Page 10 The Battalion Monday, March 26, Mon A&M track team blows competition away Home field advantage gives Ags the edge By NADJA SABAWALA Of The Battalion Staff ’Twas a cold and blustery day, and with the wind at their heels and a home field advantage at its backs, the Texas A&M track and field team blew the competition away. Despite the loss of some top per formers, A&M’s men’s team re ceived four first, five second and four third place finishes in the 21st Annual College Station Relays held Friday and Saturday at A&M’s Frank G. Anderson Track and Field Complex. Senior hurdler Richard Bucknor qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship with a time of 13.69 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. Bucknor’s winning time tied the school and meet record. Junior Greg Williams placed sec ond after Bucknor, just .21 seconds off. A&M sprint and relay coach Ted Nelson said he was pleased with the way Bucknor ran. The 400-meter relay team placed first with a time of 39.67 — only .02 short of NCAA qualifying time. Head coach Charlie Thomas was wary of the relay team’s perfor mance after Howard Davis had bro ken his foot in the NCAA Indoor Championship two weeks ago and was unable to compete. and senior David Koenig placed third and fourth. A&M proved strong in the both discus and shot put despite the ab sence of junior Mike Stulce. Ranked fifth in the world by Track & Field News magazine, Stulce missed com petition because of an injury suf fered in the NCAA Indor Cham pionships. Henrik Ramstad, a freshman from Oslo, Norway, received second place in the discus with a throw of 187-4 3/4 while junior Steve Collier placed second in the shotput, throw ing 56-6 1/2. Collier was a JUCO All- American and finished second at the national meet last spring. In the pole vault, senior Greg West, who set an A&M record in 1988 with a height of 18-3 1/4, placed second with a vault of 17-4 3/4 followed by sophomore Danny Signorelli at 16-7. Defending NCAA champion Lousiana State, predicted to com pete with A&M for top honors, re portedly left its top competitors out to rest for their nome meet next week. This was reflected by their poor showing, only receiving a first place in the long jump. Mavs squeal past Pistons in overtime \ : » Photo by JayJanner A&M’s Vernell Dunn won the shot put competition Saturday, and the Aggies won the meet. Bucknor, senior Derrick Florence and juniors Andre Cason and Steve Lofton pulled together despite a poor exchange of the baton from Bucknor to Florence. Junior distance runner Ralph Meyer pulled in a couple of first place wins in the 1,500 (3:57.62) and 800 meter (1:55.27) runs. In the high jump, junior Wally Reid took first place with a jump of 6-9 3/4 while junior Mike Howell The A&M women won a share of f irizes at the relays, receiving three irst, seven second and three third place marks. Senior Vernell Dunn took first place in the shot put and second in discus, throwing 46-6 3/4 and 137-9 3/4, respectively. Junior Connie Hand ran a hand- timed 18:09.3 5,000-meter run to take first. Sophomore Kasandra McDaniel and junior Rosalynn Hunt took first and second in the 200-meter dash with times of 24.6 and 24.8. Reliever House settles in perfect home with Rangers PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Russell has just what Texas Rangers pitching coach Tom House looks for in a stopper — a short memory and a mean disposition. “My whole objective last year was to stay aggressive,” Russell said. “You go in there with a don’t give-a- damn attitude. You’re the man in control and it’s those hitters in trou ble and not you.” Russell’s approach in his first year as the Rangers’ stopper paid off. He led the American League with 38 saves and was second in the major leagues to San Diego’s Mark Davis. Even after a rare failure, Russell wasn’t bothered his next time out. “I’ve got a good short memory,” Russell said. “I just go back and try to throw strikes and stay aggressive. If you do that, nine times out of 10 you’ll be successful.” Russell, an All-Star the past two seasons, filled a gap in the Rangers’ starting rotation in May, 1988 and went 6-0 with a 2.17 earned run av erage in his first seven starts. When the 1989 season began, the Rangers had a need for a stopper and Russell got the call. In his first eight appearances he pitched 10 2-3 scoreless innings. He nad an 0.47 ERA and one earned run over his first 18 games. Russell finished the season with a 1.98 ERA, second best in club his tory and held opposing batters to a .182 average, second lowest in the league to Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley. “He’s a special pitcher, he’s been an All-Star as a starter and reliever back to back,” House said. “It’s nice to know you’ve got him and that 95 miles per hour fast ball to put in there when you need it.” The conversion from starter to re liever was no problem for Russell. “He’s been a closet reliever his whole life even though he was a starting pitcher,” House said. “Some guys have a mindset that they are starters. He had a mindset that he was a pitcher. Til pitch where you want me’ is the attitude he has.” Russell led the AL with a save per centage of 86.4. Eckersley was sec ond with 84.6 percent. After one season as a reliever, Russell thinks he already compares favorably with the A’s reliever. “I throw probably harder than he does and I’ve got a better breaking ball but my control isn’t as good as his,” Russell said. Russell never expected to be sit ting at spring training, talking about leading the league in saves. “In my wildest dreams, I’d have been happy with 20 or 25 saves,” Russell saia. “I won’t be setting any goals for this year though. My only goal is to stay aggressive and keep throwing strikes.” DALLAS (AP) — Herb stole the ball from Detroit’s Is Thomas and fed Derek Harpeii | layup with eight seconds remaiij in overtime, capping a rally thatg the Mavericks an 98-96 victor)'J the Pistons on Sunday night. The setback was the third stnij for the defending NBAchampi matching their longest losing® of the season. The Pistons hat viously won 25 of 26 games. The Houston Rockets beat last Thursday. Dallas trailed by six points in overtime but Harper hit a 3-poi with 16 seconds left to tie the 96-96. Williams stole the ball Thomas on Detroit’s next possess and passed to a wide-open Harps Thomas’ desperation shotatt buzzer fell short and Dal stretched its winning streak loin straight. Rolando Blackman led Dallas 23 points and Harper added Thomas scored 22 points for II > troit. Bill Laimbeer’s two free gen the Pistons off to an 84- in the overtime period. Laimfe added an 18-foot jumper ai I Thomas hit a 15-footer to givei Pistons a 92-86 lead with 2:02 play ; • , f he Mavericks charged bad 95-93 on Brad Davis’ 3-pointenc 30 seconds remaining and, after other free throw by Bill Lairniw Harper’s 3-pointer tied the game Harper’s basket with 24 sea* left in regulation pulled Dallasir an 82-82 tie. Thomas’shot from feet fell short at the buzzer. Detroit led by nine points earli the fourth quarter oefore Dab went on an 1 1 -2 run capped: Harper’s 3-pointer with 3:30top! for a 76-76 tie. The Pistons led80-! on Thomas’jumper and Laimbee two free throws but Dallas tied again on Harper’s free throw ait Blackman’s layup with 1:07 rental: ing. It was Mark Aguirre's first ap pearance in Dallas with the Pistol Aguirre, the Mavericks’ all-ti leading scorer who was tradedtotit Pistons on Feb. 15, 1989, for Adrir Dantley, scored 14 points Aguirre was booed heavily wk: the Pistons were introduced the game. Each time Agtiittt touched the ball he was booed ant the fans cheered every foul turnover he committed. A&M (: bow si seta n Vii list wa b 1 DAI stock c joined ure hi newspt Pent 88-85 NCAA be ask< the vac Virgini reporte Penc Aggie Co ft XXI March 29-Aprit 1, 1990 This is precisely the sort of thing no one ever believes. -Baron Munchausen Walter Koenig “Chekov“ of Star Trek author of Chekov's Enterprise and Buck Alice and the Actor Robot •2 iv mm ir ' W&ssm i i if jfA i\{ f/L Spider and Jeanne Robinson authors of Stardance Robocop Gaming LazerTag Masquerade Ball li f# Party Room Richard Pini editor and co-author of Elfquest Buckaroo Banzai : " v v. AD&D Video Room Rocky Horror Ticket Information At the door Student $13.00 Non-Student $16.00 Children $6.00 One Day Passes $7.00 $9.00 $3.00 Under4yrs. free! Available at the MSC Box Office Special Events LazerTag $l.00/game Quest $5.00 Movies $2.00/show Elvis Sightings Workers' Meetings: March 27 8:30 PM Rudder 510 For more information conatct: AggieCon XXI TAMU BoxJ-1 MSC College Station, TX. 77844 (409)845-1515 Quest n, m- cry# Clockwork Orange Brazil s< Dr. For