While you were gone
steven reddy, sports editor

Surprise, surprise.

Thanks to strong winter and spring results, SFU has won the Sears Directors' Cup for the fourth year in a row.

The award is presented each June by Sears and the National Association of Collegiate Dir-ectors of Athletics (NACDA) to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) divisions I, II and III and National Athletic Intercollegiate Association (NAIA) institutions with the best overall athletics programs.

The champion in each category is determined by the number of points that their varsity teams have gained for their national standings. SFU usually wins the NAIA title and Stanford usually wins the NCAA Division I title, giving us the moniker "Stanford of the North." Kind of makes you wonder why Stanford isn't known as the "SFU of the South".

In any event, SFU won the title with 778.5 points, defeating runners-up Lindenwood of Missouri and Azusa Pacific of California. Lindenwood managed to compile 689.5 points, whereas Azusa Pacific pulled off a total of 587 points.

Both the men's and women's swimming and diving squads achieved 100 points each with their national championship status, while the Clan got a solid 80 points from softball with their 3rd-place finish, a 4th-place in golf for 75 points, and a 12th in men's outdoor track and field for 71.5 points.

Simon Fraser University also scored points in the following events: 5th in women's soccer with 60 points, 4th in women's cross-country with 75 points, 13th in wrestling for 47 points, 2nd in women's basketball with 90 points and 3rd in women's indoor track for 80 points.

Bolstered by this grandiose achievement, the squad headed down to Decatur, Alabama in hopes of defending their national champion title for another year. Unfortunately, the #1-seeded women ended up losing to #2 seed Oklahoma City, the team that eventually won the NAIA title.

After the loss to Oklahoma City, SFU still had a chance for a back-door entry to the final; however, Azusa Pacific University from California stood in their way. The Clan must have been crushed by the loss to Oklahoma City because they fell early to Azusa Pacific and could not make up the deficit, eventually losing the game (and a possible title-defense) by a score of 7-0.

All in all, a third-place finish at the national champion-ships is still very respect-able, as is the Clan's final record for the 1999/2000 season: 38-13.

The SFU women had four players named to the Region I all-star team: Kathy Iggulden, Juli Bodenbender, Lindsay Brooks and Angela Lichty. Iggulden was also named the 2000 Player of the Year by the coaches of NAIA Region I. Iggulden, Bodenbender (a junior from Richmond), and shortstop Lichty were also named to the NAIA all-American first team. It was Iggulden's second straight year achieving this honour.

Kathy Iggulden closed out the season with a 24-5 record and 191 strike-outs. She also set a new school record for home runs hit with 10, and added 46 runs brought in to lead the team. Angela Lichty was second on the team with a .418 batting average and lead the SFU squad with 16 stolen bases. Juli Bodenbender was a very consistent hitter with a team-leading .472 average, only striking out a mere 4 times for the whole season.

SFU also lost four players to graduation, including perennial all-star Iggulden, pitcher Shannon Cartier (an Ontario native), and infielders Lindsay Brooks and Tania Janssen, the latter of whom was also team captain the past two seasons.

The boys then headed down to beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico for sinful fun in the sun, as well as the 2000 NAIA national golf tournament. Unfortunately the team had little fun, as they finished fourth overall; however, this is still quite an accomplishment when you consider that 23 other teams were present.

On the individual side, SFU's best finish was Brent Osachoff, who shot a 75 in the final round for a tournament total of +1 to tie for 12th place overall. Craig Keeping and John Shin both shot final round 74s to finish tied for 30th spot at +4. Scott Baird, who finished with a 9 over par, tied for 45th, and Geoff McMillan rounded out the SFU contingent, shooting a 19 over par for the tournament.

Iain McLellan, a junior from Coquitlam, placed 2nd overall in the 400 metre dash. McLellan also anchored the 4 x 400 men's relay team, which finished 2nd and set a new SFU school record in the process with a time of 3:12.72. Other outstanding performances were put in by Adam Perrins (placing 4th in the 400 metre hurdles), and Jeff Kwantes (finishing 7th in the 3000 metre steeplechase).

In terms of our women, Heather de Geest and Carlene Daniel finished 2nd and 5th respectively in the 1500 metre race, along with Desneige McLean who, in spite of an injury, mustered up a 12th place standing.

There you have it, folks: the entire summer happenings in the SFU sports world in a nutshell. The Sears Directors' Cup (again), women's softball finishing 3rd, golfers landing a 4th place finish, men's and women's outdoor track and field squads 12th and 6th respectively.

What a summer, indeed! So next time you think that nothing happens up at SFU during the summer semester, just take a gander at the field or into the gym.

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