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February 29, 2000 
The former five-year veteran on the Venezuelan men’s national team is using his athletic talents to realize his academic dreams. He turned down thousands of dollars in contract offers from professional volleyball leagues in Argentina and Brazil, in additi on to scholarship offers from Puerto Rico and his native Venezuela to attend Columbia College. He is pursuing a degree in international business and learning the language of international business — English. Although he’s only 23 years old, Montaño is in the heart of an already been an amazing volleyball career. While many freshmen volleyball players are attempting to adjust to a higher level of competition, Montaño brings a level of play to Columbia College that some of its players have never seen. Montaño has played volleyball internationally against the best teams and players in the world. His Venezuelan team just missed qualifying for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. This is the story of his triumphs, his pitfalls, a 2000 season that appears destined to earn him Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Newcomer of the Year and MVP award, his struggles with the English language and his transition into small-town Mid-Missouri. This is the life of Winder José Montaño Aliendres. Athletic family Born July 26, 1976, he was the first of six children of Felicidad and Pedro Montaño. He grew up in the sparsely populated coastal town of Anzuateque, Venezuela, which is affectionately called ‘El Tigrito’. Anzuateque, a six-hour drive east of the capital Caracas, relies almost solely on the prosperous oil drilling industry. Because of the remoteness of ‘El Tigrito,’ the Montaños rarely had to deal with the corrupt and unstable Venezuelan government that led to a brief civil war in 1994 and the rise of the Hugo Chavez dictatorship. "All ‘that’ was happening in the capital," said Montaño in his thick Venezuelan-accented Spanish. "The revolution didn’t really affect my family." He grew up in a middle-class home, one that stressed the importance of education and the 7th Day Adventist religion, and not the fast money available for manual labor at the oil drill sites. Pedro Montaño was one of the lucky ones in that he was able to work his way up from a chauffeur to oil drill site supervisor while others remained in entry-level positions. Montaño’s parents had no interest in athletics, but somehow managed to raise four children who have played on national teams. Winder and his brother Edwins ‘El Nene’, played volleyball. Idelis, Montaño’s sister, ran relays and sprints for the track team.< p> Even younger brother Pedro is playing center on the junior national basketball team and has a good chance of making the men’s squad. Despite the opportunities volleyball has given Montaño, it was not always his favorite sport. "I really wanted to play basketball as a kid," Montaño said. "Since I was tall I thought I could be good, but I was horrible. So I played volleyball instead." National renown The long arms and 6-foot-5 frame of Montaño were better suited for volleyball. In 1992 he joined the junior national volleyball team in his home state of Anzuateque. Then it was off to the full national squad a year later and a dramatic change in Montaño’ s life. For the next five years the team’s headquarters in Caracas was Montaño’s home, coach David Suarez was a surrogate father, world-class athletes were his classmates, and prestigious tournaments, such as the Pan-American Games, Junior World Championships and Olympic-qualifying events, were his classroom. Five days a week, for all but one month of the year, the national team practiced twice daily for three hours each practice. During Montaño’s tenure, the team played in tournaments in Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Malaysia, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia , Poland, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela and Mexico. The high points of his international career were when he won the 1994 Venezuelan Athlete of the Year award and when his team almost made it to the 1996 Olympics. Venezuela lost road matches to Argentina and Portugal in the team’s final two qualifying even ts. The national team took priority over everything in Montaño’s life, including home, religion, friendships, relationships and — most important — school. Subsequently his studies in Caracas suffered. First at Germanvillalovos and then Bernolli High School, where he took night classes for a year when volleyball began to conflict with regular class times and graduated one year behind schedule in Sept. 1998.< p> "This was a very good experience, but very difficult," Montaño said of his time with the national team. "The work really got to me and most of the time I was half asleep during classes." Montaño was getting frustrated with the sport, and after six years of competition he was ready to retire after high school graduation and begin a life of manual labor. Meanwhile 2,500 miles away at Columbia College, Wayne and Susan Kreklow, then the coaches of the men’s and women’s volleyball teams, were going after yet another talented Chinese recruit in 7-foot setter Li Mu. When Li decided to go pro and play in the newly formed Chinese men’s league, the Kreklows began looking for another strong international prospect. Word of mouth It was at this time that they were informed about a special player who was interested in coming to the U.S. by Mariuska Hamilton, the kills leader on the Cougar women’s team that won two straight NAIA national titles. The Kreklows were interested, so Hamilton, a former player on the Venezuelan national women’s team from 1994-1996, went back home during winter break and notified Montaño of this playing opportunity. "When I went back to Venezuela I saw Winder and he looked sad," said Hamilton, who once dated Montaño and is now one of his better friends. "He told me ‘Mariuska, this Cuban coach (Suarez) is killing me, I don’t want to be here anymore’." Montaño’s eyes lit up when he found out he could play in the United States. "I’ve always loved the American culture, the music, the movies, the cartoons, everything," said Montaño, a diehard Animaniacs, Mickey Mouse and Michael Jackson fan. The Kreklows were excited to hear about Montaño and were set on signing him, even before seeing him play. "When we saw the tape (of Montaño playing), that sealed the deal," said Wayne Kreklow. "The rest is history." Columbia-bound Turning down a chance to play alongside his brother Edwins, a middle blocker at the American University in Puerto Rico, Montaño packed his bags and moved to the tranquil settings of 28-acre Columbia College last fall. Not knowing any English, Montaño had a difficult first semester. "It seemed like I was the only one in the classroom who didn’t understand what the teacher was saying," Montaño said of his first lecture class. "It just meant I had to study that much harder." Effort was never a question for Montaño. It was simply a matter of comprehension. "He needed to pick up an incredible amount of English in a limited amount of time," said Liz Metscher, Montaño’s grammar and academic English teacher last semester. "He’s now an average student and seems to be enjoying himself more." Montaño’s charm, smile and upbeat personality make him a fan favorite on and off the volleyball court. "There is a Winder fan club among the students," said Metscher, adding that Montaño’s female Japanese ESL classmates are especially fond of him. "He makes girls giggle, they think he’s cute." On the court Montaño is known for his hustle, speed, determination and his amazing vertical leap when playing opposite. At the height of his jump, Montaño can touch 12-feet. Every Cougar match features the Venezuelan’s vicious spikes, superb blocks, and his now-famous growls that come at the end of every good play, much to the delight of the crowd. "That’s something personal I do just for me. People always ask me what I say when I do this, but not even I know what I say," Montaño said. Team leader "Winder is one of those athletes that are very hard to find in any sport," said Wayne Kreklow. "He is very competitive and expects the same kind of competitiveness from his teammates." During practices, Montaño plays the role of mentor despite being a freshman. Using his limited English he possesses, Montaño takes his years of volleyball experience and helps teammates with technique and form especially with outside Patrick Bellrose, Mon taño’s primary substitute. During the Feb. 15 match at Lindenwood University, Montaño suffered a pinched back nerve and was forced to sit out, but Bellrose was more than ready to step in. "OK, Winder not here, but here Patrick,” Montaño said in broken English. The Cougars went on to win three sets to one. Montaño leads the Cougars in attack percentage (47 percent), kills per game (5.6) and has already surpassed the 200 kills plateau midway through the season. "You need a player like Winder to get into the top national level," said setter Mike Taylor. "He’s as good a volleyball player as the best NCAA Division I players," Wayne Kreklow said. "He plays the game at a height above the net the way only elite players can." The most impressive aspect of Montaño’s game is that this is his first season playing opposite, a position usually reserved for a team’s most explosive scorers. Montaño played middle blocker in a Venezuelan frontline that featured opposites Jose’ Matteos, the Spanish league’s leading scorer during his rookie season, and 15-year-old sensation Ernaldo Gomez, who played in the prestigious Italian league. "It was simply impossible to play opposite with those two around," Montaño said. ‘Master W’, a nickname given to him by outside hitter K.C. Trimble, has used his sense of humor to fit in with his new teammates while giving himself an opportunity to practice his English, which is now approaching conversation level. Montaño calls Trimble ‘Cayo’, or bald-headed. He pulls the shirts of unsuspecting teammates, gives distracting little pushes to players getting set to serve in practice and fires out American catch phrases he picked up such as ‘What’s up dude?’ ‘Oh my god ’ and ‘That’s easy for me.’ "Everyone gives him a hard time on that last one," said Tanni Langi, an outside hitter from Dallas and Montaño’s roommate. To top it all off, Montaño performs what Trimble calls the ‘Cocaine Dance,’ in which he bobs and weaves and then takes his right hand and twirls it around the crown of his head as it were a halo. "It’s funny to watch," Trimble said. "He says people do this dance when they want or are on cocaine, but he would never actually do anything like that." Quiet life Although many athletes tend go to downtown to drink, dance and party, Montaño is content in living a fairly quite life on campus. In his spare time he plays pool with friends, surfs the web for news from back home, listens to Latin music in his dorm room or studies alone wherever it is quiet. This is in addition to the 10 hours a week he works at the front desk of the Southy Student Recreational Center. "He’s a very quite person," said Endrina Sosa, another former Venezuelan national team player on the Cougar women’s team. "But once you get to know him, you’ll want to spend more time with him." Montaño has the skills to play at many other places but is content with his situation at Columbia College. For the first time he is the offensive focal point of his team. He has experienced many firsts — including his first snow fall, first time eating macaroni and cheese, and first time when schoolwork is a priority. "I have a good thing going here at Columbia," Montaño said. "I want to start my career in business when I graduate. But if I feel like playing (volleyball) professionally (after graduation) then that will be good as well." Montaño plans to return to Venezuela and work on the business side of the oil industry. "I’ve always followed my dad career wise and my mom personality wise," Montaño said with that same wide smile. "Together they’ve made me who I am today."
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