Page 12
Friday, October 4,1996
STUDENT ATHLETE PROFILE
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
MEN’S SOCCER
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Student Athlete: Gibson excels on track
Scott Wolfe
Sports Editor
Joe Gibson said his freshman year
at Brevard College was average, but an
average campaign for the former
Spotswood High School phenom may
be better than a good year for many of
his teammates.
Gibson capped his first year of
collegiate competition with a sixth
place finish in the 3,000 meter
steeplechase during last spring’s
NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships in Odessa, Texas. The
All-American finished the race in nine
minutes, 38 seconds, which was just 10
seconds off his personal best time
despite temperatures above 100 degrees
and winds in excess of 25 miles per
hour.
“It just seemed like another race,”
Gibson said when asked about the
experience of competing at nationals.
“We didn’t run at Ratliff Stadium,
where there was a big crowd and
everyone else was. We had to go run
at Odessa College.”
Gibson said the atmosphere and
track surface were different at the
smaller stadium but that he preferred to
run there. “I didn’t really care where
we ran,” he said. “ I just wanted to go
out and race.”
“And I feel like I did pretty well,”
added Gibson. “1 passed seven guys in
the last two laps, three in the last lap...
Maybe I started moving up too late. I
could have finished fifth.. But I did
what Coach Rinker told me to do and I
felt pretty good about it.”
When asked to recap and sum up
his first year here at Brevard, his
feeling changed. He shook his head
even before he could start speaking. “I
think it was just an average year for
me,” Gibson said, noting that perhaps
he had placed too much pressure upon
himself. “I didn’t really do anything I
wanted to do. I only got one of my
goals accomplished, and that was when
I did the 3,000 meter run indoors in
8:35.”
“Other than that, I think my
improvement was gradual,” he added.
“Some other people came to Brevard
and immediately took off, but I think
my improvement was a little slower,
more gradual.” Gibson has , however,
blossomed, into one of the finest
athletes to come to Brevard. He hopes
to build on the accomplishments of last
year and make his sophomore
campaign even better than his freshman
one.
Rinker’s runners ready to roll in ‘96
Scott Wolfe
Sports Editor
With the changing of the seasons
and the weather turning colder, it is
time for Brevard College to showcase
one of its most successful and
traditional athletic programs in
school’s history. The 1996 Brevard
college Men’s and Women’s cross
country season is about to get
underway, and this is a preview of
what you can expect for the upcoming
season.
On the Men’s side. Coach Dave
Rinker returns 4 nmners with
collegiate experience, but a host of red
shirt freshmen with a track season
behind them and a large group of new
freshman exj)ect to make this season
interesting following last years 3rd
place team at the National
Championships. The women’s situation
is very different from what Coach
Rinker is used to working with , as a
large group of very talented freshmen
runners to go along with a few very
talented and experienced sophomores
should make this season one to
remember for Brevard College.
Coach Rinker expects good things
from both squads this season. On The
Men’s side, he has a lot of question
marks but, expects very good things
from Sophomores Joe Gibson, Will
Hodges, and Tommy Lancster. He also
says he expects good things from
Freshman Keith Natti and Kevin
Hudnall. Thus far, Rinker says he is “
Very ecstatic about the steps the
runners have taken to improve,”
adding that though this team is not as
experienced as some of the past
squads, they are only training at one
level below last year’s team. The
recruiting class of the women’s team is
the best ever at Brevard. Rinker says
that they are “An exciting group.”
With the makeup of this year’s
teams different from those of the past,
it will be a new-look Tornado squad.
However, with the experience of the
sophomores, coupled by the quiet
determination of the freshmen, this
team looks to exceed the potential and
expectations of the teams of the past. It
should be great! The tornados traveled
to USC-Spartanburg on September 28,
1996, for the first meet. The only
home action of the season will take
place November 2, 1996, at 4:00.
Come out and support your Men’s and
Women’s Cross Country teams in ‘96.
1996
Brevard College
Mens and Womens
Cross Country Schedule
Sept 28 USC-Spartanburg Inv.
Spartanburg, SC
Oct 5 Appalachian St. Inv.
Boone, NC
Oct 19 N. Carolina Intercollegiate
Charlotte, NC
Oct 26 Southeast Championships
Nashville, TN
Nov 2 Region 10 Championships
Brevard, NC
Nov 16 National Championships
Overland Park, KS
1996
Brevard college
Women's soccer
Sept 7 Louisburg College
4:30 Louisburg, NC
Sept 13 Spartanburg Methodist
5:00 Spatanburg, SC
Sept 14 Western Carolina Univ.
12:00 Brevard, NC
Sept 19 Dekalb College
5:30 Atlanta, GA
Sept 21 St. Mary’s College
3:00 Brevard, NC
Sept 29 Louisburg College
2:00 Brevard, NC
Oct 5 Cantonsville Comm. Coll.
12:00 Baltimore, MD
Oct 6 Essex Comm. Coll.
11:00 Baltimore, MD
Oct 12 Lewis & Clark College
I 1:00 Brevard, NC
Oct 17 Spartanburg Methodist
5:00 Brevard, NC
Oct 19 Broward Comm. Coll.
3:00 Melbourne, FL
Oct 20 Brevard Comm. Coll.
11:00 Melbourne, FL
Oct 27 Andrew College
12:00 Brevard,NC
Oct 28 Dekalb College
4:00 Brevard, NC
Nov 2 Region 10 Tournament
TBA
Nov 15 District H Tournament
TBA
Nov 21 NJCAA Tournament
TBA Baltimore, MD