Valley Best in Nation, State Polls

Valley College, already top-ranked in the state, has been jumped to the No. 1 spot in this week’s USA Today national community college football poll.

The Monarchs (7-0) were third behind El Camino and Hinds (Miss.) in last week’s national poll, but vaulted to first after El Camino’s 21-16 loss to Saddleback.

Hinds posted a 55-0 victory last week to improve to 8-0, but Valley still was moved to No. 1.

Last week in the state poll, El Camino had been ranked No. 1 ahead of No. 2 Valley.

Monarch Coach Jim Fenwick was philosophical about the national ranking.

“We’ve always had the goal of being No. 1 so now that we have it, it’s nice,” he said. “But now we’ve got to build on it and keep it going.

“It’s nice to see the kids and the coaching staff get the recognition, but we don’t want to get so excited that we lose our focus for the last three games of the season.”

Valley, led by quarterback Aaron Flowers, has outscored its opponents, 333-132, this season.

The Monarchs play at L.A. Southwest on Saturday before road games against Moorpark on Nov. 4 and Santa Monica on Nov. 18. Moorpark is ranked 11th in the state and 22nd in the nation.

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Cal State Northridge linebacker Marcus Tomlin has been suspended from the team for missing two consecutive practices without calling coaches, who were still unsure of his whereabouts Wednesday night.

“He’s [missing in action],” Northridge Coach Dave Baldwin said. “We’ll know more when he comes and sees us.”

Northridge defensive coordinator Ron Ponciano said he spoke with Tomlin on Monday, when the Matadors had a day off from practice. Tomlin was not at practice Tuesday or Wednesday. Coaches tried in vain to contact him at several phone numbers Wednesday night.

Tomlin, a junior transfer from Hancock College, has played in five of Northridge’s six games, recording 17 tackles.

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Northridge has applied for a medical redshirt year for linebacker Mike Greslie, who has missed most of the season because of a hamstring problem.

Greslie (6 feet 1, 225 pounds), from Village Christian High, has played sparingly this season. This would be his final season of eligibility if his redshirt request is not granted by the NCAA.

Baseball

The Lancaster JetHawks, the relocated California League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, have released their 1996 schedule. The JetHawks open with a 12-game trip starting April 4. The home opener is April 16 against Visalia.

Lancaster’s 140-game schedule concludes Sept. 1. For the full schedule, see Page C12.

Temple Judea in Tarzana has scheduled an autograph-signing session with six former Los Angeles Dodgers, including Maury Wills, Steve Garvey and Reggie Smith, for Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.

Information: 818-345-7729.

Golf

Pepperdine outshot Arkansas by nine strokes to finish first in the University of San Francisco Invitational on Tuesday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Carson Mooney of the Waves finished in a tie for second with Jon Hettencourt (Fresno State) at 217, three strokes behind Tag Ridings of Arkansas.

Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Michael Lazarus, John Ortega.