Chapman Has Open Date in ’97 Season

The news this week that Sonoma State is dropping its NCAA Division II football program has immediate ramifications for Chapman.

The Panthers lost an opponent for the 1997 season but could gain some players. Already two Sonoma State players have called Chapman Coach Ken Visser to inquire about transferring.

But Chapman has never had a problem filling its football roster; filling its schedule is another matter. To be eligible for the postseason, five of the nine games must be against fellow Division III institutions.

“This creates an opportunity,” Athletic Director Dave Currey said, “to try to find another Division III opponent.”

That won’t be easy without some travel. There are only nine Division III football programs in California and of the seven others in the Southland, only Cal Lutheran and La Verne have agreed to play the Panthers next season, Currey said.

Currey said he is still talking to some of the others about ’97 and beyond, but said that out-of-state opponents are likely.

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Women’s basketball: Chapman, which has already beaten three of the best teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will tackle a fourth tonight at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Panthers have never beaten Claremont in Coach Mary Hegarty’s three previous seasons. They are coming off an impressive 83-68 victory at Cal Lutheran last week.

Chapman (3-1) is a deep team with five players averaging at least seven points, led by sophomore forward Lyndsay Brown (11.2), freshman forward Lindsay Foss (9.8) and senior guard Flo Luppani (9.2).

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More basketball: The Concordia women’s team improved to 7-0, the Eagles’ best start, by beating Christian Heritage 75-50 Tuesday. Concordia is at The Master’s College in Newhall tonight.

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Tennis: The Chapman women’s team is ranked No. 22 in the preseason Division III poll, the first time a Panther tennis team has been nationally ranked since the move to Division III. Deborah Denio is ranked 30th nationally and seventh in the West Region. Jocelyn Leyretana is ranked 24th in the region.

For the Chapman men, Yutaka Nakamura is ranked 16th and Su Dang is ranked 23rd in the West.