Roy Danforth

Roy Danforth, one of three finalists for the athletic director job at UC Irvine, said Monday he has withdrawn from consideration. Danforth, athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson, said he mailed a letter to school officials withdrawing his name on Oct. 9, a few days after returning home to New Jersey after a second interview on the Irvine campus.

Roy Danforth, one of three finalists for the athletic director job at UC Irvine, said Monday he has withdrawn from consideration. Danforth, athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson, said he mailed a letter to school officials withdrawing his name on Oct. 9, a few days after returning home to New Jersey after a second interview on the Irvine campus.

Fairleigh Dickinson University has been cleared of sex bias charges filed by the school's former acting athletic director, who was passed over for the permanent position in 1986. U.S. District Judge Harold A. Ackerman on Thursday upheld the appointment of former Tulane University basketball Coach Roy Danforth as the school's athletic director. Ackerman found there was no merit to the civil rights lawsuit filed by former acting Athletic Director Barbara Leshinsky.

Vic Cegles, the remaining finalist for the UC Irvine athletic director's job, made a third visit to the campus Monday, but indicated he has not yet been offered the job. Cegles, an assistant athletic director at Arizona State, met with several Irvine officials Monday but said the sides are "still talking" and that he was returning to Tempe Monday afternoon. He was accompanied by his wife, Bonnie, who had not been able to join him on his previous interview trips.

After failing to negotiate an agreement with any of its three finalists after a national search for a new athletic director, UC Irvine is taking a more local approach, choosing four candidates who were to be interviewed Monday night. Among those in the group are Dan Guerrero, who is the athletic director at Cal State Dominguez Hills and was one of six finalists for the job when Tom Ford was hired in 1990, and Steve Holton, an associate athletic director at Cal State Long Beach.

UC Irvine has begun interviewing candidates for athletic director, meeting Monday with outgoing New Mexico Athletic Director Gary Ness and scheduling an interview Friday with Brad Rothermel, the former athletic director at Nevada Las Vegas. Rothermel headed UNLV's athletic department for 10 years before resigning in June, 1990, saying he was tired of the strain of the job.

Vic Cegles, the last remaining finalist for the UC Irvine athletic director's job, withdrew from consideration Thursday, sending Irvine back to the drawing board after failing to negotiate an agreement with any of its three finalists. "I pulled out," said Cegles, an assistant athletic director at Arizona State. "The process went on too long."

Brad Rothermel, one of two finalists for the job of athletic director at UC Irvine, has withdrawn from consideration because his demands for dramatically increased athletic funding will not be met, Rothermel said Monday night. The remaining finalist is Vic Cegles, an assistant athletic director at Arizona State.

Brad Rothermel, former Nevada Las Vegas athletic director, is one of three finalists for the UC Irvine athletic director job. The others are Vic Cegles, an assistant athletic director for development at Arizona State, and Fairleigh Dickinson Athletic Director Roy Danforth. The three were among five candidates interviewed on campus last week, and they will return for second interviews beginning Monday, a university spokesman announced.

The leading scorer on UC Irvine's soccer team is Smith. So is the third-leading scorer. So are two of the best defenders. "If your name is Smith, you're on my team," Coach Derek Lawther said. All told, there are four Smiths on the roster, all of them starters. Two--senior forward Kevin Smith and sophomore fullback Jason Smith--are brothers. The other two--Dave Smith, a senior fullback, and Scott Smith, a junior forward--aren't related to anyone else on the team.

Jaycee Leitner went to UC Irvine after being recruited to play soccer. But for her first two years, she didn't play. Steve Shaw, the coach who had encouraged her to choose Irvine even though he couldn't offer her a scholarship, left the school before Leitner got there. And with the program in temporary disarray, Leitner went her own way. Last spring, she turned up again, and Coach Ray Smith has reason to be thankful.