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pafTeo GAME SCHEDULE , TVT , O MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. use Upstate, 7:30 p.m. Monday, November 8, 2004 FOOTBALL at Florida, 6 p.m. Saturday I Swimming strokes past Tigers By BRIAN DAVIS THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s and women’s swimming teams dismantled both Clemson swimming teams Friday night at the Carolina Natatorium. In the dual meet, the men’s team was guided by freshman Dan White, who won three events: the 1000- and 500 yard freesryles races, as well as the 400 yard individual medley. White, a freshman from Florida, is one of 11 freshmen on the Carolina men’s swimming team, many of whom will have great impacts on the team this season. “This is why we recruited these athletes. We knew they would work hard and help us win,” USC head coach Mike Gibb said. Additional top finishes for the crew of freshmen came from Kyle Cormier in his participation in the 800 freestyle relay as well as Kevin Cargill in the 200 yard backstroke. • The men’s final score was 140.5 99.5, a display of the dominance Carolina recently has had over Clemson as well as a continuation of being a prominent team at the national level. The USC women’s swimming team, coming off a third place finish at the SMU Classic, utterly destroyed Clemson. The final total was 164-79 in the contest. For the second consecutive meet, freshman Heather Roffey, a native of the Cayman Islands, has led the USC women’s team as she finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle, first in the 500-yard freestyle relay and first in the 800-yard freestyle relay. In the SMU Classic, a meet of six teams, Roffey finished second in the 200-yard butterfly and fifth in the 500-yard freestyle races. Freshman Christy Williams, who finished third in the 200-yard individual medley and eighth in the 500 freestyle at the SMU Classic, continued her success with victories in the 200-yard freestyle and butterfly, while also earning a first-place finish for the 800 freestyle relay. Gibbs was pleased with the teams’ dominance over Clemson. “I think this is a great way to open the season and it gives us a lot to look forward to throughout the year,” Gibbs iA USC swimmer competes in the dual swim meet Friday against Clemson. The Gamecocks swept the event. CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK said. In the dual meet, Carolina also dominated in the diving component where the women took the top three places with astounding performances by Lauren King, Lindsay Havens and Tracey Richardson. On the men’s side, senior Andy Bradley, an NCAA runner up a year ago, took first place in the 1 and 3 meters while Ian Balman took second on the 3 meter and lan Emmerton took third on the 1 meter. Both teams will continue competition when they travel to Gainesville for a meet against Florida on Friday where they will face great opposition. The Gator men’s swimming team is fourth in the nation and heads into its weekend meet at the Purdue Invitational having won its first three meets by a combined 164 points. The Gator women are third in the nation but are 2-1, with their first loss coming last meet in a major domination by the No. 1 nationally ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Men’s competition will begin Friday at 10 a.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu Ifs all my fault we lost to UT, Ole Miss ■ With Jake Broom at home during Saturday’s game, Gamecocks win It’s all my fault. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize this, but I am the reason we couldn’t win a day game at home. With Jake: 0-2. Without Jake: 1 0. We’re going to a bowl game, but if it weren’t for me we’d be talking SEC Championship. You see, normally I’d never miss a game. But I JAKE haven’t exactly BROOM had the time of my life the last SECOND-YEAR two games, and I POLITICAL . r SCIENCE woke UP feeling STUDENT pretty sick, so I decided to stay here and watch the game on TV. I missed being there, but it was so much less stressful this way. As most of you already know, we were down 17-14 at halftime. Normally I’d be flipping out the entire duration of halftime while the band played. I can just picture myself curled up in the fetal position mumbling something in the stands about how we never play well in the second half. Luckily, I was in the friendly confines of my room. I just paced back and forth and sat at my computer. Then, it came to me, almost like a gift from God. I discovered one of the greatest products ever sold in the history of the world: the Clemson University Limited Edition Shotgun. I could go on about the irony and unintentional humor of this shotgun, but I won’t. I guess not everybody thinks the fact that Clemson has an official shotgun is as funny as I do. Regardless, it helped ease my normal halftime stress. (Note: if you think I am making this up feel free to e-mail me and I will send you a link.) Anyway, we all know how the rest of the game went, and let me just be the ♦ Please see BROOM, page 10 • ' NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK Freshman midfielder J.D. Moon, left, battles a Duke Blue Devil defender during Carolina’s upset victory in Columbia. Men 9s soccer splits games at tourney By MATTHEW NAGY THE GAMECOCK South Carolina got used to playing from behind this weekend as the team split two games at the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic in Mt. Pleasant. It was two days of late heroics that led to a 3-2 loss against Coastal Carolina and a 3-2 win against Alabama A&M. Friday evening the Gamecocks squared off against interstate rival Coastal Carolina and came up short in their comeback hopes in the final minute of play. Coastal took a two goal lead against Carolina as Patrick Robertson and Jordie Hughes put the ball in the back of the net for the Chanticleers in the 11th and 38th minutes of the game. ^ USC was able to rally when sophomore Mike Sambursky took an excellent corner right to the feet of junior Greg Reece who got the Gamecocks on the board with only four minutes remaining in the first half. Sebastian Lindholm, the talented freshman from Sweden, got the equalizer for USC in the 72nd minute. Lindholm got the chance on a free kick after captain Eric Szeszycki was fouled just outside the 18-yard box. The goal was Lindholm’s fifth of the season, which leads the team. But the team was not able to hold on and send the game into overtime. With just 49 seconds remaining in regulation, Boyzzz Khumalo was able to put the ball in the back of the net for the Chanticleers. The senior from ♦ Please see SOCCER, page 10 Carolina to host USC Upstate By TERENCE WASHINGTON THE GAMECOCK Tonight the USC men’s basketball team opens its season with an exhibition game against USC Upstate at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks are coming off a three-game warmup in Canada, where they won all three by an average of 37 points. Reigning SEC Coach of the Year Dave Odom is 3-0 in season openers as head coach of the Gamecocks. He is entering his fourth season here after coaching USC to one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball last season, in which the Gamecocks won eight more games than they had the season before. After Odom led the Gamecocks to the NIT championship game in his first season as head coach, the Gamecocks reached the NCAA tournament in his third season at the helm. The Gamecocks return two of last season’s top three scorers in guard Josh Gonner and forward Carlos Powell. These players, along with fellow seniors Jon Land and John Chappell, will be expected to provide leadership to an otherwise young team. Powell was named to the preseason All-SEC second team, an honor voted on by the SEC’s men’s basketball coaches. Odom has said that leadership would be the biggest concern for the Gamecocks this season. USC lost guard Mike Boynton to graduation last year, and Odom, who coached two time NBA MVP Tim Duncan at Wake Forest, has called Boynton the best basketball leader he has ever coached. Odom says Gonner, Powell and junior guard Tare nee Kinsey will have to shoulder most of the leadership burden. The void left by graduated seniors Boynton, Rolando Howell and Kerbrell Brown will impact the Gamecocks on the court as well as in the locker room, as these three players accounted for more than a third of the team’s offense. Carlos Powell, last season’s leading scorer, also led the team in rebounds, helped out by Renaldo Balkman and Brandon Wallace. Balkman, Wallace and fellow sophomore Tre Kelley impressed poaches in the preseason, and new players also showed signs of good things to come. Freshmen Dwayne Day and Stephen McDowell have played well in practice, and junior college transfers Antoine Tisby and Roderick Trice had excellent careers before transferring to USC. These new players add depth to an already promising team. Odom is encouraged by the team’s competitiveness, which he knows will certainly contribute to the team’s chemistry. “Our guys are competing with each other instead of against each other,” Odom said. “Each guy is pushing his teammates to get better. This competitive fire will help our team do well this season.” KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Sophomore guard Tre Kelley, left, takes on freshman guard Stephen McDowell during a preseason practice. Kelley will take over the team’s starting point guard position this year. Odom says fans can expea to see a more full-court ^ame this season, both on offense and defense. This team ;s quicker than last season’s squad, which should add to :he effectiveness of the Gamecocks’ trapping defense. Last year’s team led the SEC in all but one defensive :ategory, finishing second to Mississippi State in steals, iveraging 8.82 thefts per game. Last year, the Gamecocks exceeded the fans’ and their )wn expectations when they reached the NCAA ourney. “Not a lot of people, including myself, thought that vas possible,” Odom sard. “This year’s team will be held to a different standard, rhey’ve got to measure up to that.” The roaJ to the NCAA tournament will be rough, vith four SEC teams making the preseason top 25. While the SEC schedule will be tough, the non conference schedule, starting with USC Upstate tonight, will be crucial, as the NCAA reportedly will emphasize non-conference road games in evaluating teams for a tournament bid. In the weeks after tonight’s game, USC plays away at Kansas, the preseason No. 1 team, and Pittsburgh, No. 17. They also play Temple and Clemson in Columbia, among other home games. Tonight is the start of it all, though — don’t look too far ahead, as USC Upstate is picked to finish as high as sixth in the Division II Peach Belt Conference. The Gamecocks tip off against the USC Upstate Spartans at 7:30 tonight. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu