LONG BEACH MARATHON

Joe Carlson--The founder of the Long Beach Marathon says he expects about 3,500 participants in Sunday’s race. “The field has increased,” he said. A good deal of that is the result of moving the event from early February to May. When the Los Angeles Marathon began three years ago, its early-March date forced many runners to choose between the two, since most do not like to run in marathons if they have less than a month’s preparation.

TRACK AND FIELD LaShawn McBride, Poly High School--Her winning leap of 5 feet, 9 inches at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational last week positions her as the front-runner for a CIF Southern Section title in the high jump. Earlier in the season she went 5 feet, 10 inches, but has done better than that is practice. Statewide, only Mary Prince of Paradise High in Northern California has a better height this year. Prince has gone 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches.

Marcus Hooks, Long Beach City College--His 53-feet- 3/4-inch distance in the triple jump was wind-aided, but still held as a new community college meet record at Mt. SAC last week. His previous best was 52 feet, 5 inches. He is expected to contend for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in 1988.

BASEBALL Amit Kothari, Whitney High School--The junior utility fielder will play all nine positions Friday afternoon when the Wildcats host St. Michael Prep of Orange at Cerritos Park East. Coach Bill Crissman said Kothari probably will open the game at catcher, then pitch the second inning. He will finish in the outfield in the seventh inning, where he will play one out in each of the three positions. (High school games are seven innings.) “He has played virtually every position since he’s been here,” Crissman said. “I thought this would be a unique thing for him to do.”

Troy Abato, Lakewood High School--When Jordan High School beat Lakewood, 7-6, recently, the senior pitcher surrendered the winning run. It was the first run he has allowed in two years and more than 50 innings.

Pat Sweet, Cerritos College--The pitcher leads the state’s community colleges with a 0.96 earned-run average. The Falcons are the top-rated team in California.

Trevor Eldridge, Cerritos High School--The senior shortstop has stolen 31 bases this season.

SOFTBALL Gordon’s Panthers--The girls softball team, competing as the lone U.S. entrant, captured the women’s softball title at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, recently. The U.S. defeated Puerto Rico, 3-0, for the title. The Panthers are girls from the Southeast area of Los Angeles County and the southwest section of Orange County. The team was invited to participate in the games. Many of the players are on high school teams in the CIF Southern Section.

DeDe Weiman, Gahr High School--The sophomore pitcher helped the Gladiators win the Woodbridge Irvine Tournament recently by hurling three no-hitters during the event. She is a member of the Gordon’s Panthers team that competed in Peru and is considered one of the best pitchers in the CIF Southern Section.

BASKETBALL Cindy Brown, Cal State Long Beach--The two-time All-American forward has been selected for the U.S. national women’s basketball team that will compete in the Pan American Games in Indianapolis from Aug. 7 to 20.

Penny Toler, Cal State Long Beach--The 49er guard has been chosen by the Amateur Basketball Assn. of the United States to play on a team in an international pre-Olympic tournament during August in Seoul, Korea.

Andre Wiley, Compton College--The state community college co-player of the year will play at the University of Oklahoma next season.

Bryan Williams, Cerritos College--The 5-foot-9 guard will play at San Diego State.

Suzette Sargeant, Orange High School--The 6-foot-3 center will play for the women’s basketball team at Cal State Long Beach. She averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds a game as a high school senior.

Bridgette Eaves, South Gate High School--The 5-foot-10 player was named co-most valuable player in the Eastern League of the CIF City Section. She averaged 17.4 points and 18 rebounds a game. Martha Ramirez of Garfield High shared the award.

Corey Hoffert, California High School--The boys co-MVP of the Whitmont League is unsure of his college plans, but said he has been contacted by the University of Redlands, Sonoma State and Whittier College.

Corey Jennings, Norwalk High School--The All-Suburban League post player has decided to attend Cerritos College after considering Rio Hondo College.

Butch LeNoue, Schurr High School--The two-time Foothill League selection says he will probably enroll at Citrus College in Glendora, rather than his home community college, Rio Hondo.

Matt Bowley, Whitney High School--The two-time Times All-Southeast selection says he wants to concentrate on his studies in college and probably will not play basketball.

RADIO Money Radio--KMNY-AM, Pomona, which offers a format of financial news and sports, hopes to broadcast both Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach football and basketball action this fall. Some Long Beach games were broadcast on the station last season when it was known as KWOW. According to Operations Director Bob Gourley, the station also is considering broadcasting a Friday night “prep football game of the week” that would include some games between teams in the Southeast area of Los Angeles County.

STREAK SNAPPED Compton High School--A 6-3 baseball victory at Wilson High last week snapped a 32-game Moore League losing streak. Compton High had not beaten a league opponent in more than two years.

HONORS Bobby Grich--The California Angels will honor their retired second baseman from Wilson High School in pregame ceremonies Friday night.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Jack Bogdanovich, Cerritos College--The Falcon basketball coach says the early college signing period for high school athletes has made post-season recruiting easier at the junior college level. Nevertheless, he finds it has some real drawbacks. “The early signing period is bad for kids,” he says. “Now college coaches are recruiting players in the 10th grade based on their potential, not on what they have proven they can do in high school.”