THE COLLEGES : CSUN to Glimpse Difficult Future in Track

Anyone with visions of Cal State Northridge having a quick and widespread impact in NCAA Division I should attend a track and field meet involving CSUN, Azusa Pacific, the Cal women’s team and UCLA at Drake Stadium this afternoon.

The disparity between a high-quality Division I and Division II program will be clear.

The Northridge men have placed among the top nine teams in the Division II championships in nine of the past 10 years, and the Lady Matadors have finished in the top nine in seven of the past eight Division II meets. Yet Northridge, which will move to Division I in all sports except football starting in the fall, will be no match for UCLA.

The mismatch will have little to do with inferior coaching or a lack of effort or desire by Northridge athletes.

The Matadors simply do not have the manpower to compete with the Bruins.

Tradition has something to do with that. UCLA is steeped in it--the Bruin men have won eight NCAA titles and the women have won four national championships (including two in the Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women)--while Northridge is still trying to establish a tradition. The Lady Matadors did win three consecutive AIAW titles from 1978-80 but funding for women’s track dropped substantially when Northridge moved to Division II in 1981.

Money--in the form of scholarships--is needed to attract blue-chip athletes and Northridge cannot compete with UCLA in this area.

And it won’t be able to for several years, if at all.

While UCLA offers the Division I maximum of 14 men’s and 16 women’s full track scholarships (worth approximately $8,000 each), the Matadors have roughly 3 1/4 men’s and 3 3/4 women’s scholarships (worth $5,500 each), according to CSUN Coach Don Strametz.

Northridge’s scholarship totals are projected to double (to six men’s and seven women’s) by 1993, but even then Strametz cannot foresee the Matadors finishing among the top 10 or 15 teams in the Division I meet.

“Unless we have the maximum number of full rides, I don’t think that’s possible,” Strametz said. “It’s not even feasible to talk about it right now.”

So Strametz will continue to make do by dividing his full scholarships among as many good athletes as he can.

No one is on a full ride at Northridge--not even Darcy Arreola, who ranked 10th in the nation in the 1,500 meters in 1989.

“Northridge wants to be very, very competitive in a dual-meet type situation. And I think we’re headed in that direction,” Strametz said. “But that doesn’t guarantee success in the (national championships), where a few studs can score a lot of points.”

The field events today begin at 11 a.m. followed by the running events.

Convincing facts: Need more evidence of the qualitative differences between Division I and Division II track?

In Northridge history, only seven men (five in the javelin and two in the shotput) would have met the qualifying standards for this year’s NCAA Division I championships. The most recent would-be qualifiers: javelin throwers Shawn Denton and Dave Stephens, who threw 261 feet 10 inches and 261-6, respectively, with the old-style javelin in 1984.

Quick start: Hampered by a back injury last year, John Knight of UCLA is off to a healthy start.

The former Oak Park High standout, who placed eighth in the hammer throw in the 1988 and ’89 NCAA championships, threw a personal-best 212-8 to win last Saturday’s triangular meet against Cal State Los Angeles and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Drake Stadium.

Knight’s effort qualified him for this year’s NCAA meet, added 5 feet 2 inches to his previous best, and now ranks second on the all-time Bruin list behind Dave Wilson’s 224-8.

“Our throwers got off to a great start,” UCLA Coach Bob Larsen said. “They’re going to be one of our strengths this season.”

Scheduled debut: Arreola, who is redshirting because of injuries suffered during the cross-country season, is expected to compete in her first race of the track season in the Northridge Invitational at CSUN on March 31.

However, it has not been decided in which event or events Arreola will run.

All-CCAA II: The California Collegiate Athletic Assn. announced its men’s and women’s all-conference basketball teams last week, but here is the unofficial All-CCAA name team for men.

At forward are Cam Skaugrud of Chapman and Marvin Redeemer of Cal State Bakersfield. The center is Beau Redstone of Bakersfield, and the guards are Chancellor McCobb of Cal Poly Pomona and Segaro Bozart of Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The second team includes forwards Clyde Fontenette (UC Riverside) and Coby Naess (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), center-forward Frantz Reyes of Chapman, and guards D. C. Cashman (San Luis Obispo) and Bo Ashkenazy (Riverside).

Home-court advantage: Canyons, which lost to host Sequoias in the final eight of the women’s state basketball tournament last week, will attempt to show that turnabout is fair play when it plays host to the state tournament next year.

Last Saturday, the coaches’ committee selected Canyons as the host for the 1991 tournament, pending approval of the state community college board of directors.

Having the tournament at Canyons is no guarantee that the Cougars will be in the tournament. Yet Canyons, which has four freshman starters, will be an early favorite for the elite eight.

Canyons (25-8) has only two sophomores on the roster, although one is Kodak All-American nominee Tressie Millender.

“The youth of the team speaks for itself,” Canyons Coach Jeff Dunlap said. “It will give our program some exposure, and it will be exciting for the girls to be playing on their home floor. As a coach, hopefully I’ll be part of it.”

Name game: Mission’s baseball roster lists three players, all unrelated, with the surname Chavez--catcher Jose, left fielder Robert and third baseman Robert. The Free Spirit also has two Romos--brothers Chris and Nino.

Out but not down: Glendale failed to advance to the eight-team men’s state basketball tournament finals when it lost in overtime last Saturday to Rancho Santiago, 86-84, in the Southern California regional. However, Coach Brian Beauchemin wasn’t hanging his head after a 24-12 season.

“I think that the competition we played throughout the year was extremely good,” Beauchemin said. “At one point, we were 21-6. In that 21 wins were a lot of road victories that took a lot of effort.

“From that standpoint, it was really a great year.”

Gary Klein and staff writers Brendan Healey and Kirby Lee contributed to this notebook.