Western Washington University - Klipsun Yearbook (Bellingham, WA)

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ven before the annual pilgrimage of students spilled over the campus in the fall, athletics were under way. The football team was going through its early practices as the heavy afternoons of August melted into the hazy evenings of September. Pre-season polls predicted that the Vikings would drop their share of games, but little did the crystal ball predict momentus rebellion against the sideline sartorial melange of head coach jim Lounsberry. The coach's clothes received little attention as the Viks opened with two straight victories, but once the squad lost a few mid- season games some comments were dropped about the coach's personal game wardrobe. Taking the broad and vocal hint, Lounsberry donned a white shirt, tie, suit, and London Fog raincoat, gone were the gray bus driver pants and the dirty-green fisherman raincoat. The season ended on a pleasant note as the Viks blit- l zed the PLU Knights to wind up the year with a 5-4 record. . ' But it was hard to tell whether the fans were more pleased V. 5' - ' -H - Ji- -i in -V - . with the tearn's performance or with their neat and fashion- able coach. While football was grabbing most of the notices, a relatively new sport to the campus was becoming more active and gaining stature. Led by player-coach Wayne Ty- ler, the Viking soccer team compiled a l-2 record against the more experienced squads of the University of British Columbia, Skagit Valley College, and the University of Wash- ington. Never a sport to retire because of inclement weather, its advocates continued on through the winter and into the spring. While the football coach waited for the fans' to speak to him, the basketball coach took great pains to speak to the fans. Before each tough game in the early stages of the sea- son, coach Chuck Randall could be counted on to bewail the thought of his small and inexperienced Vikings competing against some of the bigger and more talented teams. s the campaign wore on, Randall had to change his pattern because his Viks beat such teams as the Uni- versity of Idaho, a major college team, and UPS, which at the time of their loss to the Viks were ranked fifth in the nation by the NAIA. After the Vikings posted wins over these impressive foes, Randall was forced to give up his pre-game moaning. Besides, the opposing coach- es by that time were complaining about the power and ability of the Vikings and there wasn't room for two pessimists in the same paper. The Vikings were keeping mistakes at a minimum on the basketball court but somebody wasn't so careful when it came to putting uniforms on the players. The colors were cheerful and matched nicely, the shirt and pants were in style as far as those things are ever in style, but those bold letters across the players' chests read VIK'S. It's nice to be possessive but what did the Viks have that other teams clidn't? That was probably a secret between the team and the uniform designer. The mistake of putting the apostrophe where it didn't belong obviously was done by someone outside of the college. At least that's what the coaches said. A school noted for producing excellent teachers simply doesn't make a grammatical mistake and then parade it through- out the entire Pacific Northwest. But then, as one sideline commentator asked, how many grandstanders noticed it? The wrestlers kept pace with their basketball counterparts in the record department, as coach William Tomaras produced an exciting, winning combination in the sport's third year on campus. Swimming also enjoyed a good year, with the Viking tankers swimming well throughout the season to give the squad its best record in two years. Spring sports have always been the forte of Western and this spring proved no exception. Baseball, golf, track, and tennis all had a solid nucleus of talented veterans returning. Baseball and golf had the biggest percentage of lettermen, but track and tennis have been improving in quality and quantity over the past few years. As the freshness. of spring glides into the exuberance of summer, athletes and fans can gaze back at the past year with satisfaction and fondness and look ahead with hope and excitement to the start of a new cycle of Viking sports. 21

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