1994_03 The Daily Collegian March 1994

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SPORTS
Pagej
Tuesday, March 1,1994
V
What about
Slick Rick?
The Western Athletic Con
fereace is blessed with some of
college basketball's best coaches
from |op to bottom. ,
Texas El Paso* s Don Haskins
is a legend, winning 643 games
and a national championship in
1966 when UlTEP was known as
TexaaWesterh University.
Fresno State's Gary Colson
boasts 545 wins in his 33rd year
as a coach. Hawaii's Riley
Wallace has turned the Rainbow
Warriors into WAC contenders,
and Reggie Minton has kept Air
Force competitive despite the
Academy's strict size and aca¬
demic requirements.
— y^l BtighamYoung'sRogerReid
and New Mexico's Dave Bliss
have won at least 20 games in
each of their seasons in Provo
and Albuquerque, respectively.
I The future appears to be bright
at Colorado State, San Diego
State and Wyoming, with prom
ising young coaches Stew
Morrill, Tony Fuller and Joby
Wright leading the way.
The only coach yet to be rec¬
ognized is my personal favorite,
I Utah's Rick Majerus, someone
whose basketball knowledge is
secondary to his character and
courage.
On the court, Majerus is a
I winner, dating back to his days at
Marquette University as an as¬
sistant and head coach. He won
at Ball State and has won at Utah.
Off the court, he's a cham¬
pion.
In Milwaukee, Majerus' name
was as common as the bratwurst
and beer readily available in that
11 city. He served as an assistant to
Al McGuire when the Warriors
won the 1977 NCAA Champi¬
onship, then Hank Raymonds be¬
fore taking over in 1983.
After three seasons, 56 wins
and three trips to the National
Invitation Tournament, Majerus
changed jobs without having to
tre away from the Mecca
Arena, also the home of the
NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.    >\
Majerus spent one season un¬
der the tutelage of Don Nelson
and mo ved back to the collegiate
■ level, where in his second season
■ as Ball State's head coach, the
Cardinals went 29-3 and ad¬
vanced to the second round of
the NCAA's.
Salt Lake City, about as far
away from Milwaukee as a Wis¬
consin native can get, was
See Majtrm, page 7|
Women's Swim team making big
waves in Fresno State record^ book
By Douglas Stolhand
THECOLLEGIAN
The Fresno State women's
swimming team has been surpris¬
ing a lot of people this year. In fact,
everyone is shocked at their re¬
sults; everyone except them.
The Bulldogs have come from
obscurity to a conference power i n
. the last four years, and have done it,
in large part, thanks to head coach
Daniella Irle. Irle took over the
reigns of both the men's and
women's swim teams last year, and
in her first season guided the'Dogs,
to a 10-4 record.
, This year, the women returned
six school record holders, a third
, place finish in last year's WAC
championship, and a load of fresh¬
men talent
Despite this, few teams consid¬
ered them a power until the women
upset BYU 115-90 in their dual
the first time that FSU had beaten
BYU in a dual meet in seven previ¬
ous attempts.
The women are easily the stron¬
gest Fresno State has ever had, ac¬
cording to Irle, and has the pros¬
pects to start a dynasty.
"We have got a lot of young
pups, and they are coming through
for us very consistently." said Irle.
Newcomers Lisa Hadfield,
Justyn Diff,- Ami Bodas and Tricia
Standard .have all contributed in
large ways this year, and Irle ex- *
pec ts more from them in the future.
The future is bright for Fresno State,
and the women will be competitive
in the future.
The women are now one of the
most feared teams in the WAC, and    ming, 12 are held by curatnt swim-
Collet emerging
from the shadow
Twelve Free no State women's swimming records srs hsld by athletes
Sports Information/ Pis Photo
currently on the tssm.
the days of being taken tightly are
long gone.
Teams are starting to take no¬
tice of us, and we're starting to get
a lot of attention." said Irle. "People
are starting to realize our talent.
"This team is not cocky or arro¬
gant, just confident." Being that
the majority of the team is fresh¬
men and sophomores, the amount
progress the team has made in the
last two years is that much more
Not, only is the team improving
their record, but they are now shat¬
tering the record books. Of the
current records for women's swim¬
mers. The instant rise in success
makes many wonder what Irle is
doing to get the most out of her
swimmers.
"We' ve got a lot of new s wi m-
mers that have experience in the '
junior nationals. They all have a lot
of talent, and a lot of confidence."
said Irle.
The swimmers have performed
brilliantly all year, and if they have
any hopes of taking the WAC cham¬
pionship, t hey seed one more per¬
fect showing by every swimmer.
"We know we're the best team
in the conference', and it is just a
matter of proving it this weekend.
We need each swimmer to go out
and give their best performance.
That's all we can ask." said Irle. " ,
One thing that may keep them
from fulfilling their team potential
is the lack of a diving team. Since
they do not get to compete in the
diving program, they start off the
competition 100 points behind the
leader, 80 points behind second
place, and so on. Despite this, the
girls finished third last year, and
look to improve on that.
"The women have taken a step up
motivationally and the program is
turning into a real contender in the
WAC." said Irle. "I would hate to be
a coach coaching against our team,
because we have no weakness?'
By Douglss Stolhand
THECOLLEGIAN
Few athletes can emerge from
the shadow of a *
one of the most successful women's
track stars ever here at FSU, but
that hasn't stopped Collet from
gaining recognition for her own
efforts.
Lisa Collet is not such an athlete.
She has easily distanced herself
from the shadow of record-holder
Birgit    Bower,    the    former
heptathelete at FSU.  Bower was
high-school, but only got to start
competing in it when she reached
college.
• See Collet, page 7
a 13-8 win
 JtajtarToni
bat scored jsrtttfftimt
a>dtfrodedl54»*ett»|£!.ln
the two lease* to tWUOSU
msnijjsd four runs despite pjck-
bVtipZSWts. 7'"*"-
The defensive r*rfonasace
was just as forgettable. Id
Saturday'»lots. FSUctwattted
fiveerxrjrs,theerjyrj^bssttn«n
Kevin Gimther, and msde i total
bfl3totiWtwin»ieoL
One of fhe BuDdogs brigNer
m V
V -i
.,-/■:-
■ See Revenge, page Y
(