Soccer coaches close to netting all-time win mark

Coming into the 2003 men's soccer season, Joe Bean and Cliff McCrath, head coaches at Wheaton College (Illinois) and Seattle Pacific University, respectively, shared a second-place tie for career victories with 541 apiece. The duo stood just three wins shy of Steve Negoescoe's mark of 544 victories collected as head coach at the University of San Francisco.

Bean has been coaching collegiate soccer for 42 years and has spent the past 35 seasons at Wheaton, with prior stops at the University of Bridgeport and Quinnipiac University. During his tenure at Wheaton, he has led teams to Division III national championships in 1984 and 1997.

For McCrath, this season marks his 33rd in charge of the Seattle Pacific program in a career that spans 44 years. He has collected five national championships and crafted 32 consecutive winning seasons at the school.

However, the coaches share more than a place in NCAA annals. The paths of Bean and McCrath, who have enjoyed a more than 40-year friendship, crossed professionally early on in their careers. McCrath, a 1958 Wheaton graduate and former head men's soccer coach there, recommended Bean to former head coach Robert Baptista for Bean's current post at Wheaton.

With such a slim distance to the top of the all-time wins list, the record is sure to fall some time this season. The only question that remains is who will earn the top spot. Bean and McCrath, however, remain humble.

"The serious side of it is that I've been privileged to see all parts of the globe and associate with an incredible array of people, many of whom have become my dearest friends," said McCrath. "The frivolous side of it is I figure I've spent two and a half years of my life listening to the national anthem."

Bean said, "I am humbled and blessed beyond description to be at this threshold of accomplishment and my gratitude is to God and Christian men like Cliff and Dr. Baptista who have helped make it possible."

Yiamouyiannis earns NACWAA honor

The National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators announced Athena Yiamouyiannis as the recipient of the 2003 Nell Jackson Award.

The honor is presented to a NACWAA member who is not only a strong advocate for gender equity and diversity, but who also demonstrates courage, conviction, perseverance, vision and leadership.

Currently, Yiamouyiannis serves as executive director of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to providing equitable sport opportunities for girls and women. Before moving to NAGWS, Yiamouyiannis spent 10 years at the NCAA national office. While there, part of her responsibilities as director of membership services included serving as a liaison to the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics.

Old QB learns new tricks; senior female boots kicks

Although the college football season is just getting started, two student-athletes already have made this year one to remember.

Katie Hnida became the first female to score points in an NCAA Division I-A football game when the senior kicker from the University of New Mexico booted two extra points during the August 30 matchup against Texas State University, San Marcos. No stranger to making history, Hnida also was the first female to appear in a Division I-A football contest. Hnida's attempted extra point in last year's Las Vegas Bowl was blocked.

Meanwhile, Blackburn College's Tom Fox also is flirting with college football history. At age 34, Fox could be the oldest starting quarterback in NCAA history. The backup quarterback last year, Fox (who did not play football in high school) earned the starting nod in the September 6 season opener against Illinois College.

"Tom's maturity is an asset for the whole team," said head football coach Skip Mathieson. "There's no doubt that he is a team leader and other players respect him."

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Clive Charles, who guided the University of Portland to the 2002 Division I Women's Soccer Championship, died August 26 after a battle with prostrate cancer. Charles served as head coach of Portland's men's and women's soccer teams, leading Portland's men for the last 17 years, and the women's for the past 14. He also was the head coach of the men's U.S. Olympic Team in 2000.

Here is a look at Charles, by the numbers:

25 years ago