by Phil Caskey
Graduate Assistant, WVU Sports
Communications

WVU takes enormous pride in the achievements of its athletic programs. Each year, the University is well represented in 21 sports, taking on the nation's best and attaining some of the country's highest accolades.

In September, five athletes with ties to West Virginia's flagship university carried the Mountaineers to another level of competition by participating in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Two WVU alumni and two WVU assistant coaches were with the U.S. Olympic team in Sydney, while one WVU coach guided the four-man Egyptian swimming and diving team.

Wrestling
Assistant wrestling coach Cary Kolat, a native of Rices Landing, Pa., was a member of the eight-man U.S. Olympic wrestling team. A two-time world medalist, Kolat joined the WVU wrestling coaching staff in January 2000 and won the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.

Even though he was making his first appearance in the Olympics, Kolat has been no stranger to competing against the world's best-winning two World Cup gold medals and gaining championship honors in the 1999 and 2000 Pan-American Games. He also won the 1998 Goodwill Games and is a two-time NCAA champion from Lock Haven University.

Another WVU assistant wrestling coach, Zeke Jones, went to Sydney on the U.S. wrestling team's coaching staff. Jones, a silver medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, has been a WVU coach since 1998.

Shooting
WVU had two alumni shooters participating in the Olympics after qualifying at the U.S. Shooting National Championships in June, at Ft. Benning, Ga.

Jean Foster, a native of Bozeman, Mont., was one of three members of the women's three-position smallbore team that competed in Australia. A member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, Foster was a member of the Mountaineer rifle squad from 1992 to 1995. She was a four-time all-American in both smallbore and air rifle in 1994-95 and all-American in 1992-93 in air rifle. She finished second in smallbore at the 1994 NCAA championships and was the rifle team's MVP that year. She helped WVU win three NCAA championships in four years.

Foster qualified for the 2000 Olympics with a score of 2399.0, good for third place in her event. She edged out former Mountaineer Tammie (DeAngelis) Forster by seven-tenths of a point to make the squad.

Foster isn't the only former Mountaineer shooter who arrived in Sydney with previous Olympic experience. Mike Anti, a native of Jacksonville, N.C., qualified for the Sydney games as a member of the smallbore position team. Anti was on the U.S. rifle team in the 1992 Olympics.

Anti shot a 4776.9 at the U.S. Shooting Nationals in June, ten points better than his closest competitor. As a Mountaineer, the 1987 team captain garnered many accolades. He was the 1986 NCAA smallbore champion and team MVP. He was a three-time all-American in 1984 and 1986-87 in both smallbore and air rifle. While at WVU, Anti helped the Mountaineers to two NCAA team titles in 1984 and 1986.

WVU has had at least two shooters in the Olympics since 1980 and at least one Mountaineer has competed in every Olympic Games since 1968.

Swimming
Current WVU head swim coach Eric McIlquham did not compete in the Olympics. Instead, he coached the Egyptian Olympic swim team. His ties to that team began in 1996, when he was an assistant coach of the Egyptian national team.

McIlquham began coaching the Mountaineers just last season, leading the women's squad to a school-best, fifth-place finish at the Big East Conference championships. Before coming to WVU, he swam for Oakland University from 1989 to 1992, earning 26 all-America honors and 15 national championship titles.

McIlquham holds the NCAA record in three events. He has served also as an assistant coach at Alabama, followed by three seasons with Virginia.