SPORTS DIGEST : BRIEFLY

Castagna Hired at Fresno State

Bob Castagna, who coached the Valley College mens basketball team to a 18-12 record and a berth in the state tournament last year, has resigned to become an assistant coach at Fresno State.

Virgil Watson, an assistant at Valley the past three years, will replace Castagna, Athletic Director George Goff said Monday.

For now, however, only Watson’s promotion is official. A Fresno State spokesman said that the school would have no comment on Castagna’s hiring until the Bulldogs return from a tour of Europe at the end of the month. Castagna is in New York on vacation.

Goff said he believes Castagna quit because he had not received a full-time teaching position at Valley and that he wanted to coach at a major college.

Watson is a 1980 graduate of Cal State Northridge who has served as an assistant at Pasadena High, Pasadena City College, CSUN and Valley.

Blind Water Skier Completes Trip

Harry Cordellos accomplished his mission Friday morning.

The 47-year-old blind water skier, pulled by the powerboat of Bob Nordskog, completed a 31-mile trip from Catalina Island to Long Beach in 1 hour, 28 minutes. That was two minutes faster than he had planned.

Cordellos and Nordskog, 72, of Van Nuys, left Avalon Harbor at 6:40 a.m.; they arrived in Long Beach at the Queen Mary at 8:08. Cordellos suffered one fall--about two miles off the Long Beach shore--when his grip weakened, according to Eric Nordskog, Bob’s grandson and a member of the traveling party.

Skiing in good water and weather conditions, Cordellos cut his best previous time for the trip by more than half. Last year, in choppy seas, he finished in 3 hours, 21 minutes.

Yukelson Leaves CSUN for USC

Ron Yukelson, director of sports information at Cal State Northridge the past five years, has accepted a job as assistant director of development at the USC School of Business Administration.

Yukelson, 28, won eight national awards for his sports publications while at Northridge, including two first-place finishes for his baseball and softball media guides last year.

Before taking the post at Northridge, Yukelson held a similar position at Valley College. He is a graduate of San Diego State and Hamilton High in West Los Angeles.