Weather Worries Cloud PLNC Coach’s Nationals Forecast

The weather outside is frightening. Just don’t remind Point Loma Nazarene’s cross-country team about the chill.

Later this week, the Crusaders depart for Kenosha, Wis., annual site of the NAIA National Championships. With temperatures ranging from the low 20s to the high 30s, PLNC runners must remember to pack their thermals.

“I get the shivers just thinking about it,” PLNC Coach Jim Crakes said. “I’m trying to avoid reading the weather reports. If I do, I close my eyes when I get to the Great Lakes.”

Crakes has been trying to think of a clever approach to prepare his runners, but there is only so much he can do. It is difficult to simulate Wisconsin’s harsh conditions in the surrounding sunshine. So Crakes sought advice from some Midwest peers.

“I told them about my frustration in not being able to prepare them,” he said. “They say we make too much of (the weather). Sure you should be able to run in all conditions, whether it’s 110 or 10. But it’s easy for them to say.”

Weather aside, PLNC has experience going for it. Four of the Crusaders’ top five runners--two-time defending District 3 champion Robert Keter, Point Loma High graduate Scott Lardner, Sweden’s Kenneth Jansson and Hilltop graduate Bryan Wallbank--ran at nationals last year.

Crakes hopes that fourth-ranked PLNC--its highest ranking ever--finishes in the top 10. The Crusaders’ highest team finish at nationals was 12th in 1990 and 1981. Individually, Ronny Andersson was 10th in 1988.

“We’ve had good teams before, but they go back and haven’t done well,” Crakes said. “It’s either cold or muddy or snowy. I would never tell them they couldn’t (do well), but in reality, it’s hard to run to your top ability there.”

The conditions especially hurt teams from warmer climates.

“They don’t help anyone run fast, but especially us,” he said. “It’s hard to get in gear.”

How then, do you explain the performances of top-ranked and defending champion Lubbock Christian, a team made up primarily of Kenyans?

“That’s the thing, you see the Kenyans,” said Crakes. “But maybe they’re just that much better. They’re a very strong team. We hope to be pulled along in the jet stream.”

Keter, also a Kenyan, finished in the top 50 last year, but figures to improve his standing.

“He looks at it as they’re his countrymen and he should be able to do just as well,” Crakes said.

Other team members are El Camino High alumni Dennis Bourland, San Pasqual High grad Eric Engel and George Velarde of El Centro.

Junior Lupe Ambriz, who was second in district, goes to Kenosha as PLNC’s lone individual women’s representative.

Getting Warmer: The men’s and women’s cross-country teams from San Diego Mesa College won’t have to deal with such weather extremes when they travel to Fresno for Saturday’s state championship at Woodward Park. Defending conference champion Mesa qualified for the meet by winning its respective divisions of the Pacific Coast Conference.

Leading the men are Escondido’s Gabino Toledo, who is expected to finish in the top five, and Eli Gibbons and Mission Bay’s Ciro Melendez, both of whom are all-conference runners.

“I feel we can finish in the top seven or eight,” Mesa Coach Manny Bautista said of his team’s chances.

PCC champion Marcia Larson, in her second appearance at the state meet, hopes to finish in the top 15, which would qualify her for all-state status.

Kick it out: Three former Valhalla High soccer players will play in the NCAA championship tournament’s round of 16 this weekend. All three, now on scholarship, played under George Logan while they were Norsemen.

Scott Hargrove, a 1988 graduate, plays with Duke; Toby Taitano (1989) plays at University of San Diego; and Ian Saward (1990) plays for Dartmouth. Saward, a sophomore, was named to first team All-Ivy League this season.

In addition, two of the coaches involved in the round of 16 played collegiately under Logan at San Diego State. USD’s Seamus McFadden was an Aztec from 1974 to 1976, and Washington’s Dean Wurzburger played at SDSU from 1971 to 1974.

In the Western Regional semifinals, USD meets UCLA at 1 p.m. Sunday at UCLA’s North Campus Field. No tickets are available here, but the UCLA ticket office opens at noon Sunday. Ticket are $8 for general admission and $4 for students, seniors and children under 12. Parking is $5. If USD wins, and Washington beats Indiana in the other semifinal, USD will play host to the regional final at 1 p.m. Nov. 29. Should sixth-seeded Indiana win, third-seeded USD could still bid to host that round.

Game Goes On: In what was Palomar College’s most emotional football game of the year, the Comets recommitted themselves to their season.

Two days before Saturday’s Mission Conference game against Southwestern College, Palomar reserve linebackers Blaine Binkley, a sophomore, and freshman Chris Williams were killed in a automobile accident. Blaine’s brother, defensive lineman Brandon Binkley, played in the Comets’ 49-27 victory.

“We rededicated ourselves to committing to our No. 1 goal,” Palomar Coach Tom Craft said of his team’s focus on a conference championship. “That’s to do something those guys both wanted to be a part of.”

Binkley and Williams hadn’t played much, but Williams did pick off a pass late in a game against Grossmont two weeks ago.

Craft knew the tragedy would affect players differently, but it did unite the team.

“I think we got a lot closer,” he said. “Some individuals grew up quite a bit. You can never say it’s a positive thing, but we were able to handle it as well as we could.”

North County Signee: Mike Frank of Escondido has signed a letter of intent to attend Santa Clara next fall. Frank, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound left-handed pitcher/outfielder, was an all-San Diego Section selection as a junior and the Avocado League Player of the Year in 1992.

17 To Go: Of the 20 spots available for the NAIA national women’s volleyball championships, to be held Dec. 3-5 at PLNC, three have been decided. In addition to the host Crusaders, who receive an automatic bid as hosts of the event, California Baptist (District 3 champion) and St. Thomas Aquinas (District 31 champion of New York) have earned berths.

Thirty teams play this weekend to determine the remaining spots.