Archive for May 18th, 2010

Online Extra: Both track & field teams finish third at Regionals

Story and photo by James Kelley

The Pima Community College track and field teams finished third at the National Junior College Athletic Association Region I Championships.

Three Aztecs won region titles and four more qualified for Nationals.

Freshman Chloe’ Nowell CQ, triple jump, freshman Mario Portillo, 5,000-meter, and freshman Christian Tover, shot put, were crowned champions.

Nowell won the triple jump with a leap of 36’7”, Portillo won the 5,000 with a time of 15:51 and Tover won the shot put with a mark of 51’8”.

Chloe' Nowell

The new Pima qualifiers for Nationals are sophomore Kyle Bush in the 1,500-meter, freshman Derrick Coker in the 200 meter, freshman Magda Mankel in the 1,500-meter; and Nowell in the high jump.

The men’s 4×400 team finished in third place but broke a school record they had set earlier in the season. Sophomore Stephan Bullard, Coker, sophomore Nathan Manigault and sophomore Chris Phillips ran a 3:13.26.

Pima qualified 24 in 21 events for the NJCAA National Championship meet in Hutchinson, Kansas, May 20-22.

Nationals Qualifiers
Women
1. Acosta Zavala, Kathy 400-Meter Hurdles
2. Bishop, Brittany Pole Vault
3. Davis, Jessica Hammer
4. Dittiger, Julia 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
5. Dorado, Ashley 400-Meter Hurdles
6. Howard, Kat 5,000-Meters, 10,000-Meters
7. Korn, Sharissa Javelin
8. Loevenguth, Annalisa 1,500-Meters
9. Mankel, Magda 1,500-Meters, 5,000-Meters
10. Montano, Stephanie Pole Vault
11. Nowell, Chloe Heptathlon, Triple Jump, High Jump

Men
1. Bullard, Stephan 800-Meters
2. Bush Kyle 1,500-Meters
3. Coker, Derrick 4×100-Meter Relay, 200-Meters
4. Johnson, Anthony High Jump
5. Manigault, Nathan 4×100-Meter Relay
6. McIver, Daniel High Jump
7. Moeykens, Dylan Decathlon
8. Phillips, Chris 4×100-Meter Relay, 4×400-Meter Relay
9. Portillo, Mario 5,000-Meters
10. Robertson, Matthew 4×100-Meter Relay, 4×400-Meter Relay
11. Scarber, Frederick High Jump
12. Thomas, Antoine 4×100-Meter Relay
13. Tovar, Christian Hammer, Shot Put

Online Extra: Men’s tennis finishes 19th at Nationals

By James Kelley
Photo by Steve Choice

Just like the women’s team, the Pima Community College men’s tennis team finished 19th at Nationals, but the men did so in Texas, not at home.

The Aztecs scored 9.5 points, also like the women, at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Tennis National Championships at Plano, Texas.

Andrew Barnett

Freshman Andrew Barnett made it to the quarterfinals of the Flight 1 Singles consolation bracket. Freshman Matt Lancaster also made it to the consolation quarterfinals, in Flight 5.

The sophomore doubles team of Raphael Sepulveda and David Tellez made it to the quarterfinals of Flight 2.

Online Extra: Women’s tennis finishes 19th at Nationals

By Steve Choice and James Kelley
Photo by Daniel Gaona

The Pima Community College women’s tennis team finished 19th at Nationals.

The Aztecs scored 9.5 points at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Tennis National Championships at Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson.

“I was very happy with a top-20 finish in DI nationals,” head coach Gretchen Schantz said. “This year’s team had the most overall improvement I’ve seen in one season.”

Freshman Gabriela Rodriguez made it to the semifinals of the singles No. 1 consolation bracket. Sophomore Lori Cinnamond made it to the finals of the singles No. 3 consolation bracket.

Gabriela Rodriguez

Cinnamond and sophomore Ana Gallardo made it to the semifinals of the doubles No. 2 consolation bracket.

“We finished the year ahead of teams we had lost to early in the season,” Schantz said. “I’m looking forward to continuing that same improvement next year with the returning freshmen and with some new talented players.”

Last year the Aztecs finished 18th at Nationals.

Online Extra: Are you ready for some futbol?

By James Kelley

The FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world, begins next month. Surprise, surprise, the United States has as good a chance to do damage as a lacrosse player.

From June 11 to July 11, 32 nations will vie for soccer’s golden trophy, which is not actually a cup. You don’t need to know the difference between Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo to enjoy it.

The tournament is wide open, but not because of mediocrity like the 2010 NCAA basketball tournament. The final won’t be a mid-major against an overrated big name.

The World Cup format is as follows: about 200 teams try to qualify for 32 slots. FIFA then seeds the top seven teams plus the host country. The tournament uses a drawing to divide the teams into eight groups of four.

From there, the top two finishers from each group advance to the knock-out stage, a 16-team single-elimination bracket a la the NCAA Big Dance.

The United States is primed for the tournament. The Yanks made it to the final of the Confederations Cup last year, which features the six continental champs plus the WC host and the defending WC champion. The Confederations Cup is essentially the World Cup dress rehearsal, and the USA almost won.

After getting brutal draws since 1990, the United States received a dream draw in Group C this year. The group includes the worst-seeded team (England), the worst European team (Slovenia) and the worst African team (Algeria).

England and Slovenia didn’t even qualify for Euro 2008, their continental tourney. Algeria placed fourth at the ‘10 African Cup of Nations. Egypt won it, and the USA beat the Pharaohs 3-0 in the Confederations Cup.

USA will likely have difficulties, though. Five possible starters have had serious injuries in the last seven months, including Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu. They were both badly hurt in Washington D.C. for a meaningless qualifier after the USA had already clinched.

The USA vs. England match-up is obviously sexy, but it’s also interesting because most of the top American players play in England.

One storyline to keep an eye on is the English sex scandal. Former Three Lions captain John Terry allegedly slept with the partner of teammate Wayne Bridge.

The United States has had scandal as well. In ’98, former USA “captain for life” John Harkes was kicked off the team after allegations that he banged the wife of teammate Eric Wynalda. The Yanks then went 0-3, including a loss to Iran.

Another must see colony/mother country tilt will be Brazil vs. Portugal. The big names will be there, including Kaka, Júlio César, Deco and top player Cristiano Ronaldo. (Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are not expected to be picked for Brazil’s team).

Nigeria and surprise qualifier North Korea are also in the Brazil-Portugal group. North Korea said it will censor the results. By June 29, after three losses, your average North Korean will wonder if the team went to the World Cup.

Although watching the Italian defensive style of play is like watching paint dry, Italy is another team to keep an eye on. The Azzurri feature American Giuseppe Rossi, who ditched the Jersey Shore to play for Italy.

Other American traitors are Ramón Núñez (Honduras) and Neven Subotic (Serbia).

The other local team, Mexico, well assuming that crazy law doesn’t actually go into effect, has a tough draw in Group A. El Tri will have to deal with South Africa and France.

El Tri struggled to qualify, using four managers and more than 80 players over 18 games. However, after Mexico brought in Javier Aguirre to manage, the team rose from fifth to second and nabbed one of the region’s three automatic qualifying slots.

South Africa is certainly the worst host ever, but the host team has always made it to the second round.

France, which would have won in ‘06 had Zinedine Zidane not head-butted an opponent, has strong talent. However, the French were lucky to qualify, as they stole a World Cup slot from Ireland on a hand ball so obvious even a Pacific-10 ref would have seen it.

The player to watch is Argentinean Lionel Messi. He could easily lead Argentina to the World Cup title if only the team had a better coach. Manager Diego Maradona has the reputation of someone who could have a heart attack before the Final.

Other contenders are Germany, Holland, Brazil and Spain. The Spanish Armada was unbeaten in 35 games until the USA beat them in the Confederation’s Cup last year.

No team besides Brazil has won a World Cup away from its home continent. Perhaps one of the traditional African powers such as Cameroon or Nigeria could break through on its home continent.

Complete 2010 FIFA World Cup Schedule