Hancock Chosen Athlete of the Year

Ryan Hancock of Cupertino’s Monta Vista High was chosen ahead of three San Diego nominees as Cal-High Sports boys’ Athlete of the Year, it was announced Wednesday.

According to Mark Tennis of Cal-High Sports of Long Beach, Brigham Young University-bound Hancock, the state football player of the year and a pitcher on the state baseball team of the year, edged Christian’s Tony Clark, University City’s Jerome Price and Fallbrook’s Brent Noon.

Clark was the medium-sized school Athlete of the Year and an outfield selection on the medium school all-state baseball team. Julian’s Travis Denmark was named to the all-state small school team.

Three area players were selected to the large school all-state team: Poway senior pitcher Danny Miller, Grossmont junior catcher Todd Cady and Grossmont senior outfielder John Tatum. Grossmont (29-2), the San Diego Section 2-A champion, was the runner-up team of the year and the only statewide school to place two players on the team.

San Diego also placed four juniors on the underclassman all-state team: Cady, USDHS outfielder David Sanchez, and Castle Park’s Benji Gil and Mira Mesa’s Mark Nielsen, both multi-purpose players.

SAILING

The Soviet Union’s second entry for the 1992 America’s Cup has been accepted, bringing to 21 the number of potential Cup challengers.

Leningrad Yacht Club had received a two-week extension on the May 26 entry deadline because the club was having trouble transferring money for the $25,000 entry fee to the United States, said the San Diego Yacht Club and Challenger of Record Committee.

Cup officials said the Leningrad challenge is headed by Vsevold Kukushkyn of the Red Star Syndicate. Two International America’s Cup Class yachts are planned, with the first to be launched this year, said Kukushkyn, a sports writer with Tass, the Soviet government’s news agency.

In addition to the Leningrad challenge, the Soviet Union is represented for the first time in the America’s Cup by the Odessa Arcadia Racing Yacht Club.

FOOTBALL

San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire has been named a preseason first-team All-American by the Professional Athletic Personnel NFL Draft Report. The team consists of seniors who are eligible for the 1991 NFL draft, and selections were based on professional potential. McGwire was rated seventh overall for the draft by the organization, its highest rating ever for a Western Athletic Conference player. McGwire, 6-feet-8, passed for 3,651 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.