South Mountaineer Volume 34, Issue 27

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Volume 34, Number 27
May 12, 1992
Bethlehem, Pa.
LEHIGHLIGHTS
NEW TRACK, CROSS COUNTRY
COACH SELECTED — Lehigh has
announced the hiring of Frederick
LaPlante as head coach for men's and
women's track and men's cross country.
LaPlante succeeds John Covert, who
retires after 25 years at Lehigh. LaPlante.
42. has been involved in coaching for 19.
years from the junior high lo collegiate
levels. He comes to Lehigh after spending
the last five years as assistant coach of
men's cross country and track al his alma
mater. Eastern Michigan University.
LaPlante also spent five seasons al both
llie University of Southern California and
San Diego Stale. LaPlante's highly
successful coaching career includes the
coaching or assistance in coaching of
nine Olympians. IS NCAA champions
and 47 NCAA All-Americans. He has
been a NCAA Division I District 8 coach
of ihe year three limes.
BASEBALL PROSPECTS HEADED
TO SOUTH MOUNTAIN — A pair of
New Jersey high school stars have
announced plans to attend Lehigh and
play baseball for head coach Skip Schultz
next fall. Pitcher Marc Tendler of
Paramus is a 6-4. 1854b. lefthander who
lias started three years for Paramus.
Catcher,joe (Jorla of Hamilton Township
is currently second in ihc Colonial Valley
Conference in RBI. home runs and
slugging percentage and is balling .480.
A complete list of all Lehigh recruits will
appear in the June 2 Mountaineer.
REMEMBERING THE ALAMO—The
South Mountaineer is proud lo report that
Bob Douche/ '85 finished I4lh out of a
held of more than 500 runners competing
in the Alamo Rent A Car Alumni Run in
New York City May 1. Alamo sponsored
ihe annual alumni run series forthe fourth
time this year with the goal of .uniting
college and university alums to compete
on behalf of their schools.
INSIDE the Mountaineer
Spring football report 2
Lehigh tops Lafayette - again 2
Gillis named rookie of year... 3
11 IC4A men's qualifiers 3
Foster, Hebert honored 3
Final spring sports results .... 4
LEHIGH COACHES ARE ON TRACK
A look at the wins complied by current Engineer
head mentors through the completion of the spring
season:
COACH (sport, # years coached) WINS
John Covert (track, cc, 25)
402
Skip Schultz (baseball, 26)
300
John McCloskey (soccer, lax, 9)      106
Dave Duke (basketball, 4)
61
Dave Shook (tennis, 3)
46
Jackie Keeley (field hockey, lax, 3) 39
LU oh-so-close in President's Cup race
Engineers claim men's
trophy despite no first
place finishes
By TARA GOULD '93
Solith Mountaineer Writer
Lehigh University captured a
strong second place finish behind
Bucknell University an extremely
close race for the second annual
Patriot League Presidents* Cup, the
league's all-sports trophy.
"If what we set out to do is to be
competitive across the board," Lehigh
Athletic Director Joe Sterrett said,
"than our resources and administrative
decisions have been effective."
Lehigh accumulated 113 points
over the course of the 1991 -'92
athletic year without winning a single
championship. The crucial
determinant in this year's race was
Bucknell's three championships.
OVERALL PRESIDENT'S CUP
FINAL STANDINGS  1991-92
(Number of sports in parentheses)
1. Bucknell (22)  114.5
2. LEHIGH (22)   113.0
3. Lafayette (22)  108.5
4. Colgate (22)   100.5
5. Army (22)  99.0
6. Fordham (18)   88.0
7. Holy Cross (22)  61.0
8. Navy (7)   37.5
The Engineers acquired many of their
points by participating in all 22 varsity
sports recognized by the Patriot League
and finishing in the top half of. the league
in 16 of those sports.
The Engineers won the Men's
Championship Trophy behind the
strength of five second place and three
third place finishes with a total of 62.5
points. Lehigh edged Bucknell, which
finished with 59 points in this category.
In the women's division. Lehigh had
to settle for fourth place with 50.5 points.
The only teams to place in the top half of
the league were field hockey (second) and
softball and lacrosse (third).
"This proves that a lot of our programs
are reasonably competitive," Sterrett said.
"But the true measure of excellence is in the
number of championships."
Senior first baseman Jennifer Hilton, a finalist for the Lehigh senior female athleteof the year,
was one of the reasons Lehigh's softball program recorded the most wins in school history
this season.   See story, Page 2. -Photo by joe ryan
Hamm getting his shot
with NFL's Falcons
Lehigh senior wide receiver Horace
Hamm. the Patriot League's offensive
player-of-the-year last season, got his
chance to compete for a National Football
League football job last week.
The Atlanta Falcons signed Hamm.
who caught 75 passes in 1991 for L044
yards and 13 touchdowns, to a free agent
contract. Hamm. who will graduate at
the end of the month, joined the club for
a spring mini-camp last Thursday through
Sunday.
"A lot of people say it's better to be
a free agent than a late-round draft pick."
said Lehigh head coach Hank Small. "I
believe he wanted to go with a run-and-
shoot (offensive) team because he felt
that was his style."
"It wasn't an easy decision." Hamm
admitted. "Atlanta has a lot of good
receivers, but as far as interest and offer,
they were the best team."
NFL clubs such as the Falcons and
the Seattle Seahawks expressed interest
in Hamm mainly thanks to his blazing
speed. Hamm was timed at 4.37 in the 40-
yard dash by the Falcons prior to the NFL
draft.
Hamm. a 5-11,167-pound senior from
Lauderhill. Fla.. and Boyd Anderson High
School, began his collegiate career at
Davidson College in 1988. When that
school dropped football below the 1-AA
level Hamm transferred to Lehigh where he
was eligible immediately as a sophomore
in 1989:
During his four-year collegiate career
he caught 181 passes for 2.899 yards (16.0)
and returned 33 kickoffs 696 yards (21.0).
He also ran some track at Lehigh.
performing on a 4x 100 relay team which set
an outdoor record, and tying a school indoor
mark for the 60-yard dash.
Former Lehigh offensive lineman
Jarrod Johnson "90. a teammate of Hamm's
for two seasons, is currently playing for the
Sacramento Surge of the World League of
American Football and is property of the
NFL's San Dieeo Charters.
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WOMEN'S
NATIONAL   COLLEG
CHAMPIONSH
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NCAA championship
set for weekend
Lehigh's recent history of playing host to
championship athletic events continues this
weekend as Goodman Stadium is the site of the
1992 NCAA women's lacrosse Division I and
III championships.
The final four teams from each division
will square off in semifinal games'Saturday.
May 16 with Division III games at 10 a.m. and
12 noon and Division I games slated for 2 and
4 p.m.
Sunday's final games are are scheduled
for 12:30 p.m. (Div. Ill) and 3:00 (Div. I).
Tickets are on sale at the Lehigh Ticket
Office. A two-day pass costs $ 10 for adults and
$6 for youths. Single day tickets are $6 for
adults and $4 for youths.