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SPORTS/S^e Cliarlotte $ost
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Chartotie sprinter sees
success en the track
By Eric Bozeman
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Shareese Woods thinks
TheCharlotte sprinter pic
tures herself turning in big
performances during work
outs
An NCAA qualifier in the
200, 400 meter relay, and
400, Woods started the out
door season running some
fabulous times. Woods has
run the 200 in 23.4 seconds,
anchored the 400 relay to a
45.36, and lowered her 400
time to a 53.6.
“Fantasizing is very big
because if you can’t see your
self doing it then you can’t do
it,” Woods said. “If you have
a hard time coming out here
visualizing you won’t even be
able to grasp winning. Our
coach has us doing a lot of
visualization, relaxation,
and breathing techniques to
help us.”
The dreaming Woods
indulges in the most is relat
ed to running the perfect
race, especially in the 400
meters, where she claims
she wants to please her
sprint coach Tim Hall by
running it all out fi"om start
to finish.
“The perfect race from
start to finish is an all out
sprint in the 400,” Woods
said.
Hall begs to differ, as he
makes it clear he wants his
sprinter who’s qualifying
times are faster than any A-
10 records. Last season,
Woods established two indi
vidual and three relay school
marks to earn aU conference
awards and an individual
championship.
“I don’t want her to run all
out, I just want her to run
the first part of the race,”
Hall said. “She’s sort of a
strength runner, so what I’m
trying to get her to do is rec
ognize if she puts a little
more energy towards the
front of her race then her
strength will be there at the
end.”
Once Woods posts a per
sonal record, she said she
makes sure she refocuses
her attention to running
even faster.
“One of the high points in
my season was when I ran a
23.4 and broke the school
record, but I try to come back
out her at practice and refo
cus,” she said. “Not necessar
ily put the PR aside, but
keep that in mind because
the work is never done until
I get that number one spot in
the regionals and nationals,
then I can relax, until then
the work is not finished.”
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Charlotte sprinter Chareese Woods visualizes success at
practice and meets.
Who has preps advantage?
Continued from page 1C
public school team. “Jeremy Goode and Jerry
Hollis were both players that were on
Garlnger’s team three years ago, and would
have actually graduated last year. Donnell
Mack would have graduated last year from
Independence.”
Grube coached East Meek to a 25-3 mark
this season, before bowing out to Vance in the
semifinals of the N.C. 4A tournament. Grube
also noted that some outstanding players in
the public school system did not even play in
the all star game, such as Ryan Semeniuk
and Shane Small from Providence, Jamie
Skeen of North Mecklenburg, and Ish Smith
of Central Cabarrus.
“I think what you saw at the first part of the
first half was our first team was ahead of
theirs by two or three, then we had to make
the first substitution, then I think their depth
was there and I think the majority of their
depth was the fact of the extra year,” Grube
said. “When you get through players 6
through 12 I think they were a lot deeper
than us, they were dominating.”
There is a rule in place that aids private
school that allows them to reclassify a student
once they transfer from public schools to pri
vate school. This rule gives a pubHc school
student an extra year of athletic eligibility
therefore private school teams have the bene
fit of fielding teams wdth more mature,
stronger, more polished prep players.
Is this rule giving an unfair advantage to
private schools, and shrouding the talent pool
with players that should be virtually entering
their first year of college? Charlotte Christian
Coach Shonn Brown, who coached the private
school all-stars, says there are rare occasions
when that coiild be looked at as an advantage.
“If you’re talking about a highly skilled play
er like Omar Carter (of Charlotte Christian),
he’s considered an impact player so that
would,” Brown said. “But now, going forward,
no private schools will have the reclassifica
tion rule, but it puts ourselves at a disadvan
tage to the other private schools who don’t
have that rule.”
Brown led the Knights to a 33-3 record
before losing in the state independent schools
finals. Brown went on to say there is some
evident of making an argument of who is bet
ter.
“If you look at the Dell Curry tournament
last year, all the private schools beat all the
public school teams,” Brown said.
Grube said that he would like to see some
t3q>e of tournament play set up where the top
public and private schools would square off
during the regular season. He felt that would
provide a better indicator of which school sys
tem was better at playing prep basketball.
“I think the Bojangles tournament is going
to bring that out where you’re going to see
more matchups, public versus private or
maybe something like an ACC/Big Ten
Challenge, that would be something to look
at,” Grube said. ‘Tou could have the public
school, private school challenge, take the top
teams from each one, but even that isn’t going
to be indicative.”
Master and Commander: Jeep
finally scores at super-size
Winfred
B. Cross
Test
Drive
Jeep’s reputation as the
company to purchase your
SUV has been seriously
crimped without a big
honkin’ vehicle that holds at
least seven, people comfort
ably.
Ih steps the Commander,
Jeep’s answer to every giant
sized land crusher that’s
been unleashed in the last
five years.
Yes, Jeep is late, but fash
ionably so. The Commander
can pass for a very big
Wrangler on a quick glance,
but it’s a tad narrower and
taller. It will not win any
beauty contests but it cer
tainly makes a statement.
The grab handles on the lift
gate don’t make sense but
they are a great conversation
piece.
The interior is big, spa
cious and quite comfy. The
dash looks to be lifted from
various Dodge and Jeep
vehicles. That’s not a bad
thing because all have
become much cleaner
designs. Everything’s bigger
than life - gauges, controls,
even the stitching on the
seats is easily seen. The door
handles feel as if they are
cast from iron, but there’s an
over'abundance of inexpen
sive plastic used.
Those quips aside, the
Commander will be well
worth the wait to ardent
Jeep loyalists. It will fit
seven people comfortably in
very modem terms. The sad
dle brown leather seats
remind me of Ford’s King
Ranch trucks.
But will this thing crunch
rocks and tread heavily over
amber waves of grain? Sure.
My test vehicle had Jeep’s
Quadra Trac II AWD so it
win go an5Tvhere any other
Jeep or its competitors can
go. That may account for the
sMghtly harsh ride but most
will not notice if the vehicle
is under a full load.
All should notice the
optional Hemi engine. The
5.7-liter beast makes this
two ton Tfess feel spry. It can’t
pass a gas station but I don’t
know if that matters. Any
one purchasing this thing
has to notice the 15/19
milage rating on the window
sticker.
Limiteds are loaded and
the Commander is no excep
tion. At $38,205, it comes
with lots of stuff standard,
including Sirius satellite
radio, auto climate control,
heated seats, four-wheel disc
brakes with antilock, third
row seats, power sunroof,
cruise and power everything.
Throw in the optional Hemi,
fancy navigation/CD chang
er radio, aluminum wheels
and Inferno Red Crystal
Pearl Coat (candy) paint and
the price rose to $43,270.
Expensive, but hardly the
biggest ticket available.
The Commander crashes
the party late, but is weU
equipped to keep onlookers
staring the whole night. Not
my cup of tea, but I can see
why anyone would like the
thing. It’s a heckuva thing.
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