Leagues Will Have a New Look for ‘90-92

El Segundo High received a last-minute reprieve Monday when the school was switched from the Camino Real League to the San Fernando Valley League for the proposed 1990-92 releaguing cycle in the CIF-Southern Section.

Late changes in the section’s Catholic leagues were caused by the placement of Santa Margarita in a yet-to-be-named league that will include, among other schools, Bishop Amat, Mater Dei, Loyola and Servite. There had been a holdup in the placement of Santa Margarita, a three-year-old school in southeastern Orange County, because of a series of bureaucratic rulings.

The changes were welcomed by El Segundo, which was not looking forward to competing in basketball and baseball in the Camino Real League. Athletic Director John Stevenson said it would have been inequitable for the Eagles, who have not won a league title in basketball since 1967, to compete against traditionally strong teams such as Serra, St. Anthony and Verbum Dei.

Likewise, Stevenson said El Segundo’s powerful baseball team would have faced limited competition in a Camino Real League that will lose St. Bernard and Bosco Tech, its chief competitors last season, to other leagues in 1991.

Under the new configuration, El Segundo will be grouped with Bell-Jeff of Burbank, St. Genevieve of Panorama City, Harvard of North Hollywood, La Salle of Pasadena, Louisville of Woodland Hills, Flintridge Prep and St. Francis of La Canada in the San Fernando Valley League.

“We’re satisfied with that,” Stevenson said. “We voted to approve it.”

The new league will mean longer trips for the Eagles, but Stevenson said it was a small price to pay for a more balanced league.

“We’ve become accustomed to driving,” he said. “We’re willing to travel to have a competitive situation for our athletes.”

El Segundo, which joined the Southern Section’s Parochial Area in 1988, has competed in the Santa Fe League in football and basketball and in the Camino Real League in most other sports for the last two years. However, the Santa Fe League voted not to allow El Segundo to return for basketball in 1990-91.

With a declining enrollment of approximately 600 students, El Segundo joined the Parochial Area after finding it increasingly difficult to compete with larger public high schools in the Coast Area.

Miraleste, another school facing declining enrollment, has been moved from the Private Area to the Parochial Area for the 1990-92 releaguing cycle and will compete in the Camino Real League. That is, if the school remains open in 1990.

Asked if he expects Miraleste to close before next fall, Athletic Director Tom Graves said: “That’s a good possibility. Everyone at our league meetings asks that question. I really don’t have any answers.”

Graves said a clearer picture of Miraleste’s future should come after the Nov. 7 school board elections.

If Miraleste does stay open, Graves said the Marauders will have trouble competing in the Camino Real League in football and basketball.

“It’s not a good situation for us,” he said. “Football-wise, we’re going to have trouble playing teams like Serra and Verbum Dei with our 625 students. In basketball, it’s even uglier.”

Graves said Miraleste, which has already lost two appeals, will try to change leagues again. Schools must contact the Southern Section office by Nov. 28 to initiate an appeal. Appeals will then be heard on Dec. 5.

The 1990-92 releaguing cycle will also see the return of the Pioneer League in the South Bay. The league was disbanded for the 1988-90 cycle, as the area’s public high schools went from three six-team leagues (Bay, Ocean and Pioneer) to two eight-team leagues (Bay and Ocean). Miraleste was not included because it originally was expected to close in 1988, and El Segundo moved to the Parochial Area.

The new Pioneer League will bring together the four Torrance high schools (South, West, North and Torrance) and Centennial. South, West and North have competed in the Ocean League for the last two years, while Torrance has been a member of the Bay League.