College Division : Family Ties a Way of Life at Master’s

Coach Mike Kildal of The Master’s College in Newhall is not going out of his way to be friendly when he speaks with his men’s and women’s cross-country teams on a first-name basis.

For Kildal, it is more a matter of necessity.

The coach has 14 runners on his men’s and women’s teams and 7 of them are related to at least one other of the teams’ runners.

Five of the seven compete on the women’s team. They are freshman Lisa and sophomore Laura Hunter, freshman Kelly and sophomore Wendi Sailors and freshman Marlys Newey. Marlys’ older brothers Mark, a junior, and Matt, a freshman, compete on the men’s team.

Kildal thinks the family atmosphere has been a key factor in the improvement of the teams, which are having their best seasons. The men’s team is 14-1 in dual meets and the women are 13-2.

Their presence has been particularly important to the success of the women’s team. Marlys Newey is the team’s No. 1 runner, Kelly Sailors No. 4, Lisa Hunter No. 5 and Wendy Sailors No. 6. Laura Hunter would also be among the top five women but she has not competed because of a stress fracture in her foot.

As for the Neweys on the men’s team, Matt is No. 3 runner for the Mustangs and Mark is No. 5.

Kildal said he didn’t plan to have a family-style team but he is happy with the result. “Needless to say, it has certainly been a key to our success,” he said.

“They are different types of people but they are close because of their relationship. In a unique kind of way, they are closer than any group I’ve had before.”

Kildal remembers a women’s meet against Fresno Pacific in which the team’s family ties were particularly helpful.

“When we ran at Fresno, we knew (Fresno was) very competitive and they had recruited well and we got together before the meet and talked things over,” Kildal said. “Well, we ended up beating them on their home course, and I attribute it a lot to their (close) relationship.”

The coach said that having runners who are related has helped the team in terms of motivation and encouragement.

“It helps when the kids are struggling to have input from other members of the family,” Kildal said. “When the girls are racing, the boys are there to encourage them. They know how to encourage them like I wouldn’t know.”

Kildal is also encouraged by the fact that except for Mark Newey, they are all freshmen and sophomores. That should help keep the Mustangs flowing in brother and sister combinations for at least a couple of more years.

Maybe the fifth time was the charm for Xenia Anastasiadou, women’s tennis star at Cal Poly Pomona.

The junior from Greece has been one of the top performers in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II during the last two years, as her victory in the Division II singles final last season will attest.

About the only person standing in her way has been Edna Olivarez of Cal State Los Angeles, who had not lost to Anastasiadou in four tries. At least, until Sunday.

Anastasiadou broke the string then with a 7-5, 6-0 win over the top-seeded Olivarez in the final of the Rolex Small College Western Regional tournament at CSLA. The victory advanced the second-seeded Anastasiadou to the national tournament Feb. 3 and 4 at the University of Minnesota.

Olivarez, a junior from the Philippines, defeated Anastasiadou for the regional tournament title last year and has also beaten her three times in regular-season play.

It does not figure to be the last match-up of the two, though. They probably will meet again in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play in the spring.

Azusa Pacific University has been the track team of the 1980s in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics so perhaps it is fitting that the Cougars have been selected as the hosting team for the 1988 NAIA men’s and women’s national outdoor meets May 26-28.

The Cougars, coached by Terry Franson, will be trying for an unprecedented sixth consecutive NAIA men’s title. Azusa Pacific also finished second in 1982 and fourth in 1980.

It will mark the first time for the meet on the West Coast since it was held in San Diego in 1958.

It could be a preview of the NCAA Division III women’s volleyball playoffs when the ninth annual Occidental College invitational tournament is held Friday and Saturday at Rush and Alumni gyms in Eagle Rock.

The 12-team tournament will include several teams that reached the Division III playoffs last year, led by Menlo College and Cal State San Bernardino. Menlo reached the West Regional final last year in its first season of competing at the Division III level and San Bernardino finished fourth.

Other Division III playoff participants from last year competing are Illinois Benedictine and Eastern Connecticut State, which both reached the second round. Another entrant is Cal Baptist, which made the NAIA District III playoffs.

College Division Notes Cal Poly San Luis Obispo stamped itself as the favorite in the Western Football Conference when it defeated Cal State Northridge Saturday, 21-20. The Mustangs, who are 6-0 and off to their best start, are ranked No. 11 in the NCAA Division II. . . . Claremont-Mudd’s football team might have been dealt a crushing blow in its bid for NCAA Division III postseason play when it lost to Menlo College, 13-9, Saturday. Claremont-Mudd (3-2) had been ranked No. 12 in Division III and Menlo No. 20. . . .The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team will take a 15-game home unbeaten streak into Saturday’s game against Chapman. The Toros also have recorded a school-record six consecutive shutouts.