CSUN Track Athletes Scurry, Small Suspended

Long jumper Derek Scurry and sprinter Dee Dee Small have been suspended from the Cal State Northridge men’s and women’s track and field teams for two weeks for violating team rules, Northridge Coach Don Strametz said Tuesday.

The suspension, which will last until March 21, will prevent Scurry from competing in the NCAA Division I indoor championships at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis this weekend, and will prevent both athletes from competing in the Collegiate Classic at Cal State Long Beach on March 20.

“I’m very disappointed,” Strametz said. “But what had to be done was done and now we just have to regroup our forces and go forward.”

Scurry, a sophomore from Hawthorne High, qualified for the Division I championships last month when he set a school record of 26 feet 3 1/2 inches to win the long jump in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships in Reno.

Strametz, who has coached the women’s track team since 1981 and the men’s team since 1986, refused to elaborate on the reason for the suspension, but it apparently stemmed from an altercation between Scurry and Small toward the end of Saturday’s quadrangular meet at Northridge.

Strametz admitted that he was “not a happy camper” because of the ordeal, but that strong disciplinary action was needed.

“I think it sends a very clear message about our program,” Strametz said.

“I think it lets people know that no athlete, no matter how good, is above the team.”

Small, a junior from Dorsey High, has personal bests of 11.91 seconds in the 100 and 24.40 in the 200 to rank 12th and 10th, respectively, on the all-time Northridge list.