SAN DIEGO COLLEGE NOTEBOOK : Switch to Soccer Doesn’t Slow Klintworth
With six minutes remaining in a second overtime period in UC San Diego’s NCAA Division III women’s soccer first-round match Saturday, Diana Klintworth saw her dream of becoming a rare two-sport national champion end.
In driving snow and sleet in Winona, Minn., Macalester College forward Jessi Ebertz headed in the game’s only goal in the 114th minute to advance. UCSD, the 1989 champion, and Klintworth were left in the cold.
Klintworth, 22, had resumed her soccer career only three months ago after a six-year hiatus.
She had spent her first four years in La Jolla establishing herself as one of the best women volleyball players in school history. She had not played soccer since her sophomore year at Torrance High.
In her volleyball career, Klintworth helped UCSD win three consecutive NCAA Division III championships. She was twice named All-American and a UCSD athlete of the year. She holds school career records for kills (1,172) and attacks (3,026), and teams she played on combined for a 127-31 record, 12-1 in postseason matches.
As a center fullback in soccer, Klintworth helped the young Tritons to a 14-3-2 record, including 13 shutouts.
“She didn’t add soccer experience, just experience,” said Jennifer Kingsbury, the only other senior on UCSD’s 18-player roster. “It would have been difficult finding someone to do what she did. Without her, we would have had to put a freshman in there, and it would have been a whole different season.”
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Klintworth said of her soccer comeback. “I didn’t know if (Coach Brian McManus) would want to deal with a one-year player.”
Said McManus, “The other players were worried, too. They wondered how she was going to handle things. They wondered if she would be able to handle the transition.
“She made the transition great. By the end of preseason, she had all her skills back. She’s dominant in the air. Volleyball helped, with all that jumping. That’s her main help back there.”
McManus shouldn’t have been surprised. Klintworth has a history of excellence.
She graduated high school with a 3.89 grade-point average and has a 3.2 at UCSD. For 2 1/2 years she has worked as a sports assistant for the Tritons’ intramural program. She is one of two students serving on an advisory committee that helped pass (by a student vote) a $30-million, 5,000-seat, multi-purpose campus arena, which is scheduled to open in 1994.
She is also a member of the Triton Athletic Council (TAC), which meets twice a month to discuss athletic problems and plan social events.
“I just think a lot of students feel anything they say won’t be heard, and that’s not true,” Klintworth said. “One time, I mentioned that the volleyball standards were bad. And boom, we got new ones.
“It helps us to get a say in what’s happening. Rather than sit around, I’d rather make sure things get done.”
The wonders of technology: The University of San Diego men’s soccer team, not entirely certain it was going to get an at-large berth in this year’s NCAA playoffs, gathered at a Mission Valley restaurant Monday morning to watch the pairings meeting on a satellite station.
“There was a collective hoot when we got picked,” USD Coach Seamus McFadden said.
Add USD soccer: University of San Diego High School as well as a number of local schools will be well represented when USD takes on Portland in Sunday’s first-round match at Portland.
Two former Dons--freshman goalie Tom Tate and senior midfielder Leo Ronces--play for USD. Two more--freshman Kevin Fay and sophomore Yari Allnutt--play for Portland. (USD also has a player--Devin Samaha--that played for University High in Irvine.)
Tate has an impressive .839 goals against average, including a West Coast Conference leading nine shutouts for USD (15-2-5), which is making its first postseason appearance. Ronces is one of five Toreros with 20 more points this season. All of them are local recruits as well: Paul Gelvezon (Mira Mesa High and Mesa College), Charles Adair (Hilltop High and SDSU), Phillip Button (The Bishop’s School) and Toby Taitano (Valhalla High).
In all, USD and Portland have 15 former San Diego high school players.
Offensive: Palomar Community College quarterback Bret Salisbury threw for 403 yards and six touchdowns in Saturday’s 46-34 victory over San Diego Mesa.
Salisbury now has 237 completions, 11 fewer than the national record set by the Comets Scott Barrick last year and four more than another Comet, Duffy Daugherty, had in 1988. Salisbury also has 24 touchdown passes, one fewer than the Mission Conference record held by Keith Jarrett of Orange Coast in 1987.
Grossmont College rushed for a Mission Conference record 472 yards in a 54-14 victory over San Diego City. Running backs Shawn Anderson had 111 yards in 12 carries and Rick Viereck 101 in 10 carries. The old record was 471 by Mt. San Antonio in a 1989 against Palomar.
San Diego State plays an important Western Athletic Conference women’s volleyball match Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Peterson Gym against WAC leader New Mexico (16-4, 6-1). The Aztecs (19-9, 4-3) still have a shot at the conference title and an NCAA playoff berth.
Laurel Brassey Kessel, who played for SDSU Coach Rudy Suwara in 1981, is the Lobos’ coach. Kessel, who Suwara said was perhaps the greatest player--man or woman-- at SDSU, was a member of the U.S. National team from 1972-80 and 1987-88. She played in the 1980 and 1988 Olympics.