SPORTSCOPE : Muir High Star to See Limited Duty in Sunkist Invitational

Defending state CIF champion Muir High of Pasadena will not be at full strength for the high school portion of the Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet at 4:30 p.m. Friday at L.A. Sports Arena.

But the Mustang girls will still have a strong contingent in the prep portion of the meet that will include more than 800 athletes.

Leading the way will be sprinter Deanna Knowles in the 50-yard dash, Akua Sutherland in the 50-yard hurdles and Rhonda Robinson in the 880-yard run. The meet will mark the high school debut of Knowles, a freshman who is already regarded among the top sprinters in the state.

She is expected to run legs on both the 640-yard and mile relays.

Muir also has the services of Inger Miller, considered the top sprinter in the nation. But Coach Jim Brownfield said Miller will be limited to participating in the relays at the Sunkist meet.

“Inger has missed most of the team’s informal preseason workouts since October due to her commitments to the Tournament of Roses as a rose princess,” Brownfield said. “So in her best interest we feel it is safer to prevent a possible early-season injury by not subjecting her to compete in too many events.”

The Mustangs will also be represented in the boys division of the meet. Hassan McCullough will compete in the 880-yard run and Muir is also entered in the seeded 8 x 160 relay.

Perhaps the top individual performer from the San Gabriel Valley competing is Walnut’s Juliana Yendork. Considered the top prep long jumper and triple jumper in the nation, she won the state title in both events last season. Yendork posted best marks of 20-9 in the long jump and 42-6 3/4 in the triple.

Another strong participant in the jumping events is Billy Ivey of Nogales in the triple jump. He was among the top performers in the state last season. Kendrick Washington of Rowland will also compete in the high jump.

The valley will have several runners in distance events.

Suzanne Castruita of West Covina is entered in the seeded mile and Bernice Santoyo of Mountain View, Wendy Griffith of Walnut and Laura Sansom of Glendora in the rated mile. Among the boys, Angel Martinez of San Gabriel will compete in the two-mile run and Bill Brannigan of Glendora and Ryan Polite of Walnut in the mile.

Citrus College of Glendora has placed two football players on the California Community College Football Coaches Assn. All-State Team.

Tight end Steve Schell, a sophomore from Charter Oak High in Covina, was named to the first team and place-kicker Tim Gutierrez, a sophomore from Bonita of La Verne, made the second team.

An honorable mention all-state performer last season, the 6-5 and 238-pound Schell finished his Citrus career with 59 receptions for 923 yards and four touchdowns and ranks second on the school’s all-time list in catches.

Gutierrez, 5-8 and 180, made nine of 14 field-goal attempts and 26 of 28 point-after tries for 53 points last season.

Sophomore defensive lineman Wes Clausen, sophomore quarterback Matt Ipsen and sophomore center Armando D’Avila received honorable mention.

Ipsen, a former Glendora High standout, completed 300 of 579 passes for 4,146 yards and 30 touchdowns in his two seasons at Citrus.

The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team will attempt to keep its perfect California Collegiate Athletic Assn. record when it visits Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 5:45 p.m. Saturday.

Pomona, ranked No. 4 in the first NCAA Division II poll of the season, enters the game at 2-0 in the CCAA and 13-3 overall. San Luis Obispo is 1-1 in conference play and 6-9 overall.

Pomona, which has won or shared the conference title the last eight seasons, won its first two CCAA games by scores of 78-50 over Cal State Dominguez Hills and 80-68 over Chapman.

The Broncos have been led by senior center Niki Bracken, who scored 33 points against Chapman and 21 against Dominguez Hills. Two other scoring leaders are forward Marcine Edmonds and reserve center Danielle Carter.

San Luis Obispo lost to Cal State Northridge, 68-65, and defeated Cal State Los Angeles, 73-52, in its first two conference games last week.