Sun Belt Reorganization Meaningful for Northridge

The Sun Belt Conference is expected to announce today it is forming a football-playing conference for 2001 that includes Big West Conference members New Mexico State and North Texas.

The announcement effectively ends the Big West as a football playing league in 2001 and opens the door for a realignment that could include Cal State Northridge.

Idaho and Utah State declined to join the Sun Belt football-playing alignment and will remain in what will be an eight-school Big West.

New Mexico State and North Texas join Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee State and Louisiana-Lafayette as full-fledged Sun Belt members in 2001 and will play in a football league with those schools and Louisiana-Monroe.

With Nevada and Boise State scheduled to leave the 12-team Big West in the next two years, the conference is poised to realign by 2002 and possibly add two California schools.

The six California schools in the Big West have discussed realignment, and in 2001, they will have the 75% majority voting bloc needed to push through future plans that could include Cal State Northridge, as well as UC Riverside or Cal State Sacramento.

TENNIS

* Pepperdine hosts the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. Region VIII South Championships for men today through Sunday.

A 64-player singles and 32-team doubles tournaments will feature players from Arizona, Arizona State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, Pacific, Pepperdine, San Diego, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and USC.

Matches begin today and Friday at 8:30 a.m. and conclude with matches at 3 p.m.

Quarterfinal matches begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, with semifinals at 12:30 and 3 p.m.

The singles championship is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, with the doubles championship and singles consolation final times to be determined.

GOLF

* Jeff Sanday of South Pasadena, a former All-American at Cal State Northridge, is tied for 15th at 72-73--145 in the second stage of PGA Tour School at La Purisima Golf Club in Lompoc.

Jason Gore of Valencia is at 70-76--146 and in a tie for 20th that includes Chris Zambri of Camarillo, who is at 77-69--145.

* Jim Izu of Thousand Oaks was elected 75th president of the Southern California Golf Assn. on Tuesday at the 100th annual meeting of the SCGA at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in North Hollywood.

Izu succeeds Al Love of Industry Hills Golf Club. Among those joining Izu on the SCGA executive board is secretary Paul Meshekow of El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana. Bob Lowe of Saticoy Country Club in Somis was reelected to the SCGA board.

* Tamie Durdin of Pepperdine is listed No. 1 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin women’s college rankings.

Durdin, from Australia, and Jenny Glasgow, ranked 38th, have helped the Waves climb to 15th in the team rankings.

Linda Ishii of USC, from Westlake Village, is ranked 31st. The Trojans are No. 2 in the team rankings.

Pepperdine’s men are ranked 74th.

Brandon DiTullio of UCLA, who lives in Thousand Oaks, is ranked 19th.

BASKETBALL

All-Ventura County girls’ players Kristine Gleisberg and Alex Gientke of Ventura High have committed to Division I colleges. Gleisberg, a forward, will attend Oregon State. Gientke, a guard, committed to Santa Clara.