NCAA Tournament. To earn that bid, the Lobos will need to make some noise in the conference tournament. That doesn't bode well for the Utes. Even if they can somehow find a way to stop Giddens and sneak away with a win, the Utes will be rewarded with a second-round matchup against UNLV on its home court. Boylen's crew proved they can play with Wink Adams and Co. in Las Vegas last week, but in the end still lost 70-63. And if they get past Vegas, Utah will probably get to play its best friends—and regular season MWC champions—from Provo in the championship. The Utes have been close to beating the Cougars both times they've played, but every time they got close to the upset, some asshat named Lee Cummard or Jonathan Tavernari went off for eight 3-pointers. The Utes will compete with the Lobos. I have no doubt about that. But ultimately, it will come down to the final minute of the game, and a Ute will commit a crucial error to lose it. The Utes just aren't clutch. Utah fans have seen their team lose close games time and time again this season. In total, the Utes have lost 10 games by eight points or fewer. The majority of those losses were because of a critical turnover or missed shot in the final minute of the game. As you can tell, I'm already bracing myself for the worst. I know the Utes will be really good a few years down the line when they get fully integrated into Boylen's system and he can get some of his own players in here. But for now, I just don't see it happening. See BRUNNER Page 8 ~ Open registration for the U football team's Mighty Utah Student Section began at 9 p.m. Friday. Registration for the MUSS costs $25, and up to four guests can be added for $85 apiece. Along with tickets to see the U football team take onOregon State, Weber State, UNLV, Colorado State, TCU and BYU, MUSS members will receive a T-shirt, the opportunity to ride the MUSS bus and a chance to attend Utah's season opener at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich. Seating priority is chosen on a firstcome, first-served basis, and members adding a guest to their registration will be required to sit in the upper bowl of the MUSS. Registration can be submitted online by visiting www.alumni.utah.edu/muss. Tony Pizza Students at the U will have the chance to earn their school a share of si.75 million in general scholarship funds through The Ultimate Fan Competition. The U will compete against 15 other schools in a contest that tests each school's participation surrounding spring football. Voting through text messaging will count for 30 percent of each school's total score. Attendance at a concert that precedes each team's spring football game will account for the other 70 percent. Two-time Grammy award winner Maroon 5 will be headlining the U's Gridiron Bash concert April 18. Other events will include a pep rally, an introduction to the 2008 U football team and other fanoriented events. The annual Red-White game will take place at Rice-Eccles Stadium on April 19 at 1 p.m. The top three schools will share a paxt of the cash prize. U fans and students interested in participating in the text messaging portion of the contest can submit their votes by texting the word "UTES" to 23909. Daily standings are listed at www.gridironbash.com. The idea behind the Gridiron Bash is to promote the same kind of excitement for spring college football as there is for college basketball each March with the NCAA tournament. "Thousands of spectators come out each spring to watch our football scrimmages, but that's typically where the 'fan experience' ends," U associate athletics director Chris Ritrievi said in a press release. "Gridiron Bash extends the experience and enables fans to support their team, give back to their university and have a great time doing so." Utah is in 12th place of the 16 schools participating. Those interested in purchasing tickets can visit www.utahricfcets.com. Tony Pizza |