Chapman Softball Team Has a Few Quirks

They are the defending NCAA Division III softball champions and are favored to win another, but Chapman also is second to no team in the wacky department.

Take warm-ups for example. While other teams stretch quietly, Chapman cranks up the music for a bit of line dancing. What started as a way to kill time during a rain delay in a tournament last year in Florida has turned into a tradition.

“We’re a crazy bunch of girls,� says sophomore pitcher Christy Guidorizzi.

Another quirky case in point: the Panthers play rugby. About three weeks ago an assistant coach introduced two senior players to the sport to try to recruit them for a women’s rugby team. However, most of the team joined the scrum, picked it up quickly and last week at the NCAA Regionals in Holland, Mich., played a bit of rugby in the outfield to warm up.

“Of course it’s non-contact rugby,� Guidorizzi said. “It’s touch rugby.� It’s a little more genteel than the tackle football game they played at the beach several months ago.

“That was at the very beginning of the school year,� Guidorizzi said. “We wouldn’t do that now, someone could get hurt. I got laid out a couple times. We have some tough girls on this team.�

*

The Panthers know when to get serious and that time is upon them. Friday, they will start play in the NCAA championship tournament in Salem, Va. The top-seeded Panthers (37-7) will play the winner of today’s first-round game between Simpson (Iowa) College (29-8) and Ithaca (N.Y.) College (25-9) at 9 a.m. PDT.

Trenton (N.J.) State (35-3), the team Chapman beat for the title last season, is second-seeded and will play the winner of today’s game between Allegheny (Pa.) (28-12) and Wisconsin Stevens Point (33-10). The double-elimination tournament continues Saturday and Sunday.

*

Guidorizzi, runner-up in the voting for the Division III player of the year in 1995, is having another fine season, but it could be her last at Chapman. Guidorizzi has been exploring her Division I options and Texas is said to be interested.

Guidorizzi declined to comment directly, but didn’t sound like someone who is ready to transfer. “I love it here,� she said. “I’m on a Chapman high right now, and looking at everything, I have no reason to go anywhere else.�

Guidorizzi, 24-3 with an 0.94 earned-run average and 217 strikeouts, has been especially dominant in the playoffs. She gave up only one hit in two games at the regionals, a single up the middle with two out in the seventh inning of a 1-0 victory over Hope (Mich.) College Friday.

Guidorizzi is one of four Chapman All-Americans. Senior catcher Kathy Donovan, sophomore center fielder Jessamine Maiben and Guidorizzi were first-team selections. Senior shortstop Lisa Cancilla, a first-team pick last year, was named to the second team. Those four, plus junior left fielder Kasie Chavez, sophomore first baseman Lacee Rashi and freshman right fielder Laurel Bailey were All-Region selections.

*

Six Southern California College track and field athletes have qualified for the NAIA national championships May 23-25 in Marietta, Ga., two of whom have good chances at winning a title.

High jumper Kevin Carlson has cleared 7 feet 3 inches, the top mark in the NAIA this season. He is aiming for 7-4 1/4, which is the provisional qualifying height for the U.S. Olympic trials.

Middle distance runner Nikee Pool posted this season’s fastest NAIA time in the 800 meters Saturday at the Occidental Invitational. Pool finished fourth in a strong field in 2 minutes 10.32 seconds. Last season Pool was fourth in the 800 at nationals.

Carlson’s younger brother, Brian, who has cleared 6-10 1/4 in the high jump this year, also will compete, as will SCC marathoners Tim Hardin, Larry Holland and Heather Salisbury.

One more Vanguard is hoping for a qualifying mark this weekend. Jason Schaefer won his 1,500 heat at Occidental in 3:54.72, a personal best by about 1.5 seconds. However, the qualifying standard is 3:53.54 and Schaefer will make a final attempt Saturday at a meet in Santa Monica.

*

The Southern California College men’s and women’s tennis teams each have been awarded an at-large bid to the NAIA national championship tournament, which starts next Wednesday in Tulsa, Okla.

It will be the second consecutive trip for the Vanguard men’s team, which finished 14th at the national tournament last year. The SCC women’s team will be making its first appearance.

The men’s doubles team of Davey Robbins and Ryan Lewis, who qualified for nationals by winning the Golden State Athletic Conference title, will be joined by Mattias Johansson, Paulo Barriga, Jeff Baker and Kevin Villar.

On the women’s side, Quynh Le and Wendy Andel have qualified. Le won the NAIA Far West Regional singles title and Le and Andel won the doubles title. They will be joined by Star Connolly, Amy Tate, Becci George and Cathy Binnquist.

Notes

Chapman’s Deborah Denio lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s tennis championships Saturday in Kalamazoo, Mich., to Kenyon College’s Ali St. Vincent, ranked fifth in the nation. The event was moved indoors because of inclement weather. Denio, who had never played indoors, lost the first set, 6-3, took a 5-2, 40-15 lead in the second set, but St. Vincent battled back and won, 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreaker). . . . The Southern California College women’s basketball team announced the signing of two players: Tammy Vavken, who averaged 17 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for San Jose Valley Christian, and Rebekah Thorne, a guard from College of the Siskiyous in Northern California. . . . Jeff Rutter, who averaged 10 points for the Cypress College men’s basketball team, has signed with Concordia. Rutter, a 6-foot-3 guard, played at Whittier Christian High. . . . Concordia sports information director Amanda Saltin has announced her resignation, effective June 28. Saltin, who had been with the school six years, is moving to Atlanta.