Hansen's Sunday's Notebook: Lalang has good chance to join greatest runners

UA freshman Lawi Lalang is favored to win the NCAA cross country championship Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., and his coach, James Li, does not attempt to avoid the topic.

"This guy is good," said Li. "He is undefeated and he has broken four course records. I don't know if anybody has ever done that."

This is what we do know about the NCAA cross country championships: only three men - Oregon's Steve Prefontaine, Wazzu's Gerry Lindgren and the great Henry Rono of Washington State - have won three national titles. No one has done it since 1979.

Lalang, who arrived in Tucson from Eldoret, Kenya, in January, has been so impressive that he is suddenly thrust into conversations that include Prefontaine, Rono and Lindgren.

"Lawi is not the same now as he was last spring. He is better and he is more confident," said Li, who is also the coach of Bernard Lagat, America's top distance runner. "His mechanics are better. His general fitness is better. He is no longer stressed out by being in a new environment or by social and academic factors. He has really elevated his level."

A year ago, Iona's Leonard Korir and Stanford's Chris Derrick were considered the leading men for the 2011 NCAA cross country championships. But since then, Lalang has defeated Derrick in all five head-to-head races, on the track and in cross country. Lalang defeated Korir in the NCAA 5,000 meters in June, at which Lalang was second overall.

Prefontaine, Rono and Lindgren all won NCAA titles in their freshman, sophomore and senior years. Now the spotlight shifts to Lalang, who is perhaps the most talented athlete among the 500 on Arizona's campus.

"He is fast even by Kenyan standards, which is the best in the world," said Li.

"But this is his biggest race ever and there are great expectations. You still have to race on the day. I am eager to see how he responds."

Eight fail to advance

Except for Prouty, Q-School hard on golfers with local ties

Except for another clutch performance by Salpointe Catholic High grad Brian Prouty, it was a bloody week for Tucson-connected golfers at PGA Qualifying School.

Rich Barcelo, Ted Purdy, Chris Nallen, Nathan Tyler, David Berganio, Derek Gillespie, Ben Fox and Richie Saferian were eliminated in stage two of the three-stage event.

Prouty, who had rounds of 70-70-73-72 to comfortably qualify in a Southern California bracket, joined ex-Wildcats Jason Gore and Robert Gamez in active pursuit of their 2012 PGA Tour cards.

On the Champions Tour, Tucsonan Ronnie Black was unable to play in the Champions qualifying tournament; he remains sidelined after undergoing carpal tunnel surgery on his right wrist last month.

"I'll have to go through Monday qualifying at most tournaments next year," said Black, who has earned $1,064,868 in four years on the Champions Tour. "But I needed surgery; there were times this year I was driving the ball like a 15-handicapper. I've had difficulty sleeping for two years because my hands would go numb at night."

Tucsonan Don Pooley also has been sidelined by injuries. The 2002 U.S. Senior Open champion withdrew from two events because of back problems this season and was unable to play in the year's final four tournaments. Unlike Black, Pooley remains exempt for the 2012 Champions Tour.

Short Stuff

Schools vie for CDO girls track star; Bellotti rumors suspect

Canyon del Oro sprinter/hurdler Jaide Stepter, my pick as Tucson's most heavily recruited high school senior athlete in 2011-12, has taken visits to USC, Stanford and Columbia. She plans to visit Arizona and Harvard before selecting a college. Stepter's visit to USC was a good one: She hopes to major in cinematic art, and on her 'SC weekend she saw the Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas building that houses the USC School of Cinematic Arts. … UA baseball coach Andy Lopez last week signed 14 high school seniors and among them was pitcher Jesse Scholtens of Rodriguez High in Fairfield, Calif. Ring a bell? That's the city where Arizona discovered UA Hall of Fame softball pitcher Alicia Hollowell and current superb UA freshmen linebacker Tra'Mayne Bondurant. Scholtens may be in the same class: As a prep junior, he struck out 116 batters in 71 innings (he had 18 strikeouts in one game) and has pitched five no-hitters. … Had to laugh about Internet rumors that Arizona was on the brink of hiring ex-Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti, perhaps before Saturday's UA-ASU game. He was in Champaign, Ill., Saturday broadcasting the Illinois-Wisconsin game on ESPN2. The people who cite "sources" in this search don't have sources because the only source is UA athletic director Greg Byrne, and he's not talking to anybody and neither are those who he has approached. My source-free instinct: Byrne will wait for Boise State's Chris Petersen to tell him no before he moves to Plan B. In the end, UA would be fortunate to hire Rich Rodriguez, not a grand slam, but an inside-the-park homer.

More Short Stuff

With Hassey on sidelines, don't count Cienega out Saturday

When Nemer Hassey's 13-0 Cienega Bobcats meet 13-1 Scottsdale Chaparral for the Division II state title Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium, introductions won't be necessary. In 1999, Hassey coached Sahuaro to the state title game against Chaparral, losing 27-10. His Cienega teams have since gone 0-5 against Chaparral, a powerhouse that is 52-4 over the last four seasons. But I like Cienega's chances because Dennis Bene coached Salpointe to a tight 22-21 loss to Chaparral in September and Cienega and Salpointe are similar in personnel. The buildup will be predictable: Chaparral is sexy. The Tucson teams are always plucky underdogs in state tournament football. Hassey is the X-factor. He can coach with anybody. … Mustafa Shakur looks pretty smart for eschewing a fringe role with an NBA team this year. The ex-UA point guard signed to play in the top Italian pro league last week, likely to start and make as much as $350,000 for Novipiu Casale, which was 0-6 before reaching out to Shakur. … It was a tough football season for CDO grad Doug Steele, who started at tight end for Northern Colorado as his team went 0-11 in the Big Sky Conference. Steele caught seven passes. It was just as tough for Flowing Wells grad Jeff Thomas, in his second season as Puget Sound University's head football coach. The NCAA Div. III Loggers went 0-9. … Salpointe infielder Tyler Kimbrough, who hit .342 for the Lancers' state playoff team last year, will sign to play baseball at Northern Colorado.

Cats volleyball team surpasses expectations; NCAA berth likely

This was supposed to be a transition year for UA volleyball coach Dave Rubio, but the Wildcats have exceeded expectations, twice beating No. 2 ranked UCLA. Friday's victory at UCLA was the 500th of Rubio's career. When the NCAA tournament bracket is released next week, Rubio's freshmen-laden team will clearly make the field, giving him 15 NCAA berths in the last 19 years in the nation's most difficult volleyball conference. Even though the Wildcats have been to the volleyball final four on Rubio's watch, this could be his best coaching job yet. Well done. … Pat Nugent completed his third year as Pima College's football coach by going 3-8, the school's "top" year since Jeff Scurran left in 2004. Here's what Nugent is going against: Undefeated league champion Arizona Western (11-0) had eight all-ACCAC first-team players. None are from Arizona. Those AWC stars are from Florida, Indiana, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Washington and California. Pima does it with 85 percent Tucson kids. One of those, freshman linebacker Clarence Williams of Amphi, was a second team All-ACCAC player, with 14 tackles-for-loss. …. Today's top college hoops matchup involves former Tucson point guards: Maryland's Terrell Stoglin of Santa Rita plays against Iona's MoMo Jones, formerly of the UA. Stoglin is averaging 20 points through three games; Jones has scored 17 and 10 in Iona's first two games. They'll play in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in a made-for-TV competition.

My Two Cents

Turner played with energy, focus in NY after benching

UA freshman point guard Josiah Turner exhibited an entirely new body language in Arizona's New York City games against St. John's and Mississippi State.

He actually looked interested, playing with a new focus, energy and sense of purpose.

It was almost predictable that Turner would struggle when he arrived in Tucson. He had not been held accountable in his high school and AAU days, always pampered, always the star, running the show. Nor had he ever actually run a structured offense; in his schoolboy days, the offense was whatever Turner decided it would be.

Once he arrived at McKale Center, Turner met resistance. He met Sean Miller. Miller runs the show at McKale, and in the game of wills the coach always prevails.

On Nov. 13, Turner sat on the bench, warmup jacket on, during the entire game against Ball State. He could either respond favorably or, perhaps, leave at the semester break, joining other ex-Wildcats such as Will Bynum, Ruben Douglas, J. P. Prince and Etdrick Bohannon, who were unwilling to yield to the idea of being part of a bigger puzzle.

The final months of Arizona's basketball season are going to be a fascinating journey as Miller's size-challenged team evolves and attempts to find itself. If Arizona's trip to New York has any lasting value, it could be that Turner appears to be part of the ongoing process.