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,
Aggie senior swimmer Clara Ho did
hot talk about her four season-best
imes she had just completed or beating
[he 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
rourtney Patterson, Ho’s performance
mpacted her as much as the team's
/ictory did.
“Days like Clara had today show
iveryoneon the team that you don’t have
o wait tor the end of the season to post
imes that can qualify you for the
VCAAs, " Patterson said. “That is every-
me’s goal on this team, and to watch
lara do it [Sunday] was just amazing.”
Ho is serving as A&M's team cap-
ain 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 live 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 1 belonged in Aggieland. I also
wanted to attend a large university
because 1 was coming from a very
small private school in California. And,
1 didn’t know what I wanted to major
in, so I 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.”
w-sm
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
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
To say a sense of desperation had crept into
nen's basketball head coach Melvin Watkins’
''oice would lx* an understatement.
But after A&M put on a spirited performance
ind played the 13-2 Texas Tech Red Raiders down
t 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
Ichedule, Watkins' hope is coming in the nick of
ime for the Aggies (6-10. 0-2 in Big 12).
' /‘I think that is a beginning,” Watkins said,
jferring 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 dayvs), 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 1 1.3 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 w'ith 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 1 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.”
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