thebattalion ● friday,
february 3, 2012
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
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Roger Zhang — THE BATTALION
Senior forward Adaora Elonu has been a force for Gary Blair and the Aggie women’s basketball team, averaging 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Fan First Dominant forward Elonu could see herself nowhere but Aggieland Mark Dore The Battalion The first time senior forward Adaora Elonu took in Reed Arena — the raucous yells, the swaying student section, the lineage of success — she did so not as a prospective student-athlete, but as a member of the Twelfth Man. Having seen the Aggie experience firsthand, Elonu said that she couldn’t imagine going anywhere else. “I came here as a fan first, so I guess the student body and the fans here sold me,” Elonu said. Four years, one national championship, more than 1,000 points — Elonu became the 25th player in school history to cross this threshold earlier this season — and almost 100 career starts later, Elonu has made her mark on this school. What led her to Reed in the first place was her brother, Chinemulu, drafted out of A&M by the Los Angeles Lakers after taking the court for the men’s team from 2006-2009.
Chinemulu and Elonu adopted the game of basketball at roughly the same time. Elonu was in middle school, Chinemulu in high school, and after much time spent playing tennis and soccer, she said her family realized they could find more success on the basketball court. Elonu credits Chinemulu for providing an example of what work ethic can achieve. “We work out together, so if you could say that I work as hard as him, I’d be golden,” Elonu said. “He’s the hardest working person that I’ve ever seen.” Elonu’s training paid off last season as she helped the Aggies surge to a victory in the NCAA national championship game. Then, everything changed for A&M. The team was undervalued and relatively unnoticed compared to the like of the University of Connecticut and Baylor, they had now painted a target on their backs. “Our coaches tell us: ‘You’re the defending national champions, everyone is going to give us their
best,’” Elonu said. “We can’t take a game off. It’s tough on us, but, at the same time, we asked for it. We won the championship, and it’s not something we want to back down from.” Elonu may notice the attention paid to her by other teams, but she places no stock in the media coverage that surrounds the team. “I’m oblivious to it,” Elonu said. “The coaches hear stuff and let us know so we can prove people wrong, and I think we did a lot of that last year when we weren’t being noticed and came from underneath and stole the spotlight.” Likewise, Elonu said she cares little for rankings, so long as the team lands a spot in the NCAA tournament. “It’s not something I’m focused on because, at the end of the day, rankings don’t mean anything
Awards and honors ◗ 2011 Academic All-Big 12 Second Team ◗ 2009-10, 2010-11 Team Co-Captain ◗ Three-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week selection (Nov. 24, 2008, Dec. 8, 2008 and Dec. 22, 2008)
See Elonu on page 4
Texas visits A&M for final lap Michael Gardiner
COURTESY PHOTO
The No. 18 men’s swimming and diving team saws “Varsity’s” horns off as they sing the Aggie Warhymn.
The Battalion The No. 18 Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team will be hosting No. 2 Texas this Saturday at the Student Recreation Natatorium for the last time as a conference foe. A&M, 4-1 in dual meets this season, is also celebrating Senior Night in what will be their final home event. Five graduating seniors, John Ariens, Amini Fonua, Grant Nel, Paul Xiques and Boris Loncaric, will be honored before the meet. “Anytime you graduate seniors,
they mean a lot to you,” A&M head coach Jay Holmes said. “These men have been through a lot of things that weren’t easy. It’s going to be hard to replace them.” Nel, the A&M school-record holder in all three diving events, has just won his second Big 12 Diver of the Week award and recently set the pool record at SMU for his score of 400.95 on the 1-meter springboard. A&M and Texas are both coming off tough losses, with A&M losing 128-115 to SMU, and Texas losing to No. 1 Arizona, 155-88, extending their season record to
4-2. A&M expects to bounce back this weekend, losing the SMU meet by just a second-and-a-half in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Junior John Wagner rallied the Aggies from a 36-point deficit in that SMU match, and his first place time, the first of four consecutive event victories that put A&M back in the game, was nearly three seconds ahead of the next swimmer. “We were in a slugfest out there,” Holmes said. “We were down concentrating on the meet, but the atmosphere on deck and in See Swimmingon page 4
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Rain, rain, go away
Students, B-CS residents mourn the Hall’s closing
College Station has spent a week in the rain, but that doesn’t mean you cannot look fabulous! Check out this week Fashion blog with the Style Spectator himself Jason Syptak.
Wildcats up next The A&M men’s basketball team travels to Manhattan Saturday to take on Kansas State. A win would move the Aggies to 4-6 in Big 12 play before Monday’s showdown with Texas.
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Natalee Blanchat The Battalion To the dismay of many students and Brazos County residents, an iconic dance hall officially closed its doors. Texas Hall of Fame, the place where avid twosteppers gathered in boots and jeans, shut down Dec. 22, 2011. As per owner Johnny Lyon’s request, the Hall closed nearly 13 months after his death. Lyon struggled with lung cancer before he died in November 2010. “It killed me,” said Blair Jones, senior communication major, when he heard about the closing. Jones, who prefers to wear his signature beige cowboy hat to class, said he has always embraced his country roots and said the Hall was an outlet for him to unwind. From two-stepping on college night to spending a Sunday at an Aaron Watson concert, he said the Hall was truly a legend. “I was upset because — out of all the places in College Station — that’s the one place I liked dancing at the most. It has a lot of history and the concerts there were fantastic,” Jones said. “There’s no place like it.” Texas Hall of Fame was a popular dance hall and bar for more than 33 years. A place full of rich history, the large dance hall was equipped with a polished wooden floor, a full service bar and a stage crafted for big name bands such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. The Hall’s closing is a loss to many B-CS residents, as well. After attempts to contact Bryan city officials, the
Josh McKenna — THE BATTALION
Following the death of Johnny “The Colonel” Lyon, founding owner of the Texas Hall of Fame, the dance hall was closed prior to the planned-but-cancelled concert by Aaron Watson. future of the Hall and the land it occupies remains uncertain. One Bryan resident and former dance instructor at the Hall, Susan Quiring, said it was sold to Walmart. Quiring also said Walmart was pursuing Lyon for several years to buy and renovate the Hall into a distribution center. “The Johnny Lyon I knew would have never sold out to Walmart, at least not while he was still alive,” Quiring said. Quiring said that she remembered Lyon as some-
one who put his heart and soul into the famous bar. She said it was a place to preserve traditional country western music — from songs such as “Suds in a Bucket” to “Men Don’t Change” and “Pickin’ Wildflowers.” “He really tried to keep it true to the country western music,” Quiring said. “Johnny really wanted to keep the country western spirit alive.” Quiring said she witnessed history unfold after spending nearly two decades at the famous saloon See Hall on page 2
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