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Weekly Newspaper and Tourism Guide for Ward County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Sports

Thursday, January 15, 1998

That's Rich


By Richard Acosta

January is a very special time of year for hard core fans of
gridiron action. This time of year families and friends get
together to enjoy this time honored tradition when hopes
hang high, where careers are ended while others just begin
to take off, where some will shine bright as the stars while
others will look for their opportunity next year.

I am speaking of course of the Monahans Lobo Football
Banquet. The event is to honor the achievements of the
1997-98 Lobo football team and it's players. The annual
event will be held in the Ward County Convention Center at 7
p.m. today, Thursday, Jan. 15 and will be catered by the
Wagonmasters.

Oh yeah... the Super Bowl is suppose to happen some time
next weekend.

***

The sports pages have recently been jam packed full of all
types of Monahans athletics. We have had stories for
everything for football to powerlifting. This outstanding
coverage is due in no little part to the hard work of sports
intern Lanny Hayes and the cooperation he receives from the
different coaches in the different sports.

For example, if we had co-ed down hill skiing in Monahans
and the sports page had many good, detailed stories about
down hill skiing, odds are the down hill skiing coach is
very cooperative and helpful to the sports department.
However, if we had an uncooperative down hill skiing coach
then the coverage will not be up to par. Limited coverage of
a sport, whether the team is first or last, leads to parents
becoming upset about the coverage, which causes some phone
calls to be made, which leads to crazy editors which leads
to an even more crazy sports writer.

The bottom line is it takes many people to produce a good
sports page in a small community. Lanny and I deeply
appreciate the fact the coaches who, in good times and bad,
have bent over backward to see to it our young people get
the coverage they not only deserve but need. The Monahans
News is shipped off all over the place. Our kids' pictures
can be seen by a college recruiter in Dallas or Lubbock or
South Bend that may not have been willing to make a trip to
West Texas until he saw how fast a member of our down hill
ski team is.

So, thank you Lanny and thank you coaches.

***

Guess what Monahans? Your sports editor can not pick
football games. I know we have not rerun the "Monahans News
NFL Play-off Predictions" however it has nothing to do with
the fact that your sports editor was wrong, wrong, wrong.

I will spear my counterparts on their AFC choices although
they all picked Green Bay as the Super Bowl team. I picked
San Francisco and Kansas City to go to the big game. The sad
part about it is I love Green Bay, heck I even have a cheese
head, but San Francisco at home is a pretty tough act to
beat. On the flip side, the AFC has been a fire drill. I
know I have been wrong before but the fact is Kansas City
and Pittsburgh lost. Denver did not beat them. Green Bay
eats cheese and crackers at Disney Land and Denver gets
sized for AFC championship rings.

Big Green lifts big

FORT STOCKTON - Mean Green Coach Mickey Mitchell calls it
hard work and dedication.

Whatever it was, it meant his powerlifters finished:
*First among Division II teams.

*Third over-all behind a 4A and a 5A power house.

*And Anthony Aguilar hoisted nearly a half-ton to win gold
in his 165-pound weight class.

That was the Lobo scorecard after the 3A Monahans High
School powerlifters competed in their first meet of the
season Saturday, Jan. 10. The individual and team quest for
a spot in the regional meet took them to Fort Stockton,
where they competed with some of the best talent in Region
I, in Divisions I and II.

The Loboes took third place among all teams with 21 points.
That total also gave the Green first place among the
Division II teams. Overall, the Loboes placed behind 4A
Fort Stockton (45 points) and 5A Midland High (37), both
Division I teams.

Other Division II teams competing were Greenwood (15),
Kermit (15), El Paso Mountain View (13), Crane (8), San
Angelo Central (6), Grandfalls (3) Alpine (0), and McCamey
(0).

Individually, the Loboes were paced by Anthony Aguilar,
whose 965 pounds earned him an easy first place victory in
the 165 pound weight class. Aguilar's performance was also
good enough for the title of "Best Lifter" from the 114-165
pound weight classes. The Best Lifter award is given to the
competitor who lifts the most weight, pound for pound.
Aguilar was the only first place finisher from Monahans.

Other Loboes lifting enough to place in the meet were:
* Garrett Brown's 500 pound performance for a fifth place
medal in the 114 pound weight class.
* In the 198 pound weight class, Benny Rodriguez earned
third place with an overall total of 1,030 pounds.
* Joel Najar and T.J. Bustos took second and fourth
respectively in the 220 pound weight class.

Najar amassed a total of 1,075 pounds while Bustos
successfully hoisted 1,050 pounds.
* Scott Lackey finished in third place in the 242 pound
weight class, with an overall lift of 1,220 pounds.

Many of the totals posted by the Big Green are expected to
be in the Top 10 in the Region in Division II. The Top 10
from the region will advance to the Regional meet, to be
held in Lubbock in March.

Many of the Lobo lifters failed to place due to stiff
competition. A few with regional potential (Gabriel
Ontiveros, Lanny Hayes, and Luciano Hinojos) did not compete
because of school-related weekend conflicts.

The travels of the Lobo powerlifting team will take them to
Midland Greenwood on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Once again, the hard work and dedication of the Loboes
expects to be a key factor in their pursuit of a state
crown, says Mitchell.

Swimmers chase Pecos in Ft. Stockton meet

FORT STOCKTON - Monahans High School's Lobo women swimmers
chased Pecos past 5A competitors Odessa Permian, Midland
High and Midland Lee on Saturday at the Fort Stockton
Invitational Tournament.

The distaff contingent from Monahans had four firsts. Back
stroke record holder Candice Teague had two individual blues
(100 back at 1:06.06 and 50 free at 26.59). Lindsay
Fredericks swam to victory in the 100 breast in 1:20.60.
Teague and Fredericks were half the first place team (The
others were Marina Martin and Fonda Moore) in the 200 Medley
at 2:09.03.

When the sprints and the relays and the marathons were over,
Monahans, four swimmers shy of a full squad, was second just
behind the Pecos Eagles who finished first in the women's
division of the eight-team competition.

Pecos had 341 points in the women's division; Monahans, 217.
Third place finisher, Fort Stockton, came in nine points
behind Monahans at 206.

Andrews and Seminole also swam in the Fort Stockton
invitational.

In the men's division, the Green finished fourth although
they had only five swimmers.

Lobo Chris Cain first place rush in the 100 meter back
(1:10.46) and second in the 200 Free (2:10.34) led the Lobo
squad.

Next stop for the Big Green Aquatics is Lubbock on Friday
and Saturday, Jan. 16 and Jan. 17.

Says Coach Doug Ward:

"Even though we did great in Fort Stockton, the competition
will be fierce at the Lubbock meet and we need to turn it up
another notch or two."

Lobo Summary
Women
200 Medley Relay - 1. Monahans "A" (Candice Teague, Lindsay
Fredericks, Marina Martin, Fonda Moore 2:09.03. 5. Monahans
"B" (Jenny Waggoner, Amy Bowman, Crystal Partida, Rebekah
Robinson) 2:30.03.
200 Free - 2. Moore 2:24.81. 11. Bowman 2:44.93.
200 IM - 2. Martin 2:40.07. 7. Partida - 3:11.93
50 Free - 1. Teague 26.59
100 Fly - 3. Martin 1:18.31 4. Moore 1:20.76 7. Partida
1:32.03
100 Free - 3. Fredericks 1:05.15
500 Free - 9. Robinson 7:29.33 10. Bowman 7:45.98
200 Free Relay - 2. Monahans "A" (Moore, Martin Fredericks,
Teague) 1:55.25 8. Monahans "B" (Waggoner, Bowman, Partida,
Robinson) 2:17.13
100 Back - 1. Teague 1:06.06
100 Breast - 1. Fredericks 1:20.6
400 Free - 6. Monahans "B" (Waggoner, Bowman, Partida,
Robinson) 5:07.10
Men
200 Medley Relay - 5. Monahans "A" (Brandon Sutter, Carlee
Heuman, Clayton Cunningham, Chris Cain) 2:02.08.
200 Free - 2. Cain 2:10.34
200 IM - 4. Heuman 2:39.70
50 Free - Cunningham 29.66
100 Free - 3. Sutter 55.76
200 Free Relay - 3. Monahans "A" (Cunningham, Heuman ,
Sutter, Cain)
100 Back - 2. Sutter 1:04.43 5. Cunningham 1:14.93
100 Breast - 1. Cain 1:10.45 9. Heuman 1:18.94

Lobo basketball ends its losing streak

When you watch the Monahans Loboes' boys basketball team
play, many impressions come to mind. However, the last
impression anyone gets is that this Big Green team is 4-11.

The men have played competitively all season, and have never
suffered a blowout. It is the right time of the season for
all their improvements to come together. Even the most
casual basketball observer can tell that this team has
everything they need to be competetive in district 3-3A.

Everything, that is except wins.

With every game that goes by, the Loboes are playing more
and more like a team in the hunt for a district
championship. The Loboes have been in every game until the
very end, but have only reached the win column four times.

Last Tuesday kicked off Panther week for the Loboes. In
the course of seven days, the Loboes played three Panther
teams. The Green took on Jal twice, on consecutive
Tuesdays, and Fort Stockton on Friday.

The Panther parade opened with a loss on the road in New
Mexico to Jal. Despite playing well the entire game, the
Loboes dropped another game, making their losing streak 10
games. Next, the Loboes returned home for a showdown
against Fort Stockton. The game, their first home game in
nearly a month, promised to be a game between two possible
playoff teams. The Loboes fell behind early, 18-4. Despite
playing even ball with Stockton over the next two quarters,
they ultimtely fell, 74-53. Rocky Rivera led all scorers
with 12 points, while Brandon Stephens pitched in 11. The
loss made the Lobo losing streak 11 games.

On Tuesday, Jan. 13, the Loboes had a rematch with the Jal
Panthers. The game was scheduled to start at 7:30, but was
delayed nearly an hour due to a goal falling at the Complex.
At a little after 8:30, the game finally got underway. By
10:00 when the game ended, the Big Green had ended their
month long losing streak by defeating the Jal Panthers,
66-53. Cody Avary led the Loboes with 15 points, followed
by Rivera with 12, Nathan Swarb with 11, and Stephens with
10.

The girls have had similar problems over the season. They
have amassed a 4-11 record heading into last week, which
began district play.

The Loboes have been struggling, and dug into their
sub-varsity roster to call up Amanda Krone, a steadily
improving Freshman.

The ladies opened up district play with a home affair
against Alpine. The ladies looked poised to start off
district on the right foot, but failed to do so when they
lost 54-42. Tracie Jasso led the Loboes with 11 points,
including three 3-pointers. With the loss, the Ladies fell
to 4-12 on the season, and 0-1 in district play.

With their play against Alpine, the girls seemed in good
shape to contend with the rest of the district.

However, the Lobos from El Paso had other ideas about those
visions.

Monahans just never seemed to get in sync as Mountain View
defeated them easily, 52-16.

Dedra Wessels led the Ladies with 4 points.



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