Rich Rider

It's a milestone Rich Rider would have preferred to reach last season. But the Cal Lutheran coach will take it. As a credit to his program's stability. As a product of his players' dedication. Rider, in his seventh season, became Cal Lutheran's second-winningest basketball coach when the Kingsmen defeated La Sierra last week. Rider is 81-49, passing his predecessor, Mike Dunlap, who was 80-55 from 1989-94.

It's a milestone Rich Rider would have preferred to reach last season. But the Cal Lutheran coach will take it. As a credit to his program's stability. As a product of his players' dedication. Rider, in his seventh season, became Cal Lutheran's second-winningest basketball coach when the Kingsmen defeated La Sierra last week. Rider is 81-49, passing his predecessor, Mike Dunlap, who was 80-55 from 1989-94.

Rich Rider, two years removed from his last coaching job, will be replacing the most successful coach in Cal Lutheran's basketball history, but he is looking forward to the challenge. The school announced Wednesday that Rider, 47, will replace Mike Dunlap, who guided the Kingsmen to an 80-55 record during his five years at the school, including a school-record 25-3 mark this season.

Rich Rider, two years removed from his last coaching job, will be replacing the most successful coach in Cal Lutheran's basketball history, but he is looking forward to the challenge. The school announced Wednesday that Rider, 47, will replace Mike Dunlap, who guided the Kingsmen to an 80-55 record during his five years at the school, including a school-record 25-3 mark this season.

Willie Jones has been hired as assistant coach of the Valley College men's basketball team. Jones played at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, Mich., and later at Wyoming, where he was a two-year starter at forward. This is his first coaching post. * A coaches' clinic has been scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Cal State Northridge in the university's gymnasium.

In a game loaded with big shots, none was bigger for Cal Lutheran than one by Mike Fenton. Fenton made a shot-clock beating 24-footer from the left side with 39 seconds to play Wednesday night against Occidental to give the Kingsmen a seven-point lead. The shot sent Cal Lutheran on its way to an 84-76 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Eagle Rock. Fenton, a 6-foot-6 forward-center, shoots well for a big man, but his preferred range is from 16 to 17 feet, not 24.

As disastrous 72-hour periods go, Cal Lutheran's Rich Rider had never experienced anything like it as a basketball coach. Derrick Clark, a senior forward averaging 20.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a game, announced that he was leaving to play in Australia's Continental Basketball League the day of Cal Lutheran's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener last season. Two days later, starting point guard Dave Ulloa (13.8 points, 5.

Sylvia Kim of Thousand Oaks defeated Kerry Postillion of Burr Ridge, Ill., 2 and 1, Wednesday in first-round match play at the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur golf tournament at the Essex Country Club in Manchester, Mass. Patty Moore of Charlotte, N.C., eliminated Linda-Chen Olsen of Granada Hills, 4 and 2. Football Tommie Smith, USA Today's California player of the year in 1988 at Antelope Valley High, is a starting outside linebacker for the San Antonio Texans of the Canadian Football League.

Derrick Clark, a starter on Cal Lutheran's men's basketball team for the past two seasons, has been granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA under conditions of a medical hardship waiver. Clark, a 6-foot-4 forward, was named All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after averaging 15.9 points and 7.6 rebounds a game last season to help the Kingsmen win a share of their third consecutive SCIAC title.

David Lusk, an All-Western State Conference Southern Division catcher from Pierce College, has signed with Cal State Sacramento. Lusk, from Kennedy High, batted .359 with 34 runs batted in. * Matt Schwartz, an all-league outfielder for El Camino Real, is no longer with the team because of disciplinary reasons, according to Coach Bob Ganssle. BASKETBALL * Derek Wynn, an assistant coach at Upland High the last four seasons, has been hired as boys' coach at Calabasas.

For the Cal Lutheran women's basketball team, the path to an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs is relatively simple. If visiting Cal Lutheran (12-12, 8-3) defeats Whittier (10-13, 3-8) in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's finale at 5:30 tonight, the Regals will tie Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for the SCIAC title. They would then play the Athenas (17-7, 9-3) on Saturday to determine the conference's automatic bid for the Division III playoffs.

An inability to hit the clutch shot or make the big defensive play down the stretch proved costly for Cal Lutheran in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game against Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday night. Christian Dunbar's basket gave the Kingsmen a one-point lead with 3 minutes 11 seconds left in the game, but Cal Lutheran went cold after that in a 60-57 loss.