Pierce Coach Lends Hand at Scene of Freeway Tragedy

It was a sight and sound Mitch Graff won’t soon forget.

Graff, an assistant baseball coach at Pierce College, was helping emergency personnel with injured people on the Golden State Freeway after last week’s earthquake when LAPD motorcycle officer Clarence Wayne Dean plummeted to his death from the severed overpass that connects the Antelope Valley Freeway to the southbound Golden State Freeway.

Graff said he heard tires screeching, saw one headlight and then watched in horror as Dean’s motorcycle drove off the edge. He said the accident happened about one hour after the earthquake hit at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17.

“We got over to him . . . he was bleeding very badly from the face,” Graff said. “I looked at his stomach and there wasn’t any movement. The paramedics said he was dead. . . . It was chaos once the sun came up. The paramedics gave me a blanket and asked me to cover (Dean). We didn’t want the media all over him.”

Graff, who lives in Santa Clarita and owns a window-cleaning business, said he was working in Glendale that morning and rushed home on the Golden State Freeway after the earthquake. He stopped just south of the collapsed overpass and tried to lend a hand.

“After (Dean’s accident), I helped one guy who had a fractured foot and another guy who supposedly had broken ribs to the (rescue) helicopter,” Graff said. “I didn’t get a hold of my wife until 8:30 in the morning. One of the guys who (also) stopped had a cellular phone.”

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Eyes on the Irish

Cal State Northridge basketball players admit they are excited about the prospect of playing against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. But no one seems to be anticipating the trip as much as Coach Pete Cassidy.

“Who wouldn’t love to walk the halls of Rockne?” Cassidy said this week after a practice at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. “Being Irish Catholic and being raised in the spirit of Notre Dame. . . . My kids have been raised in the spirit of Notre Dame all their lives.”

Cassidy’s oldest son, Kevin, will be flying missions for the Air National Guard this weekend, but the rest of the Cassidy clan--wife Sandy and children Michael and Erin--are making the trip with the team.

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The prospect of leaving the Northridge area for another trip at this time might be considered an inconvenience. Traveling to Chicago and Notre Dame is not just any trip, however.

“Win or lose, it will be refreshing just to be back out there,” guard Ryan Martin said. “And at a place with so much mystique too. Going to Notre Dame is almost like going on vacation. I know I’m not staying in my room. When we get in the day before, I want to go out and see everything.”

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Middle blocker Debbie Bueche-Smith has announced that she will not return for her final season of eligibility at Northridge.

Bueche-Smith, a 1990 graduate of Thousand Oaks High, is moving to Tennessee with her husband. The earthquake, Price said, was a major factor in their decision to leave Southern California. Bueche-Smith ranks ninth on the school’s all-time list with 152 block assists and 181 total blocks.

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One national baseball periodical last season called Cal State Northridge’s field the worst among NCAA Division I schools.

Somebody must have been listening. The school spent $25,000 to re-sod the infield and replace the infield dirt. Also, gravel has been placed on the perimeter warning track.

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Getting Bounced Around

With the Pierce men’s gym closed because of structural damage caused by the earthquake, Coach Ken Stanley and the Brahma men’s volleyball team have become nomads.

The Brahmas, traditionally one of the leading teams in the state, practiced at Pepperdine from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. every day last week. From this week on, they will practice three mornings at Pepperdine and one morning each at Agoura High and Valley College.

But finding a court to play matches when the season starts early next month hasn’t been easy.

“We are going to try to play (at the women’s gym) at Valley,” Stanley said, “but I haven’t got a confirmation.”

Pierce was scheduled to play host on Feb. 12 to the North-South Classic, a tournament with teams from throughout the state and Utah, but Stanley said it probably will be canceled.

“I don’t see how we could do it,” Stanley said. “They (Pierce officials) are trying to get the gym back in operating order but they have no idea when that will be.”

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Having mulled it over during the fall semester, Cheaza Figueroa of Antelope Valley has decided to compete for the Marauders’ track team this year.

Figueroa, the 1993 state champion in the girls’ triple jump for Quartz Hill High, originally planned to compete for a local track club this year. She changed her mind, however, after realizing that this is the last year she can compete at the junior (age 19 and under) level.

“I looked at competing in the junior nationals and that definitely got the spark going again,” said Figueroa, who also placed third in the 100-meter low hurdles and fourth in the long jump in last year’s state meet.

The multi-talented Figueroa plans to focus on the triple jump and the seven-event heptathlon.

“I’m most definitely interested in the heptathlon,” Figueroa said. “I want to see what my potential is in that event.”

Although Figueroa is a novice in three (javelin, shotput and 800) of the heptathlon’s seven events, she is capable of scoring a lot of points in the other four, the 200, 100 hurdles, high jump and long jump.

Coach Mark Covert, who is known for his distance-running expertise, applauded Figueroa’s change of heart. “She makes our team much better,” he said. “She’s going to make me look like a great multi-event coach.”

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Steve Elling, Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.