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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Sports
Monday, May 4, 1998
Review allows Eagle to regain medal
By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
SAN ANGELO, May 4 -- After coming as close as possible to earning a trip to the state track and field finals without getting there, an exhausted Billy Rodriguez was about to go home from the Region I-4A track meet Saturday evening in San Angelo with nothing.
The Eagles' senior had the lead with 100 meters to go in the finals of the 800 meter run, but couldn't hold off Sweetwater's Jason Sepeda in the final 50 meters, and then ran completely out of gas as he tried to beat out Granbury's Chris Caldwell for the second place state berth.
Rodriguez wobbled, then staggered the final 10 meters, as both he and Caldwell fell across the finish line, with the Granbury runner going across just inches ahead.
But 15 minutes later, meet officials decided Rodriguez hadn't fallen far enough across the line to warrant even a third place medal.
"They DQed (disqualified) Billy. They said he didn't get his torso over the finish line," said coach Mike Ferrell, appeal form in hand, after the ruling. As his two other regional qualifiers, Jake Fowler and Jeff Brownlee, competed in the shot put finals, Ferrell took the form up to the meet director in the Angelo State University press box, but said, "They're not going to overturn it. The meet official made the call and it's going to stand."
It was a prediction Ferrell was happy to be wrong about 45 minutes later, when the public address announced that meet officials had reversed the decision, giving Rodriguez back the bronze medal for the half-mile race.
"They blew up a big ol' picture of the finish to 18- by-21 and looked at it, and decided Billy had gotten far enough across the line," Ferrell said. The announcement, which came while Rodriguez was preparing to run in the finals of the 1600 meters, wasn't enough to offset the exhaustion from the 800 race, as he finished 15th, in the final race of the meet for the Eagles.
"Billy might had started his kick a little too soon," the Eagles' coach said, while hunting down the bronze medal originally given to El Paso High's Adrian Palacios. "But I've been fortunate in my young career in track to really coach some great athletes. I've had 51-foot triple jumper and Bryan (Brownlee) in the shot and discus last year, but Billy made it the most fun of any athlete I've coached."
Rodriguez' reinstated third place finish gave him the state alternate berth, in case either Sepeda or Caldwell were unable to go to Austin in two weeks. It also accounted for half of Pecos' 12 points at the two-day meet.
Jeff Brownlee collected the others, with a fourth place on Friday in the discus and a fifth on Saturday in the shot put, while Fowler, wound up seventh in the discus competition and eighth in the shot put.
On the girls' side, the Eagles' six qualifiers were shut out in the points standings, but Marisol Arenivas just missed out, placing seventh in both the 3200 meter run on Friday and in the 1600 meter run on Saturday.
Sepeda won the 800 with a 1:54.17 time, while Caldwell was second at 1:55.56. Ferrell said Rodriguez' original time was 1:55.7, but was upped to 1:56.6 when his third place finish was restored.
Brownlee came up 1¼-feet short of following his brother to state in the discus, throwing 159-8 on Friday. Terry Pierce of Fort Worth Eastern Hills won with a 166-9 toss, while Jared Morris of Brownwood and Antonio Lomax of Wichita Falls Hirschi were next, at 160-11 and 160-3.
On Saturday, Weatherford's Nick Gray outdistanced everyone, with a 58-foot-3 toss, while Marty Jones of Brownwood earned the other state berth with a 53-2 throw on his first attempt. Brownlee went 50-3 on his second attempt and had a couple of 50-2 throws in the final round, while Fowler went 48-8 on his first try.
"The trip (to state) was there," said coach Darrell Erickson. "Second was 53-2 and Jeff's best was 53-10, but it just wasn't there today."
Arenivas fell back after the first 500 meters of the 1600 meter race, and coach Lily Talamantez said the senior's time was about 10 seconds slower than when she won at the District 4-4A meet on April 16. "Before she started, she said she felt a little tired or heavy," Talamantez said.
The Eagles' other regional qualifiers, Penny Armstrong in the discus and the 800 meter relay team of Annette Marquez, Maricela Arenivas, Shay Lara and Erica Orona, failed to qualify for the finals during Friday's preliminaries, running a 1:50 time, the same as they ran in placing second at district.
"We still have Maricela and Shay coming out next year, and they now see what they have to do," Talamantez said. "They saw that if they want to cut their times when they come here, that it can be done. They just have to be a little more disciplined.
"Shay said she realized it's not something you can just do in three weeks, and she was talking about working out more during the summer," she added.
San Angelo Lake View's boys won the Region I-4A title by a 66-62 margin over Denison, while Fort Worth Arlington Heights took the girls' title, 65-56 over Pampa, with Big Spring third. District 4-4A runners ended up winning nine of the 12 running events at this year's regional, while on the girls' side, only Big Spring's Nadia Cole and Keesha Lott earned runner-up berths at the state meet in Austin on May 15.
Clyde's glide ends; no Mourning for dead Heat
By CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI, May 4 -- We've seen the last of the first round, and we can say goodbye to the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets -- thanks to the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz.
We've also seen the first glimpse of the second round, where the Charlotte Hornets' moment of glory didn't last long against the Chicago Bulls.
New York and Utah advanced to the second round Sunday with a pair of comfortable victories that didn't really match the drama each series had already produced.
The Knicks knocked out the Alonzo Mourning-less Heat with relative ease, 98-81, and the Jazz did the same to the Charles Barkley-less Rockets, 84-70.
The Bulls, meanwhile, remained a step ahead of everyone - as well as the lone remaining undefeated playoff team -- by withstanding an early burst by the Hornets in a 83-70 victory.
The second round continues tonight with the Los Angeles Lakers traveling to Seattle for Game 1.
The other two series begin Tuesday with New York at Indiana and San Antonio at Utah.
Knicks 98, Heat 81
Looking to avenge the disastrous ending to the 1996-97 season when five suspensions resulted from a Game 5 brawl, the Knicks showed the Heat how much they've learned about thriving without their franchise center.
Playoff veterans from Buck Williams (12 points, 14 rebounds) to John Starks (22 points) to Charles Oakley (18 points) complemented Allan Houston's 30 points, and the Knicks kept their poise after Miami used a 21-3 run to close within two points midway through the fourth quarter.
``It was a great win, one of many more to come,'' Terry Cummings said.
Miami looked lost without Alonzo Mourning, who doomed Miami's chances by foolishly throwing a punch at Larry Johnson of the Knicks with 1.4 second left in Game 4.
Jazz 84, Rockets 70
Clyde Drexler and the Rockets, after being on the verge of one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, went down horribly.
Drexler was 1-for-13 from the field and just 4-for-10 from the line in the final game of his career.
``It's not the way I'd choose to go out,'' he said. ``I'm not disappointed because you live with what happens, but I would have liked a better result today.''
Karl Malone had 31 points, including 12 in the third uarter, and 15 rebounds. Greg Ostertag helped make the win possible with seven blocked shots, five rebounds and a tenacious fourth-quarter defensive performance.
Bulls 83, Hornets 70
Michael Jordan had 35 points and Scottie Pippen 25, scoring just 10 fewer than the entire Hornets team, as the Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter to win their fourth straight playoff game.
Charlotte, which ran out to a 30-15 lead but was up only one at the half, scored just 10 third-quarter points and finished with 32 in the second half.
Glen Rice, who shot poorly against the Bulls in four regular-season games, led the Hornets with 25 points, but he was just 9-of-25 from the field.
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
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Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise
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