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Sports
Tuesday, September 22,1992
The Battalion
Page 7
DON
NORWOOD
Sports Writer
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Texas Tech
fails while
Houston sails
T his was
sup
posed to
be the year
that Texas
Tech would fi
nally rise
from the ashes
and actually
have a chance
to play in Dal
las on New
Year's Day.
With the
most talented
quarterback in
the Southwest
Conference,
an All-American safety poised to
1 eclipse Kevin Smith's career intercep-
j tion record, and a homespun head
I coach with as much charisma as foot
ball savvy, the Red Raiders were ex
pected to join the John Mackovic-led
Texas Longhorns in challenging Texas
A&M and bringing credibility back to
the SWC.
Three games later, the same people
who read those sunny forecasts are left
scratching their heads, wondering if
there is another Texas Tech out there
that they do not know about.
Tech has stumbled off to a 1-2
record, with both losses coming on
television, just to make sure that
I everyone gets to see the conference's
new kids on the block get knocked off
the curb.
The folks at ESPN might have been
more than a little perplexed with their
inaugural Thursday night game back
on Sept. 3, when they carried the Tech-
Oklahoma game from Lubbock. They
promoted it as a meeting between
H promising up-and-comers and a team
r i trying to learn a new offense.
As it turned out. Tech head coach
Spike Dykes had his head on a swivel
as OU quarterback Cale Gundy
burned the Raider defense with a pass-
See Norwood/Page 8
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Abolishing the stereotype
A&M junior Mitchell proves
athletics, academics can mix
By DON NORWOOD
Sports Writer of THE BATTALION
For many people, the term "student-
athlete" is a major contradiction.
The ratio of stories about Proposition
48 casualties and junior college flunkouts
to those of All-Academic team members
is more than two-to-one. Sadly, that is a
sign of the times.
Or is it?
In the case of Texas A&M volleyball
player Kim Mitchell, the student-athlete
label is taken literally.
Attending A&M on an academic schol
arship, Mitchell, a middle blocker for the
Lady Aggies, possesses enough awards
from on and off the court to fill up several
trophy cases. The most recent of these
came last weekend, when Mitchell earned
her second All-Tournament team appear
ance of the season after the A&M/Holi
day Inn Invitational.
When added to her ever-growing ac
cumulation of academic honors, it is not
hard to see that Mitchell is truly enjoying
the best of both worlds.
"I take pride in both of them," Mitchell
said of her endeavors in the classroom
and in the gym. "They're both very re
warding."
Rewarding indeed. Mitchell has
picked up at A&M where she left off at
Marshall High School, where she was
valedictorian of her graduating class. Her
near-perfect grade-point ratio of 3.98 is
the highest of any female athlete, she re
ceived the GTE Academic Excellence
Award for 1990 and 1991, and earned a
spot on the 1991 GTE/Southwest Confer
ence Volleyball Academic Honor Team.
But that's not all. Mitchell was as ver
satile as they come at Marshall, partici
pating in volleyball, basketball and track.
After winning the Class AAAAA state
championship in the triple jump, she re
ceived substantial playing time as a true
freshman two years ago, with a .284 hit
ting percentage that was good enough for
fourth in the conference.
Last year, she ended up seventh in the
SWC in block average, and nudged her
way into A&M top ten career rankings in
total blocks and block assists.
After taking in that exhausting list,
many might think that Mitchell has
things pretty well in hand. But that is not
the case.
"(Success in) volleyball is not too
easy," Mitchell said. "I've really had to
work for it."
Perhaps the biggest challenge for
Mitchell was shifting her focus from three
sports to just one, a transition that she
said has turned into a beneficial one.
"It's really much better," Mitchell said
about playing volleyball exclusively. "I
can focus myself on one thing. And I
don't have to worry about hurting myself
and missing other sports."
"She had no club experience coming
in," A&M head coach A1 Givens said.
"She played three different sports in high
school. Even her first year here she
played volleyball and ran track.
"She's made some good strides be
cause she's bright."
Her brightness has forced Mitchell into
some tough decisions, though. Her acad
emic responsibilities, including a mem
bership in the Beta Gamma Sigma honor
society, demands almost as much time as
volleyball does, making for occasional
conflicts of interest in her schedule. Espe
cially because although she is a true ju
nior athletics-wise, she is classified as a
senior academically and is quickly ap
proaching graduation.
"I want to be in both places, but I
can't," Mitchell said. "I'm close to gradu
ating, and it's decision time job-wise. But
Coach (Givens) has been good about it
and totally supportive of it.
"You just have to find a way to deal
See Mitchell/Page 8
A&M junior Kim Mitchell (left) goes up for a block with teammate Karen
Richards during a win over Sam Houston in 1991. Richards is an accounting
major who is attending A&M on an academic scholarship, and proudly carries an
overall 3.98 grade-point ratio.
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