SPORTS BRIEFS : Lakewood Hall of Fame Honors St. Joseph Volleyballer

St. Joseph volleyball standout Jaimie Torromeo was honored as athlete of the year at the 11th Lakewood Hall of Fame award ceremony Monday night.

Torromeo, an outside hitter, was earlier named the state’s top girl prep volleyball player. She set three California kill records to help the Jesters reach the state title game, and she was chosen an All-American by USA Today and Volleyball Monthly magazine.

Torromeo, a senior, will attend Pepperdine in the fall.

The Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding accomplishments by athletes, coaches and volunteers who have performed within the city or residents who have distinguished themselves elsewhere.

Athletes from 17 sports were recognized Monday for outstanding performances. They are:

Huoi Huynh of Lakewood (badminton); David Reeser of Lakewood (baseball); Charon Johnson of Lakewood and DeAndre Austin of Artesia (basketball); T.J. Reyes of Lakewood (cross-country).

Aaron Flowers of Artesia (football); Kelly Virtue of Lakewood (gymnastics); Eric Rude of Lakewood (judo); Billy Jang of Artesia and Francisco Torres of Lakewood (soccer).

Beverly Stiglbauer of St. Joseph, Stacy Van Essen of Cal State Long Beach and Mayfair, and Courtney Asbee of Long Beach City College and Lakewood (softball).

Connie Clark of Golden West College and Lakewood (surfing); Jamie Cortz of Lakewood (swimming); Russia Madden of Lakewood (team handball); David Robles of Lakewood (tennis); T. J. Reyes of Lakewood and Lucinda Reyes of Lakewood (track and field).

Stacy Metro of Northern Michigan University and Mayfair, Erin Balderama of St. Joseph and Heather Hofmans of St. Joseph (volleyball); Dennis Kline of Lakewood (water polo), and Dana Belman of Lakewood (wrestling).

The city’s scholar-athletes of the year were Karen Nunnally (Mayfair), Melissa Holden (Artesia), and T. J. Reyes and Michelle DiRe (St. Joseph).

Artesia basketball Coach Wayne Merino and St. Joseph volleyball Coach Mike Hinton shared coach-of-the-year honors.

Bob Soth of Mayfair and Lou Major of Artesia were honored for outstanding contributions to youth sports.

Former St. Joseph pitcher Lisa Fernandez, the 1991 NCAA softball player of the year from UCLA, received the Chairman’s Award for continued sports achievement. She is a former Hall of Fame athlete of the year.

Distinguished nominees included Dan Bergman of Mayfair (baseball), Charles O’Bannon of Artesia (basketball), Sean Estrada, Shawn Tippet and Louie Major, all of Artesia (football), Lisa Flores of St. Joseph (soccer), Kelly Sparks of St. Joseph and Nicki Kephart of Mayfair (softball), Jenny Z. Smith (swimming), Alonzo Fonseca of Mayfair (track and field) and Pat McDonald of Mayfair and Hicham Semaan of Artesia (wrestling).

Championship team awards were accepted by Artesia coaches Nelson Herrera (girls’ basketball), Nasser Sarfaraz (boys’ soccer), Norm Flowers (football) and Merino (boys’ basketball). Lakewood coaches receiving championship team awards were Terrel Reyes (boys’ cross-country), Al Arbogast (softball) and Dow Lawson (girls’ basketball). Hinton of St. Joseph received a championship team award for volleyball.

Rio Hondo College will not drop football and has rehired Al Prukop as coach.

Prukop was 15-39 as coach from 1979 to 1984. Previously, he spent eight years as an assistant with the Roadrunners. He has remained on the Rio Hondo teaching staff.

Prukop replaces Alex Henderson, who resigned after a 2-17 record in two seasons.

Henderson’s resignation sparked an internal review of the program, according to Athletic Director Ellie Bewley, and for a while it appeared that football would be terminated as a cost-cutting move.

Long Beach, Compton, Cerritos and Rio Hondo have been awarded berths in the California Community College men’s regional basketball playoffs, which begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Although Long Beach (27-5) finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Southern California, it was seeded No. 2 in the region behind Ventura. The Vikings, who have a 12-game winning streak, play host to Orange Coast College of Costa Mesa (11-18).

Compton (25-5) plays host to Mt. San Antonio College of Walnut (13-14).

Cerritos, which finished second in the South Coast Conference behind Long Beach, will play host to Fullerton (13-14). The Falcons have lost only twice in the past two months--both to Long Beach.

Rio Hondo (19-14), a surprise contender for the Foothill Conference title, stumbled in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Roadrunners take a four-game losing streak into their game at Saddleback of Mission Viejo (16-12).

The men’s tournament culminates March 12-14 when the eight finalists play at San Jose State.

The women’s state playoffs, which included third-ranked Long Beach City College, began Wednesday. The eight finalists meet March 5-7 at Merritt College in Oakland.

Cal State Dominguez Hills (17-9 overall) of Carson plays Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (15-11) Thursday in the opening round of the California College Athletic Assn. women’s basketball tournament. Game time is 6 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Lady Toros, who are making their first appearance in 11 years in the postseason tournament, are coached by Van Girard, a Cal State Long Beach graduate who previously guided the Lynwood girls’ basketball team to 10 consecutive Southern Section playoff appearances and one section title. Girard, who was 230-48 as a high school coach, is 49-55 after four seasons at Dominguez Hills.

Junior center Dionne Vanlandingham, who attended Poly, is the team’s second-leading scorer. She averages 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.

Long Beach forward Lucious Harris has been named Big West Conference player of the week for the second time this season.

The 6-foot-5 junior averaged 21.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and four assists in three games last week as the 49ers improved to 9-6 in the conference. Harris was 24 of 32 from the line and 19 of 38 from the field. He ranks third in the Big West in scoring (19.0).

Long Beach (15-9 overall) plays host to UC Santa Barbara (18-6, 11-4) Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Long Beach center Kari Parriott has been chosen to the GTE Academic All-American District Eight Basketball Team.

Parriott, who graduated last year and is completing work on a teaching credential, carries a cumulative 3.283 grade-point average. She shared Pacific 10 Conference freshman-of-the-year honors at the University of Oregon in 1988, but transferred to Long Beach the following year.

She sat out the 1988-89 season and worked toward graduating on a four-year plan. Currently, she leads the Big West Conference in rebounding (11.3) and averages 12.6 points.

The appointment to the District Eight academic team makes her eligible for national honors later this year. District Eight includes most of the teams on the West Coast.

Long Beach plays at New Mexico State tonight at 6:30 p.m. and at Nevada Las Vegas Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The 1991 women’s softball team at Long Beach City College shared top honors in the nation with a cumulative GPA of 3.30, according to the National Softball Coaches Assn. The Vikings shared the honor with Waldorf College of Forest City, Iowa.

Sophomore Alicia McLelland, who had a 4.0 GPA, was also cited as a top national performer.

Long Beach opened its 1992 season with a 5-0 victory over Ventura on Feb. 20. It was also the 49ers’ first game on their new field, which was constructed west of the Viking gymnasium on the site of the former track-and-field stadium. The Vikings recently opened an all-weather track at Veteran’s Stadium.

Avalon of Santa Catalina Island opened its new gymnasium in time for its final six home games of the 1991-92 basketball season.

It marked the first time in nearly two years that the Lancers could claim a home-court advantage.

The school’s old gymnasium was demolished in 1988 when state officials determined that it contained high levels of asbestos. In 1989, Avalon played all of its home games in the Avalon Casino. But beginning in 1990 the Lancers played all their games on the road.

Parents complained that traveling to the mainland each weekend by boat for games was unfair to the players and fans. Politicians on the island agreed. Despite California’s worsening budget crisis, they persuaded state officials to free funds to build the new facility, which is expected to have its official dedication in the spring.

Warren High basketball Coach Jay Young, who announced his resignation Feb. 13, retires from teaching Friday after 34 years at the Downey school.

Young had a record of 519-364 in 30 years as varsity coach. The Bears (10-16) lost to Fountain Valley, 85-82, in a qualifying game of the Southern Section I-AA Division playoffs Feb. 18.

“I enjoyed coaching the kids,” Young said. “The thing I like the most is all the lasting friendships with players that I have had over the years. I still do a lot of things with ex-players.”

Fourteen former Bears are currently coaching on the varsity level in either high school or college, a statistic Young, 60, is proud of.

“This never has been like a job,” he said. “You wake up each morning and it’s sort of exciting to go to work.”