Cheerful Start for Pomona-Pitzer

Clarence Thomas, football coach at Pomona-Pitzer, says his team “actually had cheerleaders” at its game Saturday.

To Thomas, that’s indicative of a groundswell of enthusiasm he hasn’t seen during the 10 years he has coached the Sagehens.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Thomas says. “It’s a really good feeling. Our whole campus is excited about the football team.”

Pomona-Pitzer’s 2-0 record might seem modest, but it is the school’s best start since 1970.

The team’s 31-20 victory over rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps last week was particularly noteworthy. It marked Pomona’s first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory since 1987 and the first over Claremont since 1985.

It also equals the school’s victory total for the last two seasons. The Sagehens went 1-7 last year and 1-8 in 1988.

Thomas said the football team’s improvement can be traced partly to a recruiting policy change that was implemented by Pomona President David Alexander before the 1989 season.

“Academics have always been most important here and we have rigorous recruiting standards but they (administrators) devised a way that we could recruit and not compromise our standards,” Thomas said. “The program that’s in effect now started with the last recruiting year.”

He said the program is also benefiting from a renovation of Alumni Field, which has forced the Sagehens to play their home games in the school track stadium this season.

“Our stadium is going to be maybe as fine as the one they have at the University of Redlands or the one they have at Citrus (Community College in Glendora),” Thomas said. “We’ve got this great facility--the Rains Center--with a weight center, courts and a brand new aquatics center. Then they have new football and baseball facilities, so it is quite an attraction.

“It’s definitely going to help us in the future, and a lot of kids here are really excited at these changes that they can just reach out and touch.”

On the field, Thomas says, the progress can be attributed partly to the addition of Jim Barker at offensive coordinator and Phil Avalos on the defensive line last season, although the positive results were not evident in the ’89 record.

“Last year we won only one game, but if you look at it closely we were in some ballgames the entire way,” he said. “We lost a lot of games where it came down to a play or two that went wrong, but we saw a lot of growth and signs of promise.”

With players such as sophomore running back Chris Smith and juniors Scott Hamburg at quarterback and Nate Kirtman at defensive back, Thomas is certain the Sagehens will be competitive for at least the next three seasons.

Smith, who averaged 132 yards a game rushing last season, has 220 yards rushing and 120 receiving so far this season. Hamburg has passed for 478 yards and six touchdowns.

Thomas is hoping Pomona can continue its success against winless Whittier (0-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Claremont.

Although Pomona-Pitzer may be the most surprising college division team in the Southland, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Redlands have opened the season with three consecutive victories.

San Luis Obispo has been especially impressive, having upset Portland State, 36-23, last week before 14,733 fans at Portland Civic Stadium.

It was the first conference loss at home since 1986 for the Vikings, who entered the game ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Division II with a 3-0 record.

Portland State has won three consecutive Western Football Conference titles and was picked to win the championship again in a preseason poll of coaches.

San Luis Obispo, which was picked fourth in the poll, is having its best start since 1987--Coach Lyle Setencich’s first season.

The 18th-ranked Mustangs have been led on offense by quarterback David Lafferty and running back Joe Fragiadakis. Lafferty has passed for 469 yards and five touchdowns.

Redlands was also impressive last week, defeating Whittier, 42-16, in a SCIAC game. The Bulldogs might receive their strongest challenge Saturday night against the University of San Diego (3-0) at San Diego.

The Bulldogs have used a strong rushing game, led by Curt Landreth and Shaun Trejo, to outscore their first three opponents, 94-32.

College Division Notes

Senior quarterback Brian Hunt of Azusa Pacific ranked among the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II leaders in passing and total yardage before last week’s game in which he completed 19 of 37 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown in his team’s 28-10 victory over Occidental. In three games, Hunt has passed for 876 yards and six touchdowns. . . . Former Cal State Los Angeles women’s tennis star Edna Olivarez, who won the NCAA Division II singles championship and teamed with Jennifer Choi for the doubles title, has been nominated for Division II athlete of the year and collegiate female athlete of the year by Honda.