COLLEGE DIVISION : Westmont a Pleasant Surprise

This was not supposed to be the big year for the men’s basketball team at Westmont College in Montecito.

With no seniors on his team’s roster, longtime Coach Chet Kammerer and his staff figured that the best season for the Warriors was still another year down the line.

But success at Westmont appears to be a year ahead of schedule.

The Warriors are off to their best start at 17-1 and are No. 11 in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics rankings.

Westmont has won 16 consecutive games and would tie the school record of 18, set in 1983-84, with victories over Point Loma Nazarene and Fresno Pacific this week.

Not that any of this should come as a major surprise, however.

After all, Kammerer began the season seventh among active NAIA coaches in victories with a 475-230 record, and his winning percentage of .674 was tied for 25th among active coaches.

The Warriors also have won four NAIA District 3 titles under Kammerer, most recently two seasons ago, when the team lost to Wisconsin Eau Claire in the first round of the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City.

Still, after going 18-13 last season, this had the appearance of a rebuilding year for Westmont. Only two starters returned.

“Its been unexpected because we graduated five seniors from last season,” he said. “In no way did we expect to be 17-1 at this point.

“I’m still sort of amazed to see the success we’re having every time we go out. I know they’ve surprised the coach, they’ve surprised their fans and I think they’ve surprised themselves.”

The seeds of success might have been planted last summer, when Kammerer and three of his starters visited Czechoslovakia for 17 days with a touring team and played 10 games and conducted clinics. The players were forward Chris Hahs, guard Peter Partain and guard Chad Kammerer, the coach’s son.

“That probably helped Chris the most because he got a chance to play a lot of basketball against big players,” the coach said. “We played the best teams in that country.”

Kammerer said another factor this season has been the improvement of Partain, who had difficulty adjusting last season after having knee surgery two years ago.

“Peter came off major knee surgery and last year was just a season of total adjustment for him,” Kammerer said. “This season he’s playing at just a completely different level.”

Partain, a 6-foot-3 junior, averages 17.2 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Noel Matthews leads the team with averages of 19.2 points and six rebounds.

In fact, Westmont has five players averaging double figures in scoring. Kammerer averages 14.1 points, Hahs 13 and guard Chris Brown 12.8.

“We have a good balance, yet on the other hand it’s a good blend, too,” the coach said. “What makes a team is not only that they like each other but that they blend together well and this team does.

“People that watch us are not going to be impressed just by looking at us, but we play very well together. I think individually they wouldn’t stick out, but as a group they do.”

Kammerer said his team has a goal of going undefeated at home, winning the district title and returning to the NAIA national tournament. So far the Warriors are 9-0 at home and another district title appears within reach.

Kammerer says that, so far, Westmont has managed to keep its early success in perspective. At the moment he is more concerned about the race for first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference, where the Warriors are tied for the lead with Fresno Pacific at 3-0.

“We’ve hardly said one word about the streak,” he said. “Right now we’re tied with Fresno Pacific and we haven’t won anything yet. We’re still focusing on our next game. It seems like there’s always another challenge down the line for us.”

After two weeks of the conference season, the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team is still the biggest surprise in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

The Matadors, the only undefeated team in conference play, improved to 4-0 in the CCAA and 9-8 overall with victories over Cal State Dominguez Hills and Chapman.

The Northridge women’s team has also been a big surprise after a 3-12 nonconference season. The Matadors are tied for first with Cal Poly Pomona at 3-0. But Pomona, which has won or shared the CCAA title the last eight seasons, is still the heavy favorite to win the title.

In the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men are off to the best start at 4-0 in the conference and 14-3 overall.

College Division Notes

Goalkeeper Steve Goodson of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps has become the school’s first first-team All-American selection in men’s NCAA Division III soccer. Goodson, a senior, posted 33 shutouts in his career and 12 last season to lead the Stags to a 17-2-1 record and their seventh playoff appearance in the last eight years. Sophomore forward Mahntie Reeves, who had 13 goals and five assists last season, was selected to the second team.

Steve deLaveaga, former Cal Lutheran basketball star and the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,549 points, has signed to play pro basketball with Nadawani of the Southeast Basketball League in Australia. He was the NCAA Division II scoring champion last season with a 28.1-point average. . . . DeLaveaga’s younger brother, Jeff, is following in his footsteps at Cal Lutheran. A sophomore, he is among the NAIA leaders with a 26.8-point average.

The Cal State San Bernardino women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 12 with an 86-79 victory over UC San Diego last week. Leading the way was sophomore guard Laura Beeman, who set a school record with 13 assists. The Coyotes are 13-3 and ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division III West Region. . . . Kathy Goggin, former Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball star, has won the 1989 Woody Hayes National Scholarship Athlete Award presented by the University Sertoma Club of Columbus, Ohio. Goggin was one of six winners of the award that is presented to NCAA Division I, II and III athletes.

Michael Bell, starting guard at Dominguez Hills, has left the men’s basketball team to concentrate on his studies. Bell, a defensive specialist, was averaging 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.