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Page 2B - Sunday, May 29, 2011 - Plainview Herald www.MyPlainview.com
Sweetening of athletic
scholarships gains support
By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
Athletes at the highest
level of college sports
could receive money
for personal expenses as
part of their scholarship
packages if a trial balloon
fl oated by the Big Ten
becomes reality.
The idea of offering
additional funding to
cover an NCAA Division
I athlete’s full cost
of attendance — the
money above and beyond
just what’s paid to the
university — has been a
long time coming, advocates
for student-athlete
welfare say.
But still to be answered
is how a plan could be
implemented without
inviting abuses, whether
schools could come up
with the extra funding
and comply with Title
IX, and whether it would
create a greater divide
between the haves and
have-nots in college
athletics.
NCAA President Mark
Emmert and commissioners
of the six BCS
conferences have said
increasing the value of an
athletic scholarship merits
study. NCAA spokesman
Erik Christianson said
no conference or school
could offer the beefed-up
scholarships independently.
A change in Division
I bylaws would be
required, he said, and no
formal proposal has been
submitted.
“The devil is going to
be in the details,” Atlantic
Coast Conference commissioner
John Swofford
said.
Big Ten commissioner
Jim Delany brought up
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the issue at his league’s
recent spring meetings,
and it will be addressed
again when Emmert hosts
50 Division I presidents
and chancellors and other
athletic administrators
during an August retreat.
Commissioners for other
BCS conferences said
their leagues will talk
about it as well.
A formal proposal
for NCAA membership
consideration could still
be three to four years out,
said Chad Hawley, Big
Ten associate commissioner
for compliance.
“We were just trying to
get a conversation started,”
Hawley said, “and I
think we succeeded.”
Athletic scholarships
currently cover tuition,
fees, room, board and
books. Not covered are
transportation, clothing,
laundry, entertainment
and incidentals.
Under federal fi nancialaid
guidelines, each
institution is required
to estimate full cost of
attendance. The numbers
are wide ranging. For
example, Indiana University
fi gures a nonresident
student needs $4,044 to
cover his or her costs
after tuition, fees, room
and board are paid. At
Arkansas, the estimate is
$2,128.
Conference commissioners
and athletic directors
will have to decide
whether to use a uniform
dollar amount or to allow
the amount estimated by
each school. The rub is
that if School A provides
more money for discretionary
spending than
School B, School A could
have a recruiting advantage.
Djokovic, Nadal, Sharapova
win easily at French Open
HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
PARIS — What was
shaping up as a struggle
for Novak Djokovic at
the French Open suddenly
turned into something
of a stroll.
Tied at a set apiece with
big-hitting 2009 U.S.
Open champion Juan Martin
del Potro when play
was suspended because of
darkness a night earlier,
Djokovic quickly faced
two break points Saturday.
He saved those, then broke
del Potro in the next game,
and that was pretty much
that.
“If he serves well, he
can beat anybody, really,”
Djokovic said. “I went
(into) the match a bit more
nervous than usual.”
If that’s so, it didn’t really
show. Djokovic completed
a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
victory in the third round,
pushing his 2011 record
to 40-0 and stretching
his winning streak
to 42 matches overall,
including two Davis Cup
matches in December.
“He was much better
than me,” said the
25th-seeded del Potro,
a semifi nalist in Paris
two years ago. “He has
everything; everything
perfect. He has very good
movement. He’s very
fast. He’s improved his
serve. He’s beating all the
players very, very easy,
and I’m one more victim
of his game.”
Djokovic’s 42-match
run is tied for the thirdlongest
by a man in the
Open era, which began
in 1968; Guillermo Vilas
won 46 in a row in 1977.
And Djokovic is off to
the second-best start to a
season, trailing only John
McEnroe’s 42-0 in 1984.
Djokovic, who will
be in action for a third
straight day today when
he faces No. 13 Richard
Gasquet of France, said a
third major championship
— and fi rst at the French
Open — takes priority
over any other possible
goal at the moment. If he
gets to the fi nal, he’ll take
over the No. 1 ranking
from Rafael Nadal.
The man Nadal beat
for trophy No. 5 in
last year’s fi nal, Robin
Soderling, also reached
the fourth round, as did
three-time Grand Slam
runner-up Andy Murray,
No. 15 Viktor Troicki,
No. 18 Gilles Simon, and
unseeded Ivan Ljubicic,
who eliminated No. 16
Fernando Verdasco 6-3,
7-6 (6), 6-4 and meets
Nadal on Monday.
No. 4 Murray got
past Michael Berrer of
Germany 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
despite badly twisting his
right ankle while chasing
a drop shot in the second
set, then said he wasn’t
sure if he could play his
next match.
France’s Simon beat
No. 10 Mardy Fish 6-3,
6-4, 6-2. That result, plus
Vania King’s 6-4, 6-2 loss
to No. 9 Petra Kvitova of
the Czech Republic, mean
there are zero U.S. men or
women left in the singles
draws as the tournament
enters Week 2.
Also advancing: No.
4 Victoria Azarenka of
Belarus, No. 6 Li Na of
China, No. 12 Agnieszka
Radwanska of Poland and
No. 15 Andrea Petkovic
of Germany.
Kirilenko put together
a 6-1, 6-1 victory that
abruptly ended the
surprising run of 114thranked
Arantxa Rus of
the Netherlands, who
stunned No. 2 Kim Clijsters
in the second round
by taking 11 of the last 12
games.
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Loppnow fi nishes fourth, earns all-tournament honors
By WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
SILVIS, Ill. — Wayland’s
Michael Loppnow earned
all-tournament honors for
the third
straight year
at the NAIA
Men’s Golf
National
Championships
at TPC
Deere Run.
LOPPNOW
The senior shot a fi nal-round
73 to fi nish tied for fourth
place with a 3-over 287.
The top 16 players were
named to the all-tournament
team. Oklahoma Christian
led the way with four selec-
Continued from Page 2B
Over the years, Peret said
he decided it just wasn’t
meant to be, but another
teammate and long-time
friend, John Underwood,
wouldn’t give up the fi ght.
“John never gave up,”
Peret said. “He kept nominating
me every year. I told
him, ‘Give it up.’ ”
But Underwood didn’t
give up and actually made a
few trips to College Station
to lobby for Peret’s induction
in person. This year he
fi nally succeeded and, as he
drove away from the university,
called to let Peret know
he had been unanimously
voted in.
“My knees got weak,”
Peret said. “I had to give
the phone to my wife. I just
couldn’t talk. My dad was
class of ’37 at A&M and
wanted me to go to A&M
worse than anything in the
world. He passed in ’89, and
mom in ’94, but they would
both be so proud.
“Now, A&M has done
this for me, especially after
42 years. God bless them
for remembering me. I am
just completely and totally
blessed.”
Peret will be offi cially
welcomed into A&M’s exclusive
fraternity at the 34th
annual Burgess Banquet on
Sept. 16.
Peret was a standout
basketball player for the
Plainview Bulldogs and
was highly-recruited in high
school.
He attended A&M four
years, but played for the
varsity only three seasons
because at that time players
had to be at least a sophomore
to play on the varsity.
He played on the freshman
team his fi rst season.
In his three varsity years,
Peret made his mark by be-
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tions while British Columbia
had three and South Carolina-Beaufort
had two.
Oklahoma Christian,
led by Oscar Stark, had a
healthy lead entering Friday’s
fourth round, so there
wasn’t much late drama.
Even the weather cooperated
as the teams fi nally played
on schedule for the fi rst time
all week after a series of
rain delays, and the Eagles
and Stark cruised to national
titles.
Stark led wire-to-wire in
the individual standings after
opening the tournament with
a 4-under 67. He closed with
a 3-over 73 to post a 4-under
ing a superb rebounder — he
ranks ninth in A&M history
with 735 total rebounds —
and by constantly staying in
foul trouble.
When asked about his
propensity for staying in
foul trouble, Peret said his
coach, Shelby Metcalf — the
winningest coach in South-
280. He was the only player
in the fi eld to fi nish under
par.
Stark’s Oklahoma Christian
teammate Axel Ochoa
closed with a 71 to fi nish
second with a 1-over 285.
Defending national individual
medalist Justin Lower
of Malone (Ohio) fi red a 69
Friday to fi nish third with a
286.
David Sherman of British
Columbia made a charge
early Friday before fading
with a 73 to settle into a tie
with Loppnow.
OC held a 23-shot lead entering
Friday’s play and was
never threatened. It is their
western Conference history
— was once quoted as saying,
“Ronnie is costing us a lot of
money to keep him in uniform
because he keeps wearing out
his game pants faster than his
tennis shoes.”
Peret added that he
believes he still holds the
record for most fouls per
game with an average of 4.2
an outing.
Still, Peret helped lead
Texas A&M to the school’s
fi rst-ever Sweet 16 appearance
during his senior
season when the Aggies lost
to Drake.
After graduating, Peret
entered the NBA draft where
he was taken by the Lakers
in the 11th round. He also
was selected by the Pacers in
the 12th round of the ABA
draft, but he ended up in Los
SAFE
CAMP
second team championship
in the last three years, all of
which have come at TPC
Deere Run. After setting the
pace with an opening-round
281, Oklahoma Christian
added rounds of 293, 283
and 293 to fi nish with an
1,150 total, 22 shots better
than second-place British
Columbia which fi nished a
distant second with a 1,172.
The rest of the top fi ve
was tightly bunched. South
Carolina-Beaufort was
third with an 1,181, Malone
(Ohio) took fourth with an
1,182 and Lewis-Clark State
(Idaho) fi nished fi fth with an
1,183.
Amarillo’s Palmer has lead after 3 Nelson rounds
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
IRVING — Ryan Palmer sat down
after fi nishing his third round and put
his head down on the table. He was
exhausted — and still leading — after
a 3-over 73 on a gusty day at the Byron
Nelson Championship.
The Amarillo native
who made the cut only
once in his fi rst seven
appearances at Lord Byron’s
tournament, took
a one-stroke lead over
Sergio Garcia into the
PALMER
fi nal round after surviving a sun-soaked
but brutal day for scoring Saturday at
TPC Four Seasons.
“We chalked it up as a hard day of
golf,” Palmer said. “If you had told me
Thursday I was going to have a oneshot
lead, I would have called you a liar
and said whatever. But my bad round is
out of the way, I think, and I still lead
by one.”
Even with two bogeys the last three
holes, Palmer fi nished a stroke ahead
of playing partner Garcia after the two
started the day tied.
Garcia shot a 74 while also making
bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes,
where he missed makable putts.
“It was defi nitely hard. At the same
time I have to say I got nothing out
of my round,” Garcia said. “I could
not shoot one shot higher than I did.
So if you look at it that way, and I’m
only one shot behind Ryan, and I have
tomorrow, I think it’s pretty positive.”
The last three holes at TPC Four
Seasons played into the wind, sustained
all day at 25 mph with gusts near 40.
“Obviously the scores show how
hard it was,” Palmer said. “Bad, hard
day, that is for sure. I hit it pretty good
I felt, but it’s hard to hit some of these
tee balls... Just a hard round of golf.”
Conditions are expected to be similar
for the fi nal round today.
Only eight of 74 players shot under
par Saturday, and there were no bogeyfree
rounds. The best round was a 67
by Argon Atwal that tied him with
Ryuji Imada (70) for third place at 3
under.
“Par’s really good on every hole,
and I’m just lucky to shoot 67,” Atwal
said after his round with six birdies
and three bogeys. “You catch the
wrong gust and you could be in serious
trouble.”
Garcia missed a 5-foot par putt on
the 535-yard 16th hole, where Palmer
also bogeyed after missing the fairway
with his tee shot.
Palmer, who is letting caddie James
Edmondson call the shots this week,
missed the fairway again at No. 18 and
two-putted from 27 feet once he got on
the green. Garcia hit his drive way right
and still had a chance to covert an 8
1/2-foot par-saver that would have put
him back in a share for the lead.
Garcia began the week with an
infected fi ngernail on his left ring
PERET: Induction ceremony will be held Sept. 16
PERET’S RESUME
Career at A&M
�735
career rebounds (11th in
school history; 9.8 rpg (2nd in
school history)
�Holds
record for best rebound
percentage for A&M junior (11.1)
�532
free throws attempted (3rd in
school history)
�6th
in free throws made (8th in
school history)
�Averaged
14.8 points per game
(26th in school history)
fi nger that forced him to withdraw
from a British Open qualifi er after just
fi ve holes. He didn’t have any practice
rounds at TPC Four Seasons before
opening with consecutive 66s.
Gary Woodland and Matt Kuchar
shot 68s and were tied with Joe Ogilvie
(72) for fi fth at 2 under.
“You’ve got trees and rough and
greens that are built for not a lot of
wind,” Ogilvie said. “And undulations,
and it’s like the movie ‘Planes, Trains
& Automobiles,’ you’ve got a lot going
on here.”
Local amateur Jordan Spieth opened
with consecutive birdies before going
on to a 72. He was among eight players
tied for eighth place, only four strokes
behind Palmer.
“I was like all right, who knows what
can happen, who says you can’t shoot
5, 6 under today,” Spieth said. “And
then reality kind of kicked in.”
Spieth’s round ended about 4 p.m.,
the same time the other 245 boys in his
senior class at Dallas Jesuit Prep were
beginning their graduation ceremony
on the SMU campus about 20 miles
away. Spieth didn’t try to make it to the
ceremony, also near where Cowboys
quarterback Tony Romo was getting
married.
It is the second year in a row that
the 17-year-old Spieth made the cut at
the Nelson. Going into the fi nal round
last season, he was tied for seventh
six strokes back. He tied for 16th, six
strokes behind winner Jason Day.
Angeles.
Unfortunately, Peret had
played with a severe hernia
most of his senior season
at A&M, and after going
through rookie camp in the
NBA, Peret had the surgery.
However, during the fi rst
practice Lakers owner Jack
Kent Cooke attended, Peret
got kneed in his incision,
and Cooke told coach Joe
Mullaney to send him home.
Peret said he was on a
plane home that evening.
Now 64 years old, Peret is
a life insurance and annuity
agent near Houston. He lives
with his wife Rose Mary and
has three children: daughters
Cindy and Tracy and son
Ryan.
To comment:
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806.296.1355
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