NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : After 3-Year Struggle, St. Monica Appears to Be on Right Track

The St. Monica High boys’ track team completed a turnaround season by placing eighth in the Southern Section Division IV championships Saturday at Cerritos College.

The Mariners finished with 23 points and Camino Real League rival Serra had 22. Verbum Dei won with 62 points.

It was an impressive finish considering the Mariners had won only one league dual meet in three years.

Sophomore sprinter Ron Eadie led the way, finishing second in the 200 meters in 22.08 seconds and third in the 100 in 11.15.

Rashaan Washington ran 52.14 to place sixth in the 400. The senior ran 50.72 to win the Camino Real League championships.

The 1,600 relay team of Leevert Holmes, Washington, Tom Holmes and Eadie finished second in 3:27.70.

Senior Kurt Schieldge qualified in the 800 with a time of 2:05.38 but did not run because of illness. Schieldge placed third in the Camino League finals.

David Holden, who is in second year as coach, became a full-time teacher at St. Monica last fall. He credits the turnaround to more runners coming out for the program.

“My part was to get the kids out,” Holden said. “It was the duty of Rashaan Washington, Tom Holmes and Kurt Schieldge to keep them motivated throughout the season.”

The Mariner girls also set several school records. Aisha Johnson ran 19.43 in the 100 hurdles, and Carolina Delgado ran a 13:10 in the two mile. Johnson qualified for Southern Section prelims in the high jump and long jump. Kelly Shaw qualified in the prelims in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

*

Add track: University will try to win its first City Section girls’ track championship today at Birmingham High.

The Warriors are led by sprinters Yolanda Arrington, Sheili Hardemion, Dorneisha Lewis, Dora Gyarmati and Lorraine Persons.

The five sprinters were impressive in last week’s City prelims. The 400 relay team qualified with a time of 48.63, the fastest of the meet. Gardena was nearly a half-second behind at 49.15.

The 1,600 relay team had the fastest qualifying time of 4:02.77, nearly five seconds faster than second-place Westchester (4:08.08).

Lewis was the Warriors’ top individual qualifier with the second-fastest time in the 200 (25.34) and fourth fastest in the 400 (59.20). Hardemion had the second-fastest time in the 400 (58.84) and Arrington was fifth fastest in the 100 (12.99).

Genevieve Debose of Hamilton continues to be the area’s top distance runner. She ran 5:27.75 to qualify in the 1,600 and 12:15.16 to qualify in the 3,200.

*

Tennis: The Beverly Hills boys’ team had another successful season, only to have it end against Santa Barbara.

The top-seeded Dons overpowered the host Normans, 17-1, Tuesday in the Division I quarterfinals.

Beverly Hills played Santa Barbara in major division championships in 1988 and 1989 and in the semifinals in 1990 and 1991.

The only time they have beaten Santa Barbara was a nonleague match in 1988.

“We’ve definitely had trouble beating them,” Coach Jason Newman said. “They have been hotly contested matches and I’ve never been disappointed with the way our team has played against them. Give Santa Barbara credit. They have some outstanding tennis players and more depth than most other teams.”

*

Add tennis: Brentwood, which has been to the 1-A Division finals four consecutive years, moved up a division this season after the Southern Section regrouped the tennis leagues.

The Eagles, led by Adam Gross in singles, lost to Calabasas, 13-5, Tuesday in the Division III quarterfinals.

Brentwood expects to have a strong team next season because the entire roster was made up of underclassmen.

*

Baseball: Three years ago, Hollywood finished second in the Northwestern League, its best finish under Coach Raul Grijalva. Grijalva kept the team intact and the Sheiks won their second consecutive league title.

“They played varsity as 10th-graders,” said Grijalva, in his seventh year as coach. “They matured and worked their way up. Even when they were losing they stuck together. They had a goal, and right now they are in the middle of them.”

Pitcher Marvin Cobos, a member of The Times’ 1992 Westside first team, is 9-2 with a 0.48 earned-run average. Cobos, who also plays shortstop, batted .500 with five doubles, a home run and 12 runs batted in. Second baseman Peter Sanchez led the team with 14 RBIs and batted .407. He made only one error.

The Sheiks (26-7, 8-9 in Northern Conference) defeated Fairfax, 6-0, in the first round of the City 3-A playoffs Tuesday.

In another 3-A first-round game, Hamilton lost to Huntington Park, 3-1, in 10 innings. In 4-A games, San Fernando beat Westchester, 7-3; Chatsworth beat Venice, 10-0, and Sylmar beat University, 6-5, in eight innings.

Hollywood will play Roosevelt today at 3:15 p.m.

*

Softball: Crossroads (23-6) should be a power in 1994.

Junior pitcher Jessica Schulman was 17-2 with a 0.59 earned-run average entering Tuesday’s games. She has four perfect games and six no-hitters. Junior shortstop Emily Cummins has not made an error in eight games, and junior Jennifer Abramson batted .500 and had 31 steals.

“I think we have a better junior class of athletes than any other school on the Westside,” Coach Tom Gray said.

The Roadrunners, who are defending Small School champions, beat Webb, 3-0, in the second round Tuesday. They play Bishop in the quarterfinals today at Clover Park in Santa Monica.

Notes

Beverly Hills beat San Marcos, 12-2, in the first round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs on Friday. The Normans lost to Lompoc on Tuesday, 6-3. . . . Dave Anderson announced his resignation after 22 years of coaching swimming at Palisades. The Dolphins girls’ team won its 11th City title in 12 seasons, outdistancing runner-up Venice 294 1/2-213, May 19 at Belmont Plaza Pool. Palisades’ boys, which had won seven consecutive titles, finished second to Birmingham. . . . Davy Fortson of Dorsey may have signed with Cal State Fullerton, but expect the senior guard to end up playing for Valley College. Fortson has not passed the minimum on a college entrance examination required for freshman eligibility.