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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2003)
NEWS THE BATTALIOS hon iued from pagel ions, including a britf t A&M from /hen he was an assists: ar in the Departmenl onal Curriculum ion. ion is also the intei • of the School on as well as the assoti in for the College Physical Educati ion and Teat on at UW-La Crosse, icy McClendon, f the search advis :ee for the position, sai President Roberl I id the search commiti« /iew Rochon andfc indidates, and 1 decision by July. itning ued from page 1 benefit from the sysi n others. Rec Center has ta involved with the sjt e because of all ictivities that go on te, itramurals and use oil* said. Juard's system is t does not waittc when it hits, the lighming aci iteiger said. The sysla ; the ambient electii ic atmosphere, and wltf t gets too high, c< ripe for cloud-1 , he said, danger approaches!! he 11 locations, a tlarm will sound aiJ ash. Three 5-secoii! ;nal that the danger to ie said, t time, if anyone is oil :y need to get inside, k you are unable to si n’t stand near water, hances of getting hiis 11,” Steiger said. “I ny of your hair stanii get low to the gtoial dy.” • said he has a photod cnts playing durinp )rm and their hair® on end. Only mom* photo was taken, te hit by lightning, ts who spend a lotd oors said they ado* /stem. lappy the Universii)' implement this typed ystem so we can ie dangers at hand deal' ightning,” said junior education may uard is also the ie lightning wami»| ed by the PGA To® so used during Tlympics, so A can rest assured tb n has been ed” and a d. cache. The group was ers directly from e May 12 bombings Saudi authorities M )f numerous st of the capital, sually tight Si :ars at checkpoints c' throughout the inside and ou ipital, where t e taken. Sports The Battalion Page 3 # Monday, June 16, 2003 A&M archery coach leads 2004 Olympic team By Jeff Allen THE BATTALION Since its inception in 1976, Texas A&M archery has been no stranger to the Olympic Games. That year, a young man named John Williams drove to College Station bearing two things that weren’t all that common to the Aggies of the mid-70s: a bow and an Olympic gold metal. “Imagine A&M in the 1970s,” said archery assistant coach Frank Thomas. “He (Williams) was a hippie with long hair and a micro bus. You can imagine how that went over, but he did a good job starting the program.” Williams started the archery portion of the activities program at A&M in 1976 but it wasn’t until 1979 that Thomas arrived on the scene. Thomas was fresh out of Arkansas Tech and came to A&M seeking a mas ter’s degree and a little gainful employ ment. It had been his goal to teach at a university and A&M seemed as good a place as any. “As a graduate assistant teaching here I fell in love with the program,” Thomas said. But archery wasn’t exactly tops on Thomas’ list. On arriving at A&M, he was asked by ihe programs director to list five sports that he could teach. The choices that came to mind were tennis, a sport Thomas played in college, badminton since it was close enough to tennis, and golf. That left a vacant spot at the bot tom of the list, so he put archery. “When I came to A&M all that I had in archery was two weeks in college. That was my entire introduction,” Thomas said. “He (the director) sent me to talk to the man who was running the archery program. He could have been speaking Greek. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, so he told me to assist for a semester.” One hour later, assisting became teaching. The director of the activities program scheduled Thomas to assist the experienced archery coach at noon, and teach his own class at 1 p.m. “(Pretty much) whatever was said at noon was just repeated at one,” Thomas said. It was from these humble beginnings that Thomas began to climb the ladder to his current position as the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Archery team. Thomas’ beginnings in the archery program at A&M evolved into a coach ing position on the A&M club team, which he still coaches today. After a slow start, he found his foot ing and brought the program back to prominence, leading the team to eight consecutive national titles. It was from this success that Thomas began to make an appearance on the national archery scene. In 1996, he began to prepare as a coach on the inter national level. Thomas was picked up and mentored by Sheri Rhodes, the cur rent women’s Olympic coach, and Lloyd Brown, both prominent in the national archery program. Thomas has also picked up duties assisting A&M head coach Kathy Eissinger with the women’s varsity team. Thomas went on to take the reins of the American national team in 1997 at the World Target Championships. This started a long list of accolades including the 2002 U.S. Olympic Committee Archery Coach of the Year, thanks in part to a stirring win at the Turkish Grand Prix that year over inter national powerhouse and reigning Olympic champion Korea. In May, Thomas’ road to the top of American archery finally became com plete, as he was named men’s head coach for the American Olympic team in 2004. “It’s incredibly exciting. It’s a dream I’ve had for a long time and have worked hard to achieve,” Thomas said. Now that he’s at the top, Thomas still has a few goals he would like to reach. First, he would like to qualify for the 2004 Olympics and second, he hopes to win a medal once he’s there. After he is finished there, he said he would like to head home and spend time with his family. “(When it’s all done) I’m going to try and get to know my kids and my wife again.” he said. PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M SPORTS INFORMATION A&M assistant archery coach Frank Thomas gives advice to an Aggie archer at a recent event. Thomas was recently named the U.S. Olympic coach. Spurs capture NBA championship, Duncan named MVP By Chris Sheridan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO — First came a blocked shot, one of eight rejections Tim Duncan had on the night. Next came a two-handed, overhead pass from the low post that found Stephen Jackson at the 3-point line. Swish, and the Spurs had their first lead of the night. Finally, an almost identical pass found Jackson for yet another 3 — his third of the quarter — and Duncan’s triple-double was complete. The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championship Sunday night behind a devastating all-around effort from Duncan, using a run of 19 unan swered points in the fourth quarter to defeat the New Jersey Nets 88-77 to take the series 4-2. Duncan finished with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocks for a triple-double. San Antonio won the title for the second time in franchise history, sending David Robinson into retire ment with the ulti mate present. Robinson jumped and did a 360 as he punched his fist in the air and then hugged several teammates after being replaced with 35.6 seconds left. The fourth quarter was stunning DUNCAN for its turn of events, with the Spurs — after trailing for almost the entire game — using the 19-0 run to take the life out of the stunned Nets. It was the fifth straight NBA title for a Western Conference team. The Nets showed none of the characteris tics of a championship team as the game got away from them quickly. C6afch Byron Scott left several reserves in during San Antonio’s big run, letting them play alongside Kenyon Martin as he struggled through one of the worst games of his career, shooting 3-for-23. San Antonio outscored New Jersey 25-11 in the fourth quarter, with Duncan getting six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. San Antonio tied the finals record with 13 blocks in the game, and Duncan’s 32 in the series broke Patrick Ewing’s champi onship record. Robinson completed his 14th sea son with a strong performance, grab bing 17 rebounds, scoring. 13 points and blocking two shots. As the buzzer sounded, he ran across the court looking for somebody to hug, and he found his son wearing a Robinson jersey and black-and-sil- ver wig. He picked him up, then hugged his mother as silver, black and white confetti fell from the rafters. “I was just trying to give us what ever energy I could. We finally hit some shots in the fourth quarter,” Robinson said. Duncan hugged and kissed his wife, Amy, while 19-year veteran Kevin Willis cried and gave a long hug to veteran Steve Smith — both of them having finally won a title. Jackson finished with 17 points, nine of them on 3-pointers in the fourth. Speedy Claxton scored 13 and Manu Ginobili added 11. i Jason Kidd led the Nets with. ^1 points, and Kerry Kittles had 16 in Ins best game of the series. Kittles, how ever, was on the bench watching alongside fellow starter Richard Jefferson as the Nets collapsed early in the fourth with the struggling Lucious Harris and Rodney Rogers on the court together. SPORTS IN BRIEF Two Aggies earn 2003 All-American track honors Texas A&M hurler Chris Pinnock and shot putter Josh Ralston earned All-American status Saturday as they both placed second in their respec tive events. Pinnock ran the 110-hurdles in 13.40 and Ralston was runner up in shot put with a distance of 198.03. Coach Nelson knew Pinnock had a shot to bring home a national title but fell just short. "Pinnock just finished sec ond in the 110 hurdles after running really well all week," Nelson said. "It looked like he had the lead at the seventh hurdle and it looked like he fell back at that time. 13.40 is a great time to finish second." Ralston, said he was confi dent going into his event. "We were talking before the event and we figured that a 60 or 61 (meters throw) would win it," he said. "I have been up and down all season. If I am on then it is a good day and today i was on. Ralston also finished second in the discus as well. Nelson said he was extremely pleased with his performance. "I thought he had his best day of the year," he said. Furyk wins U.S. Open, ties record score By Doug Ferguson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Say what you want about Jim Furyk’s swing. It won him a U.S. Open with a performance that put him in the record books. The toughest test in golf finally lived up to its reputation Sunday, and Furyk rose to the challenge with a gritty round of 2-over 72 to win his first major title in a landslide. Furyk won by three strokes at Olympia Fields and joined Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Janzen with a 272, the lowest 72- hole score in the 103 years of the U.S. Open. The loopy swing might not be conven tional, but the strategy was all too familiar: He sent the ball down the middle of the fair way and no one could catch him. He missed a 6-foot par putt at 18 that would have given him the record outright. but all that mattered was the silver champi onship trophy waiting for him. Woods shot 12-under 272 three years ago at Pebble Beach, which played as a par 71. He remains the only player to finish a U.S. Open in double digits under par. Furyk was on the verge of joining him until he failed to get up-and-down from behind the 17th green, then three-putted from about 40 feet on the final hole. Stephen Leaney of Australia, in con tention at a major for the first time, fell five strokes behind at the turn and couldn’t catch up. He closed with a 72, but his run ner-up finish assures him a PGA Tour card for next year. Furyk is known as much for his grit as his unorthodox swing, and he relied on that throughout a sunny day south of Chicago. He never flinched the few times he was in trou ble. He didn’t come unglued when a streaker ran out of the gallery on the 11th green. “It’s beyond some dreams,” Furyk said on the 18th green, choking back tears as he looked at his father, Mike, who taught him a swing only a mother could love. Furyk heard the snickers about his swing growing up in western Pennsylvania, as an All-American at Arizona, and even while winning seven times on the PGA Tour. All he has to do now is show them the U.S. Open trophy. The toughest part for Furyk was seeing his father when he arrived Sunday afternoon. He hugged him long and hard, intent on giving him the best Father’s Day present available. They were together on the practice green minutes before the final round began, just like old times — the father squatting behind the son, making sure everything was in place. “Looks good,” he told his son, and sent him on his way to win a U.S. Open. 2m Sheik, a SO-ye® treated for cuts, sait! holding guns hai ier Saturday as ti' car in al-Khalidiya. demanded he drivs hen he refused, the) , and he was injure^ away, leaving Shell if they were bein? dy killed or arrested LION ring the fall and spring semes- holidays and exam periods) at . POSTMASTER: Send address 77843-1111. ersityinthe Division of Studenl McDonald Building. Newsrooi ' www.thebatt.coin ent by The Battalion. For earn ing, call 845-0569. Advertising through Friday. Fax: 845-2618. ent to pick up a single ropy of ier school year, $30 forthe fall i/isa, MasterCard, Discover, or Qlnii/6itsitjj fiufiimeft ^dtjo/tmance Se/ties 9/teseiite IMMANUEL & HELEN OLSHAN TEXAS MUSIC FESTIVAL JUNE 1 - JUNE 28, 2003 MOORES SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF OF MUSIC HOUSTON TICKETS! 845-1234 Student $5 - Regular $10 World Tour! “^American <£ie$acp" Chamber Concert Monday, June 16, 7:30pm Bush Conference Center Back by popular demand, the TMF Jazz Project directed by Noe Marmolejo, per forming the finest in big band music and jazz, including works by Ellington, Basie, Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones, with jazz diva Yvonne Washington