1994_02 The Daily Collegian February 1994

              Page 6
Thursday, Feb. 3,1994
Men's Track ready for WAC
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By Adam Brady
THECOLLEGIAN
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Bulldog head coach Red Estes goes into
the 1994 season with just one goal in mind
after finishing second in their quest for a
WAC title last year.
'"Our goal, team-wise, is to win the con¬
ference championships," said Estes. "All
other success during the season is second¬
ary to that fact."
Estes said that one season of WAC com¬
petition under the Bulldogs proverbial belt
should provide them a better idea of what
they need to do to make a run at this year's
championship.     -
"Last year was a fust experience in the
WAC and we needed to have a season to get
a feel for the conference competition," Estes
said. "We never see most of the other teams
until we get to the conference champion¬
ships." . -
This season, the Bulldogs have some¬
thing in their corner that they lacked in '93
— they will be hosting the WAC Outdoors
Championships on May 18-21 at
Warmerdam Field. With the home-track
advantage and a strong returning team (18
scorers from last year's WAC meet return),
Estes and the Bulldogs have reason to be¬
lieve they have a shot at becoming WAC
champs in just their sophomore year in the
league. | ^ •-' ■
Fresno Stale has A11-American. David
Cox and WAC Athlete of the Year Robert
Foster leading the list of returnin g athletes.
Cox, a junior, is the WAC champion in the
pole vault and owns the conference record
in the pole vault with a mark of 18-1 1/4.
That mark is also third all-time at FSU.
Foster, a senior, won the long jump and
the 55-meter hurdles in school-record time „
at the WAC Indoor Championships last '
season and. was the 110 and 400-meter
hurdles champ at the conference outdoor    •
mdet,
Robert House will embark on his junior
season as the WAC champion in the triple
jump, as he hopped, skipped and jumped his
way toa51-10 1/2 at the conference cham¬
pionship in '93.
The sprint team will be led by seniors
Terry Bowen and Whaylin Bratton: Bowen
has the team's top returning times in .both
the 100 and 200 meters and Bratton placed
fourth at the WAC outdoors in the 100 last
season. "Bratton was an ironman for the
'Dogs last year, running in 100, 200, 400
and both sprint relay teams.
"Whaylin Bratton is probably as durable
a sprinter as we have ever had," said Estes.
"We ran his wheels off last year, but he still
kept coming back strong and was a consis¬
tent contributor to the team."
Senior Jarney Harris will head a talented
distance corps. Harris redshirted during the
outdoor season, but owns the fourth-best
1,500-meter time in FSU history (3:45.45).
He also became only the third athlete in
Bulldog history to be named indoor Ail-
American when he was 11th at the 1992
NCAA Indoor Championships.
All-American Todd Riech is one of the
top returning javelin throwers in the coun¬
try. Riech took fourth in the javelin at the
1992 NCAA Outdoor Championships,
throwing 234-9, but was redshirted all of
last year. He holds the FSU record in the
event with a throw of 244-10.
Keskinov finally arrives
THECOLLEGIAN
It took longer than expected
for sophomore transfer Ivan
Keskinov to reach Fresno State,
but for the Bulgarian native, it was
well worth the wait
"I sent a letter to coach (Peter
Smith) and,it took nine months to
reach him," said Keskinov.
Finally, in December,
Keskinov' s 1-20 forms reached his
hometown of Plovdiv, Bulgaria,
and just a few weeks later, he was
in the states and competing for FSU.
But not before months of waiting in
frustration.
"I think Ivan (Keskinov) was
going through a little bit of a panic
stage for a while, because he was
being left in the dark," said Smith.
In his first match as a Bulldog,
Keskinov stymied Nevada's
Frederick Oudeville 6-1, 64 in a
qualifying match which earned him
a wild card spot in the Adidas Invi¬
tational Tournament. There,
Keskinov defeated the
tournament's sixth-seeded player
and 19th ranked player in the na¬
tion, Paul Robinson, of TCU. be¬
fore losing in the second round.
Td been anxious to see how
good he really was for the longest
time," said Smith. "I was really
impressed when I finally did get a
chance to work with him. He's easy
to coach,, he's « hard worker, and
importantly, he's very good."
KMldnov sparks FSU tennis
i Keskinov credits Smith as his
main reason for choosing FSU.
, "He (Smith) still competes, so
you can relate with him better than
you could with an older coach,"
said Keskinov. "When you have a
relationship between a rJlayer and a
coach like that, it's nice."
Keskinov begins his collegiate
tennis career after competing as a
Bulgarian Davis Cup player since
1989 as either the first or second
seed. FSU's newest' tennis force
was Bulgaria's Men's Indoor
Champion in 1989 and 1990.
Keskinov joins longtime rival
and friend Blago Petrov at FSU .
Although the two knew each other
well in Bulgaria, Petrov was not
Keskinov's reason for choosing
FSU; in fact Keskinov was not
even aware that Petrov attended
Fresno State until after he commit¬
ted to the school, himself.
"We grew up together and
played for the same school, but we
ended up at the same college by
accident," said Keskinov.
In just a moment of casual
venation, Smith asked Petrov if he
had beard of Keskinov. Fortunately
for Smith and Fresno State, Petrov
had more than just heard of him.
'It really helped having Blago
(Petrov) for details about Ivan
(Keskinov)," said Smith.
Keskinov figures to compete
for the No. 1 singles spot and is
exhilarated to be competing at the
Division 1 collegiate level.
While singles' tennis is basi¬
cally an individual sport, Keskinov
places a lot of emphasis on the
importance of helping the team.
"We all have the goal to play in
the NCAA finals, and I will be very
content to give my part and help the
team reach their goals," said
Keskinov.
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