South Mountaineer Volume 35, Issue 24

              X
o
p       ■" ' 1
►J
V^V^'cA^VH-'c^
;h#T>
v-"^,,-.
-■fi:T^';-J^>^ =
Volume 35, Number 24
April 27, 1993
Bethlehem, Pa.
LEHIGHLIGHTS
BACK ON THE GRIDIRON -The annual
Brown and White spring football game
will lake place Saturday. May 8 al ll a.m.
al Goodman Stadium. In a ne.w iwisl this
year, local media members will serve as
captains of llie respective squads.
Sporlswrilers Corky Blake (The Express-
Times) and Gary Klockus (The Morning
Call) and radio personalities Rich Lerner
and Mike Gunian ol" WAEB-AM radio
will be llie four men responsible for
captaining llie two learns.
ALL "SHOOK" UP—Head mens lennis
coach Dave Shook was named co-Coach
of the Year in llic Patriot League after his
Engineers finished second in ihc Patriot
League Championships. Shook produced
singles champions Ryan Gelrod (first
singles) and Bill Cooper (fourth singles)
and also coached a pair of finalists in Matt
Potts (third singles) and Rick Lewis (fifth
singles). The Engineers finished second
only lo Army, whose coach (Steve Slromc)
shared the honors wilh Shook.
BASEBALL ON THE AIR— Lehigh
baseball was heard on radio for llic firs)
lime in many years this past weekend when
the Engineers' doubleheader al Bucknell
was broadcast on WLVR (91.3 FM).
WLVR Sports director ScollGramling and
Bucknell play-by-play announcer Bob
Behler called the action, which was
broadcast to listeners both in ihc Lehigh
Valley and in the Lewisburg area.
RECORD BREAKERS— Not only has
the Lehigh softball team firmly established
a grip on first place in llic Patriot League,
but Iburclub records have already been tied
or broken. Sophomore pitcher Nina Rems
lied a record for wins, wilh her 1 Oth against
Lafayette. Freshman shortstop Kim Miller
has scored 36 runs and stolen 14 bases, both
of which arc Lehigh records (she set them
both against Lafayette). Head coach Sue
Troyan has become llic program's all-time
winningest coach wilh 54 wins. Finally, ihc
23 wins by llie team this season arc also a
new record.
INSIDE the Mountaineer
Kurimsky right on"course"... 2
Spring sports roundup 2
A wrestling dynasty? 3
Spring sports slate 4
Spring sports statistics 4
A TRADITION OF WINNING
The men's tennis team posted its fifth straight
winning season this spring and hasn't suffered
a losing campaign since 1988. A look at the
records over the last six years:
1991
10-8
1992
13-4
1993
13-5
A wonderful weekend of tennis
Engineers finish second overall as Gelrod, Cooper
snag individual titles; Potts, Lewis reach finals
By GLENN HOFMANN
Sports Information Director
Playing gutsy, hard-nosed tennis,
Lehigh proved itself to be one of the best
at the Patriot League Championships
over the weekend finishing in second
place with 29 points. Only Army's 46
points were better than the Engineers.
Held at the Goodman Campus
courts. Lehigh ended a season filled with
success as it won its first ever Patriot
League singles titles courtesy of Ryan
Gelrod at first singles and Bill Cooper at
fourth singles. The seniors along with
classmates Rick Lewis and Steve Small
thus ended their Lehigh careers with an
impressive 36-17 record over the last
three years and the highest Patriot League
finish of any Lehigh team.
"Overall I'm so proud of the effort
of all of the guys on our team, but
especially the seniors." bead coach Dave.
Shook said. "They came in together as
freshmen and the experience they gained
over the years and the adversity they
have had to overcome really showed in
this tournament and is a real credit to
them."
In addition to the championships
garnered by Gelrod and Cooper the
Engineers also had two runnerups in
LSUtlii
_™ji8KL
YES! Ryan Gelrod wins it all. -Photo by Daryl smith
freshman Matt Potts at third singles and
Lewis at fifth singles.
"Today was one of the happiest, but
also one of the saddest days I've had in
tennis." an emotional Shook added. "I'm
really going to miss these guys. To lose
four at one time is a tough way to go."
For Gelrod he no doubt will
remember this day for many years to
come. After making it to the tournament
finals in each of his previous three years only
to lose. Gelrod left no doubt as to who was the
best tennis player in the league this year. He
completed the regular season with a perfect
6-0 league mark and garnered the top seeding
in the tournament.
"Getting the number one seed was more
of a pride thing than anything." a jubilant
Gelrod said after his championship singles
match. "I was really nervous in my first
match and got off to a horrible start. That
happened in all of my matches in the
tournament but I just tried to hang in there
until I started playing better."
Gelrod defeated Lance Hutchinson of
Holy Cross 6-2. 6-4 in the first round and
rallied to beat Guy Gebbia of Fordham in the
second round 3-6. 7-5. 6-3. The title match
against Frank Branson of Navy was won by
Gelrod. 6-4, 7-6.
Gelrod placed so well that he also earned
a place on the All-Tournament team.
"What makes Ryan's victory even more
special is that not only is he the best tennis
player in the Patriot League, but he also is a
previous league scholar athlete winner as
well," Shook said. "That is what Lehigh is all
about."
For Cooper, whose trademark has
become wearing an old Boston Bruins tennis
cap, the road was a bit bumpy at first, but
he too settled down and came on strong at
the end to claim a title.
"I got most of the nerves out during my
first match," he said. "I was nervous about
being the number one seed and in my
second match my opponent just played
really well. I think getting through the
second set and playing the big points well
was important."
And playing the big points well was
definitely the key in the championship
match as Cooper won four of the first six
deuce points against Tony Acosta of Navy
to take control and win 6-4, 6-2. On
Saturday he had defeated Chris O'Connor
of Fordham 6-3,6-3 and Mike Shonbraun
of Colgate 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"I wanted to go undefeated in the Patriot
League so I'm happy I accomplished that
goal," he said.
"It seemed a bit unrealistic to think I
could win a Patriot League title especially
after I played so poorly in last years
tournament, but it'sgreat to end my career
with a win."
For Lewis he advanced to the finals with
an impressive display of patience and an
ability to play the big points extremely well.
On Saturday hedefeated Navy's John Sullivan
4-6, 6-4, 7-6 and Doug Scipione of Colgate
6-2,6-1. In Sunday's championship he lost to
Justin Ledzinski of Army 6-7, 6-3. 6-4.
The first experience for Potts in a league
tournament was just as impressive as he
routed Lafayette's Mark Oehler 61 -, 6-2 and
Bill Cooper follows through on a backhand
en route to a Championship.  Photo by Daryl Smith
then rallied to defeat Quinn Fionda of Navy
6-3. 4-6. 6-0 to also advance to the finals
before losing to Marty Whalen of Army 6-3,
6-1.
Small lost for the third time this year to
Josh Barr of of Lafayette 6-4,4-6, 6-1 in the
first round, but then came back despite a
nagging shoulder injury to win the consolation
finals at sixth singles.
"We came in here hoping to win and
even though we didn't I still think everyone
did their job," Gelrod said.
Added Cooper. "Second place is a real
good finish for us. This year we beat Navy
which is quite an accomplishment. We left on
a good note."
Looking back on four years of success,
no one could argue that point.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1.) Army
46
2.) LEHIGH
29
3.) Navy
24
4.) Colgate
12.5
5.) Lafayette
11.5
6.) Bucknell
7.5
7.) Fordham
7
8.) Holy Cross
2
Coaches of the Year:
Dave Shook (LEHIGH)
Steve Strome (Army)
Ryan Gelrod (LEHIGH)
to All-Tournament team
Named