Two perennial Foothill Conference juggernauts went at it on Thursday and it was Rio Hondo solidifying its top status with an 8-7 win over Chaffey.

The Roadrunners (21-3, 14-0)  now have a whopping five-game lead with 10 left to play. It’s pretty hard to run the table in conference play in any sport, let alone one where you play every other team three times. For Rio Hondo that is probably the only drama left.

Chaffey went 23-1 two years ago when it last won the conference title and that was impressive.

Rio has a game left wioth Chaffey on Saturday, then three-game sets against Antelope Valley, Victor Valley and Mt. San Jacinto. It has made a habit of eeking out one-run games when they need to and that takes a special team.

Chaffey (16-10, 12-5)  is trying to hold off a couple of teams for the second spot. The No. 2 team will make the playoffs too but the better the record, the better the playoff seed. The Panthers could really use a win in the series finale.

In other Foothill Conference action, San Bernardino Valley picked up a 6-5 road win over Barstow.

Share this

Former Cal State San Bernardino basketball standout Laura Beeman, a long-time resident of the Inland Empire, has landed her first head coaching job at the Division I level, being named to that position last week at the University of Hawaii.

Beeman led the Mt. SAC women’s program to prominence in her 15 years there. She led the Mounties to 10 conference championships and four California Community College State Championships–including a string of three straight from 2006-08.

Beeman was selected conference Coach of the Year four times and was voted the district and regional coach of the year in 2001. She led Mt. SAC to a school-best 37-1 record in both the 2007 and 2008 season. During her tenure with the Mounties, she produced 80 all-conference selections, 24 all-state selections, and 10 all-region selections. Beeman posted a 390-110 (.780) record during her tenure at Mt. SAC.

As a player, Beeman was an All-American guard at Cal State San Bernardino where she set the career, season and game assist records. She graduated in 1992 with a degree in business administration from CS San Bernardino and later earned a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on counseling from the University of Redlands.

She earned a second master’s degree in education with an emphasis in physical education from Azuza Pacific University.
 

Beeman was an assistant with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks before accepting an assistant position at USC where she worked with Michael Cooper. Cooper also heads the Sparks and had her on his staff there.

Beeman, 43, is the eighth head coach since the program’s inception in 1974 and the third female head coach in its history.

Share this