CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK / LON EUBANKS : Gymnasts Lack Experience, Not Talent

The Titan women’s gymnastics team came close to making it back to the national championships last season.

They were fourth in the NCAA West Regional, missing a trip to the finals by .275 of a point. That’s not much more than the blink of a judge’s eye. But that finish, along with a final No. 15 national ranking, was the highest since 1990, when the Titans finished eighth in the country.

Fullerton begins this season Friday night at home against UCLA. And there’s the inevitable question: After coming so close last year and after a four-year absence, will this be the team that gets back to the nationals?

Coach Lynn Rogers isn’t sure. He begins the season hopeful, if apprehensive.

For one thing, The Titans are not as experienced as last year. Celeste Delia finished her career as the Big West Conference’s top gymnast three consecutive seasons and a two-time individual qualifier for the nationals in the all-around. Karena Mills, the team’s top performer on the beam, also has graduated.

That gives Rogers a lineup without any seniors, one that will rely heavily on the development of four freshmen.

“On paper, I was hoping that we might be as strong as a year ago, but I realize now that it’s going to take some time for the freshmen,” Rogers said. “They’re all very talented, but they’re still freshmen and they haven’t been through all this before.”

The recruiting class includes Michelle Lotta of Los Angeles, Christy Lutz of Oceanside and Kelly McNeil of Salt Lake City and walk-on Staci Henry of Huntington Beach.

It will be up to junior Cristi Clifford to replace Delia as the team’s top all-around performer. She has qualified for the nationals individually the last two seasons and was 34th in the all-around at the NCAA finals last year.

“I’m expecting Cristi to have a really good year,” Rogers said. “She had to have some minor surgery on an ankle, but she’s back now. She had a great summer and learned some new skills. I think she can be a big scorer for us this season, and she’s also developing as a team leader.”

Additional strength is expected to come from sophomores Alexis Lott and Heather Fritzsche. Fritzsche was slowed last season by an elbow injury.

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Fullerton men’s basketball Coach Bob Hawking says his team is starting to get the message.

“We’re a far better team now than we were a few weeks ago,” Hawking said. “Our players are getting into what we’re trying to do. We’ve had some quality practices, and it’s paying off.”

The Titans (4-6) are 2-0 in the Big West going into tonight’s game against New Mexico State in Las Cruces. Hawking is particularly pleased that the Titans’ victories over Nevada Las Vegas and UC Irvine came on the road. The most encouraging sign for the Titans in the 74-68 victory over UC Irvine last week was the five-for-11 shooting from guard James French. French, who shot 40% from the field last year, went into the game hitting only 21%. French, however, is eight for 18 in the last two games.

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Michelle Gromacki, an assistant softball coach at Fullerton who hopes to make the Olympic team as a catcher, recently competed in a tournament in Guatemala City leading up to the Pan American Games.

“I feel like I did pretty well, especially in the final two games of the tournament,” Gromacki said. “You always wish you could have done a little better, but I had RBI hits that put us ahead to stay in the semifinal against Puerto Rico and the finals against Cuba. I had two hits in the finals.”

Gromacki wasn’t chosen for the U.S. Pan Am team, but she still feels she has a shot to make the Olympic team.

Gromacki said she experienced no problems during the visit to a country that is constantly simmering from a civil war between government forces and guerrillas.

“We heard some gunshots once, but from what we understood there wasn’t any actual fighting going on. The only real hardship was not having any hot water. Those cold showers were bad, but everything else was OK.”

Titan Note

Fullerton soccer star Eddie Soto finished in a tie for 20th in the final Division I scoring. He had 18 goals and five assists for 41 points. Soto ended his Titan career as the school’s career leader in goals with 39 and points with 96.