The Ithaca Journal from Ithaca, New York • 15

The Ithaca Journal Monday, November 12, 2001 Sports 5B State Volleyball rangemen keep on rolling magic The Associated Press Syracuse running back James Mungro dives past West Virginia 's Lance Frazier and into the end zone during the fourth quarter Saturday at the Carrier Dome. The Uth-ranhed Orangemen won their eighth straight, beating the Mountaineers, 24-13: Ithaca harriers sweep at NCAA Div. Ill Regional late for Big By CHRISTOPHER FEAVER Journal Staff ITHACA It had all the makings of a storybook ending. Surely, Cornell quarterback Ricky Rahne would drive the Big Red for what would be a last-minute game-tying touchdown against Columbia on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field. How else could it end? After all, Rahne and his senior teammates had been a part of nine fourth-quarter Ivy League comeback wins in their careers, including last- mmute wins over Columbia in both 1999 and 2000.

In the final home game for those Cornell seniors, it would only be fitting that the Big Red rally from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit with two long touch Rahne down drives in the final seven minutes of the game, and perhaps win it in overtime. But football games are not storybooks. And to the horror of Big Red fans, Rahne was stripped of the football by Columbia's Chris Nugent while on a scramble that reached the Columbia 43-yard line with 1:33 remaining in the contest. Columbia's Sloan Joseph recovered and the Lions ran out the clock to secure a 35-28 win in front of 5,282 fans at Schoellkopf on a brilliant, sunny November afternoon. Cornell fell to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the Ivy with one game remaining, at Pcnn on Saturday.

Columbia improved to 3-5, 3-3. "I fumbled, there's no sugarcoat-ing it," said Rahne. "We have been there before. We knew how to do it (win). I didn't get it done." Cornell had taken a 21-13 lead early in the third quarter after senior running back Evan Simmons broke through the middle and dashed for a 69-yard touchdown run, the longest Big Red touchdown run since Chad Levitt went 72 yards against Dartmouth in 1996.

It was the high point of what was his finest day with Cornell. Completely healthy for the first time all season, Simmons showed speed he hadn't been able to display this year, and rushed for 1 70 yards on 1 8 carries (9.4 yards per carry). "The guys up front have really been making my job a lot easier," said Simmons. "(On the touchdown), Nathan Archer had a beautiful block that allowed me to pop free." Simmons was just part of a Cornell running attack that gained its most yards in years. With Rahne picking up 70 yards on the ground, most on quarterback scrambles, and with 34 yards from the fullback Archer, the Big Red rushed for 280 yards, averaging eight yards a crack.

Lions quarterback Jeff McCall was extremely efficient after a rough start, completing 22-of-31 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Johnathan Reese had his typical strong game, rushing for 140 yards on 29 carries. The Lions had little trouble moving the ball in the second half, answering Cornell's third-quarter score with three touchdowns on its next four possessions (the fourth possession ended with a 31 -yard field-goal attempt bonking off the left upright). Two of those touchdowns came on runs by Reese. The first was for 33 yards and the second was for seven yards, and gave Columbia a 35-21 lead with 7:46 remaining in the game.

On both runs, he was barely touched. And both came on fourth-and-one. Cornell has made many huge defensive stops this season on fourth-down situations. But Saturday, Columbia went for it on four occasions and were successful three times, all leading to Lions' touchdowns. "We failed to make plays defensively on fourth down on three huge plays," Cornell coach Tim Pender-gast said.

"Obviously, that was a CRISPELL AUTO TRUCK SUPPLY A Parts Plus Store Tires Batteries Accessories Tools Computer Wheel Alignment Balancing Body Shop Painting Wrecker Service Car Bus Truck Trailer RV Parts and Service Dick Millie Richie Mike 1920 Slaterville Rd. Rte. 79 East Ithaca, NY 14850 607-273-2596 1-800-252-5005 309 E. Lincoln Street (next to Mon-Thurs 6am-2pm; Fri Bobcats win in Class quarters More high schools, 7B From Journal Staff Reports SCHENECTADY The Lansing volleyball team lost five starters from last year's squad that reached the Class state final. That hasn't stopped the Bobcats from making another title run.

Lansing earned a trip to the Class state semifinals for a second consecutive year, beating Broadalbin-Perth 30-25, 31-29, 28-30, 30-21 in a regional contest on Saturday at Schenectady High School. Candor's run at the Class state tournament came to an end, however, as Lake George beat the Indians in five sets, 30-22, 20-30, 30-26, 28-30, 15-5. Teresa Bednar led Lansing with 15 kills and eight aces. Kristy Cowles finished with 37 assists for the Bobcats. "They wanted to serve strong against us, and the girls showed a lot of character," Lansing coach Steve Dunn said.

"I knew we were talented, but I didn't know how it would come together. Everyone came at us with their best game, and I think that helped. We have progressed and grown as a team." Kendra Moody added 1 1 kills and five aces, while Molly Netherton had nine kills and five aces for Lansing. Nicole Brooker finished with seven kills. Lansing rallied from a 25-18 deficit in the second game to win and take a 2-0 lead.

The Bobcats battled back from down 29-21 in the third game before losing, 30-28. Lansing sealed the win with a strong fourth game. "We were familiar with them," said Dunn, referring to last year's meeting between the two teams in the region-als, which Lansing also won. "We knew they had a great defense, and they showed it again. We pulled into some real tight games." Lansing (15-4) will compete with Eden (Section VI), ElwoodJohn Glen (Section XI) and Westlake (Section I) in the semifinals Friday at Hofstra University in Hempstead.

The top two teams from pool play advance to the Class title game, which is at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Eden defeated Lansing in last year's title game. Dunn said the players are ready for another chance for the state title. "They are incredibly excited and fired up," Dunn said.

"They can't wait to go back to states." Candor (15-5) rallied twice to force a fifth game against Lake George, but couldn't complete the comeback. Krista Newman had 10 kills and 10 blocks to lead the Indians. Amanda Porter added 12 points, eight kills and three blocks while Emma Steurer finished with 11 points and nine assists for Candor. Candor coach Pam Quinlan highlighted the play of the seniors Porter, Newman and Jeanne Corwin for helping the team fight back. Michaela Jorgensen had five kills and eight blocks while Erin Wakeman added nine assists.

"I believe we had a very successful season to go as far as we did," Quinlan said. "We really played well and showed that we earned our way to regionals." 'Cortaca' (Continued from Page 3B) was played in 50-degree sunshine before an announced crowd of 12,620 fans, breaking the Butterfield Stadium record of 12,511 set in the 1995 Jug game. The official capacity of the stadium is bleachers were set up around the track, and fans who couldn't find a seat stood to watch yet another classic between these two long-time bitter rivals. "It was a great day, beautiful weather, and our players provided a lot of excitement on both ends," said IC head coach Michael Welch. "It was a great college football afternoon, something very unique." "You appreciate the game, and probably the farther removed you are from it, the more you'll appreciate, how well both teams played," Cortland coach Dan MacNeill said.

"But right now, all I can think about is a huge pass, one that shouldn't have happened, and that's how you lose." The game-winning points were scored when Young executed a perfect fake of an option run, stepped back and hit a wide-open Marks in stride near midfield. Marks outran the defense to the end zone, putting Ithaca ahead to stay. "Brian put the ball right on the money, a perfect throw, and we were able to convert," Marks said. Young finished the game 16-for-25 for 276 yards; he was sacked twice, and threw one costly and incredibly strange interception that set up Cortland for its second touchdown. Cortland sophomore quarterback J.

Tutwilcr was equally effective Red 1 CU Football Saturday's: Columbia 35, Cornell 28 Record: 2-6 overall, 2-4 Ivy League Next game: Saturday at Penn, 12:30 p.m. (end of season) huge part of the game." Cornell, which had won the time-of-possession battle in beating Princeton and Dartmouth the previous two weeks didn't come close on Saturday. Columbia had the ball for 35:55 of the game, a huge advantage over Cornell's 24:05. Still, Cornell was not out of it. Rahne, who had been going through perhaps his most difficult day to that point, missing open receivers and throwing a bad interception, went into the shotgun and promptly drove Cornell 65 yards in just 1:59, completing 6-of-8 passes on the drive, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Chad Nice.

The extra point left Cornell down just 35-28 with 5:47 remaining. The Big Red defense then made its first stop of the second half, forcing a punt and setting up Cornell for an attempt at a tying touchdown with 2:32 remaining. The drive started promisingly from the Cornell 23-yard line with' the Big Red quickly picking up two first downs. The first came on a 9-yard completion to Nice and the second coming on a pass interfereice call, setting up the Big Red at its 49-yard line with 1:33 remaining. On the next play, Rahne scrambled, made a couple of nice moves and reached the Columbia 43-yard line when the ball was poked from Rahne from behind, ending Cornell's last chance.

The Cornell defensive line had some moments of glory in the first quarter. Defensive end Kevin Rooney covered the running back out of the backfield on a screen pass and picked off McCall's toss at the Columbia 25-yard line. The 6-foot-4, 237-pound sophomore lumbered toward the end zone, and made a last-second lunge to get in for a touchdown and a 70 Cornell lead. It was Cornell's first interception return for a touchdown since 1993. "I was just trying to get there, I was hoping I wouldn't fall down," Rooney said.

"Defensive linemen, we never score. It was nice." On the next possession, blitzing linebacker Phil Rigueur, who had 1 1 tackles and a quarterback sack, deflected a McCall pass and it fell in the hands of huge Cornell defensive tackle George Paraskevopoulos. But Columbia intercepted Rahne right back and would drive 72 yards for a touchdown. Cornell, which had turned the ball over just once in its past two games combined, committed three turnovers, to two for Columbia. Cornell wraps up its season this weekend at Penn, which suffered its first loss on Saturday to Harvard, 28-21.

That guaranteed the undefeated Crimson at least a share of the Ivy League title. Bringing Carnivores Out of the Closet Since 1994. Thomas, one need only compare with a few famous steakhouses: Smith and Wollensky or the Post House in Manhattan, Morton's both in Chicago and Boston, STEAKHOUSf Dinner starts at 5:30 every day Paper preferred Plastic accepted 1152DanbyRd. Ithaca, NY (607)273-3464 Stcr Ktt i Pick up your uiaca journal Fall Oeek laundiomat) 216-1616 6am-7pm; Sat 7am-noon Local Colleges It was the fourth time Nazareth (36-2) had defeated the Bombers this season. The Bombers were led by Julia Roth with 16 kills, one assist, and 1 1 digs.

Jessica Raymond followed with 17 kills and four digs. Ithaca ends its season with a 28-8 record. Nazareth will travel next weekend to the national quarterfinals. Cornell 3, Brown 0 ITHACA Senior Day went right as scripted as the Big Red (15-9, 7-5 Ivy League) played spoiler, dominating from the start in sweeping second-place Brown Saturday at Newman Arena. Sophomore Debbie Quibell had match highs of 14 kills and 14 digs while also adding three blocks and two aces.

She led a balanced Cornell attack that saw five players notch at least six kills. Senior Jennifer Borncamp, playing in the front of the home crowd for the last time, had nine kills, including the final one of the evening, giving the Big Red the win. Classmates Jaimee Reynolds had 31 assists and four blocks and Liz Condon had 10 digs. Sophomore Ashley Stover had seven kills and 10 blocks in the three game match, while classmate Jamie Lugo recorded eight kills and five blocks. Freshman Kathryn Conard had a career-high 13 digs.

Jessie Cooper led Brown (14-10, 9-3) with 10 kills and four blocks. The loss damaged Brown's chance of a league title as the Big Red avenged the loss that began its recent four match losing skid. Wrestling Ithaca Invitational ITHACA The College of New Jersey edged Cornell by a half-point to win the 15-team Ithaca Invitational But the strangest play of the game came soon after, and set Cortland up for the tying touchdown. On third-and-14, Young went back to pass but was corralled by a Red Dragon lineman. Instead of just taking the sack, Young inexplicably flung the ball behind his back and high into the air, in a desperate attempt to make something out of nothing.

"I try to be cagey sometimes," Young said sheepishly, "and it comes back to haunt you." Linebacker Danny Nelson intercepted the wild pass at the Ithaca 44-yard line; seven plays later, Tutwiler connected with Romano again, and the score was tied. "I just think that was a poor decision on their quarterback's part, and we took advantage of that," MacNeill said of Young's interception. "I'm sure Mike Welch wasn't happy about that." He wasn't. "He tries to make too many plays when he shouldn't, he never wants to give up on a play," Welch said. "He's been better at it than he used to be, but still, it's something he's got to stop doing because it gives teams momentum." To Young's credit, he responded to his judgment lapse in winning style.

The senior from Hornell completed his next five passes, including the long TD pass to Marks that won the game. "I knew that completions were going to keep our drives going," Young said. "You didn't always have to go for the big play." That Young was able to recover From Journal Staff Reports BRONX Ithaca College swept the men's and women's team championships Saturday at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships at historic Van Cortlandt Park. The men's team, ranked No. 18 in the latest National Cross Country Coaches' Association poll, finished with 61 points.

The College of New Jersey was second with 76. The women's team, also ranked No. 18 in the NCCCA poll, took first place with 77 points. Hamilton was second with 87. Sophomore Mike Styczynski placed sixth with a time of 26:36.6 in the meet.

Sophomores Amanda Laytham and Erin Boshe placed fifth and sixth respectivley in the women's race. Laytham had a time of 18:55 while Boshe came in four seconds later for a time of 18:59. Both teams will be traveling to the NCAA Division III Championships, to be held Saturday at Augustana College in Rock Island, 111. The men will be making their eight national appearance while the women will be making their second appearance since 1992, and 11th overall. Volleyball Nazareth 3, Ithaca 2 ROCHESTER The Nazareth women's volleyball team rallied to beat Ithaca in the finals of the NCAA New York Regional Championship.

The game scores were 29-31, 30-18, 27-30, 30-21, 15-2. Christa Downey led Nazareth with 42 kills and 17 digs. Dawn Loth added nine kills, one assist, and 13 digs. Tricia Jones also had nine kills, two assists, and had eight digs. 19-for-34 for 284 yards and two scores, both to tight end Tony Romano.

Senior Brian Babst led the Red Dragon receivers with six catches for 122 yards. "We knew it was going to be up and down," said Tutwiler, who also punted six times and averaged 40.2 yards. "We had to keep our heads up. If something went wrong, we had to regroup and get back at it, and we did that. Time ran out on us." Cortland took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter, Tutwiler's 14-yard hookup with Romano capping a 12-play, 87-yard drive.

Four of the game's five scoring drives were at least 76 yards in length. Ithaca answered less than four minutes into the second period, as senior running back Dave Maddi (17-71 scored from four yards out to make it 7-all. Neither team could get anything going the rest of the half George Oostmeyer missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt for Cortland with 4'2 minutes left and it stayed tied. A misplay by Maddi on the second-half kickoff resulted in IC getting the ball at its own 3-yard line, but 13 plays and nearly six minutes later, Ithaca was in the end zone. A 23-yard screen to Giorgio and two 20-yard completions to Marks sparked the 97-yard drive, capped by Giorgio's four-yard burst that made it 14-7 with 9:04 left in the quarter.

Ithaca threatened to pull away when defensive end T.J. Jalbert intercepted a Tutwiler pass at mid-field. Jalbert leaped in an attempt to the pass, and instead came down with it. Saturday at Light Gym. The host Bombers placed eighth.

The champion Lions scored 144 points while the Big Red amassed 143.5. Ithaca, which was led by Marc Israel's second-place finish at 141 pounds and Seth Rak's runner-up finish at heavyweight, scored 90 points. Israel fell 9-8 to TCNJ's P.J. Morreale in the 141-pound final. Rak was defetaed by Marcelle Robertson of Springfield College, 3-1, in the heavyweight title match.

Other top IC finishers included Carlos Restrepo, the top seed at 133 pounds and the third-ranked wrestler nationally in his weight class, finished third. He lost in the semifinals to Cornell's Travis Lee, 6-3, then won twice in the consolation round, including a 3-1 victory over Cornell's Mike Mormile in the third-place match. Men's Soccer Cornell 3, Columbia 1 ITHACA The Big Red scored twice in a 32-second span late in the second half Saturday to beat the Lions Saturday at Berman Field and keep their hopes at an NCAA Division I playoff berth alive. Cornell improved to 7-4-3 overall with its first league victory of the season. Columbia dipped to 6-6-3.

Thorsteinn Gestsson gave the Lions a 1-0 lead with a goal just 1:09 into the contest, but it was all Cornell after that. Ted Papadopoulos evened the score at 24:46 on an assist from Ian Pilarski. Matthew Eldridge scored the game-winner unassisted at 78:37, then freshman Steve Reuter put the game away with an unassisted score of his own at 79:09. Doug Allan made four saves for the Big Red, which hosts Hartwick at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

from his potentially fatal mistake and deliver the win didn't surprise the man at the other end of the game-winning play. "That's what he does; he's a competitor, he's a winner, one of the greatest leaders that I've ever had a chance to be with," said Marks. "And when he makes mistakes, he comes right back and makes plays. And he did." It almost went for naught as the Red Dragons threatened to tie the game in the stirring final 76 seconds, following a perfectly executed pooch punt by IC's Brian Bicher. The ball traveled just 27 yards, but sailed over the sideline at the Cortland 3.

Tutwiler directed his team with veteran calm, completing four of five passes to get his team near mid-field. With no timeouts left, he then hit the 6-foot-3 Babst at the Bombers' 32, and he struggled for additional yardage before pitching to teammate Neal Heaton who took the ball an additional 18 yards. But at the tail end of the play, linebacker Robert Truman jarred the ball loose, and reserve corner-back Seth Molisani in the game because Anthony Melville sprained his left ankle in the second quarter fell on it. It was a fitting to a game that has had its share of drama in recent years. "I had total confidence in our defense, obviously," Young said.

"But then again, these games are always exciting, no matter what. It comes down to the wire every time. This was no different.".