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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1996)
YOUR AD SHOULD BE HERE! Call 845-2696 The Battalion NEW Motorola BRAVO PLUS $29.95* $495 AIRTIME * Activation and Airtime Purchase Required Page 10 • The Battalion Monday • April 22,' POSTOAK FLORIST Call us for all of your Ring Dance Corsages & Boutonnieres (409) 764-0091 900-12 Harvey Road in Post Oak Village (next to Bronze Body) Now, That’s 'Tradition Three Aggies took in the sites at the 100th Boston Marathon By Matt Dickerson Special to The battalion Used Levi's Sale The largest selection of recycled jeans you've ever seen 3 DAYS ONLY... | April 24,25,26 | ted. A Noon-6] Thurs. & Fri., 10am-6pm i College Station Hilton Sundance Rooi College Sfatidn, TX i i The 100th running of the Boston Marathon last Monday was an in- - credible sporting sight — even for an Aggie out of water. Though I have previously run two other marathons, I did not qual ify for the Boston and so had to sit this one out. But what an experience for a change — I got to quaff beers and cheer on a couple of friends from the Texas A&M Roadrunners. Instead of “hitting the wall,” I was hitting my credit limit. I was drawn, moth-like, to the Back-Bay Brew House, which was just a cou ple of hundred yards down from the finish line and my base of opera tions. From there, I was able to join the thousands thronging along Boylston Street to watch the 26.2-mile parade of runners, shop for marathon kitsch, snap rolls of pictures and then retreat back into the security and comfort of the BBBH. Melissa Kroeger and Karla Han cock, the only members of the A&M Roadrunners to qualify for the Boston, ran the race with gusto. Kroeger, already an experienced marathoner at just 20 years old. She previously won her age division at both the Houston-Tenneco and San Antonio marathons and is a junior kinesiology major from League City. She is the only A&M undergraduate to run the Boston this year, and fin ished the race in 3:31:27. Hancock, a 1985 A&M graduate with a degree in psychology, is also an experienced marathoner — the Boston was her fifth. She qualified for Boston last December at the Dal las Whiterock Marathon and ran the Boston in 3:45:00 despite having the flu for days leading up to the race. Kroeger and Hancock had vary ing reasons for running the race. Kroeger said that it was the prestige and tradition of the Boston that motivated her. Hancock likewise re ferred to the tradition of the Boston Marathon. “It’s the race of the century,” Hancock said, “the Olympics of running. While only a few elite athletes are privi leged to run in the Olympic games, this is a race all runners can cele brate.” Kroeger, when asked what moti vates her to run 26.2 miles in the first place, said the running is actu ally relaxing. “At first, it was to say I did it,” Kroeger said. “But a marathon isn’t Kroeger as far els you think; you build up to that distance. And the people along the race route keep you motivated. No, I enjoy training for the marathon — it’s my time to think and be alone. Finishing each marathon gives me a sense of accom plishment.” Hancock was a little more philo sophical in her explanation. “I run the marathon for the same reason a mountaineer climbs a mountain, because it’s there,” Han cock said. “The marathon is the ulti mate test of the runner. As long as I can recall, I have loved running and considered myself a runner. I decid ed to become a long-distance runner as a child.” Both runners have serious tips for anyone wanting to train for a marathon. “You can’t skip your runs,” Han cock said. “Do it. Expect to put some time into your running; you’re going to have to slowly increase your train ing distance. It is hard work.” Traditionally run on Patriot’s Day, the Boston Marathon is the longest continuously run marathon. The race drew more than 40,000 runners — 37,706 official entrants and some 2,000 illegal runners — from all over the world to celebrate the 100th running. As a local writer put it, the Bosto nians have always known that this race is more a celebration of human ity than of running. The wheelchair participants come flying in first in marathons, usual; posting times of well under hi hours. The crowd roared as the first men came in, the top fin ishers all from Kenya including first-place win ner Moses Tanui. The star of the race was Germany’s Uta Pippig, who ac tually consid- I Hancock ered dropping out four miles into tit race, but went on to win the won en’s side of things in 2:27:12. By the time Pippig got to Bojl- ston Street, the crowd was electa, roaring, “Uta, Uta, Uta!” We didn’t know it at the time,hi Pippig had battled several illnesse during the race. She won it, a per trait of courage. I saw the father and son wheel chair team of Dick and Rick Hoy, Dick pushed his son Rick’s wheel chair to a finish of 2:45. The city of Boston welcomed is all, spectators and runners, to shan their race. As the Kenyans arefd of saying, “To run is to be human.' ■ Aggie tennis teams falter in SWC finals I I The Aggie Men slipped up against TCU while the women dropped to Texas. • Hurry for best selection All jeans commercially cleaned •Bring in this ad for a FREE pair of Sunglasses w/ any Levi’s purchase I l J FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas Christian bagged its third straight Southwest Con ference title Sunday with a 4-2 victory over Texas A&M in the 49th and final men’s confer ence tournament. Texas captured third place in the men’s consolation match Sunday with a 4-1 victory over Texas Tech. Texas A&M’s Blake Arrant scored an upset win over the nation’s top-ranked Division I singles player, TCU’s Paul Robinson, 6-4, 6-4, but the Horned Frogs rallied to win four other points in singles and doubles and top the Aggies. TCU ended the scheduled campaign at 21-2 and ranked fourth nationally while the Ag gies fell to 19-6 overall. No. 3 singles man Andres Urencio toppled West Virginia transfer Eric Elek 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 in singles and doubled with Gonzalo Corrales at the No. 3 spot to win 8-2 to give the Frogs’ the doubles’ point. Texas advanced to 17-6 overall after its win over Texas Tech in the men’s third- place match. The Red Raiders, seeking an invitation to the eight-team NCAA Men’s Region 6 tourna ment in Austin on May 10-12, dropped to 14-11 with the loss. Freshman Laura Berendt of Texas won her No. 5 singles match in three sets and then led a charge at No. 3 doubles to put the Lady Longhorns over the top against Texas A&M 5-3 on Sunday. The victory was Texas’ 10th consecutive SWC tournamec; title. It was the 14th andfinii Southwest Conference won en’s tennis tournament. In the women’s champi onship match, Texas A&M’s No. 6 singles competitor Julie Beahm overcame a 5-2 deficit in the third set to upeui Texas’ Nomena Rasolomalals 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to force the teams to advance to doubles!# decide the winner. Berendt then teamed with Melody Falco to outlastthe Lady Aggies’ Beahm-Vanesse Rooks duo 7-6, 6-4 and cincl the team trophy for the Lai; Longhorns, now 21-5. Vol. 102, N( Bede Offi da. By Courtney The Battalic As the en< draws near, dents might member tha have schedul ing day for st for their May This is th( A&M studer reading days nals instead c a dead day ar have also bee: Next week day on April redefined daj reading days Don Cartel Records regis days as regul ing which no allowed excep hour courses. The redefii scheduled to day classes t on Good Fridi was schedule mic calendar to avoid last- from A&M Sy tors about w nate the day t No classes 1 the May 1 and Establish! reading day Dr. Ray Bov [dent, in Decer THE FINAL ROAD TRIP Arki kill! At least 5 m left h DESTINATION AGGIELAND DATE EVENT PLACE TIME APRIL 23RD PARTY ON THE PATIO WINGS N’ MORE Across from campus 7-10 P.M. APRIL 24TH OLD ARMY YELL RUDDER FOUNTAIN 6:30 P.M. APRIL 25TH SENIOR BASH TEXAS HALL OF FAME 8 P.M. - 1 A.M. APRIL 27TH SENIOR BANQUET RING DANCE HILTON HOTEL MSC & RUDDER 6-8 P.M. 9 P.M. - 1 A.M. ~7ic&et *7ct£<vu*uzti04t ctM %4S~ 1234 FORT SMI Firefighters to demolishei searching for tornadoes the pie, including smashed hum “I just star Leisa Didwa the storm Sui closet with i friend’s 1-yea her and the praying to Go know what eh The twiste: Fort Smith’s and the subu sweeping som foundations, to St. Paul, a 50 miles awa; pie were injur 330 left home State troop By Eleanor The Battai