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Banning-Carson at Home Depot Center

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From Staff Reports

Wilmington Banning and Carson will take part in the first football game played at the Home Depot Center in Carson on Nov. 6.

The game will take place in the complex’s 27,000-seat soccer facility that has been home to the Galaxy and served as host to the Women’s World Cup. Home Depot Center officials, however, are expected to soon sign off on staging some Southern Section football championship games.

Rosie Martinez, assistant principal at Carson, said the school and the complex came to an agreement in September. The high school forged a relationship with Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the complex, during negotiations with the city of Carson and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

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“One of the hardest things was to come up with a date especially with the potential of the Galaxy in the playoffs,” Martinez said. “We’re hoping this is going to be a long-term relationship but right now we want to see it work for one year.”

The idea was hatched by Carson Principal Doug Waybright.

“We’ve had some great athletic success here,” Waybright said. “We’ve won City titles. We’ve gone to Dodger Stadium [for the City baseball championships]. Having this in your own backyard is awesome.”

When the two rivals were among the best in Southern California in the 1970s and ‘80s, crowds in excess of 15,000 and 20,000 were common and the games were held at such places as Veterans Stadium in Long Beach and East L.A. College. Crowds of that size have been on the wane.

-- Eric Stephens

Members of the Cypress girls’ cross-country team were literally jumping for joy Saturday after learning they had finished second to Anaheim Esperanza in the Division I race at the Orange County championships at Irvine Regional Park in Orange.

The Centurions were happy to have beaten traditional Orange County powers such as Irvine Woodbridge, Fountain Valley and Dana Point Dana Hills. But they were doubly satisfied to have accomplished the feat four days after well-liked Cypress Coach Marc Ware was fired for violating Southern Section rules.

“We didn’t even expect this,” Cypress junior Lauren Jirges said after finishing eighth. “We found out [about the firing] Tuesday so we were freaking out for a while. It’s been a hard week emotionally.”

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For the fifth year in a row, the Newhall Hart girls’ cross-country team is being paced by a runner named Russell.

It would be incorrect to assume that freshman Brooke Russell has the same attitude toward cross-country as her sister Whitney, now a freshman at California.

Brooke, who is undefeated entering the Division I-II individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Saturday, is favored to win the Foothill League title this year, just as her sister did as a freshman.

“Whitney would kind of go through the motions to get ready for track,” Hart Coach Larry David said. “Brooke is more into it than that. She doesn’t mind the three-mile distance.”

John Ortega

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Jason Corder, one of the top power-hitting outfielders in Southern California, has committed to California. Corder is a senior at Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley.

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