Walls Qualifies for National Meet

Defending San Diego Section girls’ diving champion Kristen Walls, a senior-to-be at Monte Vista High School, qualified for the U.S. national senior outdoor diving championships during a preliminary meet at USC Saturday.

Walls qualified by finishing second in the 1-meter springboard to Julie Handren of Mission Viejo. Handren scored 358.50 points, to 344.95 for Walls.

Erin Hoese, who will be a senior at Point Loma High, finished 13th. Kim Loft, who will be a senior at Mira Mesa, was 15th.

Walls was the first female from San Diego to qualify for the nationals since Lisa Simmonds in 1980; Simmonds is now Walls’ coach. The 1988 nationals will be held July 21-24 at Irvine.

VOLLEYBALL

The San Diego Volleyball Club’s 18-and-under girls’ team finished third at the U.S. Volleyball Assn. Junior National Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.

San Diego, the No. 1-seeded team entering the tournament, lost in the losers’ bracket final to Cal Juniors of Orange County, 14-16, 15-11, 15-4.

Setter Cheri Boyer of San Diego was named most valuable player, and outside hitter Carolyn Taeatafa earned first-team All-American honors. Heidi West of San Diego was named an honorable mention All-American.

Cal Juniors handed the Orange County Volleyball Club its first loss of the tournament, 15-13, 15-12, then scored a 15-10 victory in a sudden-death game for the title.

BASKETBALL

Dee Dee Duncan scored 25 points and Elaine Nelson 24 as Justice for All defeated Blind Faith, 88-65, in a women’s division game of the Supreme Court pro-am basketball league at Grossmont College.

San Diego State All-American Chana Perry scored 24 points and had 25 rebounds for Blind Faith.

In the men’s division, The Crown improved to 4-0 with a 104-99 victory over Pious Players. Nate Barnett and Tony Clark each score 23 for The Crown. Duane Hurd scored 30 for Pious Players.

Courageous Endurance defeated Understanding, 91-90, as Jonath Nicholas scored 34 points. Grossmont College’s Kevin Celestine scored 42 for Understanding.

Games today will be at noon, 1:15 and 2:45 at Grossmont. Admission is free.

AUTO RACING

San Diego continues to lead the American City Racing League standings.

With a third-place finish last weekend in Spokane, San Diego scored 172 points and has 944 this season to retain the lead in the first-year league.

Dick Gamble finished third to pace San Diego’s effort in Spokane. Paul Haas took 16th and Peter Zarcades ended up 22nd.

San Francisco trails San Diego by 37 points. Oakland is third with 826 points.

The next ACRL event is scheduled for July 30 in Portland, Ore.

BIATHLON

The fourth annual Sri Chinmoy Biathlon, featuring a 1-mile swim and 10K run, will be held in La Jolla on July 17.

Race-day registration begins at 5:30 a.m. The swim starts at La Jolla Cove at 7 a.m.

This event is sanctioned by the Triathlon Federation and participants must be Tri-Fed members to race. You may register for Tri-Fed on race day.

Cost is $20 and includes a shirt, awards and refreshments. For information, call 282-4116.