POTPOURRI ’93 : A Tip of the Cap to Coaches Sage and Athletes Brave

Playing the short hop on some of the memorable events in 1993:

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

Pete Accardy, the men’s and women’s swimming coach at Cal State Northridge, retired Sept. 1 after guiding the Matadors to 13 NCAA Division II titles in his 24-year tenure at the school.

The Northridge men won nine Division II titles between 1975-85 and the women won four--including three in a row from 1987-89--after Accardy took over that program in 1980.

Accardy’s men’s teams had a combined dual-meet record of 286-62 and the women posted a 139-28 mark.

Barry Schreifels, an assistant at Arizona State from 1989-93, took over the Northridge program in September.

MILESTONE

Lou Cvijanovich, who is in his 36th season as the boys’ basketball coach at Santa Clara High, notched the 700th victory of his career Feb. 19 when the Saints defeated St. Genevieve, 70-52, in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs.

Cvijanovich, who has a 707-224 record, has guided Santa Clara to 12 Southern Section titles, including four in a row from 1989-92.

The Saints won state Division IV titles in 1989 and ’90.

UPSET OF THE YEAR

Anthony Moten hit a three-point shot--his only field goal of the game--with three seconds left in overtime to give Cal State Northridge an 81-78 victory over visiting Cal State Long Beach in a nonconference men’s basketball game Feb. 26.

Northridge guard Andre Chevalier called the victory the Matadors’ “biggest win ever,” and for good reason.

Long Beach, which later advanced to the NCAA tournament, had earlier defeated then-No. 1-ranked Kansas and Nevada Las Vegas.

TRY AGAIN AWARD

Michelle Giordano made two free throws with no time remaining to give the Buena High girls’ basketball team a 44-43 win over Thousand Oaks in the Southern Section Division I-A championship game.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak in the section finals for Buena, which lost to Hart in 1990 and to Thousand Oaks in 1991 and ’92.

HEARTWARMING STORY DEPT.

Joshua Hay, an 11-year-old ball boy for the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team, and his father Jacques organized a free-throw shooting contest during halftime of the Matadors’ Feb. 23 game against St. Mary’s that raised nearly $15,000 for former Matador recruit John Flowers.

Flowers, a former Phoenix (Ariz.) College standout, was involved in a car accident in Kansas City on Aug. 10, 1992, that resulted in the loss of both his legs above the knee.

CONSISTENCY WAS HIS GAME

Jeff Nadeau of Monroe High cleared 7 feet 2 inches to win the high jump in the state track and field championships, but no one could match runner-up Jeremy Fischer’s feat of clearing 7 feet or more in 10 meets during the season.

Fischer, a Camarillo senior who has a personal best of 7-2, cleared 6-10 or more in 15 meets as a junior.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

On the mound or at the plate, Crespi High’s Jeff Suppan gave the opposition fits and led the Celts to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs.

The right-handed senior posted an 11-1 record with an 0.92 earned-run average. In 91 innings, he gave up 52 hits, struck out 127 and walked only 14. He also had a streak of 42 consecutive innings in which he did not give up a run.

As a hitter, he batted .480 with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 51 runs batted in.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL

Senior Phil Sanson of The Master’s College suffered a crushed larynx when he dived into the bleachers attempting to stop a ball from going out of bounds in a basketball game against Dominican College on Jan. 9.

Sanson, a 6-foot-7 forward, underwent a life-saving tracheotomy and missed the remainder of the Mustangs’ season.

But after a number of operations, he regained his ability to speak.