The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

April 13, 1997

When Sweet Briar College's Jennifer Crispen is up and riding her bike again, her dog Matty will be joined by colleagues, students and friends in rejoicing over her recovery.

Crispen, associate professor of physical education and athletics as well as the field hockey coach at Sweet Briar, suffered a severely lacerated liver when she fell while biking on a campus bike trail March 1.

Accompanied by her 10-month-old poodle Matty, Crispen was doing a trail sweep -- making sure there were no fallen trees or other obstacles blocking the trail -- in preparation for a scheduled group trail ride later that day.

When Crispen crashed, she was thrown, seriously injured and could not get up. Matty stayed by Crispen's side for two hours, then barked hysterically when she heard someone in the distance. Crispen was alerted by the barking and began calling for help.

A rescue squad eventually carried Crispen out of the woods to a helicopter that had landed on the hockey fields, then she was transported to the hospital.

News traveled quickly in the small community, and soon the college was swamped with inquiries about the woman who had coached the field hockey team to more than 200 victories and served as a friend and mentor to countless students in her 21 years there.

Dave Blount, Sweet Briar's director of electronic communications, set up a page on the college's World Wide Web site to spread information more quickly.

Blount coordinated with the coaches who were standing watch at the hospital's intensive care unit, and he posted regular reports on Crispen's progress. (One of Crispen's first concerns was whether the hockey fields had been damaged by the helicopter.)

Because Crispen was too ill for visitors, a virtual get-well-card was added to the Web page. In only a few days, hundreds of students, colleagues, parents and alumnae from as far away as New Zealand had posted their personal greetings to Crispen.

Equipped with a laptop computer and a dial-up connection, the coaches with Crispen could log onto the Web and show her each day's messages.

When Crispen was released from the hospital a few weeks later, coaches used the Web site to coordinate volunteers to help with meals and dog-walking while she was confined to bed rest. Well-wishers continue to send her greetings as she recovers.

"This is an outstanding example of how the Internet can be used to bring people together," Blount said.

"I'm really grateful for all the cards and attention," Crispen said. "People are wonderful. This is a perfect example of Sweet Briar being a true community."

Between a caring community and a caring canine, Crispen is being well taken care of.

Crispen's Web page can be found at www.sbcnews.sbc.edu/9803/9803cbcrispen.html.

Lucky No. 9?

Like a low seed in a tournament, the No. 9 hitter in baseball's batting order is supposed to be out soon.

However, in a recent baseball game between Mount Olive College and Belmont Abbey College, No. 9 hitters for both teams proved that it's unwise to take anything for granted in sports.

Bronson Whiteside of Belmont Abbey was a perfect 5-for-5 in the bottom spot of the Crusaders' order. Unfortunately for his team, his efforts netted him just one RBI in the game since his teammates at the top of the lineup managed just three hits in a combined 17 at-bats.

Jeremy Magers, who went 4-for-5 in the No. 9 spot for Mount Olive, fared a bit better, driving home three runs, including the go-ahead runs in an eight-run inning that earned the Trojans a 14-9 victory in the contest.

Buffs have a new recruit

Media mogul Ted Turner was so moved by the death of Ralphie III, the bison mascot at the University of Colorado, Boulder, that he gave the university's football team a yearling buffalo.

The young recruit, dubbed "Rowdy" by the cowboys on Turner's Montana ranch, will change his name to Ralphie IV before he makes his debut at the Colorado State University game in September.

There's no word on whether Turner's wife, Jane Fonda, will provide young Ralphie IV with a preseason training regimen.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Division III notes

Facilities: Wabash College's board of trustees recently authorized the construction of a $20 million Life Sports Center to house the college's athletics department and facilities for wellness and recreation. The new Life Sports Center will include a new field house with four multipurpose courts for intramural competition, a 200-meter indoor track and elevated cages for off-season baseball and golf practice; an 8,000 square-foot fitness facility with free weights, strength machines and aerobic fitness equipment; a new aquatics facility with a nine-lane stretch pool; two new regulation-sized racquetball and handball courts; and a full-sized wrestling room that will double as a facility for martial arts and yoga. Also included in the project are offices for coaches and personnel as well as several new locker rooms. As part of the project, Chadwick Court, home of the Wabash basketball team, will be renovated.

Conferences: Case Western Reserve University will leave the North Coast Athletic Conference at the conclusion of the 1998-99 academic year, but it will retain full-time membership in the University Athletic Association. The university has been a full-time member of both conferences for 12 years, but university representatives say the demands of such an arrangement have become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Milestones: Coaches -- Don Schaly, Marietta College, 1,200 victories in baseball ... Yonnie Kauffman, Elizabethtown College, 500 victories in women's basketball ... Lisle Lloyd, Chapman University, 500 victories in softball ... Judy Malone, University of California, San Diego, 300 victories in women's basketball ... Gene Baker, Guilford College, 200 victories in baseball ... Len Maiorani, St. John Fisher College, 200 victories in softball ... Steve Nelson, University of Wisconsin, Superior, 200 victories in men's ice hockey ... Barb Bausch, Guilford, 100 victories in women's basketball.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes