Ex-Aztecs to Stage ‘Protest’ Invitational
A protest running of the 50th annual Aztec Invitational will be conducted by a group of former SDSU distance runners Saturday at 8 a.m. on the five-kilometer Morley Field course.
The former Aztecs were upset that SDSU canceled the meet, the oldest on the West Coast and one of the oldest in the country, as it was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
A prime reason the protest run was put together was to give Augie Escamilla, 70, a chance to keep alive a tradition he helped start 50 years ago. Escamilla placed third in the first Aztec Invitational.
“Here it is the 50th one and the athletic department let the thing drop without pursuing it,” said Richard Cota, a former Aztec who now coaches cross-country at USD. “A bunch of us got together and thought, why don’t we ask Mr. Escamilla if he would be interested in running the 50th and kind of keep the tradition alive in a very unofficial way.”
Cota, who graduated from SDSU in 1967, will be among those running, as will sub-four-minute miler Paul Greer, who graduated in 1987.
“We just wanted to let people at SDSU know you don’t let the thing drop,” Cota said, adding that he doesn’t blame the coaching staff, which wasn’t assembled until August. “We’re calling it the 50th annual to keep it going, and we’re all going to go out there, run with Augie and probably have some champagne afterward.”
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INDOOR SOCCER
The Continental Indoor Soccer League, scheduled to begin its inaugural season in June with the Sockers as a charter member, is getting closer to adding an Eastern Division, according to founder Ron Weinstein.
Weinstein, who was in San Diego on Wednesday addressing a group of Socker season ticket-holders, said he expects Pittsburgh to enter early next week. He also said potential owners in Charlotte are in the process of negotiating an arena lease and that a group in Cincinnati is in the final stages of deciding whether to join.
Owners of National Basketball Assn. teams in Atlanta, Detroit and Cleveland also are considering franchises, Weinstein said.
The Sockers will be joined in the west by fellow Major Soccer League refugee Dallas and by teams in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, Phoenix and Houston.
Unlike the MSL, which always had difficulty getting television exposure, Weinstein said he already has been contacted by three cable networks interested in doing a game of the week.
“We will have some television,” Weinstein said. “We do not know exactly what yet, but we have been in touch with the Prime Network, Ted Turner’s group and the Family Channel. . . . The fact is it’s very difficult competing with the NBA, the NHL, NFL, college football and college basketball. If this game is ever going to get the attention it deserves, we have to move the game to summer. The television networks never would have called if we didn’t play in the summer.”
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MEN’S SOCCER
The University of San Diego plays host to Santa Clara, New Mexico and Florida International today and Sunday in the third annual MetLife Classic at Torero Stadium.
Santa Clara (2-1) plays Florida International (3-1) this after noon at 5, and USD (3-1) plays New Mexico at 7:30.
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VOLLEYBALL
Former Olympians and college all-stars as well as former stars of the beach will be on hand for the Legends tournament on Saturday (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) at the Redondo Beach Harbor Seaside Lagoon.
The tournament will pit three teams of “legends” against the U.S. national men’s and women’s teams and a team of college all-stars in six-on-six action. Among the former stars are: Jim Menges, five-time “King of the Beach;” Craig Buck, 1984 and 1988 Olympic gold medalist; Dusty Dvorek, 1984 Olympic medalist; Andy Fishburn, 1980 world champion and Ron Von Hagen, winner of 62 beach opens.
The event will kick off with an exhibition between 1976 world champions Jim Menges and Greg Lee against 1980 champions Andy Fishburn and Dane Selznick. This summer, Kent Steffes and Karch Kiraly tied the record of 13 consecutive victories set in 1975-76 by Menges and Lee.