10
Friday, January 25, 2002
SPO'
THE BATTAUl
No. 19 Aggie men host No. 3 Horn
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
Some of the most elite swimmers and
divers in the nation will come into College
Station this weekend.
On Saturday, the No. 19 Texas A&M
men’s swimming and diving team will host
the No. 3 University of Texas Longhorns at
4 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center
Natatorium.
Longhorn head coach Eddie Reese has
led his team to two straight national champi
onships, winning his most recent in March
in College Station. Since 1979, Reese and
Texas are 22-0 in dual meets against the
Aggies.
“They have had one of the better teams of
all time recently, and then last year they grad
uated a pretty outstanding senior class,” said
A&M head coach Mel Nash. “They’re not
quite as strong as they’ve been, but they’re
still one of the class acts in the business.”
This year Texas features two-time
defending NCAA Diver of the Year, Troy
Dumais, and his brother, Justin, who won
the 2001 World Championship in Japan.
Junior Chris Kemp and sophomore
Brendan Hansen own the nation's fastest
collegiate times in the 2001-02 season in the
200-yard freestlye and the 200-yard breast
stroke, respectively.
The Longhorn relay teams also hold the
fastest collegiate times this year in both the
200-yard and 400-yard medley relays.
A&M will be led by All-Americans Matt
Rose and Nik Tate.
Last weekend the Aggies dominated two
meets • against Louisiana State University
and the University of Lousiana-Monroe.
Eight swimmers and diver Jesse Even com
peted over the weekend in the Dallas
Morning News Invitational. The team placed
fifth out of six top 20 teams.
“The pool is not very fast |in Dallas], yet
we got some season best and lifetime
swims in there, and the guys comp
extremely well,” Nash said. “From
standpoint we’re really pleased.”
The Aggies come into the meet
Texas holding a 7-1 record, while
University of Texas is 3-1 in dual me
Texas’ wins have ;
ome against lot■
competition, and t
hey’
e only loss u:ll
No. 2 Auburn, wh
ich
s also A&M * «
blemish on the sea.*
>on.
“Swimming is
a s
' ange sport," Wj
said. “It’s not like i
>ther
sports whereoajfl
two guys can get r
eally
liot and chanB t
outcome of the gat
ne. 1
n s\s imining. ®p,
two people can’t
iom
nate a whole -ll
meet, so it’s kind
of u
nigh to pull upip
We’re going to try
to u
sc the fact iha;-jj
have some of the be
St sv
■ • ■ Tc,™
try for our people
to n
o .inotH
sets us up well f
or b
-'•cn-nctM
NC
Rams look to challenge Eagles oftei
JON LIVAS • THE BATTALION
A&M junior forward Meg Banahan and the Texas A&M women’s basketball
team will host No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday at Reed Arena.
Bounce
Continued from page 5
The win kept the Sooners in
contention for the Big 12 title
after a loss to Iowa State last
Wednesday.
“Sometimes you need to lose
maybe, unfortunately, to remind
you how much fun this game
can be, and how much you’re
supposed to enjoy yourself for
40 minutes. 1 thought they did
| Saturday],” said Oklahoma
head coach Sherri Coale. “1
thought they played together. I
thought they enjoyed themselves
on the fioor and played free.”
The Sooners also had a con
ference bye on Wednesday and
should be well rested for
Saturday’s game.
Oklahoma leads the all-time
series between the two teams,
12-7, and won the last six times
the teams have met dating back
to 1998.
The teams played at Reed
Arena last season when the
Sooners, then No. 10, beat the
Aggies, 93-70.
Saturday will be the first of
two conference meetings
between the teams this season.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The
Rams have this mindset that
nobody, not even the blitz-crazy
Philadelphia Eagles, can alter:
They will throw often, they will
throw deep and. they believe,
they will not be stopped.
So while Philadelphia looks
to send everyone but Ben
Franklin after quarterback Kurt
Warner in Sunday’s NFC cham
pionship game. St. Louis will not
back down and go conservative.
Not even after Warner missed
much of practice Thursday with
cramps in his rib cage; coach
Mike Martz said he “will be fine
tomorrow (Friday).”
“We are clicking and pretty
much on all cylinders,” said
Isaac Bruce, one of four wide-
outs who, along with All-Pro
running back Marshall Faulk,
will be Warner’s main targets
during the final step to the Super
Bowl. “It’s kind of hard to stop.
I mean, you have to sometimes
just step back in amazement and
just look at the things that are
happening.
“I’m not really saying that
everything goes with ease, but
when you sit back on Monday
and watch film, it looks pretty
easy what's happening and what
we are doing.”
What they are doing is aver
aging 32 points a game,
although the defense has con
tributed five touchdowns this
season. That defense also scored
21 points in the 45-17 rout of
Green Bay last weekend.
Faulk, of course, is the most
dynamic offensive weapon in
the league, winner of three
straight Offensive Player of the
Year awards. But he also might
be needed in blitz pickup more
than usual against Philadelphia.
That means Bruce, Tony
Holt, Az Hakim and Ricky
Proehl will be featured. Often.
And particularly if Pro Bowl
cornerback Troy Vincent
remains hobbled by a groin
injury that has kept him from
practicing.
So even though Eagles quar
terback Donovan McNabb
expects his team to have fun
Sunday, All-Pro safety Brian
Dawkins was not so sure.
“Not whe/t they hit you
across the head with deep balls,
it’s not fun,” Dawkins said with
a chuckle. “But seriou
because that’s a chalk
want as a defense, 1
speed that they have
quarterback, where’s I
ting the ball, you realb
be on top of your ga
have to be where you n
every time.
it ip [
We are clicking
and pretty' much on
all cylinders. It's kit id
of hard to stop.
— Isaac Bnjc<
Rams' wide receive
either. St.
Louis gained s
than 400 vai
-ds 10 times ted
son. It ave
raged 418 \K]
game, 291 ]
passing. There d
ay s of at leas
vards and 1
4 runs of at leas I
offense, you ta
he able to p
the No. 1 w
das last." saidH
I
si catches, ill
Faulk led
seven ituidxtaj
the team witifl
catches, nin
e for TDs. 1i
are the fastesm
in the Natioi
nal Football Lea
if we run tf
ic fastest 40s
fastest HXF
■». but I know 11
thing: We t
•>la\ fast, and 3
“Everybody around the
world knows that they are a big-
play team. They want to get the
big play, want to get two and
three touchdowns in the first
quarter and basically get you out
of the game.”
Yes. they do. And they are
very good at it. This season, ibe
always mind-boggling.
When you watch filnut I
you can’t really judge the 11
until you actually get outaj
field and see how fast m
playing, and how last we'r
ting in and out of routes Id
know if we're the fastesti
meter team, hut I know-
play fasl."
^0
A. Musical
Masterpiece!
Top: Senior
sion to cant
announced
closed-circui
Lerner and Loewe’s
MY FAIR LADY
res
By S
Bi
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1 an
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