Back Injury Slows Kirch; Now She Can Run but Not Walk

Stacy Kirch, the point guard for the Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team, is an aggressive blur on the court. She runs the fastest break for the highest-scoring team in the NAIA District 3.

Who would think that off the court she can barely walk ?

Kirch has been hobbled since she sprained ligaments in her back Dec. 31 in a loss to Regis University in Denver. Since then, she has been able to practice about once a week.

“There isn’t a lot you can do for it, that’s the problem,” Kirch said. “The doctor I saw said the only thing that will help is to rest it after the season is over. He said, ‘We’ll try to get you through the season, but you’ll basically be playing in pain.’ ”

Said CCI Coach Kent Schlichtemeier: “She can barely walk down the gym to watch practice. She has been playing in extreme pain, more than people realize. For her not to practice, you know it’s pretty severe because she loves to practice.”

Even with a bad back, Kirch averaged 11.4 points, a district-leading 8.4 assists and 7.2 rebounds. She was third in the district in three-point shooting percentage (41%) and free-throw shooting percentage (78%).

“When Kirch is healthy, she really is a magical player,” Schlichtemeier said. “She handles the ball better than any point guard I’ve seen in the five years I’ve been in our district.”

After Fresno Pacific broke the Eagles’ 16-game winning streak in the district title game last week, Kirch’s pain was especially severe. She finished with five points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the 46-44 loss and left the court on crutches. Then she was taken to the hospital.

“The only reason they wanted me to go to emergency was to get a little better pain killers than I had,” Kirch said.

Kirch, who had previously been treating the pain with over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen, said her back is most vulnerable when the Eagles play games on consecutive nights. The night before the Fresno Pacific game, CCI beat Biola in a semifinal.

Kirch, a senior, never doubted she would play against Fresno.

“I enjoying playing and I especially enjoy playing with this team,” Kirch said. “There was no way I would have sat out. I didn’t want it to end and I wanted another chance to play with my teammates.”

If Christ College defeats sixth-seeded David Lipscomb (Tenn.) in the first round of the NAIA Division I national tournament tonight in Jackson, Tenn., Kirch will again have to play back-to-back games. The good news is that if the Eagles (25-5) win, their game Friday will be against the winner of the game between unseeded Simon Fraser (Canada) and No. 11 Campbellsville (Ky.).

After discovering that it was falling short of gender equity goals, Southern California College plans to add two women’s athletic teams for the 1993-94 school year. Pending approval by the faculty in a vote Monday, SCC will add women’s teams in soccer and tennis, Athletic Director Rob Prettyman said.

Last summer, Prettyman began an internal investigation of how the athletic department was living up to Title IX, a federal law that mandates equivalent opportunities and funding for men and women in academic institutions that receive federal funds.

Prettyman said he discovered that about 60% of SCC’s approximately 140 athletes are males, compared to a campus-wide percentage of about 48%.

The addition of women’s soccer and tennis means SCC will field seven women’s teams and six men’s teams and should add about 30 females to the program, reversing the ratio to about 55% female, Prettyman said. He said the new sports will receiving the equivalent of about 8 1/2 full-tuition scholarships.

“A lot of people are waiting it out until it is mandated to them by the courts, but we feel we have an obligation to do it right,” Prettyman said.

“In this day and age in sports there’s such a need for quality women’s programs. We’ve been getting a lot of encouragement from the national organizations, the NAIA and the NCAA, so we really feel that we can be a leader in this area.”

Prettyman will be accepting applications for the position of women’s soccer coach until March 15. He said first-year men’s tennis Coach Rob Pearson will likely take responsibility for the women’s tennis team.

The Pacific Christian men’s and women’s basketball teams are playing this week in the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division II national tournaments.

The men, seeded fourth in the tournament at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo., play in the first round today against fifth-seeded Mid-America Bible (22-13) of Oklahoma City. The Royals (24-12) have won 20 of their last 24 and seven of their last eight games. They are led by sophomore forward Charles Ross, who averaged 35 points and 16 rebounds during the regular season.

The women, seeded eighth in the tournament at Baptist Bible in Clarks Summit, Pa., open today against top-seeded Northwest (Wash.) College of the Assemblies of God. Northwest is 12-11. PCC is 15-14.

Notes

Southern California College forward Mike West was named the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball player of the year. West, a senior from Fallbrook, averaged 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds, the best rebounding average in NAIA District 3. West was also SCC’s only first-team all-district selection. Junior guard Danin Bryant, who led the district in assists (7.8 per game), and Scott Campbell, who led the district in three-point field goal percentage (45.3%), were all-conference selections and second-team all-district picks. . . . Christ College Irvine forward D’Andre Brown, who averaged 20.4 points and 9.0 rebounds, was a first-team all-district and all-conference selection. Teammate Brian Tollefson, a junior forward, was an all-conference pick. . . . Azusa Pacific’s Bob Terry, who played at Brea-Olinda High and Fullerton College, was the district’s player of the year.