Mixed resul The men's volleyball teal split a pair of weekent matches, Page 12 THE DAILY COLLEGIAN McNamara spurns Scranton high school standout point guard cites Dunn's unstable contract situation as his reason. By Adam Gomey COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I ajgl97@psu.edu While Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn and Athletic Director Tim Cur ley tried to work out a contract extension, the Nittany Lions missed out on their No. 1 recruiting target. Friday morning at Bishop Hannan High School in Scranton, 6-foot-1 junior guard Gerry McNamara committed to Syracuse. McNamara, who would have been the biggest recruit ever for Dunn, said he picked the Orangemen because their coaching situ ation was secure and that he wasn't pleased At last, men's lacrosse wins close game By Brian McDonald COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I bmml7o@psu.edu Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel should've seen it coming. Hobart coach B.J. O'Hara sure did. "I've been coming down here with Hobart teams for the past 30 years as a player and now a coach and I can't remember too many ames that mews Lamm have been Penn State 12 more than Hobart 11 one-goal contests," O'Hara said. "Obviously, this one was no different." So for the fourth game in a row, the No. 19 Nittany Lions battled an opponent to a tightly contested contest. But after losing two one-goal games in a row, Penn State finally came out on top. Spearheaded by huge performances by midfielder Marshall Feldman and attack er Will Driscoll, the Nittany Lions (4-4, 0-3 ECAC) edged the No. 20 Statesmen (4-2, 4-1 Patriot League) 12-11 Saturday after noon at Jeffrey Field. "Hobart is a lacrosse school, and that's the sport they put their money and atten tion into," Thiel said. "So if you look at it that way, this is a really big win for us." Hobart attacker John Bogosian got the Statesmen on the board two minutes into the game after netting an extra man goal. But Penn State attacker Luke Oglesby responded five minutes later to knot the score at 1-1. Will Driscoll netted the first of his five goals 26 seconds later to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the day at 2-1. But Hobart scored three straight goals in the next minute and a half to give the Statesmen a 4-2 lead with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. See MEN'S LACROSSE, Page 14. PSU stays with No. 2 Loyola women, still fall in the end By Kim Tranell COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I katl79@psu.edu The Penn State women's lacrosse team spent 60 minutes creating opportunities for itself against No. 2 Loyola. And, despite taking more shots and controlling more draws, it was the 10 Vthmmrs Lacrosse minutes dur- tarok) t ing which it Peen State 6 didn't capi- those chances that cost it the game. The Greyhounds, on the other hand, took full advantage of their scoring oppor tunities in the final 10 minutes to pull ahead for a 10-6 victory against Penn State Saturday at Loyola's Curley Field. "It was a tough loss because we out played them," said Penn State head coach Suzanne Weinberg. `We played well for 50 minutes, and then we just made a few lit tle mistakes. We didn't shoot the ball well, and we didn't convert on the shots we got." The Lions did, in fact, outshoot the Greyhounds, holding a 29-25 advantage. They also held the advantage on 12 of 19 draws, and turned over the ball just eight times as opposed to Loyola's 10. However, the all-out effort was not enough to knock off one of the nation's top programs and give Penn State the upset victory it has been looking for. See WOMEN'S LACROSSE, Page 14. with Penn State not quickly renewing Dunn's contract. Gerry McNamara, Sr. said the family talked with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim before Gerry made his decision and the vet eran Orangemen coach said exactly what Gerry wanted to hear in regards to playing time and Gerry's role on the court. 'We were pretty confident on where Gerry fit in," the elder McNamara said. "In Coach Boeheim's eyes, he saw Gerry fitting in the same way we hoped he would fit in. We're hoping he's going to have a successful career." Gerry said that his list was chopped from nine to a realistic four teams and then cut to only Syracuse and Penn State. McNamara, who is arguably the most heavily recruited basketball player ever from Northeastern Pennsylvania, said he was not pleased Dunn didn't receive a new contract and that the Lions would be losing a lot if they didn't get Dunn back next season. Penn State has already lost out by not get- Freshman shortstop Willie Melendez realizes that Penn State cannot continue to commit errors if the team is to be successful Lions see Penn State splits weekend series with lowa after coming in winning seven consecutive games. By Jeff Rice COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jar342@psu.edu All good things must come to an end, and winning streaks are not exempt. The Penn State baseball team, which rode into this past weekend's series with lowa as winners of its last seven, took just two of the series' four games. The Nittany Softball team solid in sweep of Illini By Chris Bauman COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I cab3o9@psu.edu When a team is hitting and playing good defense, they have a pretty good chance of winning. The Penn State softball team did both this weekend and swept Illinois 7-0 tialual and 4-2 at Nittany Lion Field. Game One In Saturday's Pam Sloe contest, the Nit- WO* tang Lions (21-15, izot • 3-3 Big Ten) blast- , 1100 ed Illinois starting pitcher Amanda Fortune. They scored four runs before Fortune was lifted just 12/3 innings into the game. Lions senior pitcher Kelly McCann gave up a hit to the second batter of the game, then proceeded to retire 15 straightlllini batters. That hit was the only on e McC ann allowed as she pitched a comp le te g e shutout, walking one and striking o utsix "There was not question about it, we had to get a win today, MO McCann said. mini, The Lions pounded 10 hits off th e PSU for Syracuse ting McNamara, a player who loved the offensive freedom Joe Crispin had with the basketball. "I felt that I belong at Syracuse, and Jerry Dunn didn't get his contract renewed, that was the deciding factor on Penn State," McNamara told The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre. 'We just felt that after the year he had, he deserved it. There's no doubt about it. The whole family feels that way." The unfortunate thing for Penn State is that Dunn felt that not having a contract was not a big factor going into spring recruiting. At his final news conference of the season a day before McNamara's commitment to Syracuse, Dunn said his recruits are com fortable with the current coaching situation at Penn State. McNamara said he looked at the schools that were involved with him and selected the one with the most secure coaching position. Syracuse has a coach. Penn State, at least contractually, does not. Now, with the spring AAU season heating streak come to end Lions (16-17, 7-3 Big Ten) won Friday's opener 3-1, split Satur day's doubleheader losing 7-6 and winning 1- 0 and dropped yester day's finale 1(}..3 Penn State's Dan McCall turned in his sec ond straight complete game on Friday, limiting lowa to just seven hits and striking out 11 as he out-dueled Hawkeye starter Steve Sharpe, lowa 10 who went all eight PSU 3 innings for lowa. "He really exudes an aura of confidence," said Penn State base- getting contributions from eight different players. "Hitting is one of those things that you just have to have a couple people hitting at the same time," Penn State softball coach Robin Petrini said. "So, when somebody goes into a slump, if somebody else comes out of their slump, you get a couple people hitting at the same time. If you look at our average, we're hitting .300 for the year and its come from different people. There we're no negatives tonight. Kelly pitched great. The defense played really welL It was a great effort" Sunday, the Mini (33-17, 3-5) had just one bad inning. The Lions used five hits and a generous call by the umpire to score four runs, which was all they would need to pull out the victory. Catcher Colleen Kersey started off the inning with a single. Adrienne Manzo reached on a fielders choice, and then the flood gates opened. Leadoff hitter Karen Gulini doubled into left-center, then Jennifer Tripken doubled to score Manzo and Gulini. Then, things got interesting. Allison Medellin hit a fly ball to shallow right field. Mini right fielder Sarah Baum gartner appeared to make a spectacular div ing catch, however the umpire ruled Baum up, McNamara can sit back and relax. He has his college commitment lined up and now looks forward to taking it easy on the summer circuit. Making his appearances at the Adidas ABCD Camp, Eastern Invitation al Camp and a few AAU tournaments will be enough for the Scranton star. McNamara is finished proving his game to college coaches. He will be headed to Syra cuse after his senior year of high school, will play with the best in the Big East and will be almost positive Boeheim will be his coach from the first day he steps on campus until his last. That was the deciding factor, and that's what Penn State could not offer. McNamara said early last week that he would delay his collegiate decision until after the summer basketball circuit, but his strong belief in Syracuse and the non-stop recruit ing calls pushed his decision ahead. "The unfortunate thing is you could only pick one," Gerry's father said. "All the horror stories of the demons of recruiting, that did n't happen with us." ball coach Joe Hindelang of his senior southpaw. "I was as comfortable in the dugout as I have been when (former Penn State All-America pitcher Nate) Bump was here." Bombsll PSU 3 lowa 1 The Lions appeared to have Saturday's first game in the bag well before lowa's Alex Dvorsky capped a two-run ninth inning rally with an RBI single. Freshman David Aardsma, who had kept the Hawkeyes scoreless for four innings prior to Dvorsky's at-bat, took his fifth loss. lowa 7 PSU 6 PSI) 1 lowa 0 Penn State bounced back in the second game as Mike Watson, in his second start of the year, hurled the first complete-game shutout of the season by a Nittany Lion. Watson did not walk a batter and allowed See BASEBALL, Page 14. gartner trapped the ball. Tripken was run ning on the hit and would have been doubled up to end the inning had it been ruled a catch. The Lions took full advantage of the oppurtunity as sophomore Erin Norton dou bled, scoring Tripken and Medellin. "You can't worry about things you can't control whether it's the umpire, the weather or the day you have," Illinois coach Terri Sul livan said. "You're only as good as the next pitch. We didn't play well yesterday. Hats off to Penn State. They really came out and jumped on us." The two wins pulled the Lions to .500 in the Big Ten after a 1-3 start last weekend. "I think it was important to come out of there with two wins," Petrini said. "Illinois has been beating people and anytime you beat somebody who is beating other people you gain games on people." Although the Mini are new to the Big Ten this year and comprised only of freshmen, they have had a strong season and were a concern for the Lions. "I think it was huge," Kersey said. "It was a big boost for everyone. We didn't know what to expect but we just went out and played our game. "When we do that, it's hard to beat us." Corinne Coulter/Collegian MONDAY, April 9, 2001, 11 Lakeman wins NCAA rings title By Chris Korman COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I cbkllB@psu.edu When Chris Lakeman decided to come to Penn State four years ago, he did not have a spot on the gymnastics team. Saturday night, he earned an NCAA title on the rings. "What can you say about it?" he said. "It's too overwhelming." It was the ultimate culmination for the senior, who has been first on the apparatus most of the year. He competed sev enth in the ring rota- tion and his score of 9.550 put him atop the scoreboard. But Okla- homa's Brett Covey who beat Lakeman earlier this year and had tied him both days of the competition in Columbus was next. "I was watching Covey and he seemed shaky, maybe a little nervous," Lakeman said. Covey's score flashed, and it put him in third. Ohio State's Daren Lynch, who had beaten Lakeman once during the week end, was up next. And he had the home crowd behind him. "I'm crouching down near the rings," Lakeman said. "And I'm squeezing Dom Brindle's ankle. We're watching the rou tine and getting more and more into it. Every skill, I'm just squeezing that much harder" Then Lynch fell on his dismount. "He fell, and then I fell to the ground, too," Lakeman said. "I stood up, looked at Dom and we didn't even say anything. It was just a silent recognition." "And then we squeezed the hell out of each other" Lakeman was overwhelmed by team mates and well-wishers, then whisked off the floor, called out to receive his plaque and taken back to a large media gather ing. "That part was new to me," he said. "They took a lot of pictures and I was run ning around talking to all these people. I didn't have much time to think about what had just happened." Lakeman is Penn State's 45th individ ual champion, the most of any school. "Chris has done everything he needed to do to win," Nittany Lion coach Randy Jepson said. "He just had a superior rou tine this year" Brindle capped his Penn State career with a surprise All-American standing on vault. His 9.250 was good for third on the event. Brindle has previously earned All- American honors on high bar and rings. "Throughout his career here, Dom has always been ready at the end," Jepson said. "I thought he should have been in the event finals for high bar, too, but for him to come out and get the job done on vault was very special." Jay Kun also earned All-American hon ors on vault, scoring a 9.125 and placing fifth. Kim did not contribute much early in the season, but came on late. "He was inconsistent at first," Jepson said. "But within the last three weeks he has developed a new confidence and worked very hard." Kevin Tan, perhaps Penn State's bright est young gymnast, finished fourth on the rings with a 9.400. The freshman only arrived in January and has adjusted quickly to both the higher academic and athletic standards. "Kevin Tan is just going to take off," See LAKEMAN, Page 14. Gordon Marshall/Collegian Senior Kelly McCann pitched a complete game one-hit shutout Saturday against Illinois. Volleyball 12 Track and field . 12 Tennis 12 Scoreboard . . . . 13
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