2018: Hickey Ends Gold Medal Drought and Will Return
Some of the best performances by San Diego Section athletes at the 100th state track championships last week at Clovis Buchanan were provided by those who should be back for another shot in 2019.
Alysha Hickey, second in the high jump at 5 feet, 8 inches, and the first area champion since 2015 with a 19-9 ¾ long jump, returns to Coronado for another season.
Madison’s Kenan Christon, sixth in the 100 and 200 and Orange Glen’s Moray Steward, fourth in the 100, could be prime contenders next season.
LIKE BROTHER LIKE SISTER
La Costa Canyon’s Kristin Fahy, who ran the all-time second fastest 3200 meters in County history, with a fourth-place 10:16.45, will attempt to gain some ground on her brother, Darren, who distance-doubled in 4:08.78 and 9:03.29 in 2013.
Perhaps most impressive in Clovis was the second-place finish in the 1600 by Jaden Rosenthal, who proved to be savvy and tough after competing through high school under most radars.
Rosenthal represented San Diego High Tech of the Liberty City address and had to motor (well, maybe he jogged up the hill) to neighboring Point Loma to find a track on which to get in his work.
GOES TO THE WHIP
Rosenthal moved out with the pack, forced the issue by taking the lead on the second lap, and then did not flinch when he seemed to fall out of it and in fifth place at the gun lap.
The UCLA-bound senior recovered with a strong stretch run and finished second to favored Liam Anderson of Larkspur Redwood, who won in 4:09.31 to Rosenthal’s 4:09.63.
Eastlake’s Jaylyn Jackson did not get a horizontal double but he was more than competitive, finishing second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
Winners and San Diego finals entries with schools in parenthesis:
800—McIntosh, Loomis Del Oro, 2:05.22. 8. Morales (Scripps Ranch), 2:12.92.
1600—Denner, El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge, 4:42.77. 11. Riedman (La Costa Canyon), 4:55.28.
3200—Denner (El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge), 10:10.32. 4. Fahy (La Costa Canyon), 10:16.45, Section No. 2 all-time. 20. Brown (La Costa Canyon), 10:51.68. 25. Miessner (Eastlake), 11:03.17.
100 HURDLES—Hicks, Upland, :13.35.
300 HURDLES—Joseph, Eastvale Roosevelt, :41.76. 7. Scott (Vista), :43.05. 8. Thomas (Torrey Pines), :43.56.
The San Diego Section has not had an individual champion in the state meet since 2015 or a double winner since 2012.
Eastlake’s Jalyn Jackson has a chance to reverse the trend this week in the 100th championships at Clovis Buchanan High.
Jackson, fourth in the long jump and second in the triple jump in 2017, is seeded first in each event entering Friday’s trials, off his performance in the Section meet at Mt. Carmel.
Seedings are not based on individual seasonal bests but on performances in last week’s 10 section finals throughout the state.
Numbers in parenthesis in the table below reflect seeding positions.
Madison’s Kenan Christon (long jump), Jessica Riedman (800), And El Centro Southwest’s Tyler Saikhon (300 hurdles) have withdrawn to concentrate on other events.
Mt. Carmel’s Quoi Ellis had the fastest time in the state last week with a wind-aided: 21.19 200 and Christon was second at: 21.20. Coronado’s Alysha Hickey was the leader with a 19-10 ½ wind-aided long jump.
Ellis was third in the 200 in 2017 at: 21.25w. La Costa Canyon’s McKenna Brown was fifth in the girls’ 1600 in 4:51.74.
Several others who competed at Clovis last season, including San Dieguito’s Kevin Ward, ninth at 14-10 in the pole vault, and Vista’s Alia Scott, ninth at: 45.28 are back and among the higher seed this year.
SINGLES AND DOUBLES
The last two-time winner in girls competition was Morse’s legendary Monique Henderson in the 200 (:23.19) and 400 (:50.74) in 2000. Darren Fahy of La Costa Canyon doubled in the 1600 (4:08.78) and 3200 (9:03.29) in 2012.
The last individual winners were Cathedral’s Hannah Labrie Smith in 2015 in the 300 hurdles (:41.67) and Oceanside’s Charles Lenford in the discus (195-4).
SPIKE MARKS
Josh Farmer, Rancho Bernardo’s Section-winning 300 hurdler, is a third generation standout, following grandfather Dixon Farmer and father Matt Farmer…Dixon Farmer was the state champion from Orinda Miramonte in the 440 in 1958 and ’59 with winning times of:48.6 each year…he also was a leading 180-yard low hurdler with a best of :19.1 and later was head coach at San Diego State…Matt Farmer was a decathlete and high jumped 6 feet, 10 inches at Monte Vista… Karson Lippert, who sustained a leg muscle injury in the San Diego Section trials, reportedly is taking part in some 7-on-7 football passing drills at La Costa Canyon…Lippert is expected to be one of the better running backs in the Fall if he can avoid hamstring issues or knee contusions…La Costa’s Jessica Riedman is said to be transferring and would compete next year for Irvine Woodbridge…a rattlesnake was spotted in the area of the discus competition at Mt. Carmel last week…officials with shovel and bucket removed the critter….
There would be raised eyebrows and at least one exclamation of “Really?” and another of “No Way!” should a copy of Charles Byrne’s Jan. 4, 1940, article in The San Diego Union have been placed in a time capsule and opened 20 years later.
Basketball was evolving and moving indoors, although the game still was a primitive sport in most corners of San Diego’s tiny hoop universe.
“Metropolitan League basketball, which used to be played almost entirely on outdoor courts of asphalt, decomposed granite, or plain dirt surfacing, with only a few students on the sidelines, is growing up,” wrote Byrne.
Most of the league’s seven teams were getting out of the sun and rain, said Byrne.
Grossmont, Coronado, and Escondido had opened new facilities and Oceanside would play games at the Oceanside Community Center basketball pavilion, according to the writer.
Point Loma and Sweetwater still had only outdoor courts but would be able to schedule some home games at San Diego High and San Diego State, Byrne said.
It would be about 10 years before La Jolla and Point Loma had their own gymnasiums, but Sweetwater would play some home games on its outdoor layout into the 1950s.
CARDINALS IN FOREFRONT
The city’s Hoover High also had a new home, a 1,200-seat, balcony-included edifice, capacity of which promised to be taxed whenever the Cardinals played San Diego High.
Hoover’s game with Alhambra “won’t be the first game in the new gymnasium but it will be the first since installation of especially constructed folding bleachers capable of seating more than 1,200 along the sidelines (and upper level),” gushed Byrne.
“The new bleachers combined with a big court and spacious ceiling—for ventilation purposes—gives Hoover as good a layout as any….”
Hoover, with a 2-6 record, upset Alhambra, 27-24.
Byrne also praised the new Grossmont facility, with “modern, ‘telescoping’ bleachers that seat 500, with room for more on collapsible chairs.”
Telescoping? Meaning seats that are pushed or rolled back when not in use? Yes.
RAINED OUT
Basketball under the sun, not.
Persistent precipitation interrupted play at Point Loma, prompting delay of the Pointers’ Class B game against La Jolla.
The solution was simple: Move the action to Municipal Gym.
The B teams finished their game at the Balboa Park facility and then the varsities took the floor. Point Loma defeated La Jolla, 53-29.
COUNTY RECORDS?
Bob Ingle of Coronado scored 35 points in a 57-16 win over La Jolla, giving the Islanders’ the highest scoring output for the season and a reported County, single-game record for Ingle.
Diminutive Bud Farmer of Julian had scoring total unheard of for era.
Ingle converted 15 of 29 shots from the floor, many on easy, “cherry-picked” baskets when Ingle and teammate Art Blaisdell retreated to the Coronado end of the court when La Jolla had the ball.
Teammates easily found Ingle and Blaisdell with uncontested passes even while patrolling the visiting Vikings with a three-man defense.
Bud Farmer, a 5-foot, 7-inch junior forward for Julian, led all scorers with 294 points in 20 games for a 14.5 average and had a 13.8 average for 12 Southern League games.
Farmer’s total for the season was believed to be an all-time County record.
WHO’S GOT IT?
No one.
During a scramble under the basket a loose ball bounced on the floor so forcefully that it took flight, soaring above the hoop, and then descended through the net.
Two points for Hoover.
Game officials did not know who last touched the ball and was responsible for the score. After some discussion the refs awarded the basket to Rupert Crosthwaite, captain and floor general of the Hoover squad.
The two points helped but were not enough. The Cardinals were on the short end of a 33-26 score to San Diego.
SPORTSMANSHIP?
Some in the Oceanside cheering section took boos and jeering to dangerous extremes.
Writer Charles Byrne said referees at a recent Pirates home game stopped play and cleared the floor of paper wads that were launched by rubber bands from the stands.
The wads were meant to pester opposing players.
Game officials had enough and warned Pirates coach Dick Rutherford that a technical foul would be assessed for every wad found on the court during remainder of the game.
According to Byrne, not naming his source, “The paper wads stopped, but the visiting players began to be stung by BB shot and after the game one player’s back and legs were covered with welts.”
The latter is hard to believe, but Oceanside’s free-wheeling program was a constant headache during this era for CIF honcho Seth Van Patten, with eligibility issues and other complaints often landing on his desk, according to historian John Dahlem.
CORONADO “BACKS IN” TO CHAMPIONSHIP
Coronado, with a 20-3 record and enjoying one of its finest seasons under Coach Hal Niedermeyer, was primed to play for the Southern Section’s Southern Group (small schools) championship after eliminating Ramona, 34-12, in a first-round game.
The Islanders were scheduled to play Imperial Valley League champion Calexico, but the schools couldn’t agree on where or when to meet.
As often out of necessity, commissioner Seth Van Patten allowed the schools to make arrangements.
Calexico wanted Coronado to come to the valley on March 8, but the Islanders said that was impossible because of the opening of Metro League track competition.
Almost all Coronado athletes and those at virtually all others played three sports, including track or baseball in the spring.
Coronado invited the Bulldogs to visit on March 9, but Calexico declined.
The Islanders felt they were the premier squad among the Southern Section’s less-enrollment members.
Coronado had defeated the Southern League champion, Ramona, in a playoff and held a victory over El Centro Central, which tied Calexico for the Imperial Valley League championship.
Most significant was a ballyhooed win over Hemet, the Riverside League titlist, which defeated Needles for the small school’s Eastern group championship.
All’s well that ends well. Van Patten must have agreed with the Islanders, for they were declared Southern Group champions, their victory over Ramona considered the deciding game.
BIG ONE ON PENINSULA
The Coronado gym was almost filled to its 500-person capacity when ex-San Diego High and San Diego State star Kendall (Bobo) Arnett brought the Hemet Bulldogs south for a late-season contest that was billed incorrectly as a playoff but had a postseason atmosphere.
How things happen: Niedermeyer was called to the telephone for a long distance call at halftime of a Coronado B game. The coach and Arnett, on the other end of the line, agreed to terms in a brief conversation and the game was on.
Hemet had won 16 in a row, including victories over big brothers Riverside Poly, San Bernardino, and Corona, and took an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Coronado suddenly found the range, going on a 23-0 explosion that covered the second and third quarters and propelled the Islanders to a stunning, 39-21 triumph.
Bob Carrothers (second left with school leaders) also was Associated Student Body President at Coronado.
TRAGEDY
Bob Carrothers, who scored 13 points in the rout of Hemet, also was a national junior tennis champion in singles and doubles, Coronado’s student body president, and was headed to USC after graduation.
Months later in October, Carrothers was killed in an auto accident southbound on U.S. 101 in the Rose Canyon area of northern San Diego.
The car in which Carrothers was riding blew a tire, sending the vehicle across a center divider and down a steep embankment. The car struck a railroad signal post and then turned over several times before coming to rest upright.
Carrothers, sharing the rumble seat with a USC classmate while two other Trojan students were in the front seat, was thrown from the car and died without regaining consciousness, according to the Coronado Eagle and Journal.
Hours after hearing of Carrothers’ death, his aunt and uncle immediately began driving to San Diego from Pocatello, Idaho.
The car driven by Harry Collins went off the highway about 25 miles south of Pocatello. Mr. Collins was critically injured and his wife was killed.
Coronado High would name its basketball facility “Carrothers Gym”.
SCHUTTE EXITS
Bill Schutte replaced Ed Ruffa as coach at San Diego High and directed a 14-4 season, the Hilltoppers’ best since the 15-1, Southern California championship campaign of 1935-36.
The Hillers had won the 32-team, Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach in December and came within a basket of taking the inaugural Chino Tournament after Christmas in a 26-24 loss to Long Beach Poly.
San Diego split two Coast League games with Poly but the Jackrabbits earned the postseason berth with a 27-12, elimination game win at Poly.
Location of the Poly-San Diego contest was determined by coin flip.
Schutte, an all-Southern California lineman for the Hillers in 1928, surprised many when Schutte announced he was leaving the Hilltoppers as soon as the basketball season ended.
Schutte suddenly announced departure from San Diego high.
Schutte accepted a position on the staff of Kansas State coach Hobbs Adams, who was the Hillers’ head coach from 1929-34 but did not coach Schutte, who had graduated from San Diego High.
The departing coach returned to San Diego after World War II and was head coach at San Diego State from 1948-55.
MID-YEAR GRADUATION
It never seemed to fail. San Diego lost a leading player to graduation in February, at a crucial point in the season.
Bob Carson, who led the Hillers with 178 points in 16 games, scored 17 as a turnaway, home crowd of 1,200 persons witnessed the Hilltoppers’ 42-27 win over Poly.
Carson was gone when the team met again later and the result was a 15-point loss for San Diego after the 15-point win.
SET SHOTS
Coronado was a 35-25 loser in the finals to Tustin in the Huntington Beach event for schools with less than 1,000 enrollment…its only other losses were 21-17 to the Coronado Merchants and a late-season, 29-27 upset by Escondido that snapped a 17-game league winning streak…San Diego coach Bill Schutte abandoned his man-to-man defense for a zone to counter Long Beach Poly’s “Figure 8” offense in the Cavers’ Coast League victory…as soon as Bob Carson graduated, the ex-Caver enrolled at Fullerton Junior College and joined the Hornets’ basketball team…Ramona won a third straight Southern League title with a 34-28 win over San Dieguito…George Marshall, a starting guard for Hemet, was unavailable for the game with Coronado because he was one of the stars in a school play…the preliminary game to Coronado-Hemet saw the Coronado Merchants defeat a Marine Aviation team, 34-32…Ollie Mathis of Point Loma led Metro League scorers with 121 points in 12 games…Coronado’s Bob Carrothers was the only repeater on the all-league squad that was determined in a vote by five Metro League coaches, officials who refereed league games, and sports writers…Grossmont won 5 of 6 games during an Imperial Valley-Yuma, Arizona, tour before Christmas…Escondido barnstormed to three victories at the same time in Riverside County…
1963-64: La Jolla Gets All the Way to the Final Game
La Jolla, winner of 30 in a row, including 28 consecutive this season, was on the cusp of getting to a place no other team had gone.
A 29-0 season was unprecedented.
The only San Diego County team to come that close was the 1959-60 Hoover squad that won its first 26 (most reports say the Cardinals won 27 in a row; search 1959-60 “Cardinals Come Up Short…”).
No major school varsity had traversed a full season without a loss, dating to the days of dirt courts and chain baskets.
And it wouldn’t happen this year.
The Vikings returned three starters from the 1962-63 club that won all 17 nonleague games but then ran aground on the rocky shoals of the Western League.
Not always composed, the seaside club staggered to a 5-5 loop record, finishing at 22-5 and out of the playoffs.
Rick Eveleth, Charlie Buchanan, and Bill Canning, three solid starters, plus John Walters and future pro tour golfer John Schroeder, were on hand for another run this season.
The Vikings (from left): coach Bill Reeves, John Schroeder, John Walters, Rick Eveleth, Bill Canning, Charlie Buchanan.
The Vikings won the Kiwanis Tournament Limited Division and Mustang Optimist event in December, and then swept the Western League with a 10-0 run and set a single-game scoring record in a 94-66 triumph over Mission Bay.
Averaging more than 65 points a game, La Jolla swarmed opponents and rebounded, although Eveleth, at 6 feet, 3 inches, was its tallest player.
CLASS AA PLAYOFFS
The Vikings proved the correct antidote to Monte Vista’s runners and gunners, winning the first-round game, 60-49, days after the Monarchs (20-7) had set a County record in a 120-77 victory over Granite Hills.
The Vikings had rallied from a 49-31 deficit in the third quarter to nose out the Spring Valley team, 62-58, in the fourth game of the season and repeated with a 68-50 victory (“I think their press hurt them; their tongues were hanging out in the second half,” noted La Jolla coach Bill Reeves) in the Kiwanis finale.
La Jolla’s first test since a mid-season, 44-41 escape from Kearny (15-13) came against dangerous Lincoln (17-8) in the semifinals. The Hornets strived mightily, but the Vikings stayed in front throughout and won, 78-70.
HIGHLANDERS IN WAY
With 6-foot, 7inch Al Skalecky, 6-3 Jim Sunderman, and 6-2 Ron Slocum patrolling inside, Helix (27-3) had lost to only one team in San Diego and removed that blotch in a succeeding meeting with Chula Vista.
Trailing 18-17, after the first quarter, Helix staggered La Jolla with a 15-2 run, led, 33-24 at the half, 50-39, after three and closed out a 76-56 victory that marked the first time a school outside the city limits had won the title.
Skalecky had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Sunderman 14 and 17. The 5-foot 10-inch Buchanan, who would be named CIF player of the year, led the Vikings with 8 rebounds.
Helix with a 46-22 edge on the backboards, had little trouble with the Vikings’ press, and shot 50.8 per cent from the field to 38.6 per cent.
The Highlanders had raced through the Grossmont League with a 12-0 record including a pair of wins against 10-2 Monte Vista, 77-72, and 65-59, the latter for the league clincher.
FUTURE AZTECS
Skalecky would team with La Jolla’s Rick Eveleth, Castle Park’s Ralph (Rip) Barrett, and Crawford’s Dave Miller on San Diego State’s 1966-67 team that played in the national collegiate College Division championship tournament in Evansville, Ind.
Lincoln’s Steve (Cord) Rippe, Joe Logan, and Frank Boone (from left) chatted up Vicky Anderson and Adele Yoshioka before Hornets’ game with Crawford. Ms. Yoshioka co-starred with Clint Eastwood in movie “Magnum Force”.
ALMOST STRANGER THAN FICTION
–Mar Vista scored the only points by either team in the fourth quarter to edge Sweetwater, 36-34. Mike Clark’s two free throws with 50 seconds remaining was the difference.
–Down 26 points with 14 minutes to play, Helix caught St. Augustine and then stole a pass and scored to defeat the Saints, 55-54, for the Kiwanis Tournament Unlimted Division title.
–Lincoln shot 57 per cent in a 77-66 win at Crawford and then shot 32 per cent in a 49-43 loss at home to the Colts, who claimed the Eastern League championship.
–Six Castle Park and Mar Vista players, three on each side, fouled out in the last five minutes.
–Rick Eveleth, 6-feet-3 inches, of La Jolla scored 26 points and held Mission Bay’s 6-8 Mike Kinkki to 4 points.
–Clairemont held on for a 74-70 victory over Granite Hills, despite giving up 35 points in the fourth quarter, after leading, 57-35.
–Hoover’s 2-4 start was its poorest since the 11-12, 1952-53 team.
SURPRISING COLTS
With a starting lineup comprised mostly of graduates of a junior varsity team that was 8-8 in ’62-63, Crawford coach Jim Sams found out quickly what potential opponents had on their minds.
“You get an idea of what the other clubs think of you when they try to schedule a game,” said Sams after the Colts won their first six. “They’ll call and ask how many letterman you have and you say, ‘None’, and they want you on their schedule.”
Crawford’s 25-5 record was better than the 24-6-1 of the championship 1962-63 squad. 6-4 sophomore Von Jacobsen joined 6-7 senior Dennis Grey, 6-3 junior Bob Boone 5-11 senior Ronnie Layton, and 6-3 senior Dave Miller, who saw action the previous year, in the starting lineup.
CANTANKEROUS
Taciturn Paul Pruett, who didn’t like the setup while at San Dieguito, sounded off about Kiwanis Tournament venues.
“The people running this thing know how big a home court advantage is but nothing is ever done about it,” said the Hilltop mentor.
“They shove the County teams into any old gym and let the city teams play their first two or three games at home.”
Pruett said he would continue to enter the Kiwanis because there aren’t any other pre-Christmas events of significance, “but if they start another one somewhere, we’ll be in it.”
Hilltop didn’t have to go to Hoover or San Diego for its second-round game with Grossmont, but the Lancers were bounced, 58-44, at Sweetwater.
INTRANSIGENT
Castle Park was awarded a forfeit victory over Morse in the San Dieguito Mustang Optimist, post-Christmas tournament.
Tigers coach Tom Williams refused to leave the court after referee Jimmy Spurling assessed a second technical foul against Williams, who was unhappy with the way the game was being called.
Morse outnumbered Castle Park in personal fouls, 15-7, when the game ended with the Trojans ahead, 40-23, in the third quarter.
IRATE
“This was the worst performance by a team of mine in fourteen years of coaching; the kids have got no pride in defense and don’t care if the other guy scores,” said Bill Standly of San Diego (13-15) following a 69-46 loss to La Jolla.
La Jolla’s Rick Eveleth clears rebound in title game versus Helix. Bill Canning (51) and Helix’ Jim Sunderman got out of the way.
BALANCE
La Jolla oozed it. Charlie Buchanan, the CIF player of the year, scored 436 points, Bill Canning 390, Rick Eveleth 374, and John Walters 318. Skalecky led Helix with 440, followed by Jim Sunderman, 421, and Ron Slocum, 319.
Guards Lynn Lowder (217) and Bob Grundstrom didn’t score as much (“I’ll bet some of the opposing coaches don’t know their names,” said Helix coach Bob Speidel), but they were essential in breaking down La Jolla’s defense.
Grundstrom’s looper with one second left pushed the Highlanders past 15-13 Kearny, 57-55, in the opening round of the playoffs.
POLITICS ELIMINATED
The CIF board of managers announced that leagues could break ties for playoff spots with an elimination game. Previously administrators in respective leagues voted for postseason representatives.
SCORING LEADERS
Name
Team
Games
Points
Average
Barrett
Castle Park
30
537
17.9
Landis
Monte Vista
26
529
20.3
Leininger
Morse
25
518
20.7
Fitzmorris
Madison
28
480
17.1
Rippe
Lincoln
24
442
18.4
Skalecky
Helix
30
440
14.7
Gray
Monte Vista
27
439
16.3
Buchanan
La Jolla
29
435
15.0
Syverson
Mar Vista
30
430
14.5
Henderson
Clairemont
23
421
18.3
Sunderman
Helix
30
421
14.0
Grey
Crawford
30
394
13.1
Canning
La Jolla
29
390
13.4
Vera
Mission Bay
24
384
16.0
Renwick
Grossmont
22
374
17.0
Queen
El Cajon Valley
23
370
16.1
Wilkins
Granite Hills
30
362
12.1
Eveleth
La Jolla
29
374
12.9
Paddock
St. Augustine
28
359
12.8
Jacobsen
Crawford
30
359
12.0
White
Chula Vista
26
353
13.6
Spence
St. Augustine
16
350
21.9
Howe
Grossmont
25
345
13.8
Kinkki
Mission Bay
24
328
13.7
Chandler
Mar Vista
30
328
10.9
Hallien
Kearny
26
327
12.6
Hanchett
Monte Vista
27
322
11.9
Dunne
St. Augustine
28
321
11.5
Reina
Kearny
24
320
13.3
Slocum
Helix
30
319
10.6
Calvin
San Diego
28
318
11.4
Walters
La Jolla
29
318
11.0
Shaulls
Madison
29
317
10.9
Lott
Point Loma
26
314
12.1
Boone
Crawford
30
312
10.4
BIG LEAGUERS
Clairemont’s Kenny Henderson (18.3) and Madison’s Al Fitzmorris (17.1) were elite scorers in the Western League but made their marks in major league baseball.
Henderson played 16 seasons for seven teams and peaked with the San Francisco Giants in 1970, batting .294 with 104 runs, 17 home runs, and 87 runs batted in.
Fitzmorris pitched 10 seasons, mostly with Kansas City, and posted a 77-59 record. He was 44-29 from 1974-76 with the Royals.
Helix’ Ron Slocum played parts of three seasons with the expansion San Diego Padres, 1969-71, and Bob Spence of St. Augustine in the same time frame was with the Chicago White Sox.
INJURY SLOWS SAINTSMAN
St. Augustine was 9-0 and had just defeated Hoover, 78-63, as Bob Spence scored 22 points, Mike Paddock 20, Jimmy Antl 10, and Dennis Dunne 13, including 11 consecutive free throws.
St. Augustine’s John Estrada and Mike Paddock (30) battle Hoover’s Rick Shaw for rebound, as Bob Spence (54) and Hoover’s Lyle Hull witness in the Saints’ 78-63 Kiwanis victory.
It was a pyrrhic victory. Spence’s eye became inflamed from a foreign substance on a towel that Spence used to wipe sweat during a time out.
Spence missed 5 games because of that injury plus seven others. The Saints flattened out to 2-8 in the Eastern League and 16-12 overall.
Spence still led the County with a 21.9 scoring average with 350 points in 16 games.
LIVING LARGE
George (Bud) Milke had seen or played on all manner of basketball courts from his days at San Diego State to when he first took over the Mar Vista program in 1953-54.
“We used to play home games at Muni Gym, State College, and Point Loma, and practiced on asphalt,” said Milke, marveling at the beautiful facility he inherited when Milke began the Castle Park program this season.
Rip Barrett, rebounding in 53-40 victory against Chula Vista and defender Bill Ennis, led County in scoring and first-year Castle Park to Metropolitan League co-championship with Spartans.
With Rip Barrett, the only player with varsity experience, leading the County with 537 points, the Trojans surprised by tying Chula Vista for the Metropolitan League championship and posted a 23-7 record, stunning for a first-year school.
Castle Park made a quick exit from the playoffs, beaten by Lincoln, 78-55, which featured 6-5 Steve (Cord) Rippe, whose 23 points helped offset the 30 by Barrett.
BASKETS GALORE
San Diego teams were busy after Christmas, playing in the San Dieguito Mustang, Chino, Banning, Fillmore, Covina, San Bernardo Kiwanis, and Newport Optimist events.
Crawford was whacked by Downey Pius X, 76-54, in the third place game at Covina. Pius X got to the finals of the Southern Section playoffs but bowed to Long Beach Poly, 60-58.
Yucaipa defeated St. Augustine, minus Bob Spence, 56-50, for the consolation championship at Banning after the Saints lost to Palmdale, 74-65, in the quarterfinals (the Saints were called for 30 personal fouls to their opponents’ 16). La Jolla beat Castle Park, 61-53, for the Mustang championship.
San Diego outscored Antelope Valley, 44-39, in the second half but could not overcome a 21-point halftime deficit and was beaten, 76-60, in the San Bernardino consolation finals. Helix, after a 71-53 loss to Ventura and 64-47 win over Buena Park, bowed in the consolation finals to Burbank Burroughs, 71-69, at Fillmore.
CLASS A
Carlsbad (16-6) stretched its Palomar League streak to 30 wins in a row and beat Marian, 50-32 in the playoffs before losing to University (13-8) in the championship game at La Jolla, 48-44.
Helix’ Al Skalecky was on the floor during this play but commanded the backboards with 15 rebounds in Highlanders’ 65-59, Grossmont League championship-deciding win against Monte Vista. Monarch Don Hanchett made like acrobat in action around basket near Jim Sunderman (45) and Ron Slocum.
JUMP SHOTS
Morse’s Kenny Leininger set the single-game scoring pace with 49 points in a 73-71, overtime victory against El Capitan…Leininger, who scored 24 of the Tigers’ 25 fourth-quarter points, tied St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules (1956-57) for the third-highest-ever total, behind the 60 and 53 Shaules scored in 1957-58…Steve (Cord) Rippe scored 23 as Lincoln tied a school record in an 81-57 win over Granite Hills…the Hornets had 81 against La Jolla in 1958-59…a week after playing four games at Bing Crosby Hall in Del Mar in the Mustang event, Kearny went back to that venue and beat San Dieguito, 57-42, as erstwhile football stars Steve Reina (25) and Jim (Yazoo) Smith (11) paced the Komets…Reina was MVP of the Mustang but Madison’s Al Fitzmorris set the scoring record with 118 points…Al Skalecky’s 24 points led Helix to a 60-46 win over Granite Hills and his 23 rebounds were double that of any other player on the floor…after tying the school record with 32 points in a 84-66 win over Grossmont, Monte Vista’s Paul Landis broke the record with 40 in an 84-58 win over Granite Hills…led by Landis’s 27 points, 11 Monte Vista players scored in their record, 120-77 win over, you guessed it, Granite Hills…the Monarchs led at the quarters, 35-15, 61-38, and 89-57…Dennis Dunne’s basket with 5 seconds to play elevated St. Augustine past Morse, 68-66…a 74-50 victory was La Jolla’s first in 11 tries versus Clairemont…Lincoln’s 58-47 win against San Diego in the Eastern League opener was the Hornets’ sixth against 18 losses to the Cavers dating to 1953-54…Fallbrook had the highest point total of any Avocado League squad when it beat Ramona, 91-37….
2018: Brown Now Tied for Third on 1600-Meter List
There still are a couple weeks before league trials for most San Diego Section athletes, but distance runners are setting themselves up for the big meets in May.
McKenna Brown of La Costa Canyon was beaten by Mariah Castillo of Saugus in a hot 1600-meter race in the Mt. San Antonio meet at El Camino College in Torrance last week, but Brown, while displaced as the state leader, still lowered her best time to 4:45.46.
Brown moved into a San Diego Section all-time third-place tie with Santana’s Tina Allen, who covered the same distance in 1982 in the same time as Brown, who trails only Alli Billmeyer of Torrey Pines, 4:41.71 in 2011, and Darcy Arreola of Grossmont, 4:42.77 in 1986.
La Costa’s Jessica Riedman advanced to 11th all-time with a 4:51.47 effort at Mt. Sac and teammate Kristin Fahy climbed to 17th with a 4:54.54. Fahy’s 10:22.53 earlier in the month at Arcadia moved her to No. 3 all-time.
GIRLS BEST MARKS TO 4/25
Event
Name
Mark
Rank
State Leader
Mark
100 Meters
Hickey, Coronado
:11.87
10
Augustine, L.B. Poly
:11.56
200 Meters
Salongo, Mira Mesa
:24.89
NR
Augustine
:23.73
400 Meters
Aragon, Cathedral
:57.15
NR
Robinson-Jones, Oakland Bishop O’Dowd
:53.37
800 Meters
Manson, Eastlake
2:11.80
5
Brewer, San Ramon California
2:08.99
Morales, Scripps Ranch
2:13.02
11
Riedman, La Costa Canyon
2:13.80
12
1600 Meters
Brown, La Costa Canyon
4:45.46
2
Castillo, Saugus
4:43.69
Riedman
4:51.47
9
Fahy, La Costa Canyon
4:54.54
15
3200 Meters
Fahy
10:22.53
9
Denner, El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge
10:08.01
Brown, La Costa Canyon
10:38.23
19
100 Hurdles
Redon, San Diego
:14.91
NR
Hicks, Upland
:13.54
300 Hurdles
Scott, Vista
:43.44
9
Robinson-Hubbard, Calabasas
:42.31
Thomas, Torrey Pines
:44.34
14
Occiano, Cathedral
:44.46
15T
4×100 Relay
Eastlake
:48.17
21
Upland
:45.71
4×400 Relay
Mission Hills
3:55.84
16
Dana Hills
3:47.68
High Jump
Hickey
5-10
2
Glenn, L.B. Wilson
5-11
Long Jump
Hickey
19-5 ¼w
3T
Shearer, San Jose Silver Creek
20-1
Brown, Westview
18-8
20T
Triple Jump
Scott, Gompers
39-0
13
Fisher, San Jose Silver Creek
42-9
Shot put
Tuilefano, El Camino
44-5
5
Budwig, Fowler
46-9
DISCUS
Tuilefano
151-2
6
Groteger, Wheatland
168-11
Pole Vault
Cervantes,
Poway
12-6
7T
Wong, Monterey Santa Catalina
13-1
Adamiec, Poway
12-0
16T
2018 Best Marks Here And in California
San Diego Section boys’ 2018 best track and field performances through last week’s Mt. San Antonio meet, which was not held on the once-bucolic junior college campus in Walnut, instead moving about 40 miles West to El Camino College in Torrance.
San Diego marks and their rankings in parenthesis are compared below to the best in California, as supplied by Athletic.net. Listed all-time San Diego marks are for meters, which the U.S. went to in the early 1980’s.
Some of the “all-time” metric performances were bettered by performances measured in yards and feet, such as races from 220 yards to 2 miles, which are longer than those from 200 meters to 3,200 meters. The 100-meter distance in decidedly longer than 100 yards, by almost 10 yards.
