1996_03 The Daily Collegian March 1996

              -    THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, March 13, 1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Brian R. Fisher
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
NCAA's a phone call away for Gravatt
SCORES
(Pepsi Johnny Quik Classic)
Came 4 (Red Division)—
Portland State
Fresno State     (postponed due to rain)
Other scores: Game 1 (Blue
Division)—Oregon State 8
Creighton 3; Came 2 (Blue
Division)—New Mexico vs. Pacific-
postponed due to rain; Came 3 (Red
Division)—Nebraska vs. St. Johns—
postponed due to rain.
|        SCHEDULE |
Today's Games
• Baseball—Pepsi Johnny Quik
Classic vs. Portland St. @ Beiden
Field, 7 p.m.
Other Classic games: Creighton vs.
Oregon State (non-tournament
game) @ 10 a.m.; New Mexico vs.
Pacific @ 1 p.m.; Nebraska vs. St.
John's @ 4 p.m.
Tomorrow's Games
• Men's Basketball—1st round NIT
game—vs. Miami of Ohio @
Selland Arena, 9 p.m.
• Baseball—Pepsi Johnny Quik
Classic vs. Nebraska @ Beiden
Field. 7 p.m.
Other Classic games: Oregon St. vs.
New Mexico @ 10 a.m.; St. John's
vs. Portland St. @ 1 p.m.; Pacific vs.
Creighton @ 4 p.m.
• Men's Tennis @ the Blue and Grey
Tournament, time TBA
Friday, March 15
• Softball vs. Southern Utah @
Softball Stadium. 5 p.m.
• Baseball—Pepsi Johnny Quik
Classic beginning @ 10 a.m. (Games
and times to be determined after.
Thursday's play).
» Women's Tennis @ University of
San Diego Tournament, time TBA
• Men's Tennis @ the Blue and Grey
Tournament, time TBA
1     SPORTS SHORTS
Clark named WAC softball
pitcher of the week
Junior right-handed pitcher
Jennifer Clark was named Western
AthleW Conferece Pitcher of the
Week yesterday, as announced by
the league office.
Clark posted a 3-1 record with a
save at the Hillenbrand Softball
Invitational in Tucson, Arizona last
weekend.
Clark finished the week with a
1.34 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and a
shutout in 26.2 innings pitched,
suffered her only loss (4-2) in the
championship game against the
University of Arizona.
Clark is the third Bulldog to be
honored this season, joining Jennifer
Henry and Kim Peck.
By Pat Houlihan
Sports Writer
If you are at Holly Gravatt's
house this Thursday or Friday don't
even think about using the phone.
Gravatt, a freshman on the
Fresno State swim team, is wait¬
ing for a very important call. The
call could be an invitation to the
Women's NCAA Championships
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on March
21-23. Gravatt said she has been
dreaming of going to the NCAA's
ever since high school and she said,
"It really means a lot to me."
Assistant coach Tara Brady said
preliminary notification should ar¬
rive Thursday and official notifica¬
tion on Friday of Gravatt's situa¬
tion.
"Holly went a 2:16.44 [in the
200-yard breast stroke] and the au¬
tomatic is a 2.15.03, so she's real
close to the automatic standard
which gives her a better possibility
of getting in," Brady said.
There are two ways of making
it to the national championships.
One way is to swim an automatic
qualifying time. The other is to
swim a consideration time. If there
are not enough automatic qualifi¬
ers, then the next fastest times will
be invited to round out the field.
At the Western Athletic Confer-
v \ File photo      ence Championships, Gravatt
NCAA hopeful. Freshman swimmer Holly Gravatt, who is a pro- swam her consideration time that
visional qualifier in the 200-yard breast stroke, will be notified this Brady spoke about. She placed first
Friday whether she has been selected to compete in the NCAA in that event and the 100-yard
championships later this month. breaststroke. In doing so, Gravatt
'bogs look to skin Miami of Ohio
became the first ever individual
WAC title winner in Fresno State's ,
history.
"I was really excited," Gravatt
said.
Gravatt said that when she
started the season she did not ex¬
pect to win a WAC title, but she did
expect to break the school record.
At West Covina High School,
Gravatt swam the 200-yard breast
stroke in a time of 2:17.63-easily
fast enough to break the current
Bulldog record which stands at
2:21.77. Since her arrival, she has
broken the school record, as well
as her own, four times.
She also set a new school record
in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her
time was 1.04.38. The old school
record was 1:05.61, which was
swam by teammate Linsey Schauer
last season.
Setting school records are noth^
ing new for Gravatt. -*.
At West Covina she set six of
eight individual records and was on
three school record-breaking relay
teams.
Gravatts rise to stardom has not
been as easy as it sounds.
"At the beginning of the season
I had a rough time adjusting to this
team, the workouts and stuff,"
Gravatt said.
If Gravatt makes .it to the
NCAA's, Brady said it would give
the Bulldogs national attention, be¬
cause all the coaches around the
Please see GRAVATT, Page 8.
By Matt Croce .
Sports-W^iter^J
The Fresno State Bulldogs
men's basketball team will be mak-
ing its fourth appearance in the Na¬
tional Invitational Tournament
(NIT), and its second trip in thfc last
three seasons, when the Bulldogs
host the Miami of Ohio Redskins
tonight at 9 p.m. at Selland Arena.
The Redskins come to Fresno
with a 21 -7 record, and a third place
finish (12-6) in the Mid-American
Conference this season. Miami is
making its fifth consecutive post¬
season appearance, as the Redskins
competed in the NIT in 1993 and-
1994.
Last year the Redskins upset the
Arizona Wildcats in the opening
round of the NCAA Tournament
before los- i
ing in over¬
time to Vir¬
ginia in the I
second
round.
Redskins
Head Coach
Herb
Sendek,  a
former        Tarkanian
assistant to current Kentucky Head
Coach Rick Pitino, has a 63-25
record in three seasons at Miami.
He was named the MAC Coach of
the Year last season.
Fresno State, which won the
NTT title on its first trip in 1983,
enters the tournament with a record
of 20-10. ,
The Bulldogs, under first*year
Head Coach Jerry Tarkanian, fin¬
ished third in the WAC at 13-5, one
game behind runner-up New
Mexico and two games in back of
regular season champion Utah-(15-
3). Fresno State enters post-season
play on a hot streak, as they have
won eight of their last 11 games.
Two of the three losses came at
New Mexico, an 86-84 loss on
March 2 and a 104-99 triple over¬
time setback in the WAC Tourna¬
ment semifinals March 8. Miami is
led by the inside-outside combina¬
tion of Devin Davis and Landon
Hackim. Davis, a 6-foot-seven inch
215 pound junior, is averaging 17.8
Please see NIT, Page 8.
Wunder hits recruiting trail after poor season
By Ruthie Longley
*Sports Writer
With the end of a disappointing
season, the Fresno State Women's
1ST
Basketball team is looking forward
to a break.
Head Coach Linda Wunder has
plans to give her players a hard
earned rest before they head into
next season.
hile the players rest, though.
Wtiil
the women's basketball staff will be
hard at work recruiting new play¬
ers for the 1996-97 season.
The Bulldogs have six vacant
slots they are looking to fill.
Wunder said that she knows exactly
what type of player she's looking
for. *^
"We're looking for players good
at rebounding, [players] who can
score inside, and swing players,"
Wunder said.
Because of NCAA rules which
prohibit basketball coaches from re¬
leasing the names of players that are
being sought, Wunder was unable
to release the names of the students
being considered for recruiting by
Fresno State.
After a two week break, the
women's basketball learn will re¬
turn, to practice. Wunder said that
the team will focus on the areas that
the team performed poorly in all,
Please see RECRUIT, Page 8.
Bulldogs
land first
recruit
By Matt Croce
Sports Writer
The Fresno State Bulldogs
men's basketball team landed its
Mens Basketball
first recruit of the 1996-97 sea
son when 6-foot-7 forward
Danyell Macklin announced a
few weeks ago that he will sign a
letter of intent in April to play for
the Bulldogs.
Macklin played one year of
Division I basketball at Western
Kentucky in Bowling Green, Ky.
and another at Sullivan College,
a junior college also located in
Kentucky.
"I'm already committed to
Fresno State," Macklin told the
Fresno Bee. "I'm going to play
for the best Division I coach
ever."
The 20-year old, 210 pounder
figures to be a perfect match for
Head Coach Jerry Tarkanian's
up-tempo style. He excels in the
open court game, and loves to
run. He also has 3-point range on
Please see SIGNEE, Page 8