Flynn Gives CSUN Jump on Competition

A day after watching its male counterpart steal the show, the Cal State Northridge women’s team got into the act in the NCAA Division II track and field championships at Hampton University’s Armstrong Field on Friday.

Lolita Pile finished third in the long jump and Lisa Gill was fourth in the heptathlon, as expected, but it was the third-place showing of Noreen Flynn in the high jump that ignited the Lady Matadors on the second day of the three-day meet.

Northridge was third in the team standings with 20 1/2 points, trailing defending champion Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (38) and Abilene Christian (24).

Northridge continued to hold a surprising lead in the men’s competition, but the advantage is expected to evaporate quickly when defending champion St. Augustine’s (N.C.) unleashes its lethal arsenal of sprinters, hurdlers and triple jumpers this afternoon.

John Burton’s third-place finish in the decathlon gave Northridge a 26-point total, with UC Davis and St. Augustine’s tied for second with 21.

Flynn, a 1986 graduate of Bell-Jeff High, barely qualified for the Division II meet, posting a provisional qualifying mark of 5 feet 7 1/4 inches at Cal State Los Angeles last Saturday. But her first-attempt clearance of 5-7 on Friday earned her an All-American certificate.

“I definitely wanted to clear 5-7 coming into the meet,” Flynn said. “I thought that would make me an All-American, but I was thinking more like sixth. I never thought I’d get third.”

Flynn, who redshirted the 1988 season while recovering from knee surgery, cleared 5-3, 5-5 and 5-7 on her initial respective efforts before missing three times at 5-8 3/4, which would have been a personal best.

“I thought I could make that height, but I just didn’t have enough to do it,” said Flynn, who set her personal best of 5-8 1/2 as a freshman in 1987.

Pile, a three-time All-American in the triple jump, was fourth in the long jump after five rounds, but her sixth--and final--effort of 19-11 1/2 tied her with Irish Holmes of St. Augustine’s.

Pile took third on the basis of a better second jump.

“I’m a little disappointed,” said Pile, winner of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title with a personal best of 20-3. “I would like to have jumped 20 feet again.”

Gill, a sophomore from Alemany High, totaled a personal best of 5,031 points in the seven-event heptathlon. Sixth after the first day, Gill jumped 18-6 1/2 in the long jump, threw the javelin 136-7, and ran the 800 in 2 minutes 39.12 seconds to add 95 points to her previous best.

Gill was first after her personal best in the javelin, but the 800 is one of her weaker events, and Jackie Alford of East Texas State (5,266 points, 2:18.07 in the 800), Karen Lauve of Seattle Pacific (5,220, 2:22.12) and Chris Diehl (5,062, 2:31.82) all passed her in the final event.

Shortly after the heptathlon, Gill tied Stacy Roberts of Northeast Missouri State for seventh in the high jump at 5-5. The mark was below par for Gill but did add 1 1/2 points to Northridge’s total.

The Lady Matadors suffered a major setback, however, when freshman Kim Young failed to advance to the final of the 100-meter hurdles. Young, who ran 13.77 in the Northridge Open earlier this month, was a non-qualifying fifth in the second heat in 14.54.

Burton, fourth after the first day of the decathlon, strung together an unspectacular but solid second day to total 6,739 points, five points ahead of Arden Beachy of North Dakota State.

In men’s qualifying, CSUN suffered no major casualties as Kevin Hendrix and Chris Pippins made the final of the 100 meters and teamed with Melvin Jones and Wade Smart for a 40.41 clocking in the first heat of the 400 relay.