Redlands Ends Claremont-Mudd Dominance

Mike Sutton might have taught Tom Whittemore too well.

Sutton, the director of aquatics programs at Claremont-Mudd, created a Division III dynasty of sorts in Southern California. Whittemore swam on and later helped coach some of those teams.

Entering this school year, his men’s swimming program had won 12 consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. titles and his water polo teams had won conference titles from 1982 to ’92.

And although Whittemore might not have been his best swimmer, he certainly was his best pupil.

Whittemore, now director of aquatic programs at Redlands, is bringing down the dynasty he helped build.

Saturday, his Redlands men’s team won the SCIAC swimming championship to end the Stags’ long reign. Last November, Whittemore’s water polo team ended Claremont-Mudd’s 10-year dominance by winning the SCIAC title.

But don’t expect Whittemore to weep because he isn’t Claremont-Mudd’s favored son.

“Actually it makes it a little more special,” Whittemore said. “Mike has been my mentor all along--not just at the start--but also when our programs got to a closer level (in competition). He always has good advice.”

Maybe it’s too good.

“I should have given him a lot of disinformation,” Sutton said with a laugh. “He’s gone way beyond what he learned here. It’s not like he’s an understudy--we’re equals. I’m proud of him.”

Redlands was led by three sophomores who won two individual events each: Matt Ballard (400-yard individual medley and 200 butterfly), Greg Milton (50 and 100 freestyle) and Matt Carpenter (100 and 200 breaststroke).

But Sutton and Whittemore agree that it was Redlands’ depth that produced the victory.

“The difference between last year and this year is that last year, we were pretty even among our top swimmers, but Claremont had more depth,” Whittemore said. “This year, we had more guys scoring in the seventh place through 12th.”

Although Redlands was a heavy favorite, Whittemore said he was nervous on the first night of the three-day meet.

“I was wound up,” he said. “After the morning session, I tried to figure out what the points would be from the prelims and I thought we would be down by 30 after the first day. But I counted wrong, and we were only down by a point after the first day. That made me feel better because I knew we would be better on the second and third days. But I was an economics major; I should know how to count.”

When it comes to SCIAC swimming titles, he can start counting at one.

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Redlands’ Gary Smith has been named to the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival men’s basketball coaching staff, as an assistant to Tom Asbury of Pepperdine on the West squad. Smith has been coaching at Redlands, his alma mater, for 23 years and won his 300th game earlier this season. His record is 307-286.

Redlands is 10-13 overall, 5-7 in SCIAC games, and has scored the highest point total (138) in a Division III game this season. Smith runs a wide-open offense--similar to the one Paul Westhead made famous at Loyola Marymount--and Redlands is second in Division III in team scoring with an average of 103.7 points a game.

In 13 of the last 20 seasons, Smith’s teams have finished either first or second in the SCIAC. Redlands won conference titles in 1976, ’82 and ’85.

The Olympic Festival will held July 1-10 in St. Louis, with the men’s basketball games on July 2-5.

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Cal State San Bernardino’s 74-67 defeat of Cal Poly Pomona in women’s basketball a couple of weeks ago might have been the biggest victory in the program’s history.

It was the first time the Coyotes had beaten Pomona, which has dominated the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. by winning every title since play started 13 years ago. It was only the seventh conference loss ever for Pomona.

The victory pulled San Bernardino into a first-place tie with Pomona at 7-1.

If the teams tie for the CCAA championship, a coin flip will determine which school will play host to the semifinals of the CCAA tournament on March 2. The CCAA final will be played at the top-seeded school of the men’s tournament on March 4.

College Division Notes

Azusa Pacific is the first school to win consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball titles. Azusa Pacific (25-3), which clinched the title with a 115-93 victory over Point Loma Nazarene on Tuesday, has won a school-record 27 games in a row at home and is No. 5 in the NAIA poll. . . . Christina Evans set a Cal Baptist school record by making eight three-point shots against The Master’s on Feb. 6. Evans had 28 points and nine rebounds.

UC Riverside center fielder Brett O’Dea did not hit a home run last season, but he hit three in three days recently. He had two solo homers, one a game-winner in the bottom of the 10th inning, in a 3-2 victory over Southern California College. Two days later, he hit a three-run homer in a 6-2 victory over UC Davis. . . .The NAIA approved Cal Baptist’s request to make this a redshirt season for center Keith Greeley. He sprained his ankle in the season opener, but cut his hand when he punched out a window after a loss in his first game back.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will play host to the Pacific 10 Conference wrestling championships Saturday and Sunday. . . . Cal State San Bernardino will hold a golf tournament next Monday at Arrowhead Country Club that will feature some of the best college golf programs from Division I--USC, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, San Diego, UC Irvine and San Bernardino. Admission is free. Details: (909) 880-5012.