SPORTSCOPE : Cal State L.A. Names Interim Track Coach

John Turek, an assistant coach at Cal State Los Angeles last season, has been named the school’s interim men’s track and field coach.

Turek, 35, replaces John Tansley, who announced his retirement after 30 years of coaching, including six years at Cal State L.A.

Turek, a graduate of Cal State L.A., coached the women’s cross-country and track teams at Cal Poly Pomona from 1980-88.

With Turek as coach, Pomona had 22 individual California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champions, 19 NCAA Division II All-Americans, five Division II individual champions and three national record holders.

“I’m very pleased with the appointment,” he said. “Being a graduate of Cal State L.A. and coming back here and getting the head coaching job gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

Turek said it will not be easy replacing Tansley.

“I realize I’m replacing a legend,” he said. “John left me with a good nucleus to work with, and I plan to work with that nucleus and bring in new and fresh talent.”

Turek said he will also benefit from having worked with Tansley last season.

“I’ve learned more in the last six months being with Tansley than I have in nine years of coaching,” Turek said. “He has both the ability to coach people and instruct them. He has accumulated a world of knowledge in his 30 years of coaching and he’ll always be a mentor to me.”

First baseman Carlos Salazar of Azusa Pacific University, who established school records in home runs and slugging percentage as a senior, has been named to the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics All-America baseball team.

Salazar, the first Azusa Pacific player selected to the first team since outfielder Rob Amble and pitcher Greg Swain in 1984, hit a school-record 21 home runs and had a .952 slugging percentage. He also finished with team highs of 64 runs batted in and a .401 batting average.

Salazar is a former Bishop Amat High standout who played two seasons at Southern California College in Costa Mesa before transferring to Azusa Pacific. He was drafted and signed by the Oakland A’s last week.

Salazar, selected in the 19th round of the draft, will play for Oakland’s Class A Medford, Ore., team of the Northwest League.

After completing an 18-13 record last season--its best mark in several seasons--the Azusa Pacific University men’s basketball team has signed two outstanding prospects to letters of intent.

The Cougars have signed 6-6 swing man Case Culliver from Chaparral High in Scottsdale, Ariz., and 6-1 guard Scott Day from Cerritos.

Culliver, who averaged 25 points and six rebounds as a senior, was a second-team all-state selection. He was also an all-regional selection and has been chosen to play in the Arizona high school all-star game in July.

“We feel that Case will be an excellent addition to our program,” Azusa Pacific Coach Terry Layton said. “He is a good shooter and should play an important role for us from the outset.”

Day, who averaged 18.7 points and seven rebounds as a senior, made the All-Southern Section Division II second team. He also was a three-time All-San Gabriel Valley League selection and was named the league’s most valuable player last year.

“We are excited that Scott has chosen to play basketball at Azusa Pacific,” Layton said. “He is an outstanding player and is an excellent addition to our program.”

Junior Matt Solters of the University of La Verne, one of the top pitchers in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the last two seasons, has been selected to the American Baseball Coaches Assn. NCAA Division II All-America first team.

Senior outfielder Alan MacLeod was a second-team selection.

Solters, who was recently selected to the Division III All-West Region team along with MacLeod, had a 9-3 record and 2.82 earned-run average with 123 strikeouts and 40 walks in 108 1/3 innings. He also had 11 complete games.

MacLeod, La Verne’s top offensive performer, batted .414 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs.

Three top women’s track and field performers from Azusa Pacific have received NAIA scholar-athlete awards.

The athletes are distance runner Sonya Weir, triple jumper Sonia Munoz and long jumper Kim Armbrust.

Weir, a junior who finished third in the marathon at the NAIA national finals, has a 3.67 grade-point average as a liberal studies major.

Munoz, a senior who won the NAIA District 3 title in the triple jump, graduated with a 3.68 GPA as physical education major.

Armbrust, a senior who captured the District 3 title in the long jump, had a 3.65 GPA as a mathematics major.

In order to qualify for the award, athletes must maintain a GPA of at least 3.25.