Verdugo Club Gymnast Captures Top Honors in Jewel City Invitational

Cindy Tom of the Verdugo Gymnastics Club and the USA Women’s National Team won the all-around competition last weekend at the Jewel City Invitational at Glendale High.

Tom, 15, the defending champion, scored 37.40 in the event that included vault, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and floor exercise. She also took first in the individual balance beam with a 9.60.

Collen Jones, 15, of the VGC finished sixth in the all-around with a 36.10.

The meet featured competitors from California, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Canada.

University of Pennsylvania freshmen Jerry Simon, the 1986 City 3-A basketball player of the year at Marshall High, last week was named Ivy League rookie of the week.

Simon, a 6-5, 170-pound guard, scored a career-high 12 points and had 5 rebounds in the Quakers’ 94-74 victory over Dartmouth.

Simon, who broke the City record by averaging 37.9 points a game last season at Marshall, is averaging 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds through 10 games.

Joe Hillman, a three-time All-Southern Section player from Hoover High who redshirted last year at Indiana, is coming off the bench this season for the Hoosiers.

Hillman, a 6-2, 185-pound sophomore guard, is averaging 16 minutes, 3.4 points and 2 assists a game.

Hillman, also a two-time All-Southern Section baseball player at Hoover, played the outfield and hit .327 with 16 runs batted in last season for Indiana.

Harvey Mason, a three-time All-Southern Section guard from Crescenta Valley, is a reserve at Arizona.

Mason, a 6-4, 184-pound freshmen, is averaging 2.4 points and one assist a game for the Wildcats.

Mason, who averaged 27 points last season at Crescenta Valley, had a season-high 8 points against USC on Jan. 8.

USC sophomore Rich Grande, an All-Southern Section guard at Glendale High, is averaging 7.6 points and 3 assists for the Trojans.

The Occidental College men’s basketball team will play host to Redlands in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Occidental is led by senior forward Craig Kirkland, who is averaging 18 points. Kirkland is fifth in the conference in scoring.

Sophomore forward Dexter Jenkins is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers.

Two-time All-American Sheila Arredondo will lead the Occidental women’s swim team against Pomona-Pitzer in a SCIAC meet at Occidental at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Arredondo, a senior, has qualified in the 100-yard breaststroke for the NCAA Division III national championships March 12-14 at Mt. Union College in Canton, Ohio.

A baseball clinic featuring Dodgers Dave Anderson, Rick Honeycutt and Reggie Williams will be held Jan. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Glendale Civic Auditorium.

Admission is free.

Information: (818) 241-4141

The Glendale-Crescenta Valley Little League Baseball Assn. will continue signing players at six locations Saturday.

T-ball, baseball and softball leagues are open to boys and girls ages 7-18.

Signup locations are the Clark Community Center cafetorium, Babe Herman Field press box, Pacific Park, Pelanconi Park, Maple Park Community Center and the Church of the Lighted Window in La Canada.

Signups begin at 9 a.m.