Tennis Jewels Shine Brightest in San Marino’s Three Crowns

It’s quite a racket they have going at San Marino High School.

A tennis racket, that is.

San Marino was one of only three schools in the Southland--along with Agoura and Woodbridge--to win three CIF Southern Section titles during the 1987-88 prep season, and the Titans have their tennis program to thank most.

The Titans won the girls CIF 3-A Division tennis title last November and the boys 3-A net championship June 1. Toss in a 3-A title in boys swimming May 14 and it adds up to a pretty good sports year for San Marino.

It sounds even better when you consider that the Titans also advanced to the 2-A semifinals in water polo last November, third in girls swimming in May and reached the CIF playoffs in football, baseball, boys soccer, girls volleyball and girls basketball.

An all-around sports success, indeed.

But there is little doubt about which sport has been best for San Marino in recent years.

Not when the girls tennis team has won Southern Section divisional titles five of the last six years--including three in a row--and the boys tennis team has finished first in its division for two straight seasons.

The championships put the finishing touch on perfect seasons for both teams. The San Marino girls finished with a 25-0 record and the boys were 20-0.

San Marino beat undefeated Laguna Hills, 13-5, in the girls title match behind the play of Su-Lin Kong and Roxy Protasovicki in singles and Caryn Cranston and Amy Okum in doubles.

That also extended San Marino’s winning streak in match play to 73 and gave the Titans three consecutive undefeated seasons. The last loss was to Westlake in the 3-A semifinals in 1984.

The San Marino boys haven’t approached numbers such as those in recent years. But with their 12-6 win over Los Alamitos in the 3-A finals, the Titans captured their school’s 15th title in boys tennis.

Leading the way were senior Andrew Sheppert and junior John Fruttero, who had also played key roles the previous season.

Tennis may have overshadowed the Titans success in boys swimming. Behind freestyler John Cady, San Marino outdistanced runner-up Loyola by 87 points (180-93) to win the 3-A title.

Cady, who led the Titans to their first title since 1978 and fifth in school history, won the 50-yard freestyle in a division-record 20.71 seconds and finished second in the 100-yard freestyle. He also swam a leg for San Marino’s second-place 200-yard medley relay team.

Four other schools finished with two titles apiece.

Arroyo captured 3-A titles in boys cross-country and boys track; Diamond Bar won championships in 5-A baseball and 3-A boys soccer; Maranatha in 1-A girls cross-country and 1-A girls volleyball and Rosemead in 3-A wrestling and 3-A co-ed badminton.

Winning Southern Section titles has been nothing new to Arroyo in recent years. With its cross-country and track titles, Arroyo is the only school from the valley that has won CIF titles in each of the last four years. The Knights won the CIF Southeastern Conference football and 2-A cross-country crowns in the 1986-87 season, 2-A girls softball in 1985-86 and 4-A girls gymnastics in 1984-85.

Arroyo’s biggest success in recent years has been in boys cross-country, and that was never more apparent than this season. Not only did the Knights win the Southern Section 3-A title, they also won the first state Division I championship and were ranked No. 1 in the nation by one publication.

The Knights saved their best for the state meet. Arroyo placed five runners among the top 37 finishers to score 41 points and easily outdistance second-place Dana Hills (115). Leading the way were Jaime Ortega in fourth place in 15:23, Jeff Gilkey in sixth (15:29) and Derrick Powers in 10th (15:31).

Considering that the Knights won the cross-country title, it was not surprising that they carried their success over to boys track. Arroyo outscored runner-up Upland, 46 to 26 3/4, to win its first 3-A title May 22.

The Knights were led by 6-8, 275-pound senior Rick Fuller, who won the shot put with a toss of 60-6 and discus at 170-9, and Mike Dietch, who took the pole vault at 15-0. Powers contributed by finishing second in the 3,200 meters.

Arroyo’s football team which finished second in the CIF Southeastern Conference after winning the title the year before. The Knights were blasted by Cajon, 44-6, in the championship game last December but finished with a 10-4 record.

It was also a big sports year for Diamond Bar, which added to its growing tradition in baseball and boys soccer with titles. Diamond Bar also reached the divisional quarterfinals in football, boys basketball and girls softball.

The Brahmas claimed their second baseball title in the school’s six-year history with a 3-2 victory over Esperanza in the 5-A title game June 4 at Anaheim Stadium. Diamond Bar captured the 2-A title in 1985 and has won its league championship the last four years.

Diamond Bar, which finished 24-7, won its latest title behind the pitching of Paul Spere and Tony Darden and the hitting of outfielder Jim Edmonds.

The Brahmas made it back-to-back 3-A championships in boys soccer behind the play of senior forward Ahmed Meguid, who was named the top offensive player in the division. Diamond Bar defeated Dominguez, 4-2, in the final in March.

But perhaps no school enjoyed as much success in one day as Maranatha last Nov. 14. That was the day that the Minutemen captured their first 1-A girls volleyball title, second straight 1-A girls cross-country championship and finished second in 1-A boys cross-country.

Maranatha won its volleyball crown behind outside hitter Susan Dueker and middle blocker Colleen Moore as the Minutemen defeated Ontario Christian (15-13, 15-6 and 15-11) in the final. They ran away with the 1-A championship in girls cross-country, sparked by Miriam Cordero, who finished fifth in the 1-A in 20:15.

Cordero improved her time to 19:47 two weeks later in pacing Maranatha to its first state Division III title by 21 points over second-place University of San Diego.

The other school to win two championships was Rosemead, which took the 3-A wrestling and 3-A co-ed badminton titles.

The Panthers won their second Southern Section wrestling title in the last three years in February behind Freddie Gomez, who captured the 129-pound division, and Robert Kawamura, who finished second at 115. Rosemead outdistanced Mission Valley League rival Keppel, 166 1/2 to 130, for first.

Rosemead won its first badminton title with a come-from-behind 11-8 victory over Covina on May 24.

Two other schools, San Gabriel in girls volleyball and Walnut in boys cross-country, took Southern Section titles and went on to win state championships.

With 6-4 senior middle blocker Rachel Norris leading the way, San Gabriel captured its first 3-A title with a 15-7, 14-16, 15-10 and 15-10 win over Agoura last Nov. 14. Three weeks later Norris, who was named 3-A most valuable player, came through with 23 kills to carry the Matadors to an easy 15-6, 15-3, 15-11 win over Harbor of Santa Cruz for the state Division II title.

Walnut also had an easier time winning at the state level than in the Southern Section. Paced by sophomore cross-country sensation Scott Hempel, who won in 15:16, the Mustangs scored 74 points to win their second straight CIF 2-A cross-country crown by two points over Agoura on Nov. 14.

Hempel turned in a slower time of 15:22 at the state meet two weeks later but it was more than enough to finish first and lead Walnut to the state Division II title with 40 points, 23 ahead of second-place Corona del Mar.

Among other valley teams to take Southern Section titles, Northview of Covina won its first football championship and Covina finished first in baseball for the third time in 10 years.

Headed by quarterback Bill Gallis, Northview won the CIF Eastern Conference title with a 21-18 victory over defending champion Los Altos in December. Gallis was selected the conference most valuable player.

Covina had to beat Valle Vista League and cross-town rival South Hills to win the CIF 4-A baseball championship. With senior pitcher Paul Branconier tossing a three-hitter, Covina scored an 8-1 victory June 4 at Anaheim Stadium.

Mayfield of Pasadena won its third straight 1-A girls tennis title last November with a 15-3 victory over St. Joseph of Santa Maria behind the play of No. 1 singles player Emillene Hernandez; Azusa won its first 1-A boys cross-country crown last November by one point over Maranatha with the help of a second-place finish by Fili Arizmendi and third-place showing from Mike Bailey, and Arcadia won the 3-A championship in boys volleyball with a 15-13, 15-13 and 15-3 victory over Glendale in May.

Two other schools that finished second in the Southern Section in basketball but advanced to the state tournament were Bishop Amat and Los Altos.

Bishop Amat lost to Mater Dei, 74-65, in the 5-A boys final before losing to eventual state champion Manual Arts, 94-91, in the first round of the state Division I tournament in March. Los Altos was defeated by Palos Verdes in the 3-A girls final (52-47) before falling again to the Sea Kings in the state Division II regional semifinals (62-48).

Both schools made their first-ever appearances in the Southern Section final and state tournament.