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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1998)
le Battalion Sports Page 7 • Thursday, December 3, 1998 ggie takes gold in backstroke BY JASON LINCOLN The Battalion be f n tbe «- iti o n , fnn nil 1 day of competition by setting ^ ''■tcond World Record in two Iff,,*”®.' ?*. Thompson, who was leav- g before the finals, swam the b ^should be . m( , ter butterfly in 26.05 sec- ‘i' ,ds r o set the world record. k ' “I felt really confident coming Jitment ■»£tl ew j n night,” Thompson 1 K ® said. "[The sec- ad in a " We ak it is jo e to add 'Ja lions." m same 5y' :> U.S. ii con- * iJ i attack eli soldier in ii ond record] was really surpris ing, but it just shows what might happen when we get to the end of the season.” Thompson only kicked off wn on the £ show. The finals ended the said "is cleat |itld States’ first World Cup that has nop* i n g ranc i fashion, showcas- ess. gst me of swimming’s biggest ilem, Israeli: atch-ups since the 1996 min NetanyahBpics in Atlanta. sdaythattrocp:Beshman Texas A&M swimmer delayed un idtompetitor for the Canadian Palestinian!- ational Team Riley Janes led off vill es ilestin- (t May, ie out- egotia- Israel; tent of lalted; Israel jecide tinian j free ies with a win in the 50-me- ter backstroke against Olympians Josh Davis and Neil Walker from the University of Texas. With a time of 25.09 for the win, Janes showcased some of the talent the Aggies bring into inter national competition. “We knew he was capable, but for him to do this at this time of the year against some of the biggest names in the sport is pretty im pressive,” A&M coach Mel Nash said. “He is a thoroughbred.” The Aggies placed three men and three women in the finals during the 2-day event for more than a dozen events. Team leaders Devin Howard, Jarod Kappler, Monica Stroman and Tracy Evans were joined by several others including the two freshman stars of Janes and Clara Ho. “We had five final swims and I was really happy,” Aggie women’s coach Robert Wagner said. “We rested about a week, and I can tell we still don’t have a lot of speed, but the girls raced with a lot of heart. “I’m excited about the direc tion our team is taking.” All of the men’s team and Struggling A&M offense leads to UT loss in Austin T he University of Texas defeated the Texas A&M Football Team (10-2, 7-1) 26-24 Friday when UT placekicker Kris Stockton nailed a 24- yard field goal with five seconds left in the game. The loss ended A&M’s 10- game winning streak which began against Louisiana Tech University. JASON LINCOLN/The Battalion A&M freshman Riley Janes celebrates after his 50-meter backstroke victory in World Cup competition Wednesday. most of the women from Texas A&M will join their teammates in competition for the U.S. Open which starts today with prelim 1 inary events in the morning and finals beginning at 6 p.m. “I thought it was a great expe rience,” world-record holder and gold-medalist Olympian Janet Evans, who commentated for ESPN, said. “A&M did a great job of hosting the meet. “I think that we need to come back here. Everyone around the world enjoyed it, and it was a great showcase of what we can look forward to in the 2000 Olympics.” m Uemens: Rocket wants clearance for Toronto liftoff gEW YORK (AP) — Available: The only e Cy Young Award winner. Price: Negotiable. giger Clemens, angered the Toronto Blue lys will not spend enough money to field a mjender next season, told the team ,er’s Wyeacci B nesc j a y ] ie wan t s to be traded, and the /land. u b said it will comply, e Departniei Wbis j s certainly not done with any acri- the Israeli My 0 r with any anger on either side,” Blue as puts the \ys general manager Gord Ash said, collisioncc:i j He added the team will make every effort norethana Hjmplete a deal within 10 days. >duled trip i fwhen Clemens signed with the Blue Jays inton. iDecember 1996, team president Paul Bee- poke comic jon said if Clemens did not think Toronto Wye accord: rould contend and asked for a trade, the pite what It ] ue j a y S would deal him. ie road.” Beeston left the Blue Jays during the uring 3 wM ?k, repeated r' for a r [-, mammsmmBmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 1997 season to become baseball’s chief op erating officer, but Ash said he will honor Beeston’s commitment. ‘‘It’s a two-prong situation,” Ash said. ‘‘There’s a desire to be closer to home or with a club that has a better chance to pro vide him with a World Series ring.” The World Series champion New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are considered the top contenders to land the 36-year-old right-hander. Ash visited Clemens at his home in Katy, Texas, outside Houston last week along with the Blue Jays’ two assistant general managers, Dave Stewart and Tim McCleary. ‘‘There was a lot of listening,” Ash said. The team’s owner, the Belgian company Interbrew SA, does not want to spend as much money on players as the Yankees, Baltimore or Boston. Clemens became discouraged when the Blue Jays did not make a competitive offer to retain Jose Canseco, who hit 46 homers and drove in 107 runs this year. Toronto was 88-74 last season, finishing four games behind Boston in the wild-card race. The Blue Jays’ biggest needs include a power-hitting outfielder, a third baseman and, like most clubs, a top starting pitcher. Randy Hendricks, who represents Clemens, telephoned Ash on Wednesday to make the demand. ‘‘There’s a tendency to look at the bottom line, that you have only $40 million or $43 million and say you have no chance,” Ash said, referring to his payroll range. “I think you have to look a little deeper. You don’t need to be at $60 million to compete.” Downward Spiral With the loss, A&M dropped to No. 10 in The Associated Press rank ings. The Aggies also fell to eighth in the Bowl Championship Series rat ings. Barring any devastating plane crashes in the Andes Mountains, A&M’s slim national championship hopes fell to none. The prevent prevents A&M’s 17-point comeback (from a 23-7 deficit to a 24-23 lead) would have been the largest comeback in school history. However, with 2:20 left in the game and the Longhorns with the ball, the A&M coaching staff elected . to use a prevent defense to stop Texas from hitting a big play. It worked. Due to the 3-man rush, the Long horns were able to buy UT quarter back Major Applewhite extra time and use short passes to drive down the field for the winning score. A&M coach R. C. Slocum said if he had to do it over again, he might have made some different calls in that situation. The Little “O,” part three The thorn in A&M’s side just got bigger. The Aggies, struggling on of fense all year, managed just 173 yards of total offense against a Texas defense ranked near the bottom of’the Big 12. Including sacks, A&M “gained” mi nus-7 yards on the ground. “We’ve got to be more consistent on throwing and catching the ball [to beat Kansas State],” offensive coordi nator Steve Kragthorpe said. Junior quarterback Randy Mc- Cown said the Aggies played tena- tively early on offense. “We never really came out and established ourselves,” McCown said. “We just never did get into the a flow of things. We didn’t turn it on until the end [of the game], when we had to.” Quagmire Fans may have noticed all the Ag gies slipping and sliding all over the Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Sta dium field. Although there had been no recordable rain in Austin for weeks prior to the game, the field was very wet. The Aggies wore their normal 7- cleat shoes, but the Longhorns were better prepared. Slocum said the Longhorns wore shoes with 30 to 40 cleats, allowing for better footing. Also, since UT running back Ricky Williams is a straight-ahead runner and quarterback Major Applewhite is a drop-back passer, the two used their techniques to prevent slippage. A&M running backs Dante Hall and Sirr Parker had difficulty with their footing, and McCown, a runner and roll-out passer, also had problems. Clean out the trophy case Senior linebacker Dat Nguyen is a finalist for yet another prestigious award — the Bednarik Award. The award goes to the best all-around de fensive player of the year. It is named after Hall of Famer and former two- way stalwart Chuck Bednarik. Joining Nguyen as finalists are Ohio State University linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer and University of Florida linebacker Jevon Kearse. see Football on Page 10. wars, hstrationl t-pedal hi talks wit •rsisted, R tration offi 1 and incl er tion he win rt of JerusJl ^sition was i H say things® or desif of i® ive outcome ■ held- ppediator ■ sputy, Aaron ggjon in a ^ z, the conflict on’s trip, n i id- j COMPLY Ptarmigan CW ^soonThc^- , & Thursday & Saturday 2h $2 under n 21, $4 under - t hru Saturda' ^jaythruSatf eiLPja sdto come carl)’ ensive drink £|iib Ozone 75(t Bar Club 20k) ATTENTION ALL DEAD ELEPHANTS CLASS OF 1999! DECEMBER 4 by 5:00 p.m. is the last day TO HAVE YOUR SENIOR PICTURE TAKEN FOR THE 1999 AGGIELAND YEARBOOK. AR PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOW TAKING SENIOR PICTURES FOR THE YEARBOOK. AR IS LOCATED IN THE REDMOND TERRACE CENTER BETWEEN JASON’S DELI AND ACADEMY REGULAR AND EXTENDED SITTINGS ARE AVAILABLE. 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