Spring Sports Notebook : Hoover Seeks Yet Another Title in Golf

Dee Kohlmeier did not need an elaborate set of records to research a reporter’s question last weekend.

How many titles had the Hoover High golf team won in his 34 years as coach?

Kohlmeier merely dropped the phone and walked to a nearby wall where four Foothill League championship patches and one Pacific League championship patch hung.

And that was that.

But Kohlmeier has more room on the wall and believes that this season’s team might force him to do a little more decorating. And if not this season, certainly the next.

Hoover (8-3, 3-0 in league matches) has no seniors on the 12-member team. Match-play rules specify that only six golfers’ scores count toward the team title. Hoover’s top six golfers are all juniors and the top reserve is a sophomore. Steve Lee has led the Tornadoes this season, averaging about 37 strokes per nine-hole round. He is followed closely by Junior Park, a transfer from Sao Paolo, Brazil. Park’s communications barrier has been avoided with the help of Robert Montgomery, one of the team’s top golfers and a native of Colombia. Brian Dissman, Andy Renfro and Robert Hatem round out the top six with the key reserve being Sean Boulton. Hoover won the Pacific League title in 1986.

“This could be a very good golf team,” Kohlmeier said. “It’s very comparable to the 1978, 12-0 team. We’ve really been blessed with depth.”

Overwhelmed: That is how swim Coach Steve Garberson predicts opposing Pacific League teams will feel when his Glendale High boys’ and girls’ teams take to the pool for the league championship in three weeks. The Glendale girls’ team (6-1, 2-0) and the boys’ team (6-1, 1-1) have done well in league competition. But Garberson said that Glendale’s depth will be the difference in the league final.

The league championship is decided in two parts. The dual meets count for half of the title. The league final meet counts for the other half. Should Glendale finish second or better in the dual-meet portion, Garberson predicts a Glendale sweep. Whereas points are awarded to swimmers who finish fifth or better in a duel meet, the league championship meet will award points through 12th place.

“We don’t have any standouts,” Garberson said. “But the entire team has improved.”

Garberson said that Glendale has never qualified a swimmer for the Southern Section meet. This season they have qualified four. But they’ll all be competing in the same race--as part of the medley relay team.

The four who swam the qualifying time of 2:04.27 are Jennifer Bartley (freestyle), Danette Wallace (backstroke), Paige Damron (breaststroke) and Jennifer DaSilva (butterfly).

Numbers race: Crescenta Valley High’s Morgan Bateman owns the fastest 800- and 1,500-meter times in the Southern Section this season. The junior has been clocked at 1:53.38 in the 800 and 3:59.88 in the 1,500.

Polling place: Several local teams were included in the top 10 in the latest Southern Section poll. The Glendale High boys’ volleyball team is ranked fourth in the 3-A Division. In the girls’ Small Schools softball poll, Flintridge Sacred Heart is ranked No. 5 and Flintridge Prep is ranked No. 7. The Crescenta Valley girls’ softball team is ranked No. 4 in the 3-A.

Add Crescenta Valley: The Falcons (14-1) this season have depended heavily on the talented pitching of Heather Lindstrom, who has continued to befuddle opposing batters. Lindstrom (14-1) pitched five innings against Arcadia on Monday, striking out 10 and walking one. In 94 innings she has struck out 147 batters and walked 9. The senior has pitched seven shutouts and two no-hitters, including a perfect game.