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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1996)
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It has ional $20,Off WEDNESDAY April 17, 1996 Sports Page 9 2 MUCH IS NOT ENOUGH As an acrobatic power forward in the winter and a high-flying long jumper in the spring, junior Gary Nottingham leads a quintet of Aggie athletes who compete in two sports By Lisa Nance The Battalion For most students at Texas A&M, time manage ment means being able to juggle a full course load with an active social life. Howev er, for junior Gary Notting ham time management means exactly that: efficient management of his time. What little time he has, that is. With a full course load of sociology classes, Nottingham has mastered the art of juggling academics with athletics. But it’s still not that easy, for not only does Nottingham represent A&M as a forward on the Ag gie Basketball Team, he also represents the maroon and white on the track. Despite his lack of free time, Nottingham said he does not really have a hard time juggling the two sports. “It’s not difficult,” he said. “ Because there are certain times when I practice bas ketball and certain times when I’m at the track. It’s split. Basketball prac tice is at night and track is during the day.” While most students find that something usually suf fers when trying to juggle more than one activity at a time, Head Track Coach Ted Nelson said that he has not seen that problem with Not tingham. “He doesn’t have a prob lem juggling the two,” Nel son said. “He’s been through with basketball for a while. It’s not like the football play ers, where they have spring training, so we really haven’t seen a lapse.” Nelson said that although Nottingham’s joining prac tices late — after the end of basketball season — has put him behind a little bit, he still expects Nottingham to put some points on the board for the team. “His coming in after bas ketball puts him a little be hind, but we expect that he’ll have no problem showing up for us,” Nelson said. “He did come out late so as far as him bringing his work ethic to the track team; we haven’t had him long enough to see that but I’m sure we will. He has the potential to score in the high jump and the triple jump in the South west Conference Champi onships. Those will be need ed points that we might get.” Taking a look at his track results makes it obvious why Nottingham has indeed shown up fojr the Aggies. In fact, he is doing quite well for the team. He posted his best high jump of the year April 13 at the Texas A&M Invitational, with a jump of 6 feet 4 3/4 inches to finish fifth in the meet. He also posted a second place finish jump of 6 feet 4 inches at the Texas A&M- University of Texas dual meet on March 30. Nottingham fared just as well for the basketball team. In his first year wearing the maroon and white, he averaged 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He led the team in field goal per centage at 61.2 percent and was second on the team with 25 blocked shots. He posted his best game against Texas Christian Uni versity with 20 points and 11 rebounds, establishing his career bests in both cate gories. Nottingham said that playing two sports helps him in each of the sports. See Nottingham, Page 14 nore Iping United he cost of tie dy declined to its. nt resolves a ent investiga- 2 and settles a behalf of dia ls by the Dis- ication and De- irkeley, whicl ent. lleged the tie- the Americans vet and Califof •oviding insii- aoviegoers ffitl only seating® ere they were dr families. Freshman defensive back and sprinter Michael Price is proof that speed kills By Philip Leone The Battalion S peed: Some people have it, ‘some people want it and some people have more of it than they know what to do with. Texas A&M freshman Michael Price belongs in the last category because the young man can flat out fly. Loaded with more speed and athletic ability than the law should allow. Price has al ready blazed a reputation for himself not only as a bona fide track star for the Aggies, but as a potential gridiron stand out as well. At Tyler John Tyler High School, Price was an all-district running back and defensive back on the football field and a record-breaking sprinter on the track. Recruiters from across the nation came calling for Price’s services — including representatives from Georgia Tech, UCLA and every school in the Southwest Conference. Price said Texas A&M finally won the shootout in the end for two major reasons. “First of all, A&M was close to home, and that was one thing that I was important to me,” Price said. “And most of the other schools just wanted me mainly for track, but they told me here that I could play football too. I knew this was the place I needed to be.” After a fall spent running down kickoffs and punts for the Aggie special teams, Price has proven he was worth all the at tention by making an impact on A&M Head Track Coach Bob Nelson’s squad this spring. With a time of 20.74 seconds in the 200-meter dash at last weekend’s Texas A&M Invita tional, Price posted the squad’s best time this season and quali fied for the NCAA Champi onships. At the same meet, Price also qualified for the NCAAs in the 100, finishing just behind team mate Billy Fobbs with a time of 10.44. Price, along with Fobbs, Toya Jones, and Thaddeus Shannon, ranks among the con ference’s top relay teams in the 400. Nelson said he is pleased with his freshman sensation’s work habits and believes Price has the potential to develop into a greater long jumper. “Michael has really pro gressed well and realizes that he needs to work harder than he had to in high school where things are a bit looser,” Nelson said. “He hasn’t even tapped his potential in the long jump. He’s a powerful athlete, and when he gets more of a focus on the long jump and corrects See Price, Page 14 Cory Willis The Battalion Freshman track runner and defensive back Michael Price flies through the air with the greatest of ease during practice. Sykora gamers rare opportunities in first year Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion Texas A&M freshman outside hitter Stacy Sykora goes up high to tap one over the net last fall. Sykora is also on the A&M track team. By Nicole Smith The Battalion When her two coaches were asked to describe Stacy Sykora, “unbelievable,” “outstanding,” “hard-worker” and “gifted” were some of the words that consis tently came up. A 5-foot-10-inch freshman from Burleson, Sykora not only serves as an outside hitter for the Texas A&M Women’s Volley ball Team, but she also is a hep- tathlete and high jumper for the Texas A&M Track Team. In addition, she is one of the few athletes who has the presti gious honor of displaying her tal ents in dual sports during her first season. “In general, one’s freshman year is extremely hectic,” Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Lau rie Corbelli said. “In my opinion, however, Stacy has handled the stress beautifully, and as far as I know has never missed a day of school since she has been here.” One would think that main taining sports and academics would be a tough task, but Syko ra posted above a 3.0 grade-point ratio and was recently honored at the Academic Athletic ban quet. During her first volleyball season at A&M, Sykora posted the top two single-match hitting percentages in the Southwest Conference, became an immedi ate starter for the outside-hit ting position, and contended for Southwest Conference Fresh man of the Year accolades. “She has some God-given tal ent I have never seen before, and she is quick and competitive,” Corbelli said. “Not only does she impress the crowd with her abili ties, but she also has a unique style about her that will proba bly earn her the title of All- American when she is a senior. As far as track goes, she is a nat urally gifted athlete who could probably run and jump in her sleep.” Due to the fact that volleyball is her scholarship sport, Sykora has not had much time to com pete for the track team. However, in the little time she has been able to practice and compete, she captured first in high jump in the Sooner Invita tional with a career-best high jump of 5 feet 9 inches, which was the best mark by a Lady Ag gie all season. Her coaches and teammates are impressed with Sykora’s po tential and talent, despite the fact that she has had to put track second to volleyball. “She is a multi-talented ath lete who will contribute in sever al events,” Assistant Track Coach Juan De La Garza said. “Although all we have been able to work on are fundamentals, conditioning and technical drills, Stacy has tremendous raw talent that will help us in all areas. If See Sykora, Page 14