Wright Gets High Marks for Potential

Senior Mike Wright, the defending Southern Section 4-A Division champion in the boys’ long jump, has not competed for Glendale High this season because he is academically ineligible.

Glendale track Coach John Barnes expects Wright to make an impact when he returns to competition in early April, provided he has raised his grades to a satisfactory level when report cards come out next month.

“He’s already gone 24 (feet) 8 (inches) in the long jump and 6-4 in the high jump in practice,” Barnes said. “He’s in great shape.”

Wright leaped a personal best of 23-8 1/4 to win the 4-A title last year but had not practiced the high jump until this season.

His return would bolster Glendale’s 400-meter relay team, which has timed 43.5 seconds.

“With Mike on the relay, we’re capable of running in the low 42s or high 41s,” Barnes said.

Although Barnes has been frustrated by Wright’s academic difficulties the past two track seasons--he was ineligible during the first half of the 1991 season--he is one of Wright’s biggest supporters.

“During all my years in track and field as an athlete and a coach, he is by far one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever seen,” Barnes said of Wright, a Times All-Glendale selection in football and basketball. “He should go 6-8 or 6-9 in the high jump, 25 feet in the long jump, 50 feet in the triple jump, and 10.5 or 10.6 in the 100 this season.”

Barnes, 62, bases his assessment on decades of experience.

Barnes was a two-time NCAA champion in the 880-yard run for Occidental College in 1951 and ‘52, and he was a member of the U. S. Olympic team in 1952.

He has been the coach at Glendale since 1967 and has coached former state high school high-jump champions Dwight Stones and Lee Balkin.

Stones is a former world record-holder in the high jump and was an Olympic bronze medalist in 1972 and ’76. Balkin competed for the United States in the 1987 World Championships.

“I had Balkin and Stones, and the talent (Wright) has puts those guys to shame,” Barnes said. “He’s that good.”

NO LOVE LOST

Quartz Hill’s 18-0 Golden League tennis victory over Saugus on Tuesday marked the seventh consecutive match the Rebels have won by that score.

The Rebels (8-0), ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section 2-A Division, have outscored their opponents, 141-1.

Coach Bill Lenaway said such routs have fostered criticism of the Rebels’ schedule, but Lenaway said there is little he can do about it.

“Tennis out in this part of Southern California is cyclical,” Lenaway said. “Just because we have a strong team this season doesn’t mean we’ll be good next season. If I change all our opponents because we happen to have a strong team this season, we lose a lot of (opponents) that normally are good competition for us.”

Lenaway said many schools prefer to play local teams rather than travel to Quartz Hill.

“A lot of teams just don’t want to come out here and play us, and I can’t blame them,” he said. “Who would drive an hour and a half into the sticks when they can find a competitive match 15 minutes down the road?”

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

Buena’s 5-1 start in baseball has surprised Coach Stan Hedegard, among others. Graduation left the Bulldogs with a roster full of players from last year’s junior varsity.

“Our pitching is better than I thought it would be, our hitting is better than I thought it would be and we’ve played pretty good defense,” Hedegard said.

BIDDING ADIEU

Taft basketball Coach Jim Woodard is sorry to see Mike McNulty go.

McNulty stepped down at El Camino Real last week after spending the past 10 seasons as Conquistadore basketball coach. He cited family considerations as a reason for leaving.

“Mike McNulty was a very respected coach who knows basketball very well,” Woodard said. “I think he is a man of great integrity. He maintained his standards.”

Although Woodard and McNulty coached rival teams in Woodland Hills, they became brothers in arms over the years.

“We were kind of in it together against Fairfax and those other great teams for all those years,” Woodard said of the defunct Valley 4-A League alignment. “I’m sorry to see him go.”

CRYSTAL HARDBALL

Two years ago, San Fernando baseball Coach Steve Marden boldly predicted that by the time the career of shortstop Luis Rodriguez was over, Rodriguez would “make everybody forget” about the two previous Tiger shortstops.

A tall order, to be sure. The two previous starters at the position, Bobby Corrales and Albert Torres, earned All-City Section 4-A Division honors. “Defensively, he’s already made me forget about the other ones,” Marden said.

After struggling offensively as a sophomore, Rodriguez seemingly has put it all together.

Last season, Rodriguez batted .310 and his senior campaign has begun with a bang.

Entering play this week, Rodriguez is seven for 16 (.438) and is batting .625 with runners in scoring position. He has driven in five runs.

NIGHT FINAL

At long last, a date has been set for the championship game of the El Segundo baseball tournament.

Crespi will face Long Beach Millikan at 7:30 p.m. on April 11 at El Segundo Recreation Park.

CARRY-OVER

Yell the name “Carrie” at the Saugus softball team and three heads will turn.

Seniors Kerry Coudry (pitcher), Kerri Volpe (right fielder) and Carrie Brown (catcher) spell their first names differently but still give Coach Ron Hilton fits when he wants their attention. Hilton, however, must be getting used to it. Two years ago he had five Carries on the team.

VALLEY FOR MOUNTIES

Montclair Prep’s early-season exit from The Times’ regional baseball top 10 should not be surprising considering this is a rebuilding year for the Mounties (4-1-1), who lost eight starters from last year’s Southern Section 1-A Division championship team.

And it won’t get easier with starting catcher Mike Gursey sidelined because of tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. The injury necessitated a shuffle that moved Joe Eskenazi, the second-most experienced outfielder, behind the plate.

“That is tough to do this late in the season,” Coach Walt Steele said. “It’s not late, but it’s late for us because our season is our preseason, as far as challenging ourselves goes.”

The Mounties are not eligible for the playoffs because of Southern Section sanctions.

TOO BUSY

Taft’s Ryan Cooper is a senior who likes to keep busy. In addition to his role as the starting setter for the volleyball team, Cooper coaches the junior varsity and plays ice hockey at night.

All of that activity might have caught up with him. Cooper, who missed Taft’s volleyball matches last week, was found to have walking pneumonia last week and might miss the next two weeks of the season.

“Hopefully, we’ll have him back when league opens,” Coach Doug Magorien said. “He is our general. When we get him back, we’re going to get our offense going.”

LEAN TO THE LEFT

The benefits of a few left-handed bats in a baseball lineup are well-documented, and the Camarillo boys’ volleyball team is also taking advantage of its left-handed hitters. Andy Angeles and Dan Hess, a pair of junior left-handed outside hitters, give the Scorpions one of the most unusual attacks in the area.

Usually, volleyball teams--with predominantly right-handed hitters--concentrate their sets either on the left side, or in the middle, with the right, or weak side, used only as a secondary option. But Camarillo’s versatility keeps enemy defenses off balance.

“We don’t have a weak side,” Coach Bob Cornelius said. “I can put Andy and Dan on the right side and it is like we have two strong sides out there.”

That strategy has been effective. The Scorpions have won their first three Marmonte League matches.

David Coulson, Vince Kowalick and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega, T.C. Porter and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.