Aursday • April 23, 1998
Sports
Chasing the Dream
lational Champion senior Larry Wade reflects on his collegiate career, runs after NCAA title and Goodwill Games glory
By Michael Ferguson
Staff writer
rry Wade can be seen every day be-
bre practice, kneeling to pray before
yiu ts foot on the track. Praying not
success and glory, but simply for
refah and support from God.
luccess and glory, however, are usually
e results of the efforts of the senior All-
nencan from Elgin, Texas.
Born and raised in Giddings, Larry Wade
is always had the desire to compete in
hef and field.
er since I was a little boy, I wanted to
impete in the Olympics,” Wade said.
Jwever, he did not realize his potential
compete at another level until high school,
lldidn’t really realize that I could actu
al t a scholarship doing this until my ju-
•ear in high school,” Wade said. “That’s
pien 1 decided to focus more on running
yfanything else.”
Rter moving to Elgin, Wade finished his
relollege career at Elgin High School.
' Mr ’ 11 high school, Wade finished second
ithi lexas Relays and won the AAU Na-
^ : |nal ( hampionship in the 110-meter hur-
}e#Vhen it came time to choose a univer-
f /ade turned to his family for support,
ly dad went to A&M for a while, and
was really happy with the track pro-
■arc and the academic standings here,”
fade said. “I wanted to stay in the area,
i when A&M offered me a scholarship, I
iriost jumped on it.”
Since his freshman year at Texas A&M in
1994, Wade has put together an astonish
ing list of credentials. The four-time All-
American won the Southwest Conference
Championship in the 110-meter hurdles in
1995 on his way to a second-place finish at
the NCAA outdoor championship.
In 1997, he won the Big 12 Conference
Championship before finishing third at the
“I think he’s as good as
anyone right now, and
he’s the guy to beat.”
Abe Brown
Track Coach
NCAA outdoor meet. This March, he fin
ished off his final indoor season as the Na
tional champion in the 55-meter hurdles.
Wade holds the Texas A&M record in both
the 110 hurdles and the 55 hurdles, as well
as five of the six fastest times in school his
tory in the 110 hurdles.
However, Wade’s individual success
pales in comparison to what he brings to
the team. Hurdles Coach Abe Brown men
tioned how Wade’s presence has benefited
some of the younger hurdlers.
“They know they have a chance to run
with the best and learn from the best,”
Brown said. “He’s been a good role model
and a good leader for those young people
coming along.
“He really lends a strong character to
our team situation.”
Though Larry Wade has put together im
pressive career statistics, the coveted na
tional championship in the outdoor season
still remains an unrealized dream—the only
missing piece in the puzzle of perfection.
After laying off several weeks at the be
ginning of the outdoor season due to
nagging injuries, Wade has come out
blazing, winning his first two meets and
appears to be in prime condition for his
run at the title.
According to Coach Ted Nelson, Wade’s
national championship in the indoor sea
son may take some of the burden off of
Wade in the outdoor season.
“Going into the national indoor meet, he
had never won a national championship, so
that put a little extra pressure on him," Nel
son said. “I think that pressure is off now
that he’s got that national championship.
“It’s harder to get that first one some
times, and sometimes it’s easier to get the
second one.”
Currently, Wade is concentrating on
earning his degree in May and finishing his
collegiate track career on a positive note.
Yet, after finishing so close in both 1995
and 1997, Wade knows the national outdoor
championship is within reach and would be
the perfect ending to a storied career.
r T
BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion
Elgin native Larry Wade earned All-American honors each year at Texas A&M on his way
to school records in both the 110-meter hurdles and the 55 hurdles.
“My dream ending would be to win the
NCAA title, go on to win the USA Champi
onships, and to make the USA Goodwill
Games team,” Wade said.
Brown certainly likes Wade’s chances for
the duration of the season.
“Larry is on top of his game," Brown
said. “I think he’s as good as anyone right
now and he’s the guy to beat.”
Nobody in the country has figured out a
way to beat Wade this year. If that trend
continues, bringing home the national
championship will no longer be a dream,
but a reality.
ienn Relays await Aggies Athletes earn right to work; A&M
restigious relays host best competition that will face A&M allowed jobs four years too early
U
,virof'
By Michael Ferguson
Staff writer
Sis weekend, the Texas A&M Track and Field Team
lavel to Pennsylvania to compete in the 104th run-
Jgof the Penn Relays.
phi‘ relays always boast some of
Mest competition in the nation
pformat that produces winners
gents known as the “Champi-
Mip of America.”
year, the Aggies faired very
Mnthe Penn Relay (mfnival, win-
Jthe men’s 4x100-meter relay, the
■en’s shuttle hurdle relay and the
J 110-meter hurdles, with Larry
kk taking home first prize.
Jisyear should be no different
the addition of several key
|men as well as the development of many of last
.underclassmen.
e Penn Relays are notorious for large crowds
■the three-day total, which is rare to the sport of
ck and field. Coach Ted Nelson mentioned the
!vd support at the relays.
It’s a gem of a meet
as far as spectators
are concerned.”
Ted Nelson
A&M Track Coach
“It’s a gem of a meet as far as spectators are con
cerned,” Nelson said. “When you put 45,000 people up
there and they’re screaming every time you run, it’s
something that track people don’t experience very
much in the states.”
Coach Abe Brown spoke about
his affection toward the relays.
“I’ve been going to Penn now the
last eight years, and they seem to just
get better and better every year,” Brown
said. “Penn has a format that I really en
joy. They have these events that they
call Championship of America, so
when our kids win these events, they
feel like they’re the best in the nation.”
Last year, this held true as the
men’s 4xl00-meter relay team went
on to win the national championship
after winning the Penn Relays.
The meet will consist of some of the
best high-school competition in the nation and several
foreign teams, in addition to the collegiate competition.
After the Penn Relays, the Aggies will return home
to begin preparation for their next meet on May 2, in
New Orleans, La.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) —
Division I athletes may hold part-
time jobs, the NCAA board of direc
tors ruled today.
“It definitely passed,” Bridgit Ni-
land, head of the NCAA’s student-
athlete advisory committee, told
The Associated Press.
The board, which consists of col
lege presidents and holds ultimate
power in the NCAA’s new structure,
met in Indianapolis and adopted the
recommendation made last week by
the NCAA management council.
The new rule takes effect Aug. 1,
and a formal announcement was
expected later in the day.
For the first time in decades, ath
letes at the roughly 300 Division I
schools will be able to hold part-time
jobs, even if they are arranged by
their school’s boosters. They cannot
make more than $2,000 every year.
“This really shows the optimum
the NCAA can operate at if it chooses
to,” said Niland, a former runner at
the University of Buffalo. “It was a
piece of legislation that was really
thought through. They really did con
sider the welfare of the student-ath
lete instead of just saying they were.”
Opponents of the rule fear the
potential of abuse in which some
athletes will be given money with
out working. Many are also worried
that high-profile recruits will now
demand jobs with scholarships.
“It’s going to be a disaster,”
Kansas State basketball coach Tom
Asbury said.
A similar right-to-work rule was
adopted by majority vote of the
NCAA’s Division I schools in Janu
ary 1997 in the last days of the asso
ciation’s old governance structure.
The board of directors, in its first
important act as the NCAA’s new gov
erning body, suspended it just as it
was about to take effect last August.
Under provisions adopted by the
management council, the right-to-
work rule will permit Division I ath
letes to earn a maximum of $2,000
per year over and above the value of
a full scholarship. It would also al
low athletic department staff mem
bers or boosters to help line up jobs,
which are two reasons many view
the rule with alarm.
Many fear that allowing boosters
to line up jobs for athletes will lead
to cheating. Another concern is that
some schools will have advantages
in recruiting. There are more job
opportunities in Miami or Los An
geles, for example, than in
Knoxville, Tenn., or Stillwater, Okla.
“Another fear of coaches is that
those who want the extra money may
be many of the same ones who need
the extra time to study,” said Chuck
Neinas, the retired executive director
of the College Football Association
who now heads a sports consultant
firm. “Many coaches wanted to es
tablish a minimum grade-point aver
age of 2.5 before a student-atlflete
could work. But the NCAA said no.”
Supporters of athletes’ rights
were furious at last year’s delay.
“We never wanted athletic de
partments to have to become job-
placement counselors for us. This
was just to give us an opportunity to
find a job if we could,” said Niland,
who headed the student-athlete ad
visory committee at the 1997 con
vention. “But what happened is that
old fear of abuse. That’s the reason
for this delay.”
/omen’s Tennis Team travels to
lebraska for Big 12 showdown Season ends for‘Shark’ Men’s Team goes
to Big 12 Tourney
lo Coj
S£
ts
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Canf*
07
By Katie Mish
Staff writer
[he Big 12 Women’s Tennis Tour-
ent starts today in Lincoln,
[ The women, seeded fifth, meet
nth No. 12 seed Missouri,
he last time the Aggies played
ouri, they walked away with a
ctory.
nother win in today’s match
Id bring the Lady Ags up
nst the No. 4 seeded Baylor
s, who handed the Aggies a 6-
feat in this season’s match-up.
The Bears have
since lost their
No.l singles
player, Barbara
Nawaro.
Three of the
Aggie netters
will receive
awards during
pre-tourna
ment cere
monies for their
Big 12 play,
enior Monica Rebolledo has
tured the No.4 singles title, after
g 10-1 against Big 12 oppo-
ts. Sophomore Kathryn Scott, 9-
the Big 12, has received the No.5
lies title.
teshman Eva Marcial, 8-3 in Big
lay, has been awarded the No.6
es title.
-each Bob Kleinecke said the
m is just looking to play well in
tournament. He said the Aggies
I disappoin ted to be seeded fifth,
t said they are looking beyond
and are ready to play.
We knew going into the match
^inst Kansas that no matter
wwe did, we would most likely
Kleinecke
after shoulder surgery
u
W
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
Aggie netter Kathyrn Scott will lead the Texas A&M charge into the Big 12
Tournament after receiving the No. 5 singles title and going 9-2 in conference.
end up with the fifth seed,” Klei
necke said. “It’s disappointing, but
we’ve just got to look past that,
and look to the tournament to do
whatever we can.”
Rebolledo, the record holder
for singles wins at A&M, said the
team just wants to play at the
highest level of their ability and
give it their all.
“We’re hoping to go out there and
play our best,” Rebolledo said. “We
want to give 100 percent. If we play
Baylor again, we want to beat them,
because we lost to them earlier in the
season. The same goes for Texas and
Kansas. We just want to get the wins.”
Senior netter Vanessa Rooks
said the Aggies are really excited
for the challenge and have been
working hard to prepare for the
tournament.
“We have to put the Kansas
match behind us, even though we’re
excited,” Rooks said. “It’s time for us
to think about the first round.”
(AP) — Greg Norman will miss
the next three major champi
onships this year and the rest of the
PGA Tour season after arthroscopic
surgery today on his left shoulder.
The 43-year-old Australian, who
has missed only five majors since
1980, withdrew from The Players
Championship in late March because
of shoulder pain and missed the cut
two weeks later at
the Masters.
“The proce
dure itself was a
success,” Nor
man’s business
manager Bart
Collins said today
from the offices
of Great White
Shark Enterprises
in Tequesta, Fla.
“His arm will be
in a sling for the ■■■■■■■■■■■
next 10 days and after that he will be
able to take it off from time to time to
get some range of motion.”
Collins said “significant” reha
bilitation would not begin for four
weeks and the entire rehab period
would last six months.
He said a tentative timetable for
Norman’s return to competition
would be at the Shark Shootout in
Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Nov. 9-15.
Norman was under a local
anesthetic during the operation
and would remain groggy for sev
eral hours and be unable to com
ment, Collins said.
“We have known for about four
or five days that surgery was neces-
Right now, we are
aiming for the
Shark Shootout.”
Bart Collins
Business manager
sary,” he said.
The operation was performed by
Dr. Richard Hawkins at the Stead
man Hawkins Sports Medicine
Foundation in Vail, Colo., where
Olympic gold medalist skier Picabo
Street was operated on early this year.
Collins said Norman had a bone
spur under the top of the left shoul
der that caused tendinitis and that
there was some
tearing under the
rotator cuff and
possibly a tear in
the muscle lining.
“If everything
goes according to
plan, Greg is going
to be able to play
tournament golf
in late October or
early November,”
Collins said.
“Right now we are
aiming for the Shark Shootout.”
A return at the Shark Shootout
would give Norman time to get
ready for the Presidents Cup, played
in his native Australia for the first
time on Dec. 11-13. It would be a
major disappointment to his home
fans and a blow for the event if Nor
man were unable to compete.
Norman, who has played only 19
1/2 competitive rounds this year,
most of that overseas, became close
friends with President Clinton
through their mutual love of golf. It
was at Norman’s Hobe Sound, Fla.,
home in the early morning of
March 14, 1997, that Clinton fell
down the stairs, requiring surgery.
By Ai Lazarus
Staff writer
The Texas A&M Men’s Tennis
Team (14-4, 7-2) is in Lincoln, Neb.,
to compete in the Big 12 Tourna
ment, which begins today and will
go through Sunday.
The Aggies are the tournament’s
No. 2 seed and
Cass
have a first
round bye. On
Friday they will
play the winner
of today’s
match between
Oklahoma and
Missouri.
A&M Coach
Tim Cass said
after finishing
second in the Big 12, the Aggies
are looking to prove themselves in
the tournament.
“We are disappointed in finish
ing second, because we really be
lieved we had a chance to take a
share of first place with Texas,” Cass
said. “If that’s really the truth, now is
our chance to prove it.
In the Rolex Collegiate Rank
ings released on Tuesday, the Ag
gies fell from No. 17 to No. 24. Oth
er Big 12 teams ranked in the
top-30 include the University of
Texas (No. 5), Oklahoma State
University (No. 25) and Baylor
University (No. 26).
Cass said despite a multitude of
highly-ranked teams in the tourna
ment, he is only worried about the
one in maroon and white.
Please see Tennis on Page 9.