Roadrunners On Deck April 2 Baseball at Northern Colorado Double Header 1 p.m. Auraria April 4 Baseball vs Fort Hays State 3 p.m. Auraria April 5 Baseball vs Fort Hays State Double Header 1 p.m. Auraria April 6 Baseball vs Fort Hays State Noon Auraria April 8 Baseball at Northern Colorado Double Header 1p.m. April 8 Men and Women’s Tennis vs Colorado Christian 3 p.m. Auraria Results from Men’s Basketball North Central Regional in Kearney, Neb.  First Round–March 14 Metro beats Fort Lewis College 85-63  St. Cloud State beats North Dakota 74-69 South Dakota State beats Fort Hays State 84-78 Nebraska-Kearney beats Minnesota-Duluth 72-67  Semi-finals–March 15 Semifinal #1 Metro beats St. Cloud State 75-63 Semifinal #2 Nebraska-Kearney beats South Dakota State 86-85 March 17  Regional Champs Nebraska-Kearney beats Metro 94-87 (2OT)

At the same time President George Bush was addressing the nation, more pointedly presenting Saddam Hussein with a proposition: leave peacefully or leave on a cruise missile, the ushers tending the Health and Sports Center at the University of Nebraska-Kearney shut the doors on the world at large.

The 5,600 fans and dozen members of the media that turned out to watch the heavyweight fight between Metro and Nebraska-Kearney didn’t want to hear Bush at the pulpit March 17 and see CNN start the countdown clock then come to the cold spinning realization that some parts of humanity have yet to find a solution other than human destruction.

A day later NCAA president Myles Brand announced that all winter championships would continue, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which concludes with the men’s National title game April 7, despite the possibilities of war and the heightened security around the country. 

The debate on whether the tournaments should continue was silly. What does it matter? I’ve heard Metro head men’s basketball coach Mike Dunlap quote Rudyard Kipling more times than once, “Winning and losing are impostors.” And this is a man that has won two national titles at the Division II level and gets the same taste in his mouth when one of his players graduates. Besides, sport is one form of what is good in life. We’re still going to movies, celebrating birthdays and having weddings, why can’t we watch the Final Four.  

And thank goodness the games went on, because there wouldn’t be anything else to watch. Some people I know watch nothing but war with a wrinkled frown, sighs and early stages of depression. My mother for example.

Sport is intimate. War is sensitive. There is no “death” in sports, despite what the broad castor might say. War is full of life loss and as the numbers of the possibly dead increase we must remember that these are not stats, but people who’ve lost all they’ve treasured. So it’s perfectly understandable why changing the channel seems cruel.

But the Roadrunners 94-87 double overtime loss to top-seeded Kearney in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II tournament was a thing of beauty. Played with all hustle and muscle and to exhausting levels, yet it didn’t sacrifice skill, speed and savvy. The fan noise hit deafening levels several times—and it was designated that way—crowding the throat with sawdust. Every basket by Nebraska-Kearney had a note on it. Every one made by Metro saturated the air with silence.

Afterward, Dunlap pointed to each fan section and applauded them.

“Just great fans,” Dunlap said. “Just a great college basketball game. The epitome of why you stay in college coaching and want to be a part of such things.”

Sure the loss shut the doors on the defending national champs, in a year where a third title for Metro seemed the only door they could open, especially with four gold-plated starters returning. But the Lopers returned four experienced starters of their own. (I’m not unmindful that all eight of the players, some All-American considerations, could very well be on the front lines just outside of Baghdad. And the players coming off the bench are the reserves ready to follow). But like so many Cinderella stories during March Madness, the mind refused to calculate a loser and settled for the exhilaration of the moment. As the game wore on, the Loper fan next to me and I found ourselves applauding each leap and bucket, never wanting it to end and admiring every sexy nanosecond. And thanks to the human heart, for its ability to capture a moment completely without our complete understanding and vacuum us into a Labyrinth, lost forever in sport. The three hours of basketball in the quiet, friendly city of Kearney, Neb., was one of those games where you felt suspended above the earth.

Metro and Nebraska-Kearney showed in the North Central Regional final that the game can be a purifying benediction, an elementary sleep-over invitation to shoot the breeze over a package of Oreos and pillow fights.

In the meantime, Loper head coach Tom Kropp made this point.

“The true definition of team is the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. If you look at our players individually—their vertical jump, their quickness, foot speed and height—we

Photo by - David Merrill Metro guard Luke Kendall looks for a teammate to pass to as Nebraska-Kearney guard Chad Sheffield defends in the finals of the North-Central Regional Tournament March 17 in Kearney, Neb. Kendall scored 33 points and was named to the all-tournament team as Metro lost 94-87 in double-overtime.

certainly are not going to impress many people. But when you put them together they have tremendous heart and tremendous feelings for each other and that is why we have been able to accomplish what we have.”

The same statement can be applied to the men and women sweating through the bullets on the Iraqi desert right now. America is a team and we’re all on it. The same team. Standing by each other. Making each other stronger. We’re not a bunch of single individuals or groups running around, no matter the uprising of the me-me and the do as I say and not as I do generation.  

So when the clock read :00 for good, it was hard to believe it was time to go home.

When the war images fly across are wired world, it too is hard to believe, but it’s not the same feelings.
Headlines

Photo by - David Merrill Metro head coach Mike Dunlap mentally and physically works his players hard in practice with a intense nature, developing each to succeed when their turn to shine comes.

Men’s basketball head coach Mike Dunlap won’t make any exaggerations on how hard it was to adopt eight nearly raw basketball players for the 2002-03 season.

But have you ever watched the old-fashioned neighbor across the street kick the hubcaps while trying to pull out one of his teeth with some workshop pliers? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. And that’s exaggeration for you.

At some Metro practices, you’ll often see Dunlap shaking his head with a furrowed brow and a deep scowl as if he’s saying to himself, “Geez, will they every get it?”

But when you corner him, the sixth-year head coach will honestly say something rather surprising.

“It was the easiest of the six teams that I’ve had to coach off the floor,” Dunlap said. “They were very good academically. They were very good citizenship wise. It was the most enjoyable year I’ve had since I’ve been here, by far. They were just a low maintenance team that was very dutiful, that wanted to please; wanted to please the school, wanted to please their parents, wanted to please the assistant coaches. All they wanted to do is achieve.”

Veterans Clayton Smith, Patrick Mutombo, Luke Kendall and Lester Strong certainly helped to make the transition for the greenies easier with strong words of advice. But with starting seniors Smith and Mutombo departing after graduation in May, leaving some heavy voids to replace, the newcomers are no longer the future. They are the present and by now they should be accustomed to working long days, watching hours of video on one team, taking notes, practicing twice a day, lifting weights and spending late nights cramming for a excellent GPA.

Like a farmer overseeing his land, Dunlap believes the harvest is coming with this relatively inexperienced group. The life and basketball lessons will began to pay off with time, but there is a lot of work left to do for the coaching staff. Dunlap teaches very slow and with great detail, but maybe he won’t have to teach as long next year.  

“The thing I’m looking forward to the most, is just having fewer players to teach the fundamentals and get to our system,” Dunlap said. “We were not able to get our entire system in this year, because we had to go slower. And that is no one’s fault, it is just what you have.”

Minus Jamar Bohannon and David Barlow, who both started 13 games, the rest of the eight weren’t thrust onto the court unless the game was well in hand. Michael Morse didn’t get on the court at all. The junior transferred from the University Northern Colorado last summer. But since UNC didn’t grant Morse his out right release from the school in Greeley, he had to redshirt a year. Morse averaged 14 points and eight rebounds during his sophomore year at UNC, while breaking the school’s record for most steals in a game (7) and shot a perfect 12-for-12 in another game.

Dunlap said the redshirt was a blessing. Morse doesn’t lose a year of eligibility because of the transfer rule and got to practice with the team, lost some weight and played  hours of one-on-one with Mutombo after practice.

The other seven have displayed a enough little flashes of brilliance during the little playing time they received that some Metro fans have started to forecast the incoming front for next season. Junior Mark Worthington slashes to the basket better than anyone in the conference. Ben Ortner is a threat inside on both ends, especially when he takes the initiative. Junior Ryon Nickle provides great leadership, outshoot shooting and stands 6-foot-6. Bohannon, a junior, could play like Mutombo, hitting jumpers from 15 feet, and has long arms. Sophomore Barlow has a nose for working his way to the basket. Junior Jovan Obradovic is the same way. Sophomore Jimmy Dadiotis can still break an opponent down like he did in his days at Denver East High, when he led the Angels to the state title in 1999. Freshman Greg Muth (controlling guard) and Benas Veikalas (solid shooter) are dieing to play, while point guard Christophe Lombe has showed he can play defense just as tough as Smith did, and can rise above the rim.

“Christophe is a human dynamo,” Dunlap said. “But he doesn’t understand how to play the game yet. He is all over the map. He is like a young Mustang out there in the field and we still have to get him to ratchet it down a bit and get him to understand what chrome is and ESPN passes are, as supposed to what winning passes involve and taking care of the ball.”

Metro will add one new player to the bunch. Michael Bahl from Broomfield High was signed to a letter of intent in November. The a 6-foot-5 shooter who averaged 17.5 points a game in his senior year at Broomfield, and is a bit of menace from behind the arc, hitting at 43.8 percent from three-point land.  

“The underpinnings of being good here, year in and year out, is how your recruiting is going and how you are doing with the development of the freshmen to sophomores; sophomores to juniors; juniors to seniors. Obviously, we are standing the test to time, because we are getting good players, we are developing good players and then we are putting them into a position where the can shine. Mutombo was an example of that. Clayton was an example of that.”

Starters since they donned the Roadrunner blue and red, juniors Kendall (19.3 points and 2.61 steals per game) and Strong (9.1 points and 8.5 rebounds) are examples of that same evolutionary process. Both will head into their senior season with the capability of carrying the team through grind-it-out situations and playing a full game.

Kendall scored 33 points and played all 50 minutes in the double overtime loss to Nebraska-Kearney in the North Central Regional final that ended Metro’s season. He was recently named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches second-team all region and should be a Preseason All-American candidate.

Strong was the story of the year, in Dunlap’s opinion. No team in the conference had a player that could consistently keep the 6-foot-7 Denver native off the boards. In the regional semifinal win against St. Cloud State, Strong showcased all of his potential with a career performance. He scored 23 points (career high) and grabbed 14 rebounds (six offensive) and blocked three shots.

As a sophomore Strong was a role player, but this year he was determined to get more involved. On the year, Strong set a single-season record for field goal percentage (.660) and posted eight double-doubles in points and rebounds. In the combined six regional and conference tournament games, Strong averaged 12 points and 12.2 rebounds a contest.

“He has raised his hand and said, ‘Here I am. I’m Lester Strong.’” Dunlap said. “He is no longer subservient to our team.”

Dunlap sensed the change in his starting center as Strong got comfortable in Metro’s environment and began to find his self-worth and what his passion was, education wise. Strong’s achievements, though, went unnoticed by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference award committee.

“He was flat out slated,” Dunlap said. “This guy didn’t even make honorable mention RMAC. Are you kidding me? That is egregious. And I’ve never said that to anybody. But that is a joke. Here is a guy against St. Cloud who gets 23 points and 14 boards and he tees it up. He is a force to be reckon with.”

Metro has established itself as a winning program throughout the nation, winning two national titles, five conference titles and three regional titles since Dunlap took over in 1997. For whatever reason, the soil stays rich for harvesting.

“We are very proud of our development program. That is where we can hold form at a consistent level. We don’t have these big drops offs,” Dunlap said. “…. If you want to be consistent all the time, you have to go get good players and develop them. That is our most important asset—the players and their evolution and development.”

Photo by - David Merrill Members of the Roadrunners hook arms and anxiously watch their teammates during the first of two overtimes in Metro's 94-87 loss to top-seeded University of Nebraska-Kearney in the finals of the North Central Regional Tournament March 17 in Kearney, Neb. From left are Ryon Nickle, Benas Veikalas, Greg Muth, Christophe Lombe, Jimmy Dadiotis, assistant coach Brady Bergeson, David Barlow, Jovan Obradovic and Ben Ortner.

Headlines

Photo by - Joshua Buck Metro infielder Adam Wolfinger shags grounders during practice April 1. The defending conference champs are 16-10 overall, 4-4 in the RMAC at the end of March.

Ever heard the phrase “March Madness?” Where the biggest part of the game involves the “3”, like three good players can hit three’s from the outside. Well, for the Metro baseball team, the number three was big over spring break.

First, the Roadrunners had three bad games and one great game losing 3-of-4 at Southern Colorado and then turned around to play three great games March 28-30 and one bad game taking 3-of-4 away from Mesa State, while outscoring the Mavericks 27-11, winning by scores of 12-1, 6-3 and 9-7.

When asked about how the season was going so far senior John Burney replied, “Well…we’re very positive about the season to this point. We’ve had some ups and downs but this past weekend with Mesa we seemed to turn it around and find our niche a little bit and I think we’re going to hit our stride and finish off the rest of the conference season strong.”

Want more “three” number usage? In Metro’s three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference loses to Southern Colorado, ranked No. 24 nationally, the Roadrunners (16-10; 4-4 RMAC) only had 23 hits in 92 at bats, while being outscored 25-11 losing by scores of 3-6, 3-7 and 5-12 in the four-game series played with double headers on March 22 and 23.

What else is odd, in both series, the Roadrunners did the opposite in game three.

Game three against Southern Colorado (27-7; 3-1) ended in a 13-7 victory. Metro dropped game three against Mesa (13-19; 1-3) 6-18. 

Moving away from the bad games against Southern Colorado, the three wins in Mesa saw the defending RMAC champs return to form and get a little revenge.

Last season, the Roadrunners were swept in March by Mesa. But this year was not the case, as junior Blake Eager stepped onto the mound at Mesa and struck out 10 to set the tone for the day in the first game against the Mavericks and pick up his fifth win in six starts. Outfielder Brian Edwards got a 4-for-1 special as he scored four runs off of one grand slam home run in the seventh inning. Edwards finished with six RBIs. James Edwards added two RBIs of his own to help the Roadrunners cruise to a 12-1 victory.

Metro continued its winning ways in game two of the series as pitcher Caleb Salankey threw his first complete game of the season. The junior from Arvada allowed three runs in seven innings. And since it is always better to give then to receive, the Roadrunners gave Mesa’s pitching staff trouble and received a 6-3 victory. The Roadrunners’ Paul Workman and Adam Wolfinger had two RBI a piece in the win.

The Roadrunners lost game three, but would make up for it in game four when they turned on a 3-6 deficit to setup a dramatic come from behind victory fueled with a six-run eighth inning.

First, James Edwards hit his team leading eight homer of the year. Back-to-back doubles by Ricky Fuller and John Burney cut the lead to one. Then a bases loaded single by Wolfinger gave Metro a 7-6 lead they added to in the top of ninth, winning  9-7.

But the games themselves aren’t the end of the strange Twilight Zone. Any three has been weird for the Roadrunners. Last season, in month number three, the Roadrunners went in 9-0 and left the month 13-15, only to bounce back the next month on a 21-7 run to end the regular season 34-22. 

When asked about this March against last March Burney said, “Last year we hit a huge slide in the month of March, this year we also had a bit of a slide but it wasn’t quite as devastating. We were still able to get some regional victories we didn’t have last year and I think playing more as a team and much more productive which will in turn lead to us picking up extra victories and playing strong through the rest of the season.”

While having survived the third month, it also means Metro has something to look forward to as well. The Roadrunners seem to improve in every month after March. They were 12-6 last April and 6-1 last May. But unfortunately for the Roadrunners, even with the RMAC crown, Metro was played out like a royal jesters when they weren’t invited to the Division II National Tournament.

“I think we do have the team to win (the RMAC title),” Burney said. “After we play Fort Hays, we have played the three best teams in the conference. But we have to play big this weekend and get ourselves back even with Hays before we can move on and beat the other teams [in the conference].”
Headlines

Three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships in four years (1999, 2001 and 2002), the RMAC Player-of-the-Year, a Regional Title and a berth in the Division II National Tournament, but the unit is almost unknown by their own campus. Wondering who they are?

Photo by - Joshua Buck Metro’s No. 1 women's singles Jasmon Crabb practices her baseline game April 1. Crabb, last year’s North Central Region Player-of-the-Year, is ranked No. 16 nationally.

They are the Metro men’s tennis team. Last season the Roadrunners flew through the RMAC tournament going 10-4 in match play. Then, they posted the same 10-4 record to win the North Central Regional Championship. And that’s just as a team, look at what they did as individuals.

RMAC first-team players in singles: Magnus Bohman (No. 1), Carlos Delgado (No. 2), Bruce Dicker (No. 3), Jojo Mmopi (No. 4) and Alexi Sologoub (No. 6). Bohman and Dicker, who graduated, earned first team RMAC doubles honors.

Also in the process, head men and women’s tennis coach Eduardo Provencio won RMAC Coach-of-the-Year. Finally, the best player in the RMAC plays for the Roadrunners as Bohman won the 2002 Player-of-the-Year. Not to be outdone, his teammate Delgado was able to go undefeated (16-0) for the season. But that was then and this is now.

During the fall season the Roadrunner men went 3-0 which has placed a lot of confidence into the team. How confident are they?

Team leader Bohman said, “I believe we should be able to achieve what we achieved last year. All the other teams in our region are slightly better too, so I think we need to be better than last year, but I’m definitely feeling good about the year.

“This year we definitely want to go undefeated through conference and obviously win the conference tournament, we also want to make it to nationals this year.” Bohman added.

Even Provencio believes the team can repeat last season’s performance. After a string of games were canceled over spring break the men’s spring record stands at 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC.

Photo by - Joshua Buck Metro’s No. 1 men's singles Magnus Bohman practices his baseline game April 1. Bohman is the reigning RMAC Player-of-the-Year.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Provencio said. “I feel a little bit more confident with all of our guys and all three double (teams) than I did last year and considering the success we had last year I think we have nothing but good things ahead of us. Overall, we had some wholes in our line-up last year that we patched up pretty well and I don’t think we need to do as much patchwork with the line-up we have right now. Everyone is a year older, we have two players out of our line-up from last year, one was a real big contributor, [but] we brought in a couple guys that will fill in [well].”

The Roadrunners women’s tennis squad is a mirror image of the men’s team, or is it the other way around? The women also won the 2002 RMAC and North Central Region championships and appeared in the National Tournament.

The squad only lost one player to graduation and returns RMAC Co-Player-of-the-Year Jasmon Crabb, who was voted Freshman-of-the-Year as well. Crabb is currently ranked No. 16 nationally and teammate Hande Gorur is ranked No. 41. The duo plays No. 1 doubles together and are ranked No. 10 in the nation and No. 1 in the region. 

Most impressive was that each member from last year’s lineup earned first-team honors in the RMAC. Crabb (No. 1 singles), Rebecca Meares (No. 2), Gorur (No. 3), Jess Meares (No.4), Lisa Pascual (No. 5) and Tania Zuvela (No. 6) swept the singles awards. So far this spring, the women are 8-0 overall, 2-0 in conference play.
Headlines