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Show 12 SPORTS Softball splits double-header against Aggies Thursday, March 27, 2008 www.dailyutahchronicle.com Jason Peterson STAFF WRITER So much for the sweep. The U softball team had hoped to gain a pair of what were supposed to be "gimmes" in Wednesday afternoon's double-header at Utah State. Instead, the Utes will have to settle for a two-game series split. Utah (17-16) struggled from the plate in the day's first game—hitting just four times out of 26 at bats—and fell to the lowly Aggies, 3-1. "They came out swinging and hitting, and we were on our heels the whole time," said Utah catcher Devina Quintero, who had one of the four hits. "We weren't really into it the entire game." Utah State (6-18) was fresh off a pair of wins against Utah Valley State—the Utes' opponent for a three-game series this weekend. CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO After trading wins with Utah State in Wednesday's double-header, Utah prepares to take on UVSC in Orem on Saturday. Red Rocks' seniors face their last meet Jon Gilbert STAFF WRITER Typically, a meet against BYU would be used to warm up for competition against Florida or Michigan, but the tables are turned this time around. The past two weeks have served as warmups for Friday's meet for the Utah gymnastics team. Utah competed at No. 3 Florida on March 14 and at No. 4 Michigan on Saturday. The Utes welcome unranked BYU to Salt Lake City this week. Senior night promises to be emotional this Friday when Utah fans watch Jessica Duke, Katie Kivisto and Ashley Postell perform in the Huntsman Center for the last time. Luckily, the senior nights at Florida and Michigan gave Utah a taste of what to expect. "Some of us started tearing up, and it wasn't even our seniors," junior Nina Kim said of the meets at Florida and Michigan. All three Red Rock seniors have faced their share of trials and tribulations since joining Utah- Both Duke and Kivisto considered quitting—Kivisto actually told head coach Greg Marsden she was finished at one point—and Postell's last minute detour from UCLA to Utah added stress to the transition process. Marsden said if Postell were honest, she would probably admit to thinking about leaving the team once or twice. Kivisto sat down with Marsden during the 2006 season and gave her resignation. Her freshman and sophomore years were not what she expected them to be. "The first two years, I had a lot of figuring out to do," Kivisto said. She left Boca Raton, Fla., to join Utah and struggled with leaving home behind. An, eating disorder during her freshman year made college even more trying, and by the end of her sophomore year, she was questioning her career. An elbow injury in March of her sophomore year was the final straw that made her quit, but it eventually led to her figuring things out. With the time off from competition, Kivisto did a lot of thinking and assessed her gym career. When push came to shove, she wasn't about to let something like an elbow injury make up her mind for her. "It kind of cemented into me that I want to do this and that I don't want to give up anything easily," Kivisto said. "It wasn't on my own terms, and that was what bothered me at the time. I don't think it was really because I loved gymnastics. It was because I didn't want to give hip." Kivisto got back into the gym and into shape for 2007. Now the team looks up to her because of her commitment. "Katie really emerged as a leader," Marsden said. Duke didn't have to deal with leaving home because she hails from Sandy. However, the hometown favorite nearly didn't return for her senior year. Although Duke has not been a star for Utah, she has always been a steady role player. Before this season, that wasn't an ideal situation for her. "I've learned so much about myself, and I'm ending this year on a really good note," Duke said. "Fall was really hard for me, and I didn't even know if I wanted to be here for this last season." Gymnastics in the fall consists of conditioning, conditioning and more conditioning, she said. With so much talent on the team and no promise that Duke would see much mat time, the opportunity didn't always seem worth the work. "I have to work extra hard to get in shape," she said. "I don't have a little body." Duke eventually found the motivation she needed during Christmas break and is thrilled with the results. Still in the roleplayer mold, she has realized it is where she needs to be. "This year I've felt the best that I've ever been, but I've competed the least amount— but I'm happy about that," Duke said. As a junior in 2007, Duke competed much more for Utah because of injuries to her teammates. She knew something was wrong, she said, because she was competing instead of more talented gymnasts. She appreciates her role now because it is better for the team. Postell said quitting never seriously crossed her mind despite a tough transition from high school to college. When she wasn't cleared academically in time by the NCAA to attend UCLA, she ended up in Utah, which added to all of life's other demands. "I think I would have been a different person if I had gone there," Postell said. She feels there is a bigger risk of finding the wrong things to do .and the wrong people to be around in Los Angeles than in Salt Lake City. With their careers coming full circle in the next month, the seniors have one last home meet to show their fans what they can do. They haVe already proven all they can to Marsden, who said it will be difficult to say goodbye to Duke, Kivisto and Postell. "You go through a lot with every athlete," Marsden said. They have one more month to go through, and everyone is happy they are still able to experience it. j.gilbert@ chTonicle.utah.edu' The Aggies got contributions from Emily Reilly and Kayla Dunn, who each went 2-for-2 from the plate. As a team, Utah State batted .347 against Utah's ace pitcher, Ashley Smuda, who dropped to 10-8 on the season. It wasn't until the fourth inning that Quintero put the Utes on the board with a double down the right field line to bring infielder Angie Boardman across home plate. The Aggies answered in the next inning with their third run when Kelly Kaneshiro scored on a wild throw to first base. The Utes had one more chance to rally in the seventh inning when centerfielder Diana Phillips singled to third base. But that was as far as Utah would get. "I think that first game was a wakeup call for us because we came out looking for revenge in the second game," Quintero said.The Utes did just that by connecting on 12 of their 32 chances at the plate in the second game for a 9-4 victory. Quintero led the Utes with her best game of the season, hitting 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs. She went 4-for-7 for the doubleheader. "The whole team was into it the second game," Quintero said. "We SMITH GIVES $250,000 TO U ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT continued from Page 1 "Steve was an electrifying player when he was here and a competitive person. I was defensive coordinator at the time, and trying to cover him in practice was a headache." Also on hand for the occasion was current Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who is a very close friend and mentor of the former U athlete. Richardson's story of Smith's rookie season sums up the playmaker's breakthrough into the NFL spotlight. After returning a kickoff in the opening game, Richardson's son, Mark, who was in charge of team apparel sales at the time, was asked by Smith to start carrying his jersey. Richardson told Smith that he was just a rookie and that he still needed to prove himself before that happened. When asked what he needed to do to in order to get his jersey on the shelves, Mark told Smith he needed to return three kicks for touchdowns. In the second week, Smith returned another two kicks for scores. Jerry Richardson said the next Monday, Smith was in the store making sure his jersey was for sale. Smith has always shown aflashfor bravado on the field throughout his illustrious professional career. His involvements off the field, where he is a mentor for troubled Charlotte, N.C., youth, among many other charitable things, are less publicized. "Steve is much more than a football player," Richardson said. "For Steve to be this generous in this stage of his career says a lot for this university." Considering where Smith grew up, his diminutive stature (5-foot-o, 185 lbs.) and what he's been through in his life, it's a wonder he even made it to the professional level in the first place. After growing up in a troubled area in the Athens Park section of South Los Angeles, Smith struggled to make grades at University High and struggled with character issues. As a result, he wasn't readily recruited by Division-I schools, despite being a tremendous high school football talent. The teenager had to settle on enrolling at Santa Monica College in order to keep his slim NFL hopes alive. While at Santa Monica College, Smith learned the true definition of work ethic. He would often wake up at 6 a.m. to take two buses and a train to school. After school, he had practice. After practice, he would work at Taco Bell for $6.15 per hour until 8 p.m. before making the trip back home. After two years of ball at Santa Monica, Smith were laughing and having a good time out there." The Utes broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning when Quintero doubled to bring home infielder Kara Foster. Bonnie Muir followed suit with a home run in the next inning to push the Utes up, 4-1. The Aggies made things interesting by scoring two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to come within one, but Quintero put the game away in the seventh by hitting a homerun of her own with two Utes on base. Utah freshman pitcher Brittany Parker pitched the entire game and allowed just three hits. "Brittany played amazing for us," Quintero said. "We know we're a better team than we played today, and we should've had both games. Teams are looking to beat us now so they bring their best games. We just have to bring ours." The Utes will next face Utah Valley State in Orem on Saturday before returning home for a double-header on Sunday against the 5-19 Wolverines. "Hopefully, we don't do what we did today against UVSC and we'll win all three , games," Quintero said. j.peterson@ chronicle.utah.edu was drawing looks from a number of schools, including the U. Then-head coach Ron McBride sent receivers coach Fred Graves to recruit Smith, and Graves immediately fell in love with the speedy wideout. Smith snagged up a scholarship offer to the U, but was still unsure of what lay ahead in his future. "When I left Los Angeles, I was sitting at LAX and I looked at my mom and I was scared," an emotional Smith said Wednesday. "I was a kid that didn't know what he was going to do and didn't know where I was going to go or how it was going to turn out. I got here and was greeted by (Graves). He was like a father figure to me, and everybody took me in-" The wide receiver took advantage of his Division-I opportunity and never looked back, giving the university and its fans a spectacular show along the way. On Wednesday, Smith was back to give them something else—a fat check to voice his thanks and give more athletes the same opportunity he had. "I'm just doing the same thing that whoever gave me a scholarship has done—give an opportunity," Smith said. c.brunner@chronicle.utah~edu LENNIE MAHlER/fiir Daily UuhQvmktt Carolina Panthers wide receiver and former Utah man Steve Smith holds back tears as he speaks to the press about his days playing for Utah. U skier takes home 2 national titles in biathlon Paige Fieldsted 'STAFF WRITER Although the ski team's season ended a couple of weeks ago, crosscountry skier Annelies Cook has been hard at work. Last weekend at the North American/U.S. National Championships in Coleraine, Minn., her hard work paid off as Cook won two national biathlon titles. Cook came in first place in the senior women's division in the 7.5 km sprint race and the 12.5 km ( (i mass start race. Cook was the only competitor to shoot clean in the sprint. "It is really hard to shoot clean, so for me to do it in the first race I've competed in in along time was really funny," Cook said. Cook grew up as a skier near Lake Placid, N.Y., and got her start in biathlon there. The uniqueness of biathlon is part of what drew Cook to the sport. "It combines cross-country skiing, which is really hard physically, and shooting, which requires a lot of mental toughness," Cook said, "The combination makes it really exciting." Cook has been racing biathlon since she was 15 but has taken the past two years off to cross-country ski for the U because she felt she needed a change. "I wanted to experience a new part of the country, and the U was a place I could work on biathlon and my education," Cook said. Cook has done little biathlonspecific training since she came to Utah two years ago. "She is a good skier and one of our top girls," said Eli Brown, women's ski coach. Cook said the competitive nature of the ski team really helped her improve her time because the women pushed each other to get faster. Cook intends to return to biathlon racing next year after she graduates and is hoping to qualify for a spot on the 2010 Olympic team. "She is definitely in a position to qualify for the Olympics," Brown said. "She is getting a pretty good preparation for Vancouver here in Utah." Cook said even though she isn't training heavily for biathlon, she's going to keep competing when she has the chance. "I want to show that I am still interested in biathlon and capable of skiing with some of the best biathletes in the country," she said. p.fieldsted@ chronicle.utafuedu |