College Division / Mitch Polin : Claremont Is Riding High and for Good Reason

In 27 years as a coach and athletic director at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, John Zinda has seen his share of highs and lows in the school’s athletic program.

But there is no doubt that these are the best of times for the school in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s Division III. Just ask Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals.

Going into the spring sports seasons, Claremont had finished in first place in 8 of the 11 varsity sports that were contested in the SCIAC this season--football, water polo, women’s cross-country, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s swimming.

An impressive list--and counting. Early in the spring season, Claremont is also leading, or is tied for the SCIAC lead, in baseball, women’s track and men’s and women’s tennis.

The result figures to be even better than the 1986-87 school year, which was one of the school’s best showings.

Not bad for a school that has only about 1,900 students to draw from for its athletic teams, a school that is probably known more nationally for its academic prowess.

So what is the reason for the school’s athletic success?

Zinda, who has been the athletic director the last five years, said it has a lot to do with the overall philosophy of striving for excellence at the college.

“More important than that is our belief that the pursuit of athletics is an important part of the college environment,” he said. “The respect of our department for every other sport is important, too. We attempt to treat every sport as equal in terms of importance.”

For that reason, Zinda said, the students are as excited about winning a cross-country title as they are about taking first in more glamorous sports such as football and basketball.

“There’s a basic fundamental interest in this institution of how our athletic teams do,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what sport it is.”

That philosophy may also have a lot to do with the fact that 25% of the students at the college play intercollegiate sports, a large number for any school.

“We have worked very hard at a philosophy that all sports have to be created equally, and that’s one thing that you can’t say about most other institutions,” he said.

” . . . We operate under the idea that we don’t have a minor sport at Claremont, and that breeds success and the will to succeed in the program.”

Zinda said it is a philosophy for success that started under former athletic director Bill Arce. “We’ve been doing this for a long time, and a lot of the credit goes to him,” Zinda said.

The athletic director said that the school also benefits from having excellent coaches and athletic facilities, plus a strong alumni group that plays a key role in attracting athletes.

All of which Zinda believes should keep the athletic program strong in the future.

“(Success) has to be cyclical,” he said. “Whether it’s a long period of time is another question. I honestly think we have a strong foundation. We’re very strong from within. If we can keep that competitiveness and not destroy ourselves, we can still be sound.”

For the moment, though, the success shows no sign of diminishing.

A few streaks came to an end when top-ranked West Texas State defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 73-56, in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball quarterfinals last week.

First, it snapped Pomona’s streak of consecutive trips to the Division II Final Four at three.

It also stopped senior guard Paula Tezak, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s most valuable player, short of her goal of becoming the first Division II player to reach the Final Four in four straight seasons. Of course, three out of four is not bad.

Also, the loss snapped No. 2 Pomona’s 17-game winning streak.

The loss to West Texas State marked only the second time since the Division II tournament started in 1982 that the Broncos have not reached the championship game.

But there is consolation for Coach Darlene May, who has 11 of 12 players--including 7 freshmen--returning from this season’s 28-4 squad. That should put the Broncos in good position to return to the Final Four next season.

After losing to Westmont in the District III championship game two weeks ago and missing its opportunity to reach the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics’ national tournament, the Biola men’s basketball team gained some consolation at the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn., last week.

The Eagles defeated Lee of Tennessee, 78-69, Saturday, finishing third in the eight-team tournament. They lost, 50-48, to Tennessee Temple in the semifinals. Biola finished 31-5.

The tournament also brought an end to the college career of Biola’s Johnny Griffin, a 6-5 senior forward who scored 53 points in the three tournament games. Tuesday, Griffin was named to the NAIA All-American team.

Griffin finished the season with a school-record 742 points in 35 games, surpassing the previous mark of 691 by Wade Kirchmeyer in 1981-82.

Griffin also left his mark on the school’s career records. He finished No. 2 in scoring at 20.2 points a game, No. 2 in field-goal percentage at 64%, and No. 5 in points at 1,352.

Not bad when you consider that Griffin, a transfer from Long Beach City College, played at Biola for only two seasons.

College Division Notes

Senior midfielder Rod Wright, who led the La Verne men’s soccer team to a share of the SCIAC title, has been named to the 11-player Adidas scholar-athlete soccer All-American team. Wright, an accounting major who made the dean’s list in 1985 and 1986, scored 17 goals, had 34 assists and made the All-SCIAC team three times during his career.

Five teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. are ranked in this week’s top 20 in NCAA Division II men’s tennis. Defending national champion Chapman is No. 1, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo No. 3, UC Riverside No. 5, Cal State Bakersfield No. 8 and Cal Poly Pomona No. 20. Among individuals, Chapman has Miles Walker ranked No. 2 and Olivier Amerlinck No. 3, and the pair is ranked No. 2 in doubles.

Ty Murphy, a sophomore second baseman for the UC Riverside baseball team, entered the week with a school-record 28-game hitting streak. Murphy, who went hitless in only the team’s first game this season, is among the conference batting leaders at .389 and leads the CCAA with 44 hits and 32 runs. His hitting streak surpassed the previous school record of 24 games by Ty Dabney in 1985.

District III basketball champion Westmont made a quick exit in the NAIA national tournament last week, dropping a 74-59 decision to Wisconsin Eau Claire and finishing its season at 23-9. . . . Bob Hiegert, athletic director and former baseball coach at Cal State Northridge, has been selected for the American Baseball Coaches Assn. Hall of Fame. Hiegert, who will be inducted next January at a banquet in Nashville, Tenn., posted a 609-411-9 record in 18 years as Matador coach, including national titles in 1970 and 1984.