fullerton
Photo courtesy of John Culwell/Fullerton
Joel Ulloa is a strong contender in the pommel horse event for Cal-Fullerton.
Individuals and attitude the key
behind dark horse Fullerton
By MIKE BAER
Of the Emerald
Before the NCAA spotlight
shifts back to neighbors USC and
UCLA, Cal State-Fullerton sends
its gymnastics team to follow the
footsteps of its basketball team
this weekend at the national
championships in Eugene.
; The Fullerton campus is still
buzzing from the Titans’ strong
Showing in the recent NCAA bas
ketball tournament, and coach
Dick Wolfe feels his gymnastics
team might be inspired to pull a
few upsets of their own.
| The attitude of the team, said
Wolfe, is reflective of the whole
:ampus community following a
^campus assembly honoring their
^astonishing basketball team.
KWolfe feels that workouts have
■been going extremely well and his
■team is charged up and ready to
■ reach its potential.
Wolfe is looking forward to this
■ weekend, and sees his team as a
real factor despite the fact they
■ have the lowest qualifying score of
[ the eight teams competing for the
I championship.
‘‘My goal is to do the best we’ve
K done all year, what happens be
I fore the NCAA's doesn’t really
| matter,” Wolfe explained.
It's almost a sure bet the coach
will get his wish. He feels his team
has not yet peaked, and he ex
pects them to really jell this
weekend.
The NCAA championships are
not new to Wolfe, himself a three
time national college division
coach of the year. Fullerton’s cre
dentials are strong despite only
competing in Division I against
major universities’ since 1975.
Prior to that, Fullerton captured
three national championships at
the college division level.
Besides experience in national
competition, Fullerton comes to
McArthur Court armed with some
very potent individual talent, led
by pommel horse specialist Joel
Ulloa, currently rated number one
in the nation in that event.
Ulloa, with his lifetime best a
sizzling 9.8, should provide
hometown favorite Tom Trued
son strong competition for the in
dividual title. Rated highly by In
ternational Gymnastics Magazine
and fresh off a first place Western
Regional performance, Ulloa is
expected to return to his All
American form of 1975, following
an off year due to injury.
Two others expected to shine
for Fullerton are rings specialist
Elliot Shnee, ranked sixth nation
ally and just two-tenths of a point
out of first place, and Donnie
Evins, who is a floor excercise
standout. Wolfe sees his chances
for a title as extremely good.
One of the major disappoint
ments for Wolfe this year is the
failure of 1976 NCAA vaulting
champion Sam Shaw to qualify for
the vaulting finals. Shaw’s failure
is probably due to him concentrat
ing on his all-around performance
while he sat out last year. He will
be looked upon this weekend by
Wolfe to turn in his top effort to
date in the all-around to aid the
team total.
Disappointing also is the fact
that last year’s regional ring
champion, Jack Lash, also failed
to qualify for the individual com
petition. Like Shaw. Lash has
come on strong as an all-around
man, one of seven Fullerton will
bring to Eugene.
Home meets are very exciting
so the crowds should not scare
Fullerton. What could bother Ful
lerton is that because of a very
'imited budget traveling and re
cruiting are tough. The limited
traveling has helped Fullerton
train more effectively, but the li
mited budget makes it tough to
compete with the bigger univer
sities in recruiting.
Coach Wolfe was last in
Eugene for the championships in
1973 and feels it was the best run
of the last ten national meets. He
credits Oregon coach Bill Balles
ter for the good crowds again ex
pected this weekend.
Wolfe and his team are very ex
cited about the opportunity to
compete against the best teams in
the nation.
“This meet will have class. It's
an honor just to be part of it.”
Although Fullerton has the low
est qualifying score in the meet,
Wolfe feels the Western Regional
score was far below what his team
is capable of. Except for top all
arounder6’3“ Donnie Evins' injury
which will limit him to three events,
injuries are at a minimum and not
the problem they were earlier in
the year.
Other competitors to keep an
eye out for are specialists Joe
Snee, who has a lifetime best of
9.6 on the parallel bars and Herb
Massinger, a skilled performer on
the horizontal bar.
(Continued on Page 10B)
It s easy to find some great
ideas for spare time fun in the
EMERALD CLASSIFIEDS.
'Great places to snack or dine
•Local offerings of cinema and
stage
•Indoor and outdoor recreation
tips
‘Unique sales and services
■ Arizona State
(Continued from Page 4B)
tal bar specialist Dave Martin.
Martin finished ninth in the NCAA
finals a year ago and Robinson
feels that placing will be improved
upon after watching the junior
score 18.800 points in the confer
ence meet.
With qualifying seven individu
als as well as his entire team,
Robinson stated that the biggest
key towards success for the Sun
Devils would be depth.
"Sure you want your top people
to score high for you," said Robin
son. "But at the same time every
body who competes has got to
come through for you.”
"I’m really hoping for everybody
to come through and score well for
us. Ideally you would want the top
four scores in every event, but I'm
just hoping to score a nine from
every kid in our events."
“CLOSEOUT”
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