Berkeland Commits to Cal Poly SLO

Distance runner Dan Berkeland of Canyon High has made an oral commitment to compete in cross-country and track at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Berkeland said he chose the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. school because of its architecture program as well as its traditionally powerful cross-country and track teams.

The Mustang men’s cross-country team has won the past two conference titles and has placed fourth or better in three of the past four NCAA Division II national meets. Cal Poly SLO also won this year’s CCAA track and field title.

Berkeland finished fifth in the state Division I cross-country championships last fall and timed 9 minutes 7.52 seconds for 3,200 meters in the Southern Section 4-A Division track meet in May.

Hoover High’s Creighton Harris and Gunnar Miller, major contributors to the Tornadoes’ track and field team, have committed to attend Wisconsin and Harvard.

Harris, a Wisconsin native, qualified for the state meet in the 1,600 meters and has a personal-best 4:14.33 in the event. He also timed 1:58.60 for 800 and 9:21.4 for 3,200.

The No. 2 runner on Hoover’s Pacific League championship cross-country team, Harris chose the Big Ten Conference school for its recent success in cross-country. The Badgers have won three NCAA Division I titles in the past eight years.

Miller accepted a $12,000-a-year academic scholarship to Harvard, Hoover Coach Greg Switzer said, and will compete in the pole vault. Miller led regional vaulters with a 14-foot 6-inch mark.

Bob Macias, the latest to pass through the revolving door of the Notre Dame High cross-country program, will coach the Knights this fall.

Macias, who helped coach cross-country and track at Bell-Jeff the past two years, becomes Notre Dame’s seventh cross-country coach in the past eight years.

Marcus Reed, a high-scoring guard for Canoga Park High, will attend College of the Sequoias in Visalia, according to Canoga Park Coach Jeff Davis.

Reed (5-foot-10, 155 pounds) averaged 20 points and 6.3 steals a game last season. Sequoias, coached by former Cal State Northridge assistant John Boragno, was ranked fourth in the final state junior college poll last season.

Ron Veres, a volunteer coach at Cal Lutheran last season, has joined the staff of new Coach Joe Harper as the Kingsmen’s offensive coordinator.

Veres, a former head coach at Oak Park High, will coach part time at Cal Lutheran.

Mike Teich, a sophomore left-handed pitcher at College of the Canyons, has signed a letter of intent to play baseball for Sacramento State on a partial athletic scholarship, Canyons Coach Len Mohney said.

Teich, an El Camino Real graduate, finished 6-3 last season.

Lucious Harris from Cleveland High and Cal State Long Beach has been selected to play on the West squad in the Olympic Festival in Minneapolis.

Harris, a 6-5 guard who was the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, joins two other area players, Shon Tarver and Dedan Thomas, on the team.

Jabbar Briggs, defensive player of the year at Antelope Valley High this basketball season, has committed to play at Antelope Valley College next season. Briggs, a 6-3 forward, averaged 16 points and seven rebounds for the Antelopes.

Antelope Valley College also has received commitments from forwards Brent Beardmore (6-3) of Quartz Hill, Bucky Tucker (6-3) of Tehachapi and Mike Thompson (6-4) of Mojave.