Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Sports

SPORTS

Track athlete makes dream a reality in weekend meet

Keith Dunlap
February 26, 2001

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Sherita Williams knew she had to do something big during her final attempts in the triple jump competition at the Big Ten Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday. The sophomore from Tampa, Fla., had just seen her leading jump of 12.71 meters eclipsed by Minnesota’s Shani Marks, who jumped 12.74 meters and was seemingly on her way to victory. “I just knew if I wanted to win, I had to put out something better or equal to,” Williams said. Williams, who had set two school records earlier in the year and had the second-best mark in the Big Ten entering the competition, stepped up and launched herself to a season-best jump of 12.74 meters, tying Marks. Because her second-best jump of 12.71 meters was better than Marks’ next best, Williams was crowned Big Ten champion in the triple jump. Her yearlong goal of winning the triple jump at the Big Ten Tournament finally came true. “I’m more than happy just because maybe the pressure is off me a little,” she said. Williams also finished sixth in the long jump and seventh in the pentathlon, but it was her efforts in the triple jump that highlighted MSU’s ninth-place finish. In addition to Williams’ heroics, the Spartans had other solid individual performances during the weekend. Junior Ann Somerville, MSU’s top distance runner, competed in three events, finishing fourth in the 3,000-meter run, third in the one-mile run, and fourth in the 5,000-meter run. “I just wanted to go out there and run my hardest and to stay in the mix of the top three or top five,” Somerville said.

SPORTS

Senior wrestlers to be honored this weekend

Keith Dunlap
February 23, 2001

Friday will be a night of endings and new beginnings at Jenison Field House when the 14th-ranked MSU wrestling squad hosts sixth-ranked Oklahoma. It will not only be the last home meet of the season, but it also will be the last time four Spartan wrestlers will take the mat at home.

SPORTS

Spartans face tough road test

Eric Lacy
February 23, 2001

Another packed arena on the road could pose another serious threat for No. 5 MSU when it visits unranked Penn State on Saturday. A sellout crowd of 15,261 is expected at Bryce Jordan Center in a matchup that will be the first time a defending NCAA champion has visited Happy Valley, Pa.

SPORTS

Baseball team gets ready for opener

Keith Dunlap
February 22, 2001

The expected temperature in East Lansing on Friday may be below freezing, but there also will be an ominous sign that warmer times are just around the corner.The MSU baseball team will open its season Friday in Alabama against Troy State, and despite finishing ninth in the Big Ten last year, head coach Ted Mahan is forecasting a serious run by the Spartans for the Big Ten crown in 2001.“We’re going to have to have some breaks, we’re going to have to stay healthy, but whoever wins the championship are going to have to have those things go their way,” he said.

SPORTS

Cummings out again with foot injury

Krista Latham
February 22, 2001

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen for senior forward Becky Cummings.After three years of following at the heels of former Spartan standouts Maxann Reese and Kristin Rasmussen, this season had everyone talking about Cummings finally getting her turn in the limelight.She was named to the All-Big Ten coaches preseason team and did not disappoint.

SPORTS

Wrestling team wins during weekend match

Tyler Sipe
February 22, 2001

Wrestling The 14th ranked Spartans claimed their third consecutive win by overtaking Eastern Michigan 39-7 last Sunday, according to MSU’s Sports Information Department. MSU brought its record to 8-7 in convincing fashion when it overpowered the Eagles.

SPORTS

Team prepared for Iowa

Krista Latham
February 22, 2001

Last time the women’s basketball team played the No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes, MSU was smack in the middle of a nine-game losing streak - and they were certainly playing like it.But the Spartan team that will face the Hawkeyes tonight in Iowa City isn’t quite the same.They will again be without senior forward and previous leading scorer Becky Cummings.But perhaps more importantly, they will have the advantage of a revived team attitude that has every player contributing and every game coming down to the wire.Head coach Joanne P.

SPORTS

Two divers and coach earn top conference award

Keith Dunlap
February 21, 2001

To say it was a good weekend for Spartan divers Carly Weiden and Summer Mitchell, and diving coach John Narcy is as big an understatement as saying Homer Simpson enjoys spending time at a donut shop.Weiden, a junior from Kentwood, Mich., won the Big Ten Championship in the 3-meter diving event and finished third in the 1-meter competition.Mitchell, a sophomore from Troy, Mich., did the reverse by capturing the Big Ten title in the 1-meter event and placing third in the 3-meter competition.For their performances, Weiden and Mitchell were named Co-Big Ten Divers of the Year.

SPORTS

Spartan walk-on players feel fortunate for a chance to play in Big Ten

Tim Mosley
February 21, 2001

They don’t receive much playing time, if they get any at all.They didn’t earn scholarships, instead applying for financial aid like most other college students.They weren’t even known to all the players on the team.They are walk-ons; players not recruited by college coaches, but who have the ambition and skill to secure themselves a position on the team.And while most will never know the glory of throwing a game winning touchdown, as South Carolina Gamecock Erik Kimrey did in 1999 as a walk-on quarterback, or recording a last second sack as Notre Dame walk-on Daniel Ruettiger - a.k.a.

SPORTS

Freshman jumps to new heights

Krista Latham
February 21, 2001

MSU women’s basketball freshman forward Julie Pagel isn’t used to losing. The former star of the 1999 Utica high school girls’ basketball team went 27-0 last year, leading her team to a state championship.

SPORTS

Hockey team maintains top ranking, raises money for kids

James Jahnke
February 21, 2001

Despite a 4-3-0 record in its last seven games, the MSU hockey team is the top-ranked squad in the land for the 15th straight week.The Spartans (25-4-4 overall, 18-4-3 CCHA) garnered 32 of 40 first-place votes in the USCHO.com poll and 15 of 18 in this week’s USA Today rankings.

SPORTS

W-hoops lose over weekend

Krista Latham
February 19, 2001

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A touch more of offensive prowess would have been a blessing for the MSU women’s basketball team Sunday. Its defensive know-how kept the team on top most of the game against Illinois, but a late-game dip in offense let the Fighting Illini break away with a 52-50 win.

SPORTS

Special teams important in win

James Jahnke
February 19, 2001

DETROIT - When two teams are as evenly matched as No. 1 MSU and No. 5 Michigan, whichever team has the better special teams usually wins. Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, the Spartans got that spark. MSU tallied three special teams goals - two on the power play and one shorthanded - in its 4-2 victory over archrival U-M, after both the power play and penalty killing units had struggled recently. Junior right wing Adam Hall did most of the damage, notching the shorthanded marker and one of the power play goals, to boost his season total to 15. “Power play is one of those things you can’t force, sometimes it’s there and sometimes it’s not,” Hall said.