Small Colleges / Alan Drooz : Geoff Zahn, Athletic Director

By freeway, it’s not all that long a journey from Anaheim to Newhall. But the transition from successful pitcher for the California Angels to athletic director at The Master’s College could be like jumping from one world to another light years away.

For Geoff Zahn, it is something of a former-star trek. He has certainly gone where very few former pro athletes have gone before. So how does he like his new job, now that he’s gotten his feet wet at the NAIA level?

“I love it,” he said. “That’s not to say I don’t miss the game--but it’s not like my career was cut real short. I had 18 years in the majors. It’s a big change--the whole life style. Baseball life is an easygoing life. It’s not the real world. (Now) I’m very, very happy. I’m doing what I want to do. I was fortunate to get a position like this so soon.”

Zahn oversees a small athletic department at the recently renamed school, formerly Los Angeles Baptist College. He said he does everything from budgeting and overseeing schedules to carrying ice at ballgames but that his top priority is to make the school, which participates in eight sports, competitive in NAIA District III play. Some minor expansion is also planned--tennis will be added--but Zahn said: “We’re not really up to our level of competition.”

Zahn is also doing some hands-on work with the baseball team, acting as pitching coach and a general sounding board for that team and the other sports. Zahn said: “I feel being competitive on a major league level has afforded me the ability to know what level of competition is needed, and what kind of intensity athletes need to bring to it.”

Zahn’s pitching career, which produced 111 major league wins, ended with surgery on his shoulder last September, and he began considering the suggestion of school president John MacArthur, who had discussed the athletic director’s position.

“The last couple of years playing I was very active in the chapel program,” Zahn said. “I wanted some work in the ministry, if I could, and I wanted to stay active in athletics if possible. I had known Dr. MacArthur for a long time. He said to think about it. When I had the operation I did.”

At The Master’s, he combines both worlds. Zahn, who will turn 40 Friday, said his surgically dictated departure from baseball made the transition relatively easy. “I prayed when I got out of the game it would be something abrupt,” he said. “I was fortunate to have an injury that, after the operation, I had a pretty good inclination I would not be back. That made it a whole lot easier to go to games this summer. I never had any inclination that I should be the one out there.”

He said his new career has been rewarding. “I really like the administrative stuff. I hire and help out the coaches, I verify the schedules, verify the contracts. I look over the budget, that’s the biggest part of the job. I find myself doing a lot of things I’m sure some athletic directors don’t (at bigger schools), like carrying ice at the ballgames. But I enjoy that.”

Seeing triple: Several small college basketball players are enjoying life beyond the NCAA’s three-point circle. Among the hottest are sophomore guard Robert Pallotta of Christ College, who has made 15 of 21 for 71%, senior guard John Nojima of Cal State Dominguez Hills, who has made 14 of 25 for 56% and had a recent 9-for-12 weekend, and Cal State Bakersfield senior guard Karl Finley, who made his first six and is now 6 for 10.

Senior forward Pete Coeler of The Master’s has been the least shy shooter, making 18 of 37 attempts in seven games--meaning that his 23-point average is more than two points higher than it would have been without the new rule.

The Master’s Coach Randy Stem, however, has already seen enough of the three-pointer. His team has lost one game to a last-second bomb, and dropped another decision in overtime after the opponents tied it in regulation with a three-pointer at the buzzer.

If the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. is one of the toughest Division II conferences in basketball--as is widely believed--then how good is Biola? The NAIA Eagles are 11-2 against CCAA teams over the last three seasons, and had a 3-0 record against them last week. Biola’s only losses to CCAA teams were a 17-point defeat to Dominguez Hills two years ago and a 63-60 overtime loss to Chapman in last season’s opening game.

The Eagles’ men’s and women’s teams are off to a combined 16-0 start, their best since 1981. The men, who have three more games before Christmas break, are 6-0. The women, off until January, are 10-0. The school-record winning streak is 19.

Cal State Bakersfield All-American wrestler Darryl Pope didn’t hurt his national ranking by winning the 177-pound title at the Las Vegas Invitational. Pope, who entered the meet ranked third in the nation and top-seeded in the invitational, won all five matches and gave up only seven points. He pinned Steve Metzger of Iowa State in 2 minutes 22 seconds for the championship. Along the way he had one superior decision and one major decision, and he gave up no takedowns.

Small College Notes UC Riverside beat Cal State Northridge in straight games to win the Division II women’s volleyball title. It was Riverside’s second title in five years. . . . Running back Mike Kane of Northridge and defensive back Lorenzo Lynch of Cal State Sacramento were named offensive and defensive players of the year in the Western Football Conference. Bob Mattos of Sacramento was named coach of the year. . . . The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team won the Northern Arizona tournament over the weekend and forward Debra Larsen was named most valuable player. She had 49 points and 21 rebounds in two games. Guard Michele McCoy was also all-tournament. . . . Basketball player Valarie Hartsfield of Chapman College is 26 for 28 at the free-throw line, a 93% success rate. The school record is 86%. She has a current streak of 17. . . . Just a few games into her sophomore year, center Lupe Quintana of Cal State Los Angeles is already the school’s No. 9 all-time rebounder. She led the CCAA as a walk-on freshman and is averaging 11.3 rebounds this season. . . . Claremont-Mudd won all 11 events in a double-dual swimming meet against Whittier and Redlands and has not lost an SCIAC dual meet since 1980.