NOTEBOOK / GARY KLEIN : 4 From Area Qualify for Masters Meet

Mike Wright of Glendale High, Nada Kawar of Crescenta Valley and Jennifer Riney of La Canada qualified for the Masters track meet Friday at Cerritos College in Norwalk by winning Southern Section individual championships.

Wright, a junior, won the triple jump in the 4-A Division with a leap of 23 feet 8 3/4 inches in the Southern Section finals last Friday at Cerritos College. Kawar, a sophomore, won the girls’ 4-A shotput with a throw of 38-10, and Riney, a senior, won the 1-A shotput title with a throw of 37-2 1/2.

Hoover sophomore Margarito Casillas finished fifth in the 3,200 meters in the 4-A. Casillas clocked 9 minutes 20.30 seconds and also qualified for the Masters meet.

Other Glendale-area competitors included: Robert Dilts of Crescenta Valley, who finished ninth in the 4-A shotput with a throw of 47-11; St. Francis pole vaulter Howie Smith, who finished seventh in the 1-A with a vault of 12 feet; and Froylan Sanchez of St. Francis, who finished seventh in the 1-A 3,200 meters in 9:41:28.

Onward and upward?: The exodus of coaching staff and athletic-department personnel at Ribet Academy continued last week with the resignation of basketball Coach Michael Miller, who guided the Fighting Frogs to consecutive Southern Section championships and a state title in the 1-A Division last season.

Miller, 26, is reported to be seeking a position at a larger high school or at the college level.

In April, Ric Desotell resigned as football and baseball coach because of philosophical differences with the administration.

Rick Alexander resigned as the school’s athletic director last month.

New coach: Andy Boynton, the offensive line coach at Mater Dei High the past two seasons, has been named as football coach at St. Francis High.

Boynton, 30, replaces Bill Garrison, who resigned after two seasons to accept the coaching position at South Pasadena High.

Boynton, an All-Southern Section lineman at Crescenta Valley High who went on to play at St. Mary’s, was an assistant at Pasadena City College for three seasons before joining Mater Dei’s staff.

Sweet victory: The Crescenta Valley baseball team finally gave Coach Tony Zarrillo a victory in the playoffs when the Falcons defeated Fontana, 13-3, last week in an opening-round 5-A game.

It was the first postseason victory for Zarrillo, who has guided his team to five consecutive playoff appearances.

The Falcons (14-9) lost to Baldwin Park, 12-7, in a second-round game Tuesday at Stengel Field.

Glendale lost to Simi Valley, 16-2, in a first-round 5-A game and St. Francis lost to Saugus, 7-6, in a first-round 2-A game.

Title hunt: Five Glendale-area softball teams advanced to the second round of the Southern Section playoffs with victories in opening-round games.

Glendale lost to Foothill League champion Hart, 4-0, Tuesday at Hart in a second-round 4-A game.

Crescenta Valley defeated Burbank, 3-2 in another 4-A opener and Santa Monica, 4-0, Tuesday at Santa Monica.

La Canada beat Atascadero, 7-1, in a 2-A opener and advanced to a second-round game against San Dimas on Wednesday. Results were not available at press time.

Jennifer Cortez pitched a perfect game to help Flintridge Sacred Heart beat St. Anthony, 6-0, and advance to a second-round game Wednesday against St. Joseph’s of Santa Maria.

Ribet Academy advanced to a second-round Small Schools game against Woodcrest Christian with a 19-11 opening-round victory over Rosamond.

Gym dandy: Wendy Cohen of Crescenta Valley, the two-time defending Southern Section gymnastics champion, finished third overall in last weekend’s Southern Section all-around meet at Westlake.

Cohen, a senior, earned 36.45 points to finish behind Ginger Collins of Los Alamitos (37.15) and Jenna Roberts of Marlborough (36.8).

Staff writer Kirby Lee contributed to this notebook.