1995_09 The Daily Collegian September 1995

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Friday, September 1,1995
'Dog is bound to have his day
By Jason Boust
Staff Writer
They say that every 'Dog has his
day. But for receiver Charlie Jones,
it's been more like 1,095. That's
equivalent to the three years he's
been at Fresno State.
During his career
as a Bulldog,
Jones, has put up
numbers that have
not only put him in
the position to
shatter three
Fresno State
records, but have
also made him a
national attraction.
He's third on the
career receptions
list with 116, third
in career receiving
yards with 2,173
and third in career
touchdown receptions with 16.
Barring injuries, his season
should be nothing short of spectacu¬
lar. Jones ended last season as a first
team all-Western Athletic
Confrence selection. He led the
Bulldogs in receptions (54), receiv¬
ing yards (971) and touchdown re¬
ceptions (six).
In today's world of college foot¬
ball, it's rare to find a celebrated
player that still has a certain humil-
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Charlie Jones
ity to him. But Charlie Jones isn't
your normal celebrated player.
Despite all the attention, espe¬
cially heading into this season,
Jones remains focused.
"If I can take care of the little
things, the bjg things [like the NFL
and a successful
future] will take
care of them¬
selves." Jones said.
"This year I just
want to win the
WAC, and go out
with a bang. Not
only for my self but
for the rest of the
seniors also. I don't
want a three-way
tie [referring to the
Bulldogs' first two
seasons in the
WAC in which
they shared the
league title], I want
it by ourselves."
Those comments seem to sum up
Charlie Jones as an athlete. He's not
selfish; rather, he thinks of the team
first and always. Dave Telford, who
is wide receiver coach, had noth¬
ing but praise for his star receiver.
"He leads mostly by example,"
Telford said. "Sure he yells and
whoops it up, but the other players
see how he performs on Saturday's
and how he works in practice, and
they try to follow him."
Jones, who was born in Han ford,
learned his work ethic at an early
"My mom is my whole life," he
said. "Without her, none of this
would be possible. She's the one
that keeps me going. From day one,
whenever I'd playsports she would
never let me quit. She taught me not
to give up."
The first day that Jones men¬
tioned began at Lemoore High
"School. There he played football
under coach Tom Sembritski, who
now coaches at Hanford High.
In 1990, his senior season, Jones
earned all-northern California, all-
Central Section, and all-West
Yosemife League honors. He was
also named the WYL co-defensive
player of the year. In addition to
receiver, tailback, and kick returner,
Jones managed to squeeze in some
time at cornerback.
"Charlie is a very talented ath¬
lete," Sembritski said. "Everyone is
drawn to him."
Sembritski said that initially he
and his staff thought Jones was dog¬
ging it and playing like a lazy, im¬
mature kid. But speed is deceiving.
"We'd yell at him for jogging but
then we'd realize, no one was catch¬
ing him," Sembritski said. "He runs
very smooth."
' In this past off-season Jones con¬
tinued to work on his smooth run¬
ning style. His 40-yard dash time is
down to an unbelievable 4.35, and
in addition, he has been working on
his running form. He also spent a
great deal of this off-season in the
weight room.
"This season was the hardest I've
ever worked out," Jones said. "I did
a lot of lifting and have really in¬
creased my strength."
Jones appeared noticeably bigger,
but the 5-foot-10-inch, 170 pound
senior still deals with critics who say
that despite his ability, he's too small
for the NFL.
"You're always going to have
your critics no matter how good you .
are," he said. "You can't worry about
what other people say, you've just
got to go out there and do your job."
When asked if the NFL was a pri¬
ority of his, he had this to say, "It
would be a dream come true, but
there are other things in life besides
pro-football. That's why I didn't
leave early. I want to get that di¬
ploma."
"Even if you make it [to the
NFL], you could be out the next
year so you always have to have
something to fall back on," Jones
said.
Jones is a speech communica¬
tions major. He spent a lot of time
with the Boys and Girls Clubs of
west Fresno this summer!
"I worked to try to keep them
out of trouble and get them on to
sports," Jones said. "I wanted to try
and keep them out of gangs and to
get their heads on straight."
"I think athletes need to start
dealing with the kids more to help
them have a straighter life."
There's no question that Charlie
Jones is a talented 'Dog. Be as¬
sured, his "days" have just begun.
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MEASURE FOR
MEASURE
Paul Martinez - The Daily Collegian
Heading into action. Erin Barry and Meagen Noble lead the 6
lady 'Dogs into WAC play.
INAUGURAL: A new era begins
Continued from page 6.
opponents' attack. With no backup
at this position, Reynaud may face a
crisis between the posts if these
players don't stay healthy.
Defenders - Erinne Dommert,
Sara Yudin, Cheryl Gano, and Sarah
Chavez form the freshman core of
Reynaud's most heavily-recruited
position for this initial season. The
team also has experience here with
four seniors:.Sally Carr, Kim
Wilhelm, Kjm Karner and Susie
Daher. Reynaud knows losing
seasons don't exactly bring on an
avalanche of fresh recruits, nor does
it bring on a shower of increased
funding and exposure, and his
carefully-picked group of defenders
will act as insurance against that
Midfield - Reynaud leaned
toward defensive midfielders in his
recruitment for this inaugural
season, but in the central midfield he
picked up attacking halfback Erin
Barry, freshman Michelle Hackett
and Amber Jacobsen from Azusa
Pacific. Defender Yudin also does
double-duty at this position.
On the outside are freshmen
Carly Doubrava, Ashley Hatfield,
Briana Nagle and Elizabeth Pappas
who was headed to Sonoma.
Reynaud expects good things from
this group, and in fact the success
xofithe team's first season is pivotal
for the midfield - it must defend
well in the often-confusing early
games and set up, if not produce,
goals in the latter half of the
season.
Forwards - Because of the
situation that Reynaud finds
himself in, and because he has a
defensive-minded philosophy,
there is room for only two
forwards. Villa has scored plenty
of goals for him in three y,ears as
striker at Sonoma State, and
Meagan Noble, a junior transfer
from Bakersfield, also has shown
a great deal of promise at this
position.