Los Altos Cagers Have So-So Record, Except Against Valley’s Best

It has not been the best of seasons for the Los Altos High School boys basketball team.

Entering this week, the Hacienda Heights team was struggling with a 10-11 record and in third place in the Sierra League at 4-4.

But the Conquerors can call themselves the giant killers of the San Gabriel Valley.

Despite the so-so record, Los Altos is the only school in the valley that has beaten both Muir and Wilson--two of the top-rated teams in the state.

Los Altos defeated Muir, 64-63, in the quarterfinals of the Arroyo High tournament in December and beat cross-town rival Wilson, 67-64, in a Sierra League game Jan. 24.

That is impressive when you consider that the two teams have a combined record of 39-5. Muir is ranked No. 6 in the state in Boys Division I and Wilson is No. 4 in Boys Division II.

There’s an invasion of top foreign tennis players at Cal State Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona.

Both have added outstanding foreign players to their women’s teams.

Pomona, ranked No. 3 in a preseason NCAA Division II poll, has Xenia Anastasiadou of Greece, and Cal State L. A. has Edna Olivarez of the Philippines.

Both could be the top players on their teams.

Pomona already had several of the top players in the nation in Division II, but Coach Bob Gelfand believes that his freshman Anastasiadou may develop into the best of the bunch. She is a member of the Greek National and Federation Cup teams.

Olivarez also has a solid reputation in international tennis circles. The Cal State freshman was the top junior player in the Philippines last year, winning the national 18-and-under singles championship, and was a member of the bronze-medal-winning Philippines team at the Southeast Asian Games in Taiwan in December.

Cal State Coach Tom Yamaguchi said Olivarez will make an immediate impact. “We’re fortunate to have her. She will have the opportunity to do well in the NCAA Division II national championships--maybe even win it.”

Just how dominating was pitcher Rhonda Wheatley of the Cal Poly Pomona women’s softball team last year?

Wheatley, a junior from Valinda who posted an NCAA-record 48 wins with 16 losses and a microscopic 0.27 earned-run average, won more games than 149 of the 152 NCAA Division I schools that compete in women’s softball.

The only schools that posted more wins than Wheatley were Cal State Fullerton with 54, Fresno State with 53 and her own Pomona team with 52.

With the return of Wheatley, it’s no wonder the Broncos were ranked No. 1 by the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. and the NCAA in pre-season polls.

Unfortunately for Wheatley, the 1986 season didn’t start out like last year. Despite pitching a two-hitter, Wheatley lost 4-3 in her team’s season opener against United States International University last week.

Much of the talk in recent weeks at Cal Poly Pomona has centered on women’s basketball Coach Darlene May and her quest for 300 wins.

May reached the mark with her team’s triumph over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and women’s softball coach Carol Spanks is not far from hitting the 300 mark.

Going into a double-header Saturday at Fresno State, Spanks has a 297-113 record and figures to hit the 300 plateau next week.

Two former high school quarterback standouts from the San Gabriel Valley are playing a big part in the resurgence of the Army football team.

Army, which defeated Illinois in the Peach Bowl in December in its first bowl appearance in recent years, has been boosted by former Arcadia High quarterback Rob Healy and former Temple City signal-caller Mark Mooney.

Healy, a junior, was a starter for the Cadets, and Mooney, a freshman, was third string.