OLIVER KIMOKEO | sports editor
Outstanding starts in spring sports have turned into slightly above average records in a week where every team faced some sort of adversity.
A 17-2 start in men’s tennis has given way to a threegame losing streak. Since starting 14-1 on March 24, women’s tennis is on a 1-3 skid. Baseball has been consistent, for the most part, but they dropped a pivotal GSAC game to Fresno PaciÞ c on Wednesday and softball has been on a pattern of win two, then lose two for the majority of the season. This is crunch time for the Cougars and tough games are revealing a new face of the teams, who are all young squads but are facing challenging games which test the character of the players.
Record streaks have also come to an end. When men’s tennis dropped its Þ rst GSAC match in 59 contests to Fresno PaciÞ c on April 2, they lost the one thereafter against Vanguard on April 5. The Sunbirds also ended the baseball 25-game consecutive GSAC home winning streak as well on April 9. The baseball, softball and tennis teams combined for a 7-9 record, which comes out to a .438 winning percentage, in games played from April 2 to April 9. In games prior to April 2, the four teams had a combined 76-26 record (.745 percentage) and if softball was taken out, the percentage would rise to a staggering .881 percentage. All of the teams are obviously facing their slumps at this time.
Slumps come naturally within a season, even if the team is winning all of their games. Sometimes, it does not show up in who won or who lost but it may be that the team who does not feel the urgency on its back to play harder or it may be the team who is facing challenges with injuries and fatigue.
Whatever the reasons may be for this week’s slump, the Cougars are at the point of their seasons in which they must decide if they are going to be contenders or pretenders. It may be harsh to say this but nobody will remember the team who Þ nishes second in the GSAC here —especially at a school which has already earned three GSAC championships and two national championships already this year and has won many more championships in its past.
Winning is not the only priority for APU Athletics but it is clearly a vital part of the program. The Hall of Champions features the champions, naturally. There is no room in the trophy case for runner-ups, and for good reason. There must has to be a motivation for the athletes to push harder. And there must be a goal or else the teams are on an aimless journey, just out there for the fun of it all. There is a higher purpose at hand and it does not involve just showing up.
The difference between Þ rst place and second place has never been as razor-thin as it is now with other GSAC programs—most notably Concordia, California Baptist and Fresno PaciÞ c—on the rise. The spring teams are facing their rocky times. How will they respond this next week?
The teams with the biggest character are not the teams who win every game but the teams who come back with a fury after a tough loss.
