Fund-Raiser to Aid Gray Family

Athletes from Cal State Northridge will hold a car wash at the University Park Apartment complex Thursday to benefit the family of Tommie Gray, a Northridge football player who died of an apparent heart attack Friday night.

The car wash is scheduled from noon until 4 p.m. and will cost $3. The apartment complex is located near the intersection of Zelzah Avenue and Lassen Street in Northridge.

Gray and a roommate shared a third-floor apartment in the complex. Many of the athletes who will be participating in the fund-raiser were his neighbors.

“We were third-floor friends,” said Coley Kyman, a CSUN volleyball player who is helping to organize the fund-raiser. “We didn’t talk every day, but (Gray’s death) hit me. It hit us all.”

Gray, 21, CSUN’s starting nose tackle, collapsed about 11:30 p.m. Friday while visiting with friends near the pool of the apartments. An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death is expected to be performed today, a spokesman for the L. A. County coroner’s office said Tuesday.

Funeral services will be held in Modesto, Gray’s hometown, at a date and time to be announced.

Tailback Albert Fann was honored as most valuable player of the Cal State Northridge football team at an awards ceremony Sunday.

Fann, a junior from Cleveland High, was the leading rusher in the Western Football Conference with 1,377 yards.

Sherdrick Bonner, CSUN’s junior quarterback, was most outstanding offensive player and Daved Benefield, a senior outside linebacker, was selected top defensive player in a vote by the players.

Derek Sparks, The Times’ Valley Back of the Year, leads a group of three Montclair Prep players who have been named to the All-Southern Section Division IX football team sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Foundation. Sparks is joined on the first team by running back Michael Jones and offensive lineman Donovan Roy.

Lori Mertes of Chatsworth High and Jennifer Dynaberg of El Camino Real have been selected to the All-City Section 4-A Division girls’ volleyball team. Kris Bassler and Marie Mariane of Chatsworth and Rachel Berger of El Camino Real were named to the second team.

In the 3-A, Sacha Klein and Meredith Lewis of Birmingham were selected to the first team. Teammate Aimee Sayles made the second team along with Stacie Toon of Van Nuys.