Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 43

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Saturday, April 22, 1995 1)3 WAC Coaches Seek To Change Format League Would Split Into Two Divisions 7,1 fin I with their crossover games against Hawaii and SDSU. The quadrants and crossover games are scheduled to rotate every Reason. "(The new format) is a much fairer way to do it than to have New Mexico, UTEP, BYU and Utah together," said Wallace. "This way will allow for more rivalries." 1 Wallace said the intent would be to have two conference champions. The WAC would then petition the NCAA for two 4uto-matic berths to the NCAA WAC has one now.

The plan, which was voted on in! Las Vegas, will be sent to the directors when they meet next week in San Diego. The ADs then would have it to the WAC presidents, who in turn would have the final vote when they meet in June. The meeting, the first with all 16 basketball programs represented, was abruptly scheduled a few weeks ago. UNM coach Dave Bliss had a commitment to give a clinic in Tohatchi Friday and couldn't attend. Bliss then had to travel to South Padre Island, Texas, for another clinic.

UNM assistant coach Doug Ash went to Las Vgas in his place. The only other school which didn't have a head coach present was SMU, which hasn't replaced former coach John Shumate. Wallace said the coaches endorsed a tournament proposal which allies with the divisional format. The first round of the tournament would be on campuses with the top four teams in the northern division hosting the bottom four teams in southern division and vice versa. Wallace said three other plans were discussed: playing 22 league games, playing 15 league games or maintaining the presidents' plan.

None of the three received as much support as two divisions and 18 league games. By Andy Katz JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The Western Athletic Conference's men's basketball coaches recommended Friday to change the format of the expanded WAC from rotating quadrants to strict divisions along a northern and southern line when the 10-team WAC adds six teams in 1996. Hawaii coach Riley Wallace told the Journal that if the plan were adopted, the University of New Mexico would be in a division with Texas-El Paso, Hawaii, San Diego State and future members Texas Christian, Tulsa, Southern Methodist and Rice. The other division would consist of Brigham Young, Utah, Air Force, Fresno State, Wyoming, Colorado State and incoming members Nevada-Las Vegas and San Jose State. Each school would play a total of 18-league games: 14 games (home-and-home) within each division and four against two teams (home-and-home) from the other division.

Those four games would rotate every season. "I'd be all for this," said UNM Athletic Director Rudy Davalos. "This is what we wanted it to be. This splits up the league. It keeps us with Hawaii and gives us an extra game.

That's very important to us. This at leasts balances it out. It makes sense." Last June, the WAC's presidents voted to divide the league into four quadrants with the Lobos in a foursome with perennial basketball powers UTEP, Utah and BYU. Under the presidents' plan, the Lobos' quadrant is joined with a foursome of TCU, SMU, Tulsa and Rice for the 1996-97 season University of New Mexico javelin thrower Sarah Nicholsen broke the school record this season with a throw of 161 feet, 1 1nch. She hopes to improve on that mark to qualify for the NCAA national finals in late May.

Student Surpasses Teacher Nicholsen Sets New UNM Javelin Mark By Glen Rosales FOR THE JOURNAL For a coach, there's nothing as rewarding as having one of your personal records broken by an athlete you're training. University of New Mexico assistant track coach Darcy Ahner-Knop got to experience that feeling this year when sophomore Sara Nicholsen shattered her 5-year-old school mark in the women's javelin. "Records are made to be broken," Ahner-Knop said. "I was very excited about it. I hope all my records here are broken by athletes I coach." For Nicholsen, breaking her coach's record was a testament to the hard work they both put in.

"It felt real good knowing that it was her coaching that helped me break her record," Nicholsen said. "She's a great coach. I think it probably meant more to me knowing she had the record." Ahner-Knop said she actually expected Nicholsen to break the mark last year during the Western Athletic Conference cham Chiles Look To Follow Up on Hot Beginning Eco-Challenge Tests Entrants I 1 I a I I I I I I -r i i n-n new ilvi KHUE BUIJOURNAL "I think I'm 14th of 15 provisional qualifiers," Nicholsen said. "I need to get a better mark. I would love to qualify for nationals." Her next chance comes today during the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational at.

the Great Friends of UNM Track and Field Stadium, where the Lobos play host to Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas-San Antonio. Field events begin at 11 a.m., and track events start at noon. A number of top athletes training in Albuquerque are expected to compete, including Nigeria's Olapade Adeniken, the world record-holder in the 100-meter indoor, Peter Crampton, the 1994 British 400-meter hurdle champ, Guy Bullock, the 1993 European junior champ and Henrik Wennberg, who holds the Swedish indoor title in shot put and discus. For the women, Fau Ogunkoya of Nigeria, a world junior champion and African champion in various short dashes, will compete. As for the Lobos as a team, head coach Mike MacEachen said he's somewhat disappointed with the individual results to date, but with two meets remaining before the WAC championships May 17-20 in Provo, Utah, UNM is in a good position to better itself.

"We're ready to break through," he said. "I'm very optimistic we'll have some very good marks." JAN FIALA PHOTO Carl Gable, Hugh Driscoll, Jan Fiala, straight, two whole nights starting in the dark," Driscoll says. Just getting out of town will be an achievement for the team. "Managing working full time with the logistical aspects of this race and training has been the hardest part," Driscoll says. "Stresses at home, stresses at work; it's been tough." "We're ready to quit here and go do it," Fiala says.

"The preparation just never ends. We keep buying new gear and testing it." Raising the $20,000 needed to compete (entry fee included) also was a struggle. Team New Mexico received financial sponsorships from Wild Oats, Quest Mortgage of Santa Fe and Gardenswartz Sportz. This will be the first race of this kind in America, and it will be covered by MTV and Dateline NBC, Driscoll says. Stay tuned.

HAWKWATCH: HawkWatch International observed and banded the following birds of prey migrating through the Sandia Mountains last week (season totals in parentheses): Turkey Vulture 343 Osprey 44 (47), Bald Eagle (7), Northern Harrier 11 (28), Sharp-shinned Hawk 80 (165), Cooper's Hawk 259 (579), Northern Goshawk 1 (11) Broad-winged Hawk (1), Swainson's Hawk 20 (22), Red-tailed Hawk 66 (332), Ferruginous Hawk 1 (15), Golden Eagle 26 (221), American Kestrel 97 (144), Merlin 4 (12) Peregrine Falcon 14 (32), Prairie Falcon 1 (14), unidentified Accipiter 21 (39), Unidentified Raptors 10 (48). Totals: 1,000 Banded: Northern Harrier 2 (3), Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 (15), Cooper's Hawk 66 (164), Northern Goshawk 1 (2), Red-tailed Hawk 3 (9), Merlin 1 (2), Peregrine Falcon 3 (4), Prairie Falcon (2). 2nd Game More Spicy With Salsa as the Foe By Sean McAfee JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The New Mexico Chiles, fresh off a fabulously successful United States International Soccer League season opener a 5-2 win over the San Diego Top Guns last Saturday hope to build on their momentum tonight in the second match of a three-game home-stand. However, the opponent originally scheduled, the Montreal Ramblers, have been replaced due to a conflict with the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. With Montreal out, the possibility exists for a spicy matchup.

Stepping in for the Ramblers is the L.A. Salsa, a highly regarded team which recently dropped out of the American Professional Soccer League to prepare for the anticipated arrival of Major League Soccer in 1996. The Salsa, which finished 16-2 in the APSL last season, is modeled after European clubs in that L.A. is an organization consisting of many teams, from the professional side on down to age-group club teams in the Los Angeles area. The Salsa's general manager is former New York Cosmos midfielder and U.S.

National Team captain Ricky Davis. Davis also coached the Salsa's pro team last season and should be on the bench tonight. "Technically, the Salsa might be the best team we play all year," says first-year Chiles coach Rod Underwood. "It's going to be a good match for us." There's little doubt the Salsa will provide a stiff test for the Chiles. But because of the late switch, Underwood says the makeup of the L.A.

side will be a mystery until game time. "It's not a step down (from the Ramblers), by any means. We're going to see a lot of eloquen play from (the Salsa), for sure," Underwood says. "We just don't know much else about them at this point, and we won't TRACK pionships. And although she had several long tosses that would have easily surpassed the mark, Nicholsen did not have a legal throw on the day because they were too flat.

"I didn't make the transition well from high school to college," Nicholsen said. "In high school, everything counts. In college, it has to come down point first." Coming out of high school in Eugene, Nicholsen had her throwing style completely revamped by UNM coaches so she could compete at the college level. "I really had faith in my coaches here and everything I was doing here," she said. Nicholsen still needs to gain a little more consistency, which should come as she gains more experience and familiarity with the proper techniques, Ahner-Knop said.

But the nature of the javelin throw is one of inconsistency, she said. "When it's down, there has to be a certain amount of confidence and perseverance to stay with it. Especially when going through technical changes." Nicholsen's toss of 161 feet, 1 inch last month bettered Ahner-Knop's 1990 throw of 153 feet. The throw is good enough to place Nicholsen on the cusp of qualifying for the NCAA national finals at the end of May. Team New Mexico, from left, includes Lowell Tacker and Ann Chernoff-Allan.

lUTDOORS compete in triathlons. Fiala is an engineer for the City of Albuquerque. Gable, a Los Alamos scientist, is Fiala's mountain climbing partner, and Chernoff-Allan is a cyclist who has competed on the international level. She also knows horses, Fiala says. "When I heard about this I felt I had been training for it pretty much all my life," says Fiala, who was born in Czechoslovakia.

For the last 13 years, he has been a weekend supervisor of ski instructors at Taos Ski Valley. His 19-year-old son, Jacob, recently was named to the U.S. Ski Team. Fiala spends his summers running mountain marathons. Last summer, he and Gable climbed above 21,000 feet in Boliva.

"We all live very active lives," Fiala says. "We never get out of shape and then go back to shape. We stay at a healthy level so that it's fun." The challenge may not be that much fun, however. There will be only three points where the teams will be allowed to rendezvous with their support teams for food and other supplies. The rafts, canoes, horses and mountain bikes will be provided by the race organizers, just part of the $7,500 entry fee.

A total of 53 teams will be competing, representing 28 states and seven foreign countries. Although the race itself will be the first time some of the teams have actually assembled, Team New Mexico at least has some experience training together. They have canoed at Abiquiu Lake, rafted the Rio Grande and learned to ride horses at a full gallop through a cooperative outfitter. "And we went walking for 36 hours New Mexico Chiles vs. L.A.

Salsa TODAY: 7 p.m., Wilson Stadium, Lomas east of Juan Tabo TICKETS: $5 adults, $2 youth age fy- 17 really know until we take the field." Two factors contributed to the Chiles' newfound offensive prowess last week: an attacking philosophy and formation installed by Underwood, and an infusion of young talent. Two newcomers, midfielder Jason Mix and defender Jeremy Kamarad, earned offensive and defensive player of the game recognition, respectively, for their roles in the Chiles' unloading of the Top Guns. Tonight, the Chiles' arsenal will be even deeper. Another newcomer could Mexico an added boost against the seasoned Salsa. University of New Mexico all-time leading scorer Mike Strati is expected to make his Chiles debut after missing the season-opener while at a National Team tryout camp.

The addition of Strati, the return of former New Mexico high school player of the year and University of Nevada-Las Vegas star Richie Louis and the continuing presence of slashing midfielder Dave Robertson gives the Chiles a stable of proven goal-scorers, i Another player with a nose for the goal, Richard Farrer, still is awaiting his release from the South African Football Association, "We should have close to our top lineup, if not our top lineup, on the field for this game," Underwood says. NOTES: Tonight's promotion is Snickers free World Cup souvenir night. Also, players and coaches from both teams' will be available for autographs after the match. The Chiles conclude their homestand Friday with a 7 p.m. match against the New Orleans Gamblers at Milne Stadium.

The Cowboys team will consist of Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Leon Lett and Lincoln Coleman plus Kevin Williams, Kevin Smith and Larry Brown. The Lobos will counter with their own football superstar, Pro Bowler Terance Mathis of the Atlanta Falcons. Mathis was a basketball star in high school, and for those with short memories, actually played on the Lobos basketball team for a few months during his sophomore year. 1 Also playing for the Lobos will be Marvin Johnson, Hunter Greene, Phil Smith, George Scott, Marlow White and Mike Winters. The Lobos' team will be coached by AHS' Jim Hulsman.

Team New Mexico Is Hoping Just to Finish By Martin Frentzel JOURNAL STAFF WRITER It's a horse race, but there are only three horses for five contestants so two will have to run to keep up. And it's a canoe race, as well as an orienteering race and a mountain bike race. The 300-mile course also will have steep canyons to cross and rafts for riding down rapids. If it sounds challenging, you're absolutely right. The inaugural 10-day Eco-Challenge begins Tuesday in Utah on a course which will not be revealed to competitors until the day before.

Team New Mexico isn't planning to win, it just wants to finish. "Our first goal is to finish," says team captain Hugh Driscoll, a Santa Fe architect who assembled the competitors. "We're going to be conservative, we're pot going to go out fast." The Eco-Challenge is an expedition-type competition similar to the French "Raid Gauloises." The raiders competed last year in Borneo, and only two American teams have finished the event in six years. Eco-Challenge is the brainchild of Mark Burnett, a past raid competitor. In addition to testing participants, the challenge will force them to tread softly on the environment.

"Eco-Challenge is an adventure cast in a magical setting, but the true adventure will be of the spirit," Burnett says in promotional literature. All five-member teams must have at least one woman and the members must finish together. The teams will reach those heights of spiritual attainment through the age-old methods of sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion and emotional stress. "Just being able to work together without horrendous fighting and psychological battles will probably be the most difficult part of the race," Driscoll says. Team New Mexico already has experienced difficulties.

Members have come and gone since January. Injuries knocked out some competitors, and the grueling commitment did in others. But things seem to have settled down now for Driscoll and teammates Lowell Tacker, Jan Fiala, Carl Gable and Ann Chernoff-Allan. Their support crew is the sister-brother team of Marci and Daniel Riskin. Driscoll, Tacker and Marci Riskin all work for Mazria Associates, a Santa Fe architectural firm.

Driscoll and Tacker Cowboys Underdogs On Unfamiliar Playing Field Ex-Lobos Team the Foe In Benefit Game for AHS FROM JOURNAL STAFF They might be the toughest opponent the Dallas Cowboys have met since oh, Jan. 15. Tonight at 7:30 in the Albuquerque High gym, the Dallas Cowboys touring basketball team will take on a squad of ex-University of New Mexico Lobos in a benefit for Albuquerque High School athletics. Doors open at 6:30, with game-day tickets selling for $12..