THE COLLEGES : World Cross-Country Championships in France Beckon CSUN’s Arreola

Darcy Arreola’s cross-country season officially ended with her victory in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II championships in Marshalls Creek, Pa., Nov. 18. But the Cal State Northridge junior could be running over hill and dale until late March if things go as planned.

Arreola is tentatively set to run in the U. S. World Championships Trials in Seattle on Feb. 4. If she places among the first seven runners, she will compete in the world cross-country championships in Aix-les-Baines, France, March 25.

“That’s what we’re looking at right now,” Northridge Coach Don Strametz said. “I think (running in the world championships) would be a great experience for Darcy. I think it would really help her develop as a runner.”

Arreola, a three-time Division II champion in track, might redshirt the 1990 track season and thus enable her to compete at the Division I level in 1991. Northridge will move to Division I in all sports but football begining next fall.

“That’s a definite possibility right now,” Strametz said. “I think the redshirt season would allow her to gain strength and really come back strong in 1991.”

Arreola, the 1986 state champion in the 1,600 meters at Grossmont High in La Mesa, was a junior during cross-country season--she redshirted in 1988--but will be a senior in track if she runs for Northridge.

Passing efficiently: Quarterback Darren Del’Andrae of Portland State is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, Division II football’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

Del’Andrae, a junior out of Calabasas High, led the Vikings to a Western Football Conference championship and a 9-4 record. He completed 255 of 438 passes for 3,577 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Portland State was eliminated in the Division II quarterfinals last week, dropping a 17-0 decision to Indiana (Pa.) University. The Harlon Hill winner will be announced Dec. 7 at a ceremony in Florence, Ala., site of the Division II championship game.

Albert Fann, Cal State Northridge’s tailback who beat out Del’Andrae for offensive player of the year in the WFC, made the national ballot but was not a finalist.

Johnny Bailey of Texas A&I;, the NCAA’s career rushing leader, is expected to win the award for the third consecutive season.

No slack: This is typically the time of year when college cross-country teams ease off in training for a couple of weeks before starting preparation for the upcoming track season.

Not so at Cal State Northridge.

The Matador men, fresh from a fifth-place finish in the Division II cross-country championships, were out in force at the Desert Princess Biathlon in Palm Springs on Saturday and will compete in similar events in Playa del Rey (Dec. 9) and in Palm Springs (Dec. 30).

They also will run in an all-comers track meet at Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday.

No rest for the weary?

Bob Augello, a CSUN assistant, said that the Matadors’ cross-training regimen has left the team physically and mentally fresh while many teams are burned out at this time of the season.

“We haven’t been running 100-mile weeks like a lot of teams,” Augello said. “We’re not pounded like they are. The guys are ready to race. Now. They’re really fired up about the way they ran in cross-country and they’re looking forward to track.”

Augello said that some of his runners are capable of qualifying for the Division II track championships on Saturday in the meet at Cal State L. A.

Grand debuts: A pair of former Valley-area high school basketball standouts helped their college teams to victories with big performances in their openers.

Lucious Harris, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Cleveland High, scored 15 points for Cal State Long Beach as the 49ers routed Stephen F. Austin, 105-61, on Saturday.

The previous night, Marcus Malone, a junior forward from Kennedy, scored 30 points for Idaho State in a 66-62 victory over College of Idaho.

However, the most spectacular performance by a former local player came in a losing effort. Kevin Franklin, a two-time All-City Section guard from Taft, scored 48 points Saturday for Nevada Reno in a 145-101 loss to Loyola Marymount. Franklin, a junior, made eight three-point shots.

Staff writers Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.