COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Mejer Had No Notion About Basketball at Christ College Irvine

Gitte Mejer didn’t know what she was getting into when she agreed to leave her native Denmark to play women’s basketball at Christ College Irvine.

Mejer had no knowledge of the dismal history of the team, which was 4-23 last season and had never won more than seven games in a season. She enrolled at Christ College without any preconceived notions--she just wanted to experience U.S. basketball and have a chance to get away from home for a year.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play at all--whether I was going to be the 12th man or something,” Mejer said. “I just wanted to practice everyday. It was great when I found out I was going to be a starter.”

Mejer, a 6-foot-2 freshman center who was one of the final players cut from the Danish national team last spring, is not only starting for the Eagles, she is the leading scorer (14 points) and rebounder (eight) and is one of the main reasons for CCI’s stunning turnaround.

With four games remaining in the regular season, Christ College is 18-5 and 6-2 and in second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Tuesday, the Eagles defeated Point Loma Nazarene (18-7, 7-1), the only California team to receive votes in the latest National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics poll.

Entering the season, the team’s goal had been to be among one of the seven NAIA District 3 teams to make the district playoffs. Now, the Eagles are in position to be seeded first or second in the tournament.

Mejer wasn’t around for the hard times at Christ College and says she cannot fully understand how much it means to the team to be doing well this year. But in Denmark, she played for a club team that was 2-24, so she can empathize.

“I know all about losing,” Mejer said. “It’s great to be on a team like this and feel all the excitement and intensity and wanting to win.”

Mejer had wanted to play basketball in the United States for exactly that reason. In Denmark, she was able to practice only about three times a week with her club team. And when she was among 16 players trying out for 12 spots on the national team, practices were limited to weekends.

At Christ College, Mejer has been able to work on her game daily.

“It’s so much more intense (here),” Mejer said. “When people play, they really play to win. It’s not just for fun.”

Christ College Irvine Coach Kent Schlichtemeier, who learned of Mejer from a friend who coaches in Denmark, said she has worked hard to improve her defense and play better with her back to the basket.

“She’s going to be a great player,” Schlichtemeier said. “She kind of limits herself sometimes because she doesn’t realize how good she is.

“She’s just a very good athlete. Once she develops a little bit more confidence in her low-post moves, she’s going to be very hard to guard.”

Although she planned to play in the United States only one year, Mejer says she now wants another. She is receiving a partial scholarship and using savings to make up the difference. She plans to return to Denmark this summer and hopes she can build up enough savings to be able to return.

“I want to come back next year,” Mejer said. “I love everybody around here. It’s been a great experience for me, and I guess I just want to carry it on a little bit.

“But I’m not going to stay forever.”

Add Eagles: Besides Mejer’s play in the middle, Christ College Irvine’s guards played a major part in the Eagles’ success. Stacy Kirch, a sophomore transfer from the University of Wyoming, leads the district in assists (4.9 a game) and three-point shooting percentage (45.6%). Nancy Geisler (4.1) and Genevieve Graff (3.9) each are among the top six in assists. Geisler (36.4%) and Graff (31.4%) are also among the top eight three-point shooters, and the team leads the district in three-point percentage (38.9%).

“These guys work like crazy,” Schlichtemeier said. “They wake up early to work on their shooting. They work on their defense every day.

“The team is made up of a lot of self-motivated players. They are a pleasure to watch. They are an inspiration to me and a lot of people around campus.”

It used to be that rival baseball coaches would call CCI Coach Scott Sarver for a little relief. Sarver said many a team padded its schedule with the Eagles, expecting a pair of easy victories.

“Everybody used to talk like Christ College was a little walkover team, but not anymore,” Sarver said. “Nobody is going to come in our yard and spank us. Now we’re going to give some spankings.”

In his third season as CCI’s coach, Sarver is confident that this is the team that will turn the corner. In his first year, the Eagles were 7-25; last season they were 22-24 and lost 13 games by one run.

Sarver calls first baseman Mike Braddish, who signed with the Chicago White Sox, his only significant loss from last season.

The Eagles’ entire starting outfield--Terry Robinson, Lou Simon and Paul Weldon--returns, and Sarver has brought in 13 new players, including two who played for the Dutch national team last year: Michael Crouwel, an outfielder, and Martijn Kant, a catcher, who will become eligible March 5.

Christ College has won six of its eight games and is batting about .370 as a team. Sarver said the pitching should be solid with the return of Mike Adams and the addition of starters Gary Sussman, a transfer from UC Irvine who attended Corona del Mar, Eric Lindbeck, a freshman from Esperanza, and Armando Diaz, an all-conference player from Pasadena College.

Robert Campillo, a transfer from Pima College in Arizona, is the starting catcher and the top relief pitcher.

College Division Notes

The Chapman College men’s and women’s basketball teams will pull a rare switch Friday with the men playing at 5:45 p.m. and the women at 8:05 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona. It’s homecoming at Pomona, which occasionally switches the men’s and women’s starting times. The Chapman men’s team (12-12, 2-7) has lost three consecutive games and is last in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Junior forward Frantz Reyes, who injured his knee Friday in a loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has a torn lateral cartilage and won’t play this weekend. The women are 10-13 and 2-5, tied for last place in the CCAA.