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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2003)
THE BATTALIO GclZc ice ph Sports The Battalion Page 7 • Wednesday, April 9, 2003 Aggies thrive off senior catcher’s leadership h controls J tinian security oreJ ns. “iiior Palestinian o| said Arafat wantsi Hani al-Hassanl currently holds 1 Abbas prefl mimed Dahlan,all Gaza security clj is supported byi d States and Ears is considered it to seriously tiy militant groups fe sing Israelis, eanwhile, interna; | ediators kept up I lire. Iter a meeting 4 Prime Minks' Blair in Bells tern Ireland, Bushsr ted to a “road jm| ate last year by they ediators — the Ins i Union, the Unt I ,, „ A HOULIMON • IhifeBATTAL IO N ) him (Abbas) )lace so wecant3^ enior ^ elena C°l' ins se f s U P t0 throw behind homeplate. Collins is currently on the watchlist for the national softball player of the year. By Pete Burks THE BATTALION When Texas A&M senior catcher Selena Collins first stepped onto the playing field as a 4-year-old in Phoenix, Ariz., she was likely unfamiliar with the far-off town of College Station. The term “ACL” was probably as foreign to her as the 2003 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award was. All Collins cared about was get ting onto the field, playing hard and winning. Eighteen years later, Collins has learned very well the signif icance of all of these terms. However, her approach to the game remains the same as when she first laced up her cleats. For Collins, playing the game is not about accolades or statistics; it is simply about competing to the best of her ability with the ultimate goal of helping the team win. Growing up as one of three kids in a tight-knit family, Collins learned from an early age what it meant to compete. Her mother and father, James and Debbie Collins, participated in major collegiate athletics. James Collins played football and Debbie Collins played tennis, each for the University of Northern Arizona. In addition, Collins' siblings were both ath letes. Needless to say, Collins’ family was the perfect catalyst to give her a thirst for competition. “Selena has always been com petitive, even in elementary school,” James Collins said. “She did well in every sport, and she even beat the boys her age. Whether it was volleyball, soft- ball or basketball, she was com petitive at every level. We began early on to work with her to kin dle her competitive energy in order to form her into a leader. Overall, one thing is for sure: she hates to lose.” As Collins got older and entered high school, her compet itiveness began to yield results. At Deer Valley High School, Collins invested her time heavily into volleyball, basketball and softball, lettering all four years in each sport. However, in her soph omore year of volleyball, Collins’ competitiveness and drive were tested, when she tore the ACL ligament in her knee. No. 18 Texas A&M vs No. 5 Texas McCombs Field, Austin, Texas 6:30 pm After a lengthy rehabilitation. Collins was ready to play again. As her senior year approached, Collins began thinking of where she would be spending her years as an undergraduate after decid ing she wanted to play softball in college. Collins was gaining interest from teams such as Texas Tech and UNLV in addition to A&M. But, as signing day approached, fate took another strange twist. In the midst of another successful, year in bas ketball, Selena tore her ACL again, this time in her other knee. At this point, many other college coaches might have abandoned her, but A&M Head Coach Jo Evans did no such thing. Upon visiting A&M, one of the things Collins liked the most was the family atmosphere that she found in and amongst her future teammates and coaches. Evans’s continued commitment to Collins only proved that the family atmos phere she saw was not a facade. “By the time I had torn my second ACL, 1 had already com See Collins on page 9 m includes creatiorl uan state that us over final bort the West Bank: Jerusalem, des have said ill rinciple, a disputf ges Israel plans i concern is thai: y condition stateta m violence — bui luartet would beo: dad ed from page! nirce of influence an thought increac :o help the force r Iraqi Freedom, lays after AmeiS r ated the Baghdadi; city showed theefiil . Civilians roamed! i Kalashnikov ril Elected garbage ere were long line! d number of ga ill open. There* tary losses fori 10 “Warthog” «■ s shot down if arly in the day, pe st fixed-wing aiffl an Iraqi surface-to- ce the war began.I immand said thep ely, was recovered' ces and was in s v Burk plans to appeal Augusta protest ruling By Paul Newberry THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUGUSTA, Ga. — Martha Burk criticized a judge who barred her group from protesting at the front gate of Augusta National, saying Tuesday that “party revel ers are taking precedence over legitimate protesters.” Burk, who wants Augusta National Golf Club to admit its first I female member, plans to appeal two ■ separate rulings by U.S. District iJudge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. I “I think it’s clear they acted in the best interests of the city and the club rather than the best interests of the First Amendment,” Burk said in a telephone interview. Burk, working with the Georgia chapter of the ACLU, will ask a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to over turn Bowen’s rulings before her scheduled Masters protest. Time is drawing short. The tour nament begins Thursday, and Burk’s group is planning to protest during the third round Saturday. “I'm a little surprised,” Burk said. “I didn’t think they would be so bla tant acting in the club's interest and not the public interest.” Burk wants to protest outside the main entrance of the club, believing that would give her cause maximum exposure. But the sher iff, citing safety concerns, said her group will be restricted to a site about a half-mile away. City attorney Jim Wall praised the rulings. “Certainly we are pleased the court upheld the validity of the ordi nance and the validity of decisions the sheriff made as far as public safe ty issues,” Wall said. Sheriff Ronald Strength, who has broad authority over public protests. said there’s too much traffic in front of the club during the tournament to ensure safe protests. Strength told Burk and other groups they must gather at a 5.1-acre site - nearly a half-mile from the gate. A group headed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson also has been approved for a second site even further away from the club’s main entrance. The judge called the area outside Augusta National “profoundly con gested” during the Masters and said allowing protesters to congregate outside the gate presents;“a realistic, plausible, even probable potential for some accidental injury.” SPORTS IN BRIEF Aggies shutout by No. 1 Rice After a successful weekend against Oklahoma, the No. 17 Texas A&M baseball team was unable to maintain its momentum against the No. 1 Rice University Owls. The Aggies (26-11, 7-5 Big 12) fell to the Owls (33-1, 12-0 WAC), 8-0. Rice quickly jumped out to a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning and remained effective offensively. Rice sophomore Wade Townsend (5-0) struck out 10 and allowed only three hits through 8 innings pitched for the win. With the victory, Rice extended its national-best winning streak to 30 games. The Aggies return to action on Friday when they travel to Manhattan, Kan., for a three-game series with Kansas State University. Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. , Display Cast peland-depot.con >n Class of 2O0S are interested in for the position of 306 Social Secretarj will be available in it of 2006 cube in I Student Programs :e or on-line at :ouncils.tamu.edu/20df ations will be due e 2006 cube by i. on Wed., April 23 (' ■■■Ml Spend this Parents 1 Weekend with some of Texas A&M's most talented students... A4SC Variety Shew Hosted by FRET This Friday! April 11th. 7:30 pm Rudder Auditorium Tickets $8 at MSC Box Office i-mond Neubauer, • 5 ' / ; ''AGES Into ISCENDENCi' xies are a pedestal i n of light that rears up \ stness of Space > | gleams within my heart- _ is of religion, science / social theory j J i excerpts at Amazon.co 111 ages into Transcendence 1 114.95 B.R. Prw* tFITABU PAABER! 45-0569 Battalion ied Advertising Performing: Apotheosis Big Man on a Little Bike Bobby Maves on the Hammered Dulcimer Free Parking Kyle "Abbott" Carter & Joey "Costello" Rigney Percussion Studio Philippine Students Association Showtime Nate Rogers & the Vagabond Troupe s Tuesday's Anthem ♦ Special Appearance by Ballet Foiklorico presents The Grand Opening of TEASERS the hottest dance club in B/CS THURSDAY NIGHT Doors open at 8 p.m. featuring PENNY ANYTHING single shot drinks, longnecks and drafts 8-10 One cover gets you into both clubs!! FRIDAY NIGHTS IN APRIL ■ HI SALOON presents THE BEST LIVE COUNTRY MUSIC IN THE BRAZOS VALLEY!! 1600 S. College, Bryan • 779-3911 (3 miles north of A&M on South College) $ 2.00 OFF COVER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH STUDENT, FACULTY OR STAFF ID