THE COLLEGES : CSUN Cross-Country Team May Be Out of Step

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Invitational is not just another jog in the park.

Don Strametz, Cal State Northridge cross-country coach, calls Saturday’s race the premier Division II invitational of the season.

Unfortunately for Strametz, his teams won’t be at full strength for it.

Derik Vett, the men’s team’s No. 3 runner, and Gena Jauregui, a 1988 Division II All-American on the women’s team, are questionable for the race.

Vett sprained his left ankle this week during a training run and Jauregui has an infected thyroid that has limited her training.

“Derik’s injury isn’t that serious,” Strametz said. “We’ll just have to see how quickly it heals. We’ve just had him on the bike for the last few days.”

Jauregui’s problem is more severe. She might need surgery to remove a goiter from her thyroid. She is currently taking iodine to keep it from growing.

“Her energy level is extremely low right now,” Strametz said. “So her chances of racing don’t look very good.”

Shouldering the burden: Freshman Craig Ashley carried Cal Lutheran’s offense with 151 yards rushing and three touchdowns against Cal State Northridge, but a late-game shoulder injury might have played a role in his fumble on the Kingsmen’s last possession in a 34-33 loss.

Ashley missed practice on Monday and Tuesday because of a bruised right shoulder and is questionable for Cal Lutheran’s home game Saturday against Cal State Hayward.

“I probably erred in putting him back in, but I didn’t realize his shoulder was injured until later,” Cal Lutheran Coach Bob Shoup said.

Ashley, who scored on runs of 66, 20 and 41 yards against CSUN, is averaging 11.9 yards a carry this season.

Rest for the wounded: Having won its past two games, Occidental’s football team would seem to have some momentum. But Tigers Coach Dale Widolff said that he welcomed his team’s bye last week.

“We’re banged up,” Widolff said after Occidental improved its record to 3-1 with a 24-12 victory over La Verne two weeks ago. “We need the time to get people healed.”

By the end of the La Verne game, five Tiger defensive starters--cornerbacks Mike Bonetto and Ben White, safeties Craig Hartley and Ronnie Cunningham and linebacker Pete Tucker--were on the bench with injuries.

Occidental will resume its schedule Saturday at home against undefeated University of San Diego.

Title run: The Glendale men’s and women’s cross-country teams are hoping to use Friday’s invitational at Mt. San Antonio College as a tuneup for their second Western State Conference meet Oct. 20 at Santa Barbara.

The Vaquero men came in first and the women finished third in their first WSC meets, putting both in contention for the conference title.

The WSC format calls for all conference members to compete in two meets before the championships are run Nov. 3 at Cuesta. A team’s finish in the championships counts double toward final standings.

Drawing attention: Cal Lutheran running back Jeff Lapinski was off to a great start this season when he was shaken up against St. Mary’s in the second game.

He hasn’t been the same since.

Lapinski suffered a mild concussion when he was hit on a pass pattern late in the first half. At that point, he was Cal Lutheran’s leading rusher with 119 yards in 19 carries. Since then, he has rushed for 53 yards in 34 carries and has not hit the line with the same explosiveness.

Lapinski, who also suffered a hematoma in his left hand against UC Santa Barbara, minimizes the effect of his injuries. A little-known reserve entering the season, he believes he quickly became a marked man.

“Those first couple of games, I got the ball a lot of times, and the next couple games, the linebackers were keying on me,” Lapinski said. “It’s sort of weird when you’re in that position, and they know what’s going to happen. They’re yelling, ‘Draw, draw, No. 22.’ ”

The added attention Lapinski has drawn may have benefited his fellow tailbacks, though. Dean Henderson broke loose for 120 yards at La Verne, and Ashley darted for 151 against Northridge.

Water works: The Occidental water polo team gained its first victory of the season last week with a 20-9 win over Chaminade.

Eleven of Occidental’s 12 players scored goals. John Reinecke and Robert Jaffe each scored five goals to lead the Tigers (1-8), who will travel to Pomona on Saturday for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match.

Gary Klein and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Brendan Healey and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.