Meeting of Minds at Pomona-Pitzer

The football minds at Pomona-Pitzer had it in their heads a couple of years ago to change their fortunes.

Why not? They had not had a winning season since 1970 and the athletic future wasn’t nearly as bright as the academic one.

Mindful of the growing competition in football in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Pomona-Pitzer asked and received permission to remove itself from the conference for football after the 1994 season.

As an NCAA Division III program, it was too difficult to recruit players who could make the cut academically and athletically against SCIAC opponents. A new coach, Roger Caron, came in and a new theory came with him: scheduling schools of similar academic ranking.

Athletic Director Curt Tong put together a schedule against what he calls “like-minded” schools.

The formula had immediate success. Last year, in Pomona-Pitzer’s final SCIAC schedule, sprinkled in were a few like-minded schools, and the team went 6-3-1 for its first winning season in 25 years.

Leading the way was Jack Ramirez, who set a school record with 21 touchdown passes. A junior this season, Ramirez can reasonably expect to hold every meaningful passing record at Pomona-Pitzer by the time he graduates.

The like-minded era officially started Saturday at Grinell College of Iowa, where Pomona-Pitzer rolled to a 63-24 victory. Ramirez passed for five touchdowns and rushed for a sixth.

You might say that’s exactly what Pomona-Pitzer had in mind.

And the Sagehens like it.

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Christian Okoye’s jersey, No. 35, will be retired at halftime of Azusa Pacific’s season-opening football game against La Verne on Saturday.

Okoye led the nation in rushing in 1986, averaging 186.9 yards a game and scoring 21 touchdowns. He was chosen to play in the 1987 Senior Bowl in Alabama and became that game’s most valuable player by scoring four touchdowns.

Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, Okoye played six years in the NFL and was the AFC’s player of the year in 1989 when he rushed for 1,480 yards. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice and is the Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader.

A native of Enugu, Nigeria, Okoye was a big part of Azusa Pacific’s track and field team that won four consecutive NAIA championships. In fact, when he signed up in 1984 because he had not made the Nigerian Olympic track team, Okoye had never played football.

In track and field, Okoye was an NAIA All-American and an eight-time champion in the discus, shotput and hammer throw. He holds 13 school records in football, including most yards for a game, 248; a season, 1,689, and a career, 3,569.

College Division Notes

Fast starts: The Azusa Pacific men’s soccer team is off to its best start and defeated the NAIA’s top-ranked and third-ranked teams at Azusa last weekend. Azusa Pacific, 5-0 and ranked No. 5 (the highest in school history), defeated No. 3 Birmingham Southern on Friday, then beat No. 1 Lindsey Wilson of Kentucky on Saturday to win its own tournament. Azusa Pacific won each game, 1-0. . . . The Cal Poly Pomona women’s soccer team is also off to its best start. The Broncos (3-0-1) defeated Humboldt State on Sunday, 1-0. It was the second shutout of the season for senior goalie Dawn Williams, who was an All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. selection last season.

Sign of the times: The Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball match against UC Davis last week was the first NCAA Division II athletic event to be broadcast over the Internet’s Audionet. Graduate student Todd Reeves called the action in the Broncos’ three-game victory and Pomona fans were able to access the game at https://www.audionet.com/schools/csupomona.