Sports
The Battalion
Page 8 • Tuesday, March 30,
Balancing Act
A day in the life of equestrian rider Jennifer Jones
Aggie tennis
travels to Tuls
By Jordan Meserole
THE BATTALION
As the annoying but familiar
alarm beeping fills the room at
6 a.m., Texas A&M senior
equestrian rider Jennifer Jones
fights the temptation to hit the
snooze button.
The five hours of sleep don’t
seem adequate, but she finds a
way to get up. And somehow she
will do it again tomorrow morn
ing and the morning after that.
Having a routine is the only
way Jones said she can make it
through each day.
“I’m a person that likes to
plan ahead,” Jones said.
“Sometimes I’ll make little notes
of things I need to get done and
it ends up turning into pages.”
Of the 70 girls on the team,
she is one of only three who par
ticipate in western and English
events. She helped the western
team achieve its second consecu
tive national championship last
season, and may be a factor in
helping both squads win a cham
pionship this year. Jones said she
not only hopes to win a team
championship this year, but that
she can win an individual cham
pionship. Jones made her first
step toward the trophy recently,
placing first in the first round of
individual competition.
As such an accomplished ath
lete, it may seem that Jones
should be getting an easy ride
through college. Free clothes,
free food and free grades - the
stereotype of student-athletes.
But she isn’t getting that ride.
Jones is enrolled in 13 hours this
semester and has to make up any
tests missed due to traveling.
Along with the rest of the team,
Jones has to pay for her competi
tion uniform, which usually costs
near $1,000. And on top of it all,
Jones holds down a part-time job.
“Sometimes it gets stressful
and overwhelming,” Jones said.
“1 don’t know how, but some
way I make it through it all.”
Jones said she knows many
people think that college ath
letes get many benefits just for
being athletes, but she said that
notion is far from the truth.
“There might be a few ath
letes who do occasionally get a
benefit or two, and they’re the
ones who give us a bad name,”
Jones said. “But I’m pretty cer
tain that the majority of us don't
- especially the equestrian girls.”
In between classes and prac
ticing with the team, Jones aver
ages 20 hours a week working for
the Letterman’s Association. And
just as with everything else, Jones
receives no preferential treatment.
There is nothing special to her
desk; a few pictures sit on the
comer, a few post-it notes with
reminders on the wall and a My
Little Pony that adorns the top of
the computer monitor. Jones has
just as much work to perform as
the other workers, including
organizing events for the Maroon
Club and contacting members
about upcoming events.
Occasionally when preparing or
planning for events, Jones will be
at the office until near midnight
regardless if she has an early
morning practice the next day.
“I love to work,” Jones said.
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior equestrian rider Jennifer Jones not only rides for the equestri
an team, but also works part time while finding time for school and a boyfriend.
“I don't mind doing it at all. I
think I would go crazy if I did
n’t have anything to do.”
Even when the few free
moments pop up in Jones’
schedule, she rarely sits still.
Nicknamed “Martha Stewart”
by some of her teammates, she
loves to sew, paint and restore
antique furniture. And if she's
not doing something crafty,
she’s hanging out with her
boyfriend of two years.
“It’s hard sometimes to coor-
See Jones on page 10
There will be a degree of
familiarity Tuesday when the
No. 20 Texas A&M men’s ten
nis team travels to Tulsa, Okla.,
to take on the No. 49 University
of Tulsa at the Michael D. Case
Tennis Center. ’
Not only have these teams
already faced one another
this year with A&M winning
4-0 at the ITA National
Indoor Championships in
Seattle, Wash., but both have
also followed similar paths
since that time.
While A&M’s record (10-3)
is much better than Tulsa’s (5-4),
both have limited their losses
to top-ranked competition. In
fact, all eight of their com
bined losses have come
against top-30 competition.
“We’ve always (played
tough schedules),” said A&M
head coach Tim Cass. “I don’t
know what their strategy is. but
ours has always been to try to
schedule 12 to 15 top-25 teams
before the year is out.”
The Golden Hurricane’s
schedule has included matches
against four top-10 teams,
including top-ranked Illinois,
No. 3 University of Southern
California No. 6 Rice University
and No. 9 Stanford University.
With a sc hedule like that,
wins and losses are probably
not the best indication of team
strength. Cass said he under
stands that when e
team such as Tulsa.
"They’re a very
Cass said. “About two week
they were able to beat (It
Christian University)
ranked sixth, so it
gtxxl challenge being atTulsi
The Aggies also
they can’t rely on their via
earlier this season ati seme
Tulsa to carry them ihm
the match. Several fan
could change the flow
match this time around.
“In Seattle (at the It
Championships) we
them indoors,” said A&Ni
ior Lester Cook. "We a
think that they’re just goiip.
give us the match tl
because we swept
They’re going to want its
more this time, and they In
the home-court advantage"
The match against li
will also give the Aggie>
chance to play on a couni
should see more of this
son. as Tulsa plays host to
year’s NCAA Championsls
“This team, more I
team I’ve probablycoachei
one that internally is capaii
of doing whatever they
their minds to,” Cass said
like the way we playedm
Oklahoma, I like the way
played against Miami an
like the way we playedagai
Tulsa earlier in the year.If
play with that kind of f«
and intensity. 1 think i
should come out OK fort
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