Monday,
londay, June 19, 2000
/fejAdri
Sports
Page
With that percentage;
would ask Shaq to be
the shooter!
THE BATTALION
Dreams of gold
'ormer student Curt Young to compete in Summer Olympics
C O rr\ Sh;
^ fc>Vee c\.re<X'
V e ^ \\ V
Reece Flood
The Battalion
In a few months, athletes from all over the world will converge
n Sydney, Australia, to take part in the 2000 Summer Olympic
lames. Among the crowd of hopeful competitors will be former
’exas A&M student and Aggie track star Curt Young.
Young, Class of '96, will head Down Under in early Septem-
er to compete in the 400-meter hurdles for Panama, where he
Ived until age 5.
A&M track coach Ted Nelson is happy for his former runner.
"This couldn't happen to a more deserving person than Curt
oung," Nelson said. "He's always been a hard worker."
Young is no stranger to the Olympics. In 1996, he traveled to
tlanta, where he ran in the 400-meter hurdles.
Young had trouble in '96 when he hit the fifth hurdle and fell
In the preliminary round.
I He did get back up and complete the race, but he did not ad
vance into competition for any medals.
"I hope to do better this year," Young said.
Running track at A&M helped Young make it to this level in
lis track career. He said A&M track coaches Nelson and Abe
3rown were influential in his development.
"They helped me with guidance and some of their philosophy
that I still use today," Young said.
Sonia Williams, Young's mother, said guidance and philoso
phy are not the only things Young has received and is still receiv
ing from A&M.
"He's had a lot of support," Williams said, "a lot of
emotional support. I think the emotional support is the
most important thing because wherever you go, you
have the Aggie family supporting you," Williams said.
Nelson feels Young will make A&M proud at the
Olympics.
"Curt will always represent Texas A&M, not only
the track program at Texas A&M, but Texas A&M as
a University. He's a great young man," Nelson said.
Young has been interested in running track for
quite some time.
He came from a strong Converse-Judson High
School track program, where he was district champi
on his senior year in both the HO-meter hurdles and
the 300-meter hurdles.
While at A&M, Young competed in the 110-meter
hurdles, the400-meter hurdles and the 1600-meter relay.
"In high school, he was an all-right in
termediate hurdler," Nelson said. "He was
more of a high hurdler than an intermedi
ate hurdler. But he developed the love of
the intermediate hurdles and that is what
he is now, an intermediate hurdler."
When he left A&M, Young took with
him the third and sixth fastest times in
the 400-meter hurdles among Aggies.
pay overtime to 18
jrk six days each weenie
sion Lt. John Branton Wf
3//as Morning News.
Collisions due to red-lig
lions have been on theris;
>nally, officials say.
“Last year, almost 200pe:
ad because of things
mior CpI. Michael Smiths:
;’s getting to be a big problf
icrland ‘65
Student Affairs
Curt Young, Class of ’96, prepares for
a workout at the Rice University track
in Houston. Young will be competing
in the Olympic Games this September
in Sydney.
He also left with two All-American
honors from the 1996 season — one in the
400-meter hurdles and one for the 1600-
meter relay.
Nelson said Young's accomplishments
alone are impressive, but making it to the
Olympics is an achievement to be especially proud of.
"The Olympic Games are an experience that every
athlete aspires to do, and when one gets a chance to
do that, it's really a plus for them," Nelson said.
The track portion of the Olympics is set to begin
Sept. 22.
I
Tiger Woods closes out U.S. Open romp
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Tiger
Voods' last challenge came from history. And
Ike everything else for him at this U.S,, Open, it
i yvas no contest.
Woods turned Pebble Beach into his per-
onal playground, leaving everyone else so far
„ , , r,,. . t behind that he mieht as well have been plav-
ieverly Mireles, Editor in Clner K, ° 1 ■'
eff Kempf, Managing Editor j yS ^lono.
ason Bennyhoff, Aggielife/Radio & | While the rest of the field was playing for sec-
iteth Ahlquist, Copy Chid 0nc ], w ooc i s a j m a t t;l-, e re cord books,
ennifer Bales, Night News EditoM . . , . , ,,
Xpril Voting, City Edirot | ' When the f,nal fel1 Sunday against the
eanette Simpson, Asst. City Edito' spectacular scenery off Carmel Bay, Woods
iric Dickens, Opinion Editor claimed the U.S. Open, along with the kind of
ieece Flood, Sports Editor _ , • • j t i
ituart Hutson, Sci/Tech Editor | f COrds n0 ° ne ™agmed possible,
p Beato, Photo Editor || He became the first player in the 106-year his-
tuben Deluna, Graphics Editor Ipry of the U.S. Open to finish 72 holes at double
irandon Payton, Web Master | igits under par _ 12 under .
he Battalion (issn #10554 726) is pubiisheJ#|: His 15-stroke victory not only shattered the
Trough Friday during the fail and spring semestes^l A , , , C-,,. r ■■ 10 nni .
Trough Thursday duilng the summer session (exceplll'j pen mark ot II set by Willie Smith in 18 ,but
lays and exam periods) at Texas a&m Uniwtr was the largest ever in a major championship,
ddress changes to The Battalion,Texas A&M UnwisC Sllr P aSSm g the 13-Stroke Victory by Old Tom
oiiege station,ix 77843-1111. Morris in the 1862 British Open.
^ffle S a,ta/ion™sdepa rt ment,»a^ His 2 y 2 j d h , in a U.S.
&M University in the Division of Student Media,a* j
apartment of Journalism. News offices are inOMlsC Open, first Set by his idol. Jack NicklaUS, in 1980
uilding Newsroom phone. 845^ 84^ , ater matched b Lee J anzen in 2993.
iebattalion@hotmail.com; Web site: littp://batialim.ta^ r J 3
dyertisbig Publication of advertising does not im(iijs' ?: ^ I he day, and all week, I had a sense of
ndoisement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and calmness that 1 haven't had in quite a while,"
dvertising, call 845-2696. For classified adveitisingta-' 1
dvertisingoffices are in 015 Reed McDonald,andotr fVoods said. "It was reminiscent of Augusta in
,m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Fnday. Fax: 845-2618. \ fjy. jq 0 m^ter what happened, 1 was able to
ubsorlptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entT , ,, , , T
&M student to pick up a single copy of The BatlM flS kl ' e P m Y Composure and foCUS On the shot I
dditonalcopies25t.Mailsubscrtptionsare$60pels^ K ' :, t|eeded to make."
ir the fall or spring semester and $17,50 foi the sniF f t . , , ,i_ ,,, ,
1 Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, cal #1 More history awaits next month. Woods
^ goes to the British Open at St. Andrews with a
chance to become only the fifth player — and at
age 24, the youngest — to win all four major
championships.
"He'll really have to be on his game to have
a chance against us, won't he?" said Nick Faldo,
rolling his eyes.
Too bad for Ernie Els and Miguel Angel
Jimenez that the U.S. Open didn't have a B-flight
this year. They had to settle for second place, at
3-over 287, their
names in the record
books, but only as
footnotes.
This U.S. Open
was really the Tiger
Woods Classic.
"I don't know
how much more
there is to say," Els
said. "We've been
talking about him for
two years. I guess
we'll be talking
about him for the
next 20. When he's
on, we don't have
much of a chance. :
"He's near per
fect, the way he played this week."
So dominant was this performance that
Woods never made worse than par over his final
26 holes. He closed with a 4-under 67, the best
score of the day.
Jimenez had a 71, while Els finished with a
72. Woods began the final round with a 10-stroke
lead, and no one got any closer than eight.
"Before we went out, I knew I had no
chance," Els said.
Woods said his first U.S. Open victory was
the perfect Father's Day present, even though
Earl Woods did not make the trip to Pebble
Beach.
"It was awesome, totally awesome," Earl
Woods said from his
home in Cypress. "It
was like watching a
Mercedes climb a
hill. The power was
there, the control was
there. It's just on
cruise control."
Even though the
outcome was never in
question, Woods
managed to provide
plenty of thrills on a
lazy, sunny day along
the rugged California
coastline.
The gallery occu-
pied every inch of
grass along every
fairway and behind every green, craning their
necks to catch a glimpse of history.
Yachts crammed into Stillwater Cove, and
spectators tried to catch a piece of history from
the beach below the famous "Cliffs of Doom"
that overlook the Pacific.
They weren't watching a competition, but an-
The day, and all week, I
had a sense of calmness
that I haven't had in
quite a while...No matter
what happened, I was
able to keep my compo
sure and focus on the
shot I needed to make. r
— Tiger Woods
professional golfer
other coronation.
The first one came three years ago at Au
gusta National, where Woods became the
youngest Masters champion with a record 12-
stroke victory.
The U.S. Open was never supposed to look
this easy. It is tHe toughest test in golf, which
aims to identify the best player in the world.
Any questions?
Woods has now played in 14 majors as a pro
fessional and won three of them, including the
PGA Championship in August.
A sign dangling from the grandstand read,
"Thanks, Jack. Long Live Tiger." Nicklausmade
liis exit from a record 44th consecutive U.S* Open
on Friday.
Woods is only just beginning.
It might have seemed as though he was play
ing in a different tournament than everyone else.
Perhaps he simply is playing a different game.
Just as he had done from the start, Woods did
everything required of a U.S. Open champion —
and more.
He hit fairways, often the middle stripe left
by the lawn mowers, and hit more greens in reg
ulation than anyone.
"Nobody else seems to be playing up to his
level," said Tom Kite, who won the 1992 U.S.
Open at Pebble Beach. "No one is scrambling the
way he is. No one is pitching, chipping, putting
the way he is. You need competition. Otherwise,
it gets boring."
Mark O'Meara added: "If you were building
the complete golfer, you'd build Tiger Woods."
Slocum and Valletta
respond to Bowen’s
Bonfire decision
Reece Flood
r. c. SLOCUM
The Battalion
For nearly a century, the Texas
A&M football team and Aggie Bon
fire have stood together on the eve
of the annual game between A&M
and the University of Texas.
Each stood in front of thou
sands of spectators, expressing the
burning desire to defeat the Long
horns and uniting a continually
growing Aggie family.
But this year's celebration will
be missing one key element.
After a recent decision made by
A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen;
there will be no bonfire for the next
two years. *T -
The football team is now ad
justing to his decision. J.
Senior offensive lineman Chris
Valletta said he was expecting this
decision.
"I wasn't shocked," Valletta said.
"1 was disappointed a little, but I unj
derstand [Bowen's] decision." j
Although Valletta was some
what upset that there will be no
bonfire next year, he gives Bowen
his complete support.
"I was sad because I'm a stu
dent at A&M just like anyone else/l
Valletta said. "We have to take into
account what happened and con
sider all the precautions."
A&M football coach R. Ci
Slocum was unavailable for
“I hope that our
A&M family will
again demon
strate
our to
gether
ness by
sup
porting
Dr. Bowen's de
cision so that we
can move for
ward/'
— R.C. Slocutri
Texas A&M football coach
t*’
comment, but he did release ,a
statement.
"People everywhere gained “a
great respect for our A&M family
as a result of how we hung togeth-j
er in dealing with the bonfire
tragedy last November. Now, we
have another opportunity to
demonstrate how special the loyaT
ty is that Aggies hold for one arp
other and Texas A&M.
"There are many, many opin
ions about how the future of bofu
fire should be handled. Dr. Bowejn
has heard all of them. In addition^
J
he has had access to far more irG
formation regarding bonfire than
anyone else. He is an Aggie, and.1
know he has been deliberate anil
conscientious in arriving at this
decision. . j*
"I hope that.our A&M farfiily
will again demonstrate our togeth
erness by supporting Dr. Bowen's
decision so that we can move for
ward," Slocum said.
Valletta echoed Slocum's sentu
ments and hopes others will, tooi
Even though bonfire will not burrjj
next year, Valletta thinks the spirit
of the event can continue.
"The size,of bonfire does not re
ally matter," Valletta said.
"It's what bonfire stood for that
matters, and that is the coming to
gether of Aggies everywhere."
The Aggies are scheduled to
take on the Longhorns at Darrell fC
Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium iu
Austin on Nov. 24. - “