Sports - The Daily Tar Heel

Capel Redefines Role to Spark UNC

By Staff Editor | Feb. 12, 2001

Jason Capel doesn't push for his name to appear in headlines. Self-promotion isn't his forte, nor does he want it to be.Capel doesn't take well to a label that has been placed on him since he arrived at North Carolina, though.That of a role player.Capel did everything in his power to rip that tag off Saturday, scoring a career-high 27 points in No. 1 UNC's 96-82 win against 13th-ranked Maryland at the Smith Center."I guess I do it all," Capel said. "I don't consider myself a role player ...

Baseball Warms Up Season With Sweep of Dukes

By Staff Editor | Feb. 12, 2001

North Carolina's bats didn't cool off Sunday like the weather did.The Tar Heels opened the 2001 season by sweeping a two-game weekend series from James Madison at Boshamer Stadium.UNC followed up Saturday's lopsided 23-9 opening-day win with a dramatic ninth inning rally Sunday.Trailing JMU 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore Russ Adams drove home the game-winning run with a bases-clearing walk-off triple as North Carolina escaped with a 7-6 victory.Freshman first baseman Jeremy Cleveland greeted JMU's closer Brent Metheny by belting a lead-off double to start the ninth, and

Women's Tennis Splits Weekend Matches

By Staff Editor | Feb. 12, 2001

Staff ReportNOTRE DAME, Ind. -- The No. 28 North Carolina women's tennis team fell to 11th-ranked Notre Dame on Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion 6-1.The Tar Heels (4-1) won the doubles point by taking two of three matches from the Fighting Irish, but were swept in singles play.

Wrestling Rips Maryland

By Staff Editor | Feb. 12, 2001

This wasn't tag-team, and they didn't have outlandish nicknames.But the one-two combo of heavyweight Matt Kenny and 125-pounder Chris Collins dominated their opponents from Maryland on Sunday with a flair worthy of Rick.The pair also secured another ACC win for the North Carolina wrestling team (8-4, 4-0 in the ACC), which beat the Terrapins 24-12.Saturday, the Tar Heels beat Navy 21-13 in Annapolis, Md.With the Tar Heels leading 13-9 against the Terps (3-5, 1-2), Kenny (14-2) stepped onto the mat against James Taylor (4-9) and simply had his way.After building an 8-0 lead

UNC Outlasts Tigers in 2 OTs

By Matt Terry | Feb. 9, 2001

It took 50 minutes and 199 combined points, but the North Carolina women's basketball team eventually wound up with the result it wanted.The Tar Heels, on the strength of a Juana Brown layup with 0.8 seconds left in the second overtime, outlasted No. 25 Clemson 100-99 Thursday in Carmichael Auditorium."The highs in this game aren't nearly high enough to make up for the lows," Clemson coach Jim Davis said.

Brown Burns Clemson From Floor

By Rachel Carter | Feb. 9, 2001

With the clock ticking down toward 0:00, Juana Brown charged hard through a sea of Clemson basketball players, stopped short and fired a jumper at the hoop. It would have been a sweet ending for the senior guard, who scored the last six points in North Carolina's Jan. 8 71-70 victory against Clemson.But the ball didn't swish through the net; instead it found its way into the open arms of UNC's LaQuanda Barksdale. Barksdale's shot missed as well.Brown would still get her chance to be the heroine again.

Bunting Announces 1st Recruiting Class; Signs 21

Feb. 8, 2001

John Bunting knew he had some learning to do.Having spent five years as head coach at Division-III Glassboro State and almost the rest of his coaching career in the NFL, Bunting had little experience with recruiting.But he learned quickly since becoming North Carolina's coach Dec. 11. He had no choice if he wanted to land players such as Jawarski Pollock, a speedy wide receiver from Bradenton, Fla."I couldn't find him at home, but I talked with his grandmother, so I finally got him on his cell phone at the barber shop," Bunting said.

Dawson's Huge Night\Not Enough for Deacons

Feb. 7, 2001

WINSTON-SALEM -- Wake Forest guard Craig Dawson has a little extra incentive to perform every time he plays against North Carolina.For one, Dawson wasn't recruited by UNC, the school his uncle and NBA standout Jerry Stackhouse attended.But Dawson also has other ties to the Tar Heels.He played AAU basketball with UNC's Brendan Haywood, Kris Lang and Julius Peppers on the Carolina Warriors.Dawson almost gunned down his friends in baby blue Wednesday night, scoring a game-high 29 points as the Demon Deacons fell to the Tar Heels 80-74."I have a lot of friends who play for C

No. 1 Tar Heels Survive at Wake

By Bret Strelow | Feb. 7, 2001

WINSTON-SALEM -- Brendan Haywood stood in the corner of the court, waving his arms wildly into the air. His eyes were locked into the array of camera lenses pointed in his direction.Haywood, who had just sent Wake Forest forward Darius Songaila's baseline jumper into the crowd with 35.1 seconds left, began yelling "Not today.

Wrestling Pummels Blue Devils

By James Giza | Feb. 7, 2001

DURHAM -- Corey Bell admitted he was a little apprehensive about traveling to Duke on Tuesday after North Carolina's basketball win last week.His fears appeared to be confirmed when he and the rest of the UNC wrestling team approached the doors of Cameron Indoor Stadium and a group of Duke students blocked the way."Nobody would let us in the door or nothing," Bell said. "They were yelling at us, 'What are y'all doing?' 'We're just trying to get in.' I didn't know what was going on. I just wanted to get out of here.

San Jose Picks Carrieri No. 1

By Matt Terry | Feb. 6, 2001

Following the lead of the North Carolina men's basketball team, former UNC forward Chris Carrieri claimed his own No. 1 on Monday at the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.Carrieri, drafted first overall by the San Jose Earthquakes, becomes just the fourth former Tar Heel selected No. 1 in a major professional league's draft.Basketball players James Worthy and Brad Daugherty were the first selections in the NBA draft in 1982 and 1986, respectively. Baseball player B.J. Surhoff went No. 1 in 1985."Being picked No.

Ill Tar Heels Dominate Play

By Kelly Lusk | Feb. 6, 2001

There was no way Campbell could pull off a win at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Monday night. But the Camels' second seed, Juan Osorio, refused to give up. Osorio faced off against North Carolina senior David Cheatwood in singles play. The outcome of the dual match, a 6-1 UNC victory, was decided long before the two stopped playing. "I want to give everything I can to the court," Osorio said.

Sutton Takes Advantage of Height

Feb. 6, 2001

Candace Sutton has been a consistent producer for the North Carolina women's basketball team this year.Coming into the Tar Heels' contest with Wake Forest, Sutton was averaging 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.Sunday, the freshman traded stability for prominence.Producing on both ends of the court, Sutton posted her first career double-double, tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Boone Excels as Reserve

By Will Kimmey | Feb. 6, 2001

Freshman point guard Adam Boone became the 16th North Carolina basketball player to start his first game for the Tar Heels.Then after seven games, Ronald Curry returned to the court from the football field, pushing Boone into the role of backup.And lately, Boone has been excelling in that role."When I go in for Ronald, I expect out of myself to keep things at the same level if we were playing well," Boone said.

Balanced Attack Paces UNC

By Will Kimmey | Feb. 5, 2001

Brendan Haywood had a message for his North Carolina teammates before Saturday afternoon's tilt against Georgia Tech."I just went out there and told the guys, 'Listen, what happened Thursday is in the past,'" the senior said referring to UNC's 85-83 win against No. 2 Duke. "'If we focus on it too long, we're going to get smacked in the mouth, so we need to get out there and focus on this game.'"The Yellow Jackets delivered that blow to the jaw, grabbing an early 11-3 lead. But the No.

Tired Tar Heels Persevere Against 'Pack

By Kelly Lusk | Feb. 5, 2001

RALEIGH -- Sometimes things don't have to start off perfectly to end well. Four months ago, North Carolina's women's swimming and diving team lost to No. 1 Georgia in its first dual meet of the season. The Tar Heels haven't lost since.UNC overcame season-end exhaustion and preserved its perfect conference record Friday by knocking off N.C. State 149-92 in its last dual meet of the season."It's a really long season," junior Summer Mack said.

Tar Heel Wrestlers Roll Over Cavs

By Randy Wellington | Feb. 5, 2001

Last-gasp comebacks are an exciting part of sports.Usually, those sports don't include wrestling.But don't tell that to North Carolina(5-4, 2-0 in the ACC), which continued its march toward a fifth consecutive ACC championship with a tidy 24-12 victory against Virginia (4-6, 1-2) on Saturday.For the second time in two ACC matchups, UNC used the momentum of a last-second takedown to propel itself to victory.Junior Brad Byers faced Virginia's Joe Alexander in the 133-pound weight class with UNC leading 8-0.

Gymnasts Save Their Best for Last

By Brad Broders | Feb. 5, 2001

The North Carolina gymnastics team was in an early funk Saturday at the Governor's Cup at Carmichael Auditorium.But not to worry. The Tar Heels saved the best for last.UNC, after a less than superb opening performance on vault, saw itself in last place."The vault scores in general were a little tight, but we knew if the judges were consistent, we would be OK," UNC coach Derek Galvin said. The Tar Heels came up big in their last two events to edge Towson 194.450-194.225. Maryland and N.C.

Tar Heels Shoot Past Deacons

By Mike Ogle | Feb. 5, 2001

When Wake Forest's women's basketball team started the game red-hot from the Carmichael Auditorium floor, it was a bad omen for Charlene Curtis' club.The Demon Deacons hit eight straight shots, including three 3-pointers and two just inside the arc, after missing their first attempt of the game.

Swimmers Keep Wolfpack at Bay

By Brad Lewis | Feb. 5, 2001

RALEIGH -- How do swimmers tell how fast they're swimming?They usually just look at the scoreboard after touching the wall.But this was not an option Friday afternoon at the Willis Casey Aquatics Center during the North Carolina and N.C. State men's swimming and diving meet.The 14th-ranked Tar Heels could have been accused of causing the temporary short-circuit in the computer system via the white froth they created in the water, burning the Wolfpack 175-61.Midway through the meet, just before the 50-yard freestyle, the scoreboard went out.