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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1996)
The Battalion larch 21,1996 THURSDAY March 21, 1996 Sports ng Service ■ it Group: A 'e group will 6:30 p.m. in o discuss is- is related to c/Latino stu- cM. Call Dr, 5-4427 ext. (nation. ?ntal Action eral meeting p.m. in 145 ifer at 694- 696-8846 for Association: i will meet at t. Mary's Stu- ill discuss the )spels and the the message, 391-2816 for ; Association: at Team will the St. Mary's lall Brady at Is. i Association: i Class will be t the upstairs 's Church. The ft of Ministry: s World." Call i information. Rape Crisis art group for y abused as t from 6:30 to 268-7273 for ion. ng Service: A n relationships rom 3 to 4:30 i Hall. ng Service - ling Testing r exploration rom 3 to 4:311 nderson Hall, ext. 10S (or ing Service — g Testing Cen- on choosing a d from 5:30 to S, Henderson rompletion of prior to work- ■27 ext. 108 for iociety/Sigma eeting will be n 404 Rudder. jss medieval ature with Dr. lelley at 764- ormation. sports GLANCE Nashville voters to decide on Oilers May 7 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The NFL's Oilers will find out May 7 if Nashville voters want them to relo cate to Music City. The Metro Nashville Election Commission set May 7 as the date for a special election on whether voters want the city to issue bonds to pay for its $149 million share of the $292 million relocation deal. Both the Oilers and state and lo cal governments already have ap proved the package that would bring the NFL team to Nashville and a 65,000-seat stadium starting with the 1998 season. But voters opposed to using city funds forced a referendum. The Oilers agreed to wait for the out come of any referendum as part of their deal. 49ers sign insurance running back Vardell SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers bought some insurance at running back, signing former Stanford hero "Touchdown" Tommy Vardell to a two-year contract. Vardell, selected by the Cleve land Browns in the 1992 draft, missed much of the past two sea sons while recovering from a serious knee injury. He will serve as insur ance in case star fullback William Floyd, also recovering from a knee injury, isn't ready when the NFL season opens. Vardell's contract, signed Tues day, reportedly calls for $1.45 mil lion over the two years, with a $400,000 signing bonus, a 5200,000 salary this season and an 5850,000 paycheck in 1997, with a 5200,000 workout bonus also possi ble in the second year of the pact. Haka Bowl will be played in New Zealand Bowl games named for fruits, flowers and even yard-care products | be come to be accepted by foot- bllans. A bowl named for a Maori wardince is the latest to be added iWlist. | The Haka Bowl, pairing the tliird-place finisher in the Pac-10 against an at-large team, will be played in Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 27. Teams for the game, the first non- All Star football bowl outside the United States since 1937, will split $3 million. The game will be played at 50,000-seat Eden Park and televised by ESPN (Dec. 26, 8 p.m. EST). The creator of the game is former NFL player Riki Ellison, who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. "This will mark the first overseas college bowl game and we are thrilled to bring the game to my homeland," said Ellison, the former linebacker who won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers during a 10-year NFL career. Gymnastic Finals to be held Saturday at Read Aggies have high hopes for NCAAs Eight A&M swimmers and divers will compete over the next week Stew Milne, The Battalion Texas A&M diver Mark Naftanel descends through the air en route to a first-place finish in the men's platform diving competition at the South west Conference Championships at the Texas A&M Natatorium in the Student Recreational Center. By Wes Swift and Nicole Smith The Battalion The Texas A&M men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will plunge into national competition when they compete in the 1996 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Swimmers Julie Bates, a se nior, Jennifer Guillory, a ju nior, Danee Mastagni and Sta cie Karnes, both sophomores, and freshman diver Jamie Spy- chalski will represent A&M to day through Friday at the wom en’s championships at the Uni versity of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Robb Pant a no, a junior, sophomore Kyle Marden, fresh men Jerrod Kappler and Ryan Slater, and one-meter diver Jarrod Flores will carry the A&M mantle for the men’s team as they compete at the men’s championship at the Uni versity of Texas in Austin on March 28-30. Head Men’s Swimming Coach Mel Nash said his charges are in good shape for the meet, and are mentally preparing themselves for the stiff competition. “The guys were already physi cally prepared to compete,” Nash said. “It was just a matter of fo cusing them mentally to be up against the best. They have to realize that this meet is different from all of the others, but at the same time swim like they always have, at their best.” Out of the 50 teams repre sented, Nash said, some of the toughest competition will come from “The Big Five,” schools — Stanford, Texas, Michigan, Auburn and Tennessee. Going into the meet, the Ag gies are ranked 18th — a dra matic improvement on last year’s 33rd rank. In addition, every swimmer is ranked in the top 30 of their event. The Lady Aggies also go into their meet with a solid team. Three of the four women swimmers are making repeat trips to the NCAA meet, with the only Guillory making her first appearance. Guillory, Mastagni and Karnes rank among the top 10 in the school’s history. Bates leads the squad in NCAA meet appearances with two and holds the A&M all-time mark in the 100-meter freestyle at 50.39 seconds. Don Wagner, A&M head women’s swimming coach, said that even though the A&M squad is not large in number, it is skilled. “All of these swimmers can score in at least one event,” Wagner said. “We are not a big group, but I am confident in our ability to do well.” In addition to the swimmers, the two divers hope to make a splash in the meets. Flores is making his second consecutive trip to the NCAAs, after placing 14th in last year’s competition and earning All-America honor able mention honors. The sophomore from Spring will dive in both springboard competitions. A&M diving coach Ken Wright said Flores is pumped up about returning to the competition. “Jarrod’s goal now is to go back to the NCAAs and become an All-American a second time while representing this school in a manner that will make Texas A&M proud,” Wright said. Another of Wright’s divers, Lady Aggie Jamie Spychalski, makes her first trip to the NCAAs after becoming the first A&M women swimmer to win a platform diving title. Wright said Spychalski also has lofty goals for the meet. “She won the Southwest Conference championship on the platform and then won the Zone D title, and her goal now is to score in the event at the NCAAs.” Evan Zimmerman, The Battaijon Texas A&M swimmer Danee Mastagni explodes out of the water in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Southwest Conference Championships. Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion Texas A&M swimmer Stacie Karnes rifles through the water in the 500-meter freestyle at the Southwest Conference Championships. attalion service >fit student and and activities. ■ submitted no lays in advance in date. Appll and notices are Aiil I not be run f you have any ■ call the news 3. The Texas A&M Gymnastics Club Team will host the Texas Gym nastics Conference Championships Saturday in 307 Read Building. The competition, which begins at 2:00 p.m., will feature college gymnasts from around the state tum bling-off for a title. Competing Saturday are Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Southwest Texas State and In carnate Word College. The Texas A&M team is attempt ing to live up to the reputation it re ceived last year when it won the National Championship. Returning for A&M this year are two All-Americans, Denise Bean and Michelle Bergeron. As an added bonus, Olympic gold medalist gymnast Henrietta Onodi will give an exhibition performance. Saturday's competition marks the last home meet for the A&M Gymnastics Team. There is no charge for admission. SCORES ROUNDUP NBA Toronto 107, Charlotte 89 Orlando 112, Boston 90 San Antonio 112, Washington 101 Miami 102, Detroit 93 Atlanta 98, Vancouver 93 New York 102, Indiana 99 Sacramento 122, Milwaukee 97 Utah 107, Philadelphia 84 L.A. Clippers 110, Minnesota 96 NHL Montreal 3, Hartford 2 Detroit 4, Toronto 3, OT Boston 2, New Jersey 1 San Jose at Winnipeg, (n) Calgary at Chicago, (n) Dallas 2, St. Louis 1 Aggie Tennis Team faces tough road trip without top player By Stephanie Christopher The Battalion The Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Team has moved into the nation’s Top 25, but will be hard pressed to stay there this weekend with a tough road trip ahead. The 22nd-ranked Aggies will travel to Coral Gables, Fla., opening their schedule up today at 1:30 p.m. against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. The Aggies will follow the Buckeyes with Miami on Friday and Florida International on Saturday. The Aggies are going into these matches very confident, having defeated perennial powers Michigan and Arkansas in the past two weeks. Texas A&M Head Tennis Coach David Kent said if the Aggies continue to play as they have been, they can beat anyone. “We will be playing good teams this weekend,” Kent said. “We must play well and continue to do what we do best and we should be fine.” Kent said there is one thing that could hurt his team this team weekend. “Our senior number-one player Blake Arrant twisted his ankle on Sunday,” Kent said. “We are not sure if he is going to play, but he is a very ded icated player and if he can play, then he will.” Kent said if Arrant does not play, great senior leadership will keep the team afloat. “Our seniors on the team are great leaders and motivators,” Kent said. “So if Arrant doesn’t play, I know guys like Eduardo Martinez and Eric Horan will do a great job and show their senior leadership.” Arrant said his ankle was 75 percent better than it was, but it is still not in playing shape. “I hope that I am able to play on Thursday,” Ar rant said. “I will not make any decision to play until an hour before the game.That will give me every opportunity to know weather or not I am capable.” See Tennis, Page 8 Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion Texas A&M senior Blake Arrant is doubtful for this weekend's action in Florida. Aggie Softball Team sweeps pair from Bears Staff and Wire Reports The Texas A&M Softball Team continued its uncanny dominance of the Baylor Bears Wednesday night, sweeping a doubleheader in Waco. In the first game, Lady Ag gie senior pitcher Erin Field completely dominated the Bears, holding them to just three hits while pitching a complete-game shutout in A&M’s 4-0 win. The Lady Aggies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when catcher Marianne McGuire’s single plated right- fielder Kim Weldon. It was the only run the Lady Aggies would need. In the second game, the Lady Ag gies’ bats came alive and pounded Baylor for nine runs. Baylor starter Vic ki Hennigan was pounded for three runs on five hits in just three innings be fore being lifted. The relief from the Baylor bullpen was simply more fodder for the Lady Aggies’ cannons. Reliever Stacey Allison was pounded by Texas A&M for six earned runs on seven hits in her four innings of work. The Lady Aggies’ attack was spearheaded by Field, who moved to first base and designated hitter for the sec ond game. Field went 3-for-3 at the plate, blasting a home run, driving in two runs and scor ing two more. The doubleheader sweep improved the Lady Aggies’ record to 22-6 on the year while the Lady Bears stum bled to 16-16. Lori Gioco picked up the win in the second game, im proving to 8-2 on the year for the I3th-ranked Lady Aggies. Dave House, The Battalion Texas A&M leftfielder Heather Hayden makes a diving stab during a recent game.