JC NOTES / IRENE GARCIA : El Camino Sending Crowd to State Meet on Saturday

El Camino College will be well represented at the state junior college track meet Saturday at Santa Barbara City College. Fifteen individual Warriors and four relay teams have qualified.

The El Camino women’s track team, which placed third in last week’s Southern California Championships, will have a hard time defending its state title against this year’s tougher competition, but the Warriors should come away with several individual titles.

For instance, El Camino has two of the state’s top distance runners. Sophomore Sharette Garcia, last year’s 800-meter state champion, is favored to repeat. Freshman Diana Tracy is a strong bet in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter races.

Garcia, from Belize, won the 800 and 1,500 meters in the Southern California meet at Cerritos College, and Tracy, 37, swept the 3,000 and 5,000.

Adienna Thomas qualified in the 100 meters, and cross-country standout Carla Swain will run in the 3,000 meters. Julie Salas, a surprise qualifier, earned a spot in the 1,500 meters with a 4:41.49 finish at the Southern California meet.

El Camino is also expected to rack up points in the triple jump and long jump. Tiesha Holmes will compete in both events, and Sharlotte McKoy and Gail Suthern will go for triple-jump titles.

The women will also have 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams at the state meet.

The El Camino men’s team qualified seven individuals as well as 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Freshman DeAndros Long qualified by winning the 800 meters in 1:52.84 at the Southern California meet. Sophomore Keith Davis will also compete in the 800 meters, freshman David Haskell in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Khevin Pratt and Yuli Henry in the 400 meters and Phil DeMontigny in the 1,500 meters.

Curtis Mitchell, considered the state’s best triple jumper, will go for the official title in Santa Barbara. The sophomore leaped 52 feet, 5 1/2 inches at the South Coast Conference meet April 28.

Alan King, longtime Palos Verdes High boys’ soccer coach, will replace Roy Janes as the Harbor College men’s soccer coach next season.

In 17 years at Palos Verdes, King compiled a 320-118-54 mark. He led the Sea Kings to seven Bay League titles and made the CIF 4-A semifinals nine times.

His teams have won the past two CIF titles with a 33-0 record in 1989 and a 29-2-2 record this past season. At Palos Verdes, King was named league coach of the year seven times, CIF coach of the year twice and national coach of the year twice.

King will continue coaching boys’ soccer and teaching at Palos Verdes while coaching at Harbor.

Maybe Harbor first baseman Ryan Karp isn’t major league material. At least he didn’t behave like it in the Seahawks’ first playoff game against Miracosta College Friday.

In back-to-back at-bats, Karp got hit in the head by Miracosta pitcher Aaron Mirandon and he didn’t rush the mound fiercely, major league style.

The University of Miami-bound sophomore simply jogged to first base even after the second hit, which bounced off his helmet and struck his neck.

Harbor Coach Jim O’Brien said he trains players to remain calm in those situations.

“We’ve worked at it,” he said. “If you do (rush the mound), you get in a fight and guys get thrown out of the game. We don’t think it’s worth it. That’s why we don’t rush the mound first. But I’ll tell you, if they do, you can bet they’ll get a good homecoming.”

The Seahawks won that game 11-5. Mirandon gave up nine hits and six runs in five innings. The right-handed sophomore walked two and had three wild pitches.

It’s been a terrible baseball season for the entire South Coast Conference, not just El Camino. The two SCC teams that reached the playoffs were eliminated in last week’s first round.

Defending state champion Cerritos (35-7, 19-1 in the SCC) lost to Rio Hondo, and Long Beach (16-23, 10-10) got wiped out by Moorpark.

El Camino handed Cerritos its only conference loss May 3, but the Warriors had a disappointing season under interim Coach Glen LeVier. El Camino placed fourth in the five-member SCC with a 6-13-1 record and was 14-21-1 overall.

The Warriors, however, weren’t forgotten when all-conference teams were selected. Sophomore pitcher Jon Newville and sophomore infielders Cesar Rivas and Denny Hocking were named to the first team, first baseman Brian Wixom and outfielders Steve Allyn and John Otte to the second team.