Fresno State Athletics
The Excitement
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July 23, 1999
Basketball-Men
- Preseason Top 25 rankings in 1996-97 and 1997-98
- Four straight NIT appearances with NIT Semifinals in 1997-98
- Under the direction of head coach Jerry Tarkanian, the Bulldogs have posted four straight 20-win seasons for the first time since the mid-?80s
- Tarkanian has never suffered a losing season in 35 years at the major college and junior college levels
- Won the WAC Pacific Division championship in 1997
- 1983 National Invitation Tournament champions
Basketball-Women
- Head coach Britt King is in her second year with the Bulldogs
- Two WNIT appearances (1986, 1990)
- Ranked among the nation?s Top 25 (1987)
- Four All-Americans in history of the program
- Three Academic All-Americans
- Six former Bulldogs have gone on to professional playing careers overseas
Baseball
- Under head coach Bob Bennett, 10 NCAA regional appearances in last 12 years
- Three-time College World Series participants
- 23 consecutive winning seasons
- Three Bulldogs have earned medals in Summer Olympic Games: John Hoover (gold in 1984), Tom Goodwin (gold in 1988) and Jeff Weaver (bronze in 1996)
- 30 All-Americans since 1951
- Eight former Bulldogs have been first-round draft picks since 1972
- Pitcher Bobby Jones (now with the New York Mets) named National Player of the Year in 1991
- 12 conference championships since 1979
Cross Country
- Head coach Red Estes has the longest tenure of any Bulldog coach (35 years)
- Four conference titles for the men (1973, ?81, ?84 and ?88), one (1988) for the women
- Eight individual conference titles for the men
- Four competitors at NCAA Championships (two men, two women)
Equestrian
- Fresno State?s newest varsity sport (introduced in fall of 1996) under head coach Megan McGee
- Elissa Lane became the school?s first National Western Champion (1998)
- Won IHSA Zone 8 English Team Championship in 1997 and 1999
- Three-time Region 1 English Team Champions (1997-99)
- 1999 Zone 8 and Region I Western team champions
Football
- Head Coach Pat Hill is in his third year
- WAC-best 23 NFL draft picks in the 1990s (including two first-round choices ? J.D. Williams in 1990 and Trent Dilfer in 1994)
- 16 former Bulldogs played in the NFL in 1998
- Captured WAC titles in 1992 and 1993
- Seven bowl invitations since 1982
- Defeated USC, 24-7, to win the 1992 Freedom Bowl title
- 16 national TV appearances since 1982
Golf
- 30 All-Americans since 1959
- Five NCAA Championship appearances in the 1990s, including a program-high fifth place showing in 1990
- Qualified for the NCAA Regionals in 20 of the last 22 seasons
- 11 conference titles (including a WAC title in 1994)
- 10 of those championships have come under head coach Mike Watney
Soccer- Men
- 26 winning seasons (including 20 straight since 1979)
- 14 NCAA playoff appearances (including eight consecutive bids from 1984 to 1991 and an ?86 Final Four showing)
- School?s first No. 1 national ranking (1987) by any Fresno State varsity sport
- 12 conference titles, including the 1998 WAC title
- Eight All-Americans
- Seven former Bulldogs are playing in Major League Soccer
Soccer-Women
- With its first season in 1995, Bulldog women?s soccer is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Peter Reynaud
- Reached its first winning season in 1997, racking up 12 wins, four All-Conference selections, and second place in the WAC Pacific Division
Softball
- 1998 NCAA Champions ? first national title by any team sport in Fresno State history
- 12 NCAA Women?s College World Series appearances
- Four-time NCAA national runner-up
- Nationally ranked in the Top 20 polls for 18 straight seasons
- Five-time No. 1 national ranking
- 18 consecutive NCAA regional appearances
- 14 conference championship titles
- 44 NCAA All-Americans and 10 GTE
Academic All-Americans
- Seven Olympians, including six USA gold medalists and USA assistant coach and current head coach Margie Wright
Swimming and Diving
- Top-40 NCAA finishes in 1996, 1997 and 1998 (most recently 29th)
- Won over 75 percent of their dual meets in the last six years
- Head coach Daniella Irle has been named WAC Coach of the Year twice since taking over in ?92
- Named an Academic All-American team for six straight semesters
- 3.29 team GPA (Fall 1997) was the sixth best in the nation
- Have had a swimmer qualify for the NCAA Championships in each of the last four years.
Tennis ? Men
- Six consecutive NCAA Championship appearances (1994-1999)
- Two WAC titles (1996, 1999)
- Won three NCAA Region VII tournaments since 1994
- Ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation (1996)
- Three All-Americans
- Head coach Michael Hegarty named 1999 WAC & West Region VII Coach of the Year
Tennis ?Women
- 1999-First WAC title and NCAA Tournament Appearance
- Advanced to NCAA regional play each of the past four seasons
- Head coach Irene Harris, the 1996 and 1999 WAC Coach of the Year
- Team climbed as high as No. 19 in the national rankings in 1999
- Three straight Academic All-America team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
- Dora Djilianova was the first All-American and three-time GTE Academic All-American.
Track and Field
- Four former Bulldogs participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics
- 10 former Bulldogs have participated in eight different Olympic Games since 1948
- In 1998, Melissa Price became Fresno State?s first-ever female national champion, claiming the NCAA pole vault title and setting the national collegiate record, both indoors and outdoors
- Former coach Dutch Warmerdam (1961-80) cleared 15 feet in the pole vault 43 times before any other vaulter could clear it once during the 1940s
- 5th-place finish at the 1994 NCAA Championships, women finished 13th
- The men?s team has won 32 conference titles in all (the first coming in 1929), the women have won five since becoming an official varsity sport in 1983
Volleyball
- Postseason play five of the past seven years
- Posted 21 or more victories in six of the past eight seasons
- Former Bulldog & current assistant coach Ruth Lawanson won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics
- Three NCAA appearances (1984, 1991 and 1998)
- Three NIVC appearances 1992, 1994 and 1995)
- Head coach Lindy Vivas, the program?s winningest coach in school history, earned WAC Coach of the Year honors in 1992 and 1997
Wrestling
- Seven consecutive WAC team titles (1993-99)
- Finished among the Top 25 at the NCAA Championships in each of the past eight seasons, including five Top 15 finishes in the past seven seasons
- Team?s best NCAA showing was eighth in 1993
- 29 All-Americans since 1964
- Head coach Dennis DeLiddo, WAC Coach of the Year four of the past eight seasons, was the runner-up for National Coach of the Year honors in 1993
Attendance Highlights
Men?s Basketball
Sold out 35 straight regular season games over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons ??set a single-season record for average home attendance (10,220 per game) in 1997-98.Baseball
The Bulldogs have been among the top four in the nation in average attendance in nine of the last 10 years ... averaged 2,922 fans in 1999.Football
Have sold an average of 25,000 season tickets for the past 11 years ... recorded 51 sellouts at Bulldog Stadium.Men?s Soccer
Led the nation in per-match average attendance (3,595) and had the single-match NCAA attendance record (12,224 vs. San Francisco) in 1987 ? in 1997, Fresno State led the nation in both total and per-match attendance.Women?s Soccer
Has reached No. 4 in the nation for two of the last three seasons in total and per-match average attendance, reaching an all-time single-match high of 2,368 in 1997 vs. Hawai?i.Softball
NCAA single-season attendance records in total (55,746, 1999) and average (2,557, 1997) and single game (5,427, 1996) ... has led nation in seven of the last nine years.Volleyball
Among the nation?s top 30 in total and average attendance in two of the last three years ... Set single-match home attendance record of 1,982 fans in 1996 ? ranked 20th in the nation in total attendance (12,958) and 23rd in average (997) in ?97.