Olympic Relay Medalist Proves She’s No Slouch as Collegiate Body Builder

Until now, Sherri Howard of Cal State Los Angeles has gained acclaim solely for her ability as a track sprinter.

That’s understandable, considering that Howard won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team in the 1984 Summer Olympics

Now meet Sherri Howard the body builder.

Howard, who recently led Cal State L.A. to an eighth-place finish in the NCAA Division I track finals, showed that she is more than just a track star at the recent Cal State Los Angeles body-building championships.

Competing against the top female body builders in the school, Howard impressed the judges enough to finish second behind Rose-Maria Allen of Pasadena.

It was Howard’s first body-building competition.

If you thought the prep sports season was over, guess again.

The summer prep season goes into full swing Saturday with the start of the 18th annual Los Angeles Games, formerly the Watts Summer Games, at sites throughout the Southland.

San Gabriel Valley-area teams will be competing in most sports, including basketball, football and soccer.

Among the top valley teams competing in the 128-team basketball tournament are Pomona, Damien, Bosco Tech, Bonita, Diamond Bar and Pasadena. Defending state champion Crenshaw is the favorite.

In the football competition, which has 64 teams, Muir, San Marino, Blair and Keppel are considered among the top Valley teams. Blair meets Keppel in a first-round game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Valley College in Van Nuys.

Muir also is one of the favorites in the 45-team soccer tournament. Other top Valley teams competing include perennial CIF powers Bosco Tech, Claremont and Ganesha.

The finals in all sports are June 30 at Valley College.

Who says nobody is perfect?

Three San Gabriel Valley prep teams were among 21 squads that finished their respective seasons as undefeated champions.

Two of the three were from Diamond Bar. The football team finished with a 14-0 record to win the CIF Southeastern Conference and the girls tennis team went 26-0 en route to the CIF 1-A Division title.

The other was Claremont, which posted a 14-0 mark to win the CIF Eastern Conference football championship.