Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2001)
Sport THE BATTALION Tuesday, January 15, 2002 eading by EXAMPLE \Senior sets high standard for young A&M team By Kevin Espenlaub the battalion Following Sunday’s Big 12 win [igainst the visiting Kansas Jayhawks, pggie senior swimmer Clara Ho did hot talk about her four season-best imes she had just completed or beating me Aggie women's school record in the 200-yard butterfly that she originally broke in 1999 as a freshman. Even her automatic bid to the NCAA meet did lot take precedent over the impact she bought the win had on the team's norale and how it might affect the rest if the season. However, for freshman teammate Courtney Patterson, Ho's performance mpacted her as much as the team’s dctory did. ’’Days like Clara had today show iveryone on the team that you don't have o wait tor the end of the season to post imes that can qualify you for the ''ICAAs. Patterson said. "That is every one ’s goal on this team, and to watch lara do it [Sunday] was just amazing.” Ho is serving as A&M’s team cap lin in her senior year after her All- America season in 2000-2001 in which she placed No. I 1 in the nation at the NCAA Championship meet in the 200- yard butterfly. Ho’s loyalty to her team mates and her work ethic have impressed third-year Aggie swimming coach Steve Bultman. "Good, positive leadership skills and good, positive attitudes are so important and she obviously has those,” Bultman said following Sunday’s action. “She’s not the most vocal captain, but with her actions, she speaks very loudly.” Ho has enjoyed swimming since her parents enrolled her in swimming les sons at the age of five and she chose to pursue the sport over her other hobbies that included dancing, playing the piano and karate when it came time to join a college team. She moved from Fremont, Calif., to Texas A&M follow ing a two-day recruiting visit. "I really felt comfortable on my recruiting trip here and really liked the team,” Ho said. "1 just felt in my heart that I belonged in Aggieland. I also wanted to attend a large university because 1 was coming from a very small private school in California. And, I didn't know what I wanted to major in, so 1 needed some place with a lot of choices,” she added with a laugh. At A&M, Ho decided on a career path and is currently a management major in the school of business with a focus on human resources. Despite beginning two-a-day practices at 6 a.m., she is taking 15 hours this spring and is preparing to graduate in August. "It's without a doubt more training and more competition since 1 came to A&M, but 1 still enjoy it a lot,” Ho said. “The girls that I’ve been on the team with and everyone I've met at A&M has been great and it’s been a lot of fun.” The Aggie women’s swim team will continue its season Friday in Baton Rouge, La., at the home of the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers. Ho hopes to carry her success from this weekend into the rest of the season. "I just want to Finish this season off with a bang and set some personal bests,” Ho said. “But our real goal, like most other schools, is to send a relay team to the NCAA Championships.” v ' RkSS STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION Senior Clara Ho, an All-American last year, qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-yard butterfly Sunday during A&M’s meet with the University of Kansas. earn problems, injuries give Aggies fits on road swing It V I r 11 It rr%\A7 tl Iter'll “It IS the hepinnino rU nv Offcttino KiW'L' tin/l By True Brown THE BATTALION To say a sense of desperation had crept into nen s basketball head coach Melvin Watkins’ ^oice would be an understatement. But after A&M put on a spirited performance md played the 13-2 Texas Tech Red Raiders down ~i the wire last Wednesday, the voice that was des- jrate is now tempered with hope. With Big 12 play looming large on A&M's chedule, Watkins’ hope is comimi in the nick of ime for the Aggies (6-10, 0-2 in Big 12). /‘I think that is a beginning,” Watkins said, herring to A&M's enthusiastic play against Texas Tech. “It is the beginning of us getting back on track. We started off the season with a pretty decent basketball team and we are nowhere near wTiere we were at the beginning.” After starting the season 5-1, the Aggies' tail- spin began with a 90-56 loss against Tulsa in Houston. The loss was the First of a four-game losing streak. Then, after beating Purdue on Dec. 21 at the Las Vegas Classic, A&M dropped five straight games, including a 34-point loss at the hands of North Carolina. A&M's fall can be traced to three different things: the road (A&M has played one home game in the last 37 days), injuries to key players and what Watkins calls “internal problems.” Knee injuries sidelined sophomore guard Jesse King and senior guard Andy Leatherman. Sophomore forward Nick Anderson was slowed by a sprained ankle and junior guard Bernard King, the team's leading scorer with 17.2 points per game, averaged only 11.3 points while play ing with a strained groin. “Any time you go on the road it is going to be tough,” Watkins said. “And then with the internal problems and injuries on top of that, we’ve had some things that have torn this team apart.” The internal problems Watkins refers to revolve mostly around two of A&M’s brightest underclass men. Prior to the Aggies' game with the Oklahoma Sooners Aggies played Oklahoma on Jan. 5, Watkins flew sophomore Michael Gardener and freshman Daryl Mason home for violating team rules. The two remain suspended indefinitely. “We are still dealing with that situation,” Watkins said. “We’re trying to work through it and see if it would be best for them to come back to the team. If not, we need to look at other options outside that.” With the suspensions, the Aggies lost more than 40 minutes of playing time per game as well as 11 points per game. Before being suspended. Gardener had started 1 I times, second-most on the team. “I hope it works out to where we can get them back,” Watkins said. “We surely need them, but they have to be what we need them to be — not necessarily what they want to be.” N’OWJiRING! basketball OFFICIALS Ft p r lent a t i o n [HIRING CLINIC attend & get hired JANUARY 22nd 7:00pm room 281 @ the Rec Center jdible benefits FLEXIBLE HOURS! PAID TRAINING! STAY ACTIVE! EXERCISE OUR BRAIN: US OUT FOR ill Us h nip umJ ism* yiujiarj feSfpytf fur There are more than 650 muscles in the human body. Here’s your chance to use all of them. That’s right, work out as our guest at our Bryan gym or our brand new, state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar facility in College Station. A real no-brainer. Call today for details. j / j—^ 111 1 it ness place to be in A ggieland. Gold's Gym Bryan 725 E. Villa Maria (behind Manor East Mall) Gold's Gym College Station 200 Brentwood Dr. East (behind Aggieland Credit Union)