Stay or Go, Jeff Wilson Will Be a Man on a Mission

Complete the 1995 track season or begin a two-year mission for the Mormon Church next month?

That is the question facing Moorpark College distance runner Jeff Wilson.

Wilson, who finished sixth in the 1994 state junior college cross-country championships, expected to begin his mission last month.

But when he had not received word from the church by mid-January, he enrolled at Moorpark for the spring semester and decided to run track.

After opening the season with an impressive time of 9 minutes 19.90 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Feb. 11, Wilson appears capable of contending for a top-three finish in that event in the state championships in May. He will not get a chance, however, if he begins his mission March 29, as the church recently requested.

“He really wants to start his mission, but we’re trying to see if he can postpone it until after the semester is over,” Moorpark cross-country Coach Manny Trevino said. “That way, he can complete his classes and his season.”

Wilson, second in the 1991 Kinney national cross-country championships for Newbury Park High, ran for Brigham Young during the 1992-93 school year. He was scheduled to begin his mission in the summer of 1993, but after postponing it discovered his scholarship money had been allocated to other athletes for the next two years.

Without a scholarship, he couldn’t afford to attend BYU and returned home. He enrolled at Moorpark in January of last year.

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Lizard lore: When the UC Santa Barbara baseball team played at Cal State Northridge last weekend and Joe Smith’s name appeared on the Gauchos’ roster, it brought memories of one of the more interesting local baseball stories.

Smith, an Agoura High graduate, pitched for the Las Virgenes American Legion team during the summer of 1993. As Las Virgenes went on a late-season winning streak, a small lizard the players found at a game became the team’s good luck charm.

Smith, however, accidentally killed the three-inch lizard by leaving it in a cup in the sun. No matter. Smith put the dead lizard in his back pocket and a pitched a seven-hitter in an 8-1 victory over Verdugo Hills.

Word from Santa Barbara is he no longer pitches with reptiles in his uniform.

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Multiple homecoming: Tonight’s Southern Section Division I-AA boys’ basketball quarterfinal game between Westlake and St. John Bosco will be a homecoming in more ways than one for Brave Coach Brian Breslin. Breslin was an assistant coach at Westlake from 1979-86 and he’s a graduate of Newbury Park High, the site of the game.

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Answered prayers: Members of the Pius X boys’ basketball team believe it was divine intervention that ended Santa Clara’s season Tuesday night.

Dwindling enrollment may force the school to close this year and the Los Angeles Archdiocese is expected to make a decision as early as next week.

But Warrior guard Allen Fletcher figures if the basketball team is successful, the school will survive.

“If we win the championship, they have to give us a chance to defend it,” he said.

The Warriors’ prayers were answered when Troy Collins sank a desperation three-point attempt as time expired in the second round of the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs.

Quotebook

“I almost decked him.”

--Pete Cassidy, Northridge men’s basketball coach, after an official barged into his team’s huddle and got in his face Wednesday night during a game at Cal State Sacramento won by Northridge, 75-73.

Asked about the intense rivalry between the Fresno State and Northridge softball teams after the Matadors’ 1-0 victory last weekend, Northridge freshman right fielder Jessica Cunningham was quick to respond: “Oh, yeah, I’m aware that we hate them.”

Stats

Substitutes played big roles in the Northridge men’s basketball game against Sacramento. Matador reserves outscored their Sacramento counterparts, 40-3. Peter Micelli and Trenton Cross combined to score 36 points in 43 minutes.

In one stretch late in the first half, Micelli scored 14 of Northridge’s 16 points. He also sank his first 11 free throws, running his overall streak to 20 before he missed.

Things to Do

The Chatsworth High girls’ basketball team will meet Franklin in the City Section 3-A Division semifinals at noon on Saturday at Cal State L.A.

The Cal State Northridge men’s and women’s basketball teams will play host to American West Conference games on Saturday. The women will play Cal State Sacramento at 5 p.m. and the men will face Southern Utah at 7:30.

* Compiled by Irene Garcia. Contributing: Dave Desmond, Jeff Fletcher, Mike Hiserman, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega.