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Show Page 7 August 29, 979 1 Sporrsfacular VANCE CHRISTIANSEN is another superb Wildcat golfer. Despite losses, Weber looks good The Weber State Wildcats have lost three players to graduation, and the absences will be felt. Mike Gove is, naturally, the biggest loss as far as the team is concerned. Gove, a four time Most Valuable Golfer trophy winner for the Cats, was as a junior, and was an important member of the Walker Cup Team last spring. The other two graduates, John Graham and Larry Beech, were steady consistent performers who added a great deal of stability to the program. Gove finisher in the was a second-plac-e Conference tournament last year, while Graham was a fourth place winner. But while the losses will be noticed, they shouldnt keep the team from repeating as Big 8k Conference champions and regional powerhouse. There is simply too much talent on hand to write off the Wildcats for the coming year. A nice blend of and youth is experience available, and at least two of the returnees are fully capable of even replacing Gove Us leader of the team. Vance Christiansen is one who could develop into a superstar this year. The senior peaked at the end of the season last year with a convincing medalist performance at the Big Sky Conference Championships. the summer the Throught-ou- t Ogden native has continued to ' bury the competition in amateur play, and has added several more trophies to an already bulging personal honors case. Teammate Mike Borich,. a former Utah Amateur Champion, is also ready to burst into stardom. Playing in Gove's shadow last season, the Salt . Lake City native turned in a performance the year that was the through-ou- t most consistent on the team. A steady player who rarely experiences a bad round, Borich is also a defending conference champion, having won the medalist honors two years ago. Three other seniors are also on hand, and all are capable of, providing a continuation to the Wildcat fortunes. Joe L. Higham has been a three-yea- r regular on the team, while Matt Cole and Jeff Gwinn have seen spot action in the past and all can provide a lot of support for the team. A pair of first-tim- e varsity performers from last year are also back this season. Rob Despain and Mike Stanton were involved in several major tournaments during the past r year, and Stanton with a 217 was a fifth-placfinisher in the Conference tourney last May. There are also several excellent golfers who saw action mainly on the B team and in qualifying tournaments last year who are anxious and ready to move upward. All have the talent necessary to become important one-ove- members of the Varsity this year. If the returnees werent enough to assure the Wildcats another season of outstanding results, there is also a quartet of highly-toute- d fresh-me- n recruits waiting in the wings. So while the Gove era has come to an end for Weber, the beat is likely to continue this year. One thing about the schedule, though, is that the Wildcats will need good talent. It is, as always demanding. The fall part of the slate is fairly standard from year to the challenge will be to year-a- nd continue as strong as last season. The Cats are defending champions in the Weber, Beehive, and Falcon Tournaments and their third-plac- e finish in the Tucker ing last year was the best their previous best by 25 strokes. The addition of the Standard Tournament to the schedule will serve to make it ever-better- even more difficult. The spring part of the slate finds the Wildcats passing up the Tournament this year to go back to the Fresno Classic. Other major tournament appearances will be at the unofficial Western cham- pionships in Santa Cruz, the Sun its Devil, and the Cougar-wi-th hot ate rivalry.. In addition to powerful Nevada-Ren- o to the Big Sky Conference will likely not take the favorite role away from the Wildcats. They should be an overwhelming choice to repeat for the ninth straight year as league kingpins. The ultimate goal will be in-st- qualification for the NCAA National Championships late next May at Ohio State University. An appearance there would be the llth consecutive time that Weber State has joined the best in the nation to deter- mine the national collegiate champions. Madsen builds dynasty at Weber The dean of the Weber State coaching staff, Mac Madsen can look back on his achivements during his long tenure with the Wildcats with justifiable pride. He has, through force of personality, insight into techniques and personalities, and an unrelenting drive, taken the Weber State golf program from obscurity to national prominence. His eight Big Sky Conference awards bear impressive testimony to the excellence of his teams and his methods. For the past ten seasons Madsen has taken either a full team or selected individuals into competition in the NCAA National championships. And the Wildcats have been in the most prestigious tournaments in the country ova the years. Madsen has even taken the Wildcat links show overseas, with tournament appearances in Hawaii and Scotland. A native of Boise, Idaho, Madsen graduated from Brigham Young University in 1959, and won the award athletes that year. Besides his Multiple-Spor- t golfing expertise, he was also a standout baseball and Coach-of-the-Ye- basketball player. He served as athletic director and coach at the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young prior to coming to e instructor in the Weber, Madsen is also a Recreation Education and Department. Physical Few teams, in any sport or conference, have so dominated a league the way the Wildcats have in the Big Sky Conference. The Weber State and the Seven Dwarfs tradition goes back a full decade. Beginning with the 1970 season, no other team has been in the winners circle in Conference play. The Wildcat and Madsen story is not simple winning, but utter domination. In the past two seasons the winning Weber State margin has been 76 and 71 strokes, and the top five golfers in the standings have all been Wildcats. Team and individual golfing records in the Big Sky all belong to Weber State, and the Wildcats are the only conference school to have tasted competition in the NCAA National Championships. full-tim- |