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Sports | Basketball Men's 1027

SPORTS

Scholarships to honor ex-MSU star pitcher's son

Tom Keller
April 15, 2005

One of baseball's all-time greats visited MSU on Wednesday to benefit the cause of one of his former teammates. Cal Ripken Jr., who holds the Major League Baseball record for consecutive games played, spoke at the Kellogg Center on Wednesday night at a dinner benefiting the Brian Vander Laan Scholarship Fund, which commemorates the son of former MSU pitcher Steve Vander Laan. Steve Vander Laan, a star pitcher at MSU in the 1970s, spent a year playing with Ripken in the minor leagues.

SPORTS

Haynie anticipating pro draft

Chris Barsotti
April 14, 2005

During her four-year career at MSU, senior guard Kristin Haynie has accomplished quite a bit and it is only fitting that she moves on to the WNBA, which is where she will be heading after the draft on Saturday in New Jersey. "I am just really excited to have the opportunity to play at the next level," Haynie said.

SPORTS

WEB ONLY: University honors student-athletes

Chris Meagher
April 13, 2005

MSU took time to recognize its top student-athletes at the Spartan Academic Excellence Gala on Monday night. Seniors Karen Gustafson and Shane Martin were the recipients of the President's Award, given to the male and female graduating seniors with the highest cumulative grade-point average. Gustafson is a member of the MSU women's tennis team, with a 4.0 GPA.

ICE HOCKEY

Miller unanimously voted captain by team

Eric Fish
April 13, 2005

Forward Drew Miller was voted by his teammates to serve as the MSU hockey team's captain next season for his junior, head coach Rick Comley announced Tuesday. "It's a good group of guys coming back and the freshmen coming in are really talked highly of," Miller said. "I'm excited to lead the team, and I think I have three assistant captains that are all capable of being captain, too, so I think we have a good leadership for the team." Forward Colton Fretter and defensemen Jared Nightingale and Corey Potter will serve as assistants to Miller.

SPORTS

Lugnuts enjoy strong fan base in Lansing

Eric Fish
April 12, 2005

More than 7,000 fans stood and cheered last Thursday when the Lansing Lugnuts recorded the final out of the game to win by a slim score of 1-0 and kick off their 10th season of Class A minor league baseball at Oldsmobile Park. Despite a new affiliate with the Toronto Blue Jays and a completely new roster, fan support remains strong for the Lugnuts and was a surprise on opening day for Lansing's first-year manager Ken Joyce. "The fans are outstanding," he said.

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.