Victoria Advocate from Victoria, Texas • 23

OntheFringe4B Closer Look6B Outdoors8 Section Sunday March 3, 1996 LB Lewis not overly concerned about poor performance i Eight-time Olympic gold medalist finishes last in 60-meter prelims 1J if "7 WferA A CIV ever been," he said. "We'll be ready." Lewis is gearing up for the Olympic trials in June at Atlanta. He is 34 and doesn't plan to compete in the 2000 Games, so this will be his final opportunity to add to his Olympic medal harvest. His goal at the trials is to compete in the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump. He emphasized, however, that if he makes the team in all three events, he would limit himself to two the long jump and one sprint at the Games.

Lewis, whose last appearance in the indoor nationals was in 1992, said he normally would have skipped this competition. He ran only because he needs the work. "It's tough to stomach races like today, but it serves a purpose for preparation," he said. "My conditioning feels very good. It will just take time to get faster.

See LEWIS, Page SB ATLANTA (AP) The result was shocking. Carl Lewis, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time World Championships gold medalist, finished last Saturday in a preliminary heat of the 60-meter dash at the USA Mobil Indoor Championships. Lewis, a notoriously slow starter, was even slower out of the blocks than usual and wound up sixth in 6.77 seconds .21 seconds behind the winner, little-known Keith Williams from St. Cloud State (Minn. Despite his poor performance, Lewis was encouraged.

"I made some mistakes in the beginning, but I felt good after 20 meters," he said. "I'm disappointed that I didn't run technically better, but I ran a little faster than I did at Houston. So this makes me feel better. "I don't worry about it. We're just not sharp yet." In Lewis' only other 60 this season, he also finished last, but it was in a final and his time was 6.84.

Lewis stressed that he has yet to concentrate on speed during his training, focusing more on strength and conditioning. "I'm in better shape at this time of year than I've i I 4 i I 1 I Torrence, Johnson continue dominance, Page S3 Associated Press Dennis Mitchell (473), Jon Drummon (183) and Track and Field Championships In Atlanta. Lewis Carl Lewis (402) come up from the blocks In Sat finished last In his heat In 6.77 seconds .21 urday 60-meter dash preliminaries at the Mobil seconds behind the winner. Qohrm hound for state Elliott's 3-point shooting carries TIT Spurs past 76ers, r-r- i the for ence Weatherspoon 22 76ers. Robinson was ejected with left in the first half for arguing with officials about what he felt 11 i i ii SAN ANTONIO (AP) -Sean Elliott made eight 3-pointers and the San Antonio Spurs survived was a uircau on 111s lay up attempt seconds earlier.

ut Philadelphia coach John Lucas met the same fate as Robinson. He Mine nrl mi fn. 4L I.1L was cjra.u iui ai guuig U1C IUUTUI of five illegal defense calls against his club with 1:57 left in the third quarter. Lucas got his initial tech-t the ejection of David Robinson to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-101 Saturday night. Elliott was 8-of-ll from 3-point range and sank a team-record six in the second half.

His four straight treys in the fourth quarter helped the Spurs stretch an 85-73 advantage at the end of the third quarter into an 104-87 cushion with 6 05 left in the game. Vinhy Del Negro's jumper with 4:10 left gave San Antonio its biggest lead, 110-91. Elliott finished with 33 points, followed by Del Negro with 20 and Avery Johnson 18. Robinson had 11 points at the time of his ejection. Tony Massenburg and Trevor Ruffin both had 25 points and Clar- meal in the first half Notes: It was the second time this season that Robinson was ejected and just the third time in his career.

The victory was coach Bob-Hill's 100th as Spurs coach. He has; a 100-32 mark in his two-yearj stint. Philadelphia showed its respect for Hall of Famer George Gervin by not leaving the floor at Defensive change guides Industrial to the big dance COYSLAVIK Advocate Sports Writer AUSTIN Trailing by 15 points midway through the second quarter, it was time for Industrial coach Jeff Merchant and his Cobras to swallow a little pride. The Cobras abandoned their strength their full-court press and turned Saturday's Region IV-2A final at St. Edward's University against District 28-2A rival Ganado into a half court game.

The defensive switch, along with Ashley Jalufka's go-ahead 3-pointer and' Industrial's 6-for-7 free-throw shooting down the stretch, led the Cobras to a 5447 victory and sent them into the state tournament for the first time in school history. "We've lived and died with our full-court defense all season," said Merchant, in his first season as a head coach. "But they were getting the best of our press." After switching to a 2-3 zone, Industrial (24-5) went on a 10-0 run to pull within five points at half-time. Neither team seized control until Jalufka, the Cobras' 6-foot-6, junior center, made a 3-pointer with 2:28 left in the game and sophomore point guard Jesse Rodriguez hit a pullup 16-foot jumper with 1 36 to go to give Industrial a 48-43 lead. Ganado, which finished the season at 28-5, failed to make a field goal in the final 4:09 of play, but pulled within three at 4845 on Bryan Hurt's two free throws with 32 seconds remaining.

But Industrial's Warren Green, who had 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, made four free throws and Bart Vanlandingham added two more with 10 seconds left to make it 5445 and preserve the Cobras' state tourney berth in their first trip to the playoffs in 30 years. "We never quit believing," said Merchant, whose Cobras defeated San Antonio Cole, 75-63, in Friday's regional semifinals. "We never listened to all the folks who said we were from some podunk town and didn't belong here playing San Antonio schools." See INDUSTRIAL, Page 2B halftime when the former Spurs! star was lauded for being inducted A 1 1 into the city's Hall of Fame, More NBA, Page 7B Brown captures city title in women's bowling event; change on the leader board Satur-' day at Woodlawn Center. Brown-; ing bowled a 661 to vault over Nan-! cy Schmidt's 656 who finished second. Donna Cantu moved into third! place in that division.

Rebecca Bagnall bowled an ex-j cellent 678 scratch set to lead her doubles partner Britney Brannies into second place in Division 2 dou- See BOWLING, Page 5B Shelly Brown won her first city championship when her scratch all-events total she put on the board in the first weekend of the 43rd Annual Women's City Tournament held up for first place. Brown foiled sets of 601 in team, 635 in singles and 587 in doubles to give her a total of 1,823 pins for the coveted title. Cristi Browning, in Division 2 singles, was the only top place to Richard CroomeThe Victoria Advocate Jarrett Lambert of the Ganado Indians pulls down a rebound in the middle of a host of Cobras. Industrial advanced to the state tournament with a 54-47 victory In the Region IV-2A title game Saturday at St. Edwards University.

Texas Tech dominates final AP All-SWC team Th 1995-96 Associated Press Alt-Southwest Conference men's basketball team as selected by the coaches: FIRST TEAM Jason Sasser, Texas Tech, Brian Skinner, Baylor, Soph. Reggie Freeman, Texas, Tommy McGhee, Rice, Tim Moore, Houston, Sr. SECONDTEAM Shawn loo. Rice, Cory Carr, Texas Tech, Sonny Alvarado, Texas, Damlon Walker, TCU, (tie) Darvin Ham, Texas Tech, Sr. and Tony Battle, Texas Tech, Soph.

Player of the Year Sasser, Texas Tech. Defensive Player of the Year Skinner, Baylor. Newcomer of the Year Walker, TCU. Coach of the Year James Dickey, Texas Tech. All Newcomer Team Walker, TCU, Tracey Anderson, Texas Kris Clack, Texas; DeJuan Vazquez, Texas; Stanley Bonewitz, Texas Tech.

Red Raiders end SWC play unbeaten LUBBOCK No. 9 Texas Tech has ended a second straight regular season on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Only this time, rather than wondering whether they will be invited, the Red Raiders only wonder if they'll be a No. 2 seed. Tech finished off its finest regular season ever Saturday with an 84-70 victory over Rice, becoming only the fourth Southwest Conference team since 1948 to go undefeated in league play.

Sophomore Cory Carr was the star of Tech's "Senior Day," going 7-for-12 from 3-point range for a game-high 24 points for Tech, which had the regular-season title wrapped up entering the game. "It is a great feeling," Tech coach James Dickey said. "It is what you work for. Our goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament when we went to Dallas (for the SWC tournament), and we've accomplished that." Tech (25-1, 14-0) collected its second straight and final SWC championship trophy. Last season, however, it made no difference as the Red Raiders weren't invited to the NCAA Tournament after getting knockid out of the SWC tournament.

Tech's Koy Smith added 16 points and Jason Sasser had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sasser and center Tony Battie, who pulled down 11 rebounds, combined to thwart the Rice's big-man combination of Shaun Igo and Scott Oliver. Igo fouled out midway through the second half after the Raided had built a 20-point lead. ft in! Houston. Skinner won Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

He averaged blocking three shots per game. Freeman lead the SWC in scoring with 22 points per game followed by freshman Damion Walker of Texas Christian, who had 20, and was named to the second team and earned SWC Newcomer of the Year honors. Making the second team were Shawn Igo of Rice, Sonny Alvarado of Texas, Walker and a trio of Tech players who were tied up in the balloting, Cory Carr, Darvin Ham and Tony Battie. The all-newcomer team included Walker, Tracey Anderson of Texas Kris Clack and DeJuan Vazquez of Texas, and Tech's Stanley Bonewitz. It's the last all-SWC team.

Next year Texas Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor are in the new Big 12 Conference; SMU, TCU and Rice go to the Western Athletic Conference; and Houston heads into Conference USA. DALLAS (AP) Texas Tech coach James Dickey had this word for his team after it was snubbed last year by the NCAA basketball committee: "Don't ever forget this feeling." The Red Raiders didn't and for that reason they won the Southwest Conference basketball title going away. Which is why Dickey won The Associated Press SWC Coach of the Year honor in balloting by his peers and Jason Sasser was named Player of the Year. "We just wanted to make sure this year we were as good as we could possibly be," Dickey said. "We didn't have to mention last year.

It was always there, unwritten and unsaid." Now the only question surrounding Tech is how high a seed the Red Raiders will get in the postseason tournament. Sasser, a senior from Dallas, averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds per game and was the heart of a very defensive Tech team. "He doesn't have a pretty 3, game," Dickey said. "But he's a winner. "It might be ugly but he wins.

Just look at the boxscore after every game and he has production in every area. And when it gets down to critical moments in a game, he always plays his best." Joining Sasser on the first team, were Baylor's Brian Skinner, Reggie Freeman of Texas, Tommy McGhee of Rice and Tim Moore of Associated Press Texas Tech't Tony Battle pulls down a rebound In front of Rice's Shaun Igo..