Hicks Throws Together a Nice Finish

By JOHN ORTEGA

March 23, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NORTHRIDGE —

A meet that started with a whimper ended with a bang for Cheree Hicks of Cal State Northridge in Saturday’s Northridge Invitational at the Matador Track and Field Complex.

Hicks, a freshman from Little-rock High, fouled on all three of her attempts in the women’s shotput earlier in the day, but bounced back to finish third in the discus with a school record of 172 feet 1 inch.

The mark eclipsed the previous Matador record of 168-3 set by Karen Marshall in 1977, added more than six feet to Hicks’ previous best of 165-10 and drew her closer to the automatic qualifying standard of 175-6 for the NCAA championships at Bloomington, Ind., on June 4-7.

It also got her out of Northridge assistant coach Candy Roberts’ doghouse.

“She wasn’t very happy about my [performance in the shot],” Hicks said. “So I just tried to relax and do well in the discus . . . I wasn’t thinking no distance. I was just thinking about my technique. I was thinking about just listening to everything my coach has been telling me all season.”

Hicks’ record throw came on the third of her six attempts, but she said her fourth effort felt like a better throw until it hit the right side of the discus cage.

“I thought that one was going to go farther when it left my hand,” she said. “I didn’t know [the record throw] was that far. I thought it was in the high 160s.”

Although Hicks finished well behind UCLA freshman Seilala Sua (189-4) and former UCLA standout Dawn Dumble (188-4), there was no shame in that. Sua was the top-ranked high school shotputter and discus thrower in the nation last year and Dumble was the 1995 NCAA champion in the discus.

Hicks has improved her personal best in the discus by more than 26 feet this season, and she is already thinking about exceeding the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA championships.

“I want to get that,” she said. “That’s my next goal.”

Although many of Northridge’s top performers competed in events that were not their specialties Saturday, the Matadors had four individual winners, paced by Nancy James in the women’s 1,500 meters and John Greene in the men’s 10,000.

James, a sophomore who was a 400 specialist at Hart High, pulled away from Sharette Garcia of El Camino College in the final lap of the 1,500 to clock a personal best of 4 minutes 32.2 seconds.

Greene, a sophomore from Agoura High, opened the meet at 9 a.m. by winning the 10,000 with a career best of 31:31.4.

Junior Oswaldo Servin and senior Cherice Ellison were the Matadors’ other victors.

Servin ran 3:59.9 in the men’s 1,500 and Ellison bounded 37-6 3/4 in the women’s triple jump.

In other events, Eric Stewart of Ventura College won the men’s 400 intermediate hurdles in 53.9 and Darcy Arreola, the 1991 NCAA champion in the 1,500 for Northridge, took the women’s 800 in 2:10.7.

Sue DiMarco, another former Matador, placed first in the women’s high jump at 5-10 and Hoover High sophomore Bridget Pearson won the women’s pole vault at 11-0.

Larry Harrington, running unattached, and Valeyta Althouse, competing for the Reebok Track Club, produced the highest-quality marks of the meet.

Harrington, the No. 7-ranked 110 high hurdler in the nation last year, clocked 13.4 in that event to turn back ninth-ranked Robert Reading (13.5) and Robert Foster (13.6).

Althouse, a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team in the shotput, won that event with a best of 60-1 and also had puts of 59-11 and 58-4.

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Keeping Track

Top winning marks from Saturday’s Northridge Invitational

MEN

* 400 meters: 46.6, Tyree Washington, San Bernardino Valley

* 110 high hurdles: 13.4, Larry Harrington, unattached

* Pole vault: 17-8 1/2, Scott Slover, UCLA

* Triple jump: 51-11, Von Ware, Sheffield Elite Track Club

* Discus: 189-7, David Dumble, UCLA

WOMEN

* 400 meters: 53.3, Theodoesha Rivers, New Era Track Club