Page 8
The Blue Banner
April 28, 2005
Sports
by Paul Petrequin
Staff Reporter
NFL
■The NFL draft took place on
April 23 with Utah quarterback
Alex Smith going as the No. 1
overall pick. As expected, the
San Francisco 49ers chose Smith
over University of California’s
quarterback Aaron Rodgers with
their first selection.
The top five draft picks went as
follows: San Francisco 49ers
drafted Smith, Miami Dolphins
drafted Ronnie Brown (RB -
Auburn), Cleveland Browns
drafted Braylon Edwards (WR -
Michigan), Chicago Bears draft
ed Cedric Benson (RB - Texas),
and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
drafted Carnell “Cadillac”
Williams (RB - Auburn).
Projected to be a top five pick,
Rodgers fell down in the stand
ings until he was finally selected
by the Green Bay Packers as the
24th overall pick in the first
round.
Although Oklahoma had 11
players drafted, quarterback and
Heisman winner Jason White
was not among them. The former
Sooner, who finished third in the
Heismen voting this year, was
expected to be a late round pick,
but his two major knee surgeries
proved to be too much of a gam
ble. White will now sign into free
agency.
NBA
■The NBA playoffs kicked off
last weekend, as the top 16 teams
will battle for the championship
until early June. While the West
playoff picture has been set for a
while, the final spot for the East
came down to the last game, with
both New Jersey and Cleveland
vying for the eighth seed.
LeBron James’ Cavaliers were
unable to clinch after losing their
season finale, while the Nets won
theirs, securing the playoff berth.
■The top seeded Miami Heat
bulldozed the Nets in their first
game, defeating New Jersey 116-
98. In a game that Shaquille
O’Neal graded himself “an F’ in
terms of health, he had 17 points
and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes.
■The seventh seeded Denver
Nuggets upset the second seeded
San Antonio Spurs in game one
of their series. The Spurs, who
posted the best home record in
the NBA at 38-3, lost in San
Antonio 93-87.
■The Phoenix Suns, top seed in
the West, defeated the Memphis
Grizzlies 114-103 in their first
playoff game at home. Shawn
Marion led the Suns with 26
points and 13 rebounds, while
Quentin Richardson followed
closely with 22 points. Phoenix
set a franchise record for 3-point
ers made in a game with 15-of-
32 shooting from beyond the arc.
Phoenix set an NBA record with
796 3-pointers during the regular
season.
MLB
■Seattle Mariners’ pitcher Jamie
Moyer threw eight solid innings
en route to a 9-1 victory over the
Cleveland Indians. The win was
Moyer’s 130th victory as a
Mariner, tying him with Randy
Johnson for the franchise lead in
wins.
NCAA Men’s Basketball
■Sean May, Raymond Felton,
and Marvin Williams will all join
teammate Rashad McCants in
the NBA draft, as the three
Tarheels all declared last week.
UNC also lost seniors Jawad
Williams, Jackie Manuel and
Melvin Scott. The Tarheels
returning leading scorer will be
forward David Noel, who aver
aged 3.9 points per game, and
will only field one starter from
this year, point guard Quentin
Thomas.
Baseball team drops series against Winthrop
by Tracy Horne
. Staff Reporter
The Bulldogs dropped a three-game confer
ence series at Winthrop University and then
traveled to UNC-Greensboro for a mid-week
game.
In game one, Winthrop’s Kevin Slowey gave
up only one hit in eight innings to lift the Eagles
over the Bulldogs 11-0 April 15.
“We struggled hitting the ball,” said Justin
Wilkins, junior management student. “We did
n’t come out ready to attack the pitches.”
Winthrop’s Daniel Carte hit a two-mn home
run in the first inning to give the momentum to
the Eagles early.
For the Bulldogs, John Whited walked to
lead off the third inning, and in the fourth Tony
Campana led off with a triple.
Whited and Campana were the only two base
runners for the Bulldogs.
Chris White took the loss for the Bulldogs,
pitching 4.1 innings and giving up 11 hits and
nine runs.
“We have to do a better job hitting the ball
when we have mnners in scoring position,”
said Tony Wall, undeclared sophomore.
The Eagles rallied in the bottom of the eighth
to take game two 8-3 April 16.
“We aren’t a high scoring team, so we need to
do a better job manufacturing runs,” said Wall.
Wilkins knocked a two-run home run over
the left-center field fence to bring in Wall.
In the ninth, Elliott Arrington and Wall had
back-to-back hits, and Wilkins drove in
Arrington on an RBI ground out.
Wall and Arrington both went 2-for-4, and
Ben Kerr and Campana both added singles.
Tim Johnson took the loss for the Bulldogs,
giving up five runs on three hits in seven
innings. He also walked four batters and com
mitted three balks.
The Eagles scored two mns on balk calls and
two more off of errors.
In game three, the Bulldogs took the lead in
the first off of a two-run homer by Josh Coyle
and a RBI single by Wilkins, but the Eagles
completed their sweep with a score of 8-3 April
17.
“We came out early and jumped on top, but
we slowed up after that,” said Wall. “We need
to learn that once we get up, we need to keep
pounding away.”
The Eagles tied the score in the bottom of the
third on back-to-back RBI doubles by Jacob
Dempsey and Kyle Roberson. They took the
lead in the fourth off an unearned mn. Three
more runs came in the fifth and in the sixth.
Dempsey hit a solo home run for his third RBI
of the game and ended the scoring for both
teams.
The Bulldogs had opportunities in the fourth
and fifth, but left runners stranded on third base.
Ben Buchanan took the loss for the Bulldogs,
throwing five innings and giving up eight hits,
seven runs, four earned, walked four and struck
out four. Graham Baughn threw three innings,
giving up one run on three hits, walking one
and striking out one.
“We had a couple errors in the sixth and sev
enth when they were dominating that really
hurt us,” said Wilkins.
UNC-Greensboro hit six more base hits than
the Bulldogs to take the game 9-4 April 20.
“We gave (Greensboro) a few too many hits,”
said Wilkins.
Wall hit a two-mn home mn in the fourth
inning while Campana tied the score at 2-2.
The Spartans took the lead back in the bottom
of the fourth when Davis Adams and Danny
McClure hit back-to-back doubles, moving the
score to 3-2.
The Spartans brought in three more mns in
the fifth with Jeremy Rouhn leading off with a
single and later scoring on a triple play by Jake
Linney. Jay Maule tripled home Linney and
went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Adams.
Greensboro’s Wes McCall led off the sixth
with a double and scored on a wild pitch to
make the score 9-2.
The Bulldogs came out in the seventh, scor
ing their last two mns. Coyle led off with a sin
gle, and Wall reached first on a fielder’s choice.
Arrington singled, moving WaU to second.
Then, Nathan Durham loaded the bases with an
infield hit.
WUldns singled Wall home and Whited hit
into an RBI fielder’s choice to bring Arrington
home. A double play with the bases loaded
ended the inning and the scoring for the
Bulldogs.
Wall, Arrington and Wilkins all had two hits
for the Bulldogs.
Alan DeRatt took the loss for the Bulldogs.
Buchanan threw 1.2 innings, giving up three
mns on two hits and Eric Brotzman, and Chris
Nigro each threw one scoreless inning, giving
up one hit.
“We haven’t played like we should have this
season,” said Wall. “But, if everyone works
hard over the summer, we should come back
and have a good season next year.”
/
.i.im hH ^ i
DUSTIN jordan/staff photographer/reposi
Freshman Tim Johnson pitches for the Buiidogs against Radford Universit)
on April 22. The Bulldogs play next at Furman University April 29.
‘Dogs finish in top 10 at championship
by Tiffanie Tatum
Staff Reporter
The men’s outdoor track team fin
ished seventh, and the women’s team
finished eighth in the Big South
Outdoor Track and Field
Championship, April 14-17.
The men’s outdoor track team col
lected 50 points, while the women
earned 24 points.
Root Kirbach, senior physics math
ematics student, finished sixth in the
lOK mn.
For the UNCA women’s team,
Sarah Davis, undeclared sophomore,
finished 11th in the hammer team.
Jessica Salyers, undeclared sopho
more, followed with a 15th place fin
ish.
Senior Nathan Hedgepeth, senior
biology student, came in second in the
shot put with a throw of 16.04 meters.
Hedgepeth’s second place finish gave
the Bulldogs eight points.
“Nathan did well,” said coach Dean
Duncan. “He came up from his previ
ous best by a meter and a half.”
Hedgepeth is learning a new tech
nique in discus that he is starting to get
down, according to Duncan.
“This should allow him to throw
farther,” said Duncan.
Troy Young, undeclared juiuor, fin
ished fourth in the decathlon giving
the men’s team five points.
“I was very happy with how Young
competed in the decathlon,” said
Duncan. “I thought he did a really
good job there. Then he came back
and placed second in the javelin.”
David Bell, junior environmental
science student, placed third in the
men’s steeplechase, helping his team
gain six points.
“Bell is All-Conference in the stee
plechase.” said Duncan. “He ran a
very good time. It places him No. 2 on
our all time list for the steeplechase.”
Hedgepeth came in second place in
the discus event gaining eight points
DUSTIN jordan/staff photographer/reporter
Sophomore Kris Fant practices hurdles before the Bulldogs com
peted in the Big South Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
for the men’s team. In the javelin
throw. Young placed second with a
throw of 55.83 meters.
“The wind was pretty bad for the
discus,” said Duncan. “No one was
really throwing far, but they still com
peted very well.”
Kris Fant, undeclared sophomore,
gained six points after bringing in a
third place finish in the men’s 110-
meter hurdles. Also, the men’s 4x100-
meter relay team came in fourth place,
and the women’s 4x400-relay fin
ished in fourth place.
On the women’s side, junior
Latanya Haiti s finished second in the
400-meter race and took a fourth
place finished in the 200.
“For her it is probably kind of a
heart-breaker,” said Duncan. “She still
competed very well. It’s one of them
days were you do the best you can in
competition.”
Harris brought in half the points the
UNCA women’s team earned during
the championship meet.
“That’s what we need,” said
Duncan. “We need more people like
Harris scoring points. We are recruit
ing that way now to bring in people
who can do that.”
In the 800, the women’s team fin
ished sixth and seventh in the finals.
Despite a broken foot, Loring
Watkins, senior mathematics student,
gained one point for UNCA after
placing eighth in the 5K run.
“I wish I could have finished hard
er,” said Watkins. “I could not go
faster because there was a lot of pain
in my foot.”
When it came down to who could
face the pressure, the men’s team did
a good job of handling it during the
meet, according to Duncan.
“I feel like the men’s succeeded the
expectations,” said Duncan. “They
either ran what they were capable of
minting normally or they succeed
those expectations.
‘The women ran good performance
and they placed high in the ranking,”
said Duncan. “We got to learn how to
compete when the going gets tough.
They got to get good at handling pres
sure.”
Atmospheric Conditions
B.F.A. Exhibition
Heather Ne'wman
Atmospheric Fired Functional Ceramics
April 2 7-May 15
Highsmith Gallery
OPENING RECEPTION:
Eriday April 29
6-8 p.m.
more info: 251-6559
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