April Reign for Bryans

Sophomores Bob and Mike Bryan of Stanford, graduates of Rio Mesa High in Oxnard, have been selected NCAA Division I men’s doubles team of the month for April by the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn.

The twins, ranked fourth in the Rolex college tennis rankings, won the Pac-10 doubles championship and were 10-0 in April.

TRACK AND FIELD

Conference call: Cal State Northridge is favored to win its second consecutive Big Sky Conference women’s outdoor title in a poll of conference coaches.

The Matadors received six of nine first-place votes and edged Northern Arizona, 62-57, in the balloting.

Northridge is picked to finish second in the men’s meet behind Weber State, which will host the Big Sky Conference championships Wednesday through Saturday.

Triple team: Northridge might not have a standout shotputter like 1996 NCAA champion Teri Tunks of Southern Methodist or 1997 NCAA champion Tressa Thompson of Nebraska, but the Matadors do have three 52-footers for the first time in school history.

That occurred Saturday when sophomore Cheree Hicks improved her best from 51 feet to 52-7 1/4 to win the Steve Scott Invitational at UC Irvine.

With senior Beth Burton holding the school outdoor record at 52-9 and sophomore Christina Tolson at 52-6, Northridge is one of two NCAA Division I programs to have three women shotputters with bests of more than 52 feet this season. UCLA is the other team.

SOCCER

More Matadors: The Northridge men’s team has signed midfielder Matt Banuelos of Whittier Pioneer High and midfielder Steve Ponce and defender Jason Austin of Cypress High, Matador Coach Marwan Ass’ad said.