KEEPING TRACK / JASON REID : Roskelly Takes Himself Much More Seriously

Ryan Roskelly feels slightly cheated--but he’s not looking for pay-back. After all, it’s kind of hard for him to exact revenge when the culprit is, well, himself.

Roskelly, a not-so-fleet junior receiver, sold himself short after transferring from Fullerton College to Memphis in January. Roskelly figured the best he could hope for was to contribute a little while attempting to make the transition from community college to Division I-A football.

Wrong.

He started the entire season, made weekly highlight-tape catches, broke records and was the Tigers’ leading receiver. This from a guy who started spring practice third on the depth chart. A smooth, successful transition indeed.

“I really surprised myself,” said Roskelly, who played at Valencia High. “I always knew I could play at this level, but no way did I think I could break records--I never dreamed of that.”

Roskelly led Memphis in receptions with 44. The rest of the team caught 73. He also topped the Tigers’ list in receiving yards (602) and receiving touchdowns (three).

He returned 40 punts for 468 yards and one touchdown, breaking Russell Copeland’s single-season records of 37 returns and 351 yards set in 1992.

In only his second game as a Tiger, Roskelly, 20, set the tone for the season with a dazzling all-purpose performance Sept. 10 at Tulsa. He set single-game records with 194 yards in 10 punt returns and 368 all-purpose yards.

His 174 receiving yards rank second on that list, and he scored on a 70-yard punt return. It seems safe to say Roskelly’s performance had something to do with the Tigers’ 42-18 victory.

Memphis finished 6-5, but blew its chance to play in the Liberty Bowl with a 30-6 season-ending loss to East Carolina on Saturday. Roskelly did his part, though, catching eight passes for 91 yards--both game-high stats.

“It’s tough to end that way,” Roskelly said. “We win that game and we go to a bowl, and that’s what we play the season for.”

On a personal level, however, things went much better than expected. Roskelly (5 feet 11 and 175 pounds) seriously wondered if he could keep pace with his new competition because of his lack of speed. Roskelly said he covers 40 yards in about 4.6 seconds, which does not place him among the nation’s fastest receivers.

“I heard all these stories about 250-pound linebackers running 4.3s in Division I,” he said. “Everyone is a little faster compared to the JC level, but the same hitting is going on. It hasn’t been bad.”

And next season?

“I think I’m going to have to set my goals a little higher than I did this season,” Roskelly said.

Actually, much higher would seem in order.

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Cristin Rossman believed the San Jose State women’s volleyball team would have a great season. And although things didn’t turn out exactly the way she thought, Rossman can be proud of a lot.

Rossman, formerly of Marina High, was chosen Big West Conference player of the week after leading the Spartans to an upset of Pacific on Saturday. Rossman (6-0) had a team-high 17 kills and four aces in San Jose State’s 15-11, 15-13, 17-15 upset of Pacific, which is ranked 10th in the nation by Volleyball Monthly magazine.

Rossman also played well in a 15-10, 12-15, 15-4, 15-8 nonconference victory over Sacramento State on Friday. She had a triple-double with 21 kills, 10 digs and 10 total blocks. Rossman, an all-county soccer player at Marina, is ninth in the conference with an average of 1.12 blocks per game.

“I’m really excited about (the award),” she said. “I knew I had a good week, but, honestly, I didn’t really think about getting it. It was something I hoped I’d achieve in my career.”

San Jose State is 17-11, 10-8 in the Big West. Pacific (21-5, 14-4) finished tied for third and the Spartans are fifth.

“Beating (Pacific) in our last conference home game was overwhelming,” Rossman said. “We were always the team that almost beat the big teams. The seniors were totally speechless.”

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Forward Jennifer Glueck recently completed her junior season on the Stanford field hockey team.

Glueck, a graduate of Newport Harbor High, scored one goal for the Cardinal (4-8).

Keeping Track is a regular column in The Times following the progress of former Orange County athletes competing for colleges elsewhere. Readers with information for this feature may reach Jason Reid at (714) 966-5847 or send it by fax: (714) 966-5663.