WALKING THE PLANK

Tryouts and 'Athlete' of the Week

UMD cheerleading tryouts

The UMD cheerleaders are looking for some new members. The Corsairs, who finished second this year at the National Cheerleading Association All-Girls Division II Championships, will hold tryouts for next season on Saturday, May 12 at the Tripp Athletic Center.

The tryouts will take place from 12 to 3 p.m. Participants should bring a copy of their most recent physical examination and their insurance information. They should be dressed for practice.

Head Coach Scott Bouchard said that they will be evaluated on their jumps (double toe touch and best jump), on their best standing and running tumbling skills, and on their stunts, from basic skills progressing to more advanced skills.

“Everyone is encouraged to come with a positive attitude and come motivated to learn,” said Bouchard.

For more information, contact Bouchard via e-mail at cheerscottieb@aol.com or by phone at 508-999-8717.

Munyon named LEC Track Athlete of the Week

Senior Jen Munyon has been named LEC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week for her performance last week.

At the UMass Dartmouth Invitational this past weekend, Munyon won three events and was a member of the victorious 4 x 400 meter relay team. She won the 100 meter hurdles in 16.19 seconds, placed first in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:08.87, and won the high jump with a leap of 5-4 1/4. All three of those performances represented personal bests. She was also a member of the 4 x 400 meter relay team, which won with a time of 4:19.52.

“Jen has loads of talent,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Devlyn Lovell. “It’s nice to see her put it all together, that’s why she’s such an important part of our team. I’m looking forward to her having more success down the road and helping us in the conference meet.”

THE SPORTS MONSTAH

An NFL police commissioner

By Scott Ferrara

Glory, glory our savior has come. No, sorry, not in a religious sense, but in the form of a tough new NFL commissioner named Roger Goodell. Someone in the organization called the NFL has found the gavel and is using it. Every fan knows the owners and coaches do not have the balls to give players major suspensions and cut them from the team.

Adam “Pacman” Jones has been interviewed 10 times by police, resulting in four arrests. Yet no Titans coach, general manager or owner saw it fit to punish him on the field. This suspension is the perfect answer to all of Pacmans of the field debacles. He is suspended for a year and cannot be let back in to the league until a review committee has reviewed his suspension time.

In the words of his mother, though, “This is a disgrace.” And she also said that this is unfair and her son should be able to play. My own mother would have said this suspension served me right and I shouldn’t behave that way. That is ridiculous. In high school football, one detention can give you a half game suspension. During a football player’s college career, bad grades can have you suspended from a bowl game. The problem is that even athletes’ parents let them slide because they play sports.

Honestly, Pacman Jones hasn’t heard the story of Donny Murdock. Donny Murdock was a young Canadian hockey player who was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1975. After two years in the NHL, Donny was caught using cocaine. His punishment was very severe. Murdock was not allowed to play hockey in America for the rest of his life. I completely agree with this severe punishment: Players like Jones are out in the spotlight and are setting a really bad example for today’s youth.

Hopefully Goodell and the NFLPA will continue this sort of harsh discipline. We can only hope that players like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss will think twice before making poor choices that not only disgrace them, but also their teammates and teams.

Corsairs second at Babson

PLYMOUTH, MA — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s men’s golf team is in second place at the six-team Babson Invitational after the first day of play at the two-day tournament Sunday at the Atlantic Country Club.

The Corsairs shot a team score of 304, four shots behind Western New England College, which is in first place. UMass Dartmouth is followed by Rhode Island College at 312, Nichols at 317; host Babson at 318 and Suffolk at 330.

Senior Kyle Pelletier (Acushnet, MA/Bishop Stang HS) of the Corsairs leads the field with a one-under par 71. Junior Tyler Kett (Brewster, MA/Harwich HS) is three strokes back with a 74, senior Jon Camara (Acushnet, MA/Bishop Stang HS) shot a 79, junior Marc Francis (Acushnet, MA/Old Colony HS) shot an 80, and junior Joe Accardi (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill HS) came in at 86.

“We played well today, although there is room for improvement,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Joel Baptista. We’re going to have to have a good round to catch up with Western New England. Kyle played very well. He hit 15 out of 18 greens in regulation, which is outstanding, and the result was his one under par. We hope Kyle can hang on to the lead, and we can get some good individual performances from the rest of the team and catch up with Western New England.”

The tournament will conclude Monday.

Sox sweep Yankees

By Adam K. Ellis

Soooo.... Should I begin this segment by explaining how I left Fenway in the eighth inning of Friday night’s 7-6 comeback win?! And yes, I’ve been told what a fool I am for the whole week. Here’s the long-story short:

(1) My friend and I were sitting next to some obnoxious Yanks fans who were obsessively weird and talked about E-Harmony.com all night.

(2) Our beer money was running short.

(3) Mariano Rivera was warming up.

(4) And Mariano Rivera was warming up.... Yes, I said that twice. And yes, I am familiar with his troubled past against the Sox. But Mo is the best closer in the history of baseball. And I thought it was a lock. Hold steady while I kick myself in the junk for all of Red Sox Nation. Apology accepted?

On a serious note, this series brought back feelings of the superiority that the 04’ Sox squad instilled in fans: Great starting pitching, timely hitting, and a bullpen that put the game on ice. Although I am sure with the return of Matsui, Mussina, and Wang, the Yankees will have something to say about this past weekend. As for me, I’m going to enjoy the week with these moments in mind:

Best Series Moments

(1) The Comeback — Once the Sox beat the Yanks best (healthy) in Andy Petitte, you just knew the Yankees were in trouble for the rest of the weekend, especially when that win comes in the fashion of a 5-run eighth inning beat-down of Mariano Rivera.

(2) Papelbon — If there was any doubt in the minds of skeptics, Papelbon proved how good he really is: a. blowing away Derek Jeter with a 96 mph fastball on Saturday and Sunday night, and b. going right at A-Rod with the goods to save his second game in as many nights. Suffice to say, the torch was passed this weekend from Mo’ to Papelbon as fans witnessed the young stud out-duel the aging Rivera.

(3) Back-to-back-to- back-to-back — I got dizzy just typing those letters; nevermind the irreversible damage that those dingers had on the psyche and neck of young Chase Wright. The whole scene was so surreal. It felt like I was back playing Ken Griffey Jr. baseball and I had placed a few cheat codes into the mix. Ramirez absolutely unloads a bomb. Drew follows with one into the bullpen. Lowell pounds one over the Monstah and V-Tek follows with a shot of his own.

Joe Torre looked like he was about to vomit. And yes I take sincere pleasure in the fact that the Yanks departed Fenway last night, headed for a series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. For those who uninformed, Steinbrenner lives in Tampa and I can imagine he has quite a few things to say to his squad after this weekend’s debacle.

Corsairs perform well at Silfen Invitational

NEW LONDON, CT — The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men’s track and field team finished third and the women finished second at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College at Silfen Field Saturday afternoon.

The Corsair men finished with 126 points, 41.5 points behind the first place team, Coast Guard in the 15-team field. The women scored 107 points and were 35.5 points behind Coast Guard. Fourteen women’s teams participated in the meet.

For the women, senior Jen Munyon (Berlin, MA/Assabet Valley HS) finished first in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:09.04, was second in the high jump at 5-3, and was third in the 100 meter hurdles in 16.76 seconds. Katie Malloy (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS) was first in the high jump at 5-3, her sister Alicia (Agawam, MA/ Agawam HS) was second (1:11.68) and junior Deanna Bealby (Peterborough, NH/Contocook Valley Regional HS) third (1:12.91) in the 400 hurdles, and sophomore Teresa McGrath (Saugus, MA/Saugus HS) was third in the hammer at 32 feet, one inch. Junior Stacey Sarber (Oakdale, CT/Montville HS) won the 3000 meter steeplechase in 13:26.88, sophomore Lenora Benson (Brockton, MA/Brockton HS) second in the triple jump at 33-4, and sophomore Hilary Baker (Middleboro, MA/Middleboro HS) second in the shot put at 35-10. And the 4 x 400 meter relay team of freshman Jess Carpenter (Rutland, MA/Wachusett HS), junior Leanne Nygaard (Medway, MA/Medway HS), Benson and freshman Deb Bonfanti (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline HS/UMass Boston finished third in 4:31.35.

For the men, senior Jon Garcia (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS) won the 100 meter hurdles in 14.84 seconds and was second in the 400 meter hurdles in 56.85, junior Sam Machuor (Newbury, MA/Triton Regional HS), was second at 400 meters in 50.71 seconds, freshman Michael Boucher (Byfield, MA/Triton Regional HS) was seventh in the pole vault with a season best mark of 11 feet, three inches, sophomore J.T. Harold (North Andover, MA/Austin Prep) was third in the long jump at 20 feet, 11 1/2 inches, senior Dave Brooks (Princeton, MA/Wachusett HS) won the 10000 meters in 35:16.27, senior Casey Cavanaugh (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug HS) was third in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 10:19.01, and the 4 x 100 meter relay team of senior Yusef White (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS), Garcia, sophomore Jordan Wright (Brookline, MA/Brookline HS) and Harold finished first in 43.79 seconds.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Devlyn Lovell. “We rested a lot of people, the weather was better, and a lot of our people performed better. For the most part, our marks are getting better, and we’re qualifying more people. It was good to see both Jen and Katie jumping well at the same time, and Hilary Baker did a great job in the shot. We need to get the most out of everyone to do well next week.”

The Corsairs will return to action when they travel to Fitchburg State for the Little East Conference and Northeast Alliance Championships next Saturday.