There’s an old saying that claims records were meant to be broken. The Wildcats are taking it quite literally this year.
Some of Chico State’s athletes have broken six school records this fall between golf, basketball and volleyball.
The men’s basketball team started its 100th season off right by breaking the school’s single-game shooting percentage in a 104-62 win over Pacific Union. The Wildcats shot 73.8 percent, breaking a 21-year old school record by 3 percent.
Greg Clink, head men’s basketball coach, said he could care less about breaking the record and more about how the team plays.
“It felt good to come out and play well in our first outing,” Clink said. “I felt that the reason we shot the ball so well was because we were very unselfish and made the extra pass. Our shot selection was very good. As far as the shooting percentage record goes, I don’t get caught up in that. I’m more concerned with how we played and how we executed. And I thought we executed well.”
Women’s golfer Dani O’Keefe broke two records Oct. 5 at the GolfWeek Division II Invitational in Sunriver, Oregon. She posted the best ever single-round score, a 2-under-par 69, and hit for the lowest ever three-round score with a 1-over 214.
Nick Green, women’s head golf coach, said he knew O’Keefe “had that in the bag” after the first day of hitting. He was alongside O’Keefe during the final three holes of the game, and the two could agree that the more challenging of the two records was hitting under 70.
“I felt as anxious as if I were playing that final hole,” Green said. “It wasn’t until she put her first putt a foot and a half away that I relaxed and could feel nothing but excited and proud of her.”
No player in the program’s history has been able to break a score of 70 and O’Keefe was the first to do so.
Green said she can do even better this upcoming season.
“I knew how important that number was for Dani, so it was a great accomplishment in a very big tournament,” Green said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see that number go lower next semester though. “
Another three broken records came from the women’s volleyball team, featuring seniors Kristyn Casalino and Lindsay Quigley.
Casalino broke the single-match hitting percentage Nov. 8 against Cal State Dominguez Hills. She beat the previous record from 1992 by 4 percent. She now holds the record with highest hitting percentage in a single match with 86.7 percent.
Cody Hein, head volleyball coach, said Casalino deserved the record.
“It was quite an accomplishment and a testament to the hard work Kristyn has put into her game,” Hein said.
Quigley also etched herself in the record books by recording the highest hitting percentage in a single season at 40 percent and having the highest career hitting percentage at 36 percent.
Samuel Wolfson can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.
