Sport in world

Western opens up road conference schedule at UMKC

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois women’s basketball team plays its first Summit League road game of the 2007-08 season when it travels to Kansas City, Mo., to face UMKC, Saturday, January 5 at 4 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.

About UMKC
The Kangaroos are 7-6 overall and 0-2 in The Summit League after a non-conference victory over Newman, 81-32, January 2.

Chazny Morris and Alysa Klein are the only two members on the UMKC roster that are averaging double-digits in the points column so far this season. Morris garners 17.4 points and adds a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game, while Klein is netting 13.2 points and 6.1 boards per outing. She is also tallying a 51.8 (72-139) shooting percentage. The player with the most points behind Morris and Klein is Sierra Radke with 7.3 points per game. Continue reading Western opens up road conference schedule at UMKC…

Canmore World Cups on WCSN

Published: Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:00 AM MST

Updated: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:59 AM MST

The 15/30km pursuit, classic sprints, and 10/15km freestyle are now available for viewing on the World Cup Sports Network.

Watch here!

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Wolfpack Diving to Resume the Pose on Thursday

The NC State men's and women's diving teams will get an early start to competitive action in 2008, returning to work tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 3. The Wolfpack will take on diving squads from Florida State and Virginia Tech at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. Action is slated to begin at 4 p.m.
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Wolfpack Women Spotlight: Nikitta Gartrell

Sometimes where you start is not always where you end up, and sophomore Nikitta Gartrell is all too familiar with this. The guard from Atlanta, Ga., thought she was going to be a track star before she headed off to college. After watching her brother Mario play on recreational basketball teams when she was younger, Gartrell was inspired by him and his passion for the game. It was not until she began playing basketball that she realized she was heading in a different direction.
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Wrestling To Host NC State Duals Saturday

RALEIGH, N.C. The college wrestling season moves from the tournament phase back to the dual-meet phase this weekend for NC State. The Wolfpack, which went 1-5 in an earlier slate of dual matches, will host the NC State Duals on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum. The wrestling begins at noon with five teams participating. Admission is free of charge.
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Leathernecks resume Summit League play with road games at Southern Utah, UMKC

MACOMB, Ill. - Summit League play gets into full swing this week with a pair of road games for the Leathernecks, who visit Southern Utah, Thursday, and UMKC, Saturday. Western Illinois opened the league schedule in December with a home loss to league-favorite IUPUI.
The Leathernecks will face two coaches this week new to the Summit League as Southern Utah’s Roger Reid and UMKC’s Matt Brown are in their first seasons at their respective schools. Southern Utah and Western Illinois split last year’s series, each team winning at home, while UMKC swept Western, but needed a double-overtime win in Kansas City to do so.

Western Illinois Leathernecks (5-7) at Southern Utah (3-10, 1-1)
Thursday, January 3, 2008 Cedar City, Utah
Tip-off: 8 p.m. CST
Arena: The Centrum
Web: Summit League video Live video
Radio: Western Sports Network (Michael Jones-play by play; Arlen Britton-color analyst) Live audio
Series: Southern Utah leads 14-8

Western Illinois Leathernecks at UMKC (5-9, 0-2)
Saturday, January 5, 2008 Kansas City, Mo.
Tip-off: 7:05 p.m. CST
Arena: Municipal Auditorium
Web: Summit League video Live video
Radio: Western Sports Network (Michael Jones-play by play; Arlen Britton-color analyst) Live audio
Live Stats: www.wiuathletics.com
Series: UMKC leads 24-11

Game Notes
Back-to-Back Home Wins
The Leathernecks are coming off of back-to-back home victories, having defeated Kennesaw State and Culver-Stockton in the last two weeks to improve to 4-2 at home. They have won three of their last five games overall, falling at home to IUPUI and on the road to #8 UCLA.

Jackson Moving Up Career Scoring Charts
Senior David Jackson became Western Illinois’ 17th member of the 1,000-point club last season, and is working his way up the career scoring charts.
His 139 points this year give him a career total of 1,172, which ranks 15th in school history.
12. 1,219 Dan Braun 1967-70 13. 1,212 Bill McAfoos 1956-60
14. 1,186 Gene Talbot 1953-56
15. 1,172 David Jackson 2004-pr.
Jackson needs 177 points to surpass Garrick Vicks (1993-96) as the school’s Division I points leader.

Last Time Out - vs. Culver-Stockton
Jerryck Owens-Murrey recorded his second straight double-double and David DuBois scored a game-high 20 points as Western defeated Culver-Stockton, 85-56, last Sunday. The Leathernecks scored the first 10 points of the game and jumped out to a 14-2 lead. The Wildcats came within three midway through the period, but Western quickly stretched its lead back to double-digits.
The Leathernecks tallied a season-high rebounding margin of +14 and gave their substitutes a lot of minutes as the bench outscored Culver-Stockton’s bench 36-8.

Granstra Comes Off Bench for Career Highs
True freshman James Granstra played 13 minutes off the bench last Sunday and recorded career highs of six points and eight rebounds against the Wildcats. Four of his points came from a perfect performance at the free throw line.
Granstra started the first seven games of the season, and has appeared in 10 of the team’s 12 games.

Washington Matches Personal Best of 17 Pts.
Shooting 4-of-6 from long range against Culver-Stockton, James Washington scored 17 points off the bench last Sunday, equalling a personal best recorded in the season opener. Washington shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the line, while contributing to the Leathernecks’ season-high 24 three-point attempts.

Owens-Murrey Has Second Double-Double
Jerryck Owens-Murrey has provided the Leathernecks with back-to-back double-doubles, most recently scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds against Culver-Stockton. He has scored in double-figures in five straight games, and has averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds over the last two outings.

Rebounding Edge Equals Victory
The Leathernecks have outrebounded five opponents this year, and all five games have resulted in Leatherneck victories. They have recorded three double-digit rebounding advantages, most recently outrebounding Culver-Stockton by a season-high 14 boards. At UCLA, they matched the Bruins’ 30 rebounds.

Thomas’ Father Goes 1-2 as Interim Falcons Coach
Coach Thomas’ father, Emmitt, was named interim head coach of the Atlanta Falcons Dec. 12 and coached the team to a 1-2 record over the last three games of the season. Thomas played 13 seasons in the NFL as a standout defensive back with the Kansas City Chiefs (1966-78), and is a finalist for induction into the Hall of Fame Class of 2008. He replaced Bobby Petrino who left for Arkansas - Western Illinois’ first opponent in 2008. Continue reading Leathernecks resume Summit League play with road games at Southern Utah, UMKC…

Laura Spector Gets a Double Dip of Biathlon World Championships

Published: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:12 AM MST

Ruhpolding, Germany, January 24. Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) is in a unique situation. She will compete in the Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships that open here Saturday and then compete in the Biathlon World Championships just one week later in Ostersund, Sweden.

This will be only the second time (first was Ntala Skinner in 1993) that a junior level woman from the US has qualified for the senior Championships. Making the team for Ostersund was, not planned or expected, according to Spector. I knew after I did well at the North American Cups in November and December that it was a possibility and I could not let up in the deciding Europa Cup competition in Langdorf, Germany. In the end, making the team was a nice surprise.

The 20-year-old Spector is a veteran of three previous Youth and Junior Championships, with her best result being a ninth place finish in the Youth Sprint in 2006. At the same time, she is inexperienced at the next (World Cup) level. In fact, her two competitions at Langdorf were only her second Europa Cup experience. Accordingly, she views the Ostersund competitions as a big stepping stone, in her biathlon career.

Spector talks briefly about making the team for both the Youth and Junior World Championships and the senior Championships in the following video.

Now, she is focusing on the Youth and Junior Championships, where she will compete in the Sprint/Pursuit this weekend as well as the Individual and Relay competitions next week.

Qualifying for both teams puts Spectors biathlon career into fast forward. To reach this new level of competitiveness, she stepped back from her studies at Dartmouth, where she plans to major in biology, focusing on genetics. She explains, Last year, I was taking a full course load and competing, but was not at my best (her top result was 42nd in the Individual at World Juniors). It was hard to train and go to school full-time. The big thing was lack of recovery, as I was up late studying and in the afternoon instead of taking a nap for recovery, I was doing school work.

This year, she skipped both the fall and winter terms, to train and race. She said her parents have been very supportive in her decision. They never push me, but want me to be happy and successful in whatever I do.

Spector does see a correlation between full-time education and being a full-time athlete. Both school and biathlon force you to be well organized, and focused. At the same time, you have to apply both yourself and your mind (to what you are doing).

With the Youth and Junior World championships just two days away, Junior National Coach Vladimir Cervenka is happy to see Spector competing at higher level. We always knew Laura could ski fast, he commented, but now her shooting is much better.

Spector, who trained at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, attributes her improved shooting to a lot of slow-fire accuracy shooting in the summer, which broke my shooting back down to the basics. Once I had more confidence, we added the intensity.

As in education, Spector and her US teammates are just two days away from exam time in the Chiemgau Arena in Ruhpolding. The Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships open with the Sprint competitions for both men and women on that day. Even though she will focus on achieving a top 15 finish here, it will be hard for Laura Spector not to dream a bit about also competing in Ostersund against all of the stars of biathlon.

Live streaming video coverage of all of the competitions at the Youth and Junior World Championships competitions as well as archived highlights of the World Cup season, is available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org.

Source: USBA

Nine Athletes Named to World Championships Biathlon Team

Published: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:11 AM MST

New Gloucester, ME. The International Competition Committee of the US Biathlon Association today named nine athletes to represent the US Biathlon Team at the Biathlon World Championships February 8 -17 in Ostersund, Sweden.

US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb commented on the diverse nature of this years team, This team represents a great mix of youth and experience; two junior athletes will be on the team after the World Junior Championships while three of the five men have had top ten performances at the World Championships in previous years.

Topping the roster are two Top 10 finishers from 2007: Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), seventh in the Individual competition at the 2007 World Championships and Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), who finished ninth in the Mass Start at those same Championship. Hakkinen and Burke are currently ranked 34th and 41st in the Overall World Cup rankings. After an early fast start, with top 15 finishes in the Kontiolahti World Cup, and a December slump, due to illness, both have recently come back with excellent results. Hakkinen had a 17th place in the Sprint and 16th in the Pursuit at Ruhpolding. Burke placed 26th in the Antholz Sprint and came back with 17th in the Pursuit. With these improving results, both expect to vie for top positions in Ostersund.

Joining these two on the mens team are Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK). These two, along with Hakkinen and Burke comprise the mens relay, which placed 8th at Ruhpolding and hopes to have a top six finish at the World Championships. Bailey had two top 30 finishes at Ruhpolding as well as an outstanding relay leg there. Teelas ski speed in the final meters at Ruhpolding gave the US the eighth place finish in a photo finish with the Czech Republic.
An additional junior man will be added to the Ostersund roster after the Youth and Junior World Championships next week in Ruhpolding, Germany.

Cobb feels the experienced mens team could provide some thrills in Ostersund, The team suffered some illness this season but is back on track now. I think they will have some Top 10 results, while I also think they have a chance to finish in the top six in the relay, which would be a huge stride for his group.

In addition to the four men, five women will compete in Ostersund. This group includes Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO), Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) and Laura Spector (Lenox, MA). The Barnes sisters, who among the most consistent performers on the shooting range in biathlon, are veterans of several seasons on the World Cup circuit and numerous World Championships. However, the other women are all World Championships rookies. Compton, as the US 5K cross-country champion is the fastest woman on skis in the US, but in just her first year of biathlon competition. Johnson, a veteran of several seasons in the Europa Cup circuit recently placed 12th in the Sprint at Osrblie, Slovakia. Spector is a junior competitor, competing in the Youth and Junior World Championships the week before Ostersund.

On the relatively inexperienced womens team, Cobb added, This is a rebuilding year for the womens team with three women on the World Championships Team for the first time. Together, these three represent the broad spectrum of development programs in the country; Laura from Dartmouth College is on the Junior National team, while also training at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent. Haley recommitted herself to biathlon after college and has trained with the development team for several years, while Caitlin, began biathlon in May and has made excellent progress.

The 2008 Biathlon World Championships open with Sprint competitions on February 9.

Live streaming video coverage of Biathlon World Cup competitions for the remainder of the season, as well as archived highlights, is available by clicking the athlete photo at the top of the news column at www.usbiathlon.org.

Three have career-high scoring nights in 85-56 victory over Culver-Stockton

MACOMB, Ill. - David DuBois scored a game-high 20 points as three Western Illinois players had career-high scoring nights and the Leathernecks defeated Culver-Stockton, 85-56.

The Leathernecks (5-7) led the entire way in their final non-conference game of the season to earn their second consecutive home victory and improve their overall home record to 4-6.

Western Illinois jumped out to a 10-0 lead, thanks in part to turnovers on the first four possessions by Culver-Stockton. After leading by as many as 12, 14-2 at the 14:38 mark, the Leathernecks saw their lead dwindle to as little as three, letting the Wildcats (4-8) to within 19-13 with 8:24 to play in the half. The Leathernecks responded, however, with three straight field goals, including a pair of three-pointers by David Nurse and James Washington, to extend their lead back to double-digits, 27-16, at the 7:06 mark. They led by as many as 16 and took a 43-27 lead into halftime. Continue reading Three have career-high scoring nights in 85-56 victory over Culver-Stockton…

Western heads to Kansas State for final non-conference game of the season

MACOMB, Ill. - After a 10-day break for the holiday season, the Western Illinois women’s basketball team returns to action with the final non-conference game of the 2007-08 season when it travels to Manhattan, Kan., to take on Kansas State, Wednesday, January 2, 2008. Tip-off is schedule for 7 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum.

About Kansas State
The Wildcats enter the game with a 7-5 overall record after two wins at the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic in Las Angeles, Calif. Kansas State has three of its five starters averaging double-digits in the points column. Kimberly Dietz is the Wildcats’ top producer with 13.4 points per game, including a 43.7 percent (59-135) shooting percentage. Marlies Gipson and Shalee Lehning average 10.9 and 10.1 points per game. Continue reading Western heads to Kansas State for final non-conference game of the season…