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Show Weber's triathalon must go on, despite wind and rain storm WEBER TRIATHALON: OThe event consisted of sw mming 500 yards, biking h 10k and running a 5k to finish. By LORI BRADBURY Sportswriter of The Signpost Despite the wind and rain Saturday morning( Weber State Atheletes gathered at 3:30 a.m. for the mini triathalon begining at Swenson Gym. The race consisted of swimming 500 k'ards, biking a 10k and finishing by running " r ; " " v ----"fV I " V - t t-' : ' i a 5k. First place went to Bryan DeVries with a time of 47:15, second went to Mark Phillips with a time of 48:40, and John Hamilton came in third with a time of 52:04. Congratulations to Regina Hullberg who was the only woman who paritcipated on Saturday. The mini-triathalon was a part of the intramurals program at WSU. If students participate in the different intramural sports the accumulate points. At the end of the year "Everyone did very well but it was a little nippy coming out of the pool then going into the biking, but they warmed up right away," Gil Standridge WSU Intramurals .... ...... ..... ; . . &ri. DANIELLE MABHY THE HGNPOST DANIELLE MABEY7HE SIGNPOST REGINA QUICKLY PUTS her helmet on to begin the second phase of the triathalon held at WSU Saturday morining. trophies are given for the highest points earned. The triathalon is an intramural event, therefore the winners get points and T-shirts like all other intramural sports. The mini triathalon was established as part of Greek Week. Students, faculty and alumni were the only participants since it is and intramural event. "Maybe someday we will extend it to the public, but we would have to make it a longer BRYAN DEVRIES TAKES first place in the WSU Triathalon the hard way. Not only does he realize his strreet bike has a flat prior to the race, but he swims four extra laps in the swimming part of the race. race course and we dont have the facilities to do that," said Gil Standridge, Intramurals Coordinator. Participants can enter the race as an individual, team or Co-rec. Individual is where one completes the race by his or her self, a team is classified as when a different person finishes each portion of the race, co-rec is when two people complete the swimming portion, one completes the biking and one completes the running. "Everyone did very well but it was a little nippy coming out of the pool then going into the biking, but they warmed up right away," said Standridge. Tennis coach continues to bring success to Weber State Coach Cox keeps winning despite lack of quality facilities and the difficulties of attracting new players Keith Cox: Men's tennis coach finishes his 19th season at Weber State and stakes his claim as the Big Sky's most dominant coach ever with over 500 wins. By DAREN SAUNDERS Sports writer of The Signpost The Weber State tennis team has had a lot of success over the years, and most of the credit should go to Coach Keith Cox. Cox is just finishing his 19th season as head coach of Weber State tennis, and of those 19 years, he has brought home 18 conference championships 11 men's and seven women's. In fact, he earned his 500th win overall this year when the women ncttcrs defeated UTEP. No other tennis coach in the Big Sky has been so dominating, and even nationwide that record falls into the top ten percent. Coach Cox is pretty humble about the whole ordeal. "I owe it all to the kids," he said. "Without them, I couldn't have done it." The popularity of tennis at Weber State has grown in Cox's opinion over the last 15 years, but he feels it has somewhat decreased in importance lately. Nevertheless, he still enjoys the fan support at the home matches. "The home support has been tremendously great," he said. "The fans have always given us good support." Most of the players on both the men's and women's teams are from foreign countries, and Cox has a lot to do with the recruiting program. Assistant Coach Wendy Compton does most of the recruiting for the women, and Cox recruits the men. Cox said that most of the recruiting comes through a networking program. "We have so many ex-players all over the world, and they help us find players," he said. Cox pointed out that its aword-of-mouth type of recruiting system. Cox said that the thing that sticks out most in his mind as his most memorable coaching moment was the first conference championship he won. "I thinkyou remember the first one better than any of the others," he said. 'The kidson that team are still very close to me." He also mentioned that this year's title was almost as exciting as his first one, because Weber went in as the underdog, and pulled off a very close, emotional victory over the No. 1 seeded Northern Arizona University team. , 4 i . Keith Cox Cox is a great tennis player himself, and tells quite a few success stories in his college days as well. "I won the first conference championship for Weber State in 1963," he said. "When I'm healthy, I'm pretty good." His playing record shows that he's more than pretty good. He won the number two singles in his college career, and the number one doubles twice, in 1968-69. He's recently played in nine Intermountain States singles tournaments, where he's played against many other excellent ex-collcgiate players. He's even played against some Davis Cup players, and said that that was a challenge. Over the years, Cox has seen some changesin thegame of tennis. He feels the players are more aggressive now in playing the game, and in academics. "Players today hit the ball much harder," he said. 'This might be due to the new and advanced equipment, but it's changed for the better." The Wildcats will only have four returning players next season due to the collegiate transfer system. Cox does not like this transfer system at all, but can understand players leaving Weber, even though the program here is so successful. "It's not just happening here at Weber," Cox said. "It's an epidemic that's sweeping the nation, and our players our leaving to go to better facilities." The Wildcat players have to practice at 10:30 p.m. and don't get to bed until around 3 or 4 a.m. They also have to practice on courts that are in poor shape , and have no indoor facilities. 'This is tough on our players," Cox said. "I can understand them transferring, but I wish it didn't happen." Cox would like to finish out hiscareerat Weber State University, but is faced with a difficult decision right now. He's had another offer from another school in the conference, and is facing a dilemma. The reason the decision is so difficult for him, is because the other school has better facilities, and Cox would also have a lot more pull as far as hiring and firing are concerned. 'The problem right now are the facilities," Cox said. 'The public rape, pillage, and abuse our courts, and they arc not kept up well at all. Weber falls far behind other schools in comparison."Student fee's at the other universities arc helping toaid theirtennis programs'and Cox feels this would be a good way to get back on track here at Weber State. Cox wants to stay, because Weber means a lot to him, but the temptation of belter facilities and more pull as head coach is nagging at him constantly. "I've been having a very hard time with this," he said. "When I cut myself, I bleed purple." The next little while will be difficult, according to the coach, as he tries to figure out his future. "If I stay, I hope I die hitting a forehand on the tennis court." |