Loring becomes first coach in NCAA to win 600 games

If Tony Kornheiser, host of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," were to make a list of the top college tennis programs in the country, IU would certainly be listed among those on top of his "food chain." But if he were to list the coaches with 600 or more wins, Lin Loring would be it. 'That's it. That's the list,' Kornheiser would say. \nAnd yet even at his own University, a place where he has worked for more than 20 years, he goes relatively unknown outside the tennis world.\nBy guiding his 13-6 Hoosiers (5-1 Big Ten) to a blowout win at Michigan State Sunday, Loring became the only tennis coach in the history of the NCAA to win 600 matches at one school, pushing his record-setting win total to 642. And with the next-closest coach struggling to keep pace at 512, Loring has clearly separated himself from the rest of the field.\nYet, this unassuming coach couldn't be more disinterested in personal records. The man who built IU tennis from the ground up is focused solely on winning more and winning now. In fact, Loring didn't even know of his milestone until senior captain Karie Schlukebir offered her congratulations.\n"It was a total surprise to me," Loring said. "I never expected to be (at IU) long enough to win 600. In fact, when I came here, I kept my house in Santa Barbara for a year expecting to go back.\n"Six hundred is great, but I'm more concerned with getting two more this weekend," he said.\nAnd with Loring's track record, two more wins this weekend are in the forecast, as he leads yet another IU squad toward the top of the conference. Among his 600 at IU are 104 consecutive victories against Big Ten opponents, 12 undefeated conference seasons, 20 national championship appearances and IU's most impressive undefeated season -- a 69-0 singles record, one which shatters the famous record-setting 1976 undefeated basketball season. \nFittingly, his landmark win came as he preserved one of his his longest standing records: stretching his undefeated series standing versus Michigan State one more match.\nBut Schlukebir said playing under Loring doesn't feel like learning from a living legend.\n"It's just Coach to me," Schlukebir said, who has played under Loring longer than any of his current players, "He's just like a second dad to me."\nLoring, who arrived at IU in 1977 after guiding the scholarship-free Santa Barbara team to four top-20 finishes, is on the brink of leading another IU team to the top of the Big Ten. After this weekend's upset against No. 25 Michigan, IU is poised to make another run deep into postseason play.\nNo. 2 singles player senior Linda Tran said the team's preparation is in no small way tied to Loring having been there before and done it all in the past.\n"I think it's his experience that helps so much," Tran said. "We feel so comfortable on the court now, and it's because he's been in this position so many times."\nWhile Loring was careful to compare his 2004 squad to past Big Ten champions, the stunning similarity is all eight players are performing to their maximum potential -- a sign the team is, if anything, extremely well-coached.\nWith less than a month left before the Big Ten championships begin, Loring enters the home stretch in a familiar position, looking to add to his already elite resume with no end in sight.\n"I still really enjoy the teaching part of the job," Loring said. "It's been my relationships with so many people over the years that have made this so special, not the number of wins. As long as that continues, I'll keep going."\n-- Contact staff writer Jeff Fuldauer at jfuldaue@indiana.edu.