CHATTER: TAFT SPRINTERS SUSPENDED.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

Four of the top female sprinters from Taft of Woodland Hills were suspended from a meet against rival Birmingham of Lake Balboa on Friday by coach Quincy Watts for an argument that took place at last week's meet against Granada Hills.

Tamra Jett, Whitney Cooper, Tori Johnson and Courtney Crosby got into a disagreement about who should participate in the girls' relays and then openly rooted against each other, according to a source within the program.

The suspensions probably ruin Taft's chances of beating Birmingham's girls' team, which has been dominating the past five years.

``We all wanted to be part of something, and the competition got out of hand,'' Jett said. ``We felt like we let our coaches down after all they've done for us. Now we feel like we don't need to get along outside of track, but on the track, we have to put everything aside and concentrate on what we need to do.''

Usually, the Taft-Birmingham boys' meet is one of the most competitive and emotional in the area, overshadowing a girls' meet that is typically one-sided. But the Taft girls are much improved and carry a 5-0 record into the meet.

That made this a tough decision for Watts - the toughest in his first year of coaching.

``It's unfortunate that it is against Birmingham,'' said Watts, the 1992 Olympic 400-meter gold medalist. ``But what I'm trying to teach to my kids is more than just winning races. You also have to use your mind in life. You have to make good, conscious decisions.''

This won't be the last Taft and Birmingham see of each other. Both will be major players in the West Valley League and City Section finals in the next two weeks.

``We'll see them in league and City and all that,'' Cooper said. ``The way I see it is when they compete against us at league, they won't think they'll have to try too hard. But they will not have seen the best Taft's got.'' ...

Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta's Jimmy Goffredo was averaging 30.8 points and 7.1 rebounds a game when he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

After not playing organized basketball in almost three months, he will compete in the Battle of the Valley all-star game Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

``I've been playing for about a month now,'' Goffredo said. ``I've been looking for a chance to play since I got hurt. I was out for those two or three months and it felt like forever. But my shot is fine now. I've been taking a couple hundred a day.''

Goffredo will play for the East team in the boys' game that starts at 7 p.m. The girls' game will be at 5 p.m.

From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., all-star coaches Kelli Dimuro (Chaminade girls), Andre Chevalier (Cleveland of Reseda boys), Byran Camacho (Bell-Jeff girls), and Terry Kelly (Campbell Hall boys) will conduct a clinic for ages 7-14. Cost is $20 and includes a basketball and ticket to the game. Information: [phone]. ...

College of the Canyons softball freshman Nicole Delfino, who is batting .522 this season, is on pace to break the school single-season batting average of .504 (Valerie Reyes, 2000). Delfino has 70 hits in 134 at-bats, and she's hit six home runs with 45 RBI and a .910 slugging percentage heading into the Southern California Regional playoffs in Cypress on Saturday. ...

Hart High of Newhall softball pitcher Lindsay Tognetti is scheduled to sign of letter-of-intent with UC Davis this morning at a ceremony at Hart.

Staff Writers Gerry Gittelson, Heather Gripp and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.