NOTEBOOK : Name Change Circumvents Rules

The Woodland Hills Bulls, the Newhall Cats . . . the players are the same, but the baseball teams’ names have been changed.

Because of a ruling that prohibits junior college teams from playing “organized” games under the aegis of a school before January, most area coaches have resorted to the next best thing--simply changing the name of the team.

Thus, Pierce College becomes the Woodland Hills Bulls, College of the Canyons is renamed the Newhall Cats, and Moorpark doesn’t have a name at all during the winter “season” that runs in October and November.

Said Pierce Coach Bob Lyons: “It’s unofficially illegal, but everybody’s doing it. Some of our guys play on the weekend on a semipro team. It’s strictly a volunteer thing.”

Coaches must obtain facility-use permits to play on their own field during the season and players must supply their own insurance and equipment since the teams cannot be affiliated with the school. The players often do double duty as umpires as well.

“We usually play about 20 games and about anybody we can schedule,” Moorpark Coach Ken Wagner said. “Sometimes we play other colleges or some of the pros’ teams. It’s free substitution, so we move kids around to a lot of different positions.”

Defense mechanism: After finishing 7-18 in 1988-89, the Cal Lutheran women’s basketball team is off to a fast start this season with a 4-0 record.

A strong defense and off-guard Brenda Lee have been instrumental in the Regals’ resurgence.

Cal Lutheran has forced opponents into 36 turnovers a game, while allowing an average of only 46 points.

Lee, who also competes in softball, volleyball and track, was named to the all-tournament team in the season-opening University of Redlands Classic. She averaged 13.6 points and 11.6 rebounds in leading Cal Lutheran to the tournament title.

In the championship game, Cal Lutheran beat Cal Baptist, the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 runner-up last season, 68-60.

Cold feet: With the temperature at 28 degrees and the wind-chill factor at 15, the elements were less than friendly for Cal State Northridge and other participants in the NCAA Division II cross-country championships in Marshalls Creek, Pa., last Saturday.

Although footing was good for the meet at Mountain Manor Golf Course, things could have been much worse. A savage rain and wind storm had blasted Pennsylvania on Thursday.

“Things were pretty wild here on Thursday,” said one supporter of nearby East Stroudsburg State. “There’s no way they could have run a race under those conditions. It was howling out here.”

Numerous 20- to 30-foot trees uprooted by the winds gave testament to the storm’s fury.

In the running: UC Riverside teammate Shannon Winkelman described him as a head case--a hot and cold runner--after the Riverside Invitational this season, but Hebert Saravia was sizzling when he placed 12th in the Division II national meet and helped the Highlanders to a fourth-place finish.

“They finally had their race,” Cal State Northridge Coach Don Strametz said of Riverside, which placed fifth in the West regional and advanced to nationals by virtue of an at-large berth. “I’ve been waiting for them to run like this all season long.”

Saravia’s improvement the past month mirrored that of his teammates as the former Kennedy High standout placed 14th in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships, 11th in the West regional and 12th at nationals.

It was the second time in the past two years that Saravia, who ran 32 minutes, 31.6 seconds over the 10,000-meter course, was named All-American. He placed 18th in the 1987 Division II championships.

Add nationals: Jose Hernandez and Humberto Quintana, who led Glendale College to the Western State Conference cross-country title in 1987, helped Cal State Los Angeles place eighth in the Division II national meet.

Hernandez, the Golden Eagles’ No. 3 runner, placed 52nd in 33:37, while Quintana--a former standout at Sylmar High--finished 79th in 34:12.1 as Cal State L. A.’s fifth man.

Staff writers Brendan Healey, John Ortega and Kirby Lee contributed to this notebook.