Busy Raveling Extends Kudos to Hankinson

USC basketball Coach George Raveling took time out last week to offer congratulations to The Master’s Coach Mel Hankinson for a successful season.

Master’s finished its season 20-10 and was seeded third in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 tournament.

Hankinson was an assistant under Raveling at Iowa in 1983-84, the first of Raveling’s three seasons at Iowa.

Raveling sent Hankinson a floral arrangement Feb. 27, a busy day for Raveling because the currently eighth-ranked Trojans faced archrival UCLA that evening.

USC defeated UCLA, 83-79, at the Sports Arena. Hankinson hopes that he will have as much luck tonight when Master’s faces rival Westmont in the District 3 semifinals at Whittier.

DERAILED

Walt and Jennifer Stewart of North Hollywood must feel as if a spell has been cast on them.

How else to explain the run of misfortune that has hit the brother-sister tandem in the past three weeks.

Walt, the 1989 NCAA Division II champion in the men’s high jump for Cal State Northridge, suffered an injured left ankle in practice Feb. 17 and is expected to be sidelined for at least six to eight weeks. Walt, who has completed his eligibility at Northridge, competes for the club team Advantage Athletics.

Jennifer, the 1991 state junior college champion in the women’s high jump as a Valley freshman, suffered strained ligaments in her right knee during a workout Sunday and might not compete again for the Monarchs this season.

“I’m really distressed about this,” she said. “Everything was going so well.”

Especially in the javelin, an event in which Stewart had improved her personal best to 154 feet 10 inches, more than 17 feet farther than her best last year.

Walt, who has a personal best of 7-2 1/2 in the high jump, had not competed this year before his injury but was in the best shape of his career, according to Charlie DiMarco of Advantage Athletics, who coaches both Stewarts.

“He had jumped well in training, and he was as strong as he’s ever been,” DiMarco said. “He set a (personal record) of 650 pounds in the squat. I felt that 7-4 1/2 or 7-5 was well within his reach this season.”

HIGH RETURNS

Crissy Mills, another DiMarco protege, has been hampered by injuries for the past two seasons, but she appears ready to roll this year.

Mills had won the state title in the girls’ high jump for Campbell Hall High in 1988 and ‘89, but she suffered torn ligaments in her knee playing volleyball as a senior and did not compete in track.

Her season was cut short by recurring tendinitis in her knees last year, but she cleared 5-11 3/4 to place third in the open division at the Cal State Long Beach Relays on Feb. 22.

Although the meet was Mills’ first competition of the season, the height she cleared was only a quarter-inch below her personal best of 6-0, which she set in winning the 1989 state meet as a Campbell Hall junior.

QUOTABLE

Len Mohney, Canyons baseball coach, on the fact that freshman R.J. Simone lost a no-hitter last month on a perfectly executed drag bunt by Merced catcher Jim Brandt in the third inning: “There should be a clause for something like that. That should have been a no-hitter.”

Simone, a Hart High graduate, settled for a one-hitter and struck out seven in a 2-0 win. It was his first collegiate start.

INJURY UPDATE

Northridge outfielder David Prosenko underwent surgery last week to repair a torn ligament in the thumb of his left hand. Prosenko sustained the injury while sliding into third base during a game Feb. 23 against San Jose State.

He is expected to miss two months. Prosenko, a senior, was batting .263 as a part-time starter.

STATWATCH

Andre Chevalier moved to second on the single-season Northridge list in free-throw percentage. Chevalier, a sophomore from Cleveland High, made 86.8% (79 of 91). His 106 assists give him 233 during in his career, fourth on the all-time Northridge list. . . .

Northridge junior James Morris moved to second on the Matadors’ single-season list in three-point field-goal percentage, hitting 29 of 63 attempts for 46.0%.

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