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Giardina Dealing With Growing Pains
The Las Vegas Review-Journal Feature Story
Nov. 27, 2001
By Jeff Wollard LAS VEGAS - Building a successful NCAA Division I athletic program is not an easy thing to do, as UNLV's Don Giardina is learning the hard way. The cross country season is over, but the work of the Rebels' first-year distance coach is far from done. Giardina is following a frustrating season of competition with a frustrating recruiting season. With no collegiate coaching experience prior to coming to UNLV, Giardina is learning it's tough to convince potential recruits to commit to a program with almost no national recognition. Tough, but not impossible. "I'm not worried," said Giardina, who has yet to recruit a runner. "I won't even think about panicking until the graduating classes march down the aisle. I've still got a whole winter and track season ahead." Giardina met with several top prospects last week, but he did not get any commitments. He said the experience was disappointing, but not surprising. "We started the recruiting process pretty late," said Giardina, who wasn't hired until September. "Everyone else started on July 1. It's hard to recruit these girls because they've just met me. They liked everything they saw, but no one wants to sign because they also want to talk to other schools." Giardina said he will travel Saturday to the Foot Locker Championships at Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) College. The event will feature the top runners in the Southwest, and Giardina said he sees an opportunity. "I need girls who are up for a challenge," he said. "I really hope to identify one of those special kids who wants to get involved in a program and build it from the ground up." UNLV will have just three returners next year, and two of them were freshmen this season. Fortunately for Giardina, he has one outstanding veteran to lead the way. Junior Jessica Zarndt has consistently placed near the front in her races, and she placed 40th in the NCAA regionals last month. Additionally, she was the 1999 Big West Conference champion in the 10,000 meters while competing for UNR during her sophomore year. Other than Zarndt, the program's lone moment in the national spotlight came in the 2000 NCAA cross country championships when then-senior Katie Barto finished 74th. That's not a lot of history to boast about, but Giardina said it is just a matter of time before his roster will be overloaded with talent. He said he has the full support of UNLV track coach Karen Dennis, whose program has been hurt by a weak distance team in the past. He also said he believes he has a formula for success that soon will yield results. "I need to get some top local kids, because the following year they'll bring in more top local kids," he said. "Then I'll go out and add one Foot Locker finalist from New York maybe, and some kid from Kenya. All of a sudden, I'll have a team that's nationally ranked." Giardina acknowledged that it will take some time, but he said he will not be discouraged.
"I enjoy recruiting," he said. "I recently told my wife that I love recruiting as much as I love the races. And I know that if you don't have the horses, you're not going to win. You've got to recruit and bring the talent in."
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