Small Colleges : Northridge Pushes Kane to Take Hill

The Cal State Northridge athletic department is stamping his name on outgoing mail. The flyer listing his football accomplishments is going out this week all over the West Coast. He has been given a snappy nickname.

Northridge wants to make Mike Kane a star.

Why now? After all, Kane has been the team’s standout for four years?

Simple. For the first time, a Division II star will receive a national award similar to the big-time Heisman Trophy. The Harlon Hill Trophy, named for the former small college All-American at Florence State College in Alabama, will go to “the best college football player in the nation in Division II.”

The voting will be done by Division II sports information directors. Since most of the players aren’t seen on television and get only regional recognition, the Northridge publicists figure the best thing to do is get Kane’s name--now listed in all mailings as Mike “hurriKane”--before as many potential voters as possible.

Voting will be done in four regions--East, South, Midwest and West--with the top two vote-getters in each region earning spots on the final national ballot. Ballots will go out this week.

“Nobody’s really sure what will happen, since this is the first year,” said Rocky Railey, Northridge sports information director. “It’s fun, and it’s interesting.”

Adding intrigue, Northridge will play at UC Davis this week, where Kane’s top regional competition for the Hill Trophy will probably come from quarterback Chris Peterson. Both are four-year players on teams in the top 10.

Railey isn’t sure who else might get votes--Cal State Sacramento has a good running back in Rob Harrison--but said that Kane and Peterson are the top candidates as seniors who have had solid careers.

Kane certainly hasn’t hurt his chances lately. Responding to first-year Coach Bob Burt’s balanced approach, Kane has had a sensational season through eight games and is rewriting the Northridge record book weekly. Last Saturday, he gained 174 yards in a 38-32 victory over Santa Clara and went into the game ranked fifth in the nation in rushing.

The team, benefiting from his performance, is 7-1 and ranked in the top 10 for the first time in its history.

Kane has gained 1,088 yards and run for 10 touchdowns, has caught 2 touchdown passes and even has thrown for a score. For his career, he has more than 3,000 yards rushing and has 36 touchdowns. And, for a change, he has remained healthy. Injuries bothered him the last two years after a big freshman season.

Burt, who was an assistant at UCLA, Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton, compares Kane favorably to runners such as Theotis Brown, Wendell Tyler and Fullerton’s Rick Calhoun.

“He doesn’t have the feet or speed of Tyler, but he’s so physical when he runs,” Burt said. “I’ve always felt the real mark of a runner is what they do after the first hit. Mike is far and away above as far as making yards after contact. He catches the ball extremely well. He plays extremely well on the extra-point team. He’s a consummate back, a triple threat type of back.”

With an average for all-purpose yards of 185.5 a game, Kane is accounting for 45% of Northridge’s offense, which Burt said wasn’t planned.

Kane is described as a quiet, unaffected type who is surprised by the school’s attempt to win the big prize for him. “He really doesn’t comprehend the extent of what he does,” Railey said. “He keeps a gee-thanks attitude. I think he’s flattered and appreciative of what we’re doing because he sees it as (a favor) we’re doing for him. The way I see it, he’s doing a lot for us on the field and we’re just taking care of him.”

The Biola women’s volleyball team appears to be getting into top form just in time for the playoffs, carrying a 22-8 record and 12-game winning streak into Saturday’s NAIA District III playoffs. Biola is the top-seeded team after knocking off Fresno Pacific last weekend and ending the season 10-0 in district play. Fresno lost its first District III game.

Fresno will be the site of the tournament on Friday and Saturday. Opening-round games are Cal Lutheran vs. Cal Baptist and St. Mary’s vs. Point Loma. The winner of the first game will play Biola, and the winner of the second will play Fresno Pacific.

Biola, runner-up nationally a year ago, lost four-time All-American Becky Miller to graduation and got off to a 10-8 start before hitting its stride. The leaders in the 12-game streak have been powerful hitter Barb Rozendal, with strong support from Liane Lewis at the net, and setters Rachel Pattison and Sherry Myatt.

In their winning streak, the Eagles beat St. Mary’s in straight games, earning a measure of revenge against the team that defeated them for the national title in 1985.

Playoff roundup: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will try for a sweep this weekend in the Division II cross-country Western regional at UC Riverside. The Cal Poly SLO women are heavily favored. Cal Poly Pomona is the defending men’s champ but is without No. 2 runner Abel Mota, who has pneumonia.

NAIA District III soccer semifinals will be played Saturday. Pairings are Cal Lutheran at top-seeded Westmont, and Biola at second-seeded Fresno Pacific. The championship game will be played Nov. 15.

The Division III cross-country Western regional will be held Nov. 15 at UC San Diego. Occidental has hopes of sweeping, although the Oxy women were upset by Claremont-Mudd in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet despite the 1-2 placing of Michele Trimble and Cresey Stewart.

Small College Notes

Westmont won the men’s cross-country title in the NAIA District III meet, its first in 17 years. Westmont held off Point Loma by placing five of its runners among the top 10. St. Mary’s won the women’s title. Individual winners were Cam Matson of Point Loma in 25:28 and Sherry Opp of St. Mary’s in 18:20. . . . The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team was passed over for the national tournament despite its 13-1-2 record and 3-1-1 mark against Division I teams. . . . Cal Poly Pomona sophomore Johnny Lima scored four goals last week and took over the CCAA soccer scoring lead with 36 points. He has 16 goals and 4 assists with two games left. . . . Soccer goalie Mike Caputo of Cal State Northridge has six shutouts and a 0.69 goals-against average. He recently had a rare assist on a Northridge goal.