LOCAL NOTES : Injury Forces Harty Off Olympic Soccer Team

Rhett Harty, a graduate of Servite High School, has been dropped from the U.S. Olympic soccer team because of a lingering back injury.

Harty, who played at Stanford, suffered a slight herniated disc in his back three months ago while playing for the U.S. team in an exhibition match. He has been in and out of the lineup since.

On Friday, U.S. Coach Lothar Osiander said Harty would be making the trip to Barcelona. On Sunday, that decision was reversed after the injury continued to bother Harty.

Harty had five goals and three assists as a senior at Stanford last season. But he suffered a broken thumb in the middle of the season and broke two ribs and punctured a lung in the regular-season finale against California.

Harty had been projected as a reserve forward for the U.S. team before injuring his back.

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Mark Morris of Yorba Linda and William Yanagisawa of UC Irvine easily qualified for match play at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Tuesday at the Edinburgh USA course in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Morris, an Esperanza High graduate who finished his eligibility at Cal State Dominguez Hills this year, shot 72 Tuesday to give him a two-round total of one-over-par 145 and put him in a tie for seventh. Yanagisawa, a UCI sophomore who played at Long Beach Poly, had a 146 (two rounds of 73) to tie for 14th.

The top 64 players advance to match play, which starts today.

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Paul Hinkle of Costa Mesa, Scott Gibson of Huntington Beach and Joe Garner of Lake Forest each shot four-over 76 and are eight shots behind the leader after the first round of the Tournament of Champions in Roswell, Ga.

Cypress’ Tiger Woods was one-under par on the front nine but shot 42 on the back and finished with a 77. Joe Ogilvie of Lancaster, Ohio, had 68 to lead after the first of four rounds at Horseshoe Bend Country Club.

In the girls’ division, Alicia Allison of Santa Ana shot four-over 77 and is tied for seventh place with six others, seven shots behind Erika Hayashida of Lima, Peru.

Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza had 80.

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Emile Lahharague of France won Tuesday’s stage of the Runner’s World Tran America Footrace, finishing the 48.3 miles in 8 hours 9 minutes 38 seconds.

The stage--the 25th of 64 in the 3,000-mile race--was the race’s last in the Rocky Mountains, going from Frisco, Colo., at 9,094 feet over 11.994-foot Loveland Pass and finishing at 7.524 feet in Idaho Springs, Colo.

Overall leader David Warady of Huntington Beach finished fourth in the stage in 9:12:14. Warady leads Tom Rogozinski of Hagerstown, Md., by 4:42:10 after 1,112.25 miles.

Another runner dropped out Tuesday, leaving 14 of the 26 runners who started the race in Huntington Beach.

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John Molle, former Irvine High basketball standout, has decided to transfer from San Diego State, SDSU Coach Tony Fuller said.

Molle, who was a freshman guard, started seven games and averaged 3.7 points and 1.2 rebounds.

The Aztecs also lost another guard, Virgil Smith, who won’t be playing because of academic reasons.

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Jennifer Shelden, a member of Orange Coast College’s 1991 and ’92 state champion women’s swim teams, has signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of San Diego this fall.

Shelden, from Estancia High School, was a team captain last spring. She was a member of four relay teams at the state meet and helped establish three state records and one national mark.