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The Battalion
Sports
Page 7 • Thursday, September 2, 1999
Cross Country set
E-for start of 1999 season
s have chan;-
BY BLAINE DIONNE
The Battalion
c at taster spe^?:
omas said. C|t could be said that the Texas
il " a ^ co! ; A&M Cross Country Team has not
handle! muc | 1 SUCC ess over the years.
| Hln fact, tlie women’s team has
>ti dial ii v, never qualified for the NCAA
xpeciiT championships, and the last time
ningat6p men qualified was in 1982.
nidnight Mi However, if second-year cross
ocusing on cour u r y CO ach Dave Hartman has
' ^"^H^'thing to do with it, all that will
" l >d change very soon.
■ Going into the 1999 season,
Hartman said he is confident the
changes are starting already.
the women’s team, six of
^1 | I 'seven runners who placed in races
in 1998 return to the 1999 squad,
four of whom are sophomores.
HTwo newcomers, transfer An-
air
I
irks
iba
drea Bookout and freshman Leslie
Bishop, should be able to con
tribute immediately.
Hartman said the Aggies’ talent
should put them in position for a
strong season.
“We have a lot of depth,” he
said. ”We have the potential to be
in the top five, hopefully top three
if we have a real good race.”
The entire men’s team is return
ing from last year, so the Aggies
should have a veteran group bol
stered by the return of senior team
captains Scott Lengefeld and
Stephen Erath.
Hartman said he expects both
two be frontrunners in the Aggies’
races this season.
Freshman Tommy Bonn should
also give A&M a boost. Bonn comes
to the Aggies after posting the sec
ond-fastest mile time in the nation
among high-schoolers last year.
Hartman said the men’s team
has the talent in place to have a
breakout season.
“The guys have a good chance
to qualify for the NCAA meet later
this year,” he said.
Optimism is all well and good,
but what the two teams are up
against in the Big 12 Conference is
forboding to say the least.
On the women’s side, Hartman
called the Big 12 the best in the nation.
The perrenial leaders of the con
ference are Kansas State University,
the defending women’s champions,
the University of Colorado, Baylor
University and University of Texas.
The men are in store for tough
competition, as well. Colorado has
won the Big 12 Championship each
Houston signs point guard Francis
■ HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Rockets signed
H)kie guard Steve Francis to a contract yesterday, five
da\ s after acquiring his rights from Vancouver in the
lajgest trade in NBA history.
n Texas .Hx ■Francis, the second overall pick in
o' 1 — ne T tht June draft, had refused to sign
terentsta® with the Grizzlies, setting in motion
'preadbey a three-team, 11-player trade. Hous-
toi made the deal under the pre
sumption it would be able to get
Fivncis under contract.
■ Although terms were not dis-
cllsed, Francis is due a three-year
contract worth about $9 million un
der the rookie salary cap. The para
meters of which would have been
at Arkan.v the same in Vancouver. —
uf one on u: w “Steve is a special player” Rockets coach Rudy Tom-
er it i m janovich said. “I don’t think you see a guy with his
:h principal kind of talent come around often. We feel blessed to
- Tfcwtrfca/wfchlve the opportunity to bring him here and make him
will go.r" a big part of our future.”
, and we'limd f Francis joins a lineup of a future Hal) of Fame front-
n on otapife'
.untbalyuol
ilisn'
oars Iro
als havei
“/ don't think you
see a guy with his
kind of talent come
around often."
Rudy Tomjanovich
Rockets coach
court of Scottie Pippen, Hakeem Olajuwon and
Charles Barkley, although Barkley has not re-signed
with Houston yet.
Earlier this week, Francis said
with those guys as his teammates he
should lead the league in assists.
“If 1 don’t ... something will be
wrong,” said Francis, Houston’s pro
jected starting point guard.
Along with Francis, Vancouver
sent journeyman forward Tony
Massenburg to Houston for for
wards Othella Harrington and An
toine Carr and guards Michael Dick
erson and Brent Price.
The Rockets also gave the Griz-
zlies an undisclosed amount of cash
plus a first-round draft pick over the next three years.
Orlando sent Don MacLean and a future first-
round pick to Houston in exchange for the Grizzlies’
Michael Smith, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick Rhodes and
Makhtar Ndiaye. The Magic also dealt their 2002 sec
ond-round pick to Vancouver.
Photo Courtesy of The Aggielano
The Texas A&M Cross Country Team is set to begin its season this weekend in Houston at the Houston Relays.
year since the conference’s incep
tion, and Oklahoma State, Mis
souri, and Texas putting up consis
tently strong teams.
Running well at the conference
championship, which is in College
Station on Oct. 30, is high on the
Aggies’ list of goals.
But in cross country, it is the re
gional meet that counts toward
NCAA invitations, with the top two
teams at each regional receiving
automatic bids to the national
championship meet and the rest of
the field rounded out with at-large
bids. This year’s South Central
NCAA Regional is in Denton on
Nov. 13.
Rockets arena scheduled for November vote
HOUSTON (AP) — As the dust
settled following a late-night agree
ment to put a sports arena propos
al before voters, critics of the $160
million deal seemed at least partial
ly appeased by some last-minute
adjustments.
Harris County Judge Robert Eck
els, who had voiced numerous con
cerns, on yesterday applauded
amendments by the Harris County-
Houston Sports Authority.
“The changes that were made
Tliesday, 1 think, substantially im
proved the deal that was put for
ward,” he said, adding the county
commission was “reserving judg
ment” while its attorneys reviewed
details.
Changes include the addition of
a ticket tax on events and a clause
to ensure the authority would avoid
overextending its finances.
The ticket tax came after intense
lobbying by Harris County com
missioners, the Houston Livestock
Show & Rodeo and businessman
Bob McNair, who hopes to get a Na
tional Football League team for
Houston.
The three parties expressed con
cern that the deal could leave in
sufficient revenue for the authority
to pay its commitment to a $310 mil
lion football stadium.
The authority, a public agency
created in a 1996 election, haggled
all day Tuesday over the proposal
by Mayor Lee Brown and Houston
Rockets owner Les Alexander to
split the cost of the arena.
The board finally approved the
deal yesterday morning and sched
uled a referendum for Nov. 2.
Under the agreement, the city
will buy the downtown land for the
arena. It remains unclear whether
the city will swap land with the real
estate company that owns property
around both the new arena site and
the existing Compaq Center, which :
could be tom down.
Sports Authority Chairman Jack f
Rains said the Compaq Center must “
be razed.
“If you leave a competing facility,
it’s a market disruption. It’s hard to
compete against yourself,” he said.
Brown was confident yesterday that
voters will support the proposal.
“The reason I feel that way is
that we’re providing a home for our
champion Rockets, champion
Comets, champion Aeros and po
tentially a National Hockey League
team as well,” he said.
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