James Steers Northridge Men to Solid Cross-Country Finish

Don Strametz, cross-country coach at Cal State Northridge, called it the best regular-season performance by a CSUN men’s team since 1979 and the best by a women’s team since 1983.

Strametz, who has been coach since 1979, was referring to CSUN’s showing at Saturday’s Cal Poly Invitational in San Luis Obispo, a meet loaded with Division I teams.

Led by a school-record performance by Will James, CSUN placed ninth out of 22 teams in the men’s race and defeated Cal Poly SLO for the first time since 1976, 232-239.

The Mustangs were ranked 6th in the NCAA Division II poll; CSUN was 16th.

James was timed in 24 minutes, 27 seconds over the five-mile course to place 10th, breaking John Spillman’s school record of 24:47 set in 1983. The CSUN men averaged 1:27 faster per runner than they did last year on the same course.

Darcy Arreola’s set her third school record this season in the women’s race as the Lady Matadors averaged 47 seconds faster per runner than last year’s team.

Arreola was timed in 16:59 over the 5,000-meter course to place seventh as the Lady Matadors placed sixth in the team standings. Beth Milewski set the previous school record of 17:14 in 1981.

Although Strametz was pleased, he said the Matadors need to improve at the Division II West regionals in Seattle on Nov. 7.

“We’ll have to run better in Seattle if we want to qualify for the national championships,” he warned. “We can’t be satisfied with this meet. If we are, we won’t get to nationals.”

Freshman Melissa Sutton led UCLA to the team title. Sutton, formerly of Newbury Park High, placed eighth with a time of 17:01.

Fowl play: Coaches have been known to do strange things to fire up football teams. One high school coach from the Midwest made news a year ago for biting off the head of a frog before a game.

So, what was a pile of feathers doing in the end zone of the Matadors’ practice field Tuesday?

“It’s a dead Thunderbird,” Cal State Northridge Coach Bob Burt said.

Burt was kidding, but he delighted in the appearance of whatever kind of bird it once was.

“It’s a good omen,” he claimed. “I like it. A dead bird on the field.”

Northridge plays host to the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah State on Saturday night.

Passing fancy: The 324 yards passing by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo quarterback Tom Sullivan in a 21-20 victory over Northridge last Saturday is the most by an individual against CSUN in the two years Burt has coached the team.

Sullivan, a junior transfer from Sacramento City College, is the top-rated quarterback in the conference, averaging 205 yards passing a game. Sullivan was 8 of 15 for 112 yards in the first half but 12 of 16 for 212 yards after intermission.

Quotebook: Burt, on his team blowing a 20-7 third-quarter lead against San Luis Obispo: “We just don’t handle prosperity well. We got ahead and it was like the fat lady sang. She hadn’t even cleared her throat yet. We got up on them and all of a sudden we were like the stock market.”

Conversion diversion: The Matadors were 1 for 14 on third-down conversions and 1 for 3 on fourth down against San Luis Obispo.

Northridge quarterback Rob Huffman attempted 23 passes, the most since he attempted 28 in the Matadors’ 30-0, season-opening loss to Boise State. Seven came on third or fourth down and six came after the Matadors fell behind in the fourth quarter.

Huffman attempted only three passes on Northridge’s three possessions between the time the Matadors led, 20-7, early in the third quarter, and trailed, 21-20, midway through the fourth period. Two of those passes came on third down.

On the run: Northridge had at least 200 yards rushing for the fifth time in six games this season, running for 200 yards on 47 carries against San Luis Obispo, which still has the top-rated defense against the rush in the Western Football Conference.

In good hands: Cal Lutheran’s Joe Monarrez leads the Western Football Conference in receiving with 36 catches. In Saturday’s 29-11 loss at Santa Clara, Monarrez caught 4 passes for 26 yards and 1 touchdown. Said Monarrez: “Their cornerbacks were good. We thought we could get everything underneath, but they played up a little more than we expected. Their defense stopped our game plan, which was short passing.”

Speaking of short passing: Tom Bonds, Cal Lutheran’s 5-11 quarterback, needs just 19 yards to break the 7,000-yard mark for career passing.

The senior needs 1,540 yards to break Jim Lindsey’s Division II record of 8,521 yards. The Kingsmen (2-4, 0-4 in WFC play) have five games left.

A short passing short: Running back Noel Chesnut is CLU’s fourth-leading receiver with 11 catches for 19 yards. Subtract his longest reception of 22 yards and the other 10 have gone for minus-3 yards.

Lost--a CSUN football: If found, return to punter Trent Morgan. During practice last week, Morgan punted the ball up, up, and up. And it didn’t come down.

Great hang time? Yes. The ball went above a light post behind the visitors bleachers at North Campus Stadium--and stuck on top.

Torii terror: Linebacker Torii Lehr, who had 12 tackles at Santa Clara, leads Cal Lutheran with 80 tackles. In four WFC games, Lehr has averaged 15 tackles.

On the rise: Valley (6-0, 5-0), which defeated San Bernardino, 49-13, Saturday, moved up to No. 3 in the state rankings compiled by the JC Athletic Bureau. The Monarchs are ranked second in Southern California. Moorpark (5-1, 2-1), which defeated Santa Barbara 42-28, jumped from ninth to sixth in the state and from fifth to third in Southern California.

Go-Go Griffin: Dana Griffin, who rushed for a school-record 280 yards and scored four touchdowns in Moorpark’s win over Santa Barbara, earned two honors for his performance. The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore was named running back of the week by the JC Athletic Bureau and Western State Conference offensive player of the week.

Griffin scored on runs of 1, 72, 2 and 1 yards.

Barry Daniels of Valley was named defensive lineman of the week by the JC Athletic Bureau. Daniels, a 6-0, 260-pound sophomore, had 10 tackles--including four sacks--in the Monarchs’ win over San Bernardino.

Boz pause: Despite gaining just 38 yards on 11 carries and scoring a touchdown against San Bernardino, Valley running back Dondre Bausley continues to lead the state in rushing and scoring.

Bausley, who has rushed for 948 yards and 13 touchdowns, played sparingly because of leg injuries.

Valley continues to lead the state in offense, averaging 459.3 yards a game.

Moorpark is fifth in offense (397.5 a game) and seventh in defense (224.7).

Tied on top: After their 2-2 tie last Saturday night at North Campus Stadium, the CSUN and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo soccer teams remain deadlocked atop the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. standings.

CSUN (12-1-1, 4-0-1), ranked third in Division II, and San Luis Obispo, ranked 18th, should both remain unbeaten in conference, which would make their Nov. 4 meeting in San Luis Obispo for the conference championship.

“This will make us a more experienced team under pressure,” CSUN Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “Now every game is a must win, but the SLO game will be the most critical.”

Palm balm: Master’s College is having its best soccer season ever thanks to freshman Chris Palm. But you might have trouble convincing Palm he’s responsible.

“I’m really impressed with his attitude,” Master’s Coach Mark Schubert said. “He has really made an effort to maintain a proper perspective about where he belongs on the team.”

Palm, who scored his 27th goal Monday, broke the Master’s record for most goals in a season (26) set by Don Menez in 1982. He tied an Intercollegiate Soccer Assn. of America record last week with 10 goals in a game.

The freshman from Kennewick, Wash., also helped Master’s set a school record for most wins. The Mustangs (12-3, 7-1 in NAIA District III play) broke their 1981 record of 11 wins in a season.

Master’s is the No. 2 seed in the district playoffs beginning Nov. 7.

Two from a town: Leslie Page and Debbie Stuart, both from Simi Valley, scored goals when the Chapman College women’s soccer team defeated Occidental, 2-1, last week. Page’s goal in the second overtime was the game-winner. Stuart leads the team with three goals.

Poll position: The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team failed to move up in the Tachikara coaches poll despite two victories last week.

CSUN (18-5), ranked second in Division II for the second consecutive week, might have trouble passing top-ranked Central-Missouri State (21-1). The Lady Matadors had only one first-place vote.

With its recent win over Chapman, CSUN has won 32 consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. matches. The Lady Matadors play at Cal Poly Pomona on Friday.

Regal rise: The Cal Lutheran women’s volleyball team moved up to sixth in the NAIA Division III rankings despite losing to Biola last week.

CLU was ranked seventh before the loss, its second of the season to Biola. Cal Baptist defeated CLU, 15-4, 15-13, 15-6, Tuesday to hand the Regals (24-3) their first Golden State Athletic Conference loss in 11 matches.

Times staff writers Gary Klein, Mike Hiserman, Gordon Monson, Ralph Nichols and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.