The Sports Page
Jay Langhammer | 2/19/2004 Collegiate Sports UpdateFOOTBALL
Now ranked as one of the greatest kickers in college football history is Billy Bennett 01 of the Georgia Capital One Bowl squad. He now holds six NCAA Division I-A records, including field goals in a season (31) and career (87); field goal attempts in a season (38) and career (110); most career games kicking a field goal (43); and most consecutive games kicking a field goal (23). Billys 409 career points is the most in Southeastern Conference history and ranks second in NCAA Division I-A. An NIC All-Fraternity All-American first teamer and All-SEC second team selection, he played in the East-West Shrine Game and The Villages Gridiron Classic.
Also in the national spotlight were three KA coaches. Dick Biddle (Alpha Phi-Duke 68) led Colgate to a 15-1 record and the NCAA Division I-AA title game. He was named AFCA Division I-AA National Coach of the Year and now has a 69-27 record after eight seasons. Turning the U.S. Naval Academy program around in just two seasons was Paul Johnson (Delta Alpha-Western Carolina 77) who led the Midshipmen to an 8-5 record and the Houston Bowl. He was one of six finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and one of nine finalists for the Bear Bryant Award. Playing a key role in the successful season of co-number one team Louisiana State, the 13-1 Sugar Bowl champion, was Tigers defensive coordinator Will Muschamp (Gamma-Georgia 92).
Serving as special teams captain for Florida again was deep snapper Casey Griffith 01. Seeing action at offensive guard for the Mississippi Cotton Bowl squad was Ryan Jones 02. Center Tim Mattran of Stanford received All-Pacific-10 Academic honorable mention. Handling the long snaps for Arkansas State once again was Josh Long 00. Having a good year for Western Carolina was Stanton Horne 00, who boomed 57 punts for a 41.9 average. His longest boot was 61 yards and 21 punts were downed inside the opponents 20 yard line. Kicker Brent Harris 03 booted 11 extra points and three field goals for the Tennessee-Martin team.
Contributing to the 12-2 season of Division I-AA playoff semi-finalist Wofford were linebacker Will Wheeler 03 and defensive back Ty Colpini. Playing in every game for Furman was defensive back Lockwood Holmes 02, who was joined by linebacker Brent Blankenship 02. Seeing action for Murray State were offensive lineman Marcus Jewett and defensive end Brian Moss. Regulars for Elon included tight end Zak DeBusk 00, who caught seven passes, and offensive lineman Craig Page 01, who played in eight contests. Playing for Princeton again was wide receiver Clay Wolford 02. Guiding Southeastern Louisiana to a 5-7 record in its first intercollegiate season since 1985 was head coach Hal Mumme (Delta Rho-Valdosta State 99).
Helping lead West Virginia Wesleyan to its best season ever (9-2) were 10 KA players, led by fullback Luke Struble 01, who was named WVIAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year. He tied for second among NCAA Division II players with 120 points (12.0 per game) on 20 touchdowns and rushed for 758 yards on 164 carries. His top games were 146 yards and three scores versus West Virginia Tech; 120 rushing yards and four TDs against Fairmont State; and 94 yards and four TDs versus Shepherd. Also earning All-WVIAC first team honors was center Justin Hill 01. Other KA standouts on the Wesleyan team included offensive lineman Chuck Eckhardt 01, defensive end Jeremy Lynch 01, defensive back Scott Stein 02 and tight end Blake Conklin 02. A solid linebacker for Arkansas Tech was Keith Gage, who made 20 tackles.
Three KAs were standouts for the Washington & Lee squad. Spearheading the defense was back Ted Maffitt 01, who led with four interceptions, forced three fumbles and ranked second with 77 tackles. Tackle Scott Kucinski 01, voted team offensive MVP, was on the Virginia All-State first team and the All-ODAC second team. Wide receiver John Barnwell 02 ranked second with 28 receptions for 366 yards. Rhodes offensive guard John Hendricks 00 was named to the All-SCAC second team. Playing well for Millsaps were All-SCAC honorable mention kicker Tyler Alford (three field goals, 38 punts for a 33.7 average) and linebacker Steven Campbell 01, who led with three forced fumbles and ranked third with 64 tackles. University of the South defensive back Will Smith posted 46 stops.
The college team with the largest KA representation was William Jewell, with 14 brothers. Earning honors were All-HAAC second team linebacker Alan Wilmes 00 and All-HAAC third team linebacker Jack Hunter 01, who was also a Daktronics All-American Scholar-Athlete, as was defensive back Ryan Harwell 01. Seeing action for Westminster were wide receiver Josh Young 03 (nine catches for 108 yards), offensive lineman Brock Ezard 02 and linebackers Robert Peterson 03 and Jeff Gschwender 03. A valuable defensive back for 9-3 Georgetown was Adam Meier 02.
In the pro football ranks, Charlotte Panthers owner and founder Jerry Richardson (Delta-Wofford 57) basked in the limelight as his team went from a 1-15 record in 2001 to the 2004 Super Bowl. Deep snapper David Binn (Alpha Xi-California-Berkeley 93) completed his 10th season with the San Diego Chargers. He has now played 159 consecutive NFL regular season contests.
Center Ben Claxton (Alpha Upsilon-Mississippi 03) was on the practice squad of three NFL clubs during 2003. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him for 2004 and he will play for an NFL Europe team this spring. Longtime NFL assistant coach Joe Pendry (Alpha Rho-West Virginia 66) joined the Houston Texans in January as offensive line coach. He spent last season at Southwest Missouri State after working as an assistant coach with five NFL teams between 1989 and 2000. The Washington Redskins have hired Ernie Zampese (Beta Sigma-Southern California 56) as an offensive coordinator.
WATER POLO
Twelve of the 20 members of the 22-5 Stanford NCAA runner up squad were KAs. Named as American Water Polo Coaches Association Player of the Year for the third time was captain Tony Azevedo 02, who was Co-MVP at the NCAA tournament. He scored a team high 89 goals and was also MPSF Player of the Year for the third straight season. Earning All-American second team honors for the Cardinal was goalie Chad Taylor 03, who made 190 saves.
The Cardinals number two scorer was Thomas Hopkins, who had 47 goals and received All-American honorable mention. Other key players for Stanford were Peter Varellas (43 goals), Greg Crum 02 (32 goals), Matt Moser 02 (15 goals), Sam Tyre 02 (seven goals), Trent Wiesen 02 (five goals), Mike Wagner and backup goalie Dave Carlson.
SOCCER
Earning All-Pacific-10 honorable mention in goal for Stanford was Robby Fulton 02, who was also on the Academic All-Pac-10 first team. He played 950:27 minutes, made 56 saves and gave up just 15 goals (1.42 goals against average). Teammate Todd Leber 02 started nine games and was also an Academic All-Pac-10 first teamer. Serving as co-captain again for the 15-6-2 Davidson NCAA Division I playoff squad was defenseman David Peoples 01, who started every game and scored nine points. Defenseman Justin Myers 03 of the 10-6-2 West Texas A&M squad started 16 contests and received All-Lone Star Conference honorable mention. Shawn Walker 01 was part of the team and Andy Young 01 saw action in goal.
Another solid goalie was Pierce Buckingham of Hampden-Sydney, who played in 14 games, gave up just 11 goals (1.48 goals against average) and posted 22 saves. Forward Taylor Correll had 12 starts and nine points for Newberry. Midfielder Ross Carr 03 got into 16 games for the 11-5-1 Presbyterian team and the Delta State team featured stellar defenseman Travis Horne 03 and offensive standout Chris Hodges 02. Seeing action in eight games for West Virginia Wesleyan was forward C.J. Helmick 03.
The 15-4 Rhodes squad, with eight KA players, was led by top scorer Justin Sampson 01, who scored 24 points and nine goals (six of which were game-winners). He was named to the Division III All-Central Region second team and All-SCAC second team. Leading the team with 10 goals (among his 23 points) was Wheeler Graf 02. Other key performers included Paul Staab 02 (nine points), Nick Frankel 01, Blake Van Horn 02 and Michael Hohos 02. The top scorer for Westminster was Gino Paternostro 01, who had 14 points and won All-SLIAC second team honors. Teammate Cole Prenger 02 had 17 starts.
Fourteen of 23 team members at Millsaps were KAs. Leading with eight goals and 20 points was All-SCAC third teamer Adam Barnes 02. Leading in minutes played (1,018) was Franklin Childress 03 and Ned Welles 02 was second with 945 minutes. Other solid players included Brent Blackburn 03, Rimmer Covington 01, Joseph Wehby 03, Brent Guitreau 03, Vince Mazzone 01, Trey McClain 01, Richard Largilliere 03 and Stuart Schmidt. Starting 18 games for Transylvania was defenseman Eric Goff 02 and David Green 03 saw action in goal for University of the South. Midfielder Matt Kibler 03 played 16 games for Washington College while Tyler Beane 00 and Brian Lawless 00 were members of the 16-2 Wiliam Jewell squad.
CROSS COUNTRY
Placing 13th at the Ole Miss Invitational was John Carroll of Mississippi, who also competed in the SEC championship meet and Division I South Region meet. Matt Cote 02 of Appalachian State placed 21st (out of 69 runners) with an 8K time of 26:56.63 at the Winthrop Invitational. Hunter Hicklin 02 of Furman had a best 8K time of 28:45.34 and teammate Chris DeChamps 02 was also on the squad. On the Centenary team again was Brett Klesitz 01.
Casey Conley 02 of Rhodes finished 40th (28:34) at the SCAC meet and 62nd at the Division III South/Southeast Regional. Also on the squad was teammate John Mowrey 02. Competing in the SCAC meet for Oglethorpe were Joel Alzola 02 and Russ Churchwell 01. Mark Rouse was a regular for Transylvania and competed at the Heartland Conference meet. Also on the squad was teammate Vance Marshall 01. Daniel Smith was a member of the Francis Marion squad.
OTHER SPORTS
A key figure at the December 8th Guernseys Mickey Mantle Auction in New York was David Mantle (Delta Omega-Baylor 76), who helps oversee the estate of his famous father. The total figure for over 300 pieces of memorabilia sold was reported to be around $3.7 million and some of the unsold items will be put in a planned museum to honor Mickey Mantle. David said that the Mantle family had agonized for several years over this kind of sale but that there was still a bit of understandable sellers remorse on auction day.
David said, My dad always told us and taught us to be respectful of the fans. I am very proud to be his son. We are trying to carry on his legacy the best way we know how. |
