CHATTER: TAFT QUARTERBACK CHOOSES UTAH.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer Taft High of Woodland Hills senior quarterback Josh Portis has orally committed to play at University of Utah The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U or the UU), located in Salt Lake City, is the flagship public research university in the state of Utah, and one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education. next season, choosing the No. 11 Utes over LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit , Oklahoma and Oregon, among other schools. ``He's going for the right reasons, a combination of school and athletics,'' Taft coach Troy Starr said. ``He's excited about his choice and he's looking forward to that phase in his life.'' ... Rarely does a program that won just one game the previous year generate so much excitement three months before its season opener. Approximately 40 players are in the process of trying out for a Valley College baseball College baseball is baseball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. Compared to American football and basketball in the United States, college competition plays a less significant contribution to cultivating team that is hoping new coach Dave Mallas can do the same for the Vaqueros that he did for Mission College, a program he built into one of the Western State Conference's best in just two seasons. ``The kids are excited,'' Mallas said. ``The coaching staff is excited. The buzz around school is very neat. Valley's a bigger school than Mission, so being able to see it on a larger level is neat.'' Valley had a combined three victories the past two years and has not had a winning season since the mid-1990s. But there is good reason to believe that could change this season. Valley has had an influx of talent, including four of Mallas' former Mission players. One is former Poly High of Sun Valley standout Eddie Baeza, who earned WSC WSC Winter Symposium on Chemometrics WSC Winter Simulation Conference WSC Wayne State College WSC Westfield State College (Westfield, MA) WSC Western State College (Colorado) and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Player of the Year honors last season. Fellow former Dodgers draftee D.J. Lewis also is in the mix after the All-City catcher from San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. spent his freshman season at Arizona. Other transfers include former Grant of Van Nuys standouts Jake Buttikofer and Jeremy Harrison Jeremy Harrison (born January 29, 1978) is a former Canadian Member of Parliament for the riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, a riding that encompasses the northern half of the province of Saskatchewan. , who transferred from Pasadena City College. ``I think it's going to be a good thing,'' Mallas said. ''There's a lot of optimism around here, but I don't want to set expectations too high.'' The challenge of reviving a struggling program was one Mallas said he couldn't turn down despite Mission's success. ``I did have a good thing going there,'' Mallas said. ``We got that program started off on the right foot. I just felt this was an opportunity for me to grow. ... It's just a good challenge for me to show what kind of coach I am, if I can do the same thing again.'' ... Crespi of Encino plans to honor former Celt Steve Boron boron (bōr`ŏn) [New Gr. from borax], chemical element; symbol B; at. no. 5; at. wt. 10.81; m.p. about 2,300°C;; sublimation point about 2,550°C;; sp. gr. 2.3 at 25°C;; valence +3. on Friday during the football team's home game against Cathedral. Boron, a 1974 graduate, is fighting terminal brain cancer. He is being honored for his athletic achievements and for his citizenship. Boron was an All-Southern Section player for the 1973 Crespi football team that reached the 4A finals. He also is an Air Force veteran and a former Top Gun pilot. ... Cal State Northridge's Willie Sims Willie Sims (born January 18, 1984 in Guatemala City) is a Guatemalan-born soccer player, who currently plays forward for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. He was drafted in the 2nd round (23rd overall) of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. was named the Big West player of the week and also was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the week after scoring three goals in two wins last week. ... Michelle Greco of Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. of La Crescenta and 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 soon could add a WNBA WNBA Women's National Basketball Association WNBA World Ninepin Bowling Association WNBA Wannabe Nasty Boys Association WNBA Women's National Book Association, Inc. WNBA Warszawski Nurt Basketu Amatorskiego champion to her long list of basketball achievements. Greco is a rookie guard for the Seattle Storm For the soccer team of the same name, see . The Seattle Storm is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Seattle, Washington. In 2004, led by Australian basketball star Lauren Jackson and University of Connecticut star Sue Bird, the team brought the , which faces Connecticut tonight in the deciding game of the WNBA finals. ... Will Hindle-Katel of the Harvard-Westlake of Studio City boys' water polo got good news and bad news about an injured knee that has sidelined him most of the season. The Stanford-bound senior has resumed practicing with a brace on his leg and is expected to be back in the lineup within a few weeks, however, he will need surgery on the knee after the season. ... Heather Gripp contributed to this report. Vincent Bonsignore, (818) 713-3612 vincent.bonsignore(at)dailynews.com ATHLETES OF THE WEEK JOSH PORTIS Senior Taft of Woodland Hills Narbonne of Harbor City grabbed the title of City favorite in football after beating Dorsey in Week One. Now Taft has that honor, thanks to Portis. The quarterback threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 109 yards and two scores as Taft routed Narbonne 35-13 on Friday. Portis, who has scholarship offers, has 13 passing touchdowns and six rushing in five games. BRIDGET BALLARD Junior Harvard-Westlake of Studio City The cross-country runner got off to a fast start at the Clovis Invitational in Fresno on Saturday morning. She held off a late charge to finish fourth in the small schools' division with a time of 19 minutes, 6 seconds. Ballard came on strong for Harvard-Westlake as a freshman, then grew 5 inches her sophomore year. She's looking as strong as she did two years ago. ``She was really excited that her time was back to where it was in the ninth grade,'' coach Kim Hieatt said. ``She's worked really hard.'' UP AND COMER SARAH Sarah or Sarai: see Sara. Sarah (flourished early 2nd millennium BC) In the Hebrew scriptures, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. She was childless until age 90. SALVO Freshman Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks The 14-year-old U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur golf qualifier has combined meticulous routine with a free-flowing swing into two rounds of par or better this season. She has the area's second-best round - a 3-under-par 34 at Woodley Lakes - and combines with sophomore and returning Daily News All-Area player Faith De Guzman to lead the Knights' bid for a second consecutive Mission League title. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 4 boxes Photo: (1) JOSH PORTIS (2) BRIDGET BALLARD (3) SARAH SALVO Box: (1) ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (see text) (2) UP AND COMER (see text) (3) STATILICIOUS (4) ON DECK: Highlights of the coming week |
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