Small Colleges : Locals Face Tough Test in Jennies

One of the nation’s top Division II women’s basketball teams will be in the area Friday and Saturday. Central Missouri will play at Cal Poly Pomona at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 5:45 p.m. Saturday as part of a men’s-women’s doubleheader. The men will play Simon Fraser University of British Columbia at 7:30.

The Pomona game is a rematch of last season’s NCAA championship game, won by Cal Poly, 80-69. Central Missouri had won the title in 1984. This game will be influential on the national ratings because of the normal lack of intersectional competition in Division II.

Central Missouri’s Jennies (7-3) are still strong, with eight returning players. The best is 5-foot 6-inch forward Jackie Harris, who is averaging 20 points and 6.5 rebounds. Guard Shara Sherman is averaging 17 points, and 5-11 freshman center Tammy Wilson is adding 12 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Central is averaging 80 points a game and shooting 46% from the field.

Pomona (9-3) has played 10 Division I teams and lost only to USC, Utah and Oregon. The Broncos last played Dec. 21, when they beat San Diego State, 78-74. Center Vicki Mitchell leads the attack with 14.3 points and 12.4 rebounds a game. She is shooting 52%. Debbie Flett is averaging 13.3 points, and Debra Larsen adds 11 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Dominguez Hills, 4-6 going into the week, is shooting 36% and is probably in for a long game.

The Occidental College football team, which hasn’t lost a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game in three years, dominated the SCIAC all-conference selections. Running back Vance Mueller was chosen as most valuable player on offense for the second straight year, and linebacker Parris Devine was named defensive MVP.

In addition, Coach Dale Widolff was named Kodak College Division III coach of the year for Region 5, putting him in the running for national coach of the year, which will be announced in January.

The 6-1, 200-pound Mueller, a four-year All-SCIAC selection, repeated as conference scoring leader with 13 touchdowns and rushed for 752 yards, adding 259 yards in receptions. Tackle Brian Emerson and running back Jeff Goldstein were named to the second team. Quarterback Pat Guthrie received honorable mention along with guard Morrison Warren and receiver Daryl Ogden.

Devine, a four-year starter, is joined by eight teammates on the all-SCIAC defense. Safety Quay Richerson--who ranked third among the nation’s Division III players with 11 interceptions--linemen Mike Schmidt, Scott Anderle and Scott Pogorelc, linebackers Kelvin McClaskey, Tony Carnevale and backs Mark Garcia and Todd Stoney were all selected. Defensive back Doug Porter received honorable mention.

Porter was also named first-team punter, and placekicker Tim Dewberry received first-team honors as well.

The Tigers finished 9-2 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and a national ranking of eighth before their season was abruptly ended in an Iowa snowstorm, 71-0, by Central of Iowa.

The Cal State Bakersfield wrestling team may have had more trouble grappling with its schedule than opponents on a Christmas vacation trip north.

The Roadrunner team had four dual meets in two days--against Oregon and Portland State the Friday before Christmas and Oregon State and Humboldt State Saturday, followed by an invitational tournament at Oregon State Sunday. The squad had a successful trip, placing second in the Oregon Invitational and losing only to Oregon State in the dual matches.

Travel accommodations were probably tougher than the matches. The team set out for Oregon by van at 7 a.m., stopped overnight in Redding, went to Oregon for the meets, wrestled Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then piled in the van at 7 a.m. Monday and headed home.

Basketball Coach Bob Hamilton of UC Davis is one of the more colorful coaches on the Division II scene, chewing on towels and jumping out of his seat when agitated. He’s also one of the state’s veterans, going on 20 seasons at Davis.

“I think he’s been here since Moses parted the Red Sea,” Cal State Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said before last weekend’s game.

The veteran won that one, 53-41, although he seemed annoyed that his team, built around a half-court offense, sometimes rushed its shots. “Some of our guys think the 45-second clock has a decimal point between the 4 and the 5,” Hamilton said.

Small College Notes

Occidental will be the host team fors a men’s basketball tournament Friday and Saturday, the fourth annual Tiger Cage Classic. Other teams playing are La Verne, UC Santa Cruz and Trinity University of Texas. . . . Cal Poly Pomona volleyball All-American Clara Piersma was named a first-team Academic All-American by COSIDA, the organization of collegiate sports information directors. . . . Cal State Northridge swimmers Stacy Mettam and Tina Schnare broke school records while qualifying for the NCAA Division II nationals. Mettam set a record in the 100-yard backstroke and also qualified in the 200 backstroke. Schnare set records in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and also qualified in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.