Sunday, March 30, 1997

ACU women's basketball team to beat next year

By BILL HART

Sports smorgasbord, while wondering whatever happened to former Breckenridge football player Dickie Rogers:

-- Abilene Christian University and West Texas A&M probably will be the teams to beat in one zone of the Lone Star Conference women's basketball race, but the other zone will be tough with the addition of Southwestern Oklahoma (28-5), Harding (26-4) and Southeastern Oklahoma (28-4). They're up from the NAIA and it isn't known if they will be eligible for NCAA Division II playoffs next year.

Southeastern Oklahoma was 27-4 and East Central Oklahoma 22-6 last season. They could strengthen the LSC men's play, dominated this year by Central Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Commerce....

-- Recent wondering whatever happened to found ex-Eastland Maverick football player Jay Clark coaching in junior high at Odessa and former Roby trackman Al Gonzales living in Austin where he works for IBM....

-- The Abilene High School girls golf team made history Monday when, for the first time since the sport was started, they are atop the standings in District 4-5A, according coach Russell Ellison....

-- Maybe Chas Shira should go to Disney World more often. He returned from a spring break trip from Orlando, Fla. at 2 a.m. on Monday morning before throwing a perfect game against Hawley that afternoon.

Making the trip with him were catcher Damon Moore and centerfielder Timmy Davis, whose great catch for the second out of the seventh inning preserved the perfect game....

-- When Jerry Mullins goes to the Texas Relays this weekend, it will be the 52nd consecutive year that the former Abilene Christian University football player-coach has made the trip....

-- Tamika Catchings of Duncanville, the daughter of former Hardin-Simmons University basketballer Harvey Catchings, has been named Soutwest regional high school player of the year and is one of the eight finalists for the Gatorade Circle of Champions national high school player of the year award.

The southwest region includes Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Catchings has signed with perennial power Tennessee, which is in the NCAA Division I women's Final Four final today against Old Dominion....

-- The Tulia High School girls basketball team made it to the state tournament this year for the first time and their coach is Tommy Miller, who was formerly the head coach at Anson, Hamlin and Breckenridge.

The Lady Hornets lost in the finals to Dallas Madison, finishing with a 35-3 record. The other losses were to Hereford and Portales, N.M....

-- The Coleman Bluecats wear a "TCB" on the back of their track shirts. It means Take Care of Business. Coach Richard Payne came up with the idea....

-- At Texas Tech's spring football training, former Cross Plains' standout Jody Brown is gone and his Raider position is up from grabs. Free safety Duane Price has been moved there, and he's battling Robby Cartwright of Boyd for the spot. Former Goldthwaite defensive back Keith Cockrum was to be battling with them, but he missed the early drills because of a strained back.

Former Cooper lineman Jay Pugh, Robert Haddon and Rudy Renda are battling for the deep snapper job on kicks.

Brown, quarterback Sone Cavazos and defensive tackle Corey Chandler shared the Donny Amderson Sportsmanship Award at last month's Texas Tech football banquet.