Thursday, December 3, 1998

Waterpolo has great year despite poor record

By Manuel Gamiz Jr.

On-Line Forty-Niner

Ending with a seventh place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament marked a disappointing finish to an otherwise eventful season for the Long Beach State men's water polo team.

The 1998 season marked the last year for Head Coach Ken Lindgren. Lindgren finished his career with a record of 335-338-3, including an 11-16 record this season. In his 24 seasons as a head coach, 26 of his players were named to All-American teams, while another 47 earned all-conference honors.

In addition, many of his players have competed in Olympic Games, including 1996 team member Kyle Kopp.

Lindgren has been named Conference Coach of the Year three times, had five 20-win seasons and won three conference titles. He is currently an assistant coach with the U.S. National Women's Team.

Some of the standouts of the 1998 season, include senior 2-meter man Jeff Colyer. He led the team in scoring with 48 points, which rank No. 18 in the LBSU single-season records.

Colyer scored five goals in a game three times this season. Most recently, he scored five against in the seventh place game of the MPSF championships against Pacific. He scored five against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 20 and then went for five more against Pacific on Nov. 28.

He finished his career at The Beach ranking third in career goals with 174 and in career points with 176. He ranks only behind Kopp and Mike Burke, who rank first and second, respectively.

Senior goalie Adam Carter finished the season with 219 saves, including a season-high 13 against USC on Sept. 15. His season save total stands No. 8 on the LBSU single-season saves list.

Carter finished his career at The Beach with 586 saves, which rank No. 2 behind Brian Flint's 724. Flint played during the 1984-86 seasons.

The second leading scorer for the team was junior 2-meter man Corey Dolley, who finished the season with 40 points. His 40 points included 12 two-point goals, which rank No. 2 all-time in both single season and career charts.

LBSU Hall of Fame member Chi Kredell is the only player with more two-point goals in a season and career. Kredell finished the 1993 season and his career with 15 two-point goals.

Dolley posted a career-high in goals, when he went for five points against UC Irvine on Oct. 21.

Although some of the team leaders have finished their careers at The Beach, the future looks bright with the return of freshman sensation Chris Segesman. The Goleta native finished the season with 34 points to rank third on the team's scoring list. He had a career-high total of four goals against Occidental on Oct. 2