Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : Cypress Runs Down a New Form of Recruiting

Cypress College cross-county Coach Carl Shiller discovered some new coaching equipment last week--modern office architecture.

Sitting with a few other coaches in the cubicle that serves as his office, Shiller was bemoaning his team’s plight. He had only four eligible runners (five are needed to qualify as a team) for last Friday’s opening Orange Empire Conference meet against Riverside.

Bruce Randall, an assistant basketball coach who was sitting on the other side of a low partition separating the offices, overheard Shiller’s lament and offered a solution.

He thought of sophomore guard Andy Olivarez, who rides his bike nearly 50 miles a day from Whittier to Cypress and back.

Once basketball Coach Don Johnson gave his OK and Athletic Director Dick Van Voorhis cleared Olivarez’s eligibility, Olivarez was off and running.

Shiller didn’t expect too much from Olivarez, who was running in borrowed shoes. But Olivarez finished fifth among 10 runners. He covered the hilly, four-mile Riverside course in 30 minutes 47 seconds, which included walking for nearly two minutes because of a side ache. Trini Robles (23:55) and Chris Bradley (25:52) of Cypress placed first and second. Cypress won, 24-31.

“They told me all I had to was finish,” Olivarez said. “I thought it would be like running on this (a flat surface) but it was more like somewhere in the hills. When I saw the course I was wondering just what I was getting into, but I figured I could finish.”

Olivarez’s only previous track experience was as a freshman at Whittier High School where he ran the 440. After one season, he concentrated on basketball and was a three-season varsity player.

As a freshman last season at Cypress, the 6-foot 3-inch Olivarez averaged three points, two assists and two rebounds in 26 games.

“We are really glad he’s with us,” Shiller said. “In no way do I want to diminish the effort of our top two runners (Robles and Bradley), but Olivarez really helped us. Considering the course with all the lose dirt, he did really well.”

Olivarez plans to race the rest of the season.

“I want to race every time I can,” he said. “I could have done better Friday, but I rode my bike to school. Still, I felt pretty good afterwards. I would like to keep running to push Trini and Chris.

“But basketball is still what it’s all about. That’s why I ride all the way here each day.”

The Mission Conference football season begins Saturday night with Orange Coast (0-1) playing Rancho Santiago (1-0) at Santa Ana Stadium. Grossmont (1-0) will play at Saddleback (1-0), where the Gauchos have a 48-game winning streak. Fullerton (0-1) will play Taft (0-2) at Fullerton District Stadium as Hornet Coach Hal Sherbeck again goes for victory No. 200. Golden West travels to Ventura. All games start at 7:30 p.m.

The key play in Rancho Santiago’s 26-23 victory over Fullerton came on an unsuccessful fourth-down try late in the game. The Hornets were driving with the ball on the Don 41-yard line. With 6:59 left and the score tied, 23-23, the Hornets elected to go for it on fourth and one. Tailback Andrew Greer took a pitch from quarterback Richard Williams and appeared to have the first down, but Rancho Santiago cornerback Rod Corn pulled Greer down, short of the first down to stop the drive.

David Dawson and Mike Misuraca, members of Norwalk’s Connie Mack World Series champions, will play at Orange Coast College this spring. Dawson, a pitcher and outfielder who was the most valuable player of the series, played at West Los Angeles College last season, which has now dropped baseball. Misuraca played at Glendora High School last season and was voted the San Gabriel Valley player of the year.