DeLaveaga Top Player in District 3

Steve deLaveaga of Cal Lutheran has been chosen National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The 6-4 senior guard was the only Cal Lutheran player selected to the All-District 3 and All-Golden State Athletic Conference teams. DeLaveaga finished his career with a school-record 2,549 points.

His averages of 28.1 points a game this season and 22.4 for his career are school records.

The Cal State Northridge 400-meter relay team of Melvin Jones, Tyrone Jeffries, Tyrone Harlow and Chris Pippins qualified for the NCAA Division II championships with a 41.17-second clocking Sunday at the Long Beach Relays at Cerritos College.

The Northridge quartet placed third in a race won by UCLA in 40.58.

Northridge now has two qualifiers for the Division II championships, to be held in Hampton, Va., May 24-27.

Junior Paul Albers, who qualified for the Division II meet in the hammer throw in a Feb. 18 meet at Northridge, improved his season best to 178 feet, 9 inches in a fourth-place finish at Cerritos.

Scott Norton, a fullback for Cal State Northridge in 1981 and ‘82, has been added to the football coaching staff as a graduate assistant. Norton, 28, will coach tight ends and help with the offensive line. He had been a football assistant at Calabasas High.

The hire keeps the size of the Matador coaching staff at 11. Last week, Mark Lovett, CSUN’s assistant in charge of running backs, resigned to become head coach at St. Genevieve High. Jim Clausen, who coached the Matador tight ends last season, will take over Lovett’s duties.

Providence High in Burbank has withdrawn its varsity baseball team from competition in the Delphic League, a Southern Section 1-A Division member, leaving the league with five members.

Providence will play at the junior-varsity level against league opponents and has scheduled a series of nonleague varsity games against Small Schools Division teams. Providence will field a varsity team next season in the Small Schools Liberty League. Three years ago, Providence won the Small Schools championship behind pitcher Jeff Cirillo, now at USC.

The Pioneers placed fifth in the Delphic League in ’88 with a 2-8 record (4-17 overall). A 34-3 league loss to Crossroads that was ended after three innings typified the season, Athletic Director Paul Sutton said. “That’s not a learning experience,” he said.

Providence has suffered declining enrollment in recent years, dropping from 325 boys and girls three years ago to 209 this year. The school announced Friday that it will continue to operate, quelling speculation that its doors would close after this school year.

Melanie Clarke of El Camino Real High, the defending City Section champion in the high jump, was declared academically ineligible several weeks ago but could compete later this season if she improves her grades when the 30-week report cards are released in early April.

The versatile senior led the Conquistadores to a third-place finish in last year’s City championships by winning the high jump and placing third in the 400 meters and long jump.

Clarke has personal bests of 25.54 seconds in the 200, 56.63 in the 400, 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump, 17-10 in the long jump and 37-6 in the shotput.

She led the 1988 Valley-area list in the 400 and was ranked no worse than fifth in either of the four events.

Cal Lutheran guard Brenda Lee received honorable mention on the NAIA All-District 3 women’s basketball team. She was second on the team in scoring with a 13.2 average and led the Regals in rebounding with an average of 9.7.

The Master’s College basketball team, which did not qualify for the NAIA District 3 playoffs, will compete in the National Christian College tournament beginning March 9 at a site to be determined.

The American Roundball Corp. will conduct registration for teams of players grades 8 through 12 at North Hollywood High on Sunday and March 12 at noon. Signups also will be held at Camarillo High the same days at 5 p.m. for varsity and 7 p.m. for junior varsity. Registration is $75 with a $10 discount for cash payment.

Information: 818-995-3761.