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Show SPORTS VOLUME LINSSUE 23 Senior pitcher Gendlek looking to finish strong By JONATHAN BOLDT UVU Correspondent Dreams mean nothing without work, even for a five-yearold. Competition brings out I . FEBRUARY 20, 2012 WWW.UVUREVIEW.COM that sentiment better than anything, and it's far too common that it comes from driven parents. Now step aside from the vision of two dads coming to blows over whose boy should be pitching, and imagine it's the five-year-old telling his father to suck it up and keep throwing the ball. For Utah Valley senior pitcher Jeremy Gendlek, baseball is life and always has been, even when his father/ catcher Don Gendlek would get a little tired. "When I was five or six I would keep my dad out in the yard for hours," Gendlek said. "I probably kept him out there too long but I never wanted to stop. As long as I can remember baseball has been what I love and what I want to do." Gendlek's childhood recollections may invoke blackand-white images of Ward Cleaver playing ball with Wally and the Beave, but his dominance on the mound tells another tale. He was named to the First Team All Great West Conference in his first year with the Wolverines and also nabbed the Newcomer of the Year award. Oh yeah, he was also named Pitcher of the Year. For Gendlek, awards are nice, but also carry a hefty price tag. "It's by far the best award I've won," Gendlek said. "But all that means is that everyone on our schedule will know who I am and will be prepared. Now I have to go out and prove I can do it again or else it doesn't really matter." Using 2011 as a benchmark for a successful 2012 season is no small task, not just for him but any pitcher that may ever take the mound for the Wolverines. That may seem like an overstatement, but after posting a UVU single season record 1.71 earned run average, he is now the gold standard when it comes to judging future Wolverine pitchers. Gendlek also tied the school GENDLEK B2 "..41 Pia PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS Indoor track takes hot streak into conference championships By TRAVIS LEAVITT Sports Writer The Utah Valley University Wolverines and their Great West Conference foes will square off in the 2012 indoor track championships Feb. 26-27 in Chicago. UVU hopes to replicate their recent successes. The Wolverines have been on a tear lately, setting four new school records at the Husky Classic and Boise State Invitational. The men's 4 x 400 team of Michael McPherson, Jacob Brydson, Taylor Asay and Skylar Burningham, Ali Shields in the triple jump, Aleina Eisenhaur-Winger in the mile and Zandrea Nelson in the 400m all set new UVU records in their respective events. "I thought we'd have some good times, but I wasn't expecting it across the board to get school records," head coach Scott Houle said. "I was impressed with it." On the men's side, look for standout sophomore Michael McPherson to have a big tournament. As a freshman in 2009, McPherson was named the GWC Men's Athlete of the year. This season he has fared well in the heptatholon and long jump, and is part of the men's record setting 4 x 400 team. Senior mid-distance runner Tim Rowberry is also garnering significant accolades this season. Rowberry won the mile, placed third in the 800m last season at the GWC Championships, and was named the GWC Athlete of the week earlier this season. Texas Pan-American senior Andy Lopez will provide tough competition for Rowberry. Lopez recently won the 800m at the Jeff Davis/McNeese Indoor meet, as well as placing fourth in the mile run. Additionally, recently winning the GWC Athlete of the week was UVU sprinter Allah LaryeaAkrong. The junior from Ghana has broken several of his own school records this season, including those in the 200 and 60m races. He also won both of these events last season in the GWC championships. Expect the 200m to come down to Laryea-Akrong TRACK B4 CONTACT: LEFT PHOTO BY CONNOR ALLEN/UVU REVIEW, RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS Sophomore starters Holton Hunsaker (left) and Ben Aird (right) have stepped up their games as the Wolverines have ripped off 11 straight wins. SUPER SOPHOPMORES Sophomores Aird, Hunsaker step up production By MATT PETERSEN Sports Editor Entering the 2011-12 campaign, seniors Isiah Williams and Geddes Robinson were the headliners garnering all the attention. Williams was the returning All-American Honorable Mention, a scorer capable of 20-plus points on any given night. Robinson brought an elite level of defense and rebounding, heightened after a rigid offseason workout re- gime. With the media and opposition focused on them, sophomores Holton Hunsaker and Ben Aird have been free to produce and, ultimately, flourish. Aird in particular has come alive recently, leading the time in rebounding in their last four contests despite the presence of Robinson, who ranks in the nation's top 20 in rebounding. He's scored 59 points over the last three games, including a 25-point, 10-rebound effort last Monday against Montana Tech. NEXT UP... Against: Houston Baptist When: Feb 23, 7:05 pm Where: UCCU Center SOPHS B4 LEARNING THE HARD WAY Wresting falls to No. 2 Penn State, Northern Colorado By GARRETT COLEMAN Sports Writer Learning isn't always fun. There was a lot of learning when the UVU wrestling team went head-to-head against defending national champion Penn State, which won convincingly 39-3. The scoreboard didn't reflect the toughness and grinding matches the wolverines had. There were matches that went down to the wire, and the Wolverines showed improvement, which is exactly what head coach Greg Williams wanted from his team. "I saw great signs of improvement." said coach Williams. "We wanted the guys to go out there and wrestle, to get a feel of where they are at." The Wolverines had many matches that were exciting and went down to the final seconds. 197-pounder Brian Chamberlain had one of those matches, facing the No. 12 wrestler. Chamberlain led 3-1 in the closing seconds of the match before giving up escape and take down points in the final seconds to lose 4-3. Josh Wilson, the team's 149-pounder, wrestled No. 1 ranked Frank Molinaro and lost his match by a 5-0 margin. PHOTO BY CLAIR MUIR/UVU REVIEW Josh Wilson struggles against No. 1 ranked Frank Molinaro of Penn State during the Wolverines home match on Saturday, Feb. 11. WRESTLING B3 SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS DESIGNER petersensports@gmail.com gonzamatic@gmail.com MATT PETERSEN ERIC GONZALEZ FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @UVU_SPORTSDESK |