Tritons Probably In Tournament

The return of “Goody” and “Turtle” and the addition of “Little Lu” have put UC San Diego’s water polo team in position to qualify for its second NCAA tournament in school history.

The ninth-ranked Tritons (15-13) will probably enter the eight-team Western Water Polo Assn. (WWPA) tournament at Chaminade University in Hawaii Nov. 15 as the top seed. If UCSD wins the WWPA, it will go to the NCAA tournament in Long Beach Nov. 29.

Seniors Greg (Goody) Goodrich and Jason (Turtle) Brown have come back off redshirt years to score 60 and 54 goals. Goodrich broke the single-game UCSD assist record last week with 10 in the Tritons’ 20-5 victory against Chaminade. Brown broke Tom Moore’s career UCSD scoring record of 211 in the same game.

But the Tritons’ biggest surprise has been Mike (Little Lu) Nalu. A freshman from Valhalla High, Nalu has scored 56 goals.

UCSD Coach Denny Harper said he has never had a better freshman than Nalu, last year’s San Diego Section 2-A water polo player of the year.

“He’s going to be a great one,” Harper said. “Mike is clearly the best incoming scorer I’ve had. He’s finally starting to get in shape. That, combined with his God-given talent, has made him nearly unstoppable.”

Nalu appears well on his way to breaking Brown’s career scoring record.

“Turtle’s already teasing him about when he’s going to break it,” Harper said.

Brown, a second-team All-American in 1989, also holds the Tritons’ career and single-season record for ejections drawn. This year he has caused 54 opponents to sit out 20 seconds each.

“There’s really only two or three guys that can handle Turtle by himself because of his tremendous leg strength,” Harper said.

Peek at Meek: Erik Meek, last year’s Times basketball player of the year, has had his share of injury problems since finishing his career at San Pasqual.

Meek, a freshman center for Duke University, had been recovering nicely from shoulder and thigh injuries suffered in June when he was hit by a car while he was jogging. But just as he was playing himself into Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s rotation, he twisted his knee in a collision with another player during practice.

Duke assistant coach Pete Gaudet said Meek has not totally recovered from his jogging accident.

“He’s not back to normal in muscle memory,” Gaudet said. “He still doesn’t have the push-off that he needs to have.”

The injury, which has sidelined him for a week, caused Meek to miss Duke’s Blue-White scrimmage.

But Meek is back at practice and might play Nov. 16 against High Five America.

Gaudet said he expects Meek to contribute this season. Meek is one of 11 players on scholarship and is one of three post players.

“We’re pleased with him,” Gaudet said. “We’re not sure how he’s going to fit into our plans, but he’s going to play a lot.”

Streaking Griffins: The Grossmont College women’s volleyball team won its 70th consecutive Pacific Coast Conference game Friday night with a 15-13, 15-1, 15-12 victory over Imperial Valley. Grossmont (8-5, 7-0) lost to Pasadena Saturday night, 15-9, 15-4, 15-9, but it was a nonconference game.

No respect: USD appeared to remain sixth in the NCAA Division III West Region football poll. The ranking committee has the Toreros listed as UCSD for the second consecutive week. UCSD does not field a football team.

Kicking into nationals: It wasn’t easy, but the Point Loma Nazarene women’s cross country team is going to the NAIA national championships in Kenosha, Wis., Nov. 16.

Guadalupe Ambriz and Anette Ronnerman passed two Westmont runners in the last 100 yards at the NAIA District 3 championships at Woodward Park in La Mirada. Ambriz’s third-place finish and Ronnerman’s fifth-place showing allowed PLNC to tie Westmont for first place in team points.

Only the top team in districts qualify for the nationals, but both schools will be going to Wisconsin because of the tie.