UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Pair Comes Out of Nowhere to Make Marks in Track and Field

There are UC Irvine sprinters who made names for themselves as teen-agers, and others who already know what it’s like to compete in the NCAA championships.

There are also athletes such as Sarah Andrews and Brad Milby, who both walked onto the team and then blossomed. Last year at the Big West Conference championships, Milby took third in the high jump as a freshman, and Andrews took third in the discus.

They both hope to match those performances--or do better--at the Big West championships this weekend at Fresno State.

Milby, a sophomore, spent much of his El Toro High School career as the backup to standout quarterbacks Rob Johnson and Steve Stenstrom. He had only jumped about 6 feet 4 inches in high school. But after his first three meets at Irvine, he was jumping nearly 6-7. Now he has reached 6-10 3/4.

“When I first came out, I was doing it on a trial basis,” said Milby, who is 6-4 and growing. “But in the first couple of meets, something clicked.”

He’d never had much coaching, and now he does, complete with video analysis.

“I actually learned how to jump,” he said.

As Milby’s marks have grown, so has his confidence, says Matt Farmer, the two-time defending Big West decathlon champion--and also the team publicist.

“He’s cocky, but you can tell it’s a new cocky, like he’s never been a stud before,” Farmer said.

Andrews, a junior who is entered in the shotput as well as the discus, remembers that in high school she didn’t even lift weights.

“Not at all,” she said. “They talked about them. But I didn’t have a lot of time in high school, and I was kind of intimidated by the weight room.”

At Irvine, volunteer assistant Lorna Griffin, a former power-lifting champion, gave Andrews an introduction.

With the added strength and continued improvement, Andrews has thrown the discus 162-9 this season, reaching the provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA championships. With a couple more feet, she thinks she will make the field.

For now, this weekend is the focus.

“Last year, I went into this meet as a sophomore no one really knew about,” she said. “Coming out in third place puts a little more pressure on this year. I think I’ll do OK.”

Another round of impending cuts in an ongoing budget crisis has led to a temporary hold on new scholarships throughout the athletic department, Athletic Director Tom Ford said Tuesday.

Coaches are being told to continue recruiting and are assured that all current scholarships will be honored, but Ford says no new commitments will be made until the department receives word on funding for next year.

In an exception, the struggling women’s basketball program was allowed to sign six new players as Coach Colleen Matsuhara attempts to rebuild. The men’s basketball program had finished its recruiting before the temporary hold went into effect.

It could be weeks before approximate funding figures are available, and it might be fall before university programs receive final word on their finances.

UC Irvine currently is asking all programs that do not grant degrees, including the athletic department, to submit budget proposals allowing for 10% cuts in regular allocated funding from the university. Approximately $1.6 million of the athletic department’s $2.9 million budget falls into that category, meaning an additional $160,000 might have to be cut from a program that cut more than $600,000 last year.

“It’s going to be very, very tough in all areas of the university,” said Horace Mitchell, vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life. Mitchell also said there is potential for cuts in funding to go higher, and that he has heard figures potentially as high as 18% quoted.

Ford met a budget crisis last year by putting a number of programs on self-supporting status, cutting all department funding.

“In view of the cuts we’ve made before, we’ve gone through the meat and into the bone,” Ford said. “We may have to get involved in further staff reductions. We’re doing studies now.”

Last year, the department seriously considered dropping baseball, but saved the sport in part because of complaints from supporters. Ford is trying to guard against fears of sports being dropped, but he knows it’s an uphill battle.

“It makes it very difficult,” he said. “Up to this point, we’re indicating that we’re planning to take the field in all sports until anyone hears differently.”

The men’s basketball team spent five hours in front of an Irvine grocery store Monday, seeking donations of food for those in need after last week’s riots in Los Angeles. The players, coaches and other helpers collected about $1,000 worth of food, which was taken to a collection center in Anaheim.

Irvine Notes

The men’s tennis team’s final record of 11-12 marked the first time in Greg Patton’s 16 years as coach the team has finished below .500. “This was the most exciting season I’ve ever had,” Patton said. “Every match, I felt like we were in front of the firing squad and we kept dodging the bullets.” . . . The first full recruiting class under men’s basketball coach Rod Baker is considered in the top 25 in the nation by Bob Gibbons, an evaluator of high school and community college talent who is based in Lenoir, N.C. The class includes forward Shaun Battle of El Cajon High, guard Todd Whitehead of Fremont High, center Dee Boyer of Saddleback College and forward Joe Hannon of Canada College. There are also several transfers who will become eligible next season: guard Lloyd Mumford (Villanova), forward Keith Walker (California) and forward LaDay Smith (California). Baker has a healthy disrespect of recruiting ratings, which seem to proliferate every year. He says he puts no stock in them. “None at all,” Baker said. “What difference does that make? Does anyone ever go back and look at how these guys do (in college)?”