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Sports | 1000

FOOTBALL

Trannon adjusting move back to field

Brian Charlton
April 12, 2005

For the past four months it seems Matt Trannon only was dreaming about basketball as his team headed to the Final Four. The junior forward left his football pads behind and worked his way into MSU head coach Tom Izzo's rotation. But when Trannon went to sleep at night, it was a football he grabbed to tuck in next to him in bed. "I've been doing it since high school -just something I do," he said. Although he was mostly on the hardwood during the winter, he constantly checked in with his football coaches and spent his spare time in the weight room. It was a short break for the two-sport athlete from Flint in preparation for his senior football season. After playing in the Final Four in St.

SPORTS

MSU victorious in 16 events

Brian Charlton
April 11, 2005

For MSU sophomore sprinter Cynetheia Rooks, running the 100-meter dash is one of the least-run races in her arsenal of events. But that didn't stop Rooks from outrunning the competition at the MSU Invitational as she started her season, hoping to build on last year when she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 200-meter run and placed in the 400-meter run at regionals. "It's not really my main focus, but my competitive spirit kicked in, and I just wanted to win," Rooks said. Rooks placed first in the 100-meter with a time of 11.92 seconds and the 200-meter with a time of 24.43, helping the Spartans win 16 of 19 events on their home track against four other teams - Dayton, Lansing Community College, Oakland Community College and IPFW. After the women's team had the majority of its events at its first outdoor invitational in Florida canceled due to bad weather on March 25, many competitors got their first chance to race and earn spots on the traveling squad, said MSU head coach Angela Goodman. "The team is young," Goodman said.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Former Spartan looking to reach 40-win mark

Esther Gim
April 11, 2005

Former MSU goaltender Ryan Miller is on the brink of history tonight. With a win against the St. John Maple Leafs, the East Lansing native will become the first AHL goaltender to hit 40 wins since Gerry Cheevers set the league record of 48 victories in 1964-65. Miller had a chance to reach 40 on Friday but his Rochester Americans lost 5-1 to Binghamton.

BASEBALL

Playing catchup

The MSU baseball team was between a rock and a hard place for much of the four-game weekend series against Illinois at Kobs Field. The Spartans were blown out 12-3 in Friday's series opener, then fell both times in Saturday's doubleheader, 9-2 and 6-5. "We told them that they battled all the way through.

FOOTBALL

Smith settling move to bandit position

Matt Bishop
April 11, 2005

After two years of starting at the strong safety position, Eric Smith has leaped into a new position this spring - bandit. The senior, who recorded 115 tackles last season, second on the team, will look to strengthen a linebacking corps that will be hurting from the loss of last year's team captain Ronald Stanley. Smith said it's a bit more challenging shifting to a new position that's a combination of linebacker and defensive back. "As a safety, you had to know pretty much everything," he said. "They talked to me a little bit before spring ball, saying they wanted to look at me moving to the bandit," Smith said of the coaching staff.

SOFTBALL

Team drops 2nd game in split, 3-1

Matt Bishop
April 11, 2005

Once again, the offense ran dry for the MSU softball team. After partaking in the fifth-longest game in MSU softball history, a 2-1, 13-inning win in the first game of the doubleheader, the Spartans left seven runners on base in the second game as they fell to Penn State, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Old College Field. "That first game was really a doubleheader in itself," MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph said.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Former captain Hall selected to Team USA

Esther Gim
April 11, 2005

Former MSU hockey captain Adam Hall has been added to his third consecutive Team USA's World Championships roster on Friday, joining John-Michael Liles and Mike York as Spartans on the team. Hall finished in the top five in scoring each season at MSU from 1998-2002.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Men's tennis defeats Purdue

Esther Gim
April 11, 2005

The MSU men's tennis team won 4-3 against Purdue on Sunday afternoon, to improve MSU's overall record to 12-9 and 4-3 in the Big Ten. The Spartans recorded four singles victories, including wins by seniors Andrew Formanczyk and Cameron Marshall at No.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: Men's track and field team grabs 6 1st place wins

Esther Gim
April 11, 2005

Senior Julien Williams reached an NCAA regional qualifying mark in the long jump to help lead the MSU men's track and field team to six first-place finishes against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Williams jumped a distance of 24-8 1/2 in the long jump and also won in the triple jump with a distance of 48-10 1/4.

SPORTS

Women's team's season solid overall

Chris Barsotti
April 8, 2005

After an unbelievable season for the MSU women's basketball team was capped off with an appearance in the national championship game, it is only fitting the overall grade for the team be an A-. The Spartans exceeded just about everyone's expectations during a season that saw records shattered and the standards for MSU basketball raised up high. The Spartans could not do much wrong this season, setting record highs for wins in a season, advancing the furthest ever in the tournament and going an unprecedented 4-0 against teams ranked in the top 3 of The Associated Press polls. Although the Spartans were unable to capture the national championship, the road to the title game was just as impressive as having a shot at the title. After gaining the No.

SPORTS

BC, The Boss bid adieu to season

All good things must come to an end, such as the old Izzone student section, the TV show "Newlyweds" with Nick and Jessica, the Detroit Tigers' undefeated season and yes, progs.

SPORTS

Team to contend for title again as 3 starters return

Chris Barsotti
April 8, 2005

"Dream big" was the motto of the MSU women's basketball team this year and after the season the Spartans had, they might just continue to have big dreams. The Spartans ended their season Tuesday with a disappointing loss to Baylor in the national championship game, but this team knows, regardless of what happened Tuesday night, the program benefited from its success. "This loss is going to hurt," senior guard Kristin Haynie said after the loss to Baylor.

BASKETBALL

Seniors pass on knowledge

Brian Charlton
April 8, 2005

When Chris Hill, Alan Anderson and Kelvin Torbert joined the Spartans as freshmen, the team lacked a solid senior class to show them the ropes. Now that the senior trio is leaving, Anderson said he made sure to leave behind their knowledge and experience. "We never had that," Anderson said.

SPORTS

President Simon to throw 1st pitch Sun.

Matt Bishop
April 8, 2005

The MSU softball team will head back to Big Ten play today at Old College Field with two games against Ohio State (today and Saturday) and a doubleheader against Penn State on Sunday. MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph will be honored before Friday's game in recognition of her 500th career victory, which came in the 4-1 victory over Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday. The team is coming off a 4-3 loss at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, in which MSU (11-19-1 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) committed four costly errors. Sophomore pitcher Rachel Turney had been solid on the mound for the Spartans, compiling a 7-10 record with a minuscule 1.74 ERA. The team has struggled to score runs this season with freshman Traci Nicosia leading the team with 10 RBIs. Game time for Friday is 4:05 p.m., Saturday's game is at 1 p.m.

SPORTS

Spartans save best for last in seasons

The men's and women's basketball teams each suffered their worst losses of the season in their final games. But the hurt all of the players on both teams feel right now will soon subside, and all of them will realize what great seasons they had. The men's team began the season with high expectations, but after losing at Duke, MSU took a mental hit which they could not get rid of until the home game versus Wisconsin.

ICE HOCKEY

Recruits to add depth to team next season

Eric Fish
April 7, 2005

MSU head coach Rick Comley said he likes who he has coming back and coming in for the Spartans next season. "We had a lot of young guys gain great experience this year that should be better next year," Comley said last week. "I think we have an outstanding senior class next year that is really going to help the hockey team.