COLLEGE DIVISION : Cal Baptist Goes Out of Area, Nets National Power

The men’s tennis program at California Baptist College in Riverside is in its first season but success has not been a foreign idea.

Thanks to a little help from a few foreigners.

With a miniature version of the United Nations, the Lancers have strung together a 20-0 record and are ranked No. 18 in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The roster features Tamer el Sawy of Egypt, Frank Ofori of Ghana, Dave Fontaine of France, Jonas Molin of Sweden and Murray Tanner of New Zealand. All are freshmen, except for Fontaine, a junior.

Said Coach Reddy Gustine: “I’ve got contacts all over the world.”

The players have a pretty good track record on the international level, too.

Two of them, el Sawy and Ofori, have Davis Cup experience. El Sawy is ranked No. 1 in Egypt and made the final 16 at the Junior Wimbledon tournament last year, and Ofori is ranked No. 1 in Ghana and was formerly the top-ranked junior in Africa.

Among the others, Fontaine was a junior college All-American at Long Beach City College, Molin was listed among the top 15 juniors in tennis-crazed Sweden, and Tanner is among the top-ranked juniors in New Zealand.

Cal Baptist also has a couple of pretty talented Americans, Andre Jones of Long Beach and Tyson Bond of Houston.

For the most part, though, the roster has an international flavor.

Gustine, a former player at McNeese State in Louisiana and an assistant coach at Notre Dame, said he didn’t start out with intentions of recruiting players from outside the United States when he was hired last summer.

“It’s been very, very difficult because I tried to recruit a lot of kids from the U.S. and from the Riverside area and they basically turned their noses up at me,” he said.

The coach’s efforts were further hampered by the program’s low budget, which does not allow for offers of full scholarships.

“I guess they figured they could walk on at a Division I school instead,” Gustine said of the athletes he missed.

So Gustine shifted to the international approach.

“I wanted to have a quality team with quality players and this was the only way we could accomplish that,” he said.

There is little doubt that Gustine has assembled a top-notch team.

The Lancers have defeated NCAA Division I teams such as Hawaii, Loyola Marymount, Montana State and Pacific. They also made a big impression in NAIA circles with a 7-2 victory last week over Cal Lutheran, a team that ranked No. 8 in the NAIA last season.

“Truthfully, I think we’re top-five caliber,” Gustine said. “We’re a serious contender for the national title.”

That would be a pretty impressive showing for any first-year coach. But Gustine is quick to give the credit to his players.

“It was kind of hard work on my part but I just happened to be in the right situation,” he said. “I feel it’s the kids who make the program.”

On the court, he said, it is one of the hardest working squads he has coached.

“They just have a great work ethic,” he said. “Sometimes I have to worry about them burning themselves out.”

Despite the mix of nationalities, Gustine said the players have had no difficulty communicating or getting along. All of the foreign players speak fluent English and some speak three or more languages.

“The truth of the matter is, they all get along great,” Gustine said. “They all have their own friends. It’s not like they all hang around together. But they just get along fabulously.”

They are also outstanding in the classroom. The team has a cumulative grade-point average of about 3.20.

“I’ve coached a lot of teams but I just can’t say enough nice things about these guys,” Gustine said. “Coaches would just die for a group of players like this.”

Gustine said he is not sure if he will recruit as many foreign players in the future, but admits that in his first season as coach, he couldn’t ask for better results.

By any standard, it has been an outstanding year for the athletic program at Cal State Bakersfield.

Bakersfield, easily enjoying the most success of any College Division school in the Southland, has already won NCAA Division II titles in men’s swimming and women’s volleyball and finished second in men’s basketball.

The successful sports year started with the Roadrunners’ first volleyball championship in December. They followed that with their fifth consecutive men’s swimming title in early March.

The school came close to another title when it lost to Kentucky Wesleyan in the Division II men’s basketball championship game two weeks ago, 93-79. Still, it was the best showing for a Division II team from California since CS Sacramento finished second in 1962.

If that’s not enough, the Bakersfield women’s softball team--which has already won consecutive Division II titles--appears primed for another championship run. The Roadrunners entered the week with a 28-3 record and the No. 1 ranking in Division II and are first in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. at 7-1.

College Division Notes

Two players from Cal Poly Pomona, All-American center Niki Bracken and forward Marcine Edmonds, have been named to the five-player Kodak NCAA Division II All-District 8 women’s basketball team. The seniors led the Broncos to a 29-4 record and third place in Division II. Guard Jody Hasselfield of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and forward Becky Geeson of UC Riverside also made the team. . . . Dan Antencio, an assistant coach at San Jose City College since 1986, has been named an assistant football coach at Cal Poly SLO. He replaces Bill Macdermott, who resigned to become a coach with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Cal Poly SLO’s men’s tennis team is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II in the Volvo Tennis/Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. mid-season poll. . . . Four of the seven baseball teams in the CCAA are ranked in the NCAA Division II top 25 selected by Collegiate Baseball magazine and ESPN. Cal State Northridge heads the list at No. 6, followed by UC Riverside at No. 11, Chapman at No. 16 and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at No. 20.

The Cal State San Bernardino men’s golf team is ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III and expected to rise after finishing fourth against Division I and II squads in the UC Irvine tournament. The Coyotes are 9-0 in dual matches. . . . When the Cal State San Bernardino women’s softball team was rated No. 5 in Division III last week, it marked the first time that the Coyotes have been ranked nationally in the sport. San Bernardino is 17-7 and has won 13 of 15 games.