Small Colleges : Cal Poly vs. Cal Poly in a Dual Duel

After strong showings in the Stanford cross-country invitational over the weekend, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will meet this week in what the coaches are calling a “duel meet.”

They hope the rivalry and the unique format will become an annual event.

In the five-mile meet Saturday at Pomona, the teams will not only compete, but each runner will be matched individually against his counterpart--No. 1 runner against No. 1, No. 2 against No. 2, and so on down the line. Each loser will owe the winner a T-shirt.

In a national field at Stanford, Pomona placed eighth and was the highest finisher among Division II teams. Cal Poly SLO was ninth. SLO has been the Western Region’s top Division II team for several seasons, so Pomona will be trying to make a statement Saturday.

Pomona was pleasantly surprised by the 32nd-place finish of junior transfer Angel Roman, a Venezuelan who ran No. 1 for the Broncos at Stanford, finishing in 32 minutes 1 second.

Eddie Toro, the team’s top runner at the start of the season, has shin splints, but ran 39th Saturday and appears to be regaining his form.

SLO’s No. 1 man, Mike Livingston, had an edge on Pomona, placing 26th in 31:54.9.

The Cal Poly SLO women’s cross-country team, which has won five straight NCAA Division II titles, finished fourth among 29 teams at Stanford. The field included 15 of the nation’s top 20 in Division I. Lesley White was the team’s top finisher, 14th. The women won the Aztec Invitational in San Diego the week before, which may be an omen. Whenever the women have won the Aztec run, they have gone on to the national title.

White, Katy Manning, Gladees Prieur, Lori Lopez and Kris Katterhagen give the team a strong five.

The woman on the move in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., however, may be Sylvia Mosqueda of Cal State Los Angeles. A transfer from East Los Angeles College, where she set national junior college records last year, Mosqueda has won two straight invitational meets by comfortable margins.

She won the 5,000-meter Aztec Invitational in 16:59, becoming only the third woman to break 17 minutes, then last weekend was first at Bakersfield, running a course-record 16:10.

With a solid No. 2 runner in Gretchen Lohr, Cal State L.A. hopes to challenge Northridge for second in the CCAA and region behind SLO.

Occidental’s cross-country teams were encouraged by their strong showing at Stanford. The men and women topped all Division III teams and several higher-level schools. The men placed 16th, the women 18th. The individual standout was sophomore Michele Trimble, who finished 25th among the women at 17:36.9.

One of the hottest soccer players in the Southland is sophomore Johnny Lima of Cal Poly Pomona, who has scored 10 goals in 11 games and has 22 points for the season.

Lima, however, will not be in the lineup Wednesday when the Broncos open California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play because he drew a red card in his last game and is required to sit out. The Broncos may be hard-pressed to win without him.

Another prolific scorer, forward John Tronson of Cal State Northridge, is closing in on school scoring records. The two-time CCAA player of the year has 5 goals and 12 points going into Wednesday’s conference opener at Cal Poly SLO, giving him 40 goals and 96 points in his college career. He is 5 goals and 12 points short of the school records.

Northridge will be defending its No. 1 ranking in Division II against a 16-team field featuring many Division I powers this weekend in the women’s National Invitation volleyball tournament at UCLA. The Lady Matadors (15-1) defeated Cal State Los Angeles last week for their 14th straight victory. The four-game match featured 15 service aces by Northridge. “We’ve earned the right to be No. 1,” Coach Walt Ker said.

The women play tonight at Chapman College, where they can extend their CCAA streak of 14 straight victories and 41 out of 42 over the last four years.

Small College Notes

With Cal Lutheran quarterback Tom Bonds nursing a knee injury, his backups have thrown seven interceptions in six quarters. The team had only 12 all last year. Bonds hopes to be in uniform Saturday against Northridge but is listed as doubtful. . . . Pomona-Pitzer quarterback Robbie Bristow set his 12th school record despite his team’s loss to UC Santa Barbara. He completed 28 of 52 passes and has 853 completions as a collegian. Larry Cenotto held the mark of 842. . . . Occidental’s victory over Claremont-Mudd was football Coach Dale Widolff’s 34th, making him the second-winningest coach in school history behind Willie Dennis, who coached 53 victories. Widolff has a 34-11-1 record. The victory was also Oxy’s 23rd straight against SCIAC opponents.