Area Roundup : Swimming Medalists to Compete

Olympic medalists Jenna Johnson and Amy White are among those who will compete in the Southern California Swimming All-Star Qualifying Meet at East Los Angeles College Saturday.

Johnson, who will compete in the 17-18 age group Saturday, won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle, was on the winning 400-meter medley relay team and won a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke last summer.

White, who swims for the Mission Viejo Nadadores, will compete in the 15-16 age group. She was the silver medal winner in the 200-meter backstroke.

Preliminary qualifying begins at 9 a.m. and is expected to attract 557 swimmers. Final competition will begin two hours after the preliminaries are completed.

The competition will be broken down into four age groups (11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18) with the three top qualifiers of each group earning the right to face a Northern California all-star team on Jan. 19 at 10 a.m. at East L.A. College. Professional golfer Nancy Lopez is scheduled to be at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa Monday for Defending Champion Day.

For a cost of $95 per person, the public is invited to play a round of golf, have a picture taken with Lopez, attend the awards luncheon and receive a season pass for the Uniden LPGA Invitational, which will be held at Mesa Verde March 4-10. For reservations, call 432-1775. Former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rocky Bleier will be the master of ceremonies when 23 area Catholic high school players will be honored at the Faith, Family and Football’s fourth annual awards banquet Feb. 5 in the Anaheim Marriott.

UCLA football Coach Terry Donohue will be the keynote speaker.

Tickets, which are $100 per person and tax deductable, can be purchased by writing Faith, Family and Football, P.O. Box 8738, Anaheim, 92802. For information, call 774-7575.

Around the Area

Dina Amoroso of Placentia will be one of the featured participants in the 13th annual Kips-Taco Bell Gymnastics Invitational for women to be held at Cal Poly Pomona, Saturday and Sunday. Amoroso, 17, is the current Western States all-around champion as well as the California Class 1 all-around champion. Twenty teams from 13 states will take part in the competition that will be held during four sessions Saturday (10:30 a.m., 12:30, 3 and 5:30 p.m.). On Sunday, the top 12 gymnasts in each of the four events (floor exercise, vault, uneven parallel bars and balance beam) will compete at 5:30 p.m. . . . Olympic gold medalist Mike O’Brien of USC and silver medalist Michelle Mitchell of Mission Viejo headline the field that will compete in the second annual UC Irvine/General Automation Swimming Invitational Saturday and Sunday at El Toro High School. Saturday’s swimming competition begins at 9 a.m. Sunday’s competition starts at 10 a.m. The diving competition will be held at the Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo, beginning at 9 a.m. both days. . . . Sign-ups for Bolsa Little League’s 1985 season will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rosarita Park, located at Newhope and Hazard in Santa Ana. The league is open to both boys and girls, ages 6 to 15. Registration fees, which includes uniforms, insurance and photographs, are $25 for 6 and 7 year olds, $35 for 8 and 9 year olds and $40 for 10 to 15 year olds. Sign-ups are scheduled to continue three additional Saturdays, Jan. 26 and Feb. 9 and 16.