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8 • The Red and Black » Friday. April 20. 1990
SPORTS
Lady Gym Dogs’ inconsistencies scare coach
By CHRIS IANCETTE
Sports Writer
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Scared
stiff.
Georgia gymnastics coach Suz-
anne Yoculan said the inconsis
tency her charges have displayed
throughout the 1900 season lenve
her absolutely frightened about
tonight’s NCAA championship.
Speaking at a press conference
Thursday afternoon, both her
nerves and her words seemed to
be riding on butterflies — a stark
contrast from this time last
season when she personified con
fidence.
"It’s scary," she said. “It’s very
scary because our team seems to
have a definite pattern — very in
consistent all year. We have one
moment where we look like a na
tional championship teum und
then another when we look like
we shouldn’t even be here."
But here they are indeed The
defending national champion
Lady Dogs ore seeded third, their
highest seeding ever, and ure
coming off a team-high 193 35 at
regionals two weeks ago.
Senior Andren Thomas, a
three-time All-American on
beam, is in the finest form of her
college career. She won the
southeast regional beam
championship and seven times
has scored above a 9 70, twice tal
lying a 9.90.
And it’s the beam, Georgia’s
first event tonight, that will cer
tainly dictate whether the Gym
Dogs have a chance to repeat as
NCAA crown bearers.
“1 think we’re going to do great
on beam,” she said "We’ve had a
lot of intrasquads and hit at least
five out of six routines
Thomas’ beam-bruising isn’t
all that's right for the Lady Dogs.
Senior all-arounder Corrinne
Wright is very much so.
She is the defending national
all-around champion and has
moved up to the fifth ranking in
that category this year. She won
the bars at regionals and has
scoed a 9 80 or better in the lust
six meets.
And fortunately for Georgia,
its strength lies not only in its
two seniors, but in the under-
clasamen —particularly
freshman Heather Stepp.
She’s ranked 13th in the all-
around and Thursday turned in a
magnificently flawless day of
practice.
But Yoculan is still haunted.
First-seeded Utah wants des
perately to renew a streak of na
tional championship wins. The
Utes won the first five NCAA na
tionals before Georgia won a title
in 1987. Alabama kept the crown
in the Southeastern Conference
the following year before the
Gym Dogs took it from the Tide
last season.
And it’s Alabama whom edu
cated opinion says will win this
year. Press from across the
country are obersving that its
team members are showing the
face of a champion.
Yoculan has just cause to be
scared.
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Just show your student Identification at the Sanford Stadium
gate to get a preview of the 1990 Junkyard Dogs. If that's not
your style, the Diamond Dogs host Florida Saturday at 1 p.m.
1989 NCAA champ,
LSU to play Georgia
By RANDY WALKER
Sports Writer
Last May, Donni Leaycraft be
came the first LSU tennis player to
win the NCAA singles
championship.
He also was the first non-senior
to win the title since Georgia’s Mi
kael Pemfors in 1985.
This year, Leaycraft could be
come the first returning NCAA sin
gles champion not to make the
NCAA field.
If Leaycraft has any chance of
making the singles draw at the
NCAAs, he will need a victory over
Georgia’s A1 Parker at No. 1 sin
gles Saturday when llth-ranked
LSU (11-6, 5-2) takes on No. 5
Georgia (15-3, 6-1) 2 p.m. Saturday
at Henry Feild Stadium.
Leaycraft and LSU coach Jerry
Simmons have limited their con
versations with the press re
garding the 1990 woes and were
unavailable for comment.
In LSU’s final home match of the
season, a 5-2 victory over Auburn,
Simmons was quoted in the Baton
Rouge Morning Advocate as saying
that the ‘89 NCAA champ needs to
beat players and beat them badly
to regain the confidence he had in
winning the title last year.
“Donni needs to beat people as
bad as he can,” Simmons said.
“When you have losses (like) he has
had this season, opponents think
you’re vulnerable and come out
harder against you in the first set.
Donni has to crack them before he
gets cracked.”
Leaycraft, who began the year as
the No. 2 ranked player in the
country, is now ranked No. 60.
Last year, the Metairie, La., na
tive racked up an impressive 42-10
singles record — an LSU record.
During that run, Leaycraft was un
defeated in the month of March
and held a 13-match win streak.
So far in 1990, Leaycraft has
posted a 13-15 record, and was 1-7
in the month of February. Against
opponents ranked in the Top 20,
Leaycraft is 0-8, while he’s 7-12
against all ranked opponents.
‘There's a lot of pressure on him
after winning the NCAAs last
year,” Parker said. ‘The thing in
college is that anybody can beat
anybody and just because you win
the NCAAs or are ranked No. 1, it
doesn’t mean that you’re unbea
table.
“In Donni’s case, it’s been a little
more extreme than normal. His re
cord is really shaky but that
doesn’t mean he’s not capable of
beating anyone in the country.”
Also hindering Leaycraft’s play
has been a lower back injury, suf
fered during his first round, four-
set loss to Emilio Sanchez of Spain
at the U.S. Open in September.
After the Auburn match, the
LSU senior said the injury was be
hind him and he was feeling 100
percent.
But Leaycraft still faces the
challenge of regaining his confi
dence, lending LSU to the SEC and
NCAA team tournaments and re
turning to the NCAA singles draw
to defend his title.
G-DAY
From page 1
out for Saturday’s game. All are ex
pected to be lOOpercentby the fall.
Spring stuff: Curt Douglas
has been moved from linebacker to
nose guard. Ray Goff said that the
switch was "permanent.” Douglas
was moved to the nose during his
freshman year but was switched
Tonight
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back to linebacker, the position he
played last season.
The team that wins the G-Day
game will eat steak for the evening
meal while the team that loses will
eat hot dogs while enduring the
playful taunts of their teammates.
Goff said that after Saturday’s
game, the team will spend the last
five days of spring practice pre
paring for its September 8 opener
on the road against LSU.
Georgia’s remaining 1990 foot
ball schedu.e will feature three
straight home dates against
Southern Mississippi, Alabama,
and East Carolina, away against
Clemson, home against Ole Miss
and Vanderbilt, three straight
away dates against Kentucky,
Florida, and Auburn before taking
on Georgia Tech between the
hedges.
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