The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 47

JfhePantagraph Sunday, January 5, 1997 i fflHumwwi i 1996sports 3: 1 Bulls best ever? The Chicago Bulls 18: Boston Red Sox ace Roger Clemens tied his own major league record with 20 strikeouts against Detroit. 21: Illinois snapped a 17-quarter touchdown drought in a 38-7 win over Akron. 24: The St. Louis Cardinals clinched a divisional crown for the first time since 1987 with a 7-1 win over Pittsburgh. 28: Eureka College's Kurt Barth caught a school-record 20 passes in a loss to Concordia.

set an NBA record by winning 72 games and then rolled to their fourth title behind the play of Michael Jordan, who won his eighth scoring title. 2 Henson's last stand: Veteran Illinois basketball coach Lou Henson retired and was replaced by Lon Kruger, who left Florida to come to the Big Ten school. i '4 NO s- excus nil 2: Center Rich Beyers of Shelbyville announced he will play his college basketball at Illinois. 6: Steffi Graf won her seventh singles title. 7: Hard-serving Richard Krajicek beat American Malivai Washington for his first Wimbledon men's singles title.

9: Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza homered and had an RBI-double as the National League blanked the American League, 6-0, In the All-Star Game. 12: Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls agreed to a one-year contract 1 2. va Belle tolls for Sox: The Chicago White Sox made Albert Belle baseball's highest-paid player, signing the moody and tempestuous former Cleveland Indian star to a five-year, $55 million deal. -i0 worth $30 million. Twins star Kirby Puckett was forced to 3: Despite threats to strike after Baltimore's Roberto Alomar spit on John Hirschbeck, major league umpires never did during baseball's postseason.

5: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres to win their first-round NL playoff series, 3-0. retire because of permanent damage to his right eye. The PantagraphSTEVE SMEDLEY Modest start: In his first season as ISU's football coach, Todd Berry offered few excuses and a 3-8 record. But he promised optimism for future teams.

13: Cigar tied Citation for the longest Northwestern exposure: Northwestern, making its first bowl appearance since 1949 and only its second ever, lost to Southern California in the Rose Bowl. The Wildcats continued to win during the 1996 season, capturing their second straight Big Ten Title (sharing it with Ohio State), and accepted an invitation to the Citrus Bowl. winning streak in thoroughbred horse racing with a victory in the Arlington Citation Challenge. Ulll II I 15: Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin nil pleaded no contest to cocaine possession charges and avoided a jail A. Tr -1i -H" -T, v- pmmm'mmm 18: Free agent center Shaquille Va Manual automatic: Peoria Manual won its third straight Class AA basketball championship and beat Thornton in the championship game for the second straight year.

O'Neal left the Orlando Magic for the Los Angeles Lakers, signing a seven-year, $120-million deal. Tom Lehman won the British Open for his first major profes Ua Tepper for Turner: Illinois football coach Lou Tepper was fired after a 2-9 season and replaced by Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner. a Michael a Jordan-aire: Michael Jor-dan re-signed with Bulls for one year at a record $30 million. 8. Bride of the Bulls: Flamboyant Bulls 7 yVM? sional golf victory.

22: The NCAA chose ISU and Bloom-ingtori's Prairie Vista Golf Course to host the 1997 NCAA East Regional in women's golf. 23: The U.S. gymnastics team, inspired by injured teammate Kerrl Strug, captured the Olympic gold medal. 27: A day after a pipe bomb exploded Et Olympic Centennial Park, Canada's Donovan Bailey won the 100 meters in a world-record 9.84 seconds. 28lston and Todd Mitchell won the Bloomington-Normal Two-Man golf title for3ha second straight year.

Health concerns forced Tommy Lqprda to retire as manager of the Los Anjjeies Dodgers after 20 seasons. 30: The U.S. Olympic softball team bc-8 China, 3-1, for the gold medal. forward Dennis Rodman head-butts a referee and is suspended for six games. Rodman wins his fifth straight rebounding title and later re-signs for $9 million.

He also continues his bizarre, market-driven behavior by appearing at a book signing in drag. Later he announces he's getting married in New York and turns up as the bride. There is no groom. 9 a A good Cigar: Cigar won the Arlington Citation Challenge to match Citation's modern North American record of 16 straight wins. JA -J The PanlagraphLLOYD YOUNG Look of a champion: The scoreboard in the Class 2A state championship game explained the jubilation this mob of LeRoy players expressed.

10, Unbearable facts: The Bears miss the playoffs for the third time in four seasons under Dave Wannstedt. They play poorly and also lose quarterback Erik Kramer for the season with a neck injury. a. afion 1 20: Peoria Manual stars Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin signed with Illinois' basketball team. 23: ISU's volleyball team secured an NCAA Tournament berth with a Valley tournament title win over Drake.

IWU's football team stopped Albion, 23-20, in the first round of the Division III national playoffs. 25: Sue Daggett became the second women's cross country All-American in ISU history when she clocked 18:14 for 5,000 meters to place 24th in the NCAA national meet at Tucson, Ariz. 26: Four years of labor strife ended when major league baseball players and owners reached a labor agreement. 29: LeRoy and Chenoa rallied to win state football titles. Chenoa beat Northwestern LaHarpe, 35-28, for the Class 1A title, while LeRoy topped Central 16-14, for the Class 2A title.

In Class 4A, Providence New Lenox beat Metamora for its third straight title. 30: Mount Union ended IWU's football season with a 49-14 Division III playoff quarterfinal win. Central beat NCHS, 33-31, to ultimately force a three-way tie with High for the Intercity boys basketball tournament title. Johnson races to glory: U.S. 9: A 12-year-old fan at Yankee Stadium reached over the outfield fence and stole a fly ball from Baltimore outfielder Tony Tarasco.

The crucial play was ruled a home run in the Yankees' 5-4 ALCS win. 17: The Atlanta Braves exploded for 29 runs in the final three games and rallied from a 3-1 NLCS deficit to eliminate the Cardinals. 18: NCHS pounded Decatur Eisenhower, 53-0, and won its first Big 12 West football title since 1985. A week later, it secured its first unbeaten regular season in 1 1 years. 19: High's boys golf team won the Class A state title, while Clinton finished second.

20: Golf sensation Tiger Woods won his second PGA tournament in three weeks just eight weeks after he turned pro. 26: After they lost the first two games, the New York Yankees won the next four to grab their first World Series title since 1 978. The Yankees beat the Braves, 3-2, in Game 6. Despite winning a CCIW showdown at Wheaton, 64-35, IWU's football team lost star tailback Deon Hornsby for the season with a knee injury. 28: Brian Baker, the Normal West football senior captain and son of coach Jim Baker, died of brain cancer.

6: Three ISU football players, including leading receiver Ray Fouchea, were suspended from the team after being arrested on misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession. 8: One week after Marengo surprised High, Central Catholic became Marengo's second Intercity playoff victim when the No. 3-ranked Saints lost 14-7. High, the first Bloomington-Normal team to advance to the state soccer tournament, lost a 2-1 shootout to Col-linsville in the quarterfinals. 9: Evander Holyfield beat Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight title.

10: NASCAR's Terry Labonte won the Winston Cup Championship. 1 1 Illinois fired football coach Lou Tepper with two games left. Tepper went 25-31-2 over six seasons. 16: IWU's football team blanked Elm-hurst, 49-0, for the CCIW title. LeRoy, Chenoa, NCHS and Metamora advanced to the semifinals of the state football playoffs.

A day after Lockport eliminated NCHS in the Class AA quarterfinals, Mount Pulaski's volleyball team took second place in the Class A state tournament. 1 8: Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz announced his resignation. 19: The Chicago White Sox signed controversial free agent slugger Albert Belle. Johnson erased, the world record in the 200 meters at 19.32 seconds and completed a gold-medal the 200 and 400 in the Olym- pIC grjn her last Olympics, Jackie Joyner-Kersee won the bronze medal in the i long jump. 3: Canada's 400-meter relay team surprised the U.S.

for the gold medal. But Dream Team III bounced Yugoslaviia for the gold medal. Oale Jarrett won the Brickyard 400. '4: On the final day of the Atlanta Games; the U.S. women's basketball the gold medal.

Molly Eckols won her second straight Blobmington-Normal women's city golf title- tQibare and Go ended Cigar's record-tying streak of 16 consecutive thoroughbred racing victories. 11: Tom Kearfott won his fourth Bloomington-Normal Medal Play golf title. Mark Brooks edged Kenny Perry in a playdtf for the PGA Championship. 21: The Cubs lost slugger Sammy Sosa for the remainder of the season with a broken hand. 24: Top-ranked Hawaii handled defending national champion Nebraska at Redbird Arena for the championship of the NACWAA Classic, college volleyball's season-opening tournament.

30: "in Todd Berry's ISU coaching debut, Buffalo's football team held off the Redbirds, 41-35. sprinter Michael Johnson became the first male Olympian to sweep the 200 and 400 meters. He punctuated the historic performance with a world record-shattering 19.32-second time in the 200. 2 Bomb rattles Olympics: The commercial flash and high-tech buzz of the Centennial Summer Games in Atlanta, were marred when a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Park. It killed one and injured 1 1 1 others.

Oa Tiger roars in PGA: Golf's next superstar became just that. The 20-year-old won a record third consecutive U.S. Amateur championship, then passed up his final two years at Stanford to turn pro. He promptly won two of the first seven PGA Tour stops he entered; ta Holyfield packs punch: In a clash of comebacks, Evander Holyfield beat Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship. 5 a Jordan, Bulls return to top: In Michael Jordan's first full season since returning from baseball, the Chicago Bulls won a record 72 regular-season games and their fourth NBA title in six sea 1 sons.

6 a Strug inspires U.S. gold: Despite an injured ankle, tiny gymnast Kerri Strug completed the vault and inspired the U.S. women's team to the gold medal. MO Zmis p.r I I 1 fs. I 1 Illinois chose Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner for its new football coach.

5: The IHSA football advisory committee recommended to double the number of teams in the high school playoffs. 6: Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle died at age 70. i 7: Three days after ISU beat Miami of Ohio, top-ranked Florida outlasted the Redbirds in the second round of the NCAA volleyball tournament. 9: The Big Ten decided to start a men's postseason basketball tournament beginning in 1998. 1 1 IWU quarterback Lon Erickson received the Gagliardi Award as the top player in Division III football.

14: Florida's Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy. 16: NCHS fullback James Fuller picked Iowa State. 17: BHS won its fourth straight Intercity wrestling title. 19: The St. Louis Blues fired coach general manager Mike Keenan.

22: The St. Louis Rams fired coach Rich Brooks after two seasons. 24: Nora Maguire, who coached ISU's first women's soccer team, resigned after one season. 30: Midwest Central upset Rockford Boylan for the grand championship of the Bloomington-Normal Holiday Classic. I a Yankees return to glory: Polishing an already shiny team with free agents and trades, the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves for their first World Series title since 1978.

8, 'a Michelle McGann beat. Laura Dawes 'and Barb Whitehead in a playoff to to the Rail Classic in Springfield. 'ef NCHS beat Bloomington for the in 10 years 31-12 in the Intercity football doubleheader. High beafCentral, 18-7. Tr ISU's women's soccer team won the-first match in school history with a 3-2 victory over Loyola.

12: Stephen Decatur guard Tarise Bry.son committed to ISU's basketball program and signed with the Redbirds two-months later. 13: NCHS guard Jonah Batambuze announced he will attend Northwestern. 29-0 victory over Southeast MiQuri gave Todd Berry the first of thrfiELftins in his opening year as ISU's foqtbaH coach. 16: Minnesota's Paul Molitor became the 21 st player in major league history with 3,000 career hits. 17: Japan's Hideo Nomo of Los Angeles no hit the Colorado Rockies on the same night Cleveland clinched its second straight AL Central Division title.

women oi ine woria: iweruy-nve I I years after Title IX began, U.S. women athletes had a major impact in the Olympics, including gold medal wins in softball, basketball, soccer and swimming. 7a Baseball finds peace: Four years of labor strife in major league baseball finally ended when players and owners reached an agreement. 10. Lewis' final leap: Track 'and field legend Carl Lewis qualified for the Olympic long jump by mere inches, but won a record-tying ninth gold The PantagraphMAUREEN O'CONNOR Worth celebrating: ISU's volleyball team attracted a crowd by winning the Missouri Valley Conference and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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