Area Roundup : Pony Invitational to Feature Leading Women’s Collegiate Softball Teams

Several of the country’s best collegiate softball teams will converge on Cal State Fullerton’s new softball complex this weekend for the 16-team, double-elimination Pony Tournament.

The second-ranked Titans will be the favorite, but they’ll be challenged by Nebraska (No. 4), Fresno State (5), Utah (6), Arizona State (7), California (8), Cal Poly Pomona (9), Northwestern (12) and Pacific (15).

The tournament begins Friday at 9 a.m. and will continue through Sunday afternoon’s championship game. Rounding out the field are Arizona, Cal State Long Beach, Oklahoma, San Diego State, United States International, University of San Francisco and Utah State.

The UC Irvine men’s tennis team, ranked 12th in the nation, plays host to the UCI/McDonald’s Tennis Tournament Friday through Monday at several Orange County sites. The Anteaters (15-5), who have won five straight, meet Washington at 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Balboa Bay Club.

In first-round matches on the UCI courts Friday, Wisconsin faces Princeton and Arizona State meets West Texas State at 8:30 a.m.; Arkansas-Little Rock plays Iowa at 10:30; Fresno State plays Harvard at 12:30 and the University of San Diego meets Utah at 2.

Other Friday matches: Maryland and Weber State meeting at 12:30 at the Irvine Marriott and Chapman faces Arizona at 1 at Chapman College. The Anteaters have won three of the previous five tournaments.

Chapman College soccer player Gregg Murphy has been named to the 1985 NCAA Division II All-Far West first team by the National Soccer Coaches Athletic Assn.

A senior midfielder from Colorado Springs, Colo., Murphy also earned first team, All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. honors this season. In his four years at Chapman, he scored 25 goals and had 12 assists. He scored six goals this season.

Kelly Capps, a part-time instructor in the Cal State Fullerton Arts Dept. and a former Titan water polo player, has been appointed interim water polo coach.

Capps, 27, replaces Kevin Hopp, who had served as Fullerton’s coach for three years. The 1980 Fullerton graduate had been the varsity water polo coach and assistant swimming coach at Sonora High School for three years.

The Modern Pentathlon Assn.-West will provide facilities and training programs in Orange County for men and women athletes, according to Richard S. Stevens, 1984 Olympic Games Sports Commissioner for the Modern Pentathlon.

Training facilities are being sought for the five events of the Modern Pentathlon--riding, fencing, shooting, swimming and running. At the 1984 Olympics, U.S. pentathletes captured the silver medal in the team competition, with Mike Storm, of Arlington, Va. leading the way with a fifth-place finish.

Co-chairmen Johnnie Johnson, Jeff Kemp, Bill Bain and LeRoy Irvin will join the Rams Booster Club in holding a celebrity golf and tennis tournament April 8 at Yorba Linda Country Club to benefit the American Cancer Society, in memory of former Ram cornerback Kirk Collins.

The tournament will have an auction and a raffle at the dinner to help increase the donation to the Cancer Society. For information, call Joel Vest at 840-6272.

The Los Caballeros Racquet and Sports Club in Fountain Valley will be one of nine clubs across the country to host regional qualifying tournaments for the Ektelon Racquetball Championship Series.

The tournament, scheduled April 11-14, is expected to draw entries from throughout the West Coast. Winners in the men’s open, women’s open and men’s veterans (30 and over) will earn a trip to compete at the national finals May 1-5 at Anaheim.

Pacific Coast Sports will broadcast tonight’s NCAA women’s West Regional game between Cal State Long Beach and USC from Pauley Pavilion on KEZY 1190 AM, beginning at 8:10 p.m. KEZY will carry all the games featuring the third-ranked 49ers.

Around the Area

Chapman College basketball Coach Kevin Wilson, a former Ashland College (Ohio) All-American, will be inducted into the Ashland College Hall of Fame Saturday. . . . Former NCAA golf champion Bob Clark, of Santa Ana, has been named honorary chairman of the Michelob-Golden Eagle Golf Tournament, to be held April 15 at the Via Verde Country Club in San Dimas. . . . The 17th Annual Anaheim Boat Show, featuring a wide assortment of boating accessories and water sports equipment along with a large display of the latest models of all types of boats and information on water-oriented vacations, will be held April 10-14 in the Anaheim Convention Center. . . . The 12th Annual Newport In-the-Water Boat Shows begin April 11 with the Used Boat Show in the Lido Marina Village and Yachting Center in Newport Beach. The Sailboat Show will be held April 17-21, while the Power-Boat Show will take place April 24-28.