Sports
The Battalion
Page IB • Thursday, April l, 2004
Long Days
Softball falls late
day in the life of Aggie thrower Jamie Riojas to Baylor, 1 -0
By Craig Martin
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M junior discus
d hammer thrower Jamie
iojas is practicing hard this
veek with the Texas Relays
tarting Thursday in Austin,
iven with a hard week of prac-
ice, Riojas can’t allow herself
o be devoted only to her on-
ield exploits.
When Riojas isn’t practicing
>r studying, she serves as the
resident of Aggie Athletes
nvolved, a service organization
imposed of 650 student ath-
etes. As president, Riojas is in
:harge of overseeing and plan
ting community service proj-
:cts such as helping to repaint
he Boys’ and Girls’ Club,
working with The Big Event
ind tutoring young children,
lamie said she likes to be
involved in at least one large
community service project
every other week.
“My life (always) moves at
100 miles per hour, but I
wouldn’t have it any other
way,” Riojas said.
From the moment she wakes
lip in the morning until the
noment her head hits the pillow
it night, Riojas is one of the
xisiest students on campus.
Riojas said she strategically
planned her class schedule this
semester to include no early
classes, allowing her to get a
needed extra hour of sleep
by waking up at 8 a.m.
An hour later, Riojas is in
class working on a degree in Ag
economics. She is taking 15
this semester and attends
Texas A&M junior track and field thrower Jamie Riojas stands on the sec
ond floor patio of the Bright Athletic Complex overlooking Kyle Field. Riojas
is an Ag economics major and the president of Aggie Athletes Involved.
class every day in blocks
between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Once classes are over for the
day, Riojas heads to Cain Hall to
dine with her fellow track and
field teammates. In the two,
hours.between lunch and prac
tice each day, she balances her
time between team meetings,
interviews and serving on panels
such as the Texas A&M
Women’s Athletic Panel.
When all of her meetings
have ended, Riojas heads over
to the Aggie Track and Field
Complex to begin her practice
for the day. Practice usually
runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
every weekday and consists of
practicing her throwing tech
nique and lifting weights. On
the days she does not lift
weights, Riojas participates in
team bonding and sprint drills
to enhance her speed.
Riojas said she has been
throwing discus since she was a
See Riojas on page 3B
Randal Ford • THE BATTALION
Countdown to Student
Athlete Day
APRIL 6
A day in the life of...
• Lester Cook
Tennis
• Jennifer Jones
Equestrian
• Jana James
Softball
• Jamie Riojas
Track & Field
• Justin Moore
Baseball
• Dylan Leal
Basketball
• Terrence Murphy
Football
THURS.
APRIL 6
By Ryan Irby
THE BATTALION
Being on the losing end of a
one-run victory is something
the Texas A&M softball team
knew nothing about until
Wednesday night.
After dealing out two
straight one-run losses to No. 9
Oklahoma, the Aggies (20-16,
2-1 Big 12) dropped a thriller
to No. 19 Baylor, 1-0.
With the teams deadlocked in
a scoreless tie going to the bot
tom of the seventh inning,
Baylor (34-6,5-0) came through.
Baylor senior center fielder
Kelly Levesque led off the sev
enth with a dribbler to second
base that scooted away from
A&M senior second baseman
Sherah Atkins, putting Levesque
on first base representing the
winning run. Atkins’ error
proved to be costly as three bat
ters later, Baylor head coach
Glenn Moore went to the bench
for a last-ditch effort in fresh
man pinch-hitter Chelsi Lake.
With two outs and a 2-2
count. Lake laced a single past
A&M junior shortstop Adrian
Gregory to score Levesque,
who had advanced to second
on a fielder’s choice.
“Lake was highly recruited
as a hitter, and she’s got tons of
confidence,’’ said Baylor head
coach Glenn Moore. “1 felt she,
had a good chance of putting
the ball in play.”
Baylor freshman pitcher
Lisa Ferguson (14-1) went the
distance on the mound, tossing
a one-hit shutout for her 11th
consecutive victory.
“I’m not sure we always
swung at the pitch we want
ed,” said A&M head coach Jo
Evans. “(Ferguson) did a great
job of hitting her spots, but we
didn’t make a great adjust
ment at the plate.”
Moore said Ferguson has
pitched beyond her years this
season.
“Lisa was one that we saw a
lot of potential in,” Moore said.
“She has thrown some great
innings for us this year, proba
bly because she has no fear. She
doesn't know she’s a freshman,
and I’m not going to tell her.”
A&M senior pitcher Jessica
Kapchinski allowed five hits in
the contest, striking out six and
not allowing a single walk.
“You win some, you lose
some,” Kapchinski said. “We
came to play today, we
played hard and we kept our
composure in doing the
things we needed to do. It’s
the small things that are
going to decide it.”
In the end, though, it was
Baylor who was able to capital
ize in the seventh on Atkins’
error, her third of the season.
“We have to be fundamen
tally sound, regardless,” Evans
said. “If we make that play, we
are out of the inning. We just
got careless on a routine play.”
With A&M’s first loss in a
young Big 12 season, Evans
believes the Aggies are still
on track.
“We still firmly believe we
have a chance to win the confer
ence championship,” she said.
“That’s our goal, and we’ve gotta
take that one game at a time.”
Melrose Student Suites are currently seeking
energetic, adventurous student
leaders
to be guides in developing active
communities. Our
are live-in student staff members
responsible for developing community and
marketing Melrose Student Suites.
Go to www.melrose.com for an application!!
Due April 7th
Tina Kuo
Director of Resident
& Community Relations
wnmm
Plem return appficathmg to:
Melrose College Station
601 Luther St. West
College Station, TX 77840