CLU Freshmen Wear Look of Embarrassment

A tall male student wandered through the halls at Cal Lutheran last week and slipped sheepishly into the cafeteria. The reason for his embarrassment was obvious: A blue dress, meant for a girl of medium height, clung to his 6-foot frame.

During four days of initiation last week, freshman basketball players at Cal Lutheran were told by returning players what to wear.

They dressed up as nerds, wore dresses, togas and their clothes inside out. In addition, they sported headbands that displayed the word “freshman.”

“Everyone is kind of bummed about it at first,” said Russell White, a sophomore forward, “but then, toward the end of the week, they are having a great time because the girls give them a lot of sympathy.”

The freshmen players provided nightly entertainment in the cafeteria during the week, singing such tunes as “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’ ” and songs from the TV show “The Brady Bunch.”

FIGHT ON

Sideline-clearing brawls have marred the fourth quarter of Cal Lutheran’s past two football games.

Officials ended last week’s game after a fight near the Cal Lutheran sideline with 1 minute 47 seconds left in the Kingsmen’s 12-0 win over Occidental College. “Our bench stayed here,” Occidental Coach Dale Widolff said, “and their bench was kicking the . . . out of all the guys out there.”

Cal Lutheran Coach Joe Harper assessed the situation differently. “I think some frustration kind of built up,” Harper said. “There was some conversation going on on the field between lots of players. There was a big commotion, but it was mostly verbal.”

In a 28-6 loss to La Verne two weeks ago, Leopard linebacker Robert Hill hit Kingsmen quarterback David Harris out of bounds on the Cal Lutheran sideline, and Kingsmen linebacker Chris Sestito took exception. “(Hill) was just looking for an extra cheap shot,” Sestito said.

Hill’s actions earned the wrath of the Kingsmen players on the sideline, who piled on top of him until officials and coaches were able to break up the fracas.

“We’re disappointed at all the trash that went on,” La Verne Coach Rex Huigens said. “At times they still remind you that they’re young and not adults.”

DOUBLE TROUBLE

When Cal Lutheran quarterback Adam Hacker was hit by 285-pound tackle Corey Cheney-Rice in a 28-0 loss to Sonoma State three weeks ago, two coaches shared the pain of Hacker’s strained left shoulder.

Hacker, a redshirt freshman, is a two-sport athlete who plays football in the fall and baseball in the spring.

Hacker already had proven himself to Harper, the football coach, by completing 24 of 39 passes for 216 yards in what was his first full game and Cal Lutheran’s first win of the season, an exciting 21-20 victory over the University of San Diego.

Rich Hill, Cal Lutheran’s baseball coach, is hopeful that Hacker will regain full range of motion in his shoulder by spring so Hacker can pitch. “Hacker has a tremendous arm,” Hill said.

Hill, who doubles as wide receiver coach for the football team, is optimistic that Hacker eventually will be able to pitch. “Through his rehab that he’s doing now, he’ll probably come back stronger,” Hill said.

BEGINNER’S LUCK?

David Harris, the freshman quarterback who has replaced the injured Hacker as Cal Lutheran’s starter the past two games, seems to have a Midas touch on and off the playing field.

Harris was among 30 Regents scholarship winners out of 234 Cal Lutheran freshmen.

Soon after, Harris started to shine on the football field. His passing statistics aren’t glittering: He has completed 19 of 47 for 175 yards, including three interceptions and no touchdowns. However, Harris did contribute a three-yard touchdown run to give the Kingsmen their second win of the season, 12-0, over Occidental.

MORALE OF THE STORY

Five games into the season, Glendale, the defending Western State Conference Northern Division football champion, still is looking for its first win.

“These (losses) are getting harder and harder,” Coach John Cicuto said. “As hard as it is for a coach, you can imagine what it does to the players. Our biggest thing is fighting the morale (problem) right now, particularly among the younger (players).”

It is not as if Glendale is being beaten up by opponents. Rather, the Vaqueros are being victimized by untimely mistakes and an inability to come up with big plays.

Against Pierce last Saturday, Glendale outgained the Brahmas, 295 yards to 271. But a fumbled punt in the third quarter gave Pierce the ball at the Glendale two-yard line and helped the Brahmas turn a close game into a 34-23 win.

“It’s the mistakes,” Glendale tailback Bobby Webster said. “We earn our respect and we bash (opponents), but who won’t lose with fumbles?”

HILL TO CLIMB

Antelope Valley cross-country Coach Mark Covert has been involved with long-distance running either as a competitor or a coach since the 1960s, yet some things about the sport still shock him.

A national-class distance runner in the early 1970s--he finished sixth in the marathon in the 1972 Olympic Trials--Covert has not missed a day of running for more than 23 years. But in all of his travels he has never seen a cross-county course quite like the one that the men will run in the Foothill Conference championships at Cal State San Bernardino today.

“I ran (the course) a little while ago to see what it was like,” Covert said, “and I couldn’t believe this one hill they have in the course.”

Covert was referring to a 300-yard downward slope that he describes as dangerous. The first 100 to 150 yards of the hill are very steep, according to Covert, followed by 50 yards of a slight downhill, but it is the final 100 yards that left him almost queasy.

“It’s as steep as the side of a building,” Covert said. “You’re coming down the side of a mountain and it just drops off. . . . I guess they figure that 18- and 19-year-old kids are fearless.”

POLL SITTERS

The Cal Lutheran women’s soccer team came one step closer to qualifying for postseason play when the Intercollegiate Soccer Assn. of America ranked the Regals in the top 20 in NCAA Division III this week.

Cal Lutheran’s 3-0 win over Pomona-Pitzer last weekend vaulted the Regals to a No. 18 ranking and increased their chances of receiving a playoff bid in the Far West region.

UC San Diego (9-0-1), the perennial favorite in the region, is ranked third in the nation. Cal Lutheran’s 1-0 loss to San Diego at the beginning of the season is looked upon favorably by the ISAA. Cal Lutheran (13-3) is 10-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches.

STYLE POINTS

The Master’s soccer team now has style to go with its speed--and style has counted for much.

Ezekiel Bongarra, from Buenos Aires, returned to the lineup recently after recovering from a hamstring injury that sidelined him at the beginning of the season.

Bongarra, who plays a finesse game, should complement fellow forward Momir Horvatek, who is fleet of foot.

“We just have to get (Bongarra) and Momir working together,” Coach Jim Rickard said.

Bongarra has scored the Mustangs’ only four goals in the past two games. He played 60 minutes and scored one goal in a 1-1 tie with Westminster last weekend, and he played the entire game and scored all three goals in Master’s 3-1 victory over Christ College on Monday.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this notebook.