Thursday - January 29, 1998
The Battalion
O ^
llicks of the track and field trade
Michael Ferguson
Thi: Texas A&M Track and Field Teams were off this
st weekend following a successful showing in Nor-
in, Okla., at the Sooner Invitational, which kicked
The indoor season. They will return to action Sat-
iay at the Houston Invitational.
Through the Out Door
Track and field has two distinct competitive sea
ls in which the Aggies compete in each spring. The
loor season begins first, still in the heart of winter,
provide adequate conditions for the athletes to com-
te in. Later on in spring the outdoor season kicks off
ten the weather cooperates more with the sport.
There are several distinguishing differences be-
een the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons,
e outdoor season offers more dashes, relays and
ows, while the indoor is geared more toward mid-
;-distance running.
During the outdoor season, the primary races are
2 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter dashes. The in-
or season also includes the 200, 400 and 800, but
)laces the 100 with a combination of the 55 and 60.
The 110-meter hurdles for the men and the 100
idles for the women, as well as the 400-meter hur-
?s, are present during the outdoor season. Howev-
these are replaced by the 55- and 60-meter hurdles
rihg the indoor season.
In distance running, both seasons contain the mile
run, 3,000-, 5,000-, and 10,000-meter runs. During the
outdoor season, the 1,500-meter run is added, as well
as a 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The 1,600-meter relay (mile relay) is run in both
seasons. The 400-meter relay is only run in the out
door season, while the indoor season includes a dis
tance medley relay.
There is also quite a visible difference in the field
events. Both seasons include the long jump, high jump,
triple jump, pole vault and shot put. However, in the
outdoor season, the discus, javelin and hammer throw
are added. During the indoor season, the weight throw
is added to compensate for the loss of these events.
Two Roads to the NCAA Championships
In track and field, most athletes will say their
goals are to run, jump or throw to the best of his or
her ability and help the team win. This, of course, is
true, but does not always convey the ultimate goal
of their sport, which is qualifying for the NCAA
Championships.
Qualification can be obtained by two methods; au
tomatic and provisional. At the beginning of the sea
son, benchmarks are set in each of the respective
events based on previous results. If these benchmarks
are beaten, then that athlete automatically qualifies
for Nationals.
If the athlete reaches a mark close enough to the
benchmark, he or she provisionally qualifies. But
this provisional qualification may or may not be
enough to reach the NCAAs. There are a certain
number of spots for each event at the NCAA Cham
pionships. The automatic qualifiers are subtracted
from the total number of available spots for each
event, and the remaining spots open are given to the
top provisional qualifiers, eliminating all of those
who fall below the cutoff.
Aggie Sports Briefs
from staff and wire reports
Ills honored with GCAA
lall of Fame induction
Texas A&M Men’s Golf Coach
Bob Ellis is being inducted into the
National Golf Coaches Hall of
Fame today.
The 56-year-old Ellis is being hon
ored by The Golf Coaches Associa
tion of America for his work at Texas
A&M for the past 24 seasons. Ellis’
teams have finished in the top 25 13
times, including four top-10 finishes.
Ellis’ team will begin the 1998
season with a trip to Hawaii to play
in the Big Island Intercollegiate.
Fossum invited to play for
1998 USA National Team
Casey Fossum, a sophomore pitcher on the Texas
A&M Baseball Team, was announced as one of the first
nine players to be invited to training camp for the 1998
USA National Team yesterday.
Fossum joins two other players from the Big 12,
sophomore catcher Blair Barbier from Texas Tech and
sophomore pitcher Jason Jennings from Baylor, as the
conference’s three representatives.
Clemson was the only school to have two players in
vited, including the only freshman. With one selection
from North Carolina, the ACC joins the Big 12 with three
representatives. Cal St. Fullerton, UCLA and LSU sent
the other three players.
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A Smashing Success
The Texas A&M Tennis Teams take aim at the rest of the Big 12
By Al Lazarus
Staff writer
With a successful first season of Big 12 competition
under their belts, the Texas A&M Men’s and Women’s
Tennis Teams are poised to solidify their stances as
two of the nation’s premier tennis programs.
Leading the women’s team this season will be se
niors Monica Rebolledo and Vanessa Rooks.
“We’re pretty confident that we are going to keep
doing well,” Rebolledo said. “We want to be among
the top teams in the Big 12 and go to the NCAAs.”
This confidence is present despite the graduation
of key players Julie Beahm and Nancy Dingwall. Even
with the losses, Rooks said the team has high goals.
“We want to finish No. 1 (in the Big 12), definite
ly No. 1 — there is no No. 2 or No. 3,” Rooks said.
Coach Bobby Kleinecke shares the optimism,
though a bit more cautiously.
“This is a little bit of a rebuilding year, but 1 feel
like we have the talent and the team to win, it’s just
a matter of things falling into place for us,” Klei
necke said.
Things certainly fell into place last season, as
the women’s team finished 19-6, just one win shy
of tying the best overall record in the history of
women’s tennis at A&M. They finished tied for sec
ond place in the Big 12 and were ranked 27th in the
final Rolex Collegiate Rankings. At one point, they
were ranked as high as 21st, and never fell lower
than 29th.
Rooks said being ranked highly had its advantages.
“We could tell that some of our opponents were
intimidated by just looking across the court at
them,” Rooks said.
Kleinecke said he agrees and feels his team is get
ting the respect it deserves.
“The other teams respect us,” Kleinecke said.
“They know that we are going to go out there and
play hard, and that’s something we take pride in do
ing every year.”
At first glance, it may seem like the men’s team
had a rather lackluster season last year, finishing 9-
14, with a 3-6 conference record. However, Coach
Tim Cass said he feels overall, it went as well as
could be expected.
“I think the Big 12 right now is probably the third-
best conference in the country, and it’s really only
going to get better,” Cass said. “Quite honestly, 1
think we did the best we could last year.”
Despite having only one senior and one junior on
the team this year, Cass said he refuses to lower his
high expectations.
"Tennis is one of those sports where we could use
that (being a young team) as an excuse, but I expect
PHOTO COURTESY SPORTS INFORMATION
Senior Monica Rebolledo will lead the women’s ten
nis team on the court for Texas A&M’s spring season.
an awful lot out of these guys, and I think they ex
pect a lot out of themselves,” Cass said.
As the only senior on the men’s team, Carlos Tori
knows he will be looked at as a team leader.
“Playing college tennis is very different from any
thing else. I think I’ll be able to help them (younger
players) prepare for certain situations they might
face,” said Tori.
Junior Brent Horan knows he also will be looked
to as a leader, but is quick to give credit to the
young players.
“I think the freshmen seem mature, they already
know what’s going on, they just seem like they’ve al
ready been here,” Horan said.
Even though they may not have posted the great
est record last year, Cass said the men’s team will be
a force to be reckoned with. Looking ahead to two
big matches against Kansas and Texas later this year,
he sums up this feeling perfectly.
“Do they (Kansas and Texas) on paper have more
experience?The answer’s yes,” Cass said. “But do they
want to play Texas A&M this year? The answer’s no.”
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