Lansing - While family, friends and reporters waited for T.J. Duckett to make a statement at Trippers on Saturday, his aunt June Smith asked, “Anyone like Georgia peaches?” A short time earlier, Duckett was with friends and family at the Frandor Shopping Center sports bar when the Atlanta Falcons notified him that he was their selection in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Spartan receiver Charles Rogers will become part of an elite class of athletes when he is pictured in the October 2002 issue of Playboy Magazine. Rogers will not be baring all, he will join 25 others as members of the 2002 Preseason Playboy All-American team. Gil Brandt, an analyst for NFL.com said Thursday that Rogers would be part of the 2002 Playboy All-American team. “He’s a great player and can he return kicks,” Brandt said. Brandt has helped Gary Cole, photography director and sports editor of Playboy Magazine, select the team in the past. Last season, Rogers caught 67 passes for 1,470 yards in 12 games.
Senior decathlete Paul Terek automatically qualified for this year’s NCAA Championships by winning the decathlon at the Mount San Antonio College Relays in California on Friday. Terek’s 7,926 points were good for the third-best score in the NCAA this season. Sophomore Steve Manz competed in the discus throw and shot put at the prestigious Mount SAC event, while seniors Matt Deering (pole vault) and Jeff Kus (high jump) also participated in the meet. Meanwhile, the rest of the Spartan track team was in Kalamazoo for the Western Michigan Quadrangular this weekend.
Lansing - A dramatic ninth inning comeback on a drizzling Sunday afternoon at Oldsmobile Park allowed the Lugnuts to steal a 4-3 win.Catcher Carlos Marmol, playing in his first game as a Lugnut after being called up from extended spring training in Mesa, Ariz., tripled in the ninth, driving in two and tying the score at 3.
The women’s track team placed second in a tri-meet Saturday at Western Michigan. MSU’s 140.5 points were 19.5 behind the host Broncos. Sophomore Sarah Adelaine placed first in hammer throw at the meet and set a new school record (150 feet, 7 inches) in the process.
The women’s golf team finished third in a 15-team field at the rain-shortened Lady Buckeye Invitational this weekend.
The women’s tennis team (11-11 overall, 3-7 Big Ten) finished its regular season with 4-3 home losses to Indiana and Purdue this weekend. The Spartans lost the doubles point in both matches, but got strong play from freshman Dora Vastag (No.
With his 6-foot-4, 280-pound frame culminating with his bald head and fire red goatee, Justin Hartis looks like a warrior.And the junior lineman from Charlotte had a chance to battle with some of the best warriors in high school football Saturday afternoon during the Nike Football Training Camp held at the practice fields next to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building.
The MSU football team’s long snapper from last season signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Redskins on Sunday night - five minutes after the conclusion of the NFL Draft. Tony Grant, 23, signed a two year deal in addition to a small signing bonus after not being picked up during the seven-round draft. The electrical engineering senior said he didn’t know if he would get drafted at all. “I don’t know any details, all I know is I’m a Redskin,” Grant said.
With a little help from the Wolverines, the MSU baseball team staged a ninth-inning rally Sunday and won 5-3 at Ray Fisher Stadium.The Spartans (26-9 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) entered the final inning down 3-0.
The NFL Draft can be the most exciting two days in a young college football player’s life. This weekend, five Spartans came one step closer to playing professional football. Five players from a team that finished 7-5 last season is a pretty good accomplishment, and showed just how much talent that team had. Last year the Spartans weren’t represented until the seventh round, when three players were selected. Cornerback Renaldo Hill went to the Arizona Cardinals, center Siitupe Peko went to the New York Jets and T.J.
First-round draft pick T.J. Duckett was the guy in the spotlight this weekend, but four other Spartan players quietly fulfilled childhood dreams of their own. Tight end Chris Baker, wide receiver Herb Haygood, defensive tackle Josh Shaw and punter Craig Jarrett all had their names called in the 2002 NFL Draft, which took place Saturday and Sunday in New York. All four were Spartan seniors last fall - but being drafted is the official start of their professional football careers.
Former Spartan tailback T.J. Duckett was picked by the Atlanta Falcons as the 18th pick in the NFL Draft on Saturday.Duckett, an MSU standout and fan favorite, was largely expected by analysts to be chosen by the Cleveland Browns, which would have put him at 16th in the draft.
After three straight nonconference games, the MSU softball team returns to Big Ten action this weekend. The Spartans (21-26 overall, 3-7 Big Ten) travel to Iowa City, for a two game series with the Big Ten-leading Hawkeyes (28-14, 8-2). The two teams begin the series at 6 p.m.
No one at Beaner’s Gourmet Coffee recognized him as he sipped an Orange Brain Freeze smoothie that matched his orange American Eagle T-shirt. His gold chain, with a tiny gold football dangling at the end, didn’t give him away either.
For the first time in years, the four-game baseball series between MSU and Michigan has some meaning.MSU (23-8 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) and U-M (11-19, 6-6) are currently in fifth and sixth place, respectively in the conference.
The track and field teams will head to Kalamazoo Saturday to compete in the Western Michigan Invitational at Kanley Track. The women’s team will begin competition at 10:30 a.m.
A few hopeful Spartans are anxiously waiting to hear their names announced this weekend at the 2002 NFL Draft in New York. Junior tailback T.J.
Kenneth Walter Gest, a member of the only MSU swimming team to win a Big Ten Championship, died April 4 of pancreatic cancer at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. He was 65 and had been living in Traverse City since 1976. Gest was an All-America swimmer and a member of the Spartan’s 1957 squad.
Of course, Spartan fans know the names of basketball guard Marcus Taylor and hockey goalie Ryan Miller.But when those star athletes’ respective seasons ended with disappointing first-round NCAA Tournament losses last month, the result was a temporary void of recognizable Spartan athletes.Spring sports have traditionally been overlooked around campus because MSU has had trouble competing with warm-weather schools from the South and West.