1997_08 The Daily Collegian August 1997

              THE DAILY
£ COLLEGIAN
O       Wednesday, August 27, 1997
Sports
Hegarty brings youth to men's tennis
CORNER
Volleyball to be tested
in the early season
The Fresno State volleyhall
team will jump right in against
a top 20 team this weekend when
the Bulldogs travel to Malihu to
participate in the Paul Mitchell
Volleyball Classic. The two-day.
six-team tournament field fea¬
tures Fresno State. No. 16
Loyola Marymount. Northern
Arizona, Tulane. UC Irvine, and
host Pepperdinc.
Fresno State will meet its first
Top 25 team of the season when
it battles 16th ranked Loyola
Mar-mount. which posted a 26-
3 record and advanced to the
third round of the NCAA Tour¬
nament last season. Receiving a
first round bye, the then seventh-
ranked Lions beat No. 14 UC
Santa Barbara (3-1) before drop¬
ping a four-game match to No.
11 Washington State.
Fresno State opens its 1997
campaign with four straight in¬
vitations before beginning West¬
ern Athletic Conference play at
the end of September. In the first
month of the season, the Bull¬
dogs will be on the road for 12
of their 16 matches.
-Sports Information
WAC changes
schedule
A change has been made in
the WAC scheduling format for
1997. Each team will play 14
WAC matches, homc-and-homc
against their division members,
that count in league-only stand¬
ings. The crossover scries,
homc-and-home against an op¬
ponent in the opposite division,
will be played if one of the two
count in the WAC standings this
season as it did in 1996.
-Sports Information
Cross country teams
to run watermelons
The Bulldogs will open the
season this Saturday. August 30
at the annual Watermelon Run
on the Fresno State campus.
There will be three races and
the event is open to the public.
Registration will take place at 8
a.m., entry cost is $3.
-Sports Information
By Kyoko Hoshino
The Daily Collegian
Growing youngsters arise
people's interests: They have a lot
of potential and nobody knows how
far they can go. That what this
year's Fresno State men's tennis
team is all about.
This year, the team is made up
of mainly young players. There is
only one senior in the team. Add to
that youth, new head coach 26-year-
old Michael Hegarty.
Hegarty, a former Kentucky
Wildcats' assistant coach, has taken
over for Peter Smith.^who left for
Pepperdine after last season.
"I've been an assistant coach for
the past three years. This is my first
time as a head coach. I am certainly
excited about that," Hegarty said.
"The team and coach arc learning
at the same time to make up for
dedication. I am excited about hav¬
ing a young team. There are a lot of
possibilities."
Hegarty was names Fresno
State's coach in June, after he had
been an assistant coach for Auburn
in 1994-95. Arkansas in 1995-96
and last season at Kentucky, which
finished fifth in the nation.
"I came here because I've been
successful in tennis and I've have
been in good programs. I wanted
to begin my head coaching at the
place where I feel I can be success¬
ful." Hegarty said, adding that
Fresno is a good place for collegiate
tennis because it has a good com¬
munity, good facilities and weather.
Ryan Weber - The Daily Collegian
From down under. 26-year-old Micahel Hegarty was named men's
tennis team head coach last June. Hegarty, a former professional
player, will look to continue the winning tradition at Fresno State.
A native of Melbourne, Austra¬
lia, Hegarty has played tennis since
he was five years old.
"Tennis has been a part of my
life since I can remember," he said.
While he was in Australia, he
was one of the best high school
players in the world. Then, he came
to the United States to make his
dream come true.
"There is no method out of High
School in Australia to play tennis
and do academics together. You
basically need to go lo college as a
student or have to turn pro,"
Hegarty said. "I wanted to save my
tennis career and also get my edu¬
cation."
When he arrived to the United
States, Hegarty played at Auburn,
where he was ranked in the Top 20
in his junior and senior seasons.
After graduation, he turned pro and
played on the professional tour for
a year and was ranked as high as
248th in the world. However, he
wanted to come back to college
tennis.
"I had to get back to college ten¬
nis for coaching," Hegartysaid. "I
love college tennis the most. It's
more fun. more exciting and more
rewarding than any other moments
of tennis I have ever been involved
with."
He also said college tennis in¬
cludes high level of camaraderie.
"That makes me want to stay jn
college tennis forever."
There is another thing which at¬
tracts him to college tennis.
"The unity is all about college
sports. So much fun," Hegarty
said. "The one negative thing
about tennis is that it's an individual
sport. It's different from football or
basketball, whose players have a
great feeling to be on a team."
Hegarty is young, but he also has
much experience in tennis and phi¬
losophy in coaching. He said that
tennis is a good education tool for
young people who need the right
direction. Tennis will teach not only
the importance of winning but also
the importance of quality people,*hc
added.
"I want to be part of the build¬
ing good citizens. Do things in a
right way and be good people,"
Hegarty said. "I am a technical
coach, but more so, I am a work
ethic coach. That's my basic coach¬
ing philosophy."
His professional tour career will
also help young players to know the
real world. "(In the real world) I've
learned a little more insight and a
strategy of the games," Hegarty
said. "I can tell them and I can show
them."
Former Bulldog star Fredrik
Giers is pleased to have a young
coach.
"I think he'll do well. Young is
good because it makes is easier for
young guys to have a guy coming
in," Giers said. "He knows what
college tennis is all about because
he was a good player."
Hegarty is a young, but his
dream has changed.
"Obviously, I want the national
title," he said.
Build
og runners take attitude to the road
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
Cross country is the purest sport,
or so says Fresno State Head Coach
Red Estes. And after hearing his
argument, it would be very hard to
contradict him.
"The main thrust of crosscoun¬
try is head-to-head competition."
Estes said. "There are not fairer or
more equal competition."
That's a philosophy Estes has
gathered in his 38th season as the
Bulldogs' head coach. A philoso¬
phy he hopes his teams can pick up
as they open their season.
as the top runners. "They had a
good summe*" Estes said. "They
are fit."
Senior Juan Pinales is another
runner Estes is counting on to
complement the top runners.
"He is a very good runner,"
Estes said. "He should be one of our
top runners."
Capping off the top five Estes'
men's team should be Tim Padilla.
"He should hard to keep off the Top
5."
The finishing places of those
runners are added at the end of the
meet "It's like gfjlf," Estes said.
-----. .fcMiu•jiaicvTncVrihiu-wron~ici<-a-
cross country teams opened their
season with their main goal improv¬
ing being improving on last year's
standings.
"We arc hoping to place three
places higher this year," said senior
Kelly Jacobson. She is one of the
top runners Estes is counting will
lead the women's team.
Estes figures sophomore Nicole
Kulikov to be the team's top run¬
ner this season. Estes said Kulikov
has improved in her running
through perseverance.
Sarah Dawson, Melissa Aronson
and Karen Mitchell figured to round
up the top five spots.
On the men's side, Alejandro
Ramirez, Greg Tademy and Chris
Coleman came out of training camp
.score.
Having a balanced group of run¬
ners who arc don't spread out too
much during the race is important,
Estes said. Incross country only the
top five runners score for the team.
The teams will participate in
only one conference meet during
their season, h is on that meet where
the championship is decided.
That meet will take place at
Woodward Park. "We're very ex¬
cited about hosting the conference
meet," Estes said.
Woodward Park has been the site
of high school, junior college and
college meets. "Woodward Park has
become as well trotted course as
you can find in any other place in
California," Estes said.
Ryan Weber — The Daily Collegian
On the road again. Nicole Kulikov, front, and Kelly Jacobson lead
the Women's cross country team for a practice run. Fresno State
cross country teams will look to improve their conference placing
from last year.