Denton Record Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas

02/19/2010

Olympics: Four-time Olympian relishing Games

Associated Press

U.S. speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez takes part in a practice session ahead of the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics at the Richmond Olympic Oval on Feb. 9, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

RICHMOND, British Columbia — Jennifer Rodriguez promised herself she would just relax and enjoy this Olympic experience. She has been out walking in the city since she arrived in Vancouver. She marched in the opening ceremony. And she’s spending time with family and friends, even inviting them to tour the athletes’ quarters in the Olympic Village.

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Softball: UNT set to host tourney
If everything had gone according to plan, North Texas head coach T.J. Hubbard would already know a whole lot about his team heading into the Sleep Inn Classic this weekend. UNT was scheduled to open the season at Mississippi Valley State and then play in a tournament at Mississippi State. Rain caused the cancellation of the Mean Green’s first four games of the season, leaving UNT a whole lot of questions to answer heading into its annual home tournament. UNT will face Drake and Arkansas at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, today to begin the three-day event. Colorado State, Missouri State, Buffalo and Sam Houston State comprise the rest of the tournament field.

Swimming: Pope sets SBC record as Mean Green expands lead
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — North Texas Swimming & Diving retained its lead after Day 2 of the Sun Belt Swimming & Diving Championships at the Centennial SportsPlex on Thursday night.

02/17/2010

Olympics: Depth of field

Associated Press

The South Korean, Italian, United States and French teams compete during the first men's 5000m relay semifinals short track skating competition on Wednesday at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Just because Jordan Malone didn’t compete on Wednesday night doesn’t mean his chances at earning a medal at the Vancouver Olympics decreased. In fact, Malone was able to advance to the finals as part of the men’s 5,000-meter relay team without ever taking the ice at Pacific Coliseum. U.S. national team coach Jae-su Chun said that Malone didn’t skate because he simply wanted to use the opportunity to rotate some younger skaters into the lineup for Wednesday’s semifinals.

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Men's basketball: UNT's Thomas leaves team
Richard Thomas has left the North Texas men’s basketball team and is expected to transfer at the end of the school year. Thomas played in 21 games and started 12 in his only season with the Mean Green before falling out of favor late in the year. He did not play in four of UNT’s last eight games. The former Garden City (Kan.) Community College standout averaged 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds a game at UNT. UNT head coach Johnny Jones said Thomas wants to transfer to be closer to his home in Rosedale, New York.

Soccer: District 5-4A race heats up
Last season, the District 11-4A boys soccer standings were extremely lopsided from the top spot down. Guyer saw its second straight undefeated district season and outscored its league mates by a combined score of 45-2. But this season, things have changed, and it’s making for some more interesting games in district play. Through four games in district play, the Wildcats have outscored opponents 10-4 and have even dropped a game to Birdville and they sit in a three-way tie with Birdville and Ryan atop the district standings.

Girls basketball: Fizzling out

DRC/David Minton

Guyer’s Jasmine Badiru, left, shoots as Springtown’s Skylar Cowan defends during a Class 4A Region I bi-district playoff game on Tuesday in Trophy Club.

TROPHY CLUB – For about 14 minutes of play on Tuesday, the Guyer Lady Wildcats played the best basketball they had played all season, and when it counted most, in the Class 4A Region I bi-district playoffs. But from the two-minute mark of the first half until the final buzzer sounded on Guyer’s season, the Lady Wildcats met more than their match and were eliminated from the postseason with a 71-48 loss to District 6-4A champion Springtown.

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Girls basketball: Ryan girls roll in playoff opener
FORT WORTH -- For weeks, stretching back to its Feb. 5 win over The Colony to put itself back in contention for the District 5-4A title, the stakes have been getting higher and higher for Ryan. The bigger the games get, it seems, the easier the Lady Raiders make things look. Continuing its string of recent success, Ryan coasted in its opening round playoff game knocking off Saginaw Boswell 62-47 in a Class 4A Region I bi-district matchup on Tuesday.

Girls basketball: Sanger rallies past North Lamar
SHERMAN -- The Sanger Lady Indians got some retribution on Tuesday night. Sanger knocked off Paris North Lamar 49-44 in a very physical Class 3A Region II bi-district game against the same team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs.

Boys basketball: Raiders drop Denton in prep for playoffs
Good news and bad news entered the minds of Denton following its game against rival Ryan on Tuesday night. The bad news was the Broncos were dominated by the Raiders all night in their 53-32 loss. But the good news is, despite the loss, Denton (12-18, 7-7) still has a lifeline and is headed to the playoffs next week for the first time since 2005.

02/16/2010

Girls basketball: Four on the floor

At the beginning of the season, Ryan head coach Monesha Allen and the Lady Raiders knew there was a great chance they would make the playoffs. They were right, as Ryan earned the No. 1 seed in District 5-4A this season. Now that the playoffs are here, Allen predicts Ryan can make a nice run in the playoffs.

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Girls basketball: Early Peaster run buries Ponder
It did not take long on Monday night to see why Peaster is a top-10 team in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 2A state poll.

Men's basketball: UNT explodes offensively in win
HOUSTON — Josh White piled up 28 points and George Odufuwa added a double-double as North Texas ran away from Houston Baptist, 107-87, for its fifth consecutive win.

02/14/2010

Softball: Familiar faces dot rosters
A shocking ending to the softball season for Ryan and Guyer in 2009 have both teams hungry entering the 2010 campaign. On the menu is a little taste of redemption. The Lady Wildcats and Lady Raiders each were ousted in the first round of the playoffs last season when the co-District 5-4A champions entered the postseason as favorites to make a run deep in the bracket.

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02/15/2010

Men's basketball: UNT to face Houston Baptist in final nonconference tilt
The North Texas men’s basketball team will play a rare late-season nonconference game on the road today when the Mean Green takes on Houston Baptist.

Swimming: Sutherland qualifies twice for state meet
FORT WORTH — At least four individual swimmers and two relay teams from the Denton ISD will qualify for the UIL state meet following the Class 4A Region II meet on Sunday at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center.

02/14/2010

Olympics: Malone gets DQ in debut
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Denton short-track speed skater Jordan Malone’s unsatisfying Olympic debut lasted just over two minutes Saturday and ended with the judges tossing him from the ensuing rounds of the 1,500 meters. He missed sharing in history. American Apolo Anton Ohno went on live up to great expectations in capturing silver in the event on the first full day of competition of the Vancouver Games. In earning his sixth Olympic medal, Ohno tied Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever. And he has three events remaining here, where he learned to skate, only a short drive from his hometown of Seattle.

Men's basketball: UNT guard keys late run in win
When North Texas needed a key play or two down the stretch in its game against Denver on Saturday, it simply did what it has done all season. The Mean Green turned to Josh White. The junior guard is maybe the biggest reason UNT came into the night having finished off just about every close game it has been in.

Girls basketball: Wilhite, Ryan get top seed
CORINTH -- Round 3 goes to Ryan. But unlike rounds 1 and 2, when the two teams split, Saturday’s one-game playoff for the top seed in District 5-4A between The Colony and the Lady Raiders was a one-sided affair as Ryan dominated most of the game during its 66-55 win.

Motor sports: Pilot Point driver set for first Daytona 500
He’s familiar with the surroundings, but the circumstances will be different for Robert Richardson Jr. today at Daytona International Speedway. The Pilot Point resident, who has raced at Daytona a few times already in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will be on the starting grid for the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious events in all of auto racing.

02/15/2010

Short day for Denton's Malone
Denton short-track speedskater Jordan Malone's unsatisfying Olympic debut lasted just over two minutes Saturday and ended with the judges tossing him from the ensuing rounds of the 1,500 meters.

02/12/2010

Olympics: Malone set for Olympic debut tonight
After the years of training and the months of anticipation, Jordan Malone is finally ready to put his skate on the starting line in Vancouver. The short track speed skater will make his Olympic debut tonight in the 1,500 meters, the first of two individual events the Denton native will skate during the next two weeks. While Malone, 25, has competed on the international circuit for six years, and has earned several individual and team medals at prestigious World Cup meets, he has never before competed in such a pressure-packed atmosphere or in front of a crowd the size of the one he will see tonight at the Pacific Coliseum.

Basketball: UNT men rolling at the right time
Josh White may have summed up North Texas’ season best on Thursday night. “It’s all about winning at the right time,” said White, a junior guard, following a 68-46 thrashing of New Orleans. The Mean Green has been doing just that over the last few weeks, a trend it will look to continue today in the second half of a doubleheader against Denver that will begin with the women’s game at 5 p.m.

Boys basketball: Robertson leads Ponder over rival Krum
KRUM -- With a 16-point lead at halftime, Ponder head coach Jude Stanley had one message for his players before they took the floor for the second half on Friday night at Bennie Enis Gym. Stanley wanted to make sure his players did not lose focus or let up and give the Bobcats a chance to get back in the ball game, and he was pleased with the outcome as Ponder went on to rout Krum, 78-34, to remain unbeaten in District 10-2A play.

02/11/2010

Men's basketball: Mean Green crushes UNO to end series

Eric Tramiel

NEW ORLEANS -- There were plenty of thrillers in the history of North Texas series against New Orleans, from the Privateers’ double-overtime win in the 2004 Sun Belt Conference tournament to the Mean Green’s two-point victory in the final game of the 2007-08 season. To say the finale of the teams’ series on Thursday failed to live up to that history might be a bit of an understatement. UNT came into the night on a roll and flattened the Privateers 68-46 in front of a crowd of 341 at Lakefront Arena, where UNO is playing out its last season as a member of the Sun Belt.

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Swimming: Pool shark
Mikaela Pyrch likes to say she was born on a pool deck. And for 15 years, the Ryan swimmer has pretty much been living on one. “Pool decks are where I have spent most of my time growing up,” the energetic junior said. “That’s where you can find me most of the time.”

Boys basketball: Raiders eager for reunion
When Richard Scofield woke up in Austin on the morning of Ryan’s Class 4A state title game 10 years ago, he had a weird feeling. As a heavy underdog to Dallas Madison, Scofield said he kept thinking he should have felt a little bit different as one of the biggest games of his coaching career was just hours away.

02/12/2010

Speed racer: Olympic glory within reach for Denton’s Malone

Associated Press/Carlos Osorio

Jordan Malone skates in the 500-meter final at the U.S. short track speed skating championships on Sept. 9 in Marquette, Mich.

Sheets of ice the size of hockey rinks cause many Texans to cower in fear. Jordan Malone takes to it without hesitation, gliding around on skates amid heavy traffic at almost 30 mph. The 25-year-old Denton native has always been something of a self-proclaimed “oddball” since he began a career in short track speed skating more than six years ago. This weekend, however, Malone’s pursuit of this most unusual of Texas sports will pay off with a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in Vancouver.

Best of Denton 2010 ballot

02/10/2010

Men's basketball: Sneaky good

DRC/David Minton

CAPTIONHERE

Collin Mangrum pondered the question for a moment last week after taking some extra shots following practice. The junior has played with Tristan Thompson for three years and seen him develop into one of the better players in recent North Texas history without anyone realizing what he has accomplished. Thompson’s plight can be attributed in part to playing alongside fellow junior guard Josh White and senior forward Eric Tramiel, two of the best players to suit up for UNT the last five years.

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Softball: Mean Green open season today
Watching was the toughest part of what Mallory Cantler had to do last season at North Texas. The Mean Green’s first baseman was thriving and UNT was well on its way to posting the first winning season in school history when Cantler was plunked on the arm by a pitch in a game against Baylor. The ball snapped a bone in Cantler’s arm, an injury that helped break UNT, which will enter the 2010 season today looking to bounce back from a disappointing finish behind what could be its best team ever.

Soccer notebook: Guyer gets wake-up call
Even though Guyer head boys soccer coach Cody Schroeder knows it is time for his team to move on after its 26-game district win streak came to an end on Tuesday, he does look back on the past two-plus seasons of district dominance by his program with fondness. “It’s a big accomplishment any time you can control a large number of your games and go undefeated,” Schroeder said. “It says a lot about the kids who have come through here and the level of players we’ve had, but it’s over now.” The streak ended Tuesday when the Wildcats fell to Birdville on the road, 2-1, following a huge road win to open district play over Ryan in a shootout on Friday.

02/11/2010

Bataille was a strong supporter of UNT athletic program
The University of North Texas reached several milestones in athletics the last few years from breaking ground on a new football stadium to advancing to the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball for the first time since 1988.

02/10/2010

Basketball: Crosstown shutdown

DRC/David Minton

Ryan’s Bud Sasser, left, drives for a layup as Guyer’s Jermaine Breedlove defends during a District 5-4A game on Tuesday. The Raiders won, 80-36.

Conventional thought would have some folks thinking the Ryan Raiders might not be clicking on all cylinders for Tuesday’s game against crosstown rival Guyer. After all, the Raiders pulled off a huge win over state-ranked The Colony on Friday to pull into a tie for the District 5-4A lead with three games to play and were facing a Guyer team with a losing record. Think again.

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Boys basketball: Broncos slip past Little Elm
LITTLE ELM -- Keyvin Moss has hit plenty of big shots for Denton this season. His most recent one, though, just made the District 5-4A playoff race a whole lot more simple. With just six seconds left in overtime, Moss knocked down a soft jumper to lead the Broncos to a wild 63-62 road win over Little Elm on Tuesday.

UNT notebook: Extension on table for Jones
The North Texas board of regents will consider a two-year contract extension for men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones at its meetings this week. Jones signed a five-year deal in May of 2007 that pays him a base salary of $170,000 after leading the Mean Green to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. His total compensation -- which includes yearly raises, payments for a radio show and maintaining NCAA Division I status in the Sun Belt Conference -- is $288,420 for the current season before incentives. Details of what is in the new contract were not available, but the deal would extend Jones’ deal with UNT through the 2014-15 season.

TWU notebook: Unbeaten TWU set to face Longhorns
TWU softball coach Richie Bruister isn’t sure how his team will fare against perennial Division I power Texas on Thursday night in Austin. But he said confidence won’t be an issue. “We’re optimistic,” Bruister said. “We’re gonna play hard and the girls expect to win. There’s no fear factor.” The Pioneers (5-0) might have reason for optimism after winning four straight games over the weekend at the St. Mary’s Division II College Classic in San Antonio, including one-run wins over Incarnate Word on Friday and St. Edward’s on Saturday.

02/08/2010

Girls basketball: Teams to fight for playoff position tonight

Monesha Allen

Tonight’s final regular season games in girls basketball might be a bore for fans who like playoff drama. No playoff spots are available for area teams in districts 5-4A, 9-3A and 10-2A. All 10 spots have been clinched. The only thing teams will be playing for is playoff seeding. Even that lacks drama for some teams.

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02/07/2010

Gymnastics: Pioneers surge to win meet

DRC/David Minton

TWU’s Kristie Costa competes on the uneven bars during a gymnastics meet against Air Force, Centenary and Northern Illinois on Sunday at Kitty Magee Arena. The Pioneers won the team title at the meet.

The TWU gymnastics team captured a quad meet Sunday afternoon at Kitty Magee Arena with a score of 193.125 to top Air Force, Centenary and Northern Illinois. NIU finished second with a 192.425 while Air Force placed third with 188.650 and Centenary came in fourth at 185.925.

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02/08/2010

Football: Pilot Point RB Johnson gets all-state honor from TSWA
Pilot Point senior Jarman Johnson has been named the Class 2A Offensive Player of the Year by the Texas Sportswriters Association.

02/06/2010

Men's basketball: UNT rallies past FIU
MIAMI -- Alzee Williams usually doesn’t get a lot of attention or playing time with all the star players in North Texas’ backcourt. His contributions often don’t show up in the box score. That doesn’t mean they go unnoticed, though. That was the case on Saturday during UNT’s 68-66 win over Florida International at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Football: Bible, Young honored
Postseason awards continue to pour in for Ryan quarterback Scotty Young and Guyer defensive tackle Taylor Bible. The Texas Sports Writers Association has named Young as the Class 4A co-offensive player of the year and Bible as the 4A defensive player of the year. Both Young and Bible have received numerous state and national awards after their banner senior seasons.

Girls basketball: Ryan girls rally past The Colony in OT
THE COLONY -- When The Colony beat Ryan on the Lady Raiders’ home court early last month, Ryan guard De’Amber Wilhite took the loss hard. On Friday night, she was out for revenge. Revenge is what she and the Lady Raiders got after Ryan beat The Colony 71-67 in overtime behind Wilhite’s 32 points.

Boys basketball: Raiders slip past Cougars
THE COLONY -- Ryan senior Bud Sasser can chalk this week up as one of the best in his young life. On Wednesday he signed a national letter of intent to play football at Missouri, and on Friday night the star athlete helped lead the Raiders past The Colony, 48-46.

Basketball: Lady Chaps avenge loss to Ponder
PONDER -- When asked before the game about his team’s third-place standing in District 10-2A, Aubrey girls coach Johnny Hodge answered, “We’re pretty secure in [third place]. But we’re not too happy about it.” So his Lady Chaparrals went out and did something about it on Friday night, defeating Ponder, 64-40, behind a 31-point performance by Presley Stastny to notch a victory that may mean a third meeting between the two teams next week.

Boys basketball: Guyer remains hot, topples Wichita Falls
Just a few weeks ago, after completing the first half of its District 5-4A schedule, Guyer looked like a long shot to break even in the standings, much less make the playoffs. And now? “I think we're the scariest team in the district,” Wildcats head coach Nathan Moses said with a grin.

Basketball: UNT men look to continue surge
MIAMI -- There was a time not too long ago when it appeared as if North Texas’ season was coming apart at the seams. Eric Tramiel was nursing a wrist injury, a couple of key backups were suspended for a game, and the Mean Green was still trying to recover from losing back-to-back games to key Sun Belt West Division rivals Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette. Times have definitely changed heading into UNT’s game against Florida International today that will cap a doubleheader beginning with the women’s game at 11 a.m.

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