Clarion 1988-02-26 Vol. 63 No. 10

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CLARION
26 February 1988
Bethel College
St. Paul, Minnesota
Bethel sports in the MIAC: Can we win?
by Marvin J. Moore
Considered by Sports Illustrated to be
one of the strongest Division III conferences in the country, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)
has gained national prominence for the
fierce competition within the league.
Since being unanimously voted into the
MIAC on April 6, 1976, Bethel's athletic
teams have won only two conference
titles. When compared to the 14 MIAC
titles that Augsburg College (the only
other MIAC school that has only 14 varsity
sports) has won since the Royals initial
membership in the conference, statistics
show that most of Bethel's athletic teams
are finding little success in the MIAC.
Since joining the MIAC, the Royals' foot-
bail team is only 16-82-2. The men's basketball team is 88-103, and the hockey
team is 56-87-1. The combined record
for the Royals' three major sports is 160-
271-3, which indicates that the school's
main sports have been adequate, but still
below the quality of most of the other
MIAC schools' three major sports.
While the men's program has been up
and down In the MIAC, Bethel's women's
program continues to be one of the conference's most respected programs.
Even though the Lady Royals have enjoyed a lot of success in the MIAC,
Women's Athletic Director Cindy Book
has noticed that Bethel has a major sports
vs. minor sports issue to solve. "The biggest problem I had to deal with was lack
of support by the fans and media," said
Book, who announced last fall that she
will not return to Bethel after the end of
this semester.
The Competition
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A Closer Look
Book points out that in 1984 her Lady
Royals volleyball team finished 40-4 and
was nationally ranked for six consecutive
weeks, but still did not receive much
attention. "If the football, men's basketball, or hockey teams had had that kind of
success," said Book, "there would have
been dancing in the streets, pep rallies,
and fan buses. This is not a male/female
issue," said Book, "it is a major/minor
sport issue."
Book feels that in order to be successful, a
program must be able to win consistently. "I believe that the reason the volleyball program has done well is because
of our (past) success," said Book. "Success breeds success and prospective
students are impressed by and attracted
to our program. That way, the level of
quality is maintained or, hopefully, improved."
Since the conference women joined the
NCAA in 1983-84, the MIAC has produced national champions or runners-up
in cross-country, indoor and outdoor
track, basketball, tennis and swimming.
"At least two MIAC teams are nationally
ranked at some point in every sport," said
Book, which makes it an "extremely
tough" conference.
Two schools that are enjoying success on
the national level as well as in the MIAC
are Gustavus Adolphus College and the
College of St. Thomas. Already this school
year, the Gusties have been ranked
nationally in golf, football, gymnastics,
and hockey. Athletic Director Moose
Malmquist believes that there are a number of reasons why his school has been so
successful. "After a couple of down years,
we felt it was important to the image of
the institution to improve our athletic
program," said Malmquist. Our new facility has had a lot ot do with our success,
but I have always felt like ifyou had good
people, and put support behind them so
they can succeed, you will."
The College of St. Thomas boasts a
women's cross country team that finished the 1987 season tied for the
National Championship. Other St. Thomas teams that have been ranked are the
women's basketball team, the men's and
women's soccer teams, the men's crosscountry team, the hockey team, and the
Tommies' wrestling team.
St. Thomas Athletic Director Dr. Frank
Mach believes this winning tradition has
helped keep the Tommies near the top of
the MIAC. "Students do not select
schools because of athletics," said Mach,
"but if everything is equal, the more
talented athletes usually choose a school
College courts no-nonsense football coach
by Jimmy LaCroix
If the old proverb "the past dictates the
future" holds true, Bethel College football
has taken a giant step towards success.
Although the football team's past has
been gloomy, the past of Phil Janaro, the
leading candidate for the Royals' head
coaching position has been nothing more
than successful.
Bethel College offered their head coaching position, which Kevin McDonald
vacated three months ago, to Phil Janaro
last Wednesday afternoon. Janaro is expected to make his decision in the next
couple of days.
Janaro, who has spent his last four years
as the head coach at Apprentence Technological School in Williamsburg, Virginia,
is not new to coming into a football program which is "down" and lifting it to the
top. Coach Janaro has been involved with
four different colleges, Apprentence, William &. Mary, Davidson, and Bridgeport,
which had teams that were very much like
Bethel now. He created the spark and
energy in each of these programs to
make them all powerhouse teams in their
areas.
"From what I have heard, the players here
really want to win. I know what it takes to
win," commented Janaro. His straight-
Football coach candidate, Phil Janaro.
forward, no-nonsense manner may be
just what Bethel football needs to become a respectable force in the MIAC.
"The foundation for winning and success
has already been laid here; now all the
players have to do is dedicate themselves to working as hard as a winning
team has to," said Janaro.
Phil Janaro is married, with three children.
Photo by Kevin McGrew.
To him, successful coaching stems from
respect. "Before I can speak to my team
about the Lord, I feel 1 have to gain their
respect. Respect for me is very important." Let's hope that this need for respect
carries over to the Bethel football team,
so they can gain some serious respect in
the 1988 M.IA.C. football race.
that has a successful program. A quality
program tends to sell itself."
Although there are conferences with
superior teams, the MIAC is definitely
one of the most balanced conferences in
the country. When asked how tough the
MIAC actually is, Mach said, "Let me put it
this way. I think the MIAC from top to
bottom is a tough conference. Our
league has gained credibility. Without this
respect, we probably would not get a
basketball team into the tournament with
5 or 6 losses, but our conference gets an
automatic bid. Balance is good," said
Mach, "but it doesn't help us in the
national rankings when anyone can beat
anyone like our basketball conference
this season."
One school Mach feels is on the rise in
the MIAC is Carleton College. "Carleton
is making a real strong commitment
to their athletic program," said Mach,
"and I feel good when schools decide to
make an institutional decision to get better." Mach believes that while all the
schools in the conference are committed
to their respective programs, Carleton
has made visible signs of improving.
When the Royals were accepted into the
MIAC, then chairman of the Physical Education Department and Athletic Director
Dr. Eugene Glader felt that the entire program would benefit from this "logical
marriage," as Dr. Dale Stephens, former
chairman of Bethel's athletic committee
described Bethel's membership in the
See Competition page 3
BSA leaders
elections soon
In the shadow of the national presidential
election, students at Bethel College are
gearing up for Bethel Student Association presidential and vice presidential
elections, which are to be held on March
21 and 22.
Student president and vice president
hopefuls must make declaration of candidacy in the Student Senate office on or
after February 29. Students are required
to complete application forms and collect at least sixty petitioned signatures
from supporting students by March 7 to
ensure eligibility in the race for office.
If more than two president/vice-president teams are nominated for office, a
primary will be held on March 14 and 15.
The first and second place primary finishers will compete in a final election on
March 21 and 22, according to senior
student senator Peter Knight.
Knight stresses the importance of minority and women's involvement in the race
for campus leadership. In 1984-85 Debbie Van Mark served as BSA president. A
woman has not held the president's or
vice president's position since that date.
A minority  student  has  never  been
See Election page 2