• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1988-07-14_Vol54_No02_02

The Western Carolinian Page 2 Thursday, July 14, 1988 BIG LEAGUE STANDINGS AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST !E L PCT. 02. Detroit 52 33 .612 - New York 49 36 .576 3 Cleveland 45 43 .511 8 1/2 Boston 43 42 .506 9 Milwaukee 44 43 .506 9 Toronto 42 46 .477 11 1/2 Baltimore 28 59 .322 25 WEST s L PCT. 02. Oakland 54 34 .614 - Minnesota 47 38 5 53 5 1/2 Kansas City 46 41 .529 7 1/2 California 41 46 .471 12 1/2 Chicago 41 46 .471 12 1/2 Texas 40 46 .465 13 Seattle 34 53 .391 19 1/2 NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST I L PCT. 02. New York 53 34 .609 - Pittsburg 49 37 .570 3 1/2 Chicago 45 40 .529 7 Montreal 45 41 .523 7 1/2 St. Louis 38 48 .442 14 1/2 Philadelphia 36 49 .424 16 WEST w. L PCT, 02. Los Angeles 48 36 .571 - San Francisco 46 39 .541 2 1/2 Houston 44 43 .506 5 1/2 Cincinnati 42 45 .483 7 1/2 San Diego 39 49 .443 11 Atlanta 30 54 .357 18 A New Season for the Cats: An Interview with Coach Possinger by CHARLES CARPENTER Dave Possinger, WCU's new head basketball coach, is entering his first season at Western. He was named WCU's 10th head basketball coach in March. The ■45-year old served as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Spartill, NY for the past nine seasons and posted a 295-49 record, including seven straight seasons of 30 or more wins. His winning percentage over the last seven years was the best in the nation. His overall head coaching record is 339-81 which includes three seasons at Rhode Island College. Our sports reporter, Charles Carpenter, conducted an interview with Coach Possinger this week. Q. What do you think about WCU? A. I thoroughally enjoy the people that my wife and I have met. Everybody has been supportive and helpful. I love this area. We are really excited about turning this program around and the opportunity to get the student and community support back into the basketball program and putting an exciting product on the floor at the Ramsey Center that the people are going to identify with and want to come and watch and be entertained. That is what I think basketball is, an entertainment spectator sport. Q. What do you think about Western's athletic program and fa- cilities ? A. You can't find a better facility than this. Your'e talking about a sixteen million dollar facility and everything is in the place for the job, It's like a hibernating bear. Someone just has to come along and kick it and wake it up because everything is in place. We finally put our coaching staff in place and I'm really excited about the staff, the facilities here, the supportive services are here, and the one other nice thing is the coaches are helpful. There is nobody in it for their own program. The football coaches, the track coaches, the women's coaches, everybody has been so helpfull that it is fun to come to work. I don't call this work it's fun and that's what it is all about. Q. What are your goals for the basketball program A. What we are obviously going to try and do the first year I think that (continued on page 5) (AMERICA THURSDAY'S GAMES V LEAGUE) Chicago at New York, 7:30 Milwaukee at Texas, 8:35 Detroit at California, 10:35 Kansas City at Boston, 7:35 Toronto at Oakland, 10:35 Detroit at California, 10:35 , LEAGUE) San Francisco at Pitt., 7:35 Houston at Philadelphia, 7:35 San Diego at St. Louis, 8:35 San Francisco at Pitt., 7:35 New York at Atlanta, 7:40 Houston at Philadelphia, 7:35 Minnesota at Baltimore, 2, 5:05 Kansas City at Boston, 7:35 Cleveland at Seattle, 10:05 Toronto at Oakland, 10:35 FRIDAY'S GAMES Chicago at New York, 7:30 Minnesota at Baltimore. 8:05 Milwaukee at Texas, 8:35 Cleveland at Seattle, 10:05 (NATIONAI THURSDAY'S GAMES Los Angeles at Chicago, 2, 1:05 Cincinnati at Montreal, 7:35 New York at Atlanta, 7:40 FRIDAY'S GAMES Los Angeles at Chicago, 4:05 Cincinnati at Montreal, 7:35 San Diego at St. Louis, 8:35 Elliott Sparkles in Comeback Firecracker Win AL All-Stars nip NL 2-1 by Larry Gray CINCINNATI-Oakland catcher Terry Steinbach had a homerun and a sacrifice fly to lead the American League All-Stars past the National League All-Stars 2- 1 in the 59th annual mid-season classic at Riverfront Stadium Tuesday night. The win marked only the 4th victory in the past 26 years for the American League. - Steinbach, voted the game's MVP, drove in both of the AL runs. The first came on his lead-off home run in the third, the second on a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The NL came back in the fourth. Mark Gubiczacame on for the AL, and immediately gave up the NL's first hit - a single to left by Vince Coleman. Coleman stole second, and Steinbach's throw went into center field , allowing Coleman to take third. Ryne Sandberg struck out, but Coleman scored on a wild pitch, cutting the lead to 2-1. The key to the American League's win was ous- tanding pitching and tough defense. The winning pitcher was Minnesota Twin's left-hander, Frank Viola and the losing pitcher was New York Met's righthander, Dwight Gooden. Dennis Eckersly of the Oakland Athletics, was credited with the save. by Tony Bolick With the restric- tor plate rule still in effect, Bill Elliott scratched back from starting 38th to win the PepsiFirecracker 400 on July 2nd. Elliott qualified Thursday, June 30 at 184.502 mph only good enough for 38th in the 42 car field. Elliott was saved from losing a lap by ijthe second caution figijOf the day caused by Ken Ragan's spinning car. The caution ended a long 90-lag stretch of racing, lasting through two green-flag pit stops that saw many good cars lose a lap or more. Elliott led over the last 27 laps and bumped sheet metal with Rick Wilson over the last turn and won the front-stretch for the win, averaging 163.302 mph for the 160 laps. The finish was a similar replay of the 1984 Pepsi Firecracker 400 when Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough bumped to the line with Petty notching his 200th and last victory by less than a foot. Rick Wilson, who had his best finish of the year, made his move exiting turn four. Wilson said, "I thought I had him, but he came back. Can't get much closer than winning." This race was the third one this year Wilson had a chance to win only to see it slip away in the wanning stages. He said "I can't complain, we'll win one real soon." Phil Parsons pulled out on the backstretch to muscle past Dale Earnhardt and pole-sitter Darrell Wal- trip for 3rd through 5th respectively. Completing the top ten were Buddy Baker, Morgan Shepard, Ken Schrader, Lake Speed, and Greg Sacks. Eight of the top 10 finished on the lead lap. Davey Allison was frustrated for the second straight race by the same problem. Another dropped valve took Allison out less than a 1 /4 of the way into the race. Kyle Petty, the outsider pole-sitter, had high hopes of a good race when the same problem dropped his Ford to seven cylinders 20 laps into the event. Peters Named Assistant Basketball Coach TEAMS AL NL RUNS 2 1 HITS 6 5 ERRORS 2 0 Dan Peters, a highly successful NAIA head basketball coach, has been named an assistant basketball coach at Western Carolina University. The appointment was officially announced Friday by Dave Possinger, WCU's head basketball coach since this past March. Peters, 34, has been the head basketball coach at Walsh College in Canton, Ohio for the past five seasons and won 75 percent of his games as he posted a 1J6-39. Each of his five teams won 20 or more games. He was voted NAIA District 2 2 coach of the year twice - 1983-84 and 1986-S - and took his team to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Kansas City once. "I've known Dan Peters for seven years as we played in a tournament at Walsh and have attended clinics together and exchanged ideas on several occasions," said Possinger. "He is an outstanding student of the game and a great teacher which is obvious when you look at his record. He will be involved in setting up our offensive and defensive schemes and will handle all our scouting of opponents. Dan Peters 7 will have an integral role in rebuilding Western Carolina's basketball program," he added. Peters says he made the move for "professional advancement." "Ultimately, I want to be a head coach at a division I school and the tendency today is to fill division I head coaching vacancies from the division I assistant coaching ranks," he explained. Peters, a Canton, Ohio native, is a 1976 graduate of Kent State University. He was a head coach at two Ohio high schools - Gurney Catholic in Cambr idge and Meadowbrook in Byesvilie - following graduation and before going to Delta State in Mississippi as an assistant in 1977. He earned his master's degree from Delta State in 1980. He served as an assistant coach at Walsh for three years - 1980-81 through 1982-83 - before becoming head coach in 1983. Peters joins Mike Palma, an assistant at Holy Cross for the past five seasons, on Possinger's initial staff at WCU. TOOTIBALL El€MJinr IPMMLLE Chris Awtrey (Offensive Lineman, 6-3, 245, Siler City, NC/ Jordan-Matthews High) Played four positions in prepcareer-offensive and defensive tackle, center, and offensive guard. . . standout on defense with nearly seven tackles a game last season. . . lineman of the year in his conference. . . all-county and all-conference selection. . . helped his team to go undefeated in regular season play in 1985 and 1986. . . slated for offensive line duty as a freshman. Todd Carpenter (Offensive Lineman, 6-2, 220, Gas- tonia, NC/ Ashbrook High) Played five positions in prep career- center, defensive end, tackle, punter, and place kicker. Sophomore athlete of the year. .. helped his team to conference championship in 1985, 1986, and conference runner-up in 1987... slated for offensive line duty as a freshman. Alan Corbett (Defensive Back, 6-2, 195, Dunwoody, GA/Dunwoody High) Set school record with eighteen sacks from defensive end position. . . was selected all- Metro and was four times MVP. . .also holds two school records in track will be used as a defensive back his freshman year at WCU. Steve Hannah (Outside linebacker, 5-10, 190, Gat- linburg, TN/Pittman High) Was the second leading rusher in his school's history all-state selection as well as district offensive player of the year. . . . selected all-district and county linebacker. . . selected as ame ruber of the Tennessee All -State team... should add depth at outside linebacker as a freshman. ToddHarkins (Offensive Lineman, 6-3, 235, Canton, NC/ Pisgah) Was selected all-conference while playing three positions - offensive tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end. . . .also placed fifth in the state as a wrestler. . . . will be used as an offensive lineman. Darrin Hemphill (Running Back, 5-10, 212, Morgan- ton, NC/Freedom High) Was selected the Northwestern 4- A player of the year in 1987, all-conference selection in 1987. . . . all- conference on both offense and defense in 1986. .. .as a junior he was second in tackles with 100. . . . scored more than 20 touchdowns during prep career including 1 1 senior /ear. . . . helped the Patriots to advance to the third round o f the state playoffs. . . . was also a member of 4 X 100 relay team that went to the National Junior Olympics slated for duty as a running back as a freshman at WCU. Vince Hill (Outside Linebacker, 6-2, 190, Decatur,GA/ Lakeside High) Played on 1987 region championship team and area champions. . . . should help add depth at outside line-backer as a freshman at WCU. Chad Hughey (Wide Receiver, 6-0, 170, Gainesville, GA/East Hall High) Was an all-area selection, . . .four- time prep player of the week. . .1987 regional champion team. . . also averaged 11 points a game in basketball. .. . will add depth at wide receiver this fall as a freshman. Joe Johnson (Wide Receiver, 5-8, 170, Morganton, NC/Freedom High) Was the quarterback who helped the Partiots advance to the third round of the state 4-A playoffs.... was an all-conference selection also an outstanding all-conference track athlete. . . .national finalist in Junior Olympics. .. has been clocked at 4.36 in the 40 yard dash— should add depth at wide receiver as a freshman at WCU. (CONTINUED ON PG. 5)

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1988-07-14
  • Date digitized: 2019-09-05
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 14.25"
  • Pages: 6 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1988-07-14_Vol54_No02
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library