• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1988-12-01_Vol54_No15_10

Sports The Western Carolinian Page 10 Thursday, December 1, 1988 Larry Gray Marhall Supporter Speaks Out (On Monday, I received a letter from a businessman in Huntington, WV voicing his opinion on the November 10 sports editorial labeled "Actions Speak Louder Than Words". For all Catamount fans this letter should be quite amusing. You make the decision - fact or farce.] Dear Mr. Gray: As a supporter of the Marshall University football team, I had the occasion to attend the Marshall-Western Carolina game and also had the opportunity to read your article in the school paper " Actions Speak Louder Than Words." Many of us who read your article which was circulated in Huntington found it to be rather amusing because it was such a laughable article. It appears that "You Put Your Mouth Into High Gear Before You Were Sure That Your Brain Was Turning Over." I make this reference because it felt that it was not only an unkind article, but downright disgusting. I am not going to elaborate on the many untrue statements that you made which are not in the realm of good journalism; however, Ernie Salvatore, whom you made reference to in your article requested me to inform you that the spelling of his name is Salvatore and not Salvador as you referred. In your article you eventually led up to last year's game in which Marshall won for the first time ever against Western Carolina. Prior to this year's game, Western has won 8 games, tied 2, and lost 1 to Marshall. As for last year's game, you mentioned the fact that Marshall still had their first-string quarterback and wide receiver in the game in an attempt tohumiliate the Western Carolina football team. You must not have been at the game, but in fact had gotten all of your information second or third hand as you accused Mr. Salvatore of reporting. For your information, Coach Chaump had his second string players in the game and then was informed that Mike Barber needed one pass completion to break a Southern Conference record. Coach Chaump then put his first string quarterback and Mike Barber the wide receiver back into the game for one pass completion. On the next play Mike Barber did complete a 12 yard pass and was then taken out of the game along with the quarterback. It's quite unique that we have been bashed by Western Carolina in the past 12 years and then we win one game and all that we hear is a bunch of cry babies. I do hope that you will not hold against us the fact that we did score a pile of points in the last half of this year's game. In closing, you should view a video tape of this year's game when the Marshall players went across the field to show their respects to Coach Bob Waters. Paul Dietzel made the remark. "This Is A Class Act." Yours truly, Luigi Narcise Huntington, WV Catamounts to open home schedule Saturday with Mars Hill; UNCA will visit Monday New Coach Dave Possinger and his first WCU basketball team will make their home court debut Dave Possinger and his first WCU basketball team will make their home court debut this Saturday evening when Mars Hill makes its first visit to Cullowhee in five years. The Catamounts' short homestand continues Monday evening with area rival UNC- Asheville. Both games will be played in WCU's Ramsey Center beginning at 7:30pm. Saturday's game with Mars Hill will be preceded by a women's game between Western's Lady Cats and Presbyterian College beginning at 5:00pm. The Catamounts opened their season last Friday on the road at Western Kentucky and were on the short end of a 84-64 score. Possinger, who came to WCU in March after posting the best record in college basketball over the past seven years at St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York, sees the next two games as "critical" outings for his team. "How we play in these next two games could set the tone for future games. We do nothave a good basketball team right now. We are not very athletic and must offset that with solid team play to be com petitive," he stated. Bennie Goettie, a senior power forward, led WCU's scoring output at Western Kentucky with 25 points in only 27 minutes of play. Freshman shooting guard David Donerlson was the only other Catamount in double figures as he totaled 13 points. Center Terry Miller, a junior college transfer, led all rebounders in the game with 12 caroms. "Obviously, Western Kentucky is an extremely athletic team and very good, but I was disappointed with our execution . . .we did not play team basketball," Possinger noted. "It is tough to find something positive about our team performance other than the fact that we played better in the second half after an awful first half. We had no patience on offense and didn't give ourselves a chance to execute. We handled their full court pressure well, but lost the ball after we set up in our offense," he explained. Possinger noted the individual performances of Goettie, Miller and senior point guard Maurice Johnson. "Bennie carried us offensively. Terry did a fine job on the boards against a big, physical team. Maurice handled their pressure defenses well and we had problems when the ball was not in his hands." Saturday's game will mark the renewal of an old rivalry. WCU and Mars Hill played regularly in the late sixties and throughout the seventies but have met since the 1983-84 season when the Catamounts won 93-72 in Reid Gymnasium in Cullowhee. Western leads the series 16-6. The Lions had a 2-2 record before a home game this Wednesday with Wingate. The UNC-Asheville- WCU rivalry was revived two years ago after a 10 year hiatus and UNCAhas won three of the four meetings over the past two seasons. The catamounts lead the series 11-9. The Bulldogs were 1-1 with three more games before meeting WCU. "We've scouted both teams and we will be well prepared for them. However, it doesn't mean anything to be prepared if we don't execute," said Possinger. Following the short homestand, the Catamounts will return to the road for a meeting against perennial national power Kentucky in Lexington December 10. Lady Cats open season with solid win over Lander Western drops season finale to VMI, 24-20 Western Carolina University's women's basketball team lived up to its preseason high expectations Monday night as the Lady Cats downed Lander College 70-55 in the Ramsey Center to open their 1988-89 season. Western continues its early homestand against NAIA opponents on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. when the Lady Cats host area-rival Mars Hill, before playing Presbyterian at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday as the first game of a men's/ women's basketball doubleheader. Monday evening's victory gave head coach Dr. Tony Baldwin a chance to prove his team's depth and talent. Baldwin practically used his entire roster to overwhelm Lander's Lady Senators (2-3). Junior forward Shirley Shannon came off the bench to lead all scorers with 22 points, while grabbing four rebounds. Shannon, who wentlOof 12for the game, did not miss in the second half, netting six baskets. Laura Vannoy, a junior guard, was the only other Lady Cat scoring in double figures Shirley Shannon Laura Vannoy with 12 points, while newcomers Tracy Absher, a junior-transfer center, and Charlene Penland, a freshman forward, added eight apiece. Senior guard Lynn Phymer led WCU on the boards with six rebounds. 'The game gave us a good opportunity to look at some different combinations on the floor," commented Baldwin. "From it I think we can determine what our strengths and weaknesses are. We seem to have a much better perimeter game than last year and our offense as a whole is much better. Defensively, however, we have a lot of work to do, plus we're going to have to work on rebounding better before we play the bigger teams. Overall, though, I was very pleased and I think the players were very pleased," he added. Despite the margin of victory, the Lady C ats only h ad a 43-41 edge in rebounding, plus turned the ball over 25 times. Thursday's contest with Mars Hill will pit WCU up against another good NAIA team looking for a win over their cross-mountain rival. The Lady Lions bring a 3-2 record into the game, following a 102-98 win over Milligan College, meanwhile, Baldwin doesn't see Saturday's game against Pres- bvterian as an automatic win. either. "Presbyterian is one of the top teams in their district, and should present us with a very tough challenge on Saturday, all of our first three opponents are very good basketball teams, despite being smaller NAIA schools." The Lady Cats will have their first taste of road experience for the season on December 7, when Western travels to Raleigh for a meeting with Atlantic Coast Conference-power North Carolina State, a team picked in the NCAA top-20 of most pre-season polls. by Larry Gray CAROLINIAN SPOUTS EDITOR The 1988 football season finished on a disappointing note for Western Carolina as they dropped their finale at Lexington, Virginia on November 19. The 24-20 come-from- behind victory by VMI sent the Catamounts tumbling into a last place tie with ETSU in the final Southern Conference standings. Western (1-6, 2-9) saw a 20-3 halftime lead disappear as the Keydets scored three unanswered second half touchdowns in a downpour of rain, Carlton Terry led the WCU ground game with 107 yards on 21 carries. The 5'10" 201 pounder from Conway, SC finished the season with 676 yards rushing on 160 carries in route to scoring five touchdowns. WCU quarterback Mark Smith completed 16 of 31 passes for 243 yards and tossed one touchdown pass to tight-end Robert Baxter. The sophomore finished the regular season ranked third in passing efficiency behind only Bobby Fuller Indoor Track and Field teams to open winter schedule Saturday at Clemson of ASU and John Gregory of Marshall. His final statistics were 80 of 161 passes for 1,218 yards and tossed 4 touchdown strikes while sharing duties with junior Todd Cottrell. WCU split end/kick returner Otis Washington, who came into the game with 1,895 all purpose yards, the top mark in Division l-AA players, finished with 191 yards. That gave the senior from Dillon, SC a season total of 2,086 yards which consisted of 66 rushing, 907 on receptions, and 1,113 on kick returns. WCU coach Bob Waters watched the game from a van along the sidelines, where he had access to a respirator. After the game he issued abrief statement concerning his future. "I have no plans to resign as head football coach at Western Carolina," said Waters, who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. In a season that could very well be characterized as one of misfortune and bad luck, the Cats played one of the toughest schedules in all of col- See, SEASON, next page ■»► f Western Carolina's men's and women's track and field teams will be taking part in their first meet of their 1988-89 schedule on Saturday when both Catamount squads compete in the Clemson All Comers In Clemson, SC. Among the 10 men's and 7 women's teams scheduled are North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, as well as Clemson and Western Carolina. Second-year head coach Danny Williamson, who guided both units to fourth- place finishes in the Southern Conference last winter,, has several returning all-conference performers to work with, while a handful of newcomers have shown promise, also. "We are a very young team, on the whole," said Williamson. "We will use this first meet to set some standards for the season, plus it gives us an opportunity to get in some competition before the students go home for Christmas break. We do expect to be very competitive, however." Williamson's men's team looks particularly strong in the field events. TonyMcKen- nie, a junior hurdler, leads the returnees and is expected to be at the top of the conference in his events. Senior James Morris and sophomore Marvin Allison were all-conference selections in weight events a year ago and return to further solidify the field unit. In the high jump, returning sophomore Mark Pressley is coming off an all- conference season, while sopho more Ricky Gardin received honors in the triple jump and senior Nelson Dixon made all- conference in the triple and long jumps. Top newcomers for the Cats include Frank Gardin, Brian Sellers, Edmond McClen- don, Kela Hunt, Marty Stanley, John White and Bruce Titus. Western's women's squad features returning sophomore Sandra Davis, an all-conference sprinter and long jumper in her rookie year who already owns conference records in both the indoor and outdoor long jump events. Other all- conference performers returning include sophomore middle distance runner Kim Johnson and sophomore shot specialist Christy Duda. Junior Mary McKoy also looks to be a force in the long and triple jumps and sprinting events. The list of newcomers to watch for includes Tega Crawford, Sherry Smith, Michelle Pace, Brenda Bercher, Michelle Wester, and Kerry Cooley. "We have a lot of talent to work with." commented Williamson, "but it'll take time to grow into it. On Saturday at Clemson, we are looking to get a good meet under our belts, establish some school records, and have some fun at the same time." Following the Clemson meet, WCU will not participate in another meet until Jan. 27- 28, when the Catamount squads take part in the Easman Invitational in Johnson City, Tennessee. CATAMOUNT SPORTS CAPSULE \ Dec. 1 Basketball- Womens vs. Mars Hill in Ramsey Center, 7:00 p.m. Dec. 3 Basketball-Women vs. Presbyterian in Ramsey Center, 5:00 p.m. Dec. 3 Basketball-Men vs. Mars Hill in Ramsey Center, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 Track and Field- Clcmson All Comers at Clemson, SC. Dec. 5 Basketball- Men vs. UNC-Asheville in Ramsey Center, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 Basketball- Women vs. N.C. State in Raleigh, NC, 6:00 p.m. Dec. 10 Basketball- Men vs. Kentucky in Lexington, KY, 1:30 p.m. ^ J>

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: 1988-12-01
  • Date digitized: 2019-09-05
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 14.25"
  • Pages: 12 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_1988-12-01_Vol54_No15
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library