The Nevada Sagebrush

Despite tsunami warnings and evacuations that began the Nevada rifle team’s Saturday morning, rifle coach Fred Harvey and athletic department officials didn’t communicate ­­­— not even to discuss the team’s safety.

“We didn’t need to make communication because I had everything under control,” Harvey said.

The athletic department focused its communication efforts on the basketball team because it wanted to inform its fans whether the game would be played, and men’s basketball coach David Carter made a more concerted effort to establish communication, Nevada athletics director Cary Groth said.

The lack of communication upset Nevada rifle shooter Samantha Stein, who wrote in her blog: “The athletic department freaked out about the Nevada basketball team…And what did they say about the Nevada Rifle Team, who is probably stuck in a one-story hotel 10x closer to the ocean than the basketball team? Jackshit. They didn’t even remember that they were in Hawai’i until I tweeted them and told them that Rifle was ok. Awesome.”

Stein was not on the three-shooter traveling team that went to Hawaii. She eventually pulled her blog Saturday night and declined an interview.

While two press releases and several tweets publicized the safety status of the Nevada men’s basketball team, also in Hawaii this weekend, nothing was mentioned about the status of the rifle team.

Nevadawolfpack twitter only had one update about the rifle team, which was a retweet from Stein: “Nevada Rifle is at a match in Honolulu today. Just talked to Coach Harvey, and he says they’re doing alright.”

Rhonda Lundin, Nevada’s associate athletic director of communications, informed Groth about Stein’s tweet.

“I think the frustration of this student athlete should come down on her coach,” Groth said. “(Nevada men’s basketball coach) David (Carter) called me. I never received a call from rifle.”

Groth said she spoke with Carter three times during the day, but she didn’t receive a call from Harvey. Groth said she doesn’t have Harvey’s cell phone number.

The Nevada rifle team stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot Waikiki Beach Hotel, which sits about two blocks from the shore, Harvey said. The hotel was located south of the Nevada men’s basketball team’s hotel.

Nevada’s shooters were located on the second floor of the hotel. Every floor below the fourth floor was considered part of the evacuation zone, said Jen Mcinnis, a front desk employee at the hotel. As a precautionary action, the rifle team rode a rent-a-van through the Koolau mountain range to Pali Outlook, a scenic location on the other side of Oahu.

The team came back to the room after the tsunami warning was lifted.

Despite the communication gap during a tsunami warning that threatened his team’s safety, when asked if he thought the Nevada athletic department supports his team, Harvey said: “Yes, I do. I’m very grateful for their support.”

Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.

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