The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 8

J2 i Page A8The Spectrum Friday, July 26, 1996 it I Lady Dream Team cruises past Zaire QQO Medals table South gets snubbed in Legion Bad calls are usually those that go the other way. The Cedar and St. George American Through Thursday, July 25. Through 13 of 13 total medals Country Total United States 12 16 4 32 Russia 13 7 5 25 Germany 3 .8 11 22 France 7 4 7 18 China 5 6 16 Italy 5 4 4 13 CuballlZ 3 4 5 12 Australia 3 2 7 12 Poland 3 2 10 Hungary 3 2 5 10 South Korea 1 3 4 2 9 Japan 2 3 2 7 Romania 1 2 3 6 Bulgaria 0 2 4 6 Belgium 2 1 2. 5 Belarus I 0 3 2 5 Brazil 0 1 4 5 Netherlands 0 0 5 5 Turkey 3 0 1 4 Ukraine 2 0 2 4 Canada 0 1 3 4 Ireland 3 0 0 3 New Zealand 2 0 1 3 South Africa 2 0 1 3 Kazakstan 1 1 1 3 II' it il 3 II, 10 2 tii id 4 2 ijW rrfttfrmtnl 1..

iTmfc Evans fails to win medal; Hall again edged by Popov By The Associated Press ATLANTA It was a day for Olympic hellos and goodbyes. Janet Evans received a fond farewell, but no medal, at her third and last Summer Games. Swimmer Gary Hall Jr. renewed acquaintances with his Russian nemesis, Alexander Popov, and finished second to Popov again. The U.S.

women's hoops team welcomed an overmatched squad from Zaire. And two American box ers received rude send-offs one ina fight that many thought was stopped too soon, the other in a bout many thought the American won. The pair of debatable decisions put a Atlanta 19 crimp in America's once-promising boxing chances Thursday, leaving 119-pounder Zahir Raheem sobbing in the ring and 147-pounder Fernando Vargas shaking his head in disbelief. Raheem felt his fight was stopped too quickly in the first round. Vargas simply thought he was robbed.

"I know I won and he knows I won," complained gold medal favorite Vargas after his 8-7 defeat to Romanian Marian Simion. "I'm a champion. I know in my heart I gave 100 percent." The official scorers didn't see it that way, awarding Vargas zero points in the second round despite repeated jabs to Station's face. There was no controversy around the U.S. women's basketball team, which whipped Zaire 107-47 before a Georgia Dome crowd of 31,230 the largest in the history of women's basketball.

That group included Dikembe MirfnmliA ortrinit rait nm Mutombo, checking out his new NBA home, and Dream Teamer GaryPayton. Reserve Jennifer Azzi led seven U.S. players in double figures with 18 points as they won their third straight and appeared to be peaking. The U.S. gymnasts, two days after their first-ever team gold, were left teary-eyed and medal-less in the individual all-around competition.

Shannon Miller's eighth-place showing was the Americans' best as Kerri Strug sat out with the AP graphic Agassi going for two golds in Olympics By The Associated Press Iw AP photo women's Dream Team easily 107 to 47 and remain undefeated. Zaire's Kongolo at the Georgia onctheir winIl's pretty tempting, Hinlf A Clirtnt tVio ViottAct nmiwi admitted Stmg, the hottest propeps ty so lar at these games. Popov, for the second time in as many races, edged Hall, this time in the mad-dash 50-meter freestyle. Hall also finished second in both races to Popov in the 1994 world championships, and the foes smiled and chatted briefly after the race. American Brooke Bennett won the 800 freestyle, but it was four-time gold medalist Evans who commanded the attention pool-side.

After finishing sixth in the Dome. The USA defeated Zaire Legion baseball teams (and their eagle-eyed fans) know all about bad calls (and I'm not referring to Tuesday's umpiring). Cedar and St. George are experiencing what they perceive as a positively horrible John McCloskey Sports Columnist call from the Utah American Legion commissioner and its board of directors. It's the same call local baseball fans squawk at every year only one team from the South division gets to play in the state tourney.

"Cedar and St. George have been getting the short end of the stick for five years running," says St George coach Brad Houtz, whose team leads Cedar 2-0 in a best-of-5 series that determines which team heads to Salt Lake for state beginning Aug. 3. Cedar coach Marty Haynie agrees. "We're one of the top team's in the nation and so is St George and only one will go," complains Haynie, whose team has posted a 31-8 record, yet still is one loss away from missing state.

"It's extremely unfair that we only get one team from the south. It's not a good representation of the top 16 teams in the state. In the Salt Lake Valley division there's only maybe a dozen clubs (out of 27) with winning records." Legion Commissioner Mac McLean defends the call by saying it's based on percentages. "We go by the numbers," says Don Mayne, former commissioner and current board member. There are 45 Legion teams in four divisions: two in the South, two in the East 14 in the North and 27 in the Valley.

McLean says 100 percent of the South should n't qualify if only 40 percent (1 1) come from the Valley, 21 percent (3) from the North and possibly zero percent are from the East (the East division's two teams play a play-in tournament with the North's fourth-place team). One look at those numbers and it appears Cedar and St. George are seeing a close call go the other way. But this call really is bad. The numbers may look right but the bottom line is that the best 16 teams in the state may not be at the 1996 tourney.

The fair way would be to have a qualifying tournament. It sort of happened last year, but the northern teams were given an advantage as Cedar had to travel to Pleasant Grove. "We were one of the top four teams in the state and we didn't even go," Haynie says. The most absurd part of the mess is McLean's reasoning that 22 high schools in Southern Utah should be able to field much more than just three Legion teams. This, despite the fact Pine View folded late this year due to lack of interest and Delta no longer has a team for the same reason.

Based on recent history, there's no possible way more than three or four Southern Utah teams can survive. "It bothers me that a team can cut players from their own (high school) program and go outside the area to another school (to get players). Even though it's legal," says McLean. "They're worrying about winning state championships instead of promoting baseball." But what McLean needs to realize is that perennial powers like Taylorsvllle up north are also concerned with winning championships. And because the team is picked from a pool of 3,000 students, it usually ends up on top.

Involving more athletes is ideal, but putting together teams from schools of 500 kids is promoting failure, not baseball. There will always be underdogs, but they'll always lose more than they win. The goal of a postseason tournament should be to Include the best teams, period. St George and Cedar have both proven to be worthy. Yet one will be snubbed.

iA STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. Andre Agassi decided to double his id chances of winning an medal. Agassi, already the top seed ing singles, will replace injured U.S.jjjl teammate Richey Reneberg and compete with MaliVai Washington! in doubles Friday. Their first-ss round, opponents are Oscar Ortiz and Alejandro Hernandez pf Mexico. lO'ti Agassi moved fhto: the third round in singles Thursday, beating Karol Kucera of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4.

Reneberg and others speculated that Agassi would decline to doubles so he could concentrate onj singles. But with the Americans down to two healthy players, theirfj only alternative was to wthdraw from doubles. ilV "The team took a hit," said. 'You've got to adjust to it. Ast far as I'm concerned, if it calls for you to give more, you've got to give more.

It's as simple as that. if it costs me a medal, it is something that you've got to do." U.S. coach Tom Gullikson, a devoted doubles player, said play-p ing twice as much could actually, help Agassi. "He can practice his work on his volleys and have someu fun," Gullikson said. "He would bel practicing Friday anyway." Reneberg aggravated a groin injury Wednesday and had to quit in the third set of his singles match.

That's the lone loss' so far for the U.S. men andf1 women. Just one American woman in action Thursday. Top seed Monica Seles easily reached the' third. round by beating Patricia Hy-Boulais of Canada 6-3, 6-2.

Seles' next opponent No. 2 13 Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina. ii '012 ml 'A Hernandez leads Washington Spectrum the start of the Southern District Tournament. Washington coach Everett wasn't sure his team 1-12-year olds had the pitching to the finals. Now he is.

Jason Hernandez starred on the winning for the third time in the as Washington defeated West 7-3 Thursday night at Snow The win advances Washington the state championship against Taylorsvllle in a best-of-3 series at Washington Aug. 1-3. Hernandez issued a two-run homer Colton Holmstead in the top of the inning then settled down. USA'S Rebecca Lobo tangles with Amba during the game Thursday left ankle damaged in her last vaults, Tiipcrl.v Vl j.toM iuwuuj. 9R(U pM, c-i Sitting in were Presiden and his wife Hillary, making their second Olympic visit in a week.

The president later headed to the pool, where he watched the U.S. women's 800-meter, freestyle relay team strike gold with an Olympic-record showing. The Americans have won all five relays. Strug's teammates will say hello to her in the near future either on Sunday, when gymnastics continues, or possibly on a post-Olympics national tour to cash in By tains and you've gotta hit that green. Where those cotton trees are that's all water over there." "Go for it and miss and you're down two and one," adds Olson.

With five 18-hole public golf courses in St. George and two in Mesquite, you might think that the last thing this area needs is another public golf course. But don't tell that to Rohlffs. "I think it's going to be. a nice enhancement to all the golf courses in southern Utah and southern Nevada because it has a unique flavor to it," says Rohlffs, who is also responsible for marketing the course.

"It offers a combination of affordabilily, walkability and a truly unique, design incorporating riverfront holes with wetlands mitigation, with 14 acres of lakes along I-15 that gives you a very playable, yet at the same time very challeng- Please see PLAYERS on A10 The At Addison of 1 reach hill, tourney, Zion Park. to to first 0last) race of her career, Evans waved with her left hand avvjld-ly cheering partisan crowd as she left the pool one last time. "It's kind of sad for me, kind of the end of an era for me," Evans said. Ten years is a long career for a distance swimmer. I leave with a smile on my face." Earlier, the classy Evans floated over to congratulate her victorious 16-year-old teammate.

The 24-year-old missed, by a single gold, tying Bonnie Blair's mark of most gold medals by an American woman. Washington answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the first, and the game remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Washington exploded for six runs. Logan Holyoak. Ryan Hirschi, Cason Adams and Derek Baker each singled in the big inning. Hernandez went the distance, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Holyoak paced the winners with two hits. Adams and Paul Colton had two apiece for West Zion, who also got a homer from Richard Fitzgerald. WEST ZION 200 001 0 3 8 5 WASHINGTON 100 060 7 6 1 W- Holmstead, Fitzgerald I5I and Zumwah. WA- Hernandez, Diaz. W- Hernandez.

L- Holmstead. HR Holmstead IWZI, Fitzgerald (WZ). Mesquite spans over public course be the ninth 18-hole Course fees in -v- Spectrum photo Jud Burkett West Zion pitcher Colton Holmstead fires plate-ward in the fourth inning against Washington at Snow Park Thursday night in the Southern District finals. Washington won the game 7-3. Players Island Golf Course set to open Oct.

il WIT By DEAN ROCK The Spectrum Duke Rohlffs and Cal Olson talk about the soon-to-be-open Players Island Golf Course the way Willie Nelson and Julio Iglisias sing about old flames. The clubhouse is nothing more than a mound of sand and half the fairways are bare. Nontheless Rohlffs. Vice President of Golf Operations, and Olson, course designer, share 20-20 vision on prospects of the Mesquite course, which is scheduled to open October 11th. Playing the roles of tour guide, Rohlffs and Olson eagerly narrated the layout for each of the 18 holes, highlighting their attributes.

"Imagine yourself down (here at the lower level in the middle of the fairway," says Rohlffs, providing his unique brand of virtual reality in describing hole No. 12. "You're looking up at the beautiful moun i- The Players Island Golf Course in 14 acres of water along 1-15. It will Photo submitted: within an hour drive of St. Oct.

and Nov. will range from $59 to $85?.