CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Sophomore Defensive Back Sullivan Quits Team, Will Transfer

Sophomore defensive back Terry Sullivan, a two-year starter who was chosen Titan newcomer of the year last season, was granted his request to be released from his scholarship by Athletic Director Bill Shumard Monday.

Sullivan, Fullerton’s fifth-leading tackler with 50, was one of four players whom Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy kept out of Saturday’s 38-7 loss at Fresno State for disciplinary reasons.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder from Playa del Rey St. Bernard High School said he was unhappy about the weekend situation but did not list it as the only reason for quitting the team.

“I didn’t see things getting better,” Sullivan said of the team, which went 1-11 last year and is 1-9 this season. “I won’t leave with a bitter taste in my mouth--I just feel I can play in a better program. I had fun while I was here.”

Sullivan, who won’t play in Saturday’s season finale against Cal State Long Beach, said he hopes to sign with a Pacific 10, Western Athletic or Big Eight conference school this winter and enroll by spring semester. He will have to redshirt next season, then will be eligible for the 1993 season.

He considered leaving Fullerton last winter when the school nearly dropped football but returned because he felt the Titans could turn things around. Now, he isn’t so sure.

“They can’t get the players anymore--that’s the main problem,” Sullivan said. “They used to build from high school players and if a kid didn’t turn out, they’d get a JC (community college) kid. Now, they go straight to the JC players, but by the time they learn the system, they’re gone. It’s too much of a burden on JC guys.”

Sullivan didn’t want to discuss the weekend incident, but according to one Titan player, some alcohol was found among a large group of players outside their Fresno hotel Friday night. Sullivan, B.B. Hudson, Rod Smith and Mike Jones were not allowed to suit up for Saturday’s game.

“I tried to deal with him fairly,” Murphy said. “I felt he was part of a group of people breaking team rules, and that’s why he didn’t play. No one player is bigger than the team. I just wish Terry the best of luck because he’s a good person.”

Sullivan said he won’t leave with any bitter feelings.

“The coaches work hard and do the best with what they have,” he said. “They’re not short-changing any players. They’ll have a new stadium next year and there are a lot of positive things going on, but I don’t want to be a part of it.”

Basketball signings: Casey Sheahan, a 6-2 point guard from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball, Titan Coach John Sneed said Monday.

Sneed said he also received a signed letter of intent from Compton College forward Lamar Mattier, who orally committed last week.

Sheahan averaged 22 points and six assists last season for Taft, which went 17-6 and finished second in the North Valley League. He was a first-team, all-league pick and a second-team All-San Fernando Valley selection.

“He’s a typical quarterback-type of point guard,” Sneed said of Sheahan, who has a 3.4 GPA. “He’s a very intelligent player and has a good shot.”

Mattier is a 6-7, 210-pound power forward who played at Los Angeles Washington High and Barton County College in Kansas, where he averaged 12 points and eight rebounds for a team that went 29-4 in 1988-89. He sat out the last two seasons but will play this season at Compton College.

Close call: Titan freshman Heather Killeen placed 11th in Saturday’s Region 8 cross-country meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park but just missed becoming the first Fullerton runner to qualify for the NCAA Division I championships.

Killeen covered the five-kilometer course in 17 minutes 28 seconds to lead the Titans to a ninth-place finish among 17 Big West, Pac-10 and West Coast conference teams.

Oregon and Arizona placed first and second and earned automatic berths in the NCAA meet. Had third-place Washington received an at-large team invitation Monday, Killeen would have qualified for the meet as an at-large individual entrant.

But when Washington wasn’t selected, Killeen was knocked from third to fifth in the individual at-large pool. The top three finishers from non-qualifying teams advance to the NCAA meet, and two Washington runners, as well as runners from UC Irvine and Fresno State, finished ahead of Killeen.

“Still, she ran a great race,” Titan Coach John Elders said. “She blew me away.”

Kristen Peters finished 31st among 114 runners with a time of 18:14. The Fullerton men’s team placed 11th of 13 teams behind Steve Frisone, who finished 44th (32:00) in the 10K race, and Tony Castellon, who was 46th (32:03).

On hold: Tiffany Boyd, the Titan softball team ace who had a 32-6 record and 0.80 earned-run average last season, has not worked out with the team the past month because of a knee injury.

Boyd suffered a dislocated kneecap and will undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday. She’ll be out six to eight weeks and then begin a rehabilitation program. She’s not sure if she’ll be ready for the start of the season (Feb. 13).

“It’s way too early to tell,” said Boyd, the former Woodbridge High School standout who transferred from UCLA. “But I’m definitely out for a while.”

Titan Notes

Fullerton sophomore Becky Howlett Monday was named Big West Conference co-player of the week with UC Santa Barbara’s Heather Collins. In two matches against Utah State, Howlett had 55 kills, a .279 hitting percentage, 20 digs and nine blocks. Howlett has had double-figure kills in 31 matches, and if she has 10 or more kills in each of Fullerton’s final two matches, she’ll move into seventh place in the NCAA record book for double-figure kill matches in a season. . . . The winner of Saturday’s Fullerton-Long Beach football game in Santa Ana Stadium will receive the Mayors’ Trophy, initiated this season by Fullerton Mayor Chris Norby and Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell. . . . Titan kicker Phil Nevin has made four of seven field-goal attempts from at least 40 yards, including two of four from beyond 50. But he is zero for seven from 30-39 yards. . . . Fullerton needs to score 27 points Saturday to avoid becoming the lowest-scoring team in Titan history. The Titans enter the game with 101 points. The record low is 127 points in 12 games by the 1982 team.