These otter antics weren’t so cute. CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB) men’s soccer slogged through a 2-15 season. Women’s soccer stumbled to 3-15. Men’s basketball, meanwhile, went 12-15; women’s hoops dribbled to 7-20; and women’s volleyball dug out a 14-15 season. Baseball and softball? They went 19-33 and 22-30, respectively. When women’s water polo made it to 18-18, their record was the best of any team during the 2006-07 season.

Maybe it was good, then, that not too many folks showed up to watch. Jon Allred, a just-graduated senior who served as sports editor for the Otter Realm, was one of the few who did.

“No one goes to the games,” he says. “We did a story about it and one of the people interviewed asked, ‘Why be one of the 200 people in the stands who watches the team lose?’ ”

But a closer look at the 2006-07 season gone by, and a glance ahead, reveal several indicators that the program is healthier than its overall record might suggest. In fact, on Tuesday, May 29, the CSUMB Athletic Department compiled a list of those indicators as part of a thick petition they sent off to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Membership Committee, requesting that they waive CSUMB’s fourth and final year of provisionary status and let the Otters participate fully as a NCAA Division II team—with all the tournament berths, All-American eligibility and recruiting advantages that brings.

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Dr. Howard Gauthier, athletic director since he arrived in August after successful stints at Southwest Minnesota State University and Idaho State, would like to focus on numbers other than the Otters’ 36 percent winning percentage (notwithstanding “meet” sports like cross country, sailing and golf—where the Otters have enjoyed some success).

He likes 146, for example. That’s the number of goals Chelsea Laning, a junior from Morgan Hill, zapped into opposing nets for CSUMB’s women’s water polo team—best in the entire country. “She led Division I and II in scoring,” Gauthier says. “That’s unheard of.”

Gauthier also likes 57—as in the number of points senior Richard Jenkins poured in during a roller-coaster four-overtime hoops win in the semifinals of the Humboldt State Invitational Tournament. The monster total for Jenkins, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder and the first male Otter athlete ever named to an all-conference team, was the most scored in any Division II game all year.

But because Jenkins is not an official NCAA Division II athlete, his stats cannot be counted. Same goes for Laning, who wasn’t eligible for most All-American honors for the same reason.

Not that their contributions went unnoticed. By helping lift their squads to seventh and fifth out of 12 CCAA teams, respectively, they strengthened their school’s case for full membership—which means Otters could hunt regional and national records and awards as soon as next season. More importantly, their teams could compete for conference and national crowns.

The petition to the NCAA Membership Committee includes a letter of support from CCAA Commissioner Robert J. Hiegert.

“CSUMB has done a lot of things to improve the administrative structure of their program,” Hiegert says. “Gauthier, and [CSUMB President] Diane Harrison bring a great deal of experience to the conference.

“Every one of their teams has improved greatly in the last two years. Basketball’s getting better, their golf team is very solid, and bringing in new baseball facilities will help them continue to improve,” he adds. “[The CCAA] is very happy about their progress, the resources they’ve put into it—the request is definitely warranted.”

Gauthier says the new baseball-softball facility will be ready for play late this fall. He also successfully requested funds to replace the floors in the gymnasium and has plans to fundraise for a new scoreboard. Meanwhile, the renovation of a fieldhouse that will house the department’s offices and workout facilities is already underway. Gauthier apparently plans to keep the marketing exec he hired in February quite busy, starting with the promotion of affordable local summer camps led by CSUMB coaches and staff.

“We’re making huge strides,” Gauthier says. “With the new facilities coming on line and our quality student athletes, we’re going to be able to recruit and do some pretty good things.”

FOR MORE ON CSUMB ATHLETICS and summer camps (which start as early as June 18), visit sports.csumb.edu