PECOS ENTERPRISE

Daily Newspaper for Reeves County, Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas

Main Menu|Archives Menu|Classified|Advertising|Monahans|

SPORTS


August 5, 1996

Eagles' grid practice set to start

Return to Menu
Preseason workouts are set to begin Wednesday morning for Pecos High
School football players, 30 days before the start of the 1996 season.
Varsity, junior varsity and freshman players will start two-a-days at 7
a.m. at the PHS practice field. Belew said players will pick up their
workout clothes at that time, instead of getting equipment prior to the
first day of practice.
"We'll practice from 7 to 9 a.m. and then bring them in from 9 to 9:45
a.m. to rest," Belew said Friday, during the physical exam session at
the PHS gym. "From 9:45 to 10:15 we'll have our offensive and defensive
meetings, and then we'll take them back out on the field from 10 to
12:30 p.m."
Between 85 and 95 projected varsity and JV players worked out during the
final six weeks of the spring semester, after Belew was named the
Eagles' new football coach and athletic director, and coaches are hoping
for another 50 or so freshman come out for football this year.
"We've sent out letters, and we've contacted about 95 percent of them by
phone," Belew said, after the coaching staff returned from the Texas
High School Coaches Association's annual clinic last week in Houston.
The Eagles will have 2½ weeks of practice before their first preseason
scrimmage, at home on Aug. 23 against the Crane Golden Cranes. That's
followed on Aug. 30 by a scrimmage at Midland Greenwood against the
Rangers.
Regular season play for the varsity begins on Sept. 6 at Lamesa, while
the JV and freshman teams will open the previous night against the
Golden Tornadoes.
Football will be the second fall sport to begin preseason practice. The
Eagles' tennis team got their workouts underway this morning under new
head coach J.R. Torres, while practice for the Eagles' high school
volleyball squads starts a week from today at the PHS gym.

U.S. closes Olympics with knockout performance

Return to Menu

By RICK WARNER

AP Sports Writer


ATLANTA - The longest, largest and most expensive Olympic Games in
history are over.

After a closing day of competition that featured memorable gold medal
victories by American boxer David Reid, South African marathoner Josia
Thugwane and the U.S. women's basketball team, the Centennial Games
ended Sunday night with a farewell festival of music and dance.

Before the torch was passed to Sydney, site of the next Summer Games in
2000, there were a few final moments to remember in Atlanta.

America's female Dream Team capped a remarkable run by beating Brazil
111-87 for the last gold medal of the games.

Lisa Leslie scored 29 points for the U.S. team, which swept through
eight Olympic opponents to complete its year-long quest with an amazing
60-0 record.

``It's the best game I've ever played, the best moment of my life,''
Leslie said. ``We're No. 1.''

Reid, the only American boxer to fight for gold, was getting pounded by
Alfredo Duvergel before landing a devastating right to the Cuban's head
early in the third round of their 156-pound bout.

Duvergel, who held a seemingly insurmountable 16-6 lead at the time, got
up before the count of 10 but was so groggy that the referee stopped the
fight.

``I was going for the home run because I was down 10 points and it's
hard to make up 10 points in the last round,'' Reid said. ``I knew he
was beating me. I just wanted to hurt him.''

The punch prevented what would have been an embarrassment for U.S.
boxers - the first gold medal shutout in a non-boycotted Olympics since
1948. It also gave the United States six boxing medals, twice the total
in Barcelona four years ago.

Thugwane, a janitor who had no chance of competing before the fall of
apartheid, became the first black South African to win a gold medal by
capturing the closest marathon in Olympic history. The victory by the
tiny 25-year-old set off a wild celebration at the coal mine where he
works.

``What the medal means to me is that our problems are over in our
country,'' said Thugwane, who dedicated his victory to South African
president Nelson Mandela. ``We are free to run and be part of the
international community. We are back in the fold.''

The 5-foot-2, 99-pound runner edged South Korea's Lee Bong-ju by three
seconds in the 26.2-mile race, which started at 7 a.m. to avoid
Atlanta's oppressive afternoon heat and humidity. The Olympic Stadium,
packed with more than 80,000 fans throughout the games, was almost empty
as Thugwane entered for his final lap.

But the stadium was filled again at night for the closing ceremony,
which was climaxed by a ``Southern Jamboree'' jam session featuring
Little Richard, B.B. King, Wynton Marsalis and Al Green.

It was a festive ending to a bittersweet Olympics, one that included the
thrill of world-class athletic competition and the tragedy of the park
bombing that killed one woman and injured more than 100 people.

There were computer foul-ups and transportation troubles, but there also
were the poignant appearances by Muhammad Ali, who steadied one of his
trembling hands long enough to light the Olympic flame at the opening
ceremony, then brought down the house at the Georgia Dome when he
received a replacement for his lost 1960 gold medal at halftime of the
Dream Team's gold medal victory over Yugoslavia.

Other lasting memories:

- Injured gymnast Kerri Strug being carried to the medal stand by coach
Bela Karolyi after her courageous vault helped the U.S. women win the
team gold.

- Michael Johnson, wearing gold shoes, blazing to a world record in the
200 meters to complete the first 200-400 Olympic double by a man.

- Carl Lewis qualifying for the long jump final on his last jump, then
winning the event for a fourth straight time and tying the record for
career Olympic medals with nine. But some of Lewis' luster was dimmed
when he unsuccessfully tried to force himself on the U.S. 400-meter
relay team, which ended up losing to Canada in a shocking upset.

- Amy Van Dyken, an asthmatic swimmer who was ridiculed by her high
school teammates, becoming the first U.S. woman to win four golds in one
Olympics.

- The U.S. women's softball and soccer teams winning the first Olympic
gold medals ever awarded in their sports.

The United States used its home-field advantage to top the medal charts
in a boycott-free Olympics for the first time since 1968. Americans won
101 medals (44 golds, 32 silvers, 25 bronze), followed by Germany's 65
(20-18-27), Russia's 63 (26-21-16) and China's 50 (16-22-12).
Return to Menu


Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall
not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or
redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP
Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for
personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for
any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the
transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages
arising from any of the foregoing.


Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
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
http://www.pecos.net/news
This page prepared in askSam

Return to Sports Menu

Return to Home Page