SanLuisObispo.com: Sports

Cal Poly men's basketball team loses first game without Clark

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:43 PST

By By Donovan Aird -- When Justin Brown committed early to the Cal Poly men’s basketball team in the fall of 2007, Carl Foster, his Oakland Soldiers coach, told reporters Brown was “a Trae Clark clone.”

The Mustangs had reason to be looking for one Thursday night against Cal State Fullerton in Mott Gym. They were taking the floor for the first time after Clark, a senior point guard and three-year starter, was dismissed from the university for being academically ineligible.

Instead of the freshman Brown, though, it was senior Chaz Thomas who more than accounted for the loss of Clark, once the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year and the Mustangs’ leading scorer and assist man from a year ago.

Walsh hiring a surprise to Cal Poly football players

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:49 PST

By By Joshua D. Scroggin -- Plenty of shock accompanies the arrival of new Cal Poly football coach Tim Walsh.

Expected to be announced as the new Mustangs head coach at a 10 a.m. press conference today, Walsh isn’t one of the known candidates with Cal Poly ties and does not come from a major BCS conference school — like at least one other applicant did.

Unlike other candidates, he has no obvious relationship with former coach Rich Ellerson, who turned the Mustangs into a consistent winner — a Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse that earned national acclaim for nearly upsetting Wisconsin this past season.

Nipomo girls water polo gets PAC 7 road win over Atascadero

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:03 PST

By Tribune staff report -- The Nipomo girls water polo team held Atascadero scoreless in the third quarter to pull away from a halftime tie to down the Greyhounds 6-3 and earn a PAC 7 road win.

The Titans’ Heidi Link peppered the net with five scores and teammate Julia Tatarian added one.

“I thought our girls did an extremely good job of playing good defense and keeping the game under control,” Titans coach Justin Jewell said.

Cal Poly expected to announce hiring of ex-Army coach

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:26 PST

By Joshua D. Scroggin -- Cal Poly is expected to announce the hiring of former Army offensive coordinator Tim Walsh as its new head coach in a morning news conference today — 17 days after reports first surfaced about former Mustangs coach Rich Ellerson taking the top job at Army.

Cal Poly Athletic Director Alison Cone reserved comment until the news conference, but multiple sources close to the search have confirmed the hiring of Walsh, who was the head coach at Portland State from 1993 to 2006.

Walsh emerged from a pool of more than 40 candidates, including 10 finalists who interviewed in the past week. Among the candidates were Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, Ohio secondary coach David Brown, South Dakota offensive coordinator Gordon Shaw and Mustangs defensive coordinator Payam Saadat.

Cal Poly women's basketball team loses to Fullerton on road

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:38 PST

By Staff report -- The Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team converted 24 Cal Poly turnovers into more than a third of their point total to hand the Mustangs a 67-53 Big West Conference loss Thursday in Fullerton.

Cal Poly forward Kristina Santiago, who was averaging 14.6 points per game heading into the contest, was the only Mustang to reach double digits with a 4-for-8 performance from the floor and two free throws that yielded a mere 10 points.

Megan Harrison provided nine points and Lisa McBride added eight with a team-high seven rebounds but the Mustangs (8-6, 1-2 Big West) were in the hole early following a 17-3 run by Fullerton (5-7, 2-0 Big West) late in the first half.

UPDATE: Cal Poly expected to announce Tim Walsh as next football coach

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:57 PST

By Joshua D. Scroggin -- Cal Poly is expected to announce the hiring of former Army offensive coordinator Tim Walsh as its next head football coach, sources close to the search told The Tribune on Thursday.

The Portland Tribune is also reporting the hiring of Walsh, who was the head coach at Portland State from 1993 to 2006.

Walsh would replace former Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson, who left the Mustangs after eight seasons to take over at Army.

Cal Poly tabs Walsh as next head coach

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:04 PST

By By Sports Network -- Cal Poly named Tim Walsh as the program's 16th head football coach on Friday.

Walsh spent the past two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the United States Military Academy. Overall, Walsh has compiled a 117-82 record over 18 seasons, which includes a four-year stint at Sonoma State (1989-1992) and 14 years at Portland State (1993-2006).

He earned six playoff berths between the two schools and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year) in 1999.

Prep Roundup: Greyhounds hit their threes in win over Arroyo Grande

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:58 PST

By Tribune staff report -- The Atascadero High boys basketball team hit five of its seven 3-pointers in the first quarter of a 64-50 PAC 7 win at Arroyo Grande on Wednesday night.

“That gave us somewhat of a cushion,” Greyhounds coach Jerry Tamelier said. “Then we ran our offense well and spread them out to get some layups at the end of the game.”

Logan Allen had 20 points for the Greyhounds (10-5, 2-0 PAC 7), who led 21-11 after the first quarter. Alex Wolf added 14, and Thane Atkinson chipped in 11.

College Basketball: Mustangs lose senior captain

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:56 PST

By Joshua D. Scroggin -- Cal Poly senior point guard Trae Clark was officially dismissed from the university for academic reasons Tuesday and will not return to the team this season.

A three-year starter and a team captain, Clark had already been jointly taken off athletic scholarship by Mustangs athletic director Alison Cone and head coach Kevin Bromley to start the school year, according to the coach.

Bromley said he hadn’t spoken with Clark since Monday, before word of Clark’s final appeal being denied by the university.

Prep Girls Basketball: Frosh phenom leads Knights over Morro Bay

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:53 PST

By Erick D. Smith -- Aly Beebe has been giving opponents fits all season, so it’s no surprise to see her at it again.

Beebe and the St. Joseph High’s girls basketball team traveled to Morro Bay on Wednesday and with the 6-foot-3 freshman center leading the way, the Knights notched a 64-38 victory in the Los Padres League opener for both teams.

Beebe caused matchup problems on both ends of the floor in the post. And it was her defense which proved the most disruptive for the Pirates and caused them to force or hurry shots.

College Football: Search continues for new Cal Poly coach

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:59 PST

By Joshua D. Scroggin -- With precious recruiting time ticking away, the Cal Poly football program was still without a head coach Wednesday.

The pool of candidates to replace former coach Rich Ellerson, who was hired by Army the day after Christmas, was whittled to 10 earlier in the week and no update on that number was given after the final interview was conducted Tuesday.

Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, who also holds the title of the Ducks’ assistant head coach, went public with his candidacy last week, and sources said Ohio’s David Brown, South Dakota’s Gordon Shaw and Mustangs defensive coordinator Payam Saadat are also being considered.

Cuesta Basketball: Cougars knock off Ventura men on the road

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:05 PST

By Tribune staff report -- The Cuesta College men’s basketball team rode a strong performance by Tom Schumacher to a 67-64 victory at archrival Ventura on Wednesday.

Schumacher turned in a game-high 28 points for the Cougars (16-7) in their Western State Conference opener.

“Anytime you can beat Ventura, it’s absolutely huge in our (rivalry),” Cuesta coach Rusty Blair said.

Fishing report: Fly fishing expert Dennis set to return

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:04 PST

By Wayne Shaw -- Jack Dennis, ambassador to the world’s fly fishing domain, returns to San Luis Obispo on Monday night for the fifth straight year to put on an information and action-packed program divided into two 45-minute sessions.

Dennis’ presentations will be in the Community Room, next to the San Luis Obispo Library, at 995 Palm St.

Seating is limited for the event sponsored by the Santa Lucia Fly Fishers. The club will make a $5,000 contribution to Land Conservancy during intermission. The money will be earmarked for stream restoration work in the county.

Prep Roundup: ‘Hounds open PAC 7 with big wrestling wins

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:17 PST

The Atascadero High wrestling team dominated its PAC 7 opener Tuesday, routing San Luis Obispo 84-0 and then closing the evening with a 75-4 win over Nipomo in Nipomo.

Atascadero (4-1) only saw action in seven of its 28 individual matches on the day, which included three sub-two-minute pins from lowerweights Michael Clemmesen (103), Randy Armas (112) and Josh Lowe (135) during the dual against San Luis Obispo, and three from upperweights Michael Lombardi (171), Brandon Armstrong (189) and Josh Mei (215) against Nipomo.

The Titans’ only points against the Greyhounds came when Sonny Martinez (135) topped Josh Lowe by a 14-3 major decision.

College Football: Barden picks up another top honor

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:14 PST

By Tribune staff report -- Cal Poly wide receiver Ramses Barden completed his sweep of first team All-American awards Tuesday when he was one of four Mustang football players to earn a spot on The Sports Network All-America teams.

Barden, who completed his Cal Poly career in the Mustangs’ 49-35 first-round playoff loss to Weber State in November, was earlier named to the FCS first team All-America teams by The Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Barden finished his Cal Poly career with 206 catches for 4,203 yards and 50 touchdowns, all school records. He is the all-time NCAA leader, regardless of classification, with most consecutive games with a touchdown reception (20) and most career games with a touchdown reception (32).

Cal Poly could name new football coach by Wednesday

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:36 PST

By Joshua D. Scroggin -- An announcement on the next head Cal Poly football coach could come as early as Wednesday now that interviews have carried over into the early part of this week.

Athletic director Alison Cone and the unnamed hiring committee conducted four interviews on Monday. A final interview with Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood is expected today.

Five other interviews were conducted over the weekend, bringing the grand total of finalists to 10 — one of which was an unnamed assistant under Ellerson this past season.

Barden, Field named to Fabulous Fifty list

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:30 PST

By Tribune staff report -- The accolades continue to pour in for wide receiver Ramses Barden.

The senior at Cal Poly was named to the 2008 Fabulous Fifty Division I FCS All-American Team as selected by the College Sporting News on Monday. He was joined by teammate Stephen Field, a senior offensive lineman who earned honorable mention offensive lineman of the year.

Barden led Cal Poly this season with 67 receptions (No. 2 all-time at Cal Poly) for 1,257 yards and 18 touchdowns. Barden’s production this season led him to become the first player from Cal Poly to be invited to the Senior Bowl. He was also named to the American Football Coaches Association’s FCS All-America Team, the Walter Camp Football Foundation FCS All-America Team and the Associated Press FCS All-America first team, all for the second consecutive season.

Cal Poly women's basketball beats Long Beach State; men fall on the road

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:40 PST

By Tribune staff -- Coming on the heels of a poor shooting performance in the Big West Conference opener, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team evened its conference record with a 74-66 win over visiting Long Beach State, spurred by a career-best performance from Kristina Santiago.

The sophomore forward from Righetti High scored a career-high 26 points — the most since dropping 23 against the 49ers last March — and was 10 of 14 from the floor as the Mustangs (8-5, 1-1 Big West) shot much better than in Friday night’s 66-48 loss to UC Riverside.

Santiago had a team-high 17 against the Highlanders, but the team shot just 34.6 percent overall from the field.

Prep Roundup: Caruso’s 18 points leads Royals to win

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:30 PST

By Tribune staff report -- Senior Mission Prep guard Jenna Caruso may know about ice, but the Royals burned up the court in their 43-39 CIF Central Section Division V finals rematch-win over Fresno Christian on Saturday to wrap up the Mission Prep Showcase in San Luis Obispo.

Caruso, who sprained her ankle Friday in Mission Prep’s game against Central Valley Christian and had chilled the injury in a bucket of ice for three hours prior to Saturday’s game, scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to spark the Royals’ 15-4 fourth-quarter run that helped them move past their playoff foes.

“I think when Fresno Christian came in, they were surprised because Jenna was suited up,” said Mission Prep coach John Krossa. “She just put us on her back and said ‘come on guys I’m taking you home.’ ”

College Roundup: Cuesta ends skid, beats West Hills

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:26 PST

By Tribune staff report -- Roger Guardia scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday, leading Cuesta College’s men’s basketball team to a 64-47 win over West Hills.

The Cougars (15-7) hit 50 percent of their floor shots in the first half to lead 37-29.

The Cougars were coming off three straight losses at the Delta Tournament.