Samara helps Quakers to '71 Heps title

Here, Samara recalls Penn's victory at the '71 indoor Heps -- in which he won the long jump and finished second in the vault -- at Cornell, the team's first victory in the championship meet since its inception in '48. That win kicked off a Penn dynasty, as that spring the Quakers won their first outdoor Heps title since '41. By '77, Penn had won seven straight outdoor titles and four indoor titles. Samara also reflects on the experience of coaching the Tigers against his alma mater. · Fred Samara: I think the greatest memory I have is when we won the Heps the first time back in 1971. That was a great moment for us because we hadn't won the Heps championships in years.? We won it up at Cornell we all were extremely happy?. Absolutely [it was an emotional win], I think we were nuts. I actually think that we took the celebration back to the hotel that night and celebrated quite heavily there, too, much to Coach [Jim] Tuppeny's displeasure. I think my emotions when I first got to [Princeton] were a lot stronger, because my old coach, Coach [Irv] Mondschein, got to take over the program from Coach Tuppeny when Coach Tuppeny retired; Coach Mondschein was the coach up until 1987. So, I think the rivalry was pretty intense because Coach Mondschein and I were extremely close and we still are extremely close. And as Princeton began to beat Penn more and more, I can't say there were mixed emotions, but I think the rivalry was very intense. Listen, I think a lot of the coaching that I have now, my background and my intensity to win was developed at Penn and also by my extreme feelings for Coach Mondschein. [He was a] tremendous competitor and I think a lot of that was instilled in me as a coach. I don't think anything can top being on the Olympic team. It was a life-long goal of mine and I finally made the Olympic team after being one of the favorites to make the team in 1972 and then getting hurt at the trials, and coming back four years later after training to make it in 1976, that was obviously my biggest thrill. But I think winning championships in our league, the Heptagonal League? has to rank among the top things because you're competing against your contemporaries and it's a big thrill.