The Colleges : Kernen Supplying Drive at CSUN

Bill Kernen is not wasting time making an impact as baseball coach at Cal State Northridge.

Last Monday, the Matadors began a nine-week fall program that leaves little time for anything but baseball, class work and studying.

“We’re trying to institute a style of play, disciplined philosophy and everything we need . . . to build this into a Division I, national championship-caliber program,” said Kernen, a former assistant at Cal State Fullerton and Illinois. Kernen replaced Terry Craven, who resigned, in July.

Matador players begin their days with 6 a.m. weightlifting sessions and then regular classes. Practice has been running from 1 to 6 p.m. followed by study hall from 7 to 9.

“The reaction from the players has been that they’re real tired,” said Kernen, who is relishing the challenge of preparing the Matadors for a move to Division I in 1990. “They haven’t had a whole lot of time to think about it.”

Jake’s fakes: Idaho, a Division I-AA school, defeated Division I Pacific, 36-26, last Saturday thanks to a couple of plays by John Jake, a former Valley College standout.

Jake juked and sprinted 97 yards for a touchdown, then added a 6-yard touchdown catch three minutes later to help the Vandals improve to 2-0.

Hit man: Torii Lehr, a senior linebacker, has wasted no time in defending his title as Cal Lutheran’s leading returning tackler.

Lehr has 29 tackles after two games to lead the Kingsmen. He had 120 last year, including 70 solo tackles.

Getting in the swing: The Cal State Northridge golf team, which finished eighth in the Division II championships last season, will open its fall season by traveling to Dallas this weekend to participate in a 15-team, 54-hole tournament at Woodhaven Country Club.

The Northridge lineup includes Wayne Tyni and Tim Hogarth, who are back from last season’s team; Pat Boyd, who redshirted last season; Scott Humphreys, who was ineligible last season; and freshman Roger Metz from Alemany High.

Oh, brother: The Glendale football team has two sets of brothers. Doug Bledsoe is a defensive lineman and his brother James is a running back. Sean Hampton is also a running back and Michael Hampton plays free safety. In addition, the Vaqueros have two sets of players with common last names: linebacker Andres Washington and receiver Brian Washington, and quarterbacks Keith and Darrin Fitzgerald.

When camp started, the names created a lot of confusion for the coaches. “You can’t just yell ‘Hey, Fitzgerald.’ ” Coach Jim Sartoris said. “It would take a sharp coach a couple of days to figure it out. It took me two weeks.”

Tipping the scales: Vince Plymire accomplished the maximum by winning a state junior college wrestling championship as a freshman heavyweight last season.

Now Plymire is close to reaching another limit--the maximum weight allowed for heavyweight wrestlers, 275 pounds. Plymire added 15 pounds--most of it muscle--during the off-season. He is 6 feet, 5 inches and weighs 260.

That’s bad news for opponents already bracing for the inevitable. Plymire won 31 of 34 matches last season, including 12 by pin.

Sam Farmer and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Gary Klein and Ralph Nichols contributed to this notebook.