sports
Demski, defense
by Jack Grow
Collegian Staff Writer
The Behrend men's basketball
team split their last four games,
losing to Pitt-Bradford and
Fredonia while defeating Bethany
and Thiel. Their record now stands
a 8-10 overall and 8-4 in E.C.A.C.
play. The team has made serious
strides in improvement recently and
this was evident in the last few
games.
" We have been playing exec
pional defense," commented Coach
Zimmerman, " every game our
goal is to hold the opposition to
under 45 percent shooting from the
floor, and at this time, we have held
our opponents to under 42 per
cent." Zimmerman also stated that
Behrend has a plus nine difference
in total rebounding. Against Pitt-
Bradford, this was the case as the
Lions won the battle under the
boards 45-35, but eventually lost a
hard fought game, 89-87. The game
was not 'decided until the final
seconds after a furious comeback
by the Lions. Gene Gorniak played
exceptionally scoring 22 points and
grabbing 18 rebounds. Gary Zang
contributed his usual complete
game with 18 points, 10 rebounds,
six assists, and two steals. Mike
Jenkins came off the bench to score
16 points and grab five rebounds.
The backcourt also played a tough
game with Bob Minford 'shooting a
perfect four for four from the field,
Calgary Olympic Prep
by Ray Van Dusen
Collegian Staff Writer
While the falling snow covers
the Canadian Rockies, the Olym
pians prepare for the Calgary chal
lenge. Calgary, a small,quaint cattle
town is the host of the 1988 Winter
Olympics. Febuary 13 is the day
that marks the start of the Winter
Olympic tradition that is over a half
century old. The winter games at
`Calgary should prove to be a spec
tacular show with more events
scheduled than ever before. - -
Looking west of Calgary into the
Rockies, one will focus his atten
tion on the world's top skiers. They
will be racing down a mountain
that has been contoured to host five
different events. The traditional
downhill, slalom and giant slalom
events will be joined this Olympiad
with the new combined and super
G events.
The downhill is a precise course
that is very technical at the top with
tight, demanding curves. These
aspects will cater to the needs of
Swiss skier, Pirmin Zurbriggen,
who is favored to take the gold.
Zurbriggen, the winner of 11 World
Cup races this past season, will be
challenged mainly by his fellow
countrymen, Joel Gaspoz and Peter
Mueller. The United States, in a
year of disaster, will have a hard
time placing a racer in any of the
three medal positions. Other medal
hopeful's include Austria's
Leonhard Stock and Anton Steiner
along with Canada's Felix Belczyk
and Robert Boyde.
The women's downhill, like the
men's, appears to be dominated by
the Swiss. Maria Walliser and
Michela Figini are the top two
seeds while Canada's Laurie
Graham is expected to take the
bronze. The top U.S. hopeful, Pam
Fletcher, is a long shot but is the
only American with a chance at a
medal.
The slalom course resembles
those of both Lake Placid and
Sarajevo, staying consistent in
pitch while remaining moderately
steep. In the men's competition
Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen
will go hencl-te-lrad with Italy's
self acclaimed "New Messiah of
Soccer coach Herb Lauffer handed out the an
nual individual awards last week. Pictured with
Lauffer (center) are, in order-Dave Titley, Hustle
Award; Doug McCarthy,MVP; Gary Smelko, Best
Freshman; Mark Schreck, Most Improved.
photo by Mark Pedley
and Wayne Snyder dishing out
eight assists. The game was agreat
one and, although Pitt-Bradford "
could blow us away on paper,"•said
Zimmerman, the Lions never gave
up until the final buzzer. ,
The Lions came back the next
game with a 76-72 win over
Bethany. Freshman Rick Demski
led the Lion attack with 25 points
and 11 rebounds, while Gene Gor
niak had an incredible seven
blocked shots to go along with 14
rebounds. Wayne Snyder played
another solid game six points and
six assists and Randy Baughman
came of the bench to collect three
steals and two assists. Behrend held
Bethany to 38 percent from the
floor and created 18 turnovers.
On Feb. 1, the Lions lost to
Fredonia by a score of 79-67.
Demski played another great game 4 ,
with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
However, it was Behrend's poor
shooting as a team (only 30 out of
77 from the field) that was the
deciding factor in the game. Al
though they were able to hold
Fredonia to only 44 percent from
the floor, the Lions' poor shooting
bothered Zimmerman. " Usually
one or two players will have a bad
shooting night," he said," but with
us either everybody shoots well or
everybody shoots poorly." This
lack of shooting has caused some
of thr players to feel uncomfortable
at the three point line taking the
skiing". Alberto Tomba. The other
top contenders include Bojan
Kriz' aj and Ingemar Stenmark.
Kriz' aj, the world cup slalom cham
pion, has never won an Olympic
medal and Stenmark was only
recently reinstated into amateur
status. Both have something to
prove in Calgary.
The leader in the women's
slalom could prove to be the United
States'own Tamara McKinney. Her
competition consists mainly of Syl
via. Eder - and - Rigette - Oenii. - The"
one long shot in this event IS
Mateja Svet who could very easily
walk away with a medal.
The giant slalom is another event
dominated by the Swiss team.
Zurbriggen, Julen, or Gaspoz
should walk away with the gold.
The only non-Swiss challenger is
West Germany's Markus Wasmaier
but it is doubtful he will obtain a
medal.
The women's giant slalom is not
unlike the men's. Switzerland's
Maria Wallises and Vreni Schneider
are expected to take the gold and
silver. Tamara McKinney is expec
ted to finish high and should win
the bronze.
The new combined event is a
combination of a special slalom
and a shortened downhill. Switzer
land's Pirmin Zurbriggen looks
very tough and possibly unbeatable
in this event.
The other new skiing event being
run in the Olympic games this year
is the super G. The top seed of this
event is Mark Wasaimer of West
Germany. Stock, Steiner, Marc
Giradelli, who has just recently
received citizenship from Luxem
bourg, round out the other medal
contenders, with Tommy Moe and
Troy Watts, the only U.S. hopefully.
The women's super G compiti
tion is, again, dominated by the
Swiss. Maria Walliser will un
doubtably win the gold medal
while the silver and bronze medals
could go to anyone on the French
or German teams.
The ever dangerous event of ski
jumping should be dominated by
Finland's Matti Nykaenen. He
takes everything that a jump gives
him and more. Other top conten-
long range game out of their of
On Feb. 3, came home for a 103-
87 blowout over Thiel. Zimmer
man's pressure defense totally
dominated Thiel giving him a
chance to use his bench early in the
game. Moise Pringle and Dave
Gurska played well as the bench
really got a chance to " show its'
stuff " in front of a wild home
crowd. Zimmerman was very
pleased at his bench production and
hoped to get more out of his bench
in later games.
There has been a lot of talk about
the Lions' dominant front court but
little has been said about the play
of the guards. With injuries to Jim
Webb and Joe Weed, the backcourt
was supposed to have a few
problems. Luckily for the Lions,
the backcourt play has improved
greatly in the past few games.
Zimmerman commented that the
guards are handling the ball much
better now and are applying excel
lent full court pressure on defense.
Snyder, Minford, Baughman, and
Gurska all deserve far more credit
than they recieve. Their consistent
play has helped Behrend overcome
the loss of Weed and Webb and has
had a steady calming effect off the
court as well.
Behrend has been involved in a
few close games against teams that
are supposedly " out of their
league." This tough play proves
ders to watch in this event are:
Andi Felder and Earnest Vettori of
Australia; Pekka Soursa and Azi-
Pekka Nikkola of Finland; and
Hroan Soursa, St. Jernen and Ven
gard Oroas of Norway.
In the men's cross-country races,
the Swedish team should be the
dominant force. The women's
medals will be divided up among
the Russian and Norwegian teams.
The new nordic combined event
will be rim over a two day period.
- Kerry Lynch of the U.S.; Allar
Levandi of Russia, and Fredy
Glanzman of Switzerland are the
top contenders in the event.
The biathalon competition has an
American, Josh Thompson, as it's
top contender for the gold. The East
German and Russian teams should
take the silver and bronze.
The men's bobsled competition
is a wide open event with the U.S.
having a chance pending injury
recovery. The women's event has
the East German team expected to
take all three medals.
Hockey action should put more
thrill into this Olympic games with
a new format that fields six teams
into medal compitition instead of
four. The teams to beat seem to be
Canada, U.S.A., and The Soviet
Union.
The speed skating events have a
new format which will bring them
indoors for the first time in Olym
pic history. This should open the
door for some new Olympic
records. The Japanese, Soviet,
Canadian, and U.S.A. teams should
take most of the medals with Nor
way and the Netherlands battling
for the long distance gold.
The men's figure skating com
petition favors Boliana from the
United States to take the gold with
Oser of Canada and Fadeev of the
Soviet Union finishing out the
medal contention. The women's
figure skating competition has East
Germany's Katarian Witt battling
with Americans Debby Thomas and
Caryn Kadavey for the top honors.
Kadavey, an Erie native, is the ob
vious local favorite. The Russian,
Canadian, and U.S.A. teams will
most likely take the medals in the
dance and pairs events.
help
that quality basketball can be
played by small schools. The Lions
are all dissapointed by these losses
but have no reason to hang their
heads. By playing every game as it
was their last,• the Lions have
proved themselves to be a team to
be reckoned with.
Editor's Note
Gene Gomiak, the Lion's 6' 7"
forward, was recently named to the
E.C.A.C. Division 111 Honor Roll.
During the week of Jan. 23-30,
Gene scored 55 points, corraled 55
rebounds, dished out 10 assists, and
jammed 15 blocks. He is currently
averaging 12.3 points and 13.3 .
rebounds per game.
As the paper went to press,
Behrend had won their last two
games; defeating Elmira BS-74 on
Feb.B and Brockport St. 104-86
on Feb.lo. Against Elmira, the
Lions made 24 of 34 from the foul
line, including clutch buckets by
Bob Minford and Wayne Snyder.
Rick Demski led the Lions in
scoring with 20 points and in
rebounds with nine.
Wayne Snyder scored 17 points
against Brockport St. and added
eight assists while Greg Green
and Gary Zang led with seven
rebounds. The win boosts Be
hrend to a 10-10 record, 10-4 in
the E.C.A.C., and possibly
playoff bound.
Lions
by DarreliFreund
Collegian Staff Writer
The end of Febuary means the
beginning of major league
baseball's spring training, it also
means the beginning of Penn-State
behrend's baseall season.
Similar to major league baseball,
the Lions will be travelling to
Florida so they can practice out
side."We need some good weather,
Erie is too unpredictable,"said
Coach Michael Bari. The Lions
will head claim to Florida on
Febuary 26 and will return to Be
hrend on March 5.
The trip to Florida is an attempt -
by Coach Bari to put last season's
6-33 record behind the team.
"Several of last year's players had
the wrong impression of what I was
trying to accomplish. We were not
out to party, we were out to work,"
boost Lions
Y 5 •.
Greg Green (above) goes for the dunk
against Thiel while Wayne Snyder (below)
sets up the offense against Elmira.
Travel South
said Coach Bari
The Lions will follow a daily
routine in Florida, beginning with a
morning practice at 6 and another
practice shortly after lunch. "The
players will be given the evenings
off, that is, when intra-squad games
are not being played," added Coach
Bari.
The team will play six games,
starting with a game against Warner
Southern College on March 1. They
will then play Southeastern College
on March 3, followed by two
double-headers, one against Warner
Southern on March 5 and the other
against Grand Valley State on
March 9.
Three of the four teams Behrend
plays are from Florida, so they did
not have to worry about funding a
trip, unlike Behrend. "We played a
100-inning game in the fall and
Collegian
Page 9
Photos by Rick Brooks
52200 was raised," explained
Coach Bari,"this helped, but it was
not enough so each player had to
pay about 5400."
In all, 27 people are travelling to
Florida including 23 players two
coaches and two trainers. They will
be going by bus, and the trip will
probably take 20 hours.
Coach Bari insists on implement
ing the proper attitude upon his
players,"This trip is no Disneyland,
I am going to try to get everybody
some playing time," said Coach
Bari,"the pitching staff is a con
cern, there are nine guys on the
staff, but five will see the most ac
tion."
The Lions are 'heading for
Florida with the hope that sunny
weather will bring a brighter future
for this year's team.