Disappointing Day for Pt. Loma Nazarene

The Pt. Loma Nazarene College men’s cross-country team had a miserable time Saturday in the cold and rain at the NAIA Championships in Kenosha, Wis. PLNC, which had hopes of winning the NAIA title, finished 20th with 592 points. Lubbock Christian won with 33 points.

Robert Keter, the Crusaders’ best hope, had back cramps and finished 143rd out of 349 runners in 29:29 over a 5-mile course. Bryan Wallbank, PLNC’s top finisher, was 44th.

“We’re extremely disappointed to say the least,” PLNC Coach Jim Crakes said. “The running conditions were the worst in many years. It was raining and in the 40s.”

Lupe Ambriz was the only PLNC woman to run, placing 56th in 20:27 over a 3.1-mile course.

UC San Diego’s team had their best showing ever at the NCAA Division III championships in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The men, led by J.J. Castner (39th place) and Nate Johnson (64th), came in eighth place with 248 points. The women, led by Viviana Reza (38th place), was 10th with 219 points.

WATER POLO

Mike Nalu’s six goals led UC San Diego into the Western Water Polo Assn. championship match with a 17-6 victory over Claremont-Mudd at Pomona College. Gary Seelhorst scored three goals and Keven Vance and Marcello Guilianotti added two each for UCSD (21-7), which plays Air Force in today’s championship game at 2.

VOLLEYBALL

Gracie Schutt broke the San Diego State career kills record with 21 in the Aztecs’ 15-4, 15-13, 15-11, Western Athletic Conference victory over host Texas El Paso. Schutt has 1620 kills, breaking Vicki Cantrell’s mark of 1604 set from 1980 to 1983. SDSU improves to 23-9.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Joe Temple had a team-high 18 points to lead the University of San Diego to an 81-70 exhibition victory over the Russian National Select team at USD.

Gylan Dottin and Doug Harris added 13 points apiece and Neal Meyer 11 for the Toreros, who shot 41.5% (27 of 65) from the field. Brian Bruso had a game-high 10 rebounds, and Brooks Barnhard added eight.

Point Loma Nazarene lost its season opener, 92-79, to Northwest Nazarene College in a nonconference game in front of 2,700 at PLNC, spoiling the coaching debut of PLNC’s Dan Davis.

Shawn DeLaittre scored 25 points and Frank Dews 15 for the Crusaders. Glen Kiser had 26 points for NNC (2-2).

FOOTBALL

Tony Burton rushed 29 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first Palomar runner to surpass 1,000 yards, and led the Comets (9-1, 8-1) to a 42-7 Mission Conference victory over San Diego Mesa (3-6-1, 3-5-1). Markeith Ross rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, and Tom Luginbill topped the 3,000-yard mark with a 250-yard performance.