They Focus on Kids, Not Talent

Jim VanHootegem has seen lower numbers when he thumbed his stopwatch--he’s a former assistant track coach at NCAA powerhouse Arkansas--but he says he has never worked with better people.

VanHootegem is one of six assistant coaches working for UC Irvine Coach Vince O’Boyle, and the only one who gets a salary, in fact. And they all seem to be there for the same reason.

“These kids aren’t just scholars and athletes, they all have some third talent too, like musician or dancer,” VanHootegem said. “They’re just so well-rounded.”

Larry Knuth was head track and cross-country coach at Irvine 17 years ago and hand-picked O’Boyle to take over when his coaching and teaching duties at Saddleback had “stretched my life pretty thin,” he said. Knuth gave O’Boyle his first coaching job 31 years ago.

Now, after seven years as a full-time track coach at USC, Knuth is working for O’Boyle and working for nothing . . . except satisfaction.

“Nothing has changed about the student-athletes here,” Knuth said, watching a group of sprinters work out. “The same attitude, the same work ethic, the same self-motivation. It’s a pleasure to help them.”

O’Boyle may not have the fastest runners in the NCAA, but he does get to experience the joy of watching them continually improve.

“We don’t get world-class athletes out of high school, but world-class athletes usually don’t have a lot of room to improve,” he said. “These kids are more intelligent than you and me and they know what it takes to get better. They work smart.

“These guys out here helping me, especially the ones who aren’t getting paid, are doing it partly because they love the sport. But they love working with these kids and that has a lot to do with it.”

Also offering their services for little or nothing are Jerome Anello, a former assistant at Cal State Fullerton; Len Blutreich, father of Orange County prep discus and shot put record-holder and Olympian Brian Blutreich; John Gamber, who works with hurdlers and jumpers, and vault coach Doug Sparks.

Knuth, who is a professor and cross-country coach at Rio Hondo College, adds another reason the group spends its afternoons at Irvine.

“Vince asked me to help and I’m here out of admiration and respect for a friend,” he said. “Plus, I’m still learning a lot. I mean, Jim was at Arkansas. You can learn from guys like that.”

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Up-Down: The men’s volleyball team, which tied a single-season school record this month with its ninth victory, is nosediving again and the schedule isn’t getting any easier.

The Anteaters won four nonconference matches in a row to open the season, lost their first two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches, rebounded with four consecutive victories and then dropped five straight.

Since beating George Mason to end the skid and tie the record, Irvine (9-9 and 5-8 in conference) has dropped two in a row. The Anteaters, in sixth place in the Mountain Division of the MPSF, will have to pull off some big-time upsets to make the playoffs. The top three teams in each division and two at-large teams advance to the playoffs.

Saturday, they travel to play Long Beach State, rated No. 7 in the nation, and April 3, they’re in Hawaii to face the fourth-ranked Rainbows.

Then the going really gets tough.

Two of their last three matches are against No. 1 Pepperdine and No. 2 UCLA.

Anteater Notes

Senior Khara Covington finished second in the long jump at UCLA last Saturday with a jump of 18-8 1/2, the sixth longest jump in school history. She also finished fourth in the 100 meters. . . . Christie Engesser, a senior transfer from Oregon, competed in her first meet for Irvine and finished third in the 800 meters in 2 minutes 11.82 seconds, the 10th fastest time in school history. . . . The Anteaters’ doubles tennis team of senior David Chang and sophomore Nick Varvais is 7-0 this season.

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Coming Attractions

Key events this week for UC Irvine:

* The Anteater Invitational, Monday and Tuesday at Coto de Caza north course. The annual golf tournament features 19 teams, including 23rd-ranked UTEP, No. 31 UCLA and No. 38 Stanford. The golf team competes today and Wednesday in the Pacific Coast Invitational in Santa Barbara.

* Track and Field, 10 a.m. Saturday at Anteater Stadium. Five-way meet features Cal State Fullerton, Air Force, Brigham Young and Minnesota.