The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 32, Ed. 1, Friday, January 17, 1986 Page: 7 of 8
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Indian reign dance
Midwestern's Miko Smith battlos
Hoverson and Roderick Johnson for
In Moody Coliseum. (Photo by Rick
Hood recruits for title No. 5
By THOMAS GRAHAM
SportSttJHOT
"Well we ought to have a good shot at
it saia al.u men s tracK coacn uon
Hood of the possibility of winning his
fifth consecutive national title.
And after considering some of his
recruits most would agree.
There's a Caribbean quartcr-miler
whom Hood considers the best
freshman recruit he's ever had.
There's another Caribbean spintcr
There's -. South African who's close
friends with ACU middle-distance
runner Freddie Williams. And there's
a transfer from Pasadena City College
in Los Angeles.
Hood expects them all to contribute
greatly over the next year beginning
with the Lubbock Christian College
Indoor Invitational and the Jaycee In-
vitational in Albuquerque N.M. Jan.
25.
Ian Morris lias run the 400 meters in
45.30 and has been hand-timed at 20.4
in the 200 meters. The freshman from
Trinidad has t-layed soccer all his life
Conner strives to come back
after suffering knee
By THOMAS QRAHAM
Sports Editor
Against Wayland Baptist University
Patti Conner was a constant harass-
ment to the Flying Queens. She has
been all year as she forces key tur
novers and moves the ball around the
:ey to the tune of 5.6 assists per game
top in the Lone Star Conference.
In one game alone sh? had 1 1 assists
to establish a new ACU record.
Her personal goals for this season in-
cluded that single game record but
also the season record of 96.
The latter goal will have to wait at
least a couple of months if you listen to
Conner - longer if you listen to her
doctors.
Against Missouri-Rolla she tore the
anterior cruciate ligament in her -left
knee a common yet incapacitating
injury
'fM As the point guard for ACU's
vVfromen's basketball team Conner was
bringing the ball down the court. She
drove to the middle of the key and was
met by a defender.
"I passed the ball off to the right to
Stephanie Spring and I took off on
this leg my left leg being my
strongest" she says gripping her
hands around her left thigh just above
a support brace. "I guess when I came
from loft to right Wildcats Keith
a loose ball during ACU's 79-62
Patterson)
Bubka hits record
The Soviet Union's Sergei Bubka
vaulted 19-3 to break former ACU
pole vaulter Billy Olson's world in-
door record established last month
in Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Canada.
Bubka now holds both the indoor
record 19-3 and outdoor record
19-8'4.
Olson's vault of 19-2 marked
the eighth time he has set a new
world record.
ACU track coach Don Hood said
he was not surprised that Bubka set
the record and expects him to go
higher.
"I guess that'll give Billy a little
more incentive" Hood said adding
that he thought Olson could achieve
19-5 or 19-6 ifhe stays healthy.
but during rehabilitation of an injury
began running in track meets and won
pretty easily.
"He's only been running for about a
back down I stopped wrong and my
knee took the full force of my weight."
Although she only weighs a little
over 125 pounds the weight was
enough to rip the ligament apart.
Her father describes a possible
repair job as "trying to sew two horses
tails together. It's so frayed that the
only thing that could be done is major
reconstruction."
Dr. Shannon Holloway did perform
orthroscopic surgery last Friday on
Conner to determine the extent of
damage and to clean up the excess
pieces of the ligament.
Major reconstruction is not
necessary because "people can funo'
tion well enough without" the anterior
and posterior cruciate said Lcland
Branson ACU athletic trainer.
"When you lose it you can get by
without it" he said. Conner will have
to wear a knee brace that serves the
same function as the ligament. The
brace will prevent her leg from exten-
ding too far forward or from being
pushed up toward her thigh.
But the rehabilitation period - the
time it will take her to regain lost
strength - Is long and drawn out.
"From a medical viewpoint it
would be very uncommon for her to
return" Branson said "If she has
anything to do with it it won't be long
Scales Michaol Williams Randy
win over the Indians Tuesday night
year" said Hood but mentioned that
the 1988 Olympics were among his
goals. He represented the Americas
team in the World Cup last year.
Ralph Roberts also from Trinidad
has been timed at 10.38 in the 100
meters and 20.9 in the 200.
Michael Moloto of South Africa
has times of 13:52 in the 5000 meters
and under 29 minutes in the 10000
meters which gives him the potential
for an NCAA Division II national ti-
tle said Hood.
Alan Randle from Pasadena Col-
lege is a 400-meter hurdler who has
been timed at 52.1 and has a mile relay
split of 46.4.
Hood said the mile relay will pro-
bably consist of Darren Williams
junior from Midland Williams Mor-
ris and new addition Shane Howell.
A freshman from Jamaica Howell
has a 46.8 mile relay split. Hood said
he has also been clocked in 21.1 in the
200 meters
The outdoor track season will begin
March 1 with the Odessa Invitational.
The Wildcat Relays are March 8.
injury
before she gets back out there.
"Patti went in with an excellent at-
titude and came out of it with the same
one and that's very important" he
said
Branson said the rehabilitation pro-
cess would begin with a goal of 1000
straight leg lifts per day. Then she will
add a two and one-half pound weight
and work up to 1000 straight leg lifts
"I want to come back" Conner said.
"If not this year for sure next year."
Conner said the injury which came
two games before ACU's three-game
homestand before entering conference
was disappointing because it is keep-
ing her from playing in front of her
friends.
"I was thinking about that the other
night at the game and I thought 'Man
all my buds are here and all my pals
are here and they're not getting to see
me play.' Not that that's the most im-
portant thing but it's kind of nice"
she said.
Conner said when she first was in-
jured she felt angry that God could let
this happen to her but she "did some
heavy duty praying" and felt better
about herself going into the surgery.
"My heart was hurting more than
my knee" she said. "Compared to my
heart the knee was just a drop in the
bucket."
ByKEnnVCOLE
Assistant 8 porta Editor '
ACU's men got a big win before open-
ing conference trouncing Midwestern
State University 79-62 Tuesday night
in Moody Coliseum to avenge a
Christmas-time loss.
ACU opens defense of its Lone Star
Conference championship Saturday at
Howard Payne. The women play at 6
p.m. and the men's game will be
played afterward in Brownwood.
Coach Mike Martin complimented
his team on its aggressive second-hatf
play in the Midwestern game noting
the Importance of that attitude going
into conference play. "If we can keep
that same frame of mind for the next
10 games we'll go to the playofts" he
said referring to the automatic bid the
LSC champion will receive to the
playoffs this season.
The Wildcats led by 10 at halftime
before letting the Midwestern game
slip away in the second half when they
lost 90-85 at Wichita Falls but thl
Lady Cats' performance
baffles McCoy in loss
By THOMAS QRAHAM
Sports Editor
Tuesday evening's 6258 loss to
Midwestern left ACU women's
basketball coach Burl McCoy baftled.
And with the Lone Star Conference
beginning Saturday he doesn't hxvt
time for riddles.
"Maybe we've been playing over
our head all year" said McCoy. "I
don't know."
ACU has run its record to 9-6 to lead
the LSC and will meet the 2-7 Lady
Jackets of Howard Payne at 6 p.m. in
Brownwo63i ancT then meet Texas
A&I Monday at 6 p.m. in Kingsville.
Early in the contest the Wildcats
continued to play over their heads
Cats favored to repeat in LSC
ACU's basketball teams both are
predicted to repeat as Lone Star Con-
ference champions with Angelo State
contending in the men's league and
Texas A&I battling the women.
Conference action begins Saturday
with both ACU teams playing Howard
Payne University in Brownwood.
Other games scheduled include
Eastern New Mexico at Texas A&I
and Angelo State at East Texas State
in men's and women's anion. Mon-
day's games include ACU at Texas
A&I HPU at Angelo State and EN-
MU at East Texas.
ACU's women arc at the top of the
LSC after finishing their non-
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Unwanted rest jjj
Patti Conner rests her Injured left knee on pillows while watching the Lady Cats' win ovor Oklahoma
Christian College Saturday. Conner a Junior guard from El Paso who led the Lone Star Conference in
assists Injured the knee Jan. 6 during a game In St Louis Mo. and may bo out for the season. (Phoio
by Brian Chlsm) 1
4 J
time no such comeback was allowed.
"That was going through
everybody's heads" Michael Williams
said. "We knew we couldn't lose our
composure this time. We had to go out
there and play just as hard as we
played in the first half."
The Cats led by seven at the half
31-24 but after two MSU breaks cut
the lead to three ACU pulled out to a
13-point advantage. ACU went on to
lead by as many as 20 points in the
game.
Williams a junior transfer who has
been playing small forward stepped in
at guard for Ryant Greene who was
academically ineligible for the game.
Williams- scored 21 points and his
hounding defense held the Indians'
leading scorer Robert Harris to only
nine points in the game. Harris had a
23 point-per-game average going into
Tuesday's game. Williams had five
steals in the game one leading to a
first-half breakaway slam that gave the
Cats their first lead 21-20 with 4:19
remaining.
developing a 24-14 lead. However the
play didn't last as ACU fumbled the
ball away made bad passes had the
ball stolen and allowed MSU to close
to 26-22 by halftime.
The Cats developed a lead of as
many as eight points in the second
half but starting center Angic Dill
freshman from Clear Lake fouled out
with 5:56 remaining and senior for-
ward Claudia Schleyer who led ACU
with 19 points fouled out at 3:19 to
start the collapse.
MSU remained in control while
ACU panicked and began to make the
mistakes again.
"I'm very disappointed in some of
those kids" said McCoy. He said he
didn't think the lack of control late in
conference schedule at 9-6. Texas A&I
is 7-5 on the season. Eastern New
Mexico is at the .500 mark at 5-5. East
Texas State is 3-4 HPU 2-7 and
Angelo State 2-10.
Angelo State's men finished their
non-conference schedule at 9-5 Friday
with a one-point win over Texas
Lutheran. ACU is at 10-6 after a win
over Midwestern Tuesday. The other
four teams in the conference have only
10 wins among them. Texas A&I is
4-9 Howard Payne 3-9 Eastern New
Mexico 2-11 and East Texas State
1-12.
ACU's women lead the conference
with 81.3 points per game and
"That was kind of the turning point
I thought" Williams said. "Thjrt
pumped everybody up and everybody
started playing better together being
patient on ofTense and everything
started happening for. us. I would sty
that slam kind of changed the
momentum."
Sophomore Brett Enzor teaming Up
with Williams in the backcourt led all
scorers with 28 points in the game 20
of those coming in the second half.
"Brett played a tremendous gimej"
Martin said. "We really needed that
from him." Enzor scored 12 of his
points on 13 free throw attempts
Junior center James Joseph who
missed the first MSU game because of
disciplinary reasons contributed
defensively for the Cats. "James
helped us a lot with his defense and His
rebounding. James played a nice
ballgame for us tonight." Joseph
finished with 10 points and nine re-
bounds. Roderick Johnson also scored
10 points and was the game's leading
rebounder with 12.
the game was because of inexperience.
"They're all good ball players ard
should be able to handle it."
"I guess we were just so scrambled
we weren't in control" said senior
guard Deonna Moore who scored 15
points. "We weren't making the right
decisions as far as the passes. They
weren't crisp. We weren't coming to
meet the ball. We were letting the
defense play us instead of attacking
their defense and that caused
turnovers."
"We're No. 4 in the nation in free
throw shooting and tonight we were
probably 633rd" said McCoy. For the
game ACU hit 60 percent but was on-
ly good on 'two of eight attertpts from
the line in the first half.
Eastern New Mexico tops the league
defensively giving up only 59.5
points. Claudia Schleyer of ACU leads
the conference in scoring with a 287
point-per-game average. Howard
Payne's Melanie Mayer is second with
23.8 points per game.
The Wildcat men also lead the LSC
scoring 76.9 points an outing. Texas
A&I leads the league defensively with
opponents scoring 72.9 per game
against the Javelinas Eastern New
Mexico's Ralph Barrens leads the
LSC men in scoring with 15.8 points
per game. Brett Enzor of ACU re-
mains second in the conference with
15.4 points per game.
I
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 32, Ed. 1, Friday, January 17, 1986, newspaper, January 17, 1986; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92030/m1/7/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.