University of Virginia Library

Viewpoint

Spring
Fever

By Randy Wert

GAMES AND FUN IN FLORIDA SUN was not the tune
for all University students during the spring break, for many of
Virginia's spring athletic teams either stayed "home"
completely or left for jaunts through ACC country, which is
"break", but not exactly "vacation."

WITH ALL THE CATCHING UP TO DO on everyone else's
vacation activities, let us not overlook the fact that University
athletic teams participated in 25 events over break. But it is
the outcomes of these contests that should be thy most
meaningful statistic. As astonishing as it may seem to a
community oriented to also-rans, these athletic squads
compiled an 18-4 mark while we were on vacation. Breaking
this down, we may note some very gratifying developments.

MOST ACTIVE AMONG THE ATHLETES were the
baseball players who had eight games an; several more
cancelled due to uncooperative weather. The surprising
mittmen came within one run of winning all eight contests and
now find themselves sporting an 11-1 record, including a 2-0
log in the ACC. Coach Jim West has five undefeated pitchers
and healthy late inning stickwork which has propelled the
ball club to victories which were not supposed to be theirs.
True, there are 17 games yet to be played, the bulk of which
are ACC contests. But the manner in which Coach West has
gotten his charges out of the gate is certainly indicative of how
the remainder of the season could go. Off to the fastest start in
years, the diamond nine could, barring utter collapse, bring
home the finest collegiate mark in Virginia baseball annals.

GORDON BURRIS HAS COACHED TENNIS for five
years at the University and has built a fine program, finishing
16-3 last year and third in the conference. Playing at home as
well as in the Carolinas, the netters added six more victories to
their conquest of Richmond and dropped only one match
during the break. Now standing at 7-1 for the year, Burris'
boys whipped such names as Penn State, Williams, Davidson,
and Furman. But the big victory came over ACC toughie Wake
Forest to put the Cavaliers on top of the conference heap. The
loss came to Georgia, but then they play all year round down
there, don't they?

OUR DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION LACROSSE
TEAM upped their collegiate mark to 4-0 by handling North
Carolina and Denison. The respected Baltimore Sun poll has
rated Coach Glenn Thiel's squad the best in the land so far and
show no sign of changing its mind as long as the team
continues its fine play. Everything is coming down to brass
tacks now though as Johns Hopkins, Navy, Maryland, W&L,
and Hofstra remain on thy schedule.

WHAT MAKES ALL OF THIS SO SIGNIFICANT? The
outstanding achievements of the spring sports teams thus far is
terribly important when one remembers that the University
awards no athletic grants for any spring sports. These
gentlemen who are doing so well are participating, and winning
for other than monetary reasons while many of their
opponents are scholarship performers. These facts take on an
added dimension in light of the recent withdrawal of South
Carolina from the ACC, presumably because the school felt it
could not complete successfully if the league would not lower
its academic standards, which it refused to do.

IN ADDITION TO THE ATHLETIC
DEPARTMENT-SPONSORED TEAMS, the increasingly
popular club teams waged successful spring break campaigns.
The University Rowing Association, coached by Panos Eliades,
won a prestigious race, in the Cherry Blossom Regatta, in
Washington D.C., defeating among others, a nationally ranked
Georgetown crew. In another race, for which they crew held
two daily workouts during break, the Virginia varsity eight lost
to second ranked nationally Navy by only four seconds after a
two-mile race. Now, it has been announced that the crew will
travel to Greece this summer upon invitation by the Greek
government for several races against the Greek national crew.
All this they gave accomplished without the aid of
scholarships and on a very low budget, entirely dependent
upon Student Council appropriations and private gifts.
Georgetown, for instance, award scholarships to fill the seats
in its shells.

REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE VARIOUS RUGBY
SIDES consolidated to form a team and took a tour of Florida
to play three matches. Not even the Virginia club's best
players, the team won two out of three including an upset of
the University of Florida who had never been defeated at
home.

UNLIKELY AS IT MAY SEEM, this remarkable showing
by the University's athletic program to this point is thy signal
of the new era in Cavalier sports. Basketball reversed its decade
old form, swimming rallied, two Virginia wrestlers qualified
for Nationals, the gymnastic ranks swelled, and Saturday the
community will bet its first look at the initial Don Lawrence
football team. Spring sports have no scholarship athletes, and
yet they too win. Obviously, the scholar-athlete ideal is still
alive.