litely said he wouJd think about it, but called back th ree days later to say thanks just the same, but he'd decided to go to Notre Dame. Colby did better in hiring Tom Austin from nearby Bridgton Academy. Aust in and his taff worked nonstop on recruiting, and to compensate for the thin ranks introduced multiple formations on both sides of the line. In 1988, teams bega n a nine-yea r st int of winning or sharing ( with Bowdoin in 1993 ) the CBB title. There were bright moments elsewhere, and more individual stars. The women's ten nis team, coached by j ust-graduated player Beverly NaJbandian 'Bo ( later Beverly Madden, a trustee ), took the state title in 1980, the same year women 's hockey under coach Bob Elwell '71 had goaJtender Stephanie Vrattos '81 to help assemble an eleven-game winning streak. Sara Bunnell '81 led Deb足 orah Pluck's new varsity teams of lacrosse and field hockey to rapid prominence. The women 's Nordic and Alpine ski team won the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association titles in 1986 - 87 with coach Jeff Meserve, in 1987- 88 with Richard Tonge '78, and again in 1988 - 89 with Jeff Clark, when both the women and the men were NCAA Division I I champs. Gene De Lorenzo made CBB champs of the softball team in 1985 and 1986 and took the baseball team to the finaJs of the Division I I I playoffs in 1987. Coach Sid Farr's golf team was one of New England's best in 1989, taking the Maine title . . Many aJumni were engaged in the burgeoning sports industry as well. Jan Volk '68 was general manager of the Boston Celtics. Tom Whidden '70 was tactician and crewmember for Stars and Stripes, the winning U.S. entry in the 1986 America's Cup races. Ken Nigro '60 was d irector of public relations for the New York Yankees. Multisport athletes were mostly a thing of the past at the universities. Small colleges still had a few.49 VaJavanis led in softball as she did in basketball, finish足 ing her career with a 35- 4 pitching record and becoming the first Colby athlete, man or woman, to be named scholar-athlete of the year by the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. Bunnell earned a dozen varsity letters as captain of lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey. Paul Belanger '81 made eleven in football, basketball , and baseball. James "Jamie" Arsenault '88 was a team captain in the same three sports. The mushrooming sports culture b rought with it the age of speciaJization. 49. The book The Game of Life reported that among all athletic participants, multi足 sport male athletes in liberal arts colleges declined from 37 percent in 1951 to 20 percent in 1989. Women remained the same at 27 percent. At Colby the multisport numbers for both men and women slid below the norm. 286 }
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