Scott Soltis, Sports Editor
Swimmers sink
by Amy Frizell
staff writer
Despite the individual achievements
of Behrend’s swim team, the group
suffered two losses this past weekend to
Nazareth and Grove City.
“The team has responded very well
to all the demands placed upon them this
year. The men have the best record they
have ever had in the history of Penn State
Behrend swimming. Even though the
women's overall record is not great, their
individual performance speaks loudly for
them. Both the men and women keep
rewriting the record books each meet, at
either a personal or team level." Coach
Josh Hcynes said of the teams
performance so far this season.
This past Friday the team took a hard
loss against Nazareth with the men
falling 115-112, and the women 119-78.
"At Nazareth it was disappointing on
the men's side to lose by only three
points, but that sometimes happens when
the coaches try to play with the line up.
For it being our second meet that we
swam in meters instead of yards, our
limes dramatically improved since the
first time at Frostburg this year” said
Coach Heynes.
Coming away with first place finishes
were sophomore Eric Phillips in the 800
freestyle and the 100 breast, freshman
Travis Kochel in the 50 freestyle,
freshman Jeff Howard in the 200 IM,
senior Alex Fertlcmcs in the 100 fly, and
senior Ben Atkins in the 400 freestyle.
Rounding out the first places winners
was the 200 freestyle relay team of
sophomore Joe Decly, Kochel, and
freshman Steve Schleicher.
The women came through with five
victories. Christine Williams took first
in 800 freestyle anil the 400 freestyle,
Tara Braden in the 200 1M and the 100
freestyle. The women’s 200 freestyle
relay of Williams, freshman Carrianne
Carstater, and Braden also took first
place.
i Q&A with NCAA SAAC
• Dave Masilunas is a junior in
• Plastics Engineering. Outside of the
• classroom. Masilunas runs for
• Behrcnd’s Indoor/Outdoor Track and
• Field teams, is president of the
• Student Athlete Advisory Committee
• (SAAC) and NCAA representative for
After their loss on Friday the team
suffered another blow at home against
Grove City College, the men falling 124-
101 and the women 115-74.
“Against Grove City, I was hoping the
men could pull off a win, but Grove City
College proved to be too strong,” said
Coach Heynes. “It was hard on both
teams, swimming their third meets in
four days. But that is how we planned
the season a year ago. We wanted to see
them swim fast even though they were
exhausted.”
Coming out of the meet with a strong
performance was the 200 freestyle relay
team of Howard, Atkins, Deely and
Schleicher. Along with the relay team’s
win came Howard in the 1000 freestyle,
Schleicher in one meter and three meter
diving, and freshman JR DeLorenzo took
the 200 IM and the 100 m backstroke.
“At Grove City College, DeLorenzo’s
two first place finishes in the 200 IM and
the 100 back stood out,” said Coach
Heynes. “He attacked those races
differently then he did previously this
year. Also Jeff Howard’s 1000 free time
was one of his best’s for the year. On
the women’s side Christine Williams had
two great swims, just getting touched out
at the end.”
The women were only able to produce
three first place finishes. Those finishes
came from Braden in the 100 breast,
freshman Danielle Rearick in the 500
freestyle, and the 200 freestyle team of
junior Sarah McGarvey, junior Melissa
Donnelly, freshman Loren Stachowiak,
and freshman Faith Campbell.
The team will next compete on
Saturday at the Pittsburgh invitational.
“At Pitt we re just trying to improve
on some of the teams times, so that they
have the best seeding possible at our
conference meet,” said Coach Heynes.
“Pitt is one of the fastest pools on the
East Coast and there will be some
division I and II teams there. The team
can watch and see what they can
accomplish with a little bit of work.”
the AMCC and Skyline Conferences.
The Beacon sat down with Masilunas
and discussed his recent trip to Anaheim,
Calif, for the 97"' annual NCAA
Convention and what he plans to bring
to Behrend.
SPORTS
Friday ; February 7, 2003
Title IX passing test of time
By Kevin Sherrington
The Dallas Morning News
You go to an SMU women’s
basketbal game a few weeks ago
against San Jose State. Get there a half
hour early, but not to fight the crowd.
You’re it.
Game time comes, and maybe 300
fans freckle Moody Coliseum. As the
diehards wander in, waving, you get the
impression you’re one of the few
strangers, except for those related to the
halftime performers.
Other SMU games on other days, the
crowds are bigger. Go to Austin or
Lubbock or Knoxville, Tenn., for a
women’s game, and you can hardly find
a seat.
But the size of the following doesn’t
matter. Doesn’t matter who shows up,
except maybe to the players.
Doesn’t matter if you don’t care
anything about watching women’s
sports.
All that matters is that you care that
they get an equitable chance to play.
This became a large and thorny issue
again last week, when a commission
appointed by the secretary of education
recommended proposals that wouldn’t
wipe out Title IX but could weaken it.
Maybe you know the history of Title
IX. Created in 1972, the legislation
affords women an equal opportunity to
compete in high school and college
athletics.
And it worked. Female participation
in the last 30 years has gone from
294,000 to nearly 3million.
Some benefits you can’t measure so
easily.
History: You go to a Rice women’s
basketball game 20 years ago against
Texas. Right away, you figure they
should put up screens to protect fans
from stray leather. No protecting the
players, unfortunately. One player _
head down, legs churning, playing
♦Get a free stress ball, Enterprise pen, or t-shirt *
representative Dave Masilunasj
Beacon: How did you become the
NCAA representative for the AMCC and
Skyline conferences?
Masilunas: It was a multi-step process.
First, I became track and field’s
representative for Behrend’s SAAC.
Next, I applied for the position of NCAA
representative and Mr. (Brian) Streeter
(Behrend athletic director) nominated
me. All schools in both conferences were
eligible to nominate people from their
SAAC.
Beacon: What kind of material did you
discuss at the NCAA convention?
Masilunas: We discussed a lot of new
legislation, especially the possible
amendment of seasons and practices on
the Division 111 level. The joint SAAC,
which is all divisions of the NCAA,
discussed topics on a broader, general
term. For instance, we talked about the
elimination of all American Indian
mascots and names. We also worked on
legislation that involved insurance for all
athletes. This is a huge thing; requiring
students to have some sort of insurance,
whether it is provided by the parent or
the school. Another big thing we worked
on involved Title IX policy amendments
and championships. Title IX is a big
thing; even President Bush has a special
LETS go IioNS
Saturda
Women's Basketball vs. Frostburg @ 2:00
Men's Basketball vs. Frostburg @ 4:00
I 50 p eo pi e get free coffee*
Wednesday, Feb. 12 th w
Women's Basketball vs. Lake Erie @6:00
Men's Basketball vs. Lake Erie @ 8:00
catch-up _ hurtles downcourt and rear
ends the unsuspecting ballhandler like
a stalled Buick on the 610 Loop.
Women’s basketball is safer now, and
better. No, women aren’t as good as
men in most cases, but so what?
Hey, we let the Nebraska men play
basketball, don’t we?
Women are better now because
they’ve had more opportunities.
Another 30 years and who knows how
far they’ll have come, or how many
more might want to play once they’ve
been exposed to it?
But some critics of Title IX say
enough’s enough. A good law’s time has
come and gone.
Time to remove or water down the
“proportionality” requirement that
representation should roughly mirror
male-to-female enrollment, even if Title
IX offers two other measures to ensure
compliance.
You hear lots of stories about what
has happened to men’s athletics because
of Title IX. The numbers show that,
between 1981 and 1999, 171 schools
dropped men’s wrestling, 84 dropped
men’s tennis and 56 booted men’s
gymnastics.
But, according to the General
Accounting Office, over that same
period, the numbers also show that
NCAA schools added 135 men’s soccer
programs, 82 in basketball and 85 in
baseball.
Bottom line: Overall, men's
participation in college athletics is up,
not down.
Not that you’d think so when you
hear critics blame Title IX every time a
school drops a men’s program.
Blame the champagne-and-caviar
excesses in football and men’s
basketball. Visited a Division I locker
room or weight room in the last 20
years? Seen what coaches are driving?
Seen what players are driving?
You hear people argue that football
and basketball pay the freight, they
committee looking into the possible
amendments. Also, we decided to add
three more schools to the AMCC —Mt.
Aloysius, Hilbert, and Medaille.
Beacon: What are your thoughts on the
likelihood of the NCAA amending Title
IX?
Masilunas: It’s hard for me to guess
because I am new to the position. It may
hurt some of the smaller male sports in
order to help the female sports. You
cannot be ignorant to the fact that
women play sports, but at the same time,
no one should be denied the opportunity
to participate.
Beacon: What were the highlights of
your trip?
Masilunas: I would have to say the
entire thing was absolutely amazing, but
the highlights were the people 1 met.
Getting to eat lunch with the president
of the NCAA was awesome and I found
out he’s a really cool guy. Also, I met
Warren Moon at the honors dinner,
which will be aired on ESPN. We, all
the delegates, also completed a
community service project for
underprivileged youth. We got to talk
to them about the importance of
academics and eating right. Most of
should get what they want. But football
doesn’t even pay for itself at most
schools.
Funny, but, in professional sports, the
toy department of our capitalist society,
everyone wants a salary cap or a luxury
tax to level the playing field.
But in universities, where we
supposedly aspire to our highest ideals
regardless of race or creed or gender,
everybody’s George Steinbrenner.
Maybe we ought to figure some other
way to remedy these viable issues.
Maybe football coaches don’t need to
park teams in a hotel the night before a
home game. Maybe we ought to put a
salary cap on coaches. Maybe we ought
to try more significant revenue sharing.
Maybe we shouldn’t try to roll back
legislation that made life better and more
enjoyable for a significant portion of our
population.
You confess that you went to that
SMU basketball game a few weeks ago
because your 9-year-old daughter was
dancing at halftime.
She doesn’t care much for athletics.
Soccer shinguards made her legs itch.
First time she was called into a game,
she skipped out to the scrum.
No, she’s a dancer, not a point guard.
She reminded you of as much once when
she asked what you wanted to be when
you were growing up.
“1 want to be a dancer,” she said. “I
don’t have to be famous or anything. I
just love to dance.”
You sat looking up at her big, beautiful
brown eyes and realized you were
staring straight into a dream. And it
she’d said she wanted to be a midfielder?
Doesn’t matter. Either way, heaven help
the fool who gets in our way.
Feb. 7 th
them were under 10 and thought we a
were the coolest thing around. •
Disney hosted a delegate’s reception #
for us and shut down half the park; it •
was really amazing. #
Beacon: What did you learn that could *
be applied to Behrend’s SAAC? •
Masilunas: Leadership. I learned a lot •
about myself and the strength of the *
student-athlete voice. When used •
correctly, it can be incredibly powerful. *
I have some ideas for community •
outreach programs. They would be •
things in which Behrend could •
incorporate both athletics and •
academics. •
Beacon: In a few words, summarize
what Behrend athletics are all about.
Masilunas: Rough it up, play hard, •
shake hands, go home. Yeah, We *
Are... Penn State, but we prefer We •
Are... Behrend. *
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The Behrend Beacon