Small Colleges : Azusa Pacific Headlines Meet at CS Northridge

Cal State Northridge will be host to the Northridge Nike Invitational track and field meet Saturday. The full field and seedings were incomplete Monday, but competitors are expected to include several Olympians and most of the Southland’s top Division II track athletes.

Azusa Pacific’s Nigerian connection was conspicuous in last weekend’s Fresno Bee track meet and will be in full force Saturday at Northridge.

Freshman Herbie Akpom was the surprise of the Fresno meet for Azusa Pacific, which tried him in the 110-meter high hurdles for the first time this year and the third time ever. Akpom responded with a time of 14.44 seconds, good for second, just behind teammate Brian Arnold, who finished in 14.36.

Akpom also placed second in the long jump at 24 feet 9 3/4 inches. He qualified for the NAIA national meet in both events as well as both relays and could qualify in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as well.

Sophomore teammate Patrick Nwanko, who has had a groin injury, ran at full strength for the first time this season and won the college division 100 at the Fresno meet in 10.49, then took the 200 in 21.42, both good enough to qualify for the national meet. He also runs on both relay teams, which have also qualified.

Nwanko and Akpom will compete at Northridge, where they will be joined by field events star Christian Okoye. Okoye, a Nigerian record-holder in several events and a multiple All-American for Azusa Pacific, and Mike Maynard should be among the favorites in the discus and weight events.

Football Coach Bob Shoup of Cal Lutheran University has signed four more recruits, bringing his total to 18, plus two redshirts. They will join a squad that includes 20 returning starters, two of them kickers.

The newest recruits are quarterbacks Chris Wise and Shane Hawkins, kicker Greg Maw and defensive back Fred Buchman. Wise was an honorable mention All-American at Tinley Park High School in suburban Chicago, and Hawkins was his league’s offensive player of the year at El Camino High in Oceanside. However, both figure to sit next season behind Tom Bonds, who was an NAIA honorable mention All-American.

Maw, from Ontario Christian High, had a long field goal of 45 yards and did not miss from closer. He is expected to push junior placekicker Kurt Lohse. Buchman is a junior college transfer from Walla Walla, Wash., Community College.

Pitcher Jon Billingsley of Occidental College was at the center of one of the quirkier baseball games this season. On the mound, the sophomore left-hander pitched seven innings of no-hit ball in a 14-0 victory over Colorado College. But the game got so far out of reach that Billingsley was lifted, and Mike Davies pitched the last two innings.

At the plate, Billingsley had two hits in three trips, walked twice and scored four runs. The one time he didn’t score, he was picked off first with the bases loaded. Billingsley was picked off just before catcher Tim Klement hit what would have been a grand slam. Klement had to settle for a three-run homer and seven runs batted in for the game. Small College Notes According to the College Baseball Writers Assn., which maintains the record book, shortstop Dave Poirier of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has tied the national record for being hit by pitches, 11. . . . Catcher Terry Sloan of The Master’s College led NAIA District III in hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in and was batting .449 after 18 games. Biola’s Carl Johnson was pressing Sloan in the batting race with a .457 average. . . . Outfielder Steve Manes led Cal Poly Pomona on a successful trip through the Midwest. Manes went 9 for 16 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs in 4 games. In one game at Oklahoma, he had two homers and six RBIs. Pomona won four in a row last week and Manes is batting .374. . . . Outfielder Jon Beuder of Cal State Dominguez Hills entered the week with a 10-game hitting streak, seven in a row in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. He leads the first-place Toros with a .370 average and 29 RBIs. . . . Cal State Northridge is ranked No. 1 in women’s softball again but, surprisingly, All-American pitcher Kathy Slaten has only the second-best record at 10-3-1. Sophomore Delanee Anderson leads the staff at 11-1. . . . Cal Poly Pomona’s softball team is 16-9-1 despite a .193 team batting average. After Alison Stowell’s .316, only two others are batting higher than .200. . . . The Occidental women’s tennis team won the consolation title in the Wahine tournament in Hawaii over spring vacation. The Oxy women lost the opening match to Washington but came back to defeat Hawaii Hilo, Nevada Las Vegas and BYU. . . . Polish track star Stan Oporski broke the Cal State Los Angeles triple jump record for the second time this season with a 53-7 effort against USC. That broke his month-old mark by 11 inches. . . . Eddie Toro, Cal Poly Pomona sophomore distance runner, competed in his first steeplechase at Fresno and placed second, his 9:08.69 time qualifying him for the Division II national meet. . . . Miler Gladees Prieur of Cal Poly SLO, the defending Division II women’s national champion, set meet and stadium records last weekend at Fresno, running 4:24.14. Teammate Celeste Paquette, a freshman, set school and conference records in the discus at 160-5.