Southern Section Investigating McAlister’s Transfer to St. Francis : Prep football: Running back left Marshall apparently without moving or requesting a hardship waiver.

The Southern Section is investigating the transfer of sophomore running back Chris McAlister from Marshall High to St. Francis because of a possible rules violation, according to Bill Clark, a section administrator.

Section rules state that a player who transfers must sit out a year of varsity competition unless he/she moves or there is a determination of hardship.

McAlister said Wednesday that he has not moved, and Clark said that as of Thursday his office had not received a petition from McAlister for hardship.

Last fall, McAlister was enrolled at Muir High in Pasadena where he played frosh football. Midway through the school year, he transferred to Marshall (formerly Marshall Fundamental) where his father, James McAlister, is football coach.

Chris McAlister said he transferred to St. Francis this summer because he believed the academic program at St. Francis would improve his chances of being accepted into college. An official in the St. Francis guidance office said 75-78% of St. Francis students attend a four-year college within a year of graduation. The figure supplied by the guidance office at Marshall is about 80% for two- and four-year colleges combined.

Clark, declining to address the McAlister case specifically, said academic reasons such as the one given by McAlister would not normally be sufficient for the Southern Section to grant a hardship waiver.

St. Francis Athletic Director John Yakel would not comment. He did not say whether McAlister would play in tonight’s game against Mary Star.

If the Southern Section finds McAlister ineligible, St. Francis will forfeit any victories in which he participated, including last Friday’s 8-0 win against Burroughs.

With 92 yards, McAlister was the Golden Knights’ leading rusher in that game.