St. Bernard Swingman to Play for Northridge

Cal State Northridge has announced the signing of six athletes to national letters of intent.

Martin Smith, a 6-foot-4 swingman from Playa del Rey St. Bernard High, is the eighth player to sign with the men’s basketball team. Smith averaged 14 points and seven rebounds last season.

Forward Nicole Butler (5-10) of Upland Chaffey High and guard-forward Christine Rumfola (5-9) of Valley College are the first two players to sign with the Northridge women’s basketball team this year.

In softball, Northridge signed Jennifer Fleming of El Camino Real High, Tamara Ivie of Norco High and Kim Oakes of Long Beach City College.

Fleming is a catcher-first baseman, Ivie a shortstop, and Oakes a third baseman.

The Pacific Offshore Power Boat Racing Assn. will play host to the third Ventura Channel Dash at Ventura Harbor at 11 a.m. May 12.

More than 30 powerboats are expected to compete in the race that will begin from a starting line just outside the Ventura Harbor, run to a buoy off Santa Barbara Harbor then return to Ventura.

Among the racers is Bob Nordskog of Tarzana, who holds more than 40 national and international speed and endurance records.

Adee Pelleg, 10, of Woodland Hills, won the Level 8 state girls’ gymnastics championship at Rolling Hills High last Sunday.

Pelleg, who trains at the Junior Elite Training Center in Canoga Park, placed first in the balance beam and floor-exercise competition in winning the all-around competition with a score of 34.35. The event was sponsored by the U. S. Gymnastics Federation.

Gymnast Lindsay Orton, 12, has qualified for the USGF Level 10 Gymnastics National Championships to be held in May at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

At the Level 10 state championships, Orton swept the all-around competition, placing first in all four events.

David Taggert, a senior center-halfback at Saugus High, will represent the United States as a member of the TEAMS/USA California/North 18-Under Select Men’s Soccer team in Europe in July.

The team will begin training in the Netherlands and in Sweden with several days of intensive instruction under Dutch professional coaches.

Katie Beck, 16, of Simi Valley, was named to the United States Junior National Women’s Cycling Team. Beck, who rides with Quick Release Bicycling Club of Glendale, was selected based on her performance in last year’s nationals in which she placed fifth in the criterium and seventh in time trials in the 16-17-year-old age group.

The Conejo Valley Sidewinders will meet the Santa Ana Heat for the Southern California Youth Soccer girls’ 19-under championship today in Bakersfield.

The Sidewinders began their march to the title match in March, going 2-0-1 in pool play in the first round of the playoffs in San Diego. Included was a 2-1 win over the Heat.

On April 1, Conejo Valley beat the USA Condors of Orange County, 3-2, then stopped the Santa Anita Gators, 5-1, last weekend in the semifinals.

The Southern California Intercollegiate Women’s Rowing Regatta will be held at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard from 7 a.m. to noon May 5-6.

Teams from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Long Beach, Loyola Marymount, Santa Barbara City College, San Diego State, Santa Clara, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, University of San Diego and USC will compete.

The 2,000-meter course extends from Mandalay Bay to the West Bank Public Dock in Channel Islands Harbor.

Final awards are set for 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Peninsula Park in Oxnard.