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George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
Page 5 • Friday, March 5, 2004
Archers descend on A&M
By Jordan Meserole
THE BATTALION
Many sports focus on ath-
etes performing together as a
jnitto win events. High school
collegiate coaches have
iong worn out the phrase
There’s no T in team.” But
irchery pits teammate against
teammate.
The Texas A&M archery
team will compete in the Indoor
National Championships this
weekend. The toughest compe-
ition will mostly be wearing
naroon and white.
A&M is home to two world
champion medalists: junior
Amber Dawson and senior
Wary Zorn. In summer 2003,
e duo teamed up with
Colorado native Ay a LaBrie to
represent the United States and
earn the gold medal in the
world championships.
B A&M head coach Kathy
issinger is familiar with
coaching champions. She has
led the Aggies to seven con-
itts'-idfl secutive national champi-
jainfod onships and has seen 10
ice 1M archers win individual colle-
lewhok giate national titles during her
ws cod tenure.
“Having two of the best
Tirol makes my life easier,”
wash Eissinger said of Zorn and
suMi Dawson. “I don’t really have
to coach them too much - 1
just have to make sure they
lave a place to shoot.”
At last year's Indoor
| National Championships, the
Aggies were surprised by
Christie Bisco of Atlantic Cape
Community College, who took
first in the contest. Dawson
finished a close second, trail
ing by only eight points while
Zomfinished third, five points
Aggie baseball
heads to UCLA
File Photo • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior archer Mary Zom takes aim during practice in 2002. Zom leads the Aggies into the South
Region Indoor Nationals this weekend at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
behind Dawson. This year, the
competition is expected to be
focused on Zorn and Dawson
as Bisco is no longer compet
ing on the collegiate level.
Dawson said she is looking
for a type of redemption after
the close defeat last year.
“I’ve been working hard all
year, mostly for this,” Dawson
said. “This is a big one I want
to win.”
Dawson said she isn’t
intimidated about shooting
against world record holder
Zorn because the two practice
side by side nearly everyday.
Zorn said whether she gets
a win or not this weekend, she
wants to walk away with a
good feeling. Zorn said her
third place finish at last year’s
Indoor Championships left a
bitter taste in her mouth.
“I've been preparing and
trying to do all the right things
- I’ve been drinking my
orange juice this week,” Zorn
said. “I'm going to try and
shoot my best, but I can't real
ly control what the competi
tion does.”
Zorn, who normally shoots
in the compound-bow events,
will also be shooting in the
recurve events this weekend.
Zorn will face a tough com
petitor in A&M senior Lorinda
Cohen. Cohen, a three-time
All-American, has finished
second all three years at the
Indoor Championships.
“I want to take (first-place)
this year” Cohen said. “I’ve
been jumpy waiting for it to
get here.”
There will be other archers
from colleges around the
nation competing this weekend
in the championship, but none
are expected to present a big
challenge to A&M.
“There are some other good
shooters out there,” Eissinger
said. “But they'd really have to
step it up to win.”
The championship begins at
6 p.m. Friday at G. Rollie
White Coliseum and continues
through Sunday.
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
After the Texas A&M base
ball team lost 12 players,
including eight pitchers, from
its 2003 squad, the 2004 season
looked like it could turn into a
rebuilding year.
But the No. 12 Aggies don’t
look to be rebuilding, as they
have begun their campaign with
the best start since 1993 (15-1).
A big part of A&M’s (12-1)
fast start is the return from
injuries of senior pitcher Justin
Moore and sophomore first base-
man Coby Mavroulis. Moore, the
Aggie ace from 2002, sat out last
season with an injured shoulder
while Mavroulis, a freshman in
2002 who started off hitting safe
ly in 16 of the first 18 games that
year, sat out with an injured back.
“They’ve held up fine,” said
A&M head coach Mark
Johnson. “They give us a lot of
leadership because they’ve.been
here - they know what it takes.”
In 2002, Moore led all
pitchers with 93 innings
pitched and 3.48 earned run
average. He struck out 55 bat
ters while walking only 16.
In 2004, Moore is back in
the starting rotation, along
with junior Zach Jackson and
sophomore Robert Ray. Moore
opened the season as A&M's
Saturday starter.
So far, Moore is 1-0 and
leading the starting trio with a
2.38 ERA. Jackson is suffering
from a high ankle sprain he
received in the Domino’s Pizza
Aggie Baseball Classic last
weekend. Moore may reprise
the role he was used to playing
before his injury - Aggie ace -
when A&M travels to
California for a weekend series
with the University of
Cali torn ia-Los Angeles (10-3).
“Last year, being able to sit
back and watch, I learned a
lot,” Moore said. “I learned a
lot by watching hitters and by
watching pitchers and how
they work. I definitely appreci
ate (playing baseball) a lot
more than I used to.”
While Moore is steadily pro
gressing on the mound,
Mavroulis has gotten back into
the swing of things at the plate,
hitting .327 in the cleanup spot
of the batting order.
“I’ve been so ready to play
for the last year-and-a-half,”
Mavroulis said. “I missed a
good year last year, so I want
to get in there and do as good
as I can.”
Mavroulis hit his first colle
giate home run in the second
game of this season. The 4-3 win
over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
was also Moore’s first game on
the mound, in which he gave up
three runs in six innings of work.
It’s not surprising that
Moore and Mavroulis do a lot
together now that they’ve
shared the experience of miss
ing a season. In fact, the two are
also roommates.
“Coby and I are good
friends,” Moore said. “We know
what it’s like to have to sit out
and a lot of guys don't know
what that’s like, so I think we
have a respect for each other.”
The Aggies will face
UCLA in a three-game series
beginning 7 p.m. central time
Friday at Jackie Robinson
Stadium in Los Angeles.
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U.S. AIR FORCE
CROSS INTO THE BLUE