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Wrestling star Sandy Bacher named to USA World Judo Championships Team
5/14/01
John Miller/USA Judo
COLORADO SPRINGS - USA Judo has selected the team that will represent the USA in the 2001 World Judo Championships to be held in Munich, Germany in July. The team consists of the number one ranked player in each weight category at the close of the National Championships last week in Orlando, Florida.
Among the team members is Sandy Bacher of San Jose, Calif., who is also a World Champion in freestyle wrestling. Bacher will compete at 70 kg at the Judo World Championships. She was a member of the last three U.S. Olympic judo teams (1992, 1996, 2000).
In wrestling, Bacher was a 1999 World Champion and is a three-time World medalist. She competes in wrestling for the Dave Schultz WC.
Other members of the USA World Judo Team have a wrestling background. Competing on the men’s team at 66 kg is Alex Ottiano of Lawrence, Mass. Ottiano competed for the Brown University wrestling team. He was also a member of the 2000 Olympic Judo Team.
Competing on the women’s team at 63 kg is Grace Jividen-Chapman of Lakewood, Colo., a 1992 Olympic Team member. Jividen-Chapman won USA Wrestling U.S. Women’s National titles in 1991 and 1992.
The team is composed of seven members of the 2000 Olympic team (including two who were also on the 1996 Olympic team and one who was on both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic teams), one member from the 1996 Olympic team, one member from the 1992 Olympic team, and three members from the 2000 Junior World team. This very experienced team will be preparing for the World Championships by attending training camps in Europe and competing in the Pacific Rim Judo Championships on June 22-23, in Los Angeles.
Women:
48 kg: Sayaka Matsumoto, Richmond, California (2000 Jr. World Team - silver medal)
52 kg: Charlee Minkin, Colorado Springs, Colorado
57 kg: Ellen Wilson, Colorado Springs, Colorado (2000 Olympic Team)
63 kg: Grace Jividen-Chapman, Lakewood, Colorado (1992 Olympic Team)
70 kg: Sandra Bacher, San Jose, California (1992, 1996, 2000 Olympic Team)
78 kg: Amy Tong, San Jose, California (2000 Olympic Team)
+78 kg: Nanoushka St-Pre, Colorado Springs, Colorado (2000 Jr. World Team)
Open: Mona Wheeler, Littleton, Colorado
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Women wrestlers reinstated on UC Davis roster Tuesday
By Chris Schofield 5/15/2001
Aggie Sports Editor
On the heels of recent uproar by the UC Davis wrestling program, the UCD athletic department has reinstated two female wrestlers to the team's official roster.
In October, junior Chris Ng and freshman Arezou Mansourian were effectively cut from the UCD wrestling team. The removal did not immediately effect the athletes, however, as Ng and Mansourian continued to practice with the team through the fall. When Mansourian suffered a back injury in January, however, she was unable to receive treatment from the UCD training staff - amenities reserved only for varsity athletes.
Ng and Mansourian have since filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights in regards to the gender-based roster cut, and are also in the process of filing a lawsuit against the university.
Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka and UCD wrestling head coach Mike Burch disagree as to who made the executive decision to remove the female athletes and for what reason the move was made.
According to Burch, the women were taken off the roster by the athletic department due to "insurance costs." Warzecka, however, claims the women were not on the official roster submitted by Burch in the fall that ultimately determines varsity status.
"They were not on the roster submitted by coach Burch in October," Warzecka said. "For many years there were no women put on that roster."
According to Burch, however, there were 35 members on his fall roster: 32 men and three women.
"They made a mistake in my opinion," Burch said. "A lot of people have a problem with women in wrestling. In my opinion this administration shares some of these biases."
Warzecka adamantly refutes the accusations regarding insurance costs, and even said the university was proactive in assisting the women receive insurance.
"We don't want the students to be negatively affected," Warzecka said. "When I noticed they weren't on the squad list I was asked to intervene and try and get the women insurance."
The fact remained that the females were off the roster, and the team held a protest at the Aggie Auction to support their coach and teammates. Nearly the entire squad peacefully entered the event and stripped down to their singlets. After being escorted from Recreation Hall, the wrestlers continued to hand out flyers and picket outside the building.
Recently, Warzecka sent a letter to Burch asking him to reinstate the players. Burch argued that because he is not the one responsible for removing the women in the first place, he should not be the one reinstating them and thus, symbolically admit fault.
With Burch refusing to take the steps, the UCD athletic department issued a release to reinstate the women onto the official wrestling team roster on May 10.
According to an athletic release, the university reinstated the women "in order to address their concerns and to demonstrate UC Davis' continued commitment to providing equal and new opportunities for women in sports."
UCD has offered women the chance to wrestle on its team since 1991. Though the NCAA does not recognize women's wrestling as a varsity sport, there is a provision for a mixed roster. UCD, along with Stanford University and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, take advantage of offering this unique opportunity to women.
Even though Ng and Mansourian have been reinstated, the women remain unhappy with the loss of their 2000-2001 season and will continue with their complaint.
"To me, I fell like (Warzecka) has taken a year of wrestling from me," Ng said in The Davis Enterprise. "I don't feel like everything's justified. I don't feel like I've gotten justice."
Warzecka said he is willing to work out whatever communication discrepancies may exist between the team and the department.
"We would like very much to clear things up," Warzecka said. "We feel there is a tremendous misunderstanding between the UC Davis athletic department, our policies and procedures, the coach and the student-athletes. We do not want the students to be disadvantaged - we want them to be provided with opportunities."
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Women wrestlers reject reinstatement offer Wednesday
By Chris Schofield 5/16/2001
Aggie Sports Editor
In response to the UC Davis athletic department's decision to reinstate women onto the official wrestling roster, junior Christine Ng and freshman Arezou Mansourian have refused to return until the department meets their stipulations.
The tentative decision by the athletic department declares that all participants on the UCD wrestling team - regardless of sex - must fit on a roster of 30 members. This gender-equity cap for wrestling is necessary in all men's sports in order to maintain UCD's compliance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972.
According to wrestling head coach Mike Burch, one potential problem with counting women on the men's roster is that it will negatively impact the men's team. Having women - who cannot officially compete in the Pacific-10 Conference - on the men's roster affects the ability for UCD to maintain a high caliber Division I program by taking roster spots away from eligible male wrestlers.
According to Burch, a gender-neutral cap would put him in a position to cut the women from the roster in order to maintain a successful men's program.
Although the two ousted female wrestlers said that they want to continue to compete for one of the few mixed collegiate rosters in the country, they are dissatisfied with the athletic department's proposal for two reasons. First, they said they think the department's failure to explicitly and accurately acknowledge the sex of athletes on the roster will impede any growth toward an exclusively women's roster.
"They want to reinstate us and count us as men," Mansourian said. "We don't want to be counted as men - we want our own cap."
The women are concerned with the future of the program as well and are fighting not only for their personal situation, but also to secure the future of women in the UCD wrestling program.
"We want to work toward a contract with the school to ensure our spot on the roster next year and make provisions to ensure that the women's team will grow," Ng said.
The other stipulation Ng and Mansourian have in accepting the reinstatement is an admittance of guilt from the athletic department. As it stands now, Burch and Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka are at odds as to who is responsible for Ng and Mansourian's removal.
According to Warzecka, the women were not on the original wrestling roster that Burch submitted to the department in the fall. The women, however, claim that Burch did indeed have them on the roster and that the athletic department is to blame for their elimination from the team.
"We want a letter of apology acknowledging that the administration kicked us off, not our coach," Mansourian said. "It is ludicrous to think Coach did it. For him not wanting us on the team is bull. I would have never come here if not for him."
Burch and Warzecka met Monday to discuss the fate of women wrestlers at UCD. Burch recommended that the athletic department give him four or five spots specifically for women and create a separate roster limit from the current cap of 30. He also offered to work the proposed women's roster into the existing wrestling budget.
After the athletic department said that further developments may arise once it has had ample time to formulate a decision on Burch's recommendations.
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Women wrestlers: Justice overdue
5/17/2001
The UC Davis athletic department's pristine record in gender equity has been marred by the removal of three female wrestlers and the subsequent controversy.
The debate over who removed the women from the roster - UCD head wrestling coach Mike Burch or the UCD athletic department - remains unclear. However, someone knows the truth as to why these athletes were removed from the team and has not come forward. That person owes an explanation to the women and their teammates.
The women wrestlers were unknowingly removed from the team in October 2000, thus losing the insurance allotted to all varsity athletes. Allowing athletes to continue practicing without insurance is reckless and irresponsible - especially in an injury-prone contact sport such as wrestling. This move by the athletic department sends the message that the female wrestlers are not valued in UCD athletics.
Moreover, it is unfortunate that after seven months the matter is still not resolved. Even if the women eventually accept the athletic department's reinstatement offer, the athletes still lost an entire year of training, competition and experience.
The women wrestlers are justified in taking the issue to the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, and are equally justified in continuing their lawsuit. Sadly, this matter has gone so far beyond the university's reach because of a lack of checks and balances on the athletic department. If for nothing else, these women at least deserve swift justice for their loss.
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Katy's Meadows first at wrestling tourney
The Houston Chronicle
5/17/2001
KATY High junior Linse Meadows placed first in the 128-pound division of the
United States Girls Wrestling Association Texas Tournament in Amarillo March
11.
Meadows defeated girls from Colorado as well as Texas at the tournament.
Meadows is a two-time district and regional champion and placed third in
state UIL competition in 2000 and second in February of 2001. On March 25 at
Lake Orion, Mich., she placed fifth at the national championship of the
USGWA, defeating girls from Massachusetts, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa and Hawaii.
Meadows is the daughter of Roy and Sharon Meadows of Katy.