Football Standouts Are Honored by The Times

Marc Ruiz of Baldwin Park High, Wayne Countryman of Nogales and Don MacKinnon of Arroyo were named The Times’ San Gabriel Valley back, lineman and coach of the year, respectively, at an awards ceremonies on Sunday at the Pasadena Hilton.

A total of 23 players from San Gabriel Valley-area schools were honored at a ceremony attended by their families and coaches.

Ruiz, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior, led Baldwin Park to the Southern Section Division IV championship. He passed for 23 touchdowns this season and 4,300 yards in his career.

Ruiz guided the Braves to come-from-behind playoff victories against Glendora, Damien and in the championship against previously unbeaten Nogales.

Countryman, a 6-1 senior, was a dominant two-way lineman for Nogales, which won the Sierra League title and suffered its only loss in the Division IV final against Baldwin Park.

Countryman was instrumental in helping Lamonte Adams and Lawrence Lanham each gain more than 1,000 yards for the Nobles.

MacKinnon guided Arroyo to the Mission Valley league championship and the Division V final, where the Knights lost to Corona, 21-16.

MacKinnon’s team was coming off a 5-6 record last season. The Knights lost their first two games then regrouped for their drive to their third championship game appearance in six years.

Hall of Famer: Fred Lynn, a nine-time major league all-star, will be inducted into the El Monte Union High District’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday at a luncheon and ceremony at the El Monte Community Center.

Lynn, who graduated from El Monte in 1970, was an All-American at USC and played 17 seasons in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers and the San Diego Padres. Lynn won the American League rookie-of-the-year award, most-valuable-player award, four gold gloves and the 1979 American League batting championship.

Lynn is the second inductee to the Hall of Fame. Bruce Snyder, a 1958 graduate of El Monte who recently became football coach at Arizona State, was inducted last year.

Proceeds from the luncheon will be donated to the district’s Operation Eagle, a program that helps high-risk students gain self-esteem.

Information: (818) 443-9491.

Honor roll: Azusa Pacific volleyball player Lenee Hill and men’s soccer player Chris Stephenson were named All-Americans by the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Hill, a senior who transferred to Azusa Pacific after three years of competition at Florida, was the dominant player for the Cougars, who finished 34-8, won the District III championship and advanced to the national tournament at Hays, Kan.

Stephenson, a defender, helped Azusa Pacific to a 9-8-3 record.

Good start: The Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team avoided an 0-2 start in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. with a 112-101 upset victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday.

Pomona lost to Bakersfield, 73-60, in its conference opener Friday before coming back to beat San Luis Obispo, which entered the game with a 13-1 overall record that included a victory over Division I Pepperdine.

Chancellor McCobb scored 27 points and Andre Harrell added 26 for Pomona, which began the week 9-6 and plays at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and at home against Chapman on Saturday.

McCobb is averaging 23 points a game, third in the CCAA.

Springing forward: J. J. Flannigan, a former standout running back at Pomona High, was selected by the Utah Pioneers in the territorial phase of the Professional Spring Football League’s draft.

Flannigan rushed for 2,096 yards at Colorado from 1987-89 and was the San Diego Chargers’ eighth-round pick in the 1990 NFL draft.

All PSFL draft choices have signed letters of commitment with the 10-team league, which is scheduled to open its first season Feb. 29.

Times staff writer Steven Herbert contributed to this notebook.