The Battalion
larch 21,1996
THURSDAY
March 21, 1996
Sports
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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.
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and notices are
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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.