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Wednesday, April 8,1998 Snyder named 1 * the week, Abshi Bryan Johnston Brad Snyder has had a pretty good year. He set the Southeastern Conference record in the shot put then went out and won his first NCAA shot put title. Well, it just keeps getting better. Monday, Snyder was named the 1998 SEC Track Athlete of the Year as selected by a vote of the league coaches. Tm shocked to win this award," h1;- J ||t Snyder said. "It's such a high caliber H r ;$ f track conference with Seneca Lassiter ft: W and Rtibert Howard [NCAA Champions from Arkansas], Terrance Tramjp \ mell [USC freshman hurdler who ??? set an SEC record] and so many othSNYDER ers. To be honored like this is outstanding, but a shock. I didn't even ^ know they had this award. It makes all the hard work I put in all year training and stuff worth it." The sophomore from Windsor, Ontario, was undefeated the entire indoor season, throwing 66-feet-8-inches to break three-time NCAA Champion Brent Noon's SEC record of 66-feet-3-inches set in 1993 at the SEC Championships. Snyder went on to throw 66-feet-6-inches at the NCAA Championships to win the title, helping his team to seventh place. It's the third year in a row South Carolina has won a share of the SEC Indoor Athlete of the Year as four-time NCAA Champion Dawn Ellerbe won the award the past a two years. ^ *%rad is deserving," said USC throws coach Mike Sergent. "He had an outstanding indoor season, going undefnaforl RraH chmilH nnfHnnro frnm winnincr fho iVUVVU> U11V wi\4 k/VUVHV UUWVXUV1U V/41* II lUllUI^j WAV title indoors. His confidence should be growing as he continues to improve. He just needs to stay healthy and remain patient, and he will throw much further." Snyder currently has a best of 63-feet-3 1/4-inches outdoors. Snyder and the rest of his Gamecock teammates will host the South Carolina State Collegiate Championship Wednesday at the Weems Baskin Track on the campus of ^ use. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. with the women's hammer throw. Snyder is scheduled to throw in the shot put around 6 p.m. Carolina has four NCAA automatic and eight NCAA provisional qualifiers during the early stages of the outdoor season. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held in Buffalo, N.Y. June 3 through 6. USC, Woflford, South Carolina State, The Citadel, Francis Marion and Benedict are all scheduled to compete ^ Wednesday. Volleyball USC volleyball player Shani Abshier has been named as a 1997-98 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Schol% % H|^^|RBp^ r/ i ffip -'4 % HHBmKHH^Pjf' Sf Th< track athlete of ier wins award ar-Athlete of the Year, Commissioner Roy Kramer ai nounced Tuesday. Abshier was chosen by a committee of Faculty Atl letics Representative from the 12 SEC universities. She will receive a &10 000 nnst-orflHiiate schnlershi provided by the Bellsouth Corporation. A four-year starter for the USC volleyball team, A1 shier was named to the GTE Acad mic All-America District III team i 1996-97. Abshier helped lead the L dy Gamecocks to NCAA Tournamei : J berths in 1995 and 1997 ? the schooi " 1 second and third appearances ever i the NCAA Volleyball Tournamen She was named to the SEC Acaden 5 ic Honor Roll during her last thre seasons at South Carolina and serve IbV : as her team's co-captain as a senic ABSHIER inl,?f7-. She is a native of Tucson, Ariz and a member of the Phi Beta Kapp Honor Society and earned Dean's List honors in eight si mesters while attaining President's List honors in foi other semesters. She has been active in the USC and Columbia con munities, serving as a volunteer at children's museum homeless shelters, rape crisis centers and the America Association of Museums National Convention. She has a so worked as a mentor at elementary schools and in tt USC Honors College. Abshier has earned a 3.95 GPA throughout her care( at South Carolina with a double major in history and a history. She plans to earn her doctorate degree in pursu of her goal to teach art history. Men's Golf The USC men's golf team carded a final round scoi of two-under-par 286 and rallied to finish seventh at tt Carpet Capital Classic in Dalton, Ga. The Gamecocks, who finished with a final score of 88 were one of two teams to shoot under par for the final da; Clemson held on to win the team title. The Tigers defeated host Georgia Tech for the char pionship. Houston, Auburn and Georgia rounded out tl top five. Gamecock sophomore Eric Ecker fired a final round i 68, lowest of the day, and finished tied for 11th place wit a score of 219. This marks Ecker's sixth Top 20 finish of the seasoi Kyle Thompson, Jake Kransteuber and Mark Catalar each finished tied for 30th with a score of 223. Stewai Ginn finished tied for 53rd with a final score of 228. The Gamecocks will be in action again this weeken when they travel to Auburn, Ala., for the Billy Hitchco< Invitational April 10 through 12. After the Hitchcock Invitational, the Gamecocks wi travel to Athens, Ga., for the SEC Championships Api 17 through 19. MSBF 'cV. * Hf . BK|||?g4 ' ?^>P'-,V y'^ ^-glna ^^3fRp?^Bj|MBiiilMwBBB^HBB^^^^i'L \V * '" :\. *,-; >;S'*5? > wBf ^J.'VvBB^ mm jjnUU^^pv' - (>f:A' B . m j9HSf ' fl ij i 'ik&L' a m si fe^-' s I &M H ^ %???**??' j| ?P*. >, ! ||HK jKirKGffi >ORTS j Gamecock Gamecock b; average max mark PIRA8 1_ Guest Columnist Actually, we're well past the midway point, with 36 of the scheduled P> 56 games already played, but this could be the year the Gamecocks end up play3" ing plenty more games than that. ^ So far, in the aforementioned 36 31 games, the mighty 'Cocks are 29-7, the a" best overall record in the SEC. Their fr SEC record is 10-4, second best in the 's Eastern Division behind Florida. They 11 have steadily moved up the polls and * now sit at number 8 in the country. a" How good is that SEC record? ;e Eight of the 12 SEC teams have ^ been ranked in the top 25 at some time )r this season. USC took two of three from a No. 4-ranked Alabama team, watched Auburn jump into the No. 4 spot, and ,a strode into Auburn the next weekend ^ to sweep the three game series. ir The 'Cocks have now won seven straight games against SEC opponents to move within one game of the Easts> ern Conference leader, Florida. n How is this team succeeding so well? Where are the strengths, and what arie eas can be improved upon? Let's take a look, and give a grade to each area of jr the team, rt Pitching This was the team's biggest question mark coming into the season. The staff was loaded with freshman pitchre ers who came in highly touted, but unre proven at the collegiate level. Brett Jodie was the team's best starter last 5, season, and he has continued to pitch y- well, eating up innings and compiling a 4-3 record, ft- Freshman Kip Bouknight is now 7 0 and has been extremely dominating at times. Junior transfer Bret Kondro of is 3-0. Junior Jason Pomar has taken h over the closer's role and has been consistently effective, notching eight saves. Q- The rest of the bullpen has also 10 * stepped up in key situations, holding rt opponents down and allowing the offense to rally in it's many come-frombehind wins. Overall grade: B+ M Catching "il Junior Ryan Bordenick has been the team's catcher for the entire season after catching sporadically in 1997, stuck behind senior Rob Streicher. MHpnn mtii aseball team e 'ks midway int Bordo has risen to the challenge, however. His .997 fielding percentage i loorlc tVio .Q1?.P and Vio Vino nnlv mm 1VUUU UliU \> y UUU 11V *1?*W WVSAAA ? mitted one error all season. His offen- ^ sive numbers may not be as staggering as they were last season, but he continues to be the team's most dangerous hitter, especially in the clutch. Overall grade : A I Infield The biggest improvement over last J season, this defensive core is one of the best in the country. Anchored by the j slick fielding of shortstop Adam Everett, ^ this infield is the place where base hits go to die. ^ Freshman Mic Knox continues to scoop any ball thrown into the dirt at 1 first base and Jay Lambert plays de- I fense at second almost as well as Everett 1 does at short. Eric Stanton was moved to third ( this year, but has evolved into the po- t sition nicely and continues to improve ^ as the season wears on. Everett is probably the second most dangerous hitter in the lineup, especially in the clutch, with the ability to 1 hit for power and average, land steal a base if needed. i The bats of Lambert and Knox are ? beginning to show signs of life, and that } will only help make this tremendous infield even better. Overall grade: AOutfield Mike Curry and Derick Urquhart 1 are excellent defensive players. Curry's t cnixnsl onaKloc Vnm fn mm rinwn in the gaps and makes it nearly impossible to hit a ball over his head unless it goes out of the park. When he gets a ^ good jump, Curry can take away hits , "that no other SEC outfielder can. Urquhart is the team captain and 1 always seems to be playing in the per- * feet spot for every hitter. Right field is a platoon of sophomore Adam Poe { and junior transfer Tim Angiolini, de- r pending on who Coach Tanner feels like ( playing in the field that/lay-the other j will usually DH. While their defense isn't as dazzling as the other two, they are both effective as right fielders. The offense that 1 these four can put up is staggering. ( Urquhart was tied for the team lead in 1 homeruns entering last weekend. ] Page 9 arns above ;o season Curry leads the team in hitting and n less that two full years, he is second )n USC's all-time stolen base list. Poe, vhen hot, is a gap-power hitter who :an also give you the long ball. Unn fa 11 frt 1 A4*A niigiuiuii a uat nod tuiuc \aj jxlc iatey after a dismal start, but he is also a jap-power hitter. Overall grade: B+ Head Coach : Ray Tanner is in his second year as JSC's head coach, but already his inluence has turned this baseball program into a winner. , Tanner is not only a genius at playng situational baseball, but he also jushes his players in such a way to jring the most out of them. This year's solid recruiting class is >nly a microcosm of the promising fuure ahead for the baseball program of JSC. Overall grade: A+ Iverall This team is strong and developed n all areas. The only real weakness is i lack of team speed. Looming on the lorizon as a potential weakness is the nexperience of the pitching staff in bigfame clutch situations, but so far this staff has risen to that challenge. If the pitching staff holds up, this earn is capable of playing itself into ;he College World Series. Overall grade: ASome other intangibles that help ;his team include attendance by the ans. USC has received a strong showng at the gate so far this year, but ;here's always room for more people. The Gamecocks play their next home fame tonight against Furman at 7pm. rheir next SEC series is this weekend at home against Georgia. Game ;imes are 7 on Friday and Saturday, md 1 on Sunday. Looming just around the corner is vhat promises to be the biggest series )f the season when USC hosts Florida ;he weekend of April 17-19, with first place hanging in the balance..