UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / ROBYN NORWOOD : Swimmers Will Gain Big Ground in the Big West, Coach Says

The only UC Irvine swimmer to make the NCAA championships is gone. Brian Pajer ended his remarkable career with an All-American performance at the NCAA championships last year.

Now, the question for Coach Charlie Schober is who’s next.

Could it be Mat Curry, a senior whose best time in the 100 freestyle is just 6/10 of a second off the NCAA qualifying time, and whose time in the 100 backstroke is only 8/10 of a second away?

Or Jeff Klatt, a junior butterflyer who is close as well?

“We’re talking tenths of a second,” said Schober, who is in his 11th season at Irvine. “That’s right there.”

What about Danielle Pajer, a junior breaststroker who made the U.S. senior nationals last year?

“She’s in striking distance of the NCAAs this year,” Schober said. “I think we’re sitting in position to have qualifiers this year.”

And if not this year, surely in the next few, Schober thinks. The Anteaters enter an early season invitational meet at USC this weekend with rosters loaded with freshmen.

Schober believes the team is embarking upon a new era. “We’ve reached that level where Irvine is a good place to go rather than a last place,” Schober said. “In the past, it was the kind of thing where if nothing else works out, go here. Now it’s becoming a primary choice.”

Schober attributes the new attitude to the university’s growing prestige and to the improvement of the swim teams.

With freshmen such as Liz Koch, who won the 100-meter butterfly and the 200 backstroke in the team’s opening meet, and Erik Walton, who won the 100 backstroke, Irvine should improve. To Schober, that means moving the women, who finished sixth last season, into the top four in the Big West Conference, and moving the men, who tied for third, into contention for the championship.

Another season has begun for Bill Mulligan’s no-apologies run-and-gun Anteaters, who play their second exhibition game Monday in Bren Center against the Finnish national team.

Mulligan has a set of 10 offensive goals for this team-- and , take note, a list of defensive goals.

Of course there are only eight defensive goals.

The goals for the offense, according to Mulligan:

--Average 95 points per game.

--Shoot 50% from the field.

--Shoot 80% from the free-throw line.

--Attempt 30 free throws.

--Attempt 25 fast breaks.

--Shoot 60% on the fast break.

--Commit 14 or fewer turnovers.

--Get 15 offensive rebounds.

--Attempt 30 three-pointers.

--Rebound 80% of their three-point attempts.

And the goals for the defense?

“Force 22 or more turnovers,” Mulligan said.

“Take four charges.”

But before you know it--before you know even three of the eight goals--Mulligan loses interest.

The Finnish team plays two games in Arizona this week before playing Chapman Saturday and facing Irvine on Monday.

The men’s and women’s cross-country teams, each of which won the Big West Conference championship last weekend, compete in the NCAA Region 8 championships Saturday in Fresno.

The top two teams in each of eight regions automatically qualify for the NCAA championships Nov. 19 in Knoxville, Tenn., with six other teams making it as wild cards.

Mike Roberts, seeded eighth, is the top UC Irvine player competing in the Rolex-ITCA Southern California men’s tennis championships today through Sunday at UC Irvine.

Arizona’s Doug Livingston, ranked 20th in the nation in a preseason poll, is seeded first, and UC Santa Barbara’s David Decret, ranked 17th, is seeded second.

Other top players include USC teammates Andras Lanyi and Donny Isaak, Pepperdine’s Howard Joffee, Arizona’s Scott Sigerseth and UCLA’s Bill Behrens.

The top-seeded doubles team is Isaak and David Ekerot, both of USC.

The first round of the singles and doubles tournaments begins today.

The singles final is at 10 a.m. Sunday, with doubles semifinals at 11:30 and the doubles final at 1:30.

Roberts was in Texas last weekend to play singles at an indoor invitational tournament in Abilene. But when Texas Christian’s Ota Vizeh came up without a doubles partner shortly before his first match, he picked up Roberts, and the pair marched through the draw to win the title.

Anteater Notes

Kim Collins became the UC Irvine women’s volleyball career leader in kills last week. Her 1,224 kills passed the mark of 1,183 set last year by Ali Wood. Freshman Traci Webb already is fourth on the career list in set assists with 726. . . . The men’s soccer team finished its season with a 5-14-2 mark, two more victories than last season. The women’s soccer team finished 6-12-2, slightly better than last year’s 5-11-4.