1996_02 The Daily Collegian February 1996

              THE DAILY
s        COLLEGIAN
O Thursday, February 22,1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Brian R^Fisher
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
BULLDOG
SPORTS
* If a Fresno State athletic
event has or will happen on
campus, you'll find it here.
SCORFS
• No Games Scheduled
SCHEDULE
e games listed first)
TODAY'S GAMES
• Men's Basketball vs. #7 Utah
@ Selland Arena, 7 p.m.
• Women's Basketball @ BYU, 7
p.m.
• Golf—John/Burns Hawaii
Invitational, Kaneohe Clipper
Golf Course, All day.
• Swimming— Western Athletic
Conference Championships @
San Antonio, Texas. All day.
• Track and Field—Western
Athletic Conference Indoor
Championships, @ Air Force
Academy, All day.
• #13 Men's Tennis—National
/Team Indoor Championships @
Louisville, Ky., All day.
TOMORROWS GAMES
• Baseball @ #6 Cal^Berkeley,
2 p.m.
• Women's Tennis @ Washington
State University, 1:30 p.m.
• Swimming—Western Athletic
Conference Championships @
San Antonio, Texas, All day.
• Track and Field—Western
Athletic Conference Indoor
Championships, @ Air Force .
Academy, All day:
• #13 Men's Tennis—National
Team indoor Championships @
sville, Ky., All day.
_T*am/
COUISVI
SATURDAY. FEB. 24
• #3 Softball vs. #1 UCLA @
Bulldog Diamond (double-
header), 1 p.m.
• Men's Basketball vs. BYU @
Selland Arena, 7 p.m.
• Women's Tennis @ St. Mary's,
10 a.m.
• Baseball @ #6 Cal—Berkeley,
1 p.m.
• Woman's Basketball @ Utah, 3
p.m.
• Swimming—Western Athletic
Conference Championships @
San Antonio. Texas, All day.
• Track and Field—Western
Athletic Conference Indoor    v--
Championships, @ Air Force
Academy, All day.
BULLDOG BRIEFS
Softball tickets still
on sale
The Fresno State softball
team is attempting to break its
national single-game attendance
mark of 3,517 when the team
hosts #1 UCLA this Saturday.
Glendale Federal Bank has
joined in thedrive by selling
2,700 tickets at $3.25 a piece.
Bob Bennett's
quest for Omaha
■   Bulldog's
baseball coach
says best days
are still ahead
By David Johnson
Sports Writer
There's a side entrance into the
locker room, buried underneath the
chair-back seats in Section N at
Beiden Field.
On this door is a sign that ex¬
emplifies the tradition of winning
at Fresno State. It reads: "Bulldog
Baseball Pride. If You Are Not
Willing To Give A 100% Effort
Towards Our Quest To Omaha, Do
Not Walk Through This Door."
Just inside the door, on the right
hand wall, is the trophy case. In it
are honors that exemplify the tra¬
dition of winning at Fresno State.
A plethora of plaques, certificates
and trophies which include the
nar:C3 of All-American players and
the crown of the Western Athletic
Conference Championship.
Just inside this door, on the left
side, is an office. The man that oc¬
cupies that office, Diamond 'Dog
'Head Coach Bob Bennett, embod¬
ies the tradition of winning at
Fresno State.
"I haven't even begun to do what
I want to do," Bennett said. "Suc¬
cess is doing it more than once, for
a long period of time. Even then,
it's doing it even better than you did
before."
In his 28th season at the helm of
the Bulldogs, Bennett's record is a
stellar 1,053-584. He is currently
the llth-winningest coach of all-
time.
Fresno State currently ranks in
the nation's elite. Attendance and
the Dugout Club creates a solid sup¬
port both financially and emotion¬
ally for Bennett and his program.
Bennett has earned the respect
he deserves from his colleagues
and, most importantly, his players.
"When you come to Fresno State
you know you're going to have a
good coaching staff. [Bennett] is
one of the best head coaches around
and that's what draws in players,"
senior shortstop Ben Reynoso said.
Bennett has led his team to 15
conference titles in five different
conferences. He has won Confer¬
ence Coach of the year 14 times,
received the NCAA Regional
Coach of the year in 199!, and re¬
ceived NCAA Coach of the Year in
1988.
The determination evident in
Bennett's philosophy, and in his
team's record, earned him a berth
in the American Baseball Coaches
Association Hall of Fame.
"When we play in the summer,
people look at you differently be¬
cause you come from a program
like this," senior catcher Matt Curtis
said. " It is evident that he is re¬
spected on the national level with
they way you're approached as a
Fresno State baseball player."
At 62, Bennett's life has been
consumedVith baseball, and he has
no intention of retiring anytime
soon.
"I plan on sticking around until
I'm ready to retire," he said." And
I'm not ready to retire right.now."
Ryan McKee — The Daily Collegian
Bob Bennett is the 11th winningest coach of all time
He began playing the game at
age five and continued with it
through American Legion, high
school and finally Fresno State.
As a player at Fresno State, he
was a four year letterman and re¬
ceived All-Conference honors as a
catcher. Bennett played under the
legendary Coach Pete Beiden with
whom he maintained a strong rela¬
tionship, as he did with all of his
coaches.
"[Beiden] was one of my he¬
roes," Bennett said. "My coaches
have done so much for me to point
me in the right direction. I've been
really lucky to have had a good
background in coaching."
Bennett's original intention was
to play ball in college until he
signed a professional contract. The
experience he gained playing for
Beiden, however, prompted him
decide to graduate with a degree in
PE. and then go on to cefcehing.
Please see BENNETT, Page 7.
Hawaii's Harris named Player of the Week
h
By Matt Croce
Sports Writer
Hawaii senior guard Anthony
Harris was named this week's
WAC Player of the Week for his
stellar performances against
Brigham Young and Utah. Harris,
the WAC's leading scorer at 24.1
points per game, averaged 25.0
points, shot 50 percent (17-34) from
the floor and 83 percent (15-18) at
the free throw line as the Rainbows
split their two games with Brigham
Young and Utah. His best game
came in Hawaii's 94-89 win at
BYU, where he scored 31 points on
10 of 16 shooting and made 10 of
13 free throws, including 4 of 5 at
the free throw stripe in the game's
final two minutes. It was the Rain¬
bows' first win at Provo since 1989
and their first road win of the sea¬
son. Against the seventh-ranked
two games.
Additional WAC nominees from
last week: BYU's Bryon Ruffner
matched a season-high with 28
points against SDSU and then fol¬
lowed that up with 32 points ver¬
sus Hawaii.
Colorado State's Delmonte
Madison scored a team-high 20
points, grabbed 8 rebounds and
handed out three assists in the
Rams' win over UTEP.
Wyoming's LaDrell
Whitehead averaged 22.7 points,
4.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in
three games last week. Whitehead
scored 16 points and dished out
seven assists in the Cowboys' up¬
set of Utah last Monday.
Fresno State point guard
Dominkk Young had a career-high
7 steals in Fresno State's win Sat¬
urday night against Air Force.
Young added 11 points and 9 as¬
sists.
Trenkle named to JC Hall of
Fame
San Diego State head coach
Fred Trenkle, in his second season
at SDSU, was recently selected by
the National Junior College Basket¬
ball Coaches Association to the Na¬
tional Junior College Basketball
Hall of Fame. Trenkle went to the
Aztecs after posting a 329-34 mark
in 10 seasons at the College of
Southern Idaho, where he was
named national Junior College
Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1992:
Trenkle's squad has been the sur¬
prise of the. WAC this season. With __
five conference games to play, the
Aztecs (currently 13-10, 7-7 in
WAC play) have a chance to equal
'he school record for most WAC
wins in a single season (11), which
was achieved by both the 1981-82
and 1984-85 squad.
Carter quietly putting up big
numbers for Aztecs
Aztec center Leon Carter has
quietly been having a solid season
for SDSU. The 6' 10" Carter, from
Green River, Utah, is averaging
16.6 points per game, and 9.7 re¬
bounds per game in WAC play. He
is shooting 63 percent from the field
and 78 percent from the free throw
Please see WAC, Page 7.
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