Titan Men’s Gymnastics Team to Compete Another Year

Cal State Fullerton will field a men’s gymnastics team for at least another season and has hired David Stow as its new coach, according to Steve DiTolla, senior associate athletic director.

Stow, a 1985 graduate of El Dorado High School who competed at UC Santa Barbara, will take over for Dick Wolfe, who resigned last spring after 23 years at the school.

Stow, who will be 24 next week, participated in the 1988 and ’89 NCAA meets and was an assistant coach for the Gauchos last season. He was a regular in Titan Youth Gymnastics programs.

“I literally grew up in this gym since I was 5 years old, so I’m familiar with everything about the program,” Stow said in a press release. “All my club coaches were Titan alums and I’ll be relying on them to get things back together.”

Two gymnasts from last season’s team, Michael Delaney and Roger Donate, and one who redshirted, Tony Hang, are enrolled in school, and Stow has lined up five or six other students to fill out the roster.

DiTolla said Stow will start with a $10,000 budget--which isn’t enough to provide two full scholarships--and will have to raise additional funds to sustain the program. The constant struggle to keep the program alive and competitive was the main reason Wolfe resigned in May.

DiTolla also is in the process of creating a task force to evaluate men’s gymnastics over the next year. Many schools have dropped the sport in recent years, leaving about 40 college men’s teams.

DiTolla said the task force will consist of student, faculty and community representatives.

“We just want to review the program,” DiTolla said. “Knowing gymnastics has had problems nationwide, we want to make sure it’s in the best interests of our athletic department to field a team.”

Many figured Wolfe’s resignation would signal the end of men’s gymnastics at Fullerton. Five of last season’s nine team members were seniors, and Wolfe did not recruit any new gymnasts last spring. The Titans don’t belong to a conference, and crowds for meets have been dwindling.

But Stow remains undaunted.

“In some ways, it’s easier to start from anew,” Stow said. “Dick Wolfe would be a tough act to follow.”

Titan Notes

Regina Webster, an assistant to the president of Pomona College for the past four years, has been hired as an assistant Titan Athletic Foundation director. The school is still looking to replace TAF Executive Director Walt Bowman, who resigned recently to become athletic director at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.