April 2003
As the school year comes to a close, we are eagerly looking forward to another year of success for Gael Athletics. We are very proud of the improvements we've made throughout the year and believe the best is yet to come. Becoming more competitive in the athletic arena is a goal we are committed to reaching.
We are very excited to announce the hire of three new assistant coaches. Michael Morita is the latest addition to the football staff, hired as linebackers coach by head coach Vincent White. Morita comes form Bucknell University where he coached for three years. Travis Rundle was also hired by the football team to fill the graduate assistant position. Rundle played collegiate football for his father, Craig Rundle, at Albion College in Michigan. Coincidently, Craig Rundle coached at Saint Mary's from 1986-1989 leading the Gaels to a 29-12 overall record, which includes the school's last undefeated season in 1988. In addition, Joslynn Gallop was recently hired as the assistant women's volleyball coach. Previously, she served as an assistant coach at San Jose State University, where she also played volleyball.
I want to mention the accomplishments of men's basketball player's Adam Caphorn and Daniel Kickert, both of Australia, who were recently honored by collegeinsider.com. Caphorn became the first sophomore to ever receive the collegeinsider.com Student Athlete Award. He has achieved a 3.7 GPA in Physics and has started 59 of 60 games in his career as a Gael. Daniel Kickert was named to the 2002-2003 All-Freshman Team. Of the 20 freshman honored, he was one of only three players selected from the West Coast, along with Washington's Nate Robinson and Ike Diogu of Arizona State.
Some highlights from the previous week:
- Both men's and women's tennis competed in their conference tournaments over the weekend finishing 7th respectively.
- Men's golf finished 4th in WCC tourney over the weekend.
- The football team wrapped up their spring season with the annual spring game. On a rainy day, the offense edged the defense in a close battle winning 33-30.
- Baseball won the weekend series with Portland, taking two from the Pilots and playing to a tie 9-9 in the third game.
We had the pleasure of entertaining guest speaker Will Keim on Tuesday, April 1st. Keim works at Oregon State University in campus ministry and has spoken to more students on more campuses about actualizing peak performance and leadership than anyone in our nation. He spoke to both the athletic staff and student-athletes and received rave reviews from all attendees. For those interested in finding out more about Will Keim please go to: www.willkeim.com.
I would like to thank everyone for their support of Gael Athletics. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine and support our spring teams. And don't forget to buy your football season tickets on sale at the Saint Mary's ticket office or online at http://smcgaels.ocsn.com/tickets/stma-tickets.html.
Go Gaels!
Carl R. Clapp Director of Athletics
