COLLEGE DIVISION / ARA NAJARIAN : Is Claremont-Mudd Sinking After All These Years on Top?

The Redlands men’s swimming team stopped Claremont-Mudd’s conference dual-meet winning streak at 60 last week. Then Pomona-Pitzer came along and extended Claremont-Mudd’s losing streak to two.

Before Redlands won in a double dual also involving Caltech, Claremont-Mudd, winner of 11 consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Assn. titles, had not lost a dual meet since 1981.

“I kind of mapped it out beforehand, and I figured there were certain events we weren’t going to win and I thought there were certain ones we would win,” Redlands Coach Tom Whittemore said. “The rest I call ‘swing events’--ones where it would be real close. We did real well in swing events.”

Greg Milton and John Monfore won key races for Redlands.

In an impressive performance, Milton won consecutive events, the 200- and 50-yard freestyles.

“If we were going to win the meet, he had to win,” Whittemore said. “We kind of expected it. It’s the second time he’s done it this year. It’s not an ideal situation, but we needed it.”

Pomona-Pitzer, which beat Claremont-Mudd later in the week, and Redlands are 4-0-1 in conference competition, with the conference meet set for Feb. 25-27 at the Cerritos Olympic Swim Center.

Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands will also compete for the SCIAC title in women’s swimming.

At 5-0, Pomona-Pitzer is on course to win its’ 16th women’s title in the last 17 years. Redlands is 4-1.

*

La Verne has turned the SCIAC’s men’s basketball race into a four-team sprint.

When La Verne defeated Cal Lutheran recently, it put three teams within striking distance of the league-leading Kingsmen.

Cal Lutheran began defense of its title impressively, running off a 9-1 record (15-4 overall) and earning the ninth ranking in the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches Division III poll. The Kingsmen have been led by Damon Ridley and Dave Ulloa, who are among the conference leaders in steals, scoring and assists.

And any SCIAC coach will tell you that the Kingsmen remain the favorite for the title.

But the defeat at home by La Verne was a big bump in the road. The Kingsmen’s two-game lead shrank to one over Occidental (8-2, 14-6) and La Verne (8-2, 14-7), with Pomona-Pitzer (14-7, 7-3) two games behind in third.

Occidental gave itself a big boost by finishing a sweep of its series with Pomona-Pitzer last weekend. Pomona-Pitzer had been the top-ranked team in the National Division III West Division poll--Cal Lutheran was No. 6--before last week. That should change today.

If Occidental pulls out a championship, it will have earned it. The Tigers will play host to La Verne on Wednesday and are at Cal Lutheran in the regular season finale next week.

The La Verne-Occidental game will determine which team has the best shot at unseating Cal Lutheran.

“I’m going to feel bad about beating (La Verne) because (Gary Stewart) is a good friend of mine,” Occidental Coach Brian Newhall said with a laugh. “We played against each other back around 1982 or ‘83, and I know most of his kids, so I don’t think that will end up on the tack-board. It will be a lot of fun.”

La Verne faces a similar task. If they can beat Occidental and avenge an early-season loss in playing Pomona-Pitzer on its home court, “the Tent,” the Leopards will probably finish no worse than a game behind Cal Lutheran. With a little help from Occidental or Pomona-Pitzer, first-place is possible.

“I think we have an advantage in the second round of conference (play) because some of our newer players have seen the conference,” La Verne forward Matt Hatten said. “We have a couple of players that are only here for one year--they transferred in as seniors--and they’ve kind of got a feel for the league and can make the adjustment.”

One of those players is center Carlo Williams.

“His shot-blocking presence is a big factor,” Newhall said. “We really need to play well inside to beat them. We need to have a good game from Blair (Slattery) to offset some of their guys like Hatten and Joe Gonzalez.”

*

“The Tent” is the nickname for La Verne’s activity center. It actually is a permanent tent with four support beams, and many opposing players do not like to play there.

Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

It is a two-story structure with offices, lockers, a cafeteria, pool tables and video games on the first floor. The court and bleacher seats are on the second floor.

But it does require an adjustment for visiting teams.

The major problem has to do with the shooter’s orientation: The space between the tent and the backboard is different from in gyms; the lighting, although very good, is different and the rubber-like Tartan playing surface is different.

“I think it’s a great facility,” Claremont-Mudd Coach David Wells said. “The background is a little different, but the lighting is good. The ball sounds different because it’s a Tartan surface, so the ball sounds different when it bounces. I don’t know if I would like to practice here because it doesn’t give like a wooden floor, but I think it’s a great place to play.”

Hatten, La Verne’s top scorer at 19 points per game, says the home court does not give his team a particular advantage. The record bears him out: In SCIAC play, La Verne is 5-1 in the tent and 3-1 in the gyms.

College Division Notes

Cal State Los Angeles will induct three former athletes into the school’s Hall of Fame on Friday. Larry Smith, who played tennis there in 1957-1959; Ken Lohnes, baseball, 1968-70, and Martin Vasquez, soccer, 1981-84, will be honored at the Tower Restaurant in the Transamerica building. Details: (213) 343-3080.