Cruise a few blocks down Torrance Boulevard, swing a right, then a left and end up on Carson Street. You've just driven from Bishop Montgomery to Torrance -- two schools which sit 3.3 miles, according to our good pal Google.
So proximity often equals an obstreperous rivalry; it certainly does here. So that's why you should consider jaunting to see Bishop Montgomery host its neighbor, Torrance, in the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m.
That's right, I wrote obstreperous, even though I can barely pronounce it.
With Segerstrom winning this afternoon, the semifinal lineups are now complete:
BOYS TENNIS
DIVISION I
Semifinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
#1 Irvine University at #4 Peninsula
#3 Mater Dei at #2 Santa Barbara
DIVISION II
Semifinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
Palm Desert at #1 San Marino
#2 Diamond Bar at #3 San Luis Obispo
DIVISION III
Semifinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
Santa Monica at #1 Brentwood
#3 Crossroads at #2 Beverly Hills
DIVISION IV
Semifinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
#1 Cerritos at Buckley
#2 Rowland at #3 Viewpoint
DIVISION V
Semifinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
#1 Cate at #4 La Salle
#2 Thacher at #3 Segerstrom
Notes: Championships, May 28 at Claremont Club (Div. III, 11 a.m.; Div. II, 11:30 a.m.; Div. I, 1 p.m.; Div. IV, 2 p.m.; Div. V, 2:30 p.m.)
Individual championships: Sectionals, Friday at Cate/Carpenteria, Arcadia HS/Arcadia County Park, Costa Mesa Tennis Center, and U. of Redlands. Final rounds, May 23-24 at Seal Beach Tennis Center.
If you hadn't heard, Downey beat Harvard-Westlake, 3-2, in the longest playoff game in Southern Section history in the Division III wild-card marathon Wednesday night.
How long was it? Twenty (insane) innings.
How remarkable was it? Well, the last time two Southern Section schools played 20 innings was the same year Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points, the first big league game was played at Dodger Stadium and the Rolling Stones made their debut at a London club.
The year was 1962, when Orange defeated Santa Ana, 7-6, in 20 innings.
SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS VOLLEYBALL
DIVISION I
Quarterfinals, Friday, 7 p.m.
San Clemente at #1 Newport Harbor
#4 Santa Margarita at Woodbridge
#3 Loyola at Los Alamitos
#2 Mira Costa at Orange Lutheran
There have been some date/time/site changes since Monday -- here's the latest information we have:
SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
DIVISION I
First round, Thursday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted
Long Beach Poly at #1 Los Alamitos
Royal at Anaheim Canyon
Valley View at Capistrano Valley
Corona Roosevelt at Mater Dei
Tustin vs. Lakewood at Blair Field (Long Beach), 6:30 p.m.
Fountain Valley at Valencia
JSerra at King
Vista del Lago at #4 Simi Valley
Westlake at #3 Hart
Corona Santiago at Canyon Springs
Riverside Poly at Tesoro
Edison vs. Long Beach Wilson at Blair Field (Long Beach)
Millikan at Thousand Oaks
Saugus at Norco
Aliso Niguel at El Modena
Riverside North vs. #2 Orange Lutheran at Hart Park (Orange), 7 p.m.
The opening-game schedule for the Nike Fairfax Summer Basketball Classic June 24-29 at Fairfax is loaded with quality matchups.
The June 24 schedule: Loyola vs. Pasadena, 4:30 p.m.; Harvard-Westlake vs. Santa Monica, 5:50 p.m.; Dominguez vs. Leuzinger, 7:10 p.m.; Campbell Hall vs. Orange Lutheran, 8:30 p.m.
The June 25 schedule: Westchester vs. Dorsey, 5:50 p.m.; Crespi vs. Mater Dei, 8:30 p.m.; Taft vs. Long Beach Poly, 4:30 p.m.; Fairfax vs. La Canada, 7:10 p.m.
It's no surprise that Chris Kim of Granada Hills is in contention for the individual title heading into today's final round of the two-day City Section Championships at Griffith Park. After all, he won the 6A League tournament by three shots last week and tied for seventh in the City last spring.
What is surprising is that the Highlanders lead the team competition by a comfortable 14 strokes over pre-finals favorite and reigning champion El Camino Real. Four Granada Hills players posted sub-80 scores Monday on the par-72 Harding Course and Michael Nishida, the Highlanders' fifth scorer, carded an 81.
Kim is tied atop the leaderboard at one-over-par with teammate Dohnte Allison, Brennan Amirkhizi of Taft and Robin Jang of Van Nuys. Eight players are within three strokes of the leaders, so it's still anyone's tournament.
Play switches over to the longer Wilson course today, where scores figure to go up, not down, and it'll take an effort equal to Granada Hills' first-round performance for the Conquistadores to defend their title. The first of 20 groups in today's final round teed off 30 minutes ago and qualifiers for the Southern California Regionals should be determined by early evening.
Harvard-Westlake Coach Matt LaCour had no time to call his wife Tuesday night to explain why he wasn't home from his team's Southern Section-Toyota Division III wild-card playoff game at Downey that started at 3:15 p.m.
"My wife found out we were still playing at 10 p.m. by watching the Channel 11 news," he said.
The longest baseball playoff game in Southern Section history ended at 10:35 p.m. in the 20th inning when Downey scored a run to win, 3-2.
The longest playoff game in Southern Section history came to an end when Ivory Thomas III walked home in the 20th inning to help host Downey defeat Harvard-Westlake, 3-2, in a Division III wild-card game Tuesday.
Thomas got his fifth hit of the game with a no-out single in the bottom of the 20th. After stealing second and third, he later scored on a no-out walk to Bryant De la Campa to put an end to the game that tied the record for longest game between two Southern Section teams.
Ten minutes after Granada Hills' reign as City champion ended Tuesday night in Pacific Palisades, Coach Tom Harp was in a matter-of-fact mood. Rather than offer up excuses for his team's shaky performance, he simply gave credit to the other team.
"Palisades played a solid game and they deserved to win," he said after the Highlanders' 13-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 semifinal loss. "Our lack of blocking and the fact that we couldn't get any runs going really cost us."
Harp also issued a proclamation--one that doesn't bode well for Palisades' next opponent, ninth-seeded El Camino Real: "If those guys play as well as they did tonight, they're going to be awfully tough to beat."
The closer Palisades got to victory Tuesday night, the louder its gym got.
Much of the noise was generated by a small but boisterous cheering section off to one side of the court. That clique consisted of players from Palisades' girls' volleyball team, which won the City title in November. Now the boys want to hang their own banner on the wall.
"Our fans were great -- we could definitely hear them and it fired us up," hitter Adam Cristiano said after the Dolphins' four-game victory over defending champion Granada Hills in the semifinals of the City Section's Championship Division. "It would be great to win it the same year as the girls. That's what we're going for... a Pali sweep, baby."
The last time Palisades won girls' and boys' volleyball titles in the same year was 1998. The boys have not won it since, while the girls went on to win the title again the following year and added titles in 2003 and 2007.
There will be a new City Section champion this season and, for the first time in a decade, it could be a team from outside the San Fernando Valley.
Palisades defeated two-time defending champion Granada Hills, 13-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22, in Tuesday night's semifinal and will play El Camino Real for the title at 5 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Northridge.
The loss snapped Granada Hills' 13-match playoff win streak dating back to the first round in 2006. The visiting Highlanders didn't surrender their championship easily. Trailing, 24-18, they fought off four match points before an awkward kill attempt sailed long.
Some quick stats...
Kene Izuchukwu had 10 kills and Noah Kauss added nine for the Dolphins, who turned the match around with their defense beginning in the second game. Jordan Cohen had 17 digs and Matt Hanley added 12 for Palisades. Joe Randis had 16 kills to lead the Highlanders.
Top Teams: 1. La Palma Kennedy (26-3), 2. Etiwanda (22-3), 3. Lakewood (23-5), 4. Mission Viejo (22-6-1).
Dark horse: Pacifica (17-12) doesn’t have its typical pitching, but the 11th-seeded Mariners hit like sledgehammer and could definitely knock off a favorite.
How it shakes out: Kennedy, led by twin sister outfielders Elia and Jamia Reid, is the best all-around team, but a potential semifinal against El Modena (21-8-1) could be the real championship game. That’s because unproven Etiwanda was placed at No. 2 and the dominoes stacked the bracket elsewhere. In Kennedy’s half of the bracket are two of the three teams it has been beaten by, Long Beach Wilson (20-8), a potential quarterfinal opponent, and Ayala (19-10-1). Hard-hitting Lakewood and Anaheim Canyon (22-7) are the class of the field in the lower bracket, but the latter has four freshman starters, including pitcher Cheyanne Tarango, and it may be too much for them to make a run this year.
Top teams: 1. Simi Valley (27-0), 2. Corona Santiago (24-3), 3. Valencia (24-5), 4. Norco (26-5).
Dark horse: Rosary (20-9) is a longshot in the truest sense. It could lose in the first round, or make noise throughout. It got off to a poor start, but the young pitching, in particular Alex Peyton, has come around and the Royals have won 10 in a row.
How it shakes out: The three likeliest candidates to emerge are Santiago, Norco and Hart because they have superior pitching in Kamerin May, Teagan Gerhart and Destiny Rodino. Losses the past two weeks show a vulnerability in Santiago which is hard to ignore, even though it won the 2006 title after losing three of its last five games heading into the playoffs. Still, it has an easier path than Norco and Hart, who could meet in the quarterfinals. Simi Valley must deal with the pressure of being No. 1 – and unbeaten – after having not been challenged much outside its league.
Yes, I know it's only the semifinals but tonight's match between Palisades and Granada Hills might as well be for the City Section title. After all, these are the two highest seeds remaining in the 32-team tournament and the winner will be an overwhelming favorite against whichever team emerges from the upper half of the draw -- either No. 4 Sylmar or No. 9 El Camino Real.
Second-seeded Palisades got a scare from 18th-seeded Marshall in the second round before holding on to win the decisive game, then dispatched Taft in four games in the quarterfinals. The Dolphins are the only City team not to lose a best-of-five match this season and were the last team outside of the San Fernando Valley to win the City championship, beating Taft in 1998.
Third-seeded Granada Hills, meanwhile, enters tonight's contest playing its best volleyball of the season. The two-time defending champion Highlanders have won 13 consecutive playoff matches and are the only one of the four remaining teams that hasn't dropped a game in the playoffs. They also swept top-seeded Chatsworth on its home court in their West Valley League finale.
The CIF state football championship bowl games have been expanded from three to five games for 2008, but the only one that most folks are going to care about is the new open-division game that will be played on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
That game will match the best team in Northern California, regardless of enrollment, against its counterpart from Southern California. It's the closest thing yet to crowning a true state champion in football.
The remaining bowl games are about school pride. Only the individual schools and their fans will really care. The CIF can't even guarantee if all five games will be televised. It's negotiating a new contract after FSN's contract to televise the three bowl finals each of the last two years has expired.
With the first round of the Southern Section-Toyota Division I playoffs scheduled to start Friday, I wanted to get your thoughts as to which team will win the divisional title.
I wouldn't say Granada Hills has built an insurmountable lead in the City Section Championships, but it's going to take a great score in Wednesday's final round to overtake the Highlanders, who had four players shoot in the 70s to post a 384 on Monday -- good enough for a 14 shot lead -- on Griffith Park's Harding Course.
Leading the way for Granada Hills were Dohnte Allison and Chris Kim who each shot a one-over-par 73 and share first place with Robin Jang of Van Nuys and Brennan Amirkhizi of Taft. Gabe Durkin of Cleveland and Gary Valdez of San Pedro are tied for second, one stroke behind. North Hollywood teammates Khorri Ellis and Joe Donato each shot 75 and are tied for third.
BOYS' VOLLEYBALL DIVISION I Second round, Tuesday, 7 p.m. #1 Newport Harbor at Tesoro San Clemente at Long Beach Wilson Woodbridge at Peninsula Thousand Oaks at #4 Santa Margarita Mission Viejo at #3 Loyola Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach Orange Lutheran at Fountain Valley #2 Mira Costa at Crespi
DIVISION I Quarterfinals, Tuesday, 3 p.m. Troy at #1 Irvine University #4 Peninsula at Harvard-Westlake Dana Hills at #3 Mater Dei #2 Santa Barbara at Thousand Oaks
DIVISION I First round, Thursday, 3:15 p.m. unless noted Long Beach Poly (Moore T4) at #1 Los Alamitos (Sunset 1) Royal (Marmonte 3) at Anaheim Canyon (Century T1) Valley View (Inland Valley T2) at Capistrano Valley (South Coast T1) Corona Roosevelt (Mountain View 2) at Mater Dei (Trinity 2) Tustin (Century 3) vs. Lakewood (Moore 1) at Blair Field (Long Beach), 6:30 p.m. Fountain Valley (Sunset 3) at Valencia (Foothill 2) JSerra (Trinity 3) at King (Ivy 1) Vista del Lago (Inland Valley T2) at #4 Simi Valley (Marmonte T1) Westlake (Marmonte T4) at #3 Hart (Foothill 1) Corona Santiago (Mountain View 3) at Canyon Springs (Inland Valley 1) Riverside Poly (Ivy 2) at Tesoro (South Coast T1) Edison (Sunset 2) vs. Long Beach Wilson (Moore 2) at Blair Field (Long Beach) Millikan (Moore 3) at Thousand Oaks (Marmonte T1) Saugus (Foothill 3) at Norco (Mountain View 1) Aliso Niguel (South Coast 3) at El Modena (Century T1) Riverside North (Ivy 3) vs. #2 Orange Lutheran (Trinity 1) at Hart Park (Orange), 7 p.m.
I'm at Griffith Park for the first round of the City Section championships and so far no one has missed a tee time. The field of 77 players was divided into 20 groups, over half of which are already on the course.
They'll be playing the Harding Course (6,536 yards) today, then switch to the longer Wilson Course (6,942 yards) for Wednesday's final round. Unfortunately, neither spectators (parents, friends, classmates) and media (like me) are allowed on the course during competition so it looks as if I'll have to hang out at the 19th hole until front nine scores start trickling in.
The first round of the City Section championship tees off Monday in Griffith Park and I'm not going out on a limb when I say that El Camino Real has to be considered the team to beat in the two-day tournament.
The Conquistadores dominated the 6A League (the strongest in the City) all season and proved that it was no fluke last Wednesday, winning the league tournament by five shots over Granada Hills at Wilson and Harding -- the same courses used for this week's City finals.
If you want to know who's going to be competing at next week's Southern Section-Toyota Division Championships, be sure to check out these links for complete results. Special thanks to DyeStatCal.com for making all the divisional preliminary results available in such a timely fashion -- you saved my fingers.
We're through two rounds of the Southern Section-Toyota Division I playoffs and each of the top four seeded teams are still alive. On Tuesday's slate are two particularly intriguing quarterfinals.
The first pits No. 5 Harvard-Westlake against No. 4 Peninsula in a rematch of a regular-season meeting won by Peninsula. In the other, second-seeded and unbeaten Santa Barbara should get its first real test from a Thousand Oaks squad that features a formidable singles trio in Kyle McMorrow, Denis Lin and Marcos Giron.
Reigning champion and top-seeded Irvine University is rolling along, having won 35 of 36 sets so far, and will be a heavy favorite to eliminate Troy and advance to the semifinals. Third-seeded Mater Dei, which has lost only to University, must knock off Dana Hills to set up a final four showdown against the Thousand Oaks-Santa Barbara winner.
The Newhall Hart girls’ swimming team opened the Southern Section-Toyota Division II finals in record-breaking fashion and ended it as team champion.
The Indians scored 207.50 points at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, easily outdistancing runner-up Westlake, which had 165. Flintridge Sacred Heart was third with 139.
Hart won the meet-opening 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute 47.81 seconds, surpassing the previous meet record of 1:48.59 set by Corona del Mar three years ago. Sophomore Maggie Hanson led off, followed by junior Jordan Danny, senior Rachael Krager and junior Rachael Stoffel.
When it comes to team efforts, few can keep up with the Westlake Village Oaks Christian boys’ swim team. The Lions set meet records in the 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle relays at the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV finals Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, giving the program all three meet relay records in only its second year in the division.
Oaks Christian broke the 400 free relay mark last season en route to setting a meet record with 419 points.
The Lions came close to matching that mark on Saturday, winning six of eight individual events and all three relays to help bolster their winning point total to 377. Cerritos finished a distant second with 169 points.
Got to admit something ... After watching my fair share of talented athletes at the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries at Carpinteria High, I came away most impressed with Yasmin Woodruff of St. Mary's Academy.
The senior is flat-out talented.
Earlier today, I blogged about how impressive she looked in the 100 meters. Woodruff then proceeded to outdo herself in the 200 meters, completely outclassing the competition and winning in 24.60.
Races don't get much more competitive than the girls' 100-meter hurdles during Saturday's Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries at Carpinteria High. Guess that's what happens when three of the top finishers in the event from a season ago get together in the starting blocks.
Marlborough's Ashtyn Baltimore used last year's third-place finish as motivation this time around, winning in a time of 14.40. Malibu's Emani Truluck, second last season, duplicated that feat with a time of 14.50 to narrowly edge defending champion London Finley of St. Mary's Academy, who finished in 14.51.
Here's a quick look at some of the more notable performances to come out of the final hours of the Southern Section-Toyota Division II preliminaries at Moorpark:
For the last two hours, people have been poking their heads into the press box and asking if we had the boys' and girls' 3,200-meter results. Well, consider yourselves lucky to find out Rex Nelson of Newport Harbor posted an impressive time of 9 minutes 18.52 seconds -- more than six seconds faster than his seeding time. Whittier's Luis Dorantes was second (9:19.12) and James Kostelnik of Loyola qualified third (9:20.78).
One of the more highly anticipated showdowns of the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries at Carpinteria High was between St. Bernard's Adam Long and Oaks Christian's Chris Owusu in the 100 and 200 meters.
Too bad the toe-to-toe races failed to live up to the hype.
Owusu won, rather easily, in the 100, finishing in 10.59. Long, the event's defending champion, ended up with a disappointing 10.89. He did, however, exact a measure of revenge, defending his title in the 200, winning in 21.58 to Owusu's 22.48.
I imagine these two will end up meeting again in next Saturday's division finals at Mt. San Antonio College. Perhaps, then, the score will be finally settled between the rivals.
Mira Costa's Chris Schnack and Allen Hsu just pulled off the first major upset of the day by beating third-seeded Bao Nguyen and Vu Huynh of Westminster La Quinta to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Section-Toyota badminton individual championships at the Orange County Badminton Club.
Schnack and Hsu, not seeded, started the match by losing the first game 11-15, but came back to win the next two 15-11 and 15-5.
Schnack and Hsu will play second-seeded Derrick Poon and Hy Ia of Alhambra.
-- Jaime Cardenas
[UPDATE: Schnack and Hus lost to Poon and Ia in the semifinals, 15-5, 15-3.]
Joey Hughes of Long Beach Poly turned in the quickest time in the state in the boys' 200 meters in the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills.
Hughes, who came into the day ranked third in the state with a time of 21.40 seconds, peeled off a 21.10.
Hughes wasn't the only athlete to make a run at the state's best mark of 21.30 by Chris Owusu of Oaks Christian. Leon Dillihunt, a sophomore from Dominguez, fell just short with a effort of 21.41. Like Hughes, his time wasn't wind-aided. Dillihunt's time would move him into the state's top 10 with the No. 4 effort of the season.
Junior Rodney Storrs of Corona Santiago ran a wind-aided 21.34.
Tara Richmond didn't stop at qualifying No. 1 in the high jump. The Long Beach Poly sophomore was more than a foot better than her nearest competition in the triple jump at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills.
Richmond jumped 39 feet 2 inches to outdistance her Poly teammate, Melia Cox, a freshman who jumped 38-0 3/4.
The two youngsters were the only ones to go beyond 37-6, showing that Poly could dominate this division the rest of this decade.
Richmond had gone 39-9 3/4 at Arcadia this season, which is sixth in the state. Only one Southern Section athlete has gone farther, Marlborough's Amanda Hunter, who triple-jumped 39-11.
Blake Poole of Esperanza was more than 2 1/2 feet better than his nearest competitor in the boys' shot put in the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills.
Poole, a senior who was the Southern Section leader coming into the day, had a winning put of 59 feet 8 1/2 inches. It's still off his best of the season, 61-0, thrown on March 13 in a dual meet. He is ranked third in the state.
Daniel Swarbrick of Saugus qualified second at 57-2, and Jeramy Cutler of Lakewood was third at 54-9 1/2.
Stephanie Aliimatafitafi added nearly a foot to her season best in the girls' shotput with a toss of 43 feet 9 inches at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills.
Aliimatafitafi, a senior from Paramount, would move from sixth to third based on results coming into the day. Her previous best was 42-11, set at the Arcadia Invitational.
Her newest result would move her past Ridgecrest Burroughs' Kayla Kovar, who had a 43-0 1/4 at the Mt. SAC Invitational.
A couple of sophomores were the top qualifiers in the girls' long jump at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills. Alycia Herring of Rancho Verde jumped 18 feet 10 1/2 inches to emerge No. 1, and she was followed by Olivia Hudson of Long Beach Wilson, who jumped 18-5.
On the state level, Hudson came into the day ranked No. 4 with a jump of 19-1 1/2, and Herring was No. 5 at 19-0.
A third sophomore, Monica Todd of Trabuco Hills, qualified fifth with a leap of 17-6.
At the Division III Southern Section-Toyota preliminaries, here are a few more top performers, whom I don't want to skip over...
Orange Lutheran's Sam Delgado clocked a first-place 1:55.68 in the boys' 800 meters, edging out Servite's Mike Villasin, who ran a 1:56.33.
One of the day's closest battles was between El Segundo's Allison Reaser and Santa Margarita's Kelly Collins in the 300-meter hurdles. Reaser won with a time of 44.54 seconds, beating Collins by one-tenth of a second. Can't wait to see these two standouts compete at the championship.
Corona del Mar's Shelby Buckley ran a 2:17.18 to win the girls' 800 meters, edging out a dynamic freshman, Palos Verdes' Erica Capellino, who clocked a 2:17.27.
Akawkaw "Coco" Ndipagbor, who dominated the 400 meters in the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills earlier in the day, did not -- I repeat, did not -- emerge with the top time in the girls' 200 meters.
However, Coco, a Long Beach Poly freshman, ran a wind-legal 24.19 seconds, which would give her the state's second-best time coming into the day. Coco, a freshman, had previously run a 24.24 on this same track at the Trabuco Hills Invitational. Obviously, she likes the track.
The best times of the event, though, were a couple of wind-aided efforts. Jessica Davis, a sophomore from Highland, clocked 23.92 seconds with a 3.3 meters per second push from Mother Nature, and Jasmine Joseph, a junior from Long Beach Poly, who clocked 24.08 with a 3.4 wind reading.
Davis' time would give her the state's top wind-aided time of the year, displacing Coco's 24.11.
Poly had three girls advance in the event, including senior Tanisha Hawkins, who ran a wind-legal 24.71.
Here at the Southern Section-Toyota Division III preliminaries, there are "more stars than there are in the heavens" but one name might stand out over all the others -- Randall Carroll, the L.A. Cathedral junior who has committed to play football at USC.
"Randall Carroll... The fastest competitor in the state!" informed the event's announcer, as Carroll stepped into the starting blocks.
If you don't know Carroll, here's the most critical track tidbit about him: He clocked the state's best time in the 100-meter dash, at 10.49 seconds, earlier this season at the Arcadia Invitational.
There have been very few surprises during qualifying for the girls' events at the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries at Carpinteria High. The favorites have been impressive. As for the challengers ... well, let's just say it could end up being a long day.
Carlyle Davis of Marlborough, the defending 400-meter champion, looked every bit the part, smoking the competition to finish with a qualifying time of 57.73. I'm not sure if anyone is going to be able to keep up with her in the finals next Saturday.
Yasmin Woodruff of St. Mary's Academy proved her division title in the 100 meters a season ago was no fluke. She qualified with a time of 12.17, and I'd be surprised if anyone dethrones her a week from today.
Joey Hughes of Long Beach Poly, the state leader in the boys' 400 meters, was the top qualifier from the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills.
Hughes has a season-best 46.97 from the Arcadia Invitational. He took it easy on Saturday, with a 48.09, just ahead of Dominguez sophomore Leon Dillihunt's 48.13.
Dominguez had three of the four fastest times qualifying times. Behind Dillihunt were senior Aaron Hestor at 48.22 and junior Kivon Grant at 48.73.
The day's not only about victories or defeats -- it's also about hugs.
Just ask Gwendolyn Flowers, the Compton Centennial sprinter who received the biggest hug of the day when a woman overwhelmed her with a giant embrace just after she won her 100-meter heat at the Southern Section-Toyota Division III preliminaries. It was lots of hugging and lots of smiles.
"Is this your mom?" I asked Flowers.
The woman hugged her again.
"No, this is my auntie," she said, beaming a brilliant smile. Flowers ran an embrace-worthy 12.24 seconds and qualified for next week's division championship, where she'll undoubtedly earn another "hug of the day" from her auntie.
Charles Saseun of Rancho Cucamonga, who last year ran the state's fastest time ever in the boys' 100 meters at 10.39, finished in 10.50 to emerge as the No. 1 qualifier from the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills. Saseun came into the day with the state's third-best time, 10.59. His time Saturday was just off the 10.49 of L.A. Cathedral's Randall Carroll at the Arcadia Invitational.
Corona Santiago athletes qualified second and third. Anthony Dye clocked 10.72 and Rodney Storrs 10.74.
Saseun and Dye's times were both wind legal, but Storrs was wind-aided. Dye's time would move him into the state's top 10.
Gardena Serra was expected to have a good showing at today's Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries at Carpinteria High, and the Cavaliers have done little to disappoint thus far, placing well in several field events despite going up against some good competition.
Individually, James Kennedy, the defending 110-meter hurdles champion, is the top qualifier among his peers with a time of 15.13. Teammate Robert Woods finished ahead of the pack in the 400, qualifying in 49.74. Both must be considered favorites to win once the finals roll around in an hour or so.
The boys' 400 relay team did well too as Gardena posted the best time among all qualifiers with a 43.05. The Cavaliers have plenty to be happy about right now, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep up the momentum throughout the remainder of the meet.
Here are some notable performances from early action at the Southern Section-Toyota Division II preliminaries:
Antelope Valley's Ryan Butts broke a 28-year-old Division II record in the long jump with a leap of 24 feet 4 3/4 inches. It actually was a little less than the 25-0 jump he recorded at last week's Golden League finals, but that jump came with no wind instrumentation. Butts is one of the favorites for the state title and I'm planning to upload a video interview with him later.
Loyola's Ryan Holmes has posted the state's second-fastest time in the 110-meter hurdles this season and he posted a top qualifying time of 14.52 this afternoon. Like a lot of top-tier athletes at today's prelims, Holmes purposely didn't try to beat his seasonal best of 14.32, but expect big things from him at next weekend's finals.
Rio Mesa's Valexsia Droughn, pictured, continues to show why she's one of the state's most dynamic sprinters despite being only a freshman. Droughn's 12.01 in the 100 meters was enough to push her among the top three qualifiers in the event and it was just a few tenths of a second off her personal best. She may be only a freshman, but Droughn is gunning for the state title in the 100.
Ne'Ausha Logan, a sophomore from Warren, dominated her heat in the girls' 800 meters at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills. She finished more than 25 yards ahead of Etiwanda junior Lauren Ervin and turned in the top qualifying time of 2:12.17. That time would be the eighth-best in the state coming into the day.
It was a great run -- she bolted to a big lead and never faltered. Ervin, who had the seventh overall time, came in at 2:17.35.
Serrano senior Kauren Tarver, who has the state's third-best time at 2:10.44, was second at 2:15.47.
As if Long Beach Poly doesn't have enough in its arsenal in the running events, sophomore Tara Richmond qualified No. 1 in the high jump at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries with a modest leap of 5 feet 4 inches. It was matched by five others, but Richmond did it in fewer attempts. Among those at 5-4 was freshman Shanice Stewart of Carter, who also qualified in the 100 hurdles with the top time.
I have seen the future of track and field, and it's nicknamed "Coco." That's what everyone calls Akawkaw Ndipagbor, a freshman at Long Beach Poly who ran a 54.82 in the girls' 400. She is the state leader already at 53.43, and she looked remarkably strong and fluid with her run Saturday at Trabuco Hills in the Southern Section-Toyota Divison I preliminaries.
I'm guessing Coco has plenty left in the tank. She ran a 53.73 last year as an eighth-grader.
She's awesome.
Poly had the top two qualifiers. Jasmine Joseph was second at 55.52. They were the only two under 56 seconds.
Competition is underway at the Southern Section-Toyota individual badminton championships today at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange.
Up first are the girls. The favorite to win in singles is Garden Grove's Thuy Hoang, who's the top-seeded player. Hoang, a junior, is looking for her first career singles title after losing to La Quinta's Jamie Subandhi in the finals the last two years. Hoang won her first career high school title Thursday when she paired up with Thinh Nghi to take the mixed-doubles championship.
Some of the boys' singles players are passing the time playing cards. Others are eating yogurt or talking with teammates.
Some of the biggest news from the girls' 100-meter hurdles were the disqualifications on the Trabuco Hills track at the Southern Section-Toyota Division I preliminaries. Senior Kiersten Kirkland of Long Beach Poly fouled out of her heat with a false start, and so did Angelica Weaver, a junior from Rancho Cucamonga. Kirkland was seeded second in her heat, and Weaver was seeded first.
The top qualifier was Shanice Stewart, a freshman from Carter, who clocked a wind-aided 14.29, which would be the state's seventh-best wind-aided time coming into the day. Stewart was in the same heat as Kirkland.
On the boys' side, Marcus Williams of San Gorgonio, top-seeded in his 110 heat, fell midway and did not advance. The No. 1 qualifier was Devron Walker of Dominguez, who clocked a wind-aided 14.14, followed by sophomore Devalle Pedrogo of Mission Viejo at 14.43.
Arrived at Carpinteria High for the Southern Section-Toyota Division IV preliminaries a bit early this afternoon, only to find out that wireless access was going to be limited. Fear not. I still plan on gathering as much information as possible and checking in with results frequently.
The afternoon is shaping up well, I might add. James Kennedy of Gardena Serra is the talk of the meet so far. He is, after all, the defending champion in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. On the girls' side, St. Mary's Academy's London Finley is creating quite a buzz too. Stay tuned.
Just hustled off the Warren High track where I chatted to quicksilver Mikio Island -- the Crespi anchor in the boys' 400-meter relay at the Southern Section-Toyota Division III preliminaries. "Safe baton handoffs," Island huffed. "That was our goal."
"Were you more worried about the handoffs than the running?" I asked.
"Always. Just get the baton and the running takes care of itself."
There's good and bad news from the guys down on the field at the Southern Section-Toyota Division II preliminaries:
First, we're more than 30 minutes behind schedule thanks to problems with the timing computer. The girls participating in the 400-meter relay were called away from the starting blocks after waiting in place for about 10 minutes and are sitting in the infield (see photo). There's murmurs the redcoats might resort to stopwatches!
Fortunately, the same radio communication from the field informed the press box that complimentary sandwiches were on the way up. At least the event organizers are doing everything they can to make the media happy. And they should since it looks as if we're going to be here for a while.
I just arrived in Moorpark for the Southern Section Division II preliminaries and I'm pretty stoked I found a parking lot with relative ease. Of course, I arrived more than an hour ahead of the scheduled start of the running events, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Anyway, once the results start pouring in, I'll be sure to let you know who's advancing to next week's divisional championship meet. The top nine performers/teams in each event move on.
The field events have already started, and I managed to snap a shot of Torrance discus thrower Esther Uini.
SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS VOLLEYBALL
DIVISION I
First round, Saturday, 7 p.m.
Crespi at Lakewood
Second round, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
#1 Newport Harbor at Tesoro
San Clemente at Long Beach Wilson
Woodbridge at Peninsula
Thousand Oaks at #4 Santa Margarita
Mission Viejo at #3 Loyola
Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach
Orange Lutheran at Fountain Valley
#2 Mira Costa at Crespi/Lakewood winner
Foothill ended up winning the unofficial Southern Section championship for boys' lacrosse with an 11-7 victory over Palos Verdes in a rematch of last year's title game.
That makes Foothill a back-to-back winner since the Southern Section began sanctioning the sport, although because fewer than 20% of its member schools participate, it does not sanction the championship.
Tyler Brown scored four goals and Trent Jones three for Foothill. The game most valuable player was defenseman Michael Clenshaw, who held Palos Verdes scoring machine Nolan Semel to just two goals and one of those was when Foothill was short-handed.
But man, you had to feel for Foothill's senior goalkeeper Sam Goings,who had nine saves on the night.
With every point won Aaron Teitelbaum hopped up and down like a pogo stick. Waiting to give him a high-five was his doubles partner Alex Freeman. They couldn't contain their enthusiasm Friday afternoon at the City Section tennis finals, sweeping three sets to spark Taft's 15-14 1/2 victory over Palisades.
The Toreadors' top tandem collected four and a half points, and Taft needed every one of them to successfully defend its championship at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.
Freeman and Teitelbaum are now undefeated in 16 matches this season. The question is, what makes them so hard to beat? You can start with confidence and teammwork.
In the unofficial Southern Section boys' championship, Foothill leads Palos Verdes at halftime, 6-4, in a rematch of last year's title game won by Foothill, 11-10. The Knights might have had an even bigger lead, but PV goalkeeper Matt Schladen did a nice job of keeping the Sea Kings in the game early.
Tyler Brown needed fewer than seven minutes to score three unanswered goals that gave Foothill a 3-1 lead. The Knights led by as much as 5-2 in the first two minutes of the second quarter, but PV closed to 5-4 with 7:56 left in the half.
Trent Jones seized the momentum back for Foothill with a nice reverse and score with 1:18 left.
Frank Llanes has been El Rancho's coach for two seasons, and the Dons have now won a Del Rio League title each year. "Two for two," Llanes said. "Not bad."
