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"It's exciting, but then again having to follow in coach (Nora) Geron's
footsteps makes it tough. But I'm looking forward to it," Granado said
Wednesday.
Granado was officially named new head coach earlier this month,
replacing Geron, who retired after 17 seasons as the Eagles' head
volleyball coach, and 37 seasons overall in coaching. That included a
34-0 record in 1987 and a Class 4A state championship for the Eagles.
Granado was JV coach for Pecos that season, replacing Geron's daughter,
Val Hernandez, who took over as JV coach in Monahans. In a reversal of
that move, Granado said Monahans' JV coach last season, Veronica
Valenzuela, will take over that spot with the Eagles this season.
Lily Talamantez will remain as Pecos' freshman volleyball coach, while
taking over as varsity track coach, a position Granado has held the past
three seasons. Talamantez was assistant track coach last year.
Geron's final Eagles' squad ended a three-year playoff drought by taking
advantage of the new three-team playoff format, then downed El Paso
Burges in bi-district before losing to Lamesa in the area round of the
Class 4A playoffs.
Geron said last month she hoped Granado would be named by
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah athletic director Mike Belew as the next volleyball
coach, and also felt that the Eagles would be favored to win their first
District 4-4A title since 1982 this fall.
"We have nine kids coming back, and seven of them are seniors so we
should be pretty strong," said Granado. The group is led by all-state
hitter Lori Marquez, who is also one of several volleyball players
participating in Friday's Golden Girl pageant.
"I haven't talked to them as a group, but after Golden Girl is over I'm
going to get them all together and meet with them to start setting some
goals. They need to start getting into shape for the season," Granado
said.
Having worked under Geron for over a decade, Granado said she didn't
plan any major changes in the Eagles' style of play. "We're going to try
and use more of our outside hitting, but it's going to be pretty much
the same," she said. "We also have some height coming back, and I want
us to try and get our blocking down this season."
Practice starts for the Eagles on Aug. 11, and the season begins eight
days later, with a pair of home matches against Alpine and Odessa High.
Granado said workouts will coincide with the start of teacher
in-service, which will cut down on available practice time.
"I'm going to see if (the school district) will allow the coaches to go
to (teacher) workshops, so we can have at least two days of two-a-days," she said.
The 11 placed in the Top 6 in their events at Lubbock. The three top
finishers at Abilene will advance to the national USAT&F meet on July
21-27 in Baton Rouge, La. A total of 22 summer track competitors from
Pecos competed in the meet.
Four of the 11 won gold medals in their age divisions at Lubbock. Adria
Walker won first in the 200 meter dash and was second in the triple
jump; Ricky Martinez won the long jump and was second in the triple jump
and fifth in the 400 meters; Crystal Ramirez won the high jump and was
second in the 400 meters and fourth in the 200; and Lisa Evans won the
shot put and was second in the discus.
Other qualifiers were Jeremiah Mora, fifth in the 100 meters; Adriana
Gonzales, fourth in the 400 meters; Philonicus Fobbs, fifth in the long
jump; Ashley Clark, second in the discus and third in the shot put;
Afrika Franklin, second in the high jump; Shea Evans, second in the 100
meters; and Shquince Joiner, second in the shot put and third in the
discus.
Pecos summer track team members are also eligible to participate on
Friday and Saturday in the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation regional
meet at Odessa High School. Qualifiers there will advance to the TAAF state meet, set for July 24-26 in Lubbock.
All in all, the NBA draft was a big deal.
Five trades involving six first-round picks, eight veterans and three
second-round picks turned Wednesday night's draft into anything but the
Tim Duncan Show.
Duncan went first to the San Antonio Spurs in what turned out to be the
only predictable moment of the evening -- expect for a rare injection of
humor from the bland center from Wake Forest.
``Do you want me to be mean?'' Duncan said after being queried on his
niceness. ``I can be mean. I'm leaving,'' he said to a roomful of
interviewers.
Duncan didn't really mean it and stayed for a few more moments while
the commissioner was announcing the second pick.
It turned out to be Utah forward Keith Van Horn, who was chosen by
Philadelphia, but will be heading to New Jersey once an eight-player
deal can be finalized.
It will send Van Horn, forwards Don MacLean and Lucious Harris and
another player, perhaps Michael Cage, to New Jersey for guard Jim
Jackson, center Eric Montross and draft picks Tim Thomas (No. 7) and
Anthony Parker (No. 21).
The trade cannot be formally announced until a grievance is settled
between the 76ers and Celtics regarding last week's now-dead trade of
Michael Cage and Clarence Weatherspoon for Dino Radja, who failed a
physical Tuesday night.
In other deals, Milwaukee sent the rights to first-round pick Danny
Fortson of Cincinnati, along with veterans Johnny Newman and Joe Wolf,
to the Denver Nuggets for center Ervin Johnson. Portland and Dallas
swapped the rights to picks Chris Antsey and Kelvin Cato, and
Philadelphia, Denver, Portland and Orlando made minor deals involving
second-round picks.
Perhaps the biggest news of the night was the non-trade of Scottie
Pippen from Chicago to Boston.
Boston coach Rick Pitino said the Bulls wanted too much in a deal that
reportedly also was to include Chicago center Luc Longley.
``They wanted to really sweeten it, and we couldn't do that,'' Pitino
said after the Celtics selected Chauncey Billups with the third pick and
Ron Mercer sixth.
TNT analyst Brian Burwell reported that Michael Jordan made a phone
call to Bulls management threatening to retire if the Bulls traded
Pippen.
David Falk, the agent for Jordan, said he doubted that was true.
``I spoke to Jerry (Reinsdorf) and he had not spoken to Michael. I
would be very, very surprised if Michael called Jerry,'' Falk said.
``He's always said (he wants Pippen to stay), he wants to try for
another championship, but Michael's a player and doesn't own the team.
So he'll see what the team decides and make a decision from there,''
Falk said.
Duncan, the consensus college player of the year in 1996-97 and the
first player to repeat as a unanimous first team All-American selection
since Shaquille O'Neal in 1990-91 and 1991-92, averaged 20.8 points and
led the nation in rebounding with 14.7 per game.
He became the first college senior to be chosen No. 1 overall since
Larry Johnson in 1991.
Van Horn went second, then acknowledged the upcoming trade to the Nets.
``I think it will happen, but nothing's finalized in this league until
something's signed,'' Van Horn said. ``I visited there (New Jersey), I
have a great respect for their organization and their people and I love
coach Calipari.''
With the third pick, Boston selected Billups, who was generally
regarded as the best all-around point guard available.
The Vancouver Grizzlies, selecting fourth, chose Bowling Green point
guard Antonio Daniels. Tony Battie, a junior 6-foot-11 center from Texas
Tech who was projected to go as high as second, went fifth to the
Nuggets.
With the sixth pick, Pitino went with Mercer, who played for him at
Kentucky the past two seasons. The Celtics acquired the sixth pick in
last summer's trade with Dallas for Montross.
The Nets, picking for Philadelphia with the seventh pick, chose Thomas.
The eighth pick was Golden State's and the Warriors chose Colgate
center Adonal Foyle, the NCAA career leader in blocked shots (492).
Perhaps most surprised -- and pleased -- by the Warriors' selection of
Foyle was Toronto general manager Isiah Thomas, who was hoping that
Tracy McGrady would drop to No. 9.
The 18-year-old did, and the Raptors made him the fourth high schooler
to be picked in the first round in the past three years. The others were
Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal.
Milwaukee, picking 10th, chose Fortson. The selection was curious --
and indicative of the trade for Johnson that happened 45 minutes later
-- because Milwaukee already has an established power forward in
All-Star Vin Baker.
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, 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@bitstreet.com
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