The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

August 31, 1997

Don Harnum, director of athletics at Susquehanna University, recently put the emphasis on the "athletics" part of his title when he played goalkeeper for the school's field hockey team during a pair of exhibition games in Europe.

Harnum also showed just how far he would go to help out his wife, Connie Harnum, who has been the head coach of the team for the last 23 years.

Because of the cost, only a skeleton crew of the team went on the one-week trip to Europe, which included sightseeing in Germany, Luxembourg and France as well as three exhibition games against German club teams.

The Crusaders dropped their first game, 4-1, against a team from Heidelberg, but the team suffered a much bigger loss in the game when one of the players went down with an injury.

With just the minimum number of players available and none of the team's actual goalkeepers on the trip, Connie Harnum was forced into some unorthodox recruiting.

And after raising some initial concerns about how he would fit into the equipment, Don Harnum agreed to assist. He donned the gear and performed admirably, despite his obvious inexperience.

With goalkeeper Harnum, the Crusaders dropped a 4-1 decision against a team from Munich, but they came back to win their finale, 3-1, over a team from Trier.

"He did a super job -- he really did," Connie Harnum said. "The first game, he had a problem with his reflex action. He tried to play the ball like a baseball player and use his hands instead of remembering to use his feet."

Goalkeeper Harnum provided some light moments for the team as well. "There was one time when a player came into the zone with the ball," he said. "I was directing the defense, telling them who to watch, when she let go with a shot. I jumped out to stop it but it rolled right between my legs. This German player just started to laugh and said in her best broken English, 'I wish I had a camera for that one.' "

"He improved a lot for the second game," Connie Harnum said. "In fact, the last thing the players told me as they were leaving was, 'Coach, make sure he stays in shape for the preseason.' "

Pitcher finances field

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield recently donated $150,000 to his alma mater, the Florida Institute of Technology. The funds will complete the financing of a new baseball field, permitting construction to begin.

Though the Olin Foundation gave Florida Tech $250,000 toward a new complex, Wakefield's donation completes a fund-raising process the school thought would take several years.

"The baseball program at Florida Tech has special meaning to me," Wakefield said. "Coach (Les) Hall gave me an opportunity to play, and if it wasn't for him and the baseball program, I would not be playing professional ball today."

Wakefield played first base for the Florida Tech Panthers from 1986 to 1988 and established several records that still stand.

Gamecocks daonate funds

The annual academic scholarship support provided by the University of South Carolina, Columbia, athletics department to the university recently reached $500,000.

By doubling its contribution to fund university scholarships with a $250,000 addition in 1997-98, the South Carolina athletics department continues to increase its annual support, bringing its total commitment for scholarships to $500,000.

The overall financial support provided by the athletics department to the university now exceeds $2 million annually. In addition to the scholarship funds, the athletics department also provides resources to the university for the general fund. This includes $700,000 for annual athletics scholarship reimbursement, $145,000 to the university band and $45,000 to student affairs.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Academic all-Americans

The top 20 institutions in the number of GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in all sports in the 1990s:

Inst. and Div. -- No.

1. Nebraska (I) -- 77

2. MIT (III) -- 50

3. Augustana (Ill.) (III) -- 47

4. Notre Dame (I) -- 43

5. Nebraska Wesleyan (III) -- 39

6. Georgia (I) -- 34

6. Illinois Wesleyan (III) -- 34

6. Kansas (I) -- 34

9. Penn State (I) -- 33

10. Bucknell (I) -- 32

10. Pittsburg State (II) -- 32

12. Florida (I) -- 31

13. Ball State (I) -- 30

13. Washington (Mo.) (III) -- 30

15. Emory (III) -- 28

15. Minnesota (I) -- 28

17. Southern Illinois (I) -- 27

17. Stanford (I) -- 27

19. Ohio Wesleyan (III) -- 26

20. Abilene Christian (II) -- 25

20. Case Western (III) -- 25

Source: Millsport.

Consecutive winning seasons

Football

Nebraska is closing in on the all-time record for most consecutive winning seasons in Division I-A football:

No. -- Inst. -- Seasons

42 -- Notre Dame -- 1889-1932

38 -- Alabama -- 1911-50

37 -- Nebraska -- 1962-97

29 -- Oklahoma -- 1966-94

28 -- Virginia -- 1888-1915

27 -- Michigan -- 1892-1918

26 -- Penn State -- 1939-64

Other current streaks

21 -- Florida State -- 1977-97

21 -- Washington -- 1977-97

18 -- Miami (Florida) -- 1980-97

13 -- Colorado -- 1985-97

Source: NCAA Football.

Women's volleyball

Three programs have had winning seasons every year since beginning NCAA competition in 1981:

No. -- Inst. -- Seasons

17 -- Hawaii -- 1981-97

17 -- Nebraska -- 1981-97

17 -- Stanford -- 1981-97

Source: NCAA Volleyball.