y • January 17 (
iors
Sports
Page 7
Friday • January 1 7, 1997
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New conference, new competition, new
tra, new faces, but the same success.
This is the battle cry of the Texas A&M
vlen’s and Women’s Track and Field
Teams as the Aggies head into its inau
gural Big 12 season.
Both the men’s and the women’s teams
mi finished second in the final ,
Southwest Conference
'ai Championships and went
on to compete in the NCAA
Outdoor Championships in
Eugene, Ore. The men tied
for 19th while the women
tied for 25th in the Champi
onships, which included
over 50 teams from across
the country.
A&M Head Coach Ted
Nelson said the teams will be
just as competitive this sea
son as they were a year ago.
"We really had two
outstanding teams last
year,” he said. “I felt we
“Even though
track is mostly
an individual
sport, it still
takes everyone’s
contributions to
win a meet.”
Rosa Jolivet
Senior track member
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were competitive in every meet. This
season our women will be better and
will have a lot of success. Our men lost
some talented individuals, so we are
looking to some underclassmen to step
up and fill those holes.”
Sophomore sprinter/jumperToya Jones
said the freshmen will be able to fill the
void on the men’s team.
“We got some very good recruits,” Jones
said. "I think they’ll step right in and pick
up our team.”
The men will return seven NCAA quali
fiers, including sophomore Michael Price
and junior Billy Fobbs, both of whom qual
ified for three events. The men will also re
turn the 400-meter relay team that won the
final SWC Championship.
Nelson said his main concern for the
men is their middle-distance races.
“The last few years, our field events,
sprints and the 400 [meter relay] have been
strong events for us and I think we’ll con
tinue that tradition,” Nelson said. “We’ll
need someone to step up in the middle-
distance races.”
On the women’s side,
the expectations are high.
The Lady Aggies will re
turn to competition with
nine 1996 NCAA quali
fiers, including four All-
Americans: Seniors Rosa
Jolivet and Anjanette Kirk
land, junior Adrien
Sawyer and sophomore
April King.
Jolivet and Sawyer each
competed in four events
at the NCAA Champi
onships, while sopho
mores Detrich Clariett
and Stacy Sykora qualified
for two apiece.
Jolivet said the key to the women’s suc
cess is their closeness.
“We are a close-knit family,” Jolivet said.
“Even though track is mostly an individual
sport, it still takes everyone’s contributions to
win a meet.”
Jolivet said even with the team’s success
last year, their performance should improve.
“Last year we had a lot of talent and a lot
of people competing in different events —
that made us tough,” she said. “This year
we should be even better because we’ve
added depth to our variety.”
Nelson said the teams’ goals have re-
Tim Moog, The Battalion
Members of the Texas A&M Track Team warm up around the track on Wednesday.
mained constant with their entrance into
the new super-conference.
“Our No. 1 goal is to win the first-ever Big
12 Conference Championship,” he said.
Nelson also said he feels the talent lev
el of the Big 12 will not be any higher than
that of last year’s SWC, although the com
petition will be tougher.
“The old Southwest Conference and the
old Big 8 were pretty equal talent-wise,” he
said. “I think the difference will be more
schools. With 12 teams, there’s going to be
more quality participants in every event,
so it’s going to take a higher-quality team
to win the Big 12.”
Jolivet had a unique perspective on the
new experience.
"Change, to me, is a good thing,” she said.
“I think going into a lot of these meets not
knowing what to expect will be to our advan
tage. We can go out and perform and not wor
ry about who we are competing against.”
However, the rest of the Big 12 might
want to start worrying about the Aggies.
Aggies journey to
Houston for first meet
By Chris Ferrell
The Battalion
The weather outside has been frightful, but
the track should be delightful as the Texas
A&M Track and Field Team begins its indoor
season at the Houston Invitational Saturday.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will look
to start the year off on the right foot. Senior All-
American Rosa Jolivet, who is the women’s
only senior, said the young Aggies will use this
weekend to gain valuable indoor experience.
“This (meet) is going to be a building
point,” Jolivet said. “It’s going to be a good op
portunity for some of the younger people who
aren’t used to running indoors to come to the
older ones for advice.”
Sophomore sprinter/jumper Toya Jones agreed.
“This is a time for the older guys to help the
younger guys out,” Jones said.
A&M will compete against the University of
Houston, who is hosting the invitational, Rice
University, the University of Texas, Louisiana
State University, Tulane University, Southern
University, and Prairie View A&M University.
A&M Flead Coach Ted Nelson said compet
ing against some of the nations other premier
programs should help the Aggies get to where
they need to be.
“Right now, I think we’re a little behind
where I thought we’d be,” Nelson said. “Th[e
weather was not good last week. We’ve only
been able to work outdoors twice.”
Nelson said A&M, which is traditionally
strong in the sprints and hurdles, should be
considered among the favorites to place run
ners in the 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles
and relays. • <
Price shows old neighborhood how it's done
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Tim Moog, The Battalion
Sophomore sprinter Michael Price practices his
starts at practice on Wednesday.
By Dennis Ramirez
The Battalion
E veryone remembers what it was like own
ing the neighborhood bragging rights to be
the fastest kid on the block, or at least we re
member trying to earn those bragging rights.
For Michael Price this was a strong driving
force that propelled him to new heights as a
track athlete.
Price, a sophomore sprinter for the Texas A&M
Track and Field Team, has proven he has earned
bragging rights in his old neighborhood.
“I was in the fifth grade, it was light pole to
light pole back then, and there was this guy in
the neighborhood who outran everybody,”
Price said. “That really motivated me and once
we arrived at high school, it was a must to run
track once you were in football.”
During his years at John Tyler High School
Price learned to love the sport of track.
On top of earning all-state honors and leading
his football team to a state championship, Price
earned All-American honors, won two state
championship titles, and set new track records.
“In high school I learned that I had a talent
for the sport and it was at a point where every
time I ran. I tried to improve,” Price said. “In
the prelims I would set a record and in the fi
nals I would try to break that same record.”
Price started A&M on a track scholarship, but
found himself playing for the A&M football team.
Although Price skipped his first fall workouts
for track, to play football, he was able to become
a competitive sprinter and earn a seat at NCAA
Outdoor Meet as a freshman standout.
“As a freshman he was able to come in
here and compete at the big time level,”
A&M Head Coach Ted Nelson said. “He was
a pleasant surprise to us and performed ex
tremely well last year. This year, I expect him
to be stronger and do nothing but improve
on last year.”
Because Price decided to forgo football this
year and concentrate on track, this will be the
first complete year of track workouts.
Price said participating in fall workouts will
make a difference towards the end of the year.
“Right now I feel really good,” Price said.
“I went through off season and I am in great
shape. Because of this I should run better
than I ever have and improve throughout
the whole season.”
Teammate Larry Wade, a hurdler for the
team, credits Price with being blessed with
speed and talent.
“Michael’s mentality to compete and the fact
that he went through fall workouts has given him
a strong foundation and the stamina needed to
be successful later on down the line through the
end of the season,” Wade said. “As far as sprinting
is concerned he has certainly been blessed and if
he can take care of business on and off of the
track, he has the ability to become the best sprint
er in the world.”
Price does not have any big plans for post-
collegiate track competition, he is solely con
centrating on improvement.
As for his neighborhood back in Tyler,
Price owns bragging rights — thanks to the
motivation given to him by the guy he once
could not outrun.
Speedy Jolivet breaking
records at lightening pace
By Nicki Smith
The Battalion
M any would agree that the
word “fast” is an under
statement when describ
ing Rosa Jolivet, a senior hurdler
and relay team member on the
Texas A&M Women’s Track Team.
Although Jolivet is only in her
second sea
son at A&M,
she already
holds A&M in
dividual
records in the
100-meter
and 400-me-
ter hurdles,
and is a mem
ber of the
A&M record
holding 400-
meter, 1,600-
meter and
shuttle hurdle relay teams.
To top off her record-breaking ac
complishments, Jolivet competed in
the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer,
where she set two school records with
times of 13 minutes, .02 seconds in the
100 hurdles and 55 minutes, .91 sec
onds in the 400 hurdles.
In addition to being a school best’s,
Tim Moog, The Battalion
Senior Rosa Jolivet stretches before practice.
Jolivet’s time in the 100 hurdles also
edged her into the semifinal round at
the trials, while her time of 55.91
earned her eighth place overall.
Assistant Coach Abe Brown, who is
responsible for men’s and women’s
hurdlers and horizontal jumpers for
the track team, said Jolivet was a very
mature athlete who caught his eye
while she was at Forest Brook High
School ih
Houston.
“A good
friend of mine
pointed her out,
so I followed her
performance
during high
school,” Brown
said. “I liked h^r
humor and
poise so I re
cruited her for
our track
team.”
While at Odessa Junior College, Jq-
livet led the track team to the nation
al Junior College indoor title in 1992,
was ranked among the top 50 in the
U.S. in 1995 in both outdoor hurdles
events and 29th in the U.S. in the 400-
meter hurdles in 1994.
4
See Jolivet, Page 7
Fogg never moved so fast.
for the YOUNG AT ART!
kttp://opas.tamu.edu
0&
Sunday, January 19,1997 * 2 PM & 4 PM • Rudder Theatre
this Theatreworks presentation
of Around the World in 80 Days,
Phileas Fogg must complete
an impossible journey or lose his
entire fortune. Traveling by train
and ship, on camels and ele
phants, in hot air ballons and
on rafts, he and his friend
Passepartout visit exotic places,
rescue an Indian Princess, cross
rivers and deserts, all the while
being chased by the bumbling
Scotland Yard Inspector Fix
who believes them to be infamous
bank robbers. Along the way
Fogg comes to realize that people
the world over are, indeed,
all linked, and that within each
of us is the possibility for a
fantastic voyage!
Now accepting AggieBucks.™
For tickets, call the
MSC Box Office at
845-1234.
Persons with disabilities please call 845-8903 to inform us of your special needs. We request
notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of pur ability.
FT..-
Stop by
and discover
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
at the 1997 MSC Open House
Sunday, January 19, 1997
2-6 p.m.
For more information,
call 845-1515
4v
Persons with disabilities please call 845-8903 to inform us of
your special needs. We request notification three (3) working
days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of
our ability.
Sponsored by
MSC Public Relations