STAT WATCH : Taft, Reseda Share Qualifying Honors

Valley schools qualified 58 individuals and nine relay teams for the state track and field championships in Sacramento this weekend, compared to 57 individuals and four relay teams a year ago. Taft and Reseda each produced seven qualifiers, Thousand Oaks had six and San Fernando had five for this year’s meet.

Taft is the first boys team in 12 years--not six as previously reported--to win consecutive City Section track titles. Gardena (1974-75) was the last to repeat.

Valley-area athletes won five events at Friday’s Masters track meet at Cerritos College. Individual victories went to Rio Mesa’s Travis Cooksey (800 meters), Notre Dame’s Tom Parker (pole vault), Crespi’s Russell White (triple jump) and Royal’s Dave Bultman (shotput, discus).

Stroke streak: Westlake’s golf team, which successfully defended its Southern Section title last Tuesday, remains undefeated this season. The Warriors were 18-0 in dual meets and won four tournaments. Westlake has won 53 consecutive dual matches, dating to 1985.

Sounds familiar: J.R. Smith of Montclair Prep tied a Southern Section record for most hits in a game with six in his team’s 12-4 playoff win over Fillmore on Friday. Smith, who raised his average 41 points to a team-leading .422, tied the mark set in 1981 by--among others--Toi Cook of Montclair Prep, now a starter at Stanford. . . . Montclair Prep, which has 10 players batting better than .300, had a .357 team batting average going into Tuesday’s playoff game. . . . Kennedy designated-hitter Gino Tagliaferri fell six runs batted in short of winning the Mid-Valley League triple crown. Tagliaferri, a sophomore, led the league in batting (.463) and home runs (5), but finished third in RBIs (23) behind Birmingham’s Ernie Perez (29) and Kennedy teammate Vladimir Pajcin (25). . . . Perhaps the area’s best middle-infield combination this season was Birmingham’s pair of Perez, a shortstop, and second baseman Damon Buford, who batted .424 and .458. . . . Peter Salehyar of North Hollywood finished with an East Valley League-high six home runs, and teammate Danny Spector led the league with 20 stolen bases. . . . Seven Poly regulars were named first or second-team All-East Valley, including senior shortstop and league MVP Danny Gil and junior outfielder Luis Porres, who made the list for the second straight year.