Sports Next Stop: Atlanta Gold STANFORD COACHES PREPARE FOR OLYMPICS by Diane Manuel

S SETS HIS SIGHTS to go because my son was pitching a Olympic coach, Quick also has served on this summer’s Olympics, championship game in an all-star three times as head coach for the U.S. he’s looking for more than tournament,” Kenney says. “I knew World Championships. record-breaking times from that Pablo and [gold medalist] Jeff Quick’s honeyed Texas drawl is Aathletes. ■ “What our country [Rouse] were prepared, and that I clipped short when he talks about the needs right now are role models, and didn’t have to be there with them.” frustrations of dealing with “significant our swimmers have a chance to pro- levels of cheating” at the Olympics be- vide that,” says the Olympic men’s During training season, Kenney is on cause of steroid use. But in his coach- swimming head coach. the DeGuerre deck four hours a day, ing, he prefers praise over punishment. With both of Stanford’s head swim- pacing his swimmers as they dig and “I tell my swimmers to imagine ming coaches – Kenney and Richard kick through 120 laps in the 1,000- what the [winning] times are going to be Quick – tapped to head the men’s and meter pool. He clutches a stopwatch as like in 10 years,” he says. “And the great women’s Olympic teams, swimming athletes among them will say will take the lead at the Atlanta games. to themselves, ‘Well, why But it won’t be the only opportunity can’t I do that now?’ ” for Stanford coaches to shine. Tara VanDerveer will coach the women’s bas- As the Cardinal women’s ketball team and Sherry Posthumus will basketball team headed into serve as team leader for the combined the NCAA’s Final Four tour- men’s and women’s fencing teams. nament this spring, Tara When United States Swimming in VanDerveer was en route to November 1994 named Kenney and China to size up Olympic Quick to head the Olympic teams, medal contenders among other coaches who regularly compete the national teams of China, against them applauded the choices. Cuba and South Korea as “There could not be two nicer they played in exhibition people for the Olympic athletes,” says games against the U.S.A. , men’s head swim- Quick (left) and Kenney: BEST BUDDIES Basketball Women’s Na- ming coach at the University of tional Team. Head women’s Michigan. “These guys are like the he watches them touch the wall and basketball coach at Stanford since Dallas Cowboys of swimming. They turn, yelling “Super job!” when they’re 1986, VanDerveer took a leave this have the qualities to unite young peo- tight, bellowing “Your elbows are out!” year to lead the national team. She ple in a team.” when someone hits a second too slow. logged some 48,000 air miles while Kenney, a U.S. Olympic coach in Quick, whose swimmers practice compiling a stunning 28-0 record by 1984 and ’88 who was named the during the same hours, smiles at Ken- the time she and her players left for American Swim Coaches Associa- ney’s exaggerated show of spirit, then China in March. tion’s Coach of the Year in 1993, whips off his own red “Stanford” “Tara will finish coaching the masterminded ’ story- cap to flag in a winning relay team. national team in April, come back book comeback for the gold medal The two Stanford coaches have been to Stanford on May 1 and then in the 100-meter butterfly at the best buddies since 1989, when Quick leave again sometime in July to 1992 Olympics, but he wasn’t in was recruited from the University of coach the Olympic women’s team,” Barcelona for the event. Texas, where his teams had won five said Cheryl Levick, senior associate

Linda Cicero “I turned down the opportunity NCAA championships. A three-time athletic director.

38 STANFORD TODAY May/June 1996 Swimmers Take National Title Richard Quick continues to have that Midas touch when it In the course of leading the Car- comes to national swimming crowns. In late March, Quick led the women’s swimming team to dinal women to six Pac-10 champi- its fifth consecutive national title, as the Cardinal piled up 478 points in a three-day meet at Ann onships and four appearances in the Arbor, Mich. Southern Methodist University came in second with 397 points, and the University NCAA’s Final Four tournament, of Michigan was third with 363.5 points. The Cardinal victory was a testament to the team’s VanDerveer frequently has invited depth, as Stanford finished first in only one individual event – Claudia Franco took the Kenney and Quick to talk to her 100-meter freestyle. The team excelled in relay events, finishing out the meet with a victory in players about supporting one an- the 400-yard freestyle relay after wins in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. The team title other. Come July, all three coaches was the seventh for Stanford and 11th for Quick. The men’s team, coached by Skip Kenney, fin- likely will sit down in a satellite din- ished fourth at the national championships March 28-30 in Austin, Texas. ing facility on the Georgia Tech cam- pus to talk more strategy and to Track and Field Bid Stanford has been proposed as the site of the 1999 World Track and Field learn from Olympics logistics guru Championships. The event, second to the Olympics in stature, is held every two years. U.S.A. Sherry Posthumus. Track and Field, the domestic governing body for amateur track and field competition, will pre- sent the bid – which was developed by a San Jose-Stanford coalition – to the International Am- The head women’s fencing coach at ateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track. If the United States is selected, Stanford and the only female team the competition would be held at Stanford Stadium. The event usually runs for 10 days – one leader in that sport’s history, Posthu- day of opening ceremonies and nine days of competition. It would attract an estimated 1,700 mus competed nationally in women’s athletes from 189 countries, 4,000 media representatives and close to 600,000 spectators. The foil for two decades and is looking for- competition would pump about $130 million into the regional economy. ward to her third Olympic games. She’s already checked out the training sites, and once the first “touché” is scored in July, she will be the liaison between the team and the U.S. Olympic Commit- Sports News tee, filing protests and handling disci- plinary matters, among other duties. Women Hoopsters Make Final Four Both the men’s and women’s “One of the problems with fenc- basketball teams were invited to the NCAA championships in March. ing is that it’s not very spectator The women continued their dream season with a trip to the Final Four, friendly,” Posthumus says of the dif- but failed to advance to the championship game. After convincing vic- ficulty of spotting points as fencers tories over Grambling (82-43) and Colorado State (94-64), they lunge, retreat and parry. squeaked by Alabama 78-76 in overtime, then defeated Auburn 71-57 That’s why technicians are in- in the West Regional final. It was the fifth time in the past seven years stalling prominently displayed panels the Cardinal has reached the Final Four. They won the NCAA champi- of red and green lights to signal when- onship in 1990 and 1992. This year, the team was unbeaten in 18 Pac- AMY TUCKER ever a fencer’s electrically wired lamé 10 games, earning a No. 3 national ranking at the end of the season. jacket is hit and a point is scored by his With head coach Tara VanDerveer on leave to coach the U.S. national or her opponent. team, interim co-head coaches Amy Tucker and Marianne Stanley led “The TV people are doing all they the team to a 27-2 record. The pair was named co-head coach of the can to make the current system more year in the conference. The men, meanwhile, beat Bradley 66-58 in the visual,” Posthumus says. first round, but lost to the University of Massachusetts 79-74. As officials in Atlanta gear up for the opening ceremonies, the four Track Facility Gets Face Lift Angell Field and Cobb Track, fresh from a Stanford coaches say their responsi- major renovation, were inaugurated at a March ribbon-cutting during the MARIANNE STANLEY bilities are about to peak. Stanford Invitational track meet. The once-humble jogging track, which was the home of the Stan- “I always tell athletes that my role ford track team before meets moved to the stadium, is once again competition-worthy, thanks to as an educator is to prepare them and a $1.5 million facelift. The new facility is the result of private fundraising headed by two former Stan- then remove myself,” says coach Ken- ford track stars, Chuck Cobb (for whom the track is named) and Otis Chandler. The track and field ney, who has been swamped with in- facility is not completely finished; about $300,000 worth of work remains to be done. vitations to speak at motivational seminars this year. “I tell them they’re Place-Kicker Gets Fine, Probation Eric Abrams, a 22-year-old senior and a member of the going to the Olympics with the same football team, pleaded no contest March 28 to seven misdemeanor charges of making annoy- talent they were born with, and the ing phone calls to high school athletes and their families while posing as a Stanford coach. From only thing they can really control is last June through January, Abrams reportedly made dozens of phone calls, which included re- their attitude. quests for nude photos of the high school football and basketball players. He was sentenced “Then I say, ‘You need to go to to a fine, probation, community service and psychiatric counseling. Dean of Students Marc Wais Atlanta with the attitude that you said the case also has been referred to Stanford’s judicial affairs office for investigation of a po- want to be the best in the world.’ ” ST tential violation of the university’s Fundamental Standard of student conduct. Abrams, a place- kicker, is the football team’s all-time leading scorer with 289 points. ST