Ray Baksh, 80, who coached football at Helix, La Jolla, and St. Augustine and lived  with an entrepreneurial spirit, passed away in San Diego.

Baksh was a graduate of Imperial High and is in the Imperial High football Hall of Fame.  A Marine Corps veteran and San Diego State graduate, Ray and his wife Virginia, owned fast food franchises.  Eventually he   was able to pursue a lifelong passion  and  helped coach high school football teams in the area.

“Ray was a no nonsense coach who coached our linebackers for ten years,” said retired Helix coach Jim Arnaiz.

“His no-nonsense approach was backed up by his love for football and his ability to challenge every player in his group.”

Arnaiz remembered something Ray would tell his players.  “He would finish his daily and game meetings with his group by saying, ‘I love you guys.  Leave it on the field.”

A West Hills athlete dominated Saturday in the Arcadia Invitational, but it wasn’t state-leading discus thrower Brenden Song.

Sophomore Melissa Mongiovi, running in the afternoon seeded session, blew out a :55.28, for the overall first-place finish in the Girls’ 400-meter run.  The best the invitational runners could do in  the evening was :56.18.

Song, who increased his state best to 191-5 on Friday in a dual meet with Helix, was fourth in the discus in the evening invitational session with a best of 181-7.

Song trailed Damon Unland of Washington’s Spokane Ferris (190-3), Marty Taylor of Newport Beach Newport Harbor (186-4), and Dylan Fischer of Phoenix Desert Vista (182-7).

Mongiovi now ranks 10th in the country this year and San Diego Section No. 9 all-time.  She ran in the 2012 state meet and had a best of :55.72 as a freshman.

Carlsbad’s Christian Freeman was ninth in the 3,200 run but his 8:52.65 is eighth all time in San Diego, just below the 8:51.94 by San Diego’s Meb Keflezighi in 1994 and the 8:52.44 by Chula Vista’s Tim Danielson in 1966.

Alex Grigoriev of Rancho Bernardo ran 1:52.71 in the Boys’ 800 and was fifth.

Otay Ranch’s Alexander Law, who went 15-6 in the pole vault on Friday in a dual meet against Bonita Vista improved his season best to 15-9 and won the afternoon competition. Law’s teammate Carina Gillespie was fifth in the invitational 800 in 2:13.

La Costa Canyon’s Emma Abrahamson was 10th in the 3,200 at 10:36.01.

Granite Hills Jake Johnson ran :14.60 in the 110-meter high hurdles and Scripps Ranch’s Brian Thomas circled the 400-meter oval in :49.22.