SPORTSCOPE : Cal Poly Women to Host Final Four Tourney for First Time

The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team will make its seventh appearance in the last nine seasons the NCAA Division II final four tournament starting Friday.

But this appearance will be a little different from the rest.

It will mark the first time that the Broncos will host the final four tournament. The semifinals will be Friday and the final and third-place game Saturday at Kellogg Gymnasium in Pomona.

Pomona, which enters the final four with a 28-3 record and the No. 2 ranking in Division II, will have a difficult assignment in their tournament opener at 8 p.m. Friday. The Broncos must face top-ranked Delta State (30-1) of Mississippi, a team that defeated Pomona by a one-sided 88-58 score in the championship game last year in Cleveland, Mississippi.

In the other semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday, fifth-ranked Bentley (30-3) of Massachusetts will meet 14th-ranked Oakland (27-4) of Michigan. The winners play for the title at 8 p.m. Saturday.

But first the Broncos must get past a Delta State squad that has exceptional size on its front line.

The Lady Statesmen, who have an all-time record of 15-3 in Division II tournament play, have four starters returning from last year’s championship team including 6-0 seniors Crystal Hardy and Anita Robinson at forward and Pam Lockett at center.

Hardy is averaging 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, Lockett 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds and Robinson 13 points and 7.1 rebounds. Another player from last year’s title winner is senior guard Liz Wallace (5-7).

While Delta State has an impressive track record in NCAA tournament play, Pomona’s may be even more noteworthy. The Broncos have a 28-5 all-time record in postseason play and captured Division II titles in 1982, 1985 and 1986.

The Broncos, who defeated fourth-ranked North Dakota by a 67-64 score in the Division II quarterfinals last week to advance to the final four, have been led by the strong inside play of All-America 6-2 center Niki Bracken and All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. 6-1 forward Marcine Edmonds. Bracken averages 19 points and 9.5 rebounds and Edmonds 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds.

The other starters for Pomona are juniors Kelly Connelly (6-1) at forward and Denise Ogburn (5-5) and Stephanie Coons (5-11) at guards. Coons, a former standout at Wilson High in Hacienda Heights, averages 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds.

Pomona has also received steady play from reserve center Danielle Carter, who averages 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. Reserve guard Serenda Valdez also played well in the quarterfinals last week with a career-high 23 points and a school-record seven three-point baskets.

Many of the top track and field performers in the world will compete in the fifth annual Azusa Pacific University Meet of Champions on Saturday in Azusa.

Field events start at 9:30 a.m. and running events at 12:10 p.m.

One of the best events could be the 300-meter run, which will include world-class sprinters Innocent Egbunike and Sunday Uti of Nigeria, Gabriel Tiacoh of the Ivory Coast and Darryl Robinson and Henry Thomas of the U.S.

Egbunike, a former Azusa Pacific star, has the fastest time by a non-American in the 400 meters at 44.17 seconds. Tiacoh was an Olympic silver medalist in the 400 in 1984, and Uti won an Olympic bronze medal on Nigeria’s 400-meter relay team in 1988.

Another strong field has been assembled for the 300-meter hurdles including former UCLA star Kevin Young, ranked No. 1 in the world in the 400-meter hurdles last year with a best of 47.86 seconds. Also included are Amadou Dia Ba of Senegal, who won a silver medal in the 400 hurdles in the 1988 Summer Olympics, George Porter of USC and Nate Page of the U.S.

The high jump has a pair of outstanding competitors in Doug Nordquist, former American record holder, and Lee Balkin, a former NCAA champion from UCLA.

The sprints will be well-represented with world-class long jumper Larry Myricks of the U.S. competing in the 100- and 200-meter runs and Grace Jackson of Jamaica, who won the silver medal in the women’s 200 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Among former Azusa Pacific standouts competing will be Dave Johnson, who holds the American record in the modern decathlon, and Mike Barnett, ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in the javelin in 1989.

The Cougars will also be represented by senior Ade Olukoju, a native of Nigeria, one of the top-ranked discus throwers in the world, and Latrese Johnson, a sophomore who is two-time National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Champion in the women’s high jump.

Dean Karnoski of Glendora High School and Jim Walker of Temple City, two of the most successful coaches in the San Gabriel Valley last season, have been named coaches for the 11th annual Hall of Fame All-Star Football Game to be held July 20 at Citrus College in Glendora.

Karnoski guided Glendora to a co-championship in CIF Division IV last season. The Tartans tied Ramona, 28-28, in the title game to finish with the season with a 12-1-1 record--best in school history.

Karnoski has a winning career record of 30-23-1 at Glendora.

Walker also directed Temple City to an outstanding season as the Rams reached the CIF Division VII semifinals for the second year in a row before losing to Lompoc by a 48-38 score. The Rams finished with a 9-4 record after posting a 10-2-1 mark the previous year.