SPORTS

PREPS

Lonna Stacey of Arcadia High will be the San Gabriel Valley’s strongest swimmer in this weekend’s Southern Section swimming championships at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Stacey, a senior who will attend USC in the fall, has won four Southern Section championships. She won the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events and was part of two winning relay teams last week as Arcadia won the Pacific League championship.

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In keeping with the state’s new open-enrollment legislation, which begins next school year, athletes who transfer will have immediate athletic eligibility.

The California Interscholastic Federation ruling came a day after representatives of the state’s 10 sections voted against immediate athletic eligibility.

The rule applies for one transfer, which must be completed during the first 15 days of the school year and must not be the result of disciplinary action.

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Jessica McDowell, a senior at South Pasadena, will compete for the U.S. women’s wrestling team in Caracas, Venezuela, this summer.

McDowell qualified for the U.S. team by winning the 70-kilogram weight class at the national championship meet last month in Las Vegas.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The Citrus College baseball team is seeded third in the Southern California Regional of the state tournament and opens the playoffs Friday at home against No. 14 San Diego Mesa.

The winner of the best-of-three series advances to one of two four-team double-elimination tournaments that will determine the two Southern California representatives in the four-team state final.

Citrus, under Coach Skip Claprood, finished 32-5 and won the Foothill Conference championship.

The Owls are led by designated hitter Kevin Schramm, who is batting .495, outfielder Steve Esquibel (.438), catcher Marty Mazurek (.425) and infielder Rich Hagen (.404).

Sophomore Brian Cooper is 4-0 with a 2.65 earned-run average and freshman Tim Davidson is 8-0 with a 2.77 ERA.

Citrus has never won a state championship but finished second in 1975.

Cypress is seeded first and Harbor is second in the 16-team regional.

“We thought we might get seeded as high as No. 2, but we’re happy with where we are,” Claprood said. “I think we have a quality ballclub, one that should be able to advance.”

Eighth-seeded Mt. San Antonio College is also in the regional and will play at No. 9 Chaffey.

COLLEGES

The Azusa Pacific baseball team opens play in a four-team National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District tournament against Point Loma today at Westmont. Cal Baptist plays Westmont in the other first-round game.

The winner of the double-elimination tournament will play host to the NAIA Far West Regional next week. The winner of the regional advances to the NAIA World Series May 27-June 2 at Des Moines, Iowa. Azusa Pacific played in the NAIA World Series in 1981, 1982 and 1984.

First baseman Steve Lind is batting .381 for the Cougars, who finished the regular season 27-21 and 10-10 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Shortstop Jon Chapparo (.364) and outfielder Jeff Kurey (.348) are also offensive leaders.

Azusa Pacific pitcher Ruben Niebla was named District player of the year after compiling a 9-1 record and 2.39 earned-run average. Chapparo and outfielder Ismael Sanchez (.344) were also selected to the All-District team.

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Tom Marshall, men’s basketball coach at UC San Diego for the past 11 seasons, has been named coach at Cal Poly Pomona.

Marshall, 42, replaces Kevin Patterson, who resigned after two seasons as interim coach.

Marshall’s UC San Diego teams compiled a record of 185-105 and qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament the past five seasons. The Tritons finished 21-5 last season.

Marshall takes over a Pomona team that finished 12-14 and 3-9 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

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The Cal Poly Pomona women’s tennis team finished second in Division II, losing to North Florida, 6-0, in the national championship match at Industry Hills.

Pomona, under Coach Ann Lebedneff, defeated defending national champion UC Davis, 5-3, to advance to the final.

Pomona, which won the Division II title in 1991 and 1992, finished 21-2-1.

Rebecca Huereque, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. player of the year, was named All-American for the second year in a row.

PREP ATHLETE OF WEEK

Caroline Greenham, Monrovia--Greenham, a senior, set a league record in the 100-yard breaststroke and also won the 200-yard individual medley, helping Monrovia win its first Rio Hondo League swimming championship.

Greenham won the 100 breaststroke in 1 minute 8.9 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 1:09.80 set by Genna Cuevas of Temple City in 1983.

COLLEGE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Mike Regan, Azusa Pacific--Regan, a senior from Glendale, had 10 hits in 16 at-bats and drove in 10 runs in four games to help lead the Cougars into the NAIA District playoffs.

Regan is batting .331 with seven home runs and 44 runs batted in, both team highs.

MISCELLANY

The public is invited to participate in a grass volleyball tournament that will staged at Azusa Pacific University. Pairs competition in men’s A, men’s B, women’s A and co-ed divisions is scheduled for June 16. Entry fee is $15 a team in advance, $17 on the day of the tournament. Information: (818) 812-3024.