CSUN Athletics Calls for Timeout to Regroup

Cal State Northridge officials have postponed sporting events through Sunday to give quake-ravaged athletes an opportunity to regroup.

“Many of our athletes have no place to stay, and to think about athletic competition at this time is secondary to our primary concern for their safety,” Bob Hiegert, the school’s athletic director, said Wednesday.

Among the rescheduled events is a men’s basketball game Northridge was to play Saturday night against No. 21 California in Berkeley.

“Obviously they have some things to think about that are more important than a basketball game,” said Kevin Reneau, a Cal spokesman. “The anticipation is that the coaches will get together and find another mutually agreeable date.”

Northridge also postponed swimming and diving meets Friday at USC and Saturday at UC Santa Barbara; a men’s volleyball match Saturday at Northridge against UC San Diego; a track and field all-comers meet at Northridge on Saturday; a softball players’ and coaches’ clinic at Northridge on Saturday, and a baseball alumni game Sunday.

Hiegert’s announcement was generally supported by most Northridge coaches, but baseball Coach Bill Kernen was an exception.

“Psychologically, one of the best ways to get through this kind of stuff is to get back to doing some normal things,” said Kernen, whose team is scheduled to open Feb. 4 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “There’s no question there’s a need to get things together and put things in order, but once that’s happened, why stop doing things? There’s just so much fear you can give in to.”

Although the campus was closed and its entrances roped off, Northridge pitchers were working out under Kernen’s supervision at Matador Field on Wednesday afternoon. Less than a mile away, at Northridge Park, the rest of the squad took batting practice on a municipal softball diamond.

“It’s better to be out here trying to do things on a regular basis than to be back home worrying and waiting for another (quake) to hit,” said Keven Kempton, a senior pitcher.

Kernen said the team has missed only one day of practice--on Monday, the day the 6.6 quake reduced some residences adjacent to the campus to rubble.

“When Feb. 4 hits, no one is going to give us a couple of runs because we took a week off,” Kernen said. “Besides, the safest place in the world to be is in the middle of a baseball field. There’s nothing that can fall on you. Just the sky.”

P.C. Shaw, an assistant coach, said baseball players displaced by the quake quickly took up temporary residence with family members, friends and teammates.

Other Northridge athletes have not been as lucky.

Don Strametz, the school’s track and field coach, said about a dozen members of his team spent Tuesday night in a shelter at Granada Hills High. He has been unable to reach five athletes and he knows of three others--sprinter Keisha Arnett, hurdler Eleanor Tolson and middle distance runner Dorothy Byron--who sustained minor injuries when they were struck by falling debris.

Northridge’s next indoor meet is a Jan. 29 quadrangular event against UC Irvine, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz., but even then Strametz is not sure he will have a team together.

John Price, Northridge’s volleyball coach, said nine of the 19 members of his team lost their homes. A few of the players, he said, might temporarily move in to his home in Northridge.

Hiegert said school officials will be checking with the NCAA on the legality of such arrangements. Dan Dutcher, a director of legislative services for the NCAA, said, “Anything that is not beyond relief efforts for the general student body is not in violation” of that association’s rules.

Dutcher was not specific, but he did say that if school officials provided food and housing for athletes, they must similarly supply other students.

“If one of my players needs a place to stay, I’m going to find a place for him,” Price responded. “If they want to fine or suspend me for taking care of my athletes, then I’ll take that chance.”

Hiegert is scheduled to meet with Northridge coaches today. He said the school would announce preliminary plans for the coming weeks by Friday.

On a quick tour of the school’s athletic offices, gymnasium and outdoor competition surfaces Wednesday morning, Hiegert found less damage than he anticipated.

The floor of the gymnasium was littered with debris from fallen lights and a toppled air-vent cover, but there did not appear to be crippling damage to the playing surface.

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Several area junior college and high school basketball games were postponed Wednesday.

All Western State Conference men’s and women’s games were postponed and rescheduled for Monday. Games scheduled for Saturday were postponed until Jan. 31.

All of this week’s City Section events have been postponed as district schools remained closed. Wednesday’s schedule of boys’ and girls’ basketball has been rescheduled for Feb. 7. Friday’s games have been rescheduled for Feb. 15.

In addition, gymnasiums at Chatsworth, Kennedy, Monroe, Reseda, Sylmar and Verdugo Hills will not be used for games because of either structural damage or because they have been deemed unsafe or because they are being used as shelters, City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege said.

Boys’ and girls’ soccer matches scheduled for Wednesday have been rescheduled for Jan. 28. Wrestling matches scheduled for this week will be rescheduled on a case-by-case basis, Fiege said.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section commissioner, issued a statement saying, “When and if a cancellation is necessary will be up to the school principals.”

In the Mission League, Crespi’s game at Loyola was postponed and rescheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.

Staff writers Irene Garcia, Vince Kowalick and John Ortega contributed to this story.

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