The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 19, 1997, Page 7, Image 7
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Spring
BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor
For good reason, the USC athletics
department is eager to promote the
early successes and predictions of
the 1997 Spring season.
"The goal of all of our sports
programs is to compete annually for
SEC Championships," USC Athletics
Director Mike McGee said. "While
we have a long way to go, we're
excited about our spring sports
program."
y Women's Golf
"Women's golf has gotten off to a
great start this spring after our fall
semester," golf coach Kristi Arney
saia. "We nave a lot 01 aeptn
throughout our team. We haven't
used the same five yet, which is a
pretty good problem to have."
The Lady Gamecocks won their
first tournament of the semester Feb.
9 through Feb.ll at the FAU/Mianri
Preview Classic. They were eight
v shots ahead of second-place Florida
Atlantic. USC finished first out of
17 teams
Freshman Camilla FaaborgAnderson
placed the highest on the
team, finishing tied for tenth place.
She shot a 232.
Junior Libby Howard shot a 234
(T14th), freshman Apryl Arrants
shot a 238 (T21st), senior Karin Fries
^ fired a 239 (T24th) and freshman
Emma Lofgren shot a 241 (T28th).
Men's Golf
BRYAN JOHNSTON Sports Editor
m
The USC men's basketball team
continued their ascension up the
polls Monday, due largely to their
97-84 road victory over then-No. 8
% Cincinnati.
The Gamecocks are ranked No.
9 in both the Associated Press and
USA Today/Coaches Poll, which were
released Monday.
Carolina was ranked No. 13 in
the Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the
AP Poll last week.
USC jumped over Maryland,
Arizona and Cincinnati in the AP
% Poll.
The Gamecocks also leaped over
* New Mexico in the Coaches Poll.
In what was an upset week in
college basketball, USC was not
* immune to the disease.
Then-No. 23 Tulane lost twice
? last week. The Green Wave dropped
% games to Alabama-Birmingham and
Memphis. Then-No. 14 lost to Indiana.
Then-No. 2 Wake Forest lost to N.C.
State in overtime. Then-No. 21 Texas
Tech lost to Baylor. Then-No. 11
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"We're extremely young," men's
golf coach Puggy Blackmon said.
"We're extremely talented and I think
we're on the verge of winning,
probably by mid-spring."
The Gamecock golfers started of
the fall semester slowly but have "
rapidly improved since.
In October, they placed fifth out
of 12 teams at the C.C. of Louisiana
International.
On Feb. 8 and Feb 9, they finished
second out of 15 teams, finishing
below only Florida at the Gator
Invitational.
Junior Jake Kransteuber shot a
204, which tied him for second place.
Freshman Brent Roof shot a 211
(Tilth), sophomore Stewart Ginn
shot a 216 (T27th), freshman Eric
Ecker shot a 217(T31st) and
freshman Christoffer Ekebergh shot
a 223 (62nd).
Equestrian
The Lady Gamecocks equestrian
team is in their first year of varsitylevel
competition at USC this year.
They have traveled around the
country, competing in the Berry
College Horse Show, clemson
Universitv Horse Show. Holidav
Tournament of Champions and the
University of Georgia Horse Show.
USC will host the Regional Finals
March 23 and will travel to Wesleyan
College for the Zone Finals and Mt.
Holyoke, Mass., for National Finals.
"Because of all the national
attention we have gotten, we've had
Arizona lost to then-No. 24 UCLA.
And then-No. 18 dropped a contest
to Pittsburgh.
Despite losing to Georgia 77-74
in Athens Feb. 12, the Gamecocks
climbed in the polls.
The excitement that has been
building among the fans is finally
starting to show in the players too.
What was once a team refusing to
talk rankings and NCAA Tournament
seeds now smiles broadly at the
mention of Top 10 rankings.
"It's great for our school. Its great
for our basketball team, especially
after what happened in December,"
sophomore guard BJ McKie said.
"It's a great feeling to be recognized
in the country, being in the Top 10.
We knew we could do it, we just had
to prove ourselves.
Things weren't clicking and things
weren't coiner ricrht. But the bottom
line is we knew we could do it. We
had to find some type of chemistry
and everybody had to find theirselves
during that particular time. We were
able to do that and that shows the
maturity that this team has."
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18 riders recruit us for next year,"
equestrian coach Janet Brown said.
Brown's top riders are junior
Adriana Black and senior Shelby
Lowden. Black is ranked as one of
the top Western Riders while Lowden
was the Zone 5"Region II Reserve
High Point Champion last season.
Softball
"We are a very experienced team
this year but we play a very
challenging schedule," softball coach
Joyce uompton saia. -rroDaoiy tne
thing that has us the most excited,
other than our new stadium is being
in the SEC."
The Lady Gamecocks are 2-0 and
i anked No. 9 in the nation.
Carolina returns a strong team
led by three returning Ail-Americans.
Seniors Trinity Johnson, Tina Hew
and Chanda Lee will try to lead
Carolina to their first SEC and
national titles.
Johnson started the season off
with a bang, by throwing her fourth
no-hitter and second perfect game
of her career Sunday against North
Carolina.
Men's Tennis
"With the top seven players all
from SEC schools, there's going to
be some nice balance," men's tennis
coach Kent DeMars said. "I think
we match up nicely with them so I
think we'll have some very good
matches."
The men are currently 6-0 and
I \
The Gamecocks have made a
steady climb up the polls after starting
the season at 5-5, including home
losses to UNC-Asheville and
Charleston Southern. After running,
off 12-consecutive victories, the
Gamecocks are getting noticed in a
big way.
USC made an appearance in the
AP Top 25 for the first time on Jan.
27 when they debuted at No. 25. A
week later, after road wins over
Vanderbilt and LSU, they moved up
to No. 19.
Then the big leap came. Carolina
jumped up seven spots, to No. 12, in
the Feb. 10 poll after a 84-79 OT
victory over No. 3 Kentucky and a
win over Florida.
USC slipped against the Bulldogs
but rebounded at Cincy to move up
to the highest spot since December
1974.
"This is worth all the hard work
we ve put in," senior guard Larry
Davis said. "We have a lot of guys
here who want to do well and come
together and reach one common goal.
"You could say that we've picked
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led by Columbia native Keith Brill,
Robert Wojcik, freshman Jerome
Jourdon and Jorge Esqueda.
Women's Tennis
"The SEC will be tough as always.
We hope we cab compete if riot move
up a little bit higher than last year.
Last year we finished the regular
season the No. 2 team in the SEC
and Top 15 in the nation," women's
tennis coach Arlo Elkins said.
The Lady Gamecocks are currently
1-1 and are led by Celine Regnier,
tr i* i o v- t
i\aruima Duiai ana oopme jujucovic.
Regnier was the first freshman under
Elkins to qualify for the NCAAs last
year. She is ranked No. 4 in the
region.
Bulat is ranked No. 7 in the region
and Ljucovic is ranked No. 23.
Newcomers Imre Kwast and
Valentine Vernaz will also provide
depth for Carolina.
Track and Held
"The athletes we have here are
ones who just needed a little
brushing," track coach Curtis Frye
said. "The SEC is so strong that we
could finish No. 5 at the SEC and
then finish in the Top three at the
NCAAs."
Both the men's and women's
teams are ranked in the Top five in
the nation. The men are ranked No.
3 and the women are ranked No. 5.
The women are led by two-time
NCAA Champ, three-time USATF
Champ, four-time SEC Champ, two
^ pp
Team Vote:
1. Kansas (68) 1,748
2. Minnesota (2) 1,649
3. Kentucky 1,622
4. Wake Forest 1,512
5. Utah 1,44)
6. Duke 1,438
7. Iowa St. 1,26^
8. Clemson 1,247
9. S.Carolina 1,125
10. New Mexico 1,09]
11. Cincinnati 996
12. N. Carolina 906
13. Arizona 882
up some respect. I don't think this
team is satisfied and as long as we
keep that attitude, well continue to
do well."
The Gamecocks get a chance to
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time Ail-American and three-time
captain Dawn Ellerbe. EHerbe broke
her own American record in the 20
lb. weight with a throw of 71-3 1/2.
Junior thrower Lisa Misipeka,
sprinter Tonique Williams are also
high point scorers for Carolina."
On the men's side, the throwers
are backbone team. Sophomore twotime
SEC Champ Brad Snyder, who
represented Canada in the Olympics,
and sophomore Kevin Mannon should
both contend for the-SEC and NCAA
championships in both the shot put
and 35 pound weight.
The sprinters are led by speedy
Corey Bridges and Marcus Robinson.
Women's Swimming
The women's swim team is in
Athens, Ga. preparing for the SEC
Championships.
"I feel a lot of great energy from
the girls [about the meet]. They work
hard, and they're a super, super
group," women's coach Beth Harrell
said.
USC is just finished a 7-6 season.
"We are in the process of
rebuilding. Last year was truly our
transitional year," Harrell said.
The women are led by junior Suzie
Stark and senior Charlene Miller.
Men's Swimming
"We are a very young program.
Fourteen of our 21 swimmers are
either freshmen or sophomores,"
men's coach Keith Switzer said. "We
ciated Press Tt
s Pvs. 14. Marylar
15. Louis vf
$ 1 16. Xavier
3 _ 17. UCLA
- 4 18. Michigz
2 19. Villain
5 20. Stanfon
5 6 21. Colorad
1 9 22. C. of CI
7 7 23. Illinois
> 12 24. Indiana
I 13 25. Califorr
8
16 Also Recer
11 Texas Tech
improve on their ranking this week
as they travel to The Citadel and
Tennessee.
"I knew that we were going to
have a good basketball team, it was
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thletics
started the year fairly slowly. We
had a rough fall but had a great
January. We were 5-1 with wins over
nationally-ranked Alabama. With
that, we were able to crack the Top
25."
Baseball
"We're off to a good start We don't
know how good we can be. A lot of
people are telling us, "you're not going
to be any good.' I don't think we're
going to accept that. We've worked
extremely hard, I've challenged them
and they've responded," baseball
coach Ray Tanner said. "They're
doing a tremendous job."
The team has gotten off to a fast
start, winning their first six games
under the new coach.
"The first shall be last and the
last shall be first. Now all I have to
figure out is when?" Tanner said.
In all, seven spring teams are
ranked in the Top 25 in the nation
(men's basketball, a winter sport, is
ranked No. 9).
They are, in order of their ranking:
Mon'o frorlr Mn Q
xvxwu o w uv^rvy x ^ v? v
Women's track, No. 5
Softball, No. 9
Women's Golf, No. 15
Women's Tennis, No. 16
Baseball, No. 25
Men's Swimming, No. 25
ip25 U
id 874 10
lie 707 17
646 19
565 24
in 558 14
/a 320 18
1 319 22
o 268 15
hrlstn 252 25
249 20
186 NR
lia 171 NR
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zing votes: ueorgia n^,
97, St. Joe's 84, UAB 1
just a matter of time before we got
our chemistry together," junior
forward Ryan Stack said.
"We've come a long way and we
hope we can keep it up."
*