|
|
|
John Zant: UCSB Receives National Award for Athletic Success |
|
|
|
By John Zant
|
|
Friday, June 15 2007 |
 John Zant
The Gauchos had a banner year in 2006-07, and the most significant recognition of that fact is the awarding of the NCAA Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy. It was presented to at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics annual convention in Orlando, Fla.
Division I-AAA comprises 93 major colleges that do not field football teams.
"This is a special achievement and a very notable award," UCSB athletic director Gary Cunningham said. "The coaches and student-athletes who have made this a reality should feel very good about it and our entire department is proud of them."
The Gauchos' committed coaches and athletes deserve all the credit for achieving that success while maintaining a higher standard of academics and a lower level of financial support than most of their peers.
UCSB earlier clinched the Big West Conference Commissioner's Cup for the sixth time in seven years. The award recognizes the institution with the best overall results in the conference's 17 sponsored sports championships.
To win the NCAA award, UCSB had to finish on top of schools from eight other conferences in Division I-AAA.
 Defender Andy Iro, right, helped UCSB win the NCAA men's soccer championship. Iro and the Gauchos will be honored at the White House on Monday. Photo courtesy of UCSB.
Coach Tim Vom Steeg and the soccer team will participate in the annual NCAA Champions Day on Monday at the White House in Washington, D.C. The Gauchos, among 28 championship teams from the past year, will tour several of the historic White House rooms.
President George W. Bush will address the teams on the White House's South Lawn. Then the captains from each team will present gifts to the president. He will receive a UCSB soccer jersey from Gaucho captains Bryan Byrne, Andy Iro and Kyle Reynish.
Besides the soccer team, five other Gaucho squads advanced to NCAA tournaments -- men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, men's tennis and women's softball. Two other teams, men's volleyball and men's water polo, were ranked in the top six nationally (the NCAA tournaments were limited to four teams). UCSB also sent several individual athletes to the NCAA championships in swimming and track and field.
Lack of support to meet the NCAA's Division I-AA financial requirements forced UCSB to drop its non-scholarship football program in 1990. That leaves Santa Barbara City College to carry the pigskin locally beyond the high school level.
It was gratifying to hear that SBCC named Craig Moropoulos as its new head football coach this week. Moropoulos has deep roots in local football.
His father Mike was a long-time coach at Santa Barbara High. Craig quarterbacked the Dons to a league championship, and after taking seven different assistant coaching jobs at colleges around the country, he landed back in Santa Barbara as coach of the Dons from 1999 to 2005. Last season he was offensive coordinator at SBCC, and the Vaqueros featured a high-scoring passing attack. Quarterback Nick Acciani will return next fall.
Reggie Bolton, SBCC's head coach the last four seasons, left in the spring to take an assistant coaching position with Bakersfield College. That says something about the difference between Santa Barbara and Bakersfield when it comes to support for athletics -- and housing affordability is also an issue.
Fortunately, SBCC found a man who is committed to staying here in Moropoulos.
|
|
|
