Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1978)
Page 14 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1978 the sports SWC champs prepare for new season inexpen- By SEAN PETTY Battalion Staff It was a year ago Saturday that the Texas A&M University track team started its successful drive for the Southwest Conference track cham pionship. It was the first indoor track meet of the season for the Ag gies in Baton Rouge, La. It was also a year ago that coaches Charles Thomas and Ted Nelson had no idea what the 1977-78 Aggie track team would be like because of the number of young, enced members. “We just were not sure how all of our freshmen would do last year,” said Nelson, who will take the Ag gies to Baton Rouge again this weekend for the first indoor meet of the new season. “We knew they could be good but didn’t realize how good they really were. ” The first-year men started to show just how good they were at the start of the outdoor season, lowering their times on the track and len gthening their distances in the field events. By the end of the season, the freshmen had firmly established themselves among the older, ex perienced members of the team. In fact, of the top ten scorers on the 1978 SWC champion team, five were freshmen. Freshman quarterback-sprinter- hurdler Mike Mosley led all Aggies with 120 points for the season. And he didn’t even run in all of the meets because of spring football training. Leslie “Snook’’ Kerr came to Texas A&M having never run the 400-meter dash before, ended up winning that event at the confer ence meet with a time of 45.71. He also battled Texas’ Johnny “Lam” Jones to the wire in the 1600-meter relay to give the Aggies the victory in that event. Kerr was fourth lead ing scorer. Pole vaulter Randy Hall brought a long list of credentials with him to Texas A&M and proved that he was worth his scholarship by breaking the SWC conference record with a vault of 16 feet 10V4 inches. Hall was ninth leading score for the Ags. First-year men Arthur Williams and Billy Busch were tied for 10th place in scoring. Williams ran a 45.3 leg on the 1600-meter relay team and placed second in the 400-meter dash at the conference meet. Busch ran the 110- and 400-meter hurdles all year placing sixth in the 110- meter hurdles at the conference meet. Needless to say, coaches Thomas and Nelson know where they stand at the beginning of this season as they start work towards a second consecutive conference champion ship. “We will have a very competitive track team,” Nelson said. “We feel a little better about the team this year because they are all a little older. We have a little more confidence in them.” But last year’s success was not all due to the rookies. In fact, it was senior sprinter Ray Brooks who led the Aggies to the conference cham pionship. Brooks scored 18.5 points by running on the winning 400- meter relay team, winning the 200-meter dash and placing third in the 100-meter dash. “It’s going to be hard to replace some of the guys who won’t be back this year,” Nelson said. Manfred Kohrs, Brooks and Randy Scott won’t be back. Scott made a rare decision when he decided to give up his schol arship because he said he was not giving enough time to throwing the Sun Theatres 333 University 846 The only movie in town Double-Feature Every Week Open 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Sat. 12 Noon - 12 Midnight Sun No one under 18 Escorted Ladies Free BOOK STORE & 25c PEEP SHOWS 846-9808 shot put and felt it was unfair to the school. Manfred Kohrs was a solid per former in the 1500-meter dash for the Aggies all year. He was third in total points. “Manfred is going to be hard to replace because he would take away points from teams like Rice who dominate the long races,” Nelson said. “We have a lot of people from last year’s team coming back and some more real good freshmen coming in,” Nelson said, “but the main key to any teams success anywhere is the injury situation. “You are fortunate if yovi can stay away from injuries and we did all last year until the NCAA meet when Brooks was hurt. That really hurt us because he was running so well at the end of the season.” The Aggies had a good recruiting year with emphasis on 400-meter dash men. “We really concentrated on 400-meter men because we want to have a strong relay team to make up for any other weaknesses we might have,” Nelson said. “There will be five or six people who can make the 1600-meter relay team. I’ve been real pleased with freshman Steve Willis who is running the 400 better now than Kerr was at this time last year. “We were pretty good in the 1600-meter relay last year but we should be good this year,” he said. If a time of 3:06.13 in the 1600-meter relay is just "pretty good”, what is good? The Aggies’ relay team was among the top ten in the country last year also. While the Aggie coaches concen trated on 400-meter dash men, they have not forgotten the other areas of the team in their recruiting. “We are getting Michael Finley, who is a fine sprinter from Mesa Community College in Arizona at the beginning of next semester,” he said. “He has run the 220-yard dash in 20.4 so he should help out our 400-meter relay team. “We’ve got two freshmen high jumpers who are jumping very well. One has cleared 6 feet 8 inches and the other 6-foot-10. The coaches are also looking for improvement out of the older mem bers on the team. “Tim Scott has improved so much already from last year because he worked very hard on his strength over the summer,” he said. “He has already thrown 58 feet in the shot put and his longest throw last year was 55 feet. We expect big things from him in the discus also. “Tony Wheeler, Joel Vogt and Tom Glass should come through for us once again in the 800-meter dash. Another freshman, Darryl Shoe- make, should help also. He won the class A 880-yard dash championship four years in a row,” he said. Football players Mosley and Cur tis Dickey have received the green light from head football coach Tom Wilson to run track this spring. “I think I could afford to lose some football games,” Wilson said jokingly, “but if I didn’t let Curtis run track I could lose my job.” Dickey made the all-America team in both indoor and outdoor track and was the NCAA indoor 60- yard dash champion. The meet this Saturday in Baton Rouge is basically for fun Nelson said. "If we do good, fine; if we don’t that’s fine,” he said. "This is mainly to get the guys thinking about track over the holidays and ginj centive to work hard (fc break. "We know they are n)t]i It wfi ready to run yet but it nit know where they stand The 1978-79 Aggie trad pears to be even year’s and as long as tie mains healthy, they may er very memorable May in Austin as back conference chami Rapid Reduce Slender Energy Muscles Future Bar NOW 693-7431 Give a timely Christmas gift from Texas Instruments INCORPORATED > TI's new LCD (liquid display) digital watches ... • Day or night illuminated display shows time continuously • Long battery life (up to 18 months) • 71 $26 95 •» $ 54 00 or the TI THE / esofT riday n erth in re Long asn’t or ButTe ame Bo olding a No ma uttei : Wait un tear mig] Highw And lx ason at One on one Battalion photo by t| Texas A&M’s David Britton goes against Calvin Garrett of Oral Roberts in Monday night’s game, which the Aggies won 85-79. Tonight both the men’s team and the women’s team host Sam Houston State University in G. Rollie White Colit The women, who have a season record of 9-2, tip offaf. The men put their 4-1 record on the line at 7:30. 5-function LED watches • hour, minute, second, month and date functions • extended battery life integrated circuit electronics that eliminates moving parts $995 ( $4995 LOUPOT'S BOOKSTORE North^ate-Across from the Post Office ATTENTION GRADUATING SENIORS IF YOU HAVE ORDERED A 1979 AGGIELAND, PLEASE STOP BY THE STUDENT PUBLI CATIONS OFFICE, ROOM 216 REED MCDONALD, AND PAY A $2.00 MAILING FEE ALONG WITH YOUR FORWARDING AD DRESS SO YOUR AGGIELAND CAN BE MAILED TO YOU NEXT FALL WHEN THEY ARRIVE. We Buy All Books! WE NEED TWICE AS MANY USED BOOKS BECAUSE OF OUR NEW STORE IN CULPEPPER PLAZA! Bring your out-of-date books, with your new books & we’ll make you an offer on all your books (including paperbooks). UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE Now 2 Locations NORTHGATE and CULPEPPER PLAZA United iw is tlu [es profi 'west C inenfs. fAYETT] may i 5 basketba Oilers receive injury United Press International HOUSTON — Wide receiver Mike Renfro had knee surgery Tuesday and will miss the remain der of the season, the Houston Oil ers announced. Renfro, a rookie from Texas Christian, had been starting for the Oilers because of injuries and was one of several players hurt in Sun day’s 13-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Houston now has only three healthy wide receivers. Earl Campbell, the N ing rusher who missed n game after taking a hard hi side, suffered a cracked® expected to play Sunday New Orleans. ago arc isas. s not all Ihe chan< teams j and tha year — place i •ce’s mo: Jion. of Quarterback Dan Pastief^ght has! had rib damage — cratw^acks h eighth, 10th and 11thribs'■p> leavir mains hospitalized. Hovwtp hy to expected to work out this* play Sunday. .1 young Sidne * HATE DOING * * LAUNDRY? X * Let Frannie's do it for you £ Aunt Frannies £ Laundromat * AHolleman at Anderson 693-658 4HHhr RESUME SERVICE Sell yourself effectively 1 * professional resume p# BUSINESS & COMMUNICATION SERI Call 846-5794 for an appo' I TEXAS MOBILE HOME OUTLET iNew '79 Models I I I I coming m DAILY — New 14 ft. wide area — 2 bedrooms — Furnished — Air conditioned — Delivered Sandpoint MOBILE HOMES 131 94 monthly (a ee COLLEOC A VS Texas) Mobile Home Outlet INC TRAVl See A&M As It Really Was “WE’VE NEVER BEEN LICKED It’s Aggies on the silver screen December 6, 8 p.m., Rudder Auditorium $ 1 admission B<< g * Ue - Jjf'ith Me thy — w team,” *e Suttor “t just h 'ith the 1 v in Delp to fi t may no Suttoi J 3 lot ol hat we ^ed by ii hfis Beni to be a s is now injury. Schall, [Percent J ng the , Wand >eha,e C n?t] Ro t „ I V It’s £ tl 0 ^ er l Vt . lein han fclg 1 ? 6 s inc. fkcrief,, H s and l ei ar Arka admits y°w. ^coach i^lotofti 0 things,’