6B
Friday, February 7, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Softball star returns as coach
Kansas Hall of Famer hopes to lead team to college world series
Eric B. Howell / KANSAN
By Matt Woodruff
Kenan sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
Tracy Bunge poses next to her portrait in the Kansas Athletic Hall of Fame. The former All-American is returning to her alma mater to coach the Jayhawks softball team.
Homecoming came early last year for new softball coach Trace Vunge.
She was also inducted into the Kansas Athletic Hall of Fame.
Bunge became the fourth softball coach in Kansas history June 19. She was a standout pitcher and designated hitter at Kansas and earned All-American honors in 1986.
"I'm about as excited as a person can be to come back and try to lead the program to the top of the Big 12," Bunge said. "It's a job I've always wanted."
Bunge wants to make her mark as soon as possible and hopes to take the team back to the college world series. But having a good winning percentage is not her only goal.
"Obviously, I want to be successful as far as wins and losses," Bunge said. "But I want to look back and be proud of what I did with my student athletes, to teach them to be not only the best players they can, but also to be a better person."
Bunge said that she wanted to be the type of coach that people would want their kids to come and play for and to be remembered for treating her players well.
Bob Frederick, Kansas' athletic director, said Bunge's commitment to academics as well as athletics was one of the reasons she was hired to replace interim coach Gayle Luedke.
"We are thrilled to have such a fine student athlete and All-American like Tracey leading our program," Frederick said. "She is a product of the Kansas softball tradition, and we look forward to her continuing that success as our head coach."
The team showed signs that it could be successful with Bunge as the coach last fall, when it developed an aggressive style of softball, stealing 20 bases in just 10 games.
"I'm over there in the third base coaching box, and when people get on, the wheels start turning," Bunge said of her aggressive style. "The more pressure you put on a defense, the more mistakes they will make. The more mistakes they make, the more opportunities that you have."
That philosophy has been successful for Bunge both as a coach and as a player.
Bunge arrived at Kansas last fall after coaching Ohio to three consecutive winning seasons, including its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1995. She was named the 1995 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
Prior to her first head coaching job at Ohio, Bunge served as an assistant coach at Yale in 1992-93.
Bunge said serving at different schools helped her develop as a coach.
"I'm kind of partial to Ohio because they were the first school that gave me opportunity to be head coach," she said. "Spending two years in the Ivys was a world apart, with a different level of athletes and different sets of standards. I'm not used to having someone come up and say 'Coach, I have a term paper and can't practice.' I had to adjust as a coach."
Bob Stancliff, who coached Kansas from 1977-87 and took the team to two college world series appearances, was Bunge's coach.
He thinks Bunge and Kansas make a good match.
"I've talked with her a little since she's been back, and I think this is the job she's always wanted," Stanclift said. "I know she will be dedicated, she will work hard, as she already has, and she will earn the respect of her players."
Stanclift said Burge was an enjoyable player to coach.
"She was very coachable, she worked hard, and as a pitcher and hitter, she was one of the most talented players I've had the opportunity to work with in my 12 years of coaching," he said.
Joining Bunge will be assistant coaches Marla Loper, a three time All-
American at Florida State who also coached at Iowa State, and Carla Marchetti, who helped guide Northern Illinois to a 35-17 record and a Midwestern Collegiate Conference title in 1996
"Both have been tremendous to work with so far," Bunge said. "I think this team will be better because they are here."
Faulty testing allows acquittal of former coach
The Associated Press
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Former Citadel football coach Charlie Taaffe was acquitted yesterday of drunken driving for the second time in four years.
"I think you can see my feelings," Taaffe said after hugging his wife Jan when the verdict was announced. "I appreciate everybody who stood with us."
Mount Pleasant town Judge Larry Duffy, who heard the non-jury trial, said prosecutors failed to convince him that Taaiffe was under the influence when he was stopped July 27 after running a red light.
Taaffe, who was returning with other coaches from a booster meeting in Beaufort when he was arrested, was later fired by the military college for violating a morals clause in his contract.
He sued for breach of contract, arguing that the college violated its own rules by not giving him a hearing and encouraging him to attend events where drinking was encouraged.
An alcohol breath test showed Taffe's blood alcohol level was .09 percent. Under state law, jurors may infer a person was driving under the influence at .10 percent.
Taaffe was able to say his alphabet without difficulty shortly after the arrest. But when asked to walk heel-to toe, he walked diagonally, not in a straight line, and never touched his toes to his heels, according to the arresting officer's testimony.
But other testimony showed the test was given on a poorly lit, sloping driveway with no line or cracks in the pavement. And the defense presented evidence that Taaffe had a walking problem, resulting in his feet always pointing to the side.
There was also conflicting testimony over whether the breath test machine was functioning properly.
Taaffe was acquitted of a DUI charge in 1993. He was stopped on a highway in North Charleston, returning from a booster function that time as well.
The civil suit, in which Taafe seeks unspecified damages from The Citadel, has not come to trial. He had earned $75,000 yearly base pay, and his contract was to continue through 1999.
Nationally-ranked tennis star aspires to be No.1
"The outcome of the criminal trial will have no bearing on the administrative action," the college said in a statement yesterday. "Mr. Taaaffe brought discredit to The Citadel in direct violation of his employment contract, after having been warned as a result of a similar incident."
By Andy Rohrback
Kansan sportswriter
Some tennis fans who watch Xavier Avila play insist he was born with a racket in his hand. They're not far off.
Avila, Kansas No. 2 singles player, picked up his first tennis racket at the age of five. That was 1979, before the world knew much about Ronald Reagan, the space shuttle or microwave ovens.
During the past winter break, Avila went from a No. 7 seed in the National Collegiate Tennis Classic to take second place in the tournament. And he has only been in the United States for three semesters.
Born in the tiny town of Lleida, Spain, Avila learned to play tennis at an academy in Barcelona.
After four years at the academy, Avila continued playing college tennis. He represented the University of Barcelona in Spain's national collegiate tournament, which he won.
In that region of the country, home of professional tennis legends such as Conchita Martinez and Manuel Costa, tennis is paramount.
But sports and collegiate life don't mix a well in Spain as they do in the United States.
"When you are 12 or 13, if you are good at tennis, you move to Barcelona because that's the place to learn," Alva said.
"It's difficult to play tennis and study in Spain," Avila said. "It was kind of messy. I had to miss classes to go to tournaments."
After he won Spain's national tournament, he went to a tournament in Japan. There, he met Kansas tennis player Luis Uribe, who urged the Kansas tennis program to recruit Avila. That recruiting, and the almost fullride scholarship offered by Kansas, convinced Avila to move to Lawrence.
"The guy plays really well," said head coach Mark Riley. "He's really talented and really tough. He's a good kid."
"I've never enjoyed playing tennis this
Kansas junior Enrique Abaroa met Avila three years ago at a tournament in the Dominican Republic. Today, Abaroa and Avila are the Jayhawks' top doubles team, ranked No. 6 nationally.
The road hasn't been easy.
much." Avila said. "I think we're learning both a little bit of each other. We're just trying to be the first team in the nation."
"It takes a lot of time, studying and tennis, and we don't have a lot of time." Avila said. "I was in a couple of really good tournaments last year. It's amazing how good the tennis is here in the states."
He had just spent 20 days in Spain, practicing on clay courts. When he went to Florida, he said he was lucky because the courts at the tournament were also clay.
After winning three matches, Avila came up against the No.2 college player in the United States.
"I couldn't lose anything in that match, because he was better than me, he was supposed to beat me," he said. Avila emerged victorious, and although he lost in the finals, he said he was satisfied.
Xavier Avila, Barcelona, Spain, junior, attacks the net during at match at Alvaram Racquet Club. Avila, the No.2 singles player, took second place at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic.
But he's not satisfied with merely playing
tennis. As an economics major, he places a high priority on academics. He said that tennis is not what he plans to do after college.
"I'm a person who likes to spend a lot o time studying." Avila said. "Tennis) came to
be the center of my life when I was 11 until I was 19. Sometimes it's bad when you rely on something to be the center of your life that is a game. For me now, tennis is a means to do other things."
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There will be FREE PIZZA and a chance for a free KAPLAN LSAT PREP Course
meets SUNDAY, February 9th at 6:00 for a Social and Meeting
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4th Floor Kansas Union KU on Wheels Office or call 864-4644
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