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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1998)
The Battalion Sports id ay‘January 23, 1998 . Big Wednesday ggies prepare for February 4 signing day By Chris Ferrell Staff writer the Texas A&M Football Team comes off pp irst Big 12 South title, it knows the champi- o hip was not won overnight. There were burs upon hours spent in the weight room o'l on the practice field. There were countless ! i sessions and scouting reports. But even f ( ore that, the foundation for the title was o' It over the years through the recruiting ef- ’ of the school. a ^f the Aggies are to remain at the top of the ® ith and climb towards the upper echelon of - ege programs, the next two weeks will be y important. 1 Zoliing off the Big 12 South title and an im- ssive showing in the Cotton Bowl against LA, A&M figures to once again compile one he nation’s top recruiting classes. The team’s top priority for the ‘98 recruiting son has been the offensive line where A&M I lose three of its five starters. All-Big 12 ird Steve McKinney, center Koby Hackradt left tackle Chris Ruhman must all be re- ced, which is a major reason the Aggies are king to sign four lineman, as opposed to one wo at all other positions. 3 The countdown is rapidly approaching ^tei: signing day on Feb. 4, and A&M has received oral commitments from three lineman in cluding 6-foot-8-inch, 285-pound Chris Montgomery, a state top-100 player on most lists. Montgomery is from Euless and played at the same high school as current A&M line men Semisi Heimuli and Moses Vakalahi. A&M has also received oral commitments from Taylor Whitley a 6-foot-5-inch, 315- pounder from Sudan and Mike Mahan from Homer, La., who is also an imposing figure at 6-foot-7-inches, 310 pounds. Tight end is also an area the Aggies are try ing to build for the future. All-Big 12 tight end Derrick Spiller and tight ends Daniel Campbell and Matt Mahone are all entering their senior seasons. After they depart, RoDerrick Broughton, who will be a sophomore next sea son, will be the only remaining tight end on the roster after 1998. For the past two seasons A&M has been the Big 12’s youngest team. Next season the Ag gies will return 17 starters going into either their junior or senior seasons, a number which makes a strong recruiting class even more important. Director of Football Operations Tim Cassidy said the large number of returning starters should not scare away any blue chip recruits who want a chance to play early. “Typically the top players which we recruit from are not concerned with depth charts,” Cassidy said. “The best players like the compe tition.” All oral commitments are non-binding. A player is not obligated to a school until he signs a national letter of intent, a fact the Aggies have already experienced this recruiting season. The Aggies have already lost a player to Tennessee and Texas All-State running back Victor Ike changed his commitment from A&M to Texas, according to a report in yesterday’s Austin- American Statesman. exas A&M travels to Lincoln for dual meet By Colby Mart in Staff writer , .The Texas A&M Men’s and men’s Swimming and Diving ms are not afraid of good com- ition. The Aggies have gone to tlefwith some of the nation’s top mt already this month, and it js not get any easier this week- v gr 1 as the Aggies travel to Lincoln, rijO., to face the Minnesota Gold- Gophers and the Nebraska rnhuskers in a dual meet, lit:'\lfthree coaches stress winning as se dual meets is important for ifidence, but the main focus is provement. “We look at it as a funnel effect, ,ere we want to get the feeling of mpetition, but winning a dual :et is not our main focus,” Div- ; Coach Kevin Wright said. The 20th-ranked men’s team de- ted the 13th-ranked Miami Hur- mes last Saturday in Miami. The ;ies took first place in 10 of the wents, including a sweep in the 100-yard breaststroke with Kyle Maiden taking first, Matt Rice sec ond and Chris Sandt finishing third. The Hurricanes won the div ing events by default because the Aggie diving team did not compete. “I have been pleased with our effort in practice and meets,” Men’s Coach Mel Nash said. “We have great leadership and hard workers from top to bottom.” Nash said, considering the competition, he is excited about how his team has stepped up to the challenges. “Nebraska will be swimming in their home pool, and Minnesota has some experienced interna tional swimmers, so it does not get any easier,” Nash said. The team will also be swimming in their best events, which is some thing that they have not done yet. The men will probably have to com pete without Marden, who broke his hand after the meet in Miami. The women’s team has also stood up very well to the early competition. “The most important thing for our team (members) is to gain confidence in themselves, and they do this by competing against “The most important thing for our team (members ) is to gain confidence in themselves, and they do this by com^ peting against tough tal ent and doing well.” DON WAGNER WOMEN’S SWIM COACH tough talent and doing well,” Women’s Coach Don Wagner said. In the women’s last meet, Stacie Karnes won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 49.59 sec onds, which was a season-best for A&M. Kelly Bolton aced the com petition in the 100-freestyle with 51.42 seconds and Tracy Evans had a season-best 4:52.22 to win the 500-freestyle. “I’m excited with the effort of our team,” Wagner said. Wagner said he felt his team measured up very well with both Nebraska and Minnesota and is up for the challenge. The diving team will be at a dis advantage in Lincoln because platform diving, the Aggies' strong point, is not an event included in dual meets, but Wright said the meet is important nonetheless. “The dual meets are just part of the process of getting to where we need to be,” Wright said. The main focus for the swim ming and diving teams these next few weeks will be to improve as individuals in each event. These meets will be used as step ping stones to the teams’ nation al title hopes. from staff and wire reports Sykora earns All Stacy Sykora, the 5-foot-10-inch junior outside hitter on the Texas A&M Volleyball Team, was named to the Volleyball All-American hon orable mention team. This is Sykora’s second All- American honor handed to her this season. In December she was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American second team. Sykora, from Burleson, lead the Aggies to a No. 13 final ranking, the highest in school history, and a -American honor 26-8 record. Sykora was named to the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team after posting career highs in kills with 28 and digs with 25 in the Ag gies' five-set, season-ending loss to No. 5 BYU in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship East Regional. Sykora joined Demetria Sance from Texas, Fiona Nepo and Lisa Reitsma from Nebraska and Patrice Arrington from Oklahoma as the Big 12 representatives on the team. Sports Briefs from staff and wire reports Cowboys’ Jones meets with Seifert SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dallas owner Jerry Jones said he met with former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert for several hours Thursday to discuss the Cowboys’ head coaching vacancy. “We probably spent three hours talking today,” said Jones, in town for the Super Bowl. “George and I spent a lot of time on the competi tion committee together, so we know each other pretty well.” Seifert is the first known candidate to interview for the position, which came open when Barry Switzer re signed Jan. 9. The Cowboys are com ing off a 6-10 season that was their worst since going 1-15 in 1989. Jones has been uncharacteristi cally tight-lipped about the search for a replacement. He reportedly has a short list of between three and six candidates. One of the others is Green Bay of fensive coordinator Sherman Lewis, whom Jones can’t speak with until af ter Sunday’s game. On Thursday, Jones said he will interview Lewis on Sunday night or Monday, depending on Lewis’ schedule. Lewis has been the Packers’ of fensive coordinator since the 1993 season.. He was their receivers coach the previous season, and he spent the nine years before that as a position coach in San Francisco. “It has been my intent all along to visit with him,” Jones told The Dallas Morning News. “I would point out what happened in Green Bay this season as a logical reason for why I would want to talk to him.” The Packers drubbed the Cow boys 45-17 in November, beginning a winning streak that has led them to their second straight Super Bowl. Dallas missed the playoffs this sea son for the first time since 1990. Another apparent candidate for the job is former UCLA coach Ter ry Donahue. Although Jones has n’t confirmed meeting with Don ahue, the ex-coach’s agent, Bob Rosen, told the Fort Worth Star- Telegram the pair met Saturday through Tuesday. Other reported candidates in clude Broncos offensive coordina tor Gary Kubiak and former Cow boys defensive coordinator Butch Davis, the head coach at the Uni versity of Miami. Jones also is believed to be in terested in hiring Minnesota offen sive coordinator Brian Billick for the same job in Dallas. The Vikings blocked Jones from speaking with Billick by pro moting him, but Billick reportedly is considering quitting, which would allow him to freely negoti ate with any team. Jones’ interest in Billick was piqued by another former 49ers coach, Bill Walsh, who recently wrote a book with Billick. • PHYSICS* MATH • ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • MECHANICAL ENGINEERING* BUSINESS ANALYSIS TAKE TECHNOLOGYj Internet: wWw.rayjobs.com • E-mail: resume@rayjobs.com U.S. citizenship may be required. We are an equal opportunity employer. iOilaififK'PQSm When something is too extreme for words, it's to the Nth degree. And that's the level of technology you'll experience at Raytheon. 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