CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Men’s Gymnastics Team to Make Its Final Home Appearance

Without much fanfare, the Cal State Fullerton men’s gymnastics team will make its final Titan Gym appearance when it faces Army at 7:30 tonight.

After threatening to do so for the past two years, the school finally pulled the plug on men’s gymnastics, announcing in January that the 24-year-old program would be dropped along with women’s volleyball.

The volleyball team, saying the move violated state sex discrimination codes, filed a lawsuit against the school and has been temporarily reinstated. The gymnastics team, on the other hand, will not go out kicking and screaming.

“I think we got burned, but there’s not much I can do,” first-year Coach David Stow said. “There’s basically nothing I can do.”

Stow expects several former gymnasts to come to the meet. He said he’ll make some kind of public announcement commemorating the occasion and pass out some team awards.

Beyond that, the only thing that might elevate the event is an appearance by Dick Wolfe, who resigned last year after 23 seasons as Titan coach and is now working as a personal fitness trainer in Laguna Beach.

Wolfe, who was bitter toward the school when he resigned--his salary had been sliced in half last season, and his operating budget had been reduced to a minuscule $5,000--said there’s a chance he’ll come tonight.

One attraction for Wolfe is the fact that Army is coached by former Titan gymnast Doug Vaneveren, who competed under Wolfe in the early 1980s.

“Part of me would like to be there, to see old friends,” Wolfe said. “And part of me says don’t look back.”

Wolfe, who guided Fullerton to College Division NCAA championships in 1971, ’72 and ‘74, said he hardly slept for three nights after hearing in January that the program would be dropped.

“It’s funny, I really don’t have any bad feelings about it, but I was ill at ease at the time,” Wolfe said. “I put a lot of blood and sweat into it. It’s not my program, but I still have feelings for it.”

These days, Wolfe, 52, is focusing much of his energy on his 11- and 8-year-old sons, who are very active in athletics.

“You don’t realize just how much time coaching takes,” Wolfe said. “From the time I was 20, I was in the gym every day from 1:30 to 5 p.m. You can say you’re a good dad and give your kids quality time, but I’ve had some new experiences, like being home when they get home from school, talking to them about their day. It’s a real luxury. You just have to be real old to do that, I guess.”

Practice Makes Perfect: Junior right-hander Marcus Nelson had pitched only one inning for the Titan baseball team before Sunday’s game against UC Santa Barbara. But his three-inning, six-strikeout, no-hit relief performance in Fullerton’s 7-5 victory should earn him more playing time.

Nelson, a Marina High School graduate who played at Cerritos College and Utah before transferring to Fullerton, entered the game with a runner on third and one out in the top of the sixth inning.

He struck out power hitter Chris Johnson, hit the next batter, then struck out Elgin Lowe to end the inning and keep the Titans within four runs (5-1) of the Gauchos. Fullerton scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and won the game on Craig Fairbrother’s three-run homer in the ninth.

“It really makes you happy when a guy goes about his business in the bullpen and in practice, and that allows him to come out of the blue and contribute in such a positive way,” said George Horton, Titan associate head coach. “He’s now put himself into a position where he’s going to contribute some more.”

Hit Men: Fullerton and Santa Barbara tied an NCAA record Sunday for most hit batters in a game at eight, five of them Titans. None of the hit batsmen sparked a brawl, but some might have been intentional--by the batters, that is.

“We don’t ask them to intentionally get hit, but we don’t ask them to get away from inside curveballs, either,” Horton said. “We have scrappy guys, like (leadoff hitter Steve) Sisco, who will do anything to help the team. We needed to get some runs.”

Sisco scored after getting hit by a pitch in the third inning. Frank Herman was hit to lead off the fifth and Sisco was hit again to lead off the eighth, but neither scored.

In Your Face: Joey Ray didn’t have too much time to dwell on a frustrating basketball season. The senior guard who shot only 34% for the 11-17 Titans joined the Fullerton softball team for practice Monday, and hopes to contribute as a reserve infielder.

But she said there was no mystery to her subpar basketball season, which came after a junior year in which the long-range specialist made 40% of her shots.

“People were in my face all game, and I guess it bothered me,” said Ray, who averaged 16.5 points. “Last year, everyone focused on (All-American center) Genia Miller, and when she passed the ball out, I’d be wide open. There weren’t as many open shots this year.”

Titan Notes

Three Titan wrestlers--Lyndon Campbell (134 pounds), Laszlo Molnar (167) and Dwayne Buth (177)--and Coach Dan Lewis flew to Oklahoma City Monday for this week’s NCAA championships. The first round begins this morning and competition will run through Saturday’s championship matches. . . . Though the men’s gymnastics team has not won a meet and has been reduced to five healthy competitors, Coach David Stow says three Titans--Karl Nove (all-around), Roger Donate (high bar, vault) and Tim Garrison (floor exercise)--have a good chance of qualifying for the NCAA West Regionals, which are scheduled for April 11 at New Mexico. . . . Spring football practice, originally scheduled for April 8-May 9, has been pushed back to April 20-May 16, so coaches can use the spring break week (April 12-18) to further prepare players for their new option offense. Spring drills will conclude with an intrasquad scrimmage May 16. . . . The 10th-ranked Titan softball team will play host to fifth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas at 1 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by ESPN at 9 p.m. Monday. . . . Fullerton distance runners Heather Killeen (10 minutes .77 seconds) and Kristin Peters (10:00.95) have the Big West Conference’s top two marks in the women’s 3,000-meter event. . . . The Titan baseball team dropped from sixth to 10th in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Magazine poll.