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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.
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LION
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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