College Review : Talent on Campus Gives Track Coach Good Start at UCSD

There is no heritage in track and field at UC San Diego. But just give Mark Stanforth a little time.

Stanforth was hired to take over a not-so-great track program last August after he spent seven years as a part-time coach at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Ariz. Without time to recruit, Stanforth focused on his new campus as a pool of potential athletes.

The results:

UC San Diego has qualified five athletes in eight events for the NCAA Division III men’s and women’s championships next Tuesday through Saturday at Northfield, Minn. Stanforth hopes to qualify one or two more at meets this weekend.

And this group of non-recruits has broken 18 school records this season.

Stanforth admits that the previous records were “soft,” but he hopes this is the beginning of a solid track program at UCSD.

“Most of the school records now are at least respectable,” Stanforth said. “I hope a couple years from now, there aren’t any records older than this season.

“Our decision has been to build an all-around team, eventually build a program that will be in the top five or six nationally for both men and women.”

The Tritons will benefit from a new all-weather track facility that is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Stanforth figures that the program also will benefit from a year of recruiting.

“We think we have had a pretty solid recruiting year,” Stanforth said. “Realistically, it will take three recruiting years to get a complete team built.”

In past years, UCSD would have perhaps 20 athletes try out for track. This year, Stanforth searched the campus for prospects and got 60 to try out.

One of his finds is Shannon Quigley, who played on the Tritons’ volleyball team last season. Quigley, who has qualified for the nationals in the discus (136-10) and shotput (42-7), had thrown just one time in high school.

“She’s good right now and will be very good in the future,” Stanforth said. “And she’s someone who in the past wouldn’t have gone out for track. Kids weren’t aware track was really going on.”

Besides Quigley, a sophomore, four other athletes have qualified for the Division III nationals: Gisele English (Coronado High) in the 1,500 meters (4:37.06); freshman Denise McFayden (Mira Mesa High) in the 1,500 (4:32.5), 3,000 (9:56.1) and 5,000 (17:29.9); Tim Vallez in the 800 (1:51.88), and Rick Harper in the pole vault (15-1).

Gary Zarecky, the U.S. International University basketball coach, has completed his recruiting season, signing eight players, including five from community colleges.

Half the players are from San Diego area community colleges or high schools, including two former Lincoln High players: Curtis Anderson (6-feet 8-inches, 205 pounds, forward) averaged 13 points for San Diego City College, and DeShang Weaver (6-8, 185, forward) averaged 21.2 points and 7.4 rebounds for Arizona Western his sophomore season.

Zarecky also signed a pair of Palomar Community College players, including all-state guard/forward Gary Williams, who averaged 27 points per game this past season while leading Palomar to the Pacific Coast Conference title and a state tournament berth. USIU also signed Palomar’s Jake Hodges, a 6-2 point guard who averaged 11.5 points and 6 assists.

Paul Wilson (6-3, 180, guard), from Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, Ind., rounds out the community college signees. He averaged 22 points during his sophomore season.

USIU signed just two high school players, including Willie Davis, a point guard from Morse High. Davis (6-0, 165) averaged 16.5 points per game for Morse, which reached the San Diego Section finals. The Gulls also signed Algenoid Banks (6-4, 180, forward) from powerful Crenshaw High in Los Angeles. He averaged 4 points and 2 rebounds last season.

Another freshman signee is 21-year-old Greg Howard, who joined the Navy for three years after high school and still has four years of eligibility. Howard (6-6, 202, forward), from Clarke Central High in Athens, Ga., averaged 14 points his senior season.

Zarecky is going to need some experienced players with the tough schedule USIU will play next season.

USIU plays at Syracuse, Oklahoma and Rhode Island--all of which advanced to the NCAA tournament--as well as USC, California, St. Mary’s and Fresno State. The Gulls will play another NCAA tournament team at home, defending West Coast Athletic Conference champion Loyola Marymount.

USIU also has its traditional games against San Diego State and the University of San Diego, as well as games against UC San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene College.

Notes

The UC San Diego women’s water polo team finished third in the college national championships at Annapolis, Maryland. UC Davis defeated UC Santa Barbara in the title game. . . . Outfielder Don Young was named the Pacific Coast Conference player of the year despite Grossmont’s fourth-place finish in the league. Young, a sophomore, hit .426 with 37 runs scored, 5 home runs and 23 runs batted in. . . . Jackie Anderson of San Diego Mesa leads the state in the triple and long jumps. Anderson, from Mt. Miguel High, set the national community college record in the triple jump with a 42-4 mark in April. Her best long jump is 19-0 1/2. Michele Strachan of Mesa is third at 18-4 1/2. Sandra Samuelson (San Diego City) is second in the 1,500 meters (4:41.3), and Robin Eager of Mira Costa is third at 4:41.85. Larry Williams of Mesa is tops in the state in the 400-meter hurdles (51.6), and Mesa’s Osmond Swangegan is second at 51.75. Grossmont’s Craig Johnson is second in the javelin with a throw of 209-3.