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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2007)
4107 Boys' netters hopes to repeat championship _ J oseph M iller number-one player of the Staff Reporter For the the Boys' ^ Team has l capturing League tit] State Chari and in 200 hope to re] in attainin' again, as v players to this year tl catch. They wi harder tha: because tei senior pla) Ward Lewi for 26 year and coach everything change, bu positive oc It s excr like w e re s Lewis said Lewis oi baseball in switched t< he was 19, His roomn Trac ■ D anielle I Runners coaches are turnout of c spring tr a d h bega day thr with option Saturday. T] meets this s started w it! Meet on Ma "It's nice beginning y what events for the seasc try it all out sophomore, Last year Track and F: quite succes 4x4 team, tv a high jump Taylor Now placed secor and went to Kelli Walter: Super, junio Dewart, juni State last sec * E qut m L auren P ai this season won't be as smooth-sailing as the past Insert Sports March 2007 Callagan has been taking tennis lessons since the decided _ . _ tennis tmer >ther, is playing ;o. His he toPof ---------------- be on the year. He itter than Low seeds to look out for in the big tournament Under-the-radar teams to watch Every year in college basketball there are the "traditional powers" that hang around in the tournament. This year is different. The Duke's, Connecticut's, and Gonzaga's of the nation are being replaced with teams that are in the power conferences, but usually lie in the shadows. Teams like Washington State, Oregon, and Virginia Tech aren't used to being in the spotlight. These under-the-radar power schools include: Washington State Cougars (23-5,12-4) -The Cougars are led by their sure handed point guard, Derek Low. With coach Tony Bennett who preaches defense, the Cougars might turn some heads in the tournament. Virginia T , l£C il Hokies (20- 8 10-4) -The Hokies have been one of the surprise stories of the year so far, led by their two senior guards who are averaging double figures in points. The Hokies have already made some noise in the regular season by upsetting the North Carolina Tar Heels twice. They seem to be ready for more upsets come tournament time. Oregon Ducks (22- 7,10-7) -Oregon is led by their point guard, Aaron Brooks. The Ducks will go only as far as Brooks can take them. If he and his teammates can get on a shooting streak, the Ducks may be able to stir the pot of the NCAA tournament. Pittsburgh Panthers (24-5,11-3) -The Panthers are led by their 7' Aaron Gray, senior f center, who is averaging Kyle Weaver, junior guard for 14.3 points and the Washington State Cougars, o n rebounds goes on a breakaway against Stanford. Weaver, averaging 11.5 Per g a m e - points per game, will be relied They may be on by ^ Cou8ars in lhe n CAA a little over- — rated, because Photo courtesy ^ of ™ espn.com they have played only four ranked teams all season, and they were 0-4. Air Force Falcons (23-6,10-5) -The key to success in the NCAA tournament is good guard play and a presence in the key to keep everything together. The Falcons have both with senior forwards Nwaelele and Burtschi who are averaging 14.5 and 13.2 points per game, and senior Matt McCraw at the point guard averaging 11.3 points per game. You would expect to see Gonzaga on this list of potential contenders, but due to the recent arrests of Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis for possession of a controlled substance, and the fact that winning their conference is now in jeopardy, we decided Gonzaga didn't deserve a spot on our list. oing to be :ause we rtderdog swis to have e." ital »lies 1 it will be ith them." include gainst ague rst meet inst the \.pril 9 at ig with e play, the se non- ps early efit their ad get a tougher hout the > meets At Sunset on followed er against lay. ich will be t schools authe ave the :h of the This year's potential "George Mason" teams Southern Illinois Salukis (22-5,13-3) - Southern Illinois, who has made it to the tournament consistently before, but never made it out of the opening rounds of the tournament, now has a physical presence down low in Randal Falker who is averaging 13.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Vermont Catamounts (23-6,15-1) -The Catamounts have a guard averaging 16 points per game, a forward averaging 12.7 points per game, and a good center in Chris Holm who is averaging 10.4 points and 12.2 rebounds. They’ve already had the experience of playing "Cinderella" when they beat Syracuse back in 2005. Jamaal Tatum, senior guard for the Southern Illinois Salukis, drives past a Creighton defender. Tatum is averaging 15 points a game, and is the Salukis' leading scorer. Photo courtesy of ESPN.com Virginia Commonwealth Rams (24-6,16-2) -The Rams are making a name for themselves by scoring a lot of points, led by three guards averaging in double figures. pete for qualify to state said. It cpected; i that is place ear ago itablish sistent Who we think will get to the Final Four and who will be National Champs It's always tough to predict what can happen in the zany world of college sports, but this is how we think the tournament will play out. (Disclaimer: Picks were made before the bracket was an nounced so its possible that some of these teams may be in the same bracket and will not be able to reach the Final Four.) Zak Laster's picks-I spent a lot of time thinking about this and I came up with the Final Four of Ohio State, UCLA, Texas A&M and Florida. The Ohio State Basketball Team will get a chance to avenge the loss of the Ohio State Football Team, but will fall short to the UCLA Bruins. JonHelmkamp's picks-I think UCLA, with their defense, Florida, with their offensive The Equ began its se promising s competition "M y goal off, but mos State," Sam« sophomore, Samanth« sophomore, first place ir Seat Equitat followed by Hillary Obye, junior, who I £fced second. Elizabeth Sloop, senior, exited the ring Greg Oden, freshman center for the Ohio State Buckeyes, gets his hand on the opponent's shot. Oden, only a freshman, is a candidate for the Player of the Year award. Photo courtesy of ESPN.com attack, Ohio State, with Greg Oden manning the post, and Texas A&M, led by Acie Law IV, will make it through to This is Dru Sloop's fourth year as coach of the team. "All of the teams, horses, the Final Four. It’s absolutely peat as National Champions impossible for me to go against of College Basketball. Ohio State when they have Alex Tadros' Picks-I'm not Greg Oden, the big man really sure but I'm going down low, and Mike Conley to have a Final Four of Ohio Jr. as an out State, Florida, side threat. I North Carolina think Ohio and Texas, with State will be Ohio State be the National ing national Champs of champs. college bas Jeff Bilyeu's ketball, beat- ingFloridain Picks-I know a Pac-10 team a shoot out. will be in there. Greg Bean’s I don’t think Picks-I think Florida will be th e F in a l in, it's to hard to Four w ill win that many be Florida, _____ _____ m esinarow . UCLA, Ohio Kevin Durant' fr^hman guard State, and TexasLonghorns d.pspast j. t to take North Caro- gUarcj Durant is averaging 25.6 lina. I think points per game going into the Florida is NCAA tournament. going to re- PhotocourtesyofESPN.com Sloop, Obye and Roberts it would be great for people to support the team. Last year, the team placed fifth in state, and Shiguru Tsutsumi, coach, sees room ; season iders ve high team and to get it l. vs; ason . the ave one o lead," the safe bet and saY UCLA will be the National Champs. ide was linst lost, 5- eam has this year >erience perience iad to a positive outcome. Boys Rugöy smiting Momentum continued on page 10
