The Pain of Not Running : Preps: Kathy Falcon’s future is less sure after an altercation leaves her slower than before.

Kathy Falcon never did like going to basketball games or other extracurricular activities at St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs.

She preferred to study or relax at home when she wasn’t competing on the school’s track and field team.

But her older sister, Terri, persuaded her to go to a girls’ basketball game against Torrance Bishop Montgomery in February.

She has often wished she hadn’t gone.

Falcon, 16, said she fell down several rows of bleachers, landed on her hip and hit the back of her head. The incident occurred when she was allegedly pushed by a parent of a Bishop Montgomery player after an on-court bench-clearing brawl had spread to the stands.

She suffered a concussion and a bruised hip and was unable to run for the next three weeks. Since then, Falcon has experienced hip soreness that has prevented her from training regularly.

Falcon has competed in only four meets and missed more than half the season. She has been unable to come within 50 seconds of her 3,200-meter best of 11:51.6.

Falcon finished third in the 3,200 meters at last week’s Mission League finals to qualify for Friday’s Southern Section 2-A Division preliminaries at Trabuco Hills High. However, the injury has forced her to withdraw.

Falcon, who has been running for nine years, said she had never been hurt before.

“I run two days and then the next three days I’m off,” she said. “There were days when I couldn’t finish a simple workout, or it hurt so much by the end of school I was tired walking from class to class.

“I’ve been running on guts alone.”

Falcon said she sensed trouble when she arrived at the basketball game where she was injured the night of Feb. 13.

“The players were pushing and shoving and you could tell there was tension on the court and in the stands,” she said.

With Bishop Montgomery leading midway through the fourth quarter, 50-28, an altercation erupted between St. Paul’s Colleen Quire and Bishop Montgomery’s Shauna Saiz during a battle for a rebound.

Benches cleared and players from both teams joined the scuffle. It took more than two minutes for coaches and officials to restore order.

In the bleachers, Cecilia Quintanilla, a parent from Bishop Montgomery, chastised several St. Paul students sitting near Falcon who had been joking about the incident.

As Quintanilla returned to her seat, Falcon’s sister asked if she had heard Quintanilla’s remarks.

“I told Terri ‘How rude,’ ” Falcon said. “The next thing I knew (Quintanilla) came charging at me. I was so shocked and didn’t have time to react.”

Falcon said Quintanilla pushed Terri aside, grabbed her hair and began throwing punches. She said she tried to block the blows with her hands and fell while trying to free herself from Quintanilla’s grasp.

“I just felt like a little rag doll being tossed around,” Falcon said.

Quintanilla, 36, of Fullerton, was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She was charged with misdemeanor battery and released, said Sgt. Tom Campbell of the Norwalk station.

According to Campbell, Quintanilla said she had “accidentally grabbed” Falcon’s hair while trying to maintain balance. Quintanilla denies striking Falcon.

“It’s ridiculous,” Quintanilla said. “Nothing happened to (Falcon). She didn’t fall and trip and nobody slapped her. (The authorities) were totally biased and believed her. I got hurt and I have bruises on me. She totally lied.”

The district attorney has decided not to pursue charges. An office hearing for Quintanilla has been scheduled Thursday in Whittier Municipal Court, according to hearing officer Beatrice Jaime, who will oversee the proceedings.

If the matter is not resolved, the case could go to court, where Quintanilla could face a $2,000 fine, a six-month jail sentence or both.

Bishop Montgomery was awarded the victory in the basketball game, which was suspended after the fight.

St. Paul Coach Tim Durnin was suspended for St. Paul’s first-round Southern Section Division III-A playoff game, won by Phelan Serrano. And Saiz was suspended for Bishop Montgomery’s first-round Division II-A playoff victory over Santa Fe.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section associate commissioner, said he considers the case closed.

It is not over for Falcon, though.

Last fall, Terri, Kathy, and younger sister Monica Falcon, finished second, third and seventh, respectively, in the Mission League cross-country finals, helping St. Paul to its first league title.

Kathy Falcon was hopeful that a good track season might result in a college scholarship. Falcon said her workouts had indicated she was capable of exceeding the times run by Terri during her junior year.

Terri, a senior, who has attracted interest from UC Irvine, Cal State Los Angeles and St. Mary’s, advanced to the Southern Section 2-A Division 3,200-meter finals in track last season and placed 12th in the state Division III cross-country meet in November.

Falcon’s father Joe, an assistant track coach at St. Paul, said he is considering a lawsuit against Quintanilla. He said he is concerned that if the injury persists, Falcon may never equal past performances and will lose an opportunity for a scholarship.

Falcon wishes she was injury-free again.

“I was ready and doing good, but now the season is a complete waste,” she said. “I try not to feel bitter, but it’s just sad to think of what a complete stranger has done.”