CHATTER: NEWS AND NOTES FROM LOCAL SPORTS ERROR COSTS BIRMINGHAM, HELPS ECR WIN TRACK TITLE.Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer Most track and field meets are decided at the finish line. The end of Birmingham High of Lake Balboa's eight-year reign atop the girls' West Valley League standings came in the press box 20 minutes after the final race. Birmingham thought it had beaten El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
Then Birmingham coach Scott King Scott Glenndale Martin King (born June 25, 1967 in Thunder Bay, Ontario) was a professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in only two National Hockey League games for the Detroit Red Wings, but is known for his great play for the Toledo Storm. was called to the press box to learn there was a scorekeeping error in Birmingham's book. A 32-point discrepancy. Two early field events were credited as a 17-1 edge for the Patriots when the Conquistadores actually won the events by that score. The result was a stunning 64-62 upset by El Camino Real, giving the Conquistadores their first track and field league title. ``It's the coaches' fault, myself included, for not being on top of things,'' King said. ``The ECR ECR Efficient Consumer Response ECR European Congress of Radiology ECR Electron Cyclotron Resonance ECR El Camino Real (Kings Highway; California) ECR Electronic Cash Register ECR East Coast Radio (South Africa) coaches stayed in the stands and kept score and knew exactly what was going on. When I'm running around setting up hurdles and running the meet, I don't have time to do that.'' With the Arcadia Invitational the next day, King checked with his scorekeeper score·keep·er n. An official who records the score throughout a game or competition. score  keep before the 3,200-meter run. Told that Birmingham had a
30-point lead, King decided to rest favorite Emmaline Hartel in the
3,200 and ran his ``B'' 1,600-relay team because the
``A'' team was running at Arcadia the next day.
Those lost points proved costly. ``I'm going to apologize to all my kids tomorrow,'' King said. ``They were very upset and did poorly on Saturday because they think their coach let them down, and they're right.'' King acknowledged his team hadn't been challenged in so long that it had become overconfident o·ver·con·fi·dent adj. Excessively confident; presumptuous. o  ver·con , which is why he didn't keep a
closer running tally of the score. The school had stopped announcing a
running score over the loudspeaker because, in many meets, the Patriots
were so far ahead that it was embarrassing to other teams.
For the Conquistadores, even being in the meet at the end against Birmingham was a huge accomplishment and shows how far they have climbed. El Camino Real wasn't competitive in the league as recently as two years ago. ``We won, and that's all I care about,'' Conquistadores coach Vic Lepisto said. ``It's the first time ECR has ever beaten Birmingham in track. It's the first year we have had athletes who could get points in every event.'' El Camino Real was led by Sarah Roth (won 800, 1,600 and anchored winning leg in the 1,600 relay), Sarah Ip (won triple jump and long jump and second in high jump) and Courtney Dunlap (won 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles). ``There was a celebration on the bus,'' Roth said. ``We were singing, 'We are the Champions.' Now the coach is going to take us all out to dinner - that was the deal if we beat Birmingham.'' Birmingham will try to regroup re·group v. re·grouped, re·group·ing, re·groups v.tr. To arrange in a new grouping. v.intr. 1. To come back together in a tactical formation, as after a dispersal in a retreat. to win the West Valley League finals and City Section title. ``This doesn't in any way hurt our chances for City,'' King said. ``Now our kids are upset, and maybe will feel they have something to prove. But we didn't lose to a bad team. This is the best El Camino team I've ever seen.'' ... Bob Webb, the girls' basketball coach at Montclair Prep High of Panorama City, has been hired as an assistant coach for the WNBA's Sparks. Webb is friends with new Sparks coach Henry Bibby Charles Henry Bibby (born November 24, 1949 in Franklinton, North Carolina) is a former professional basketball player and current assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). , with whom he played at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX in the early 1970s. An official announcement is expected to be made today. ... Josh Geiger, a cornerback from Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. and Canoga Park High, and Greg Fullerton, a punter from Pierce and Chatsworth High, have signed with Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (or "EOU") is one of seven state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the State of Oregon and belongs to the Oregon University System. . ... Pierce has received commitments from two local football standouts, wide receivers Barry Daniels from Reseda High and Joe Dickson Joe Dickson is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2007 provincial election, representing the riding of Ajax—Pickering. He is a member of the Liberal Party. from Sylmar High. Dickson originally signed with Oregon State but didn't qualify academically. He played basketball at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. this season. Pierce has hired former Sylmar High football standout and University of Washington graduate off!Tobias Brookins as a secondary coach. ... Ramona Shelburne contributed. Matthew Kredell, (818) 713-3607 matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com ATHLETES OF THE WEEK BRYAN JACKSON Senior, Burroughs of Burbank l+4Jackson led the Indians to the KSA KSA Kingdom of Saudi Arabia KSA Korean Student Association (student organization providing cultural awareness and community empowerment) KSA Knowledge, Skills & Abilities KSA Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes KSA Korean Standards Association Sunsational baseball tournament championship game at the Walt Disney World Noun 1. Walt Disney World - a large amusement park established in 1971 to the southwest of Orlando Orlando - a city in central Florida; site of Walt Disney World Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. He had three hits, including a double and a triple, and a career-high five RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in in Saturday's final against Grove City (Pa.). In a pool-play game Thursday, Jackson pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts to improve to 2-0. JORDAN TAYLOR Sophomore, Valencia l+4Taylor pitched the Vikings to victories Tuesday over Camarillo, Friday over La Serna of Whittier and Saturday over Rosary of Fullerton. She struck out 12 in Valencia's 4-3 victory over La Serna in the Brea Olinda tournament championship and 10 in a 7-3 victory over Rosary in the second round of the Woodbridge of Irvine tournament. Rosary defeated Valencia last season in the second round of the Southern Section Div. I playoffs. Taylor (6-1) has a 0.78 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 45 innings this season. UP AND COMER AISLINN SMALLING Westlake Already an accomplished age-group swimmer for the Class Aquatics club team, the Westlake High freshman has made an immediate impact in the Warriors' program. In Friday's 109-61 Marmonte League victory over visiting Newbury Park, Smalling won the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 56.06 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 5:14.96, just off her season-best 5:12.39. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 7 boxes Photo: (1) JORDAN TAYLOR (2) AISLINN SMALLING Box: (1) ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (see text) (2) UP & COMER (see text) (3) RANDOM NUMBERS (4) THEY SAID IT (5) DAY PLANNER (6) THINK YOU KNOW? (7) TRIVIA ANSWER |
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