• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1997-01-30_Vol62_No16_06

6 Thursday, January 301997 Sports (Pje ll£0t£m Carolinian Cats Track Team Shows Promise for 1997 Season BRIAN CLARK STAFF WRITER The Catamount Track & Field teams toed the line this past weekend with some of the world's best athletes in one of the biggest indoor meets in the United States at the USAir Invitational in Johnson City, Term. Allen Johnson, Gold Medalist in the 110 m Hurdles; Derrick Mills, Gold Medalist in the 4 X 400 m relay; and Todd Williams, U.S. National Champion at 10,000 meters, were several of the elite athletes competing. In addition to Allen, Mills, and Williams, many other Olympic Trials athletes along with a slew of Kenyon distance runners were in the races. These star athletes joined in and competed against 72 universities. The Catamounts had several athletes place well and run career-best times. On the women's side, Daree Thompson lit the track up with a blazing 7.66 in the 60 meter dash. Her mark eclipsed the school record of 7.86, which Thompson previously held. Also in the 60 meters, teammate Kamilah Gabriel ran a personal best of 8.01. These two also competed in the 200 meters, where Thompson ran 25.70 and placed 31st out of 98 runners. Gabriel was 60th followed by freshman Maritza Martinez in 62nd. Gabriel also ran a personal best in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.49. In the 400 meters Shawnta Person ran 58.86, placing 27th out of 92. In the Invitational 800 meters seniors Maggie Donahue and Emily Redmon ran 2:17.92 and 2:17.97 to place eighth and ninth respectively. On the previous day, Person, Donahue, and Redmon teamed up along with Keeya McManus to run a sizzling 4 x 400 meter relay. The relay ran 3:53.27, placing fourth overall, and third in the fastest section—which they were in. In the distance races, sophomore Anne Gardner ran a 5:25.79 in the mile, placing 28th out of 82 competitors. Charlotte Robson ran a personal best of 10:53.69 in the 3000 meters placing 26th out of 63 runners. In the 5000 meters freshman Jenny Warford ran a personal best of 18:51 en route to placing 28th out of 55 in the field. In the field events, the Lady Cats continued to have some impressive performances. Rahma Ma teen, last year's Out door Southern Conference Athlete of the Meet, placed ninth in the long jump with a leap of 19'00.50. Also on the field in the throwing events, Robyn Stockunas placed 16th in the 20 lb. weight throw with a throw of 44'00.00. In the shot put she placed 20th with a put of 40'00.75. When asked about his team's performance, Head Coach Danny Williamson replied, "I thought for our women to get in that type of competition was good for them. We had several good performances, one of which was Daree Thompson setting a new school record. It looks like our women's team is coming right along and improving." The Men's team didn't turn in as good as a performance as what was expected. However, freshman Johnnie Morrison ran a personal best of 6.97 in the 60 meter dash. Also freshman counterpart Tim Thomas had his best performance in the pole vault, clearing 15'01.75. In the long jump Rayshon Carthon placed 10th with his longest jump of 23'04.75. In the distance races, freshman Ray Wallen and Andy Ramos placed 41st and 48th out of 102 runners. The 5000 meters showed three Cats running well, as they ran their personal best for indoors. Junior Brian Clark ran a time of 15:04 and placed 16th out of 81 runners, while junior Collin Webster and sophomore Jeremiah Buechner ran 15:24 and 15:27 placing 28th and 30th respectively. One other Catamount performer of note was shot putter Derrick Summerhour, who placed ninth with a throw of 51'02.25. When asked about his men's performance, Williamson replied, "I felt like we did a very good job in the 5000. The three guys are running indoor best for the 5000. Also, Johnnie Morrison continued to show he's going to be one of the top sprinters in the Southern Conference. I was a little disappointed in the remainder of our sprinters. I fully expect us to step it up this weekend at Virginia Tech." This weekend the Cats travel to Blacksburg, Va., to compete in the Virginia Tech invitational. Teams slated to be at the meet are William & Mary, Virginia Tech, James Madison, Wake Forest, and East Carolina (women only). Lady Cats Drop Two on the Road RUSTY GRAY STAFF WRITER Western Carolina's women's basketball has had some bad luck on the road lately, with two straight away losses. The Lady Catamounts are now 8-9 overall and 3-4 in the Southern Conference. On Saturday, January 25, the Lady Cats visited UT-Chat- tanooga. In a game that was close from start to finish, UT-C led at halftime, 39-36. From that point on, neither team held more than a five-point lead. There were 17 lead changes and eight ties during the course of the game. With 14 seconds left in regulation, UT-C's Spring Thompson made a lay-up to force the overtime. The Lady Mocs scored four quick points in OT, but WCU battled back to regain the lead, 78-77, with 1:42 left, as Karen Mason and Missy Broy scored back-to-back buckets, A jumper followed by a lay-up by UT-C gave the Mocs control of the game with only 27 seconds left in overtime. WCU was forced to foul, which sent the Mocs to the free throw line, where a free throw with 12 sec onds left accounted for the final margin of 82-78, UT-C. Despite the loss, Western's Mason had an outstanding performance. Mason totaled a season-high 28 points plus five rebounds and five steals. LaSha Jackson had a double-double for Western with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Pam Owens also hit double figures with 10 points. Monday evening, Jan. 27, the Lady Catamounts traveled to Hanner Fieldhouse to face Georgia Southern. Western jumped ahead with the first basket, but Georgia Southern answered with a 20-6 run that the Lady Cats would never recover from. As the two teams went into intermission, GSU held a 12-point lead. Western closed in to four points twice in the second half. However, the Lady Eagles responded each time, as they built upon their lead. Western suffered from poor free-throw shooting, as they made just ll-of-28 from the stripe. WCU outshot GSU from the floor, 47.5 percent to 47.0 percent, and had three less turnovers than the opposition. Four Lady Cats scored in double digits, led by senior Pam Owens with 19 points. Juniors LaSha Jackson and Karen Mason scored 17 each and Missy Broy added ten points along with nine assists. Mason led the rebounding with eight boards. Western Carolina was without its second-leading scorer and top rebounder, Willow Russell. Russell suffered a shoulder injury in the game against Marshall. Russell, a freshman, has missed Western's last two games, both of which have been losses for the Lady Catamounts. Although the Lady Catamounts have lost their last two away games, many of the players are having outstanding seasons with some outstanding statistics. Junior Missy Broy has 365 career assists, which ranks her third on the all-time WCU career assist chart. Broy is also currently seventh on the WCU all-time steals lead, with 168 steals to her credit. Junior Karen Mason ranks eighth with 140 career steals. Senior Pam Owens is fourth in the WCU career three-pointers, with 66. Broy holds the tenth position with 32 career three-pointers. WRESTLING UPDA T€ nKv fr tfftf Professional wrestling is making a major comeback. It is at its highest popularity since the mid '80s, probably because all the same wrestlers are back. High- budget productions and clever marketing contribute to wrestling's recent climb back into popularity. I know what you non- wresting fans are thinking. Never mind whether or not it's fake; wrestling is no more fake than soap operas. The wrestlers are highly trained athletes. They go through a school on how to be a professional wrestler. It takes talent to fall 15 feet and not get hurt. Enough defending wrestling, let's get to the action. There are two major national wrestling organizations, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). These groups have been in a ten-year battle for ratings that make the Cola Wars look like a game of Atari Combat (remember?). Any marketing strategy from imitation to slander has been employed. Although the WWF has been in second place for a while, it built pro wrestling into what it is today. The WWF is attempting to make a comeback by are moving its major live show, WWF RAW, from Monday night to Thursday night. This is probably because WCW started airing a live two-hour show titled Monday Night Nitro in the same time slot. Nitro proved to be too much competition. The WWF is airing a replay of a pay-per-view on this Monday night. Whether this is permanent or not remains to be seen. WCW, owned by Ted Turner, is the bigger organization, and they have the big-name wrestlers. Hulk Hogan has formed the New World Order of wrestling. The NWO has recruited a lot of the WCW wrestlers in a effort to take over the WCW. The NWO is weakening despite having WCW brass (Eric Bischoff) and a referee in their camp. They lost the U.S. Championship belt, which they stole from Ric Flair anyway, at their own pay-per-view on Saturday night. They are also trying unsuccessfully to recruit Diamond Dallas Page, who keeps beating up whoever tries to court him. Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage (he's back) have seemingly formed a private resistance against the NWO. They hang out in the rafters and interfere in NWO matches. More wrestlers are sure to join them later. Announced Monday night, Hogan must put up the World title on the next pay per view. The challenger: Rowdy Roddy Piper. The Four Horsemen look more like ponies at this point. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair hasn't wrestled lately due to a shoulder injury suffered at the hands of the NWO. Chris Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMicheal are bickering over women and Jeff Jarrett, who wants to become a member of the Four Horsemen. Arn Anderson just beats people up. Professional wrestling has come to Jackson County. The NCW is a local wrestling organization that has an entertaining brand of extreme wrestling where there is blood and lots of chairs. I recommend checking it out at Bailey's next time around. Keep an eye on the wrestling update each week for the latest wrestling information. Comments and questions are welcome. Winter Kayaking on the Nantahala Cascades CHRIS MANDERSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER You know you have reached the Cascades of the Nantahala River when you start to see waterfalls on your right as you drive up Wayah Road. Pull over above these waterfalls and get ready. The run starts with the largest vertical drop of the section. About 20 yards downstream from the put in, 'The Horns' is a rapid with a total drop of perhaps 25 feet from top to bottom over a series of ledges. Run the main vertical drop through the middle slot, or through "the horns" as it looks from above, straight off an eddy on the right bank at the bottom. The ten-foot slide that ends the rapid is runnable riverwide. The next 100 yards down are easy Class Four drops that lead into the second major rapid, "The Big Kahuna.' This rapid has possibly 45 feet of total drop, ending with an imposing ten- foot vertical drop. The conventional route down is to stay right, and away from the rock wall on the left, from beginning to end. Class Four rapids continue down to the takeout a half-mile below. Since it's located within an hour of WCU, many students and locals run the big drops of the Cascades regularly. Several, including Joey Baranski, Brandon Summey, and myself have run the river more than 25 times since the beginning of the year, sometimes making four runs in an afternoon. The short length of the run, roadside access, and moderate Class Five Whitewater make this section good to run in the winter. If it gets too cold, you are never more than a ten- minute walk from the car. Even so, mishaps and the resulting injuries do happen. Allen Smith learned this on his first trip down the Cascades. Smith entered The Horns cleanly. The current caught his edge, however, as he stroked toward the rapid's large middle drop, flipping his boat as it fell off the lip. The impact at the bottom of the drop dislocated his shoulder and forced him from his boat on a 30-degree day. He emerged from the water a little blue, happy the car was only 100 yards away. Although the big rapids of the Cascades can be humbling, generally the thrill outweighs the risk. The hourlong drive is worth it, even if you just go along to watch. I will be glad to answer any questions I can about this section. You can e-mail me at cmanders@wcu.campus.mci.net Intramural Champions and Events Announced 1. INTRAMURAL 1-ON-l BASKETBALL SIGN-UPS Signups will end on Thursday, January 30th at 3:00pm. The 1-on-l tournament will occur Thursday, January 30th at 4:00pm in Reid Upper Gyms. Classification: Women: 5'6" & under (Sorority & Independent) 5'6" & over (Sorority & Independent) Men: 6'0" & under 6'0" & over 2. The results of the Men's 3-on-3 Basketball Championship Playoffs are as follows: • All Campus Champion: Los Lobos •All Campus Runner-up: The Firm 3. The results of the Women's 3-on-3 Basketball Championship Playoffs are as follows: • All Campus Champion: Bad Girls •All Campus Runner-up: Whiptails 4. The results of the Coed Basketball Free Throw Contest are as follows: •All Campus Co-Champions: Tracy Morrow 21, and Kyle Hartley 19, 40 shots made out of 50 attempts; and Natalie Baldwin 16, and Drew Parker 24, 40 shots made out of 50 attempts. 4. Men's Basketball Free Throws has 2 participants attempt 25 shots a piece for best total out of 50 attempts. The results are as follows: • All Campus Champion: Jeff Brooks 23, and Jay Robinson 24, 47 shots made of 50 attempts. • National League Champion Team: Don Lambert 24, and Pete Parham 19, for the Rangers, 43 shots made of 50 attempts. •Fraternity League Champion Team: Jeremiah Wiggins 23, and Chad Ensley 19, for Sigma Phi Epsilon, 42 shots made of 50 attempts. •International League Champion Team: Will Stagings 16, and John Laughter 23, 39 shots made of 50 attempts. •Independent League Champion Team Jeff Brooks 23, Jay Robinson 24, 47 shots made of 50 attempts. 5. Women's Basketball Free throws has 1 participant attempt 25 shots total. The results are as follows: •All Campus Sorority Champion: Brandi Honeycutt 21 out of 25 attempts for Phi Mu. •All Campus Sorority Runners-up: Sarah Pams 20, for Alpha Xi Delta and Tina Burger 20 out of 25 attempts for Delta Zeta. •All Campus Independent Co-Champion: Tracy Morrow, 22 out of 25 attempts for Bad Girls, and Meredith Machen, 22 out of 25 attempts for Bad Girls. •All Campus Independent Runner-Up: Cindy Jordan, 21 out of 25 attempts for Bad Girls. ATTENTIONS SUMMER INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE Travel and earn college credit in paid summer internship. Call 1-800-251-4000 ext. 1428

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: 1997-01-30
  • Date digitized: 2020-01-13
• Extent
  • Dimension: 14" x 11.25"
  • Pages: 10 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1997-01-30_Vol62_No16
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library