SPORTSCOPE : Cal Poly’s Darlene May Named Division II Basketball Coach of Year for 2nd Time

Darlene May, longtime coach of the Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team who guided the Broncos to a 29-4 record this season, has been named 1990 Converse NCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

The selection of May marks the second time in the last three seasons that she has received the honor. She is only the second coach, along with Jorga Hoehn of Central Missouri State, to receive the award twice.

May guided the Broncos to the Division II final four tournament for the seventh time since the division was formed for the 1981-82 season. The Broncos finished third with an 87-68 victory over Oakland of Michigan after suffering a 67-53 setback to eventual champion Delta State of Mississippi in the semifinals.

In her team’s previous appearances in the final four tournament, the Broncos won three national titles and finished second three times. May, who has coached the Broncos for 16 years, has the most wins in Division II history with a career record of 426-95 for a winning percentage of .814.

Pomona has also won an unprecedented nine straight California Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles under May and she has an all-time conference record of 154-5.

For the second season in a row, center Niki Bracken of Cal Poly Pomona has been selected to the Kodak NCAA Division II All-America women’s basketball team.

A 6-2 senior, Bracken completed her career as the school’s all-time scoring leader. She holds school records of 44 points in a game, 619 points in a season and 2,246 points in her career. Bracken also moved into second place all-time in career rebounds with 1,053.

In her final season with the Broncos, she averaged a team-leading 18.6 points and 9.4 rebounds.

Bracken also became the first player in Division II history to be chosen to the division all-tournament team for the third time last week. In two games in the final four tournament last week in Pomona, she scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

The women’s softball team at Cal Poly Pomona will try to rebound from a disappointing showing at the Cal State Fullerton PONY Softball Invitational Tournament when it hosts San Jose State in a Big West Conference double header at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Pomona.

The Broncos, ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division I, enter the double header with an 18-17 overall record, 2-6 in Big West play. Pomona split a pair of conference games with Pacific on Monday, winning 1-0 before dropping a 7-1 decision.

In the first game, Pomona pitchers Bonnie Ebenkamp and Nicky Luce combined to toss a five-hit shutout.

Last week at the PONY tournament, the Broncos won only two of six games. The wins were against Oregon State, 5-2, and United States International University, 1-0.

Junior defender Paige Durivage of South Pasadena High, who helped lead her team to the CIF Southern Section 2-A Division title, has been named the division’s defensive player of the year in girls soccer.

Her coach, Bob Mendoza, was selected 2-A coach of the year and Temple City freshman forward Erin Martin was chosen as offensive player of the year.

South Pasadena, which won the title with a 2-1 victory over Diamond Bar, also placed junior midfielder Stacey Hoshimiya, sophomore defender Amy Kloss, junior goalkeeper Joanne Vanderwall, senior forward Rachel Wackerman and junior forward Cassie Zappaterreno on the first team.

Temple City also landed senior forward Renae Scott and senior midfielder Jennifer Woolery on the first team.

In 4-A, Arcadia and St. Lucy’s of Glendora each placed one player on the first team, senior midfielders Collette Connors of Arcadia and Shelly O’Brien of St. Lucy’s.

In the 1-A, division champion Mayfield of Pasadena was represented on the first team by junior forward Molly Lynch. The Cubs won the title with a 3-2 win over Brentwood in the final match. Lynch scored all three of her team’s goals. Westridge of Pasadena also placed sophomore defender Laura Kaufman on the first team.

Former Keppel High School Coach Harold George is recruiting graduating seniors from the San Gabriel Valley to compete in a California vs. Oklahoma prep all-star football game June 22 at St. Louis High in Honolulu.

The coach also needs cheerleaders for the trip, which will run from June 21-26. Cost of the trip is $725 including hotel accommodations, air fare and meals.