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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2002)
Sports RASKa The Battalion Page 1 B • Thursday, November 7, 2002 Soccer team begins run in Big 12 Tournament ahomaS By Troy Miller THE BATTALION , , —« The No. 3 Texas A&M women’s soc- ^CUmaulingii ce rteam (15-3-1, 9-0-1) is looking to defend its 2001 Tournament title and its regular season championship this week in San Antonio at the Big 12 Championship Tournament. The last time the Aggies won a regular season was in 1997, when they went on to win their first-ever tournament crown. The 2002 season has been full of ups jand downs. The Aggies have a 14-game unbeaten streak, which is a team record |for consecutive games without a loss. The streak started after dropping three [matches in a row, which is the team [record for most consecutive losses. With the Aggies 2-1 win against No. 5Texas Friday, giving them the regular season title, the Aggies secured the first end of the Big 12 Championship dou ble-dip. Now that the first goal has been met, the Aggies are moving on to I the next step in their quest. I “We’re reassessing our goals for the rest of the way,” said head coach G. Guerrieri. “We consider (the Big 12 Tournament) to be a season unto itself.” The Aggies enter the tournament as 1 "Injuries" to succeed. Con. daybook iscmdj uarterback £ STATE he first 'Housto r. In creased fm iat this yeartfia teirwayup. R\ the number one seed by virtue of their first place finish in the regular season. They begin by facing off against the eighth-seeded Oklahoma State Cowgirls who are making their program’s first Big 12 Tournament appearance. The Cowgirls are coming off a 3-2 win against archrival Oklahoma. OSU sophomore Jeni Jackson scored a hat trick, or three goals, in the last six min utes to overcome a 2-0 deficit and give the Cowgirls their first Big 12 Tournament birth. “(OSU) is going to be a hungry team,” said Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Emma Smith. “It’s going to be a good game for us to go in and play first. It’ll be a good hard game.” Smith has picked up her game as she has scored six goals in the last six games and is on a current six-game point streak. Coupled with sophomore Linsey Woodard, whose 13 goals lead the Big 12, the Aggie offense is running on all cylinders. “(Our midfielders) have been unbe lievable at getting behind people and sending in crosses,” Smith said. Freshman Kati Jo Spisak, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and First-Team All-Big 12 selection, has continued to improve her aggressiveness in the net. Spisak made six saves against Texas, including a save on a penalty shot. The rest of the defense, anchored by First-Team All-Big 12 selection Jessica Martin, has forced opponents away from their strategies. “All over the field everybody, throughout the season, has stepped up,” said senior midfielder Heather Ragsdale. “As a team we have started to play a lot better overall.” The competition in the Big 12 Tournament should be fierce. Texas, the No. 2 seed, did not lose a game until it faced the Aggies. No. 3 Nebraska won the Big 12 Tournament in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 and No. 4 Missouri has netted 13.9 percent of its shots. “We should be nothing but confi dent,” Guerrieri said. “The players should have experienced the satisfac tion of what hard work brings, and they’ve worked hard.” The Aggies begin play at 1 1 a.m. on Thursday against Oklahoma State at Blossom Field in San Antonio. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Missouri vs. Colorado in Friday’s semifinal. JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION A&M sophomore Linsey Woodard battles for the ball against Texas last week. Texas baseball team given probation for coach’s violations AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — College World Series champion Texas was put on two years’ probation by the NCAA on Wednesday for illegal job benefits given to a former volunteer assistant coach. The NCAA detennined that assis tant Richard Couch took a $40,000-a year marketing job at a beer distributor ship owned by former university regent ■ Lowell Lebermann but never did any ■ work.Instead, Couch spent all his time 1 working on activities related to the ■ teballteam, especially recruiting. NCAA rules prohibit volunteer coaches from being" on an athletic department’s payroll or receiving preferential treatment in an outside of their accep- “(I learned]to Jesus to deliver icceptance of oik- ne.” ;rs will deliver , and loneliness, vith post-abor- and exactly * I know how yon >f freedom and job arranged by the department. They are allowed to have jobs but must do the work they’re paid for. By not working. Couch violated NCAA standards of honesty. Although the NCAA’s report attributed only one recruit who signed with Couch, it concluded that he gave Texas a competitive advantage by spending all of his time on baseball and dozens of recruiting trips. It also said Texas failed to monitor whether Couch was going to his job, which was arranged with help from head coach Augie Garrido. The Longhorns won their fifth national title and first in 13 years by beating South Carolina 12-6 at the College World Series in June. Couch left the team in October 2001 and was not with the Longhorns last season. Tom Yeager, chairman of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions and chairman of the Colonial Athletic Association, said the violation was considered “major.” The NCAA accepted Texas’ self- imposed penalty to prohibit Garrido from recruiting off campus until August 2003. The team also will have one fewer scholarship for the 2003-04 school year, and only one assistant coach will be allowed to recruit off campus until ied me- s. I am earn ed compas- it true love, amedhowio I am less me. estly, and it 'ace are the is that facin? 3 free from iving with , will beg in them- iave lost oat Argosy UNDERSTANDS RED RLE REALLY CAM make: a diffeireince:. Education that makes a difference. That's what Argosy University, a national university with 14 campuses across the country, can provide. We offer unique psychology and counseling degree programs that combine small class size and professors with real-world experience. Visit argosyu.edu and see how we can help you make a difference. Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) Clinical Psychology (M.A.) Professional Counseling (M.A.) Psychology (B.A. Degree Completion Program) Information session: November 16 at 12 p.m. 1 ■E388.48B. r 7 53 V ARGOSYU-EDU ARGOSY UN I V E RIS I T Y Argosy University/Dallas 8950 North Central Expressway NorthPark 1, Suite 308 Dallas,TX 75231 Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, www.ncahlc.org 312-263-0456 next August. The penalties do not keep Texas from playing in postseason championships. Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds said the school stands by Garrido and that UT officials believed the violation to be “secondary” in nature, which would have brought a lesser penalty. “We felt it was a secondary viola tion and still do,” Dodds said. “(But) we did violate a rule and we’re big folks. This is a wakeup call for every body to find out what their coaches are doingT We’re going to make some corrections.” Garrido, disappointed by the sanc- tions, said he believed Texas had done what it was supposed to with Couch. “We did everything we thought we should and they said it was a viola tion,” Garrido said. “My understand ing was to stay out of what they were doing at that job.” The NCAA’s report said Texas offi cials did a good job of explaining the rules to Couch before he took the job, but then didn’t check up on him. The report said the case was unusual because it dealt only with a coach and hot any players. ^ Couch’s attorney, James Doyle, said Couch “regrets that these events led to an NCAA investigation.” PiMSS ivyimfieri cacr mm “ Come see the HOTTEST women of B/CS compete for a chance to appear in the Exclusive 2003 “Girls of Aggieland” Calendar & win a Spring Break trip for two to South Beach. Friday November 8th, 2002 9:00pm © Shadow Canyon, st Models Preregister Wednesday November 6th and Thursday November 7th from 4-7pm at the Hole in the Wall” 1 ** 1 ** 217 University Drive. Hosted By: “Syrus” from MTV’s Real World Boston ebjUEE)© SMfcraCEmoaa wesTGwvre SMORRiTSJG CENTER **3553 WELJLGORN RD/VD G**6- - 7ssaa THIRSTY THURSDAY