Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Reeves County, Trans-Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Thursday, March 12, 1998

Crockett 3rd, 4th; Zavala 5th at Monahans

PECOS, Mar. 12 -- The Crockett Middle School boys placed
third in the eighth grade division of the Walker Junior
Relays in Monahans last Friday, while Zavala's boys and
girls teams both placed fifth in their seventh grade
divisions, and Crockett's girls tied for fourth in their
bracket -- though they didn't get credit for it.

Crockett's boys finished with 93 points to 130 for San
Angelo Lee and 107 for Kermit. The eighth grade boys picked
up two gold medals in the field events, as Richard Rodriguez
won the high jump with a 5-foot-4 effort and Mason Abila
took the pole vault by clearing 10 feet. Rodriguez was also
fifth in the triple jump and Jesse Harris had the eighth
grader's other field event points, placing fourth in the
discus.

In the running events, Martin Vasquez took the 600 meter
run with a 1:38.8 time, with Capi Magana fifth and Mickey
Gabaldon sixth in the event. Gabaldon later took first with
a 3:53 time in the 1200 meters, with Vasquez second, while
in the 300 meter run, Ricky Plummer won first with a 40.8
time.

The Eagles also got a third place medal out of their 1200
meter relay team, and from Jason Gonzalez in the 200 meter
low hurdles, while Rodriguez was fifth in that race, Abila
was fifth in the 200 meter dash, and the 400 meter relay
team also place fifth.

The seventh grade boys wound up with 62 points in a
division won by San Angelo Lee, by a 168-95 margin over Fort
Stockton. Pecos got three gold medals out of Eddie Mata. He
tied San Angelo Lee's Timothy Shields for first in the high
jump, at 5-feet, while winning the long jump with a
16-foot-1 effort, and later took the 200 meter dash in 25.9
seconds.

Robert Carrasco was second in the pole vault, Patrick
Fuentes was third in the high jump and Robbie Ontiveros was
sixth in the triple jump for Pecos' other field event
points. In the running events, the Eagles' 400 meter and
weight man relays were fourth and the 1200 meter team was
fifth and Tony Aguilar picked up a fourth in the 1200 meter
run and a sixth in the 600 meters, while Fuentes was sixth
in that race.

On the girls' side, Fort Stockton won both divisions,
taking the seventh grade with 140 points to 109 for Alpine.
Pecos finished with 67 and didn't have any first place
finishes, but got a trio of seconds from Mindi Harrison, in
the triple jump, long jump and the 600 meter run.

Sarah Marquez was fourth in the triple jump as well for
Pecos, while in the running events, Liza Chavez was second
in the 1200 meter run and fifth in the 600 meters; Jeseina
Natividad was fourth in the 55 meter low hurdles; Tiana
Terry was sixth in the 100 meter dash; and the 400 and 800
meter relay teams placed third, while the 1200 meter squad
was fourth.

Fort Stockton had 168 points to win the eighth grade girls
division by 38 points over Monahans. But the late finish to
the meet may have affected the scoring numbers ... at least
on paper.

Crockett's girls were listed in the final results book as
having scored just 24 points in their division, but picked
up 48 points in the three relay events alone and ended up
tied with Alpine for the No. 4 spot.

Melanie Franco Kathy Maldonado, Jessica Rodriguez and
Christina Arenivas won the 1200 meter relay with a 3:19.8
time, after the Eagles had placed second in the 800 meter
relay and third in the 400 meter relay. Franco also placed
third in the 600 meter run, while in the field events,
Arenivas was fourth and Brenda Fuentes fifth in the long
jump and Rebecca Wein and Ashley Cox were fifth and sixth in
the shot put.

The junior high squads are off this weekend for Spring
Break, but will host the West of the Pecos Junior Relays
next Friday, March 20, at Eagle Stadium.

Netters win one division at Stockton

Mark Marquez won first place in the third seed of the boys
singles division. He beat Fort Stockton junior varsity
player Joe Madrid, 6-0, 6-0, then downed Nathan Horrel of El
Paso Ysleta, 6-4, 6-2, and won the final over Josh Smith of
Deming, N.M., 6-4, 6-4.

The consolation winners were No. 1 seed Jonathan Fuentes
and second seed Tye Graham. Fuentes lost his opener to
Andrew Carr of Hereford, 6-4, 6-1, then came back to beat
Lando Yanez of Fort Stockton's JV, 6-2, 6-1, and Ysleta's
Eddie Caldera in the finals, 6-1, 6-0. Graham dropped a 3-6,
6-3, 6-2 decision to Hereford's Brent Berend, then beat
teammate Anthony Casillas, 6-1, 6-0, before beating Santiago
Mejia of Yelsta in the finals, 6-1, 6-0.

At fourth seed, Jeff Lam reached the finals, before
defaulting against Fort Stockton's Johnnny Burgess. Lam won
his opener over Jaime Vasquez of El Paso Irvin, 6-0, 6-3,
then beat Hereford's Amit Patel in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-0.

Pecos' Alan Fleming went 1-2 at No. 5 singles, losing in
the consolation finals while Craig Wein lost in the
consolation semifinals, subbing for David Lam at No. 6 seed.

In doubles play, Marquez and Graham wound up in third place
at No. 1 seed, beating Ysleta's Caldera and Tommy
Villarreal, 6-3, 6-3, then losing to Hereford's Berend and
Carr, 6-3, 7-5, before coming back to beat Irvin's Nathan
Brown and Tony Silva, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Wein and Fleming lost in the semifinals at No. 2 seed,
while at No. 3 seed Frank Dominguez and Sonny Cyila also
were beaten in the consolation semis.

On the girls' side, the top finisher was Nichi Dannelly,
playing at No. 6 seed in singles. She beat Kam Scott of
Hereford, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 and then teammate Tiffany Jarrett,
6-1, 6-3, before losing in the finals to Fort Stockton's
Kristi Lawson, 5-7, 6-0, 7-5. Jarrett won her opener over
Tina Sanchez of Deming, and later lost in the third place
match to Harriet Tennison of Fort Stockton's JV, 6-3, 6-2.

Playing as No. 1 seed, Teresa Minjarez dropped her opener
to Denise Ramirez of Ysleta, 9-7, 6-1, then beat Smita
Bhakta of Ysleta, 6-0, 6-0, before losing to Toni Misdale of
Irvin in the consolation finals, 6-0, 7-5.

Second seed Vanessa Miranda finished fourth, beating Rachel
Brent of Yelsta, 6-3, 6-1, before a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Alynn
Marquez of Fort Stockton, and a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Thresa
Kennon of Deming. Third seed Erin Dominguez was beaten in
the consolation finals by Anne Casas of Ysleta, Stockton's
JV, 6-2, 6-1, after a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Hereford's Lisa Riley
and a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sarah Casas of Fort Stockton's JV.

Fourth seed Rachel Pharoah and fifth seed Priscilla Levario
both lost in the consolation finals, while the Eagles' other
player at No. 5 seed, Lorrie Minjarez, finished fourth,
beating Sabrina Ruiz of Fort Stockton, 6-2, 6-4, before
losing to Ysleta's Anne Kennan, 6-2, 6-3, and to Irvin's
Gabriela Ortiz, 6-0, 6-1.

In doubles, Minjarez and Miranda lost in the consolation
finals to Brenda Olivas and Michelle Mowery of Fort
Stockton's JV, 6-2, 4-6, 7-4, after an 8-6, 6-1 win over
Ysleta's Bhakta and Ramirez. Second seeds Jarrett and
Pharoah and third seeds Dannelley and Sarah Metler both lost
in the semifinals of consolation.

It's fine for Knight to coach tourney opener

Faced with the choice between a fine or a one-game
suspension that would have kept him off the Indiana bench
for today's NCAA tournament opener against Oklahoma, Knight
said he never thought twice about opening the checkbook.

``Unless I was broke,'' said Knight, whose estimated income
exceeds a half-million dollars per year, ``which I'm not.''

Knight was allowed to pick his poison after the Big Ten
found him guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct for haranguing
and otherwise criticizing referee Ted Valentine in a game
two weeks ago.

Valentine was also penalized. The Big Ten on Wednesday
placed restrictions on his conference assignments next
season, although Knight didn't think that would amount to
much of a punishment.

``It simply means that he'll officiate games in other
conferences instead,'' he said.

Though not satisfied, Knight was at his colorful best
discussing the incident after his team's light workout at
the MCI Center. Asked if anything he did was wrong, he
launched into classic Knight mode, giving a cryptic answer
that dealt with degrees of guilt.

``Probably the worst crime that we have today is
premeditated murder, but then that goes all the way down the
scale to self-defense,'' Knight said. ``So it isn't a
determination that if a person kills another person, he goes
to the electric chair. There are a lot of different degrees
to what happens with something like that. I really don't
think that degrees were applied in this situation.''

This is the third time in Knight's 27 years at Indiana he
has drawn a fine of at least $10,000 for unsportsmanlike
conduct. This time, given a choice of the money or the game,
even Knight's players were certain what the decision would
be.

``There was no doubt that coach wasn't going to be there
for us,'' sophomore A.J. Guyton said. ``I don't think he was
going to take a suspension for any one game. That's the type
of person he is. He's not going to let us down.''

As of last April, Knight earned $145,500 a year as coach,
although he is estimated to make as much as $400,000 from
endorsements, TV and radio appearances and his summer
basketball camp.

Valentine called three technicals against Knight and
ejected the coach during the Feb. 24 game against Illinois.
Knight called Valentine's officiating the ``greatest
travesty'' he has seen in his 33 years as a college coach.

``Coach Knight ... has an obligation to comply with the
letter and spirit of conference standards governing
sportsmanlike conduct,'' Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany
said. ``In this case, coach Knight's postgame comments
violated conference standards.''

The Big Ten said the first and third technicals assessed
against Knight by Valentine were proper. But the second
technical was ``clearly erroneous ... because Knight went
onto the floor to attend an injured player.'' As a result,
Valentine will not be allowed to work games involving Big
Ten teams during the nonconference part of the 1998-99
season.

There's a chance, albeit slim, that Knight and Valentine
could meet again very soon. It's possible that Valentine
could work one of Indiana's games during the NCAA
tournament, although Big Ten associate commissioner Rich
Falk, citing NCAA policy, would not confirm whether
Valentine would officiate any games at all during the
tournament. Officials are not announced until 20 minutes
before each game.

When the Big Ten gave Knight a choice between accepting a
fine or a one-game suspension that would have meant missing
the tournament opener, the university appealed. On Tuesday,
the Big Ten rejected the appeal.

``The whole circumstance of the situation probably bothers
me more deeply than any single situation I've been involved
with as coach,'' Knight said.

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