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Show B3 Indoor track teams picked to finish 1st NAPERVILLE, Ill. -The Great West Conference track coaches have chosen Utah Valley as the favorite to capture both the men's and the women's 2012 GWC indoor track & field titles, the conference office announced Wednesday. Utah Valley, which has finished second in both the men's and women's conference meets the past three years behind former GWC member South Dakota, received six first-place votes on the men's side for a total of 48 points. Houston Baptist received the other first-place vote for a second-place total of 39 points. North Dakota finished in third place at 34 points in the men's voting, followed by Seattle with 29 points and Texas-Pan American with 25 points. Rounding out the preseason voting on the men's side were NJIT with 12 points and Chicago State with nine points. On the women's side, Utah Valley received all seven firstplace votes. North Dakota finished as the runner-up with 40 points and Houston Baptist tallied 36 points in third place. Texas-Pan American was fourth in the preseason voting with 26 points followed closely by Seattle with 24 points. Chicago State and NJIT completed the poll with 12 points and nine points, respectively. The 2012 GWC indoor track and field champions will be determined Feb. 2526, when Chicago State hosts the conference meet at Chicago, Ill. The Wolverine teams will head back to Idaho to compete in the Bronco Invitational Saturday at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho. The Bronco Invitational is a one-day meet beginning at 9 a.m. with the women's high jump and men's pole vault. Running events begin at 10 a.m. with the mixed 800-meter run and are scheduled to finish at 3:55 p.m. with the mixed 400-meter dash. Collegiate running evens start at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 60-meter hurdles, while the women's 4x400meter relay will anchor the day at 3:40 p.m. In addition to Utah Valley and host Boise State, Idaho, Sacramento State, Utah State, Northwest Nazarene, San Diego State (women), Nevada (women), UC Riverside, UC Irvine, College of Idaho, Treasure Valley and Westminster will compete in the event. At the Snake River Invitational last week, UVU's Megan Burr had a phenomenal day by placing first in the 60m (7.76 seconds); 200m (25.08) and 60m hurdles (8.92). In addition to Burr, Zandrea Nelson had a nice meet by winning the 400m in school-record time (56.33) and placing second in the 200m (25.29). For the men, Allah LaryeaAkrong won the 60m (6.79) and the 200m (21.93). Along with LaryeaAkrong, Tim Rowberry (1:51.72) and Cliff Nielson (4:22.84) won the 800m and mile, respectively, and Rusty Jones won the high jump (2.00m). Rowberry's time is a new school record. NEXT UP... Against: Air Force When: Jan 26-28 Where: Colorado Springs, CO Wrestling falls to Air Force COLOR ADO SPRINGS, Colo. Utah Valley picked up two victories by fall in its Western Wrestling Conference opener at Air Force Thursday evening but it wasn't enough as the Falcons held on the defeat the Wolverines at Clune Arena, 26-15. In all the Falcons (4-3, 1-1 WWC) won seven of the 10 bouts, but two of the three that UVU (3-5, 0-1 WWC) won were for bonus points. "We had a few guys step up tonight and wrestle well for us," UVU associate head coach KC Rock said. "We need to get better and keep pushing through this part of the season and on into conference." The night started at 133-pounds and UVU newcomer Blake Mangum bumped up a weight class to take on AFA's Tyler Untrauer in his first dual-bout as a Wolverine. Mangum hung in with Untrauer for the majority of the contest but in the end dropped the bout by decision 7-2. In the next match, UVU's Avery Garner (141 pounds) found himself trailing Air Force's Carter McElhany in the final period. Garner picked up a late takedown to pull within a point but McElhany held on to defeat Garner 5-4. Air Force then continued its hot start as third-ranked Cole VonOhlen and Josh Kreimier won the next two bouts over UVU's Sam Mecham (149) and Napoleon Aniciete (157). Utah Valley's Ethan Smith (165) put a stop to the scoring drought by defeating the Falcons' Colby Kluesner by fall (4:23). Smith was controlling the bout up 2-0 in the second period when he got Kluesner on his back and picked up the pin. Smith's win pulled the Wolverines within 14-6 on the scoreboard. UVU 174-pounder Monte Schmalhaus then found himself involved in a tight contest with AFA's Clayton Gable. Schmalhaus started strong as he controlled the first period with a takedown. Gable then picked up a reversal to tie the score at 2-all in the second period but Schmalhaus countered with an escape to pull back ahead. Gable then answered back with a takedown of his own to lead 4-3. The AFA grappler then held on for a 5-3 victory over Schmalhaus with riding time. The Falcons then picked up another win at 184-pounds as AFA's Greg Isley picked up a 3-0 victory over UVU's David Prieto. Utah Valley 197-pounder Brian Chamberlain then held a sizeable 7-2 lead over Air Force's Josh Mohr after three takedowns and an escape point. Late in the second period, Mohr then managed to takedown Chamberlain and followed it up by pinning him to put the dual out of reach with AFA ahead 26-6 with just two bouts left. In the final two matches of the evening, UVU heavyweight Dustin Dennison picked up a victory via fall over AFA's Jared Erickson in the middle of the second frame and Wolverine 125-pounder Colby Christensen followed it up with a 10-3 victory over Greg Rinker but the wins came too late as the Falcons held on for the 26-15 win. The Wolverines will continue their road trip this weekend by heading up to Laramie, Wyo., to face No. 12 Wyoming, another WWC opponent, Saturday at 7 p.m. FINAL RESULTS Air Force 26, Utah Valley 15 133 - Tyler Untrauer (AFA) Dec., Blake Mangum (UVU), 7-2 141 - Carter McElhany (AFA) Dec., Avery Garner (UVU), 5-4 149 - No. 3 Cole VonOhlen (AFA) Tech. Fall Sam Mecham (UVU), 15-0; 3:12 157 - Josh Kreimier (AFA) Dec., Napoleon Aniciete (UVU), 5-2 165 - Ethan Smith (UVU) Fall Colby Kluesner (AFA), 4:23 174 - Clayton Gable (AFA) Dec., Monte Schmalhaus (UVU), 5-3 184 - Greg Isley (AFA) Dec., David Prieto (UVU), 3-0 197 - Josh Mohr (AFA) Fall Brian Chamberlain (UVU) , 4:33 285 - Dustin Dennison (UVU) Fall Jared Erickson (AFA) , 4:01 125 - Colby Christensen (UVU) Dec., Greg Rinker (AFA), 10-3 Clippers: From rags to riches almost overnight ByJOSH CANN Sports Writer The Los Angeles Clippers have had nothing to cheer about for years. No rings, no final runs and the playoffs have been a distant fancy. They've basked in the lottery year after year like Harry Potter at Hogwarts. But things have changed. The curse is lifted, the spell broken. They've since transformed from laughing stock to rising stock, from the projects to the mansion on Lakeshore Drive, from a college student Geo to a fire-red Ferrari. All because of two moves. Chris Paul was acquired before the NBA season in a blockbuster trade involving Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 first-round draft pick to the New Orleans Hornets. This move took the Clippers from not making the playoffs since 2006 to a West contender overnight. Add this move to the 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick in Blake Griffin and that makes it one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NBA. The Lakers are becoming more of a side-story in Los Angeles, especially considering the eight-point ousting the Clips gave them a couple weeks back despite Kobe's 42 points. The Clippers have marquee wins over Miami and the Blazers as well. The recipe for success in the NBA is no longer given to the gym rats, the excellent schemes, or teamwork, necessarily. Superstars, superstars, superstars are the Napoleon Aniciete Napoleon Aniciete is a 157-pound wrestler for UVU and has quickly become one of several fan favorites on the team. Sports writer Garrett Coleman had a chance to catch up with the freshman out of Las Vegas, Nev., and find out more about him. Q: How did you start wrestling? A: My uncle got me into wrestling when I was four years old, and my dad said 'let's give a try.' I was a natural at it and I've just been wrestling ever since. school career. Q: How well did you wrestle in high school? A: In high school I won state three years I wrestled. I didn't wrestle my sophomore year, but my senior year I went undefeated. I had a pretty good high Q: If you weren't wrestling what else would you be doing? A: I would just be going to school. Q: Where did your parents get the name Napoleon from? Not too many people have that name. A: My dad wanted to name me after his dad, he didn't know his dad too well and wanted to name me that. People think that I'm French because of it but I'm not. Q: What do you do for training? A: Lift weights. I love lifting, it's a big thing that I like to do. Q: How much can you bench? A: Before the season I benched 350. Q: What is your ideal date with the ladies? A: Well I've got a girlfriend and we met in high school. She likes the beach and I like California so a dinner on the beach and just hanging out and enjoying swimming and eating food. Q: Are you a gamer? A: No, not really. If I do play video games its either Madden, or NBA Live. magical ingredient each contenders' cake includes. Sprinkle in a seasoned coach, a thick TV contract, and the Clippers have themselves a successful franchise both athletically and financially. Griffin is 22 years old. Paul is 26. Saying the future is bright in LA just doesn't quite cut it. One high-risk move is bringing high-reward results. Go bold, or go home. Hopefully the Jazz brass are taking notes. Wolverines pick up awards NAPERVILLE, Ill. Utah Valley's Tim Rowberry and Zandrea Nelson have been named Great West Conference Athletes of the Week after outstanding performances last week at the Snake River Invitational. The inaugural awards of the 2012 season were announced Friday by the conference office. Rowberry received the men's honor after winning the 800 meters at the meet that also featured teams from Weber State, Utah State and host Idaho State. The senior from Orem, Utah, ran the event in in a school-record time of 1:51.19. The women's award at the Pocatello, Idaho, event went to Nelson, a senior from Hazelton, Idaho. Nelson won the 400 meters in a schoolrecord time of 56.33 and placed second in the 200 meters with a time of 25.29. Other standout performers nominated for the weekly honors were Houston Baptist's Jake Adkins and Hiba Kreidie, North Dakota's Roman Waldera and Christine Weinreich and Seattle U's Stephen Squatrito and Hannah Mittelstaedt. Thunder Boldt Jonathan Boldt Work doesn't have to be work Over the course of the past week, I have been digging deeper into the topic of hard work and effort as it relates to the men's basketball team and their season up to this point. As I have researched stats and conducted interviews, one thing has become quite clear to me: I can be very lazy! Don't get me wrong, I do have my strong points (mostly in the looks department), but I would much rather stay in my comfort zone than push myself into trying new things. This was especially true prior to joining the staff here at the UVU Review and writing about sports in particular. In a conversation I had with Geddes Robinson about his journey through sports and the success he has found with basketball, I couldn't help but think about my JaMarcus Russell-esque physique. Russell is widely regarded as the biggest bust at quarterback of all-time, but a lack of talent was not what earned him that title. It was his refusal to study the playbook and put in the time required to excel. His eternally-expanding waistline didn't help either. The beauty of sports is that it has a unique way of being an escape from reality as well as making you think and question what you believe, serving as an agent of change at times. At the risk of jockmockery, I am going to throw out a term from day-time talk show host and soon to take over the world media icon, Oprah Winfrey. It's the "Ah-ha" moment as she calls it, and is very powerful when it comes to making changes within us. It's the idea that there is a moment when we see things or hear something in a new way that makes it click all of a sudden and make sense in our mind. Kind of like when you hear a joke you don't get right away, but then out of the blue it makes sense and you burst out laughing as you walk down the halls looking like a crazy person. I had an ah-ha moment while writing about that interview with Geddes Robinson a little after 1:00 a.m. the other day. Hard work can be fun. Don't send me off to the loony-bin just yet and hear me out. Athletes work extremely hard, but what do we call what they do on the court? Play! What is their profession? A game! As the saying goes, "When you do something you love, your vocation becomes a vacation and you'll never work a day in your life." I always hear how much people hate to write and that it must take talent to be able to write all the time, especially when your grade doesn't depend on it. But like Robinson said, it's not about talent as much as it is hard work and the right mindset. To prove how messed up my mind works, try and follow this. Because I love writing, I can still be lazy but work hard enough to make up for my lack of talent. Isn't it a thing of beauty. Jonathan Boldt can be reached at jonboldt@ gmail. corn or follow him on Twitter @jboldt24 |