College Division / Mitch Polin : Pomona-Pitzer Making Net Gains

At the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, talk about tennis has usually centered on the women’s program.

For good reason.

The women’s team at Pomona-Pitzer has reached the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s Division III quarterfinals five of the last seven years. The men’s team hasn’t won as much as a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in the last 30 years.

“It’s been at least that long,” Coach Thomas Johnston of the men’s team said. “I couldn’t even say when the last time was.”

So what are the Sagehens doing in first place in the SCIAC at 11-0, and 19-0 overall this season?

Said Johnston: “Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps have always been the two strong teams in our conference. We just happen to be good this year.”

Perhaps the seeds of success were planted with the arrival of Johnston as coach three years ago. He played for Pomona-Pitzer from 1979 through 1983 and was an All-American in 1981 and 1982.

The Sagehens showed signs of improvement last season, when they were ranked 24th in Division III and finished at 13-11. They also defeated longtime SCIAC power Redlands for the first time in 30 years.

Pomona-Pitzer was ranked No. 14 in Division III at the start of this season and since then its list of conquests has included eighth-ranked Gustavus Adolphus of Minnesota, Redlands and Claremont--a team the Sagehens hadn’t defeated in 15 years.

The NCAA has not released rankings since the start of the season but Johnston said, “I can definitely say we’re in the top 10.”

Lisa Beckett, who coaches the Pomona-Pitzer women’s team, gives Johnston much of the credit for the men’s success. “He’s only been here a few years, but he’s already had a lot of success and he’s done well in recruiting,” she said.

Johnston credited just about everyone except himself.

“We have a great athletic director (Curtis Tong) who likes tennis and I really believe in the trickle-down theory,” he said. “Plus we have 10 new courts so we have one of the finest facilities around and that attracts players. Plus Pomona College is one of the top schools around academically. Tennis and academics seem to go hand in hand, more so than in some other sports.

“I also went to Pitzer so I care a lot about the program--not that others don’t.”

All things considered, it is the coach’s success in recruiting that could keep the Sagehens near the top of the national rankings for the next few seasons.

Pomona-Pitzer’s top two singles players are junior Paul Cross and freshman Reed Newhall, both undefeated in dual matches. The next four seeded players include three sophomores and a senior.

The Sagehens hope to land a berth in the 10-team national tournament from May 14 through May 21 at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. The Sagehens are ranked No. 3 in the strong West Region behind UC San Diego and UC Santa Cruz, and Claremont is also a contender.

While the men’s team at Pomona-Pitzer is enjoying unaccustomed success, it has been business as usual in women’s tennis.

The Sagehens, ranked No. 5 in Division III in a preseason poll, are leading the conference at 10-0 and are 20-2 overall.

Pomona-Pitzer finished sixth in Division III last season and Coach Lisa Beckett said the team, ranked No. 1 in the West Region, may be even stronger this year.

“It’s the best team I’ve had and I think it’s one of the best that they’ve had at Pomona-Pitzer,” she said. “I think having gone to nationals last year, we’re even more ready this year.”

The Sagehens are led in singles and doubles by senior Karen Nilsen and freshman Shelley Keeler. In doubles, Nilsen and Keeler are top-ranked in the West Region.

Nilsen, a two-time All-American, teamed with Julie Lindberg to win the Division III doubles title last season. Lindberg has since graduated.

Although she has been pleased with her team’s performance in singles, Beckett said the team’s strength may be in doubles.

“We’re pretty confident that if we can get out of singles at 3-all, we can probably win it with doubles,” she said.

For the Cal State Northridge’s baseball team, a move from NCAA Division II to Division I is still two seasons away.

But the Matadors are already demonstrating a penchant for success against highly ranked Division I teams.

Northridge, ranked No. 11 in Division II with a 20-12-1 record, has three wins against teams that are ranked in the top 20 in Division I. The latest was the Matadors’ 4-2 victory over 12th-ranked Fresno State last week in Fresno.

The Matadors also defeated 14th-ranked USC, 4-2, and 19th-ranked Pepperdine, 5-4. Northridge is 7-3 against Division I opponents.

Now if only the Matadors could master their California Collegiate Athletic Assn. opponents. They began this week in third place with a 9-8-1 conference record.

Northridge has an important conference series against second-place Cal Poly Pomona (10-8) this week. The Matadors will visit Pomona today and Friday, and will play host to the Broncos on Thursday. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo leads the conference at 12-7.

College Division Notes

By sweeping two doubleheaders last week, Westmont has moved into first place by a half-game in the Golden State Athletic Conference baseball race. The Warriors are 12-5 in the GSAC, just ahead of Azusa Pacific and Cal Lutheran, each at 11-5. Westmont will play host to Azusa Pacific in a doubleheader at noon Saturday. . . . The Biola baseball team, 7-5-2 in the NAIA District III, has improved its postseason chances, thanks largely to shortstop Fred Speck and pitcher Tim Worrell, brother of Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals. Speck has batted .575 over the last 10 games, improving his batting average to .402 and Worrell is 7-2 with a 2.06 earned-run average. . . . Defending champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is off to another fast start in the SCIAC baseball race at 11-1, 1 1/2 games ahead of La Verne (8-1) and 2 1/2 ahead of Redlands (7-2).