Farm TO THE Fast Lane : Leaving Frederic, Wis., was Difficult for Center Amy Lundquist, but the Freshman Is Making an Impact at Loyola

You reach the wrong phone number in Frederic Wis., and the person who answers probably will tell you how to find whomever you are trying to call. It’s that small.

Growing up in such a place was comforting and confining for Amy Lundquist, Loyola Marymount’s 6-foot-5 freshman center.

Lundquist is the pride of her hometown. She led the Frederic High basketball team to a 40-7 record in her final two seasons. Last season, she led Frederic to the 1992 Upper St. Croix Valley League title and to within three games of the Wisconsin state championship tournament.

She is the first basketball player from her high school’s league to play for an NCAA Division I program.

Leaving Frederic was difficult for Lundquist, but at the same time, certain things had always set her apart in that town: her talent and her height. Being different drove her to seek out a college in a big city, where she might blend into the crowd.

Back in Frederic, people are wishing her well. Like many small-town athletes who go on to play sports for big-city schools, Lundquist carries the hopes of her community with her. In Westchester, Loyola’s chances for improving on last season’s 6-21 record lie partly on her shoulders.

Loyola is 9-3 after Saturday’s 68-60 overtime victory over Southern Utah. The victory enabled the Lions to match the start of the 1987-88 team.

Loyola’s nonconference record is even more remarkable considering that this is the first season the Lions have played all Division I opponents.

This turnaround from last season happened mostly because of Lundquist, Loyola’s tallest player ever.

Fresh off her father’s dairy farm outside of Frederic, Lundquist had a Division I record 15 blocked shots in a 71-52 victory at Western Illinois on Dec. 20. She also led the team with 15 points and

10 rebounds in an 81-47 loss to UCLA on Jan. 2.

But as much as fans in Los Angeles stare in wonder at Lundquist, she gawks back at them. Consider:

* When Lundquist’s family packed the car and drove their daughter cross-country to college, it was the first time the family had traveled west of the Dakotas.

* Frederic, a town on the western border of the state, has a population of 1,124. Loyola has an enrollment of more than three times that.

* Lundquist’s first few months in Los Angeles were like the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” She attended athletic events, went to the beach and visited the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Lundquist has found life in Los Angeles to be quite different from the life she knew in Frederic.

“You don’t know anyone,” she said. “You just walk around and see different people all the time. When you walk down the street in Frederic you say hi to everyone because you know them all.”

While small-town life can be comforting, it also can be confining. Lundquist always stood out because of her height.

“I think that might be another reason she wanted to get into a big city,” Frederic Coach Erick Anderson said. “She’ll stick out, but not like in Frederic.”

Lundquist began playing basketball in the seventh grade. Even at the age of 12, her height was a factor in her life.

“I just decided to play because I was tall,” Lundquist says. “I was not very coordinated when I was a seventh grader and my mom did not think that there was going to be any hope for me.”

But as a 6-2 freshman, Lundquist was promoted to varsity. Frederic’s varsity had a losing record before she joined, but Lundquist started the fifth game and helped turn the season around. She started every game for the remainder of her four years.

“She runs the floor extremely well,” Anderson said. “She gets a lot of baskets off of transitions.”

Lundquist averaged 27 points and 15 rebounds as a senior and led Frederic to the league title. She scored 50 points in a regional championship game to help Frederic advance to the sectional tournament.

Two games away from the Wisconsin state tournament, Lundquist became ill. With Lundquist playing sparingly, Frederic lost, 44-40, to Clear Lake. Frederic finished the season 22-1.

DePaul, Miami and San Francisco expressed interest in Lundquist before she signed a national letter of intent to attend Loyola during the early signing period in 1991.

Loyola, with 3,900 undergraduates, offered a tightly knit community that made her feel at home.

“We have a lot of kids from small places on our team so (Lundquist) fits right in,” Loyola Coach Todd Corman said. “She was really excited about coming to California when we recruited her. She really likes it here. She has always got a smile on her face.”

Also, from Loyola’s poor finish last season, Lundquist saw that she could be immediately helpful to the Lions.

“I knew (Loyola) needed a post (player) and I wanted to get playing time as a freshman,” Lundquist said. “I didn’t want to sit on the bench or redshirt.”

Lundquist is second on the team, averaging 11 points and 8.4 rebounds.

“The one thing that Amy has brought us is her size,” Corman said.

Loyola has never finished higher than third place in the West Coast Conference and has never advanced to the NCAA tournament. This could be the season the program takes a step up.

It will be riding on the shoulders of a very tall woman.