THE BAIT! vay ed from paj f nunition for^ icil asks for that time, 'iversity is inf, as Corridor! h Brazos Cour: /ill be very i&M. niversity is suj type of Dallas, HousJ tation,” Sippial Is the ability tol and most imJ Sports The Battalion Armstrongs lead tays at 4 minutes LES DEUX-ALPES, France « P) — For Lance Armstrong, ;ry second counts in the three- ine umversit) | eek Tour de France, said he feelsik* rival Joseba Beloki °P en up a slll p r i S ed him briefly in nt horizon feBuesday’s 15th stage — the S " KC , ' 1ere ar longest of the race at 140.43 iles — by surging ahead in the Inal stretch. Such a late challenge could |nly have taken a few seconds ff Armstrong’s big overall lead. Jut even that was too much for support the gro'lj^e American. ■ He gave chase and crossed lie line just behind Beloki, -Blocking the same time. His pwwwwjfflBverall advantage of 4 minutes, ■UlilillBaHl seconds over Beloki was Inchanged, and he remained on lourse for a fourth straight title. “Les Deux-Alpes, it’s not too mbers who won louston. 1 members st vill provide a more reliable across the stai cted terra * arraigned , Greece (AP Paris-born nnocent Tuesds turder charges ai alleged creation ' of November 1 terror group ted 23 peop jlBard, it’s not good for attacking,’ rmstrong said after the stage, /hich Colombian rider Santiago otero won in 5:55:16. Armstrong was ninth, 6:41 ff the pace. The mountain stage from aison-la-Romaine in the our Americanoi; P. uthern Provence region to arly three decades ait trial. No date® lawyer, said Giotopoulf the accusatior him, which cook i life prison term. squid found itralia his ski station was the first in 30-minute, eta iheAlps this year. But it wasn’t gnment, Alexand' as hard as the two earlier legs os was returned# 11 the Pyrenees — both of which Armstrong won — or the trek to the top of the Mont Ventoux, in which he extended his lead. Also, it was much easier than Wednesday’s stretch from Les Deux-Alpes to La Plagne, which features three exceptionally dif ficult climbs. Armstrong prefers to be aggressive and attack in the harder stages, in which rivals are less likely to match his pace. At the Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees and on the Ventoux, the Texan left Beloki stranded as he sprinted to the summit. The ride to La Plagne takes Armstrong over the Col de la Madeleine mountain pass, which he tackled last year in one of his biggest stage wins. Memorably, he grimaced in apparent pain during that climb, then sprinted up the last stretch to L’Alpe d’Huez. He later acknowledged he had bluffed his rivals into thinking he was in dif ficulty. Bolero’s win was his second in this Tour. He stunned Armstrong to win the ninth stage, an individual time trial. However, Bolero is notori ously inconsistent. He finished a whopping 15 minutes off the pace in Sunday’s climb up the Ventoux, and is seventh in the overall standings, 11:31 behind Armstrong. “Today (Tuesday) everything went perfectly, but I’m very dis appointed I lost so much time on my ‘off’ day,” Bolero said. Belgian rider Mario Aerts was second on Tuesday, 1:51 behind Bolero, and countryman Axel Merckx was third, 2:30 off the pace. French rider Christophe Moreau dropped out after crashing early in the stage and cutting his lip. The Credit Agricole leader, who placed fourth in the Tour two years ago, had a string of crashes in the first week and was 41st overall when he quit. Page 3 • Wednesday, July 24, 2002 A&M chosen for NCAA meet Aggi es will host 3rd NCAA championship since 2001 By Dallas Shipp THE BATTALION Texas A&M has been chosen to host another national cham pionship. This time, it is the 2004 women’s swimming and diving championships. The Aggies hosted the men’s tennis national championships in the spring and the 2001 men’s swimming and diving championship. The meet will be the third national championship event held on A&M’s campus in a four year period, something very few schools can lay claim to. The event will also be the first ever women’s national championship event hosted by A&M in any sport. “I’m very excited about get ting the opportunity to host the NCAA Championships,” A&M head coach Steve Bultman said. “Particularly since it is an Olympic year.” Although he takes heat from many in the Aggie community, athletic director Wally Groff is FILE PHOTO • THE BATTALION Texas A&M will host the 2004 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Student Recreation Center natatorium. The event will be the third national championship A&M has hosted since 2001. largely responsible for the facil ity improvements. The tennis center moved from the older facility near Kyle Field to the state-of-the-art Varsity Tennis Center on West Campus. The swimming and diving teams have moved from the outdoor pool at Deware Field House to one of the pre mier natatoriums in the nation in the Student Recreation Center. The soccer, track and soft- ball fields are all under renovation projects right now as well, which will improve their attractiveness to the NCAA com mittees in the future. Hosting large events like this also helps recruiting a great deal. Not only do recruits get to see the facilities but they also get to watch the home team compete in a high profile meet with the home crowd at its best. “I think people realize that we have a great facility” Bultman said. “We are definitely telling the recruits that we are hosting this event and it will only help us. “It will help the guys in their recruiting too because they are coming back to Texas A&M for the NCAAs again. Three or four years down the road we may want to bid for the men again.” At the 2001 Men’s Swimming and Diving Vm very excited about getting the opportunity to host the NCAA Championships. Championships, nine American and eight NCAA and U.S. records were broken in front of more than 10,000 fans. The only site to host a larger crowd over the three-day event was in 1986 when Indianapolis drew 11,775. “It definitely helps having the home pool advantage,” Bultman said. “I’ve been [at A&M] for three conference meets and the two we have had at home we have done very well. We know the facility and like the pool and I think that helps a lot. “There is a little more pres sure at home because you want to do well in front of your home crowd,” Bultman said. “But I think the crowd support more than makes up for it.” Assistant women’s coach Kristen Hill said the success of the 2001 men’s event played a huge roll in attracting the 2004 women’s championship. “The NCAA committee was very impressed with the great meet our athletic department put on,” Hill said. “With so many men’s records broken in 2001, the pool is well-recog nized as one of the fastest pools in the country. Our facility is state of the art and tough to beat.” — Steve Bultman A&M women's swimming coach , Australia (KV-lj d found n/as' istralian bea w species as ut a damaged s| ientist saidTuesdi pound creature« gather I convents Brand New Apartments for Today's Students. We Won’t Be Beat. 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