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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Thursday, January 6, 2000
Swimmers end break at Stockton
PECOS, Jan. 6, 2000 -- The holiday break comes to an end this weekend for
the Pecos Eagles swim team, and they'll face most of the teams who'll be
at regionals next month in the Fort Stockton Invitational.
Coach Terri Morse said diving will be at 6 p.m. Friday, while the swimming
finals start on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Fort Stockton High School pool,
which will also be the site of the District 2-4A meet on Jan. 28-29.
Pecos has been off since the Seminole Invitational in mid-December,
but Morse said most of her team has been attending workouts during the
holidays.
"We really had a good turnout during Christmas. We had one or two sick
for a day or so, but basically, we had a really good turnout," she said.
"There were a couple that were out of town, but they worked out where they
were."
All of Pecos' district rivals will be at the meet, along with Abilene
Wylie, Odessa High and Odessa Permian, and six El Paso schools _ Bowie,
Burges, Del Valle, Parkland, Riverside and Ysleta. The boys have beaten
all those schools so far this season, while the girls will continue to
chase Monahans for top honors in their division.
"Only Odessa and Permian don't factor in for us as far as the regional
swim meet, along with Del Valle," Morse said of the three Class 5A schools.
She added that the most interesting race of the day figures to be the 100-yard
butterfly.
"There are two guys ahead of Tye (Edwards) in the race, and one of them
(Omar Alba of El Paso Ysleta) beat him out there," at the Border Invitational
in early December. Both Alba and Parkland's Isaac Pepper are seeded ahead
of Edwards in the event.
"I feel like Tye has gotten in some good workouts, and realized where
he made his mistakes and will be able to beat them. If not, I think he
can still beat them at regionals, which he'll have to do if he wants to
go to state."
Overall, Morse said most of her swimmers would be in the same races
they competed in before the Christmas break. "A couple of individuals may
swim different things in Lubbock (next week) the won't swim in Fort Stockton.
Some because of their qualifying times and some because I'm not sure where
I'll put them when we get to district."
Smith seeks better breaks in rematch
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas, Jan. 6, 2000 - Emmitt Smith was inspired by the death
of his childhood idol the last time he played Minnesota. This time, he'll
be motivated by the pursuit of the Super Bowl.
Smith revealed Wednesday that when the Dallas Cowboys played the Vikings
on Nov. 8, he dedicated his game to the memory of Walter Payton, who died
a week before.
Smith would've made Sweetness proud, running for 140 yards and two touchdowns
in just 1 1/2 quarters as Dallas took a 17-0 lead. He left with a broken
hand, and the Cowboys ended up losing 27-17.
Dallas returns to the Metrodome on Sunday for a first-round playoff
game. Smith expects to have another big game, but for different reasons.
"My mindset every week is to go out and perform, but that particular
night was just a special moment for me," Smith said. "Now, this is a special
moment, too, but in a different light."
Smith missed only one game because of his broken hand, but a strained
groin limited him to one carry in another game. Still, he finished the
season with 1,397 yards - 8 shy of the NFC lead and his best since 1995.
For his career, Smith has 13,963 yards, third on the career list. He's
2,764 yards from breaking Payton's record.
"I lost an individual that I had looked at his personal accomplishments
in life as well as in the game of football," Smith said. "I think any player
who cares anything about the game of football understands who he was, what
he stood for and what he did for the game."
Payton died at age 45 on Nov. 1, exactly a week before the Cowboys played
the Vikings on a Monday night. The NFL announced that all stadiums that
weekend would have a moment of silence, and Smith began planning his own
personal tribute.
When it was time for the fans who usually fill the Metrodome with deafening
cheers to stand quietly, Smith played out in his mind a scene he'd been
planning for days.
"I draped his jersey, 34, on my back, gave him honor and said, `Let
me go play now,"' Smith said. "It was just a moment, a moment that I wanted
to lift him up and say, `Thank you, thank you for what you've done."'
Smith ran for 49 yards in the first quarter against the Vikings, but
it only led to two missed field goals. Two carries later, Payton's spirit
took over.
Smith took a handoff at the Cowboys' 37, went off right guard and charged
63 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. He got past the final defender,
Kenny Wright, with a stiff-arm to the face.
The Vikings fumbled the kickoff and Dallas recovered at the Minnesota
24. Smith got the ball again and he scored without being touched.
Then he went into the locker room for X-rays, and his night was over,
leaving him wondering whether he might've broken his career-best 237 yards,
or even Payton's NFL record of 275, which he set against the Vikings.
"God saw it fit that this hand be broken that particular day. And that's
that," Smith said. "If it was meant for me to be out there and do more
than I did, I probably would have never broken my hand."
Meanwhile, cornerbacks Kevin Smith and Kevin Mathis returned to practice
for the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday and may be able to play Sunday against
the Minnesota Vikings.
"I don't know how much they'll be able to contribute Sunday, but it
was good to have them on the field and for them to stay on the field,"
coach Chan Gailey said. "We'll see how they feel tomorrow."
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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