Sports DIGEST : Oliver Earns Berth in National Finals

Steve Oliver of Calabasas won the SoCal Junior Sectionals 18-and-under singles title Sunday at the Los Caballeros Racquet Club in Fountain Valley.

The victory advances Oliver to the National Hard Courts tournament Monday at Burlington, Calif., and to the National Clay Courts tournament July 21-28 in Louisville, Ky.

Oliver, who is seeded No. 1 in the tournament’s singles competition, defeated Steven Jung of Hacienda Heights, 7-6, 6-4, in the finals. In five days of competition, Oliver did not lose a set.

He defeated Ernesto Garza of San Ysidro, 6-2, 6-4; Craig Whitteker of Oceanside, 6-4, 6-3; Greg Faila of Ramona, 6-2, 6-1, and Woody Yokum of Spring Valley, 6-3, 6-4.

In his first year of 18-and-under competition, Oliver, 17, almost won the doubles title. Oliver and his partner, Steve Wiere, had reached the semifinals Saturday, but Wiere’s car had a flat tire on his way to the tournament and the duo was forced to default.

Jones’ Pass Does Groff a Good Turn

An unlucky break for Davy Jones of of McGraw, N.Y., put Super-Vee driver Mike Groff of Northridge back into second place in the Sports Car Club of America’s point standings after a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Meadowlands Grand Prix in East Rutherford, N.J.

Jones, who was second in points going into the race, was penalized one lap at the race’s end for passing the pace vehicle. The penalty lap put Jones 14th in the race, third in the standings.

Groff, however, wasn’t the top finisher of three local drivers in this year’s 12-race Super Vee circuit.

Dave Kudrave of La Canada took fourth behind winner Ken Johnson of Russellville, Ala. It was Kudrave’s best finish of the five races run this season and good enough to move him from 14th to 10th in the point standings.

Mike Hooper of Woodland Hills came in ninth at Meadowlands, which moved him from 10th to ninth in the point standings.

The next race will be held Sunday at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sharks Postpone Surfing in South Africa

Willy Morris, 22, of Woodland Hills will continue competing today in the South African segment of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals world tour after Tuesday’s contest in Durban was postponed because of sharks.

Boogie Board riders in Durban, a seaport on the east coast of South Africa, spotted sharks after anti-shark nets were washed out by a high tide. Contest officials say the nets will replaced and sharks removed from the contest area.

Morris, who graduated from Taft High and attended Pierce College, is one of more than 100 surfers on the 11-month, 20-event tour that started in May in Japan and ends in April in Sydney, Australia.