COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : El Camino Bid for Track Title Falls Short Again

The same team that kept the El Camino College women from winning the South Coast Conference track title prevented the Warriors from earning their fourth community college state championship last week at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The Warriors placed second to powerful Mt. San Antonio College in both meets. At last week’s state championships, El Camino finished with 55 points and Mt. SAC had 65.

Although El Camino has not placed lower than third in the state meet since 1984, Coach Dean Lofgren says competing against Mt. SAC, which has a strong tradition of recruiting top-notch athletes from other countries, is always difficult.

“We knew we had our hands full with Mt. SAC,” Lofgren said. “We knew Mt. SAC would have to falter in order for us to win state. I think we performed nearly as well as we thought we could have, and we almost did well enough to win it.”

El Camino athletes won four individual state titles: the long and triple jumps, the 1,600-meter relay and 400 meters.

Sophomore Michelle Allen was impressive in winning the long and triple jumps. She had an effort of 18 feet 8 3/4 inches in the long jump and 39- 1/4 in the triple jump.

Allen also swept both events at the Southern California Championships in Santa Barbara earlier this month.

El Camino’s state champion 1,600-meter relay team (3:50.35) included sophomore Camille Dietzel and freshmen Jeanette Judge (Banning High), Liz Sutton and Lashaunda Everage.

Everage also won the 400-meter title with the third-fastest time (54.36) in El Camino history. Sutton placed third in the 400 hurdles at 61.38, and sophomore Tanya Acosta, a member of the Warriors’ 1991 state champion cross-country team, placed fourth in the 1,500 meters (4:42.78).

“Traditionally for the women we have been very strong in the relays and jumps,” Lofgren said. “We’ve had national record-holders here in both jumps and at times in distances. This year we had that additional strength in the 400 hurdles.”

With the core of this year’s athletes returning, Lofgren, who is also the men’s and women’s cross-country coach, is looking forward to 1993.

“A lot of our talent will carry over,” he said. “Things look real good for next year. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Sutton and Everage qualified for the The Athletic Congress national junior meet in Ohio on June 30. Sutton will compete in the 400 hurdles and Everage in the 400 meters. They will compete against the nation’s top 18-and-under athletes.

Lofgren said Allen will probably attend either Fresno State or Cal State Northridge in the fall.

LeValley Pattison gave up playing pro beach volleyball, but her new job with the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. is allowing her to travel to each of this year’s 18 sites.

Pattison, the women’s volleyball coach at El Camino College, competed in the WPVA for five years before retiring at the end of 1991.

The 28-year-old Manhattan Beach native was named the WPVA’s assistant tour director. The 1992 tour began April 11 in Puerto Rico.

Pattison, a standout volleyball player at Mira Costa High, says her new job is a great way to remain involved with the sport while making money.

In 1991, she earned $825 playing on the beach, which wasn’t enough to pay for travel expenses. Her ranking slipped through the years as did her income.

“It’s expensive to play, and competition is just getting tougher every year,” said Pattison, who has a degree in physical education from Cal State Long Beach and is working on a master’s in administration and education at National University.

“The organization is growing, and much more administrative things have to be done,” she said. “We need more people to run things because the tour is getting so big.”

Pattison works under fourth-year tour director Anna Biller-Collier, who also lives in Manhattan Beach. Pattison’s duties include officiating matches, assigning players a court and meeting with an event’s staff.

Her least favorite duty is officiating.

“I’m at the beach by 7 a.m. and I work every game from about 8 a.m. to about 4 p.m.,” she said. “Sunday I’m at the beach from 7:30 a.m. till the end. I ‘ref’ the semifinals and the finals. It’s a long day, and so far every place has been so hot. Plus it’s hard to concentrate for nine hours a day.”

Earl Webb, the athletic equipment manager at Harbor College, recently retired after 35 years. Webb was also a statistician, scorekeeper and announcer at Harbor athletic events.

“He has been a very important part of Harbor College athletics,” Harbor Athletic Director Jim O’Brien said. “There has never been anyone who’s had more Harbor blue in him.”

Webb graduated from Narbonne High in 1945 and worked there for six years before going to Harbor in 1957. He will be honored at a dinner on June 5 at Ante’s restaurant in San Pedro.

Six Harbor College baseball players were named to the Southern California Athletic Conference first team and five made the second team. Sophomore catcher Rene Lopez was the league’s most valuable player.

The first-team selections included freshman pitcher Martin Meza, sophomore pitcher German Casillas, freshman second baseman David Rosato, sophomore shortstop Mark Lewis, sophomore left fielder Joey Miller and freshman center fielder Rolando Avila.

The second team included sophomore pitcher Dennis Miller, sophomore third baseman Horacio Casillas, freshman first baseman Tristan Paul, sophomore right fielder Eddie Lovato and freshman designated hitter Dwon Knighton.

Harbor won the SCAC title and finished with an overall record of 39-12 after losing to Cuesta College in last week’s Southern California Regional final at Cerritos.