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PAGE 8A FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Thursday, April S, 2004 Local Sports Cumming Waves host registration The 2003 NGSL Champion Cumming Waves swim team will host open enrollment for the 2004 season on Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to noon. Enrollment and swimsuit fittings will be at the Cumming Parks and Recreation office on Pilgrim Mill Road. Arrive early, as the team is limited to 150 swimmers. Fees $l2O for the first child and sllO for additional children. Team suits will be available for approximately $55 for girls and S4O for boys. Practice sessions start May 17, with the first meet on June 4 A copy of the swimmer's birth certificate is required at regis tration. Contact Jeff McLean for more information at (770) 886- 5251. Braves 400 Club, Hot Stove League to host events The Forsyth County Hot Stove Night at the Rome Braves w ill be Saturday, April 24. Tickets are $lB each and include a pregame meal of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and BBQ. For more information, call Johnny Tailant for tickets (before April 19) at (770) 887-5537. Adult baseball league forming A new adult baseball league associated with Stan Musial Baseball is seeking teams in Forsyth and surrounding counties to begin play in late spring and summer of 2004. For more infor mation. call Dennis Holbrook at (770) 887-4036. Park and Rec hosts Challenger Softball event The Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Department is hosting Challenger Softball on Thursdays, April 15, 22 and 29. and Tuesdays, May 4 and 11 at Central Park Field No. 3 from 6:30-8 p.m. There is no charge for taking part. Every one who attends will receive a T-shirt on Tuesday, May 11. The event is open to all special education students, grades K-12. Softball stars eye showcase Perfect Game Softball will host an Identification Camp at Georgia Tech on April 24. This one-day event is for softball players ages 13-18 interested in showcasing their skills in front of Perfect Game Scouts. For information, call Perfect Game Softball at (319) 261-2923. Running Camp gearing up The Mountain High Running Camp will take place July 12-17 and July 19-24, at Tallulah Falls. The staff is composed of elite Kenyan and international distance runners and internationally experi enced coaches. For information, contact Scott Simmons via email at simmons@minotstateu.edu, or call (800) 777-0750, or visit the camp’s Web site at: www.mountainhighrunning.com. Hoops camp seeks applicants Applications are now being evaluated for the Ten Star All-Star Summer Basketball Camp. The camp is by invitation only. Boys and girls ages 10-19 are eligible to apply. A camp will take place this summer in Atlanta. Call (704) 373- 0873 for more information. Sports EXTRA 1..* r '' • La— . .11 . f ~ ~ TEXAS MOTOR SPEEOMMY I ' TEXAS ? TEXAS* . / - 7 . ■ I _ . J l ;jWr WM•" i—— - fr^^nMWWESSSiiii—i ■ : MH Photo/File If NASCAR and the owners of Texas Motor Speedway can agree to terms, it would mean there would be 10 Cup races held west of the Mississippi River. Above, team owner Jack Roush watches the track last Friday, during qualifying for this past Sunday’s Radio Shack 500. NASCAR heading west By Gerald Hodges For the Forsyth County News If NASCAR and Texas Motor Speedway reach an agreement over a plan that is currently being tossed around by the various news agen cies. then the center of NASCAR racing would no longer be in the Carolinas. It would be somewhere out west, between Texas and California. What has prompted all these sto ries is a lawsuit that was filed two years ago in a Texas court by a member of the Board of Directors of TMS. charging that NASCAR promised TMS a second race date, but failed to follow through. The reports say that NASCAR does not want to go to court to reply to these charges, because they are afraid of what might come out if they have to answer questions under oath. In order to avoid a court trial, the following scenario has been tossed out as a possibility. International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which is owned by NASCAR and the France family, would sell North Carolina Motor Speedway (Rockingham) and Darlington Raceway, to Bruton Smith’s organization, which also owns TMS and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Two race dates would then be taken from Rockingham and Darlington and given to TMS and LVMS. Yoculan’s Gym Dogs A year ago I wrote in this space about the accomplishments of University of Georgia gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan’s program as she entered her 20th year in Athens. Yoculan took the time to write a nice “thank you” note which makes it even more exciting for me to realize her squad has a really good chance to win another national title next week. Georgia will enter the NCAA Championships as the second seed and will compete in the afternoon preliminary session on April 15 at 4 p.m. at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. Six teams compete in two prelimi nary rounds with the top three from each advancing to the Super Six Finals on April 16. Stanford, Florida, lowa, Oklahoma and Nebraska join Georgia in the afternoon session while UCLA, Arizona State, Utah, LSU, Alabama and Michigan will compete later that night. Georgia opens its meet on a bye and will move to the floor exercise, vault, another bye, bars and beam. The Gym Dogs’ region score of 197.525 was second among the six region winners as Utah took the first seed with a 197.625 in the That would leave Darlington and Rockingham only one race date to split between the two tracks. The one date could be alternated between the two of them on a yearly basis. If this race-date game is final ized, it would mean there would be 10 Cup races held west of the Mis sissippi River. That would leave two Cup races and the Nextel Cup Open Exhibition race at Charlotte, plus the one other left-over race to be split between Darlington and Rockingham. Just a few years ago. this region hosted nine Cup races. If these races are transferred west, how will that affect the Charlotte area where most of the major teams are located'.’ Will some of them move? Will newer teams be reluctant to locate in an area that is losing momentum? But most of all. what will be the reaction of the fans in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and other areas where stock car racing was born? To be honest, we don't know. Several months ago, I received a tremendous amount of emails from long time fans, expressing displeas ure at the direction NASCAR was taking the sport. It is my opinion that NASCAR and television is going to lose a tremendous audience in the south eastern part of the country, but they will gain new fans in the western portion of the United States. Only time will tell how the fan Danny Daniels South Central region. LSU is the third seed with a Central region score of 197.500 and defending national champion UCLA is the fourth seed after a Southeast region title at 197.325. The Super Six is scheduled for Friday, April 16, at 10 p.m. NCAA Championships Seeding (by region score) 1. Utah, 197.625 2. Georgia, 197.525 3. LSU, 197.500 4. UCLA. 197.325 5. Oklahoma? 197.100 6. Florida, 197.050 7. Alabama, 196.900 8. Stanford. 196.575 9. Arizona State, 196.500 10. Michigan, 196.375 11. Nebraska, 196.375 12. lowa, 195.700. In case you haven’t been keep ing up, the Gym Dogs won their 17th NCAA Regional champi onship in team history on Saturday night with a score of 197.525 in Penn State’s Rec Hall. Coincidentally, Penn State is Yoculan’s alma mater. base will balance itself out if new changes like the ones that are now being tossed around are adopted. Martin Truex gets Busch win BRISTOL, Tenn. Martin Truex Jr. won his first career Busch series races after taking the Sharpie Professional 250 under caution. Saturday. March 27. Finishing order: 1. Martin Truex Jr., 2. Kevin Harvick, 3. Kyle Busch, 4. Greg Biffle, s.David Green, 6. Tony Raines, 7. Michael Waltrip. 8. Jason Keller. 9. Ron Hornaday, 10. Mike Wallace. 11. Joe Nemechek, 12. Tim Fedewa, 13. Johnny Benson, 14. Johnny Sauter, 15. Steve Grissom. 16. Kenny Wallace, 17. Mike Bliss, 18. David Stremme. 19. Stacy Compton, 20. Hermie Sadler, 21. Regan Smith, 22. Robert Pressley, 23. Robby Gordon, 24. Bobby Hamilton Jr. 25. Stan Boyd, 26. Brad Teague. 27. Kasey Kahne, 28. Paul Menard. 29. Andy Ponstein. 30. Derrike Cope, 31. Ashton Lewis, 32. Jason Leffler. 33. Jason White, 34. Casey Atwood. 35. Gus Wasson. 36. Randy Briggs, 37 Jeff Fuller. 38. Jason Schuler. 39. Jay Sauter. 40. Morgan Shepherd. 41. Mike Harmon, 42. Stanton Barrett. 43. Donnie Nuenberger Top-10 points leaders after sos 34 races: 1. Harvick-790, 2. D. Green-749, 3. Truex-740, 4. Waltrip -724, 5. Biffle-678, 6. Keller-673. 7. R. Gordon-637, 8. Kyle Busch-637, 9. Stremme-634, 10. J. Sauter-628. take another title shot Michigan was second and lowa State (196.150) finished the night in third place, followed by Penn State (196.200), Missouri (194.375) and New Hampshire (194.125). “We are so beat up I don't how we did it,” Yoculan. “We’ve lost two gymnasts in the last two weeks so it’s been a struggle. Last week we lost Kinsey Rowe to an ACL and before the meet Saturday Brittany Smith hurt her ankle. This one was tough but we pieced it together. Ashley Kupets deserves a medal of honor. Once again she was only scheduled for two events and she went on ail four Saturday.” Georgia started on beam in the first rotation and scored a 49.350. Cory Fritzinger led the Gym Dogs with a 9.925 and Kelsey Ericksen followed at 9.875. Chelsa Byrd, Kupets and Sierra Sapunar all scored 9.855. On the floor exercise Georgia scored a 49.4 and extended its overall score at 98.75 after two rotations. Byrd, Marline Stephens and Ericksen all scored 9.9 and Ashley Kupets and Michelle Emmons each added a 9.85. Byrd, Ericksen and Stephens all tied for Learn how to row on Lake Lanier From staff reports Forsyth County residents who have always wanted to learn more about rowing will soon have their chance. The Lake Lanier Rowing Club is hosting a seven-lesson program this month, with the first session of adult introducto ry instruction taking place April 10-24 at Lake Lanier Olympic Center on Clark’s Bridge Road. The two hour classes, open to all adults, will focus on funda mentals of the rowing stroke in sweep and sculling, boat safety and handling, equipment termi nology and coxing. Summer and fall sessions will follow, each consisting of seven classes. Participants may row in single or double boats, or in a group of four or eight. The classes are taught by John Ferriss, head coach and Executive Director of the rowing club, with the help of club mem bers. One of these is Carolyn Calupca, who began rowing in college and has been coaching “Learn to Row” classes at LLRC since she joined. Calupca notes that she enjoys seeing others discover a sport that she has loved for so long “The program gives people a chance to get outside and on the water, make new friends, and get involved in the community," Calupca said. “Also, since every one is starting from the same place, they learn and grow together and can even start to compete in regattas if they like.” Most LLRC members are for mer Learn to Row students who fell in love with the sport and subsequently joined the club. Two of these are Bas and Eva Oskam, a retired couple who were hiking the Appalachian Trail when medical concerns forced them to find other activi ties. They became interested in rowing during the 1996 Olympics and decided they wanted to sign up for the Learn to Row program. “We enjoy the exercise, the competitiveness, and the friend liness of the other rowers,” said Bas. The cost of the Learn to Row sessions (seven classes) is SBO, which applies to club dues for those who decide to join. For more information, call the Lake Lanier Rowing Club at (770) 287-0077 or you can email LLRC@mindspring.com. or visit the Web site at llrc.ws. first place on floor with their scores. The Gym Dogs upped their overall total to 148.225 with a 49.475 on vault. Byrd led Georgia with a 9.95 and Stephens scored a 9.925. Ericksen finished with a 9.9 and Emmons and Fritzinger both scored 9.85. Byrd’s score was good enough for the overall vault win. Georgia closed the evening with a 49.300 on bars. Byrd and Fritzinger’s 9.925 led the way and Ericksen added a 9.875. Kupets, Sapunar and Stephens each scored a 9.8. Byrd closed the night with a 39.625 in the all-around, good enough for second place overall behind Michigan's Elise Ray (39.700). Ericksen finished third at 39.525. It's great when good people fin ish first and Yoculan is one of the most cooperative and enthusiastic coaches in college sports. Let’s hope she gets to hang yet another championship banner in Stegeman Coliseum. Danny Daniels, sports editor at the Barrow County News, con tributes his regional wrapup once a week.