Johnson City Press du lieu suivant : Johnson City, Tennessee • 19

i SportsEtc Wednesday March 8 2006 Johnson City Press Page 3C Lady Bucs Banjo Akers earn A-Sun honors Briefly Williams of Jacksonville and Shontavia Williams of Florida Atlantic Banjo a three-time A-Sun player of the week averaged 191 points per game during the regular season third-best in the A-Sun The senior also ranks third in the league in three-point percentage (422) and in free-throw percentage (803) She also ended the season tied with Walker for the league lead in three pointers per game with both guards sinking 294 treys a night nu gucu to vttiitsotty among me top zv nanon- Akers was tabbed the top defender after nabbing 53 steals on the season including a career-high and school-record tying nine takeaways against Campbell on Jan 19 She averaged 220 steals a night during the Lady inaugural A-Sun campaign The sophomore showed she can crash the boards as well grabbing a career-high 10 in the win over Mercer on Feb 23 The Lady Bucs will battle for an NCAA Tournament bid this weekend nlavinp in the A-Snn vomerence tournament in Dothan7ATa Football SH to retire number Former Science Hill and University of Tennessee football player Aubrayo Franklin will be honored Thursday by his former high school The event is set for 5 pm at Carver Recreation Center Franklin currently plays for the Baltimore From staff reports MACON Ga East Tennessee State Sophomore Nichelle Akers has been chosen the Atlantic Sun defensive player of the year and teammate BJ Banjo a senior was a first-team all-conference selection Banjo is one of just three players to be unanimously selected to the first team along with nark ally hr scoringrS-poini percentage ana tnree-pomrs l7l SU7the'humber-three seed draws sixth-seeded per game Her 39-point performance against Mercer in the first round Southeast Missouri State is the top output in the A- Game time is slated for 7 pm Thursday The Sun this season and the ninth-highest total in the championship tilt is slated for Saturday tipping off NCAA at 2 pm Clark cleaned up the conference awards earning both player of the year and freshman of the year honors Also selected to the first-team were Ashley Jeremy-war otr reared aunng the ceremony Several former coaches and teammates will be in attendance Anyone interested is invited to attend For more information call 461-8830 BMS resurfacing rescheduled for 2007 By JEFF BOBO NET News Service Late Model racing here and in fact probably going to have more than one race here next year a good product and we think people like it got some positive feedback about the Late Models so not done with A Estes said a good possibility that a Late Model race could be scheduled at BMS in the spring prior to the NASCAR weekend and then again sometime following the August night races Tentatively scheduled to follow construction of the new concrete racing surface is a redesign of the infield which would make room for more haulers to park and improve their maneuverability Estes noted that the new infield design is in the earliest planning stages but the concept at this time is for all the buildings to be placed in the comers Most notably the infield media center which faces the frontstretch grandstands would be tom down and a new one constructed at one end of the infield Estes said the media center was in need of a technological upgrade anyway Also to be improved would be the Wellmont Infield Care Center same place so that we can have highspeed half-mile Nextel Cup racing here and have it be the best racing it can Indecision on whether or not to repave this year ultimately cost BMS one of its events for 2006 In 2004 BMS scheduled a 150-lap race for the Late Model stock cars which compete nationwide at the local short tracks The race was sanctioned by the UARA-Stars Late Model touring series which brought an abundance of race cars and fans to the track for the past two years The UARA events were scheduled for September in 2004 and 2005 but the series was seeking a BMS race for July 4 this year Until recently that was the time BMS officials anticipated that the track surface would be under construction By the time the decision was made to postpone resurfacing until 2007 it was too late for the UARA race to be placed on the 2006 schedule Estes said to uncertainty about construction the season schedule was set at such a late date that we just get together with the UARA on what our dates were going to Estes said are not closing the door on or go We all felt like be a whole lot more comfortable if when they tamper with the most popular racing surface in all of NASCAR that they get it right the first As it stands now BMS will receive its new concrete racing surface following the 2007 spring NASCAR races with the project to be completed by the time NASCAR returns to BMS for the August night races The existing concrete surface was constructed in 1992 and at that time technology was not as advanced as it is now with regard to face track paving Estes said He said the existing surface has served the facility well but time is beginning to take its toll reaching the end of its term and I think anybody really wants to do this but not a matter of what we want but what we must Estes said think over time the competitors have become accustomed to the surface Are there things that can be done to make it better? Yes and tempting but you also want to mess up working really well here this is completed going to continue to have 36 degree high-banked concrete corners Everybody wants to get it back to the BRISTOL Bristol Motor Speedway will require the undivided attention of its paving engineer and contractors when it installs a new concrete racing surface on the Fastest Half Mile and why the project has been put off until 2007 The project was very close to being scheduled for this slimmer Wayne Estes BMS vice president of communications and events said TUesday that Speedway Motorsports Inc CEO Bruton Smith left it up to track President Jeff Byrd whether or not to proceed with the resurfacing in 2006 or wait until 2007 Speedway Motorsports also owns Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC and Las Vegas Motor Speedway both of which will receive a new surface in 2006 Ultimately it was decided that spreading the attention of Speedway preferred engineer construction company and developers three ways might not produce the optimum results wanted to be sure that they were going to have our undivided attention Estes said reached a critical point where we had to say go Notes ances and one state tournament appearance The 102 wins set a school record which was established last year by four-year varsity members Rikki Baughman and Valnessha Redd Baughman and Redd led the Cyclones to 89 victories First-year Cyclones head coach Larry Weems said both players were very dependable both great said Weems of them missed a practice with me They had good leadership qualities And they are great lads on and off the court which is as important as University High head coach Tony Gordon said ne was really pleased with the way his players battled in their regional semifinal loss to Hampton last week showed the hearts of said Gordon kids in four years have been responsible for 85 wins left a legacy and built a foundation for the Spring sports season is just around the corner Teams are busy preparing and undoubtedly looking forward to the warm weather predicted for the end of this week Seasons can officially begin Monday for baseball softball soccer tennis and track 1-AAA semifinals The Hilltoppers backed themselves into a corner when they lost to Sullivan Central in the District 1-AAA finals That put the in the same side of the bracket with Greeneville which meant only one of the top two teams in the area would have a shot at the sectional round Despite still being able to rack up victories Science Hill has won 58 games over the last two years the tradition of being a state power has taken a major hit Falling short of the state tournament next year would give the a five-year drought which happened since the mid-1960s Science Hill finished 26-10 this year its first double-digit loss season since the mid-1980s Cameron Crapps and Eden Treadway were four-year members of the varsity for the Elizabethton Lady Cyclones and they left their mark on the program Elizabethton won a combined total of 102 games while the 5-6 guard and 6-foot post were on the team The Cyclones won 18 games in their freshman year 24 in their sophomore season and then added 30 wins in each of their last two seasons The team also made three Class AA sectional appear ETSU Athletics Golf team loses grip finishes 4th The llth-ranked ETSU golf team struggled during final-round play at the Seminole Intercollegiate posting the worst round of the day at 301 to drop from first place and ultimately finish fourth Tbesday at the Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee Fla Coastal Carolina took home the team championship with a three-round score of 13-under 851 followed by second-place North Carolina State at 6-under-par ETSU finished at Sunder 861 for the event On the individual leaderboard NC Stephen Lewton took home the title with a playoff win over Dustin Johnson Both players finished tied at 13-under ETSU junior Rhys Davies enjoyed the top finish as the PING first-team All-American posted a 4-under 212 and ended the event in sixth place Sophomore Gareth Shaw finished 16th at even par and freshman Adam Hodkinson was tied for 27th at 4-over The Bucs will return to action March 12 at the Coastal Carolina Invitational ETSU freshman golfer Jordan Findlay received the first A-Sun Golfer of the Month award for the spring season on TUesday Findlay fired what was at the time career-best 70s in back-to-back rounds at the Puerto Rico Classic helping him to secure the first top-5 finish of his career The freshman finished tied for fifth overall the best showing by a Buccaneer ETSU finished fifth in the extremely strong field that featured 14 ranked teams For the month Findlay finished with a 7067 stroke average as the Buccaneers climbed to No 11m the most current national rankings The ETSU tennis team swept Jacksonville 7-0 TUesday at the JU Tennis Complex The Bucs are now 10-5 on the year while the Dolphins fell to 0-7 Action began with the Buccaneers claiming the doubles point with wins in the No 1 and No 2 positions At the No 1 doubles position freshman Juan Crosa and Li sandro Picardo defeated Clay Garrett and Marcos Oliveira 8-1 In No 2 doubles Enrique Olivares and Sebastian Serrano defeated Cory Garrett and Tim Newman 8-0 Jacksonville then defaulted in the No 3 position ETSU again dominated in singles action sweeping all of the matches in straight sets In No 1 singles Juan Crosa defeated Marcos Oliveira 6-1 6-1 while Enrique Olivares defeated Clay Garrett 6-1 6-0 in the No 2 position In the No 3 slot Usandro Picardo defeated Cory Garrett 6-2 6-0 Sophomore Sebastian Serrano defeated Tim Newman 6-0 6-0 in the No 4 position In the No 5 position Matt Stanley defeated Matt Kampfe 6-0 6-0 while Jacksonville defaulted in the No 6 position Sophomore Amanda Haverman was named to the Buzz Classic all-tournament team announced by Georgia Tech on TUesday Haverman had a stellar four games at the plate last weekend hitting 538 in 13 at bats The sophomore slammed three homeruns on the weekend including a walk-off two-run blast in the Lady 7-6 win over Austin Peay She also managed three-hit games against Austin Peay and Marshall Haverman recorded seven hits drove in eight RBI and scored four runs while striking out only two times in four games Tusculum Athletics LMU sweeps Lady Pioneers The Lincoln Memorial University softball team extended its winning streak to nine games TUesday afternoon by knocking off the visiting Lady Pioneers of TUsculum College 1-0 and 6-4 to move to 15-5 on the year first game decided until the bottom of the seventh inning when LMU freshman Danielle Cooper hit a walk-off-single that scored teammate Alisa Burk to win the game Monica Funigiello fell to 5-5 on the year with the loss in the first game Despite giving up only one run Funigiello gave up six hits including the RBI single that won the game for Lincoln Memorial while walking only one batter and striking out five In the second game LMU jumped on TUsculum early The Lady Railsplitters put three runs across the plate in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back eventually coming away with the 6-4 win Junior Gina Grace led by example at the plate going three for four in the game while teammate Tiffany Evans was one for two with a walk two RBI and her seventh homerun of the year Senior Danielle Sowders went two for four at the plate with a run batted in while Brittney Walker was one for four with an RBI and Amanda Wampler finished one for three with one run blocked in College basketball UNC-Duke most-watched North win over then-No 1 Duke on Saturday was watched by an average of 378 million households the largest audience for a college basketball game ip his-tory The Tar 83-76 victory was shown live on both ESPN and ESPN2 and the total audience number reflects those who watched on both The largest audience previously for a men college basketball game on ESPN was in 1990 when 344 million homes watched an NCAA tournament game between Princeton and Arkansas From staff AP reports 4 Continued from Page 1C Both Science Hill and D-B made it to the state quarterfinals in 1993 and then the Hilltoppers made it alone from 1994-97 Tennessee High joined the Hilltoppers in 1998 and Science Hill made it alone in 1999 and 2000 In 2001 the Vikings made it by themselves and Science Hill followed up in 2002 Dobyns-Bennett made the trip alone in 2003 and 2004 and the Vikings cleared the hurdle in 2005 But the streak ended before it could reach two full decades Science Hill was knocked out in the regional semifinals while Dobyns-Bennett pull off a road upset of Knox Bearden in sectional As for the Watauga streak a little more difficult to research The league has changed looks several times over the years because of reclassification South Greene which has bounced back and forth between District 1 and District 2 made it to the sectional round numerous times beginning in the late 1980s Unicoi County Happy Valley Hampton and Daniel Boone combined for numerous sectional appearances in the 1990s and Unicoi carried that on into the new decade Elizabethton made it three years in a row from 2003-05 The streak barely ended this season Elizabethton and Unicoi County each battled their regional semifinal opponents into overtime before losing With the Cyclones and Blue Devils both returning several key players from this teams there seems to be a strong possibility that the Watauga can start a new streak Another streak is building and not a happy one Science Hill missed out on the state tournament for the fourth consecutive year when it lost to Greeneville in last Region (310033159 4 Continued from Page 1C Skole will go with Ryan Howe Jeremy Hall and Tony Lombardi as starting pitchers in the series which includes single games Friday Saturday and Sunday Hall is coming off an excellent performance last weekend in a 5-3 victory over St The senior right-hander pitched a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts to improve to 3-1 this season was said Skole come to expect that from Jeremy I guess sort of Hall has a 446 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 15 walks in 3613 innings this season The ETSU softball team plays host to Radford today marking its first home action since splitting a season-opening double-header against Furman on Feb 15 Games are scheduled for 1 and 3 at Metro-Kiwanis Park The road been kind to the Bucs They are off to a 3-13 start in Andrea first season as head coach having played in tournaments in Starkville Miss Chattanooga and Marietta Ga a combination of good competition and the girls going through tough times trying to adjust to a totally different style of said Roberts who took over for Amy Fuller last summer think the standard of requirements has been raised to another level and been tough for some of the girls who have seen success in the past having to learn to do things another Complicating matters the team is suddenly without perhaps its best player outfielder Janine Sprague The Southern Conference player of the year last season Sprague injured her left shoulder diving into the outfield fence last Saturday against Georgia Tech and is expected to miss three weeks said Roberts The senior from Hillsborough NC came off an injury to her throwing shoulder last year to hit 358 and steal 18 bases She was hitting 340 this season despite bouncing around in the batting order tossed her between leadoff and the said Roberts would like to see her in the 3-hole because I see her as a power hitter but not comfortable there yet just another one of those things been trying to figure out and now out When 3-13 things like this Freshman Mary Catherine Vercoe of Signal Mountain is off to a blazing start at the plate hitting 410 but 0-6 on the mound Courtney Jenkins the workhorse of the pitching staff last season is 1-4 and has been used lately in relief is not used to playing a relief said Roberts As a team ETSU carries a 547 ERA and is batting 259 Those numbers contrast with 288 and 324 for its opponents Vercoe and Sprague are the only players hitting over 300 but Amanda Haverman is at 293 after a big weekend in which she hit three homers including a game-winner against Austin Peay The sophomore was named to the all-tournament team in Marietta pieces are going to fall into place said Roberts is the key and hard to be confident when 3-13 But trying hard to motivate the girls and build the The golf team travels to Columbia SC this weekend for the Lady Gamecock Classic The Lady Bucs finished 13th in a strong 16-team field in their first outing two weeks ago in Puerto Rico the strongest field see all year and the upcoming tournament is about the same said coach Stefanie Reynolds mentioning Wake Forest Virginia and Tennessee as top contenders the season competing against some of the best teams in the country gets us prepared for the spring It shows us where we are and where we need to be improved every day (in Puerto Rico) and had our best round on the last Senior Ashley Barton tied for 35th individually with rounds of 75-78-76 is playing very well and we look for her to have a great said Reynolds Gould our freshman has also been playing very well in practice If she can take that to competition be all Reynolds is still trying to gauge the competition in the Atlantic Sun Conference but expects to contend for a' championship The A-Sun teams all get together until April 10 in Deland Fla feel like Campbell is the team to beat every said Reynolds beat them last year head to head in a tournament and will see them in two tournaments before the conference championships Our goal is to win the conference" BRINGIAIGUNiTOISELLIORlTRADE iliclHu OS mstmmm.