NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : At Culver City High, the Coaching Carousel Is Finally Grinding to a Halt

It has been an off-season of change at Culver City High, were Jerry Chabola has hired eight new coaches since becoming athletic director July 1.

Gone is Lou Lichtl, who resigned as football and track coach in June after he was passed over for the athletic director’s job.

Former athletic director Martin Siegal was forced to resign as boys’ basketball coach and girls’ volleyball coach, a job he was scheduled to begin in the fall.

Chabola resigned as baseball coach and girls’ soccer coach when he accepted his new post.

Here is a list of the new coaches:

* Nestor Dordoni will coach water polo, boys’ soccer, and boys’ and girls’ swimming.

* Mike Howe, who works for the Culver City Parks and Recreation Department, will be girls’ tennis coach.

* Ric Miranda, a former assistant at St. Monica and Santa Monica College, will coach girls’ volleyball. He succeeds James Kainoa, who will remain as boys’ volleyball coach.

* Rob Moore, an assistant at Culver City, will replace Lichtl as football coach and track and field coach.

* Jeff Perry, a four-year assistant, will replace Siegal as basketball coach. Perry was a former standout at Hamilton, Santa Monica College and UC Santa Barbara.

* Rick Prieto, a three-year baseball assistant, will coach the baseball team. Prieto played at Culver City, Santa Monica College, University of San Diego and professionally in the Mexican League.

* Pat Prendergast will be girls’ soccer coach.

* John Sargent, a school security guard, will replace Jon Chapman as girls’ softball coach. He will also return as girls’ basketball coach.

Scott Kawahara will return as wrestling coach and Craig Lewis will return as boys’ and girls’ cross-country coach.

“It’s been hectic and exciting,” Chabola said. “It’s been a real challenge to make all these changes in a timely and efficient manner. I stepped into a situation where I had to replace people. I think we have an energetic staff who will work for the good of the students.”

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Lichtl, 31, has been hired as assistant offensive line coach at Santa Monica College.

Under Lichtl, the Centaurs had a 26-23-1 record, were twice co-champions of the Ocean League and reached the playoffs four times.

Lichtl is expected to be reunited with receiver Tommy Covington, defensive end Dominic Quant and quarterback Richard Perez.

“I’m very grateful to Santa Monica College and (coach) Owen Hahn for accepting me into the program,” he said. “This is a little switch from what I’ve been doing for the last five years. I’ll be coaching essentially three players instead of a whole team.”

Lichtl was offered the coaching job at Leuzinger, but chose instead to work at Santa Monica.

“It’s a lucky break for us because you can’t find young coaches of that quality very often,” Hahn said.

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John Penn was selected Monday to replace Bill Lawler as Santa Monica College men’s volleyball coach.

Penn, 27, has been an assistant at the school for 2 1/2 years. He played volleyball at Penn State from 1983-85 and has been active with local clubs through the Santa Monica Parks and Recreation Department.

Lawler, 29, resigned in July after five seasons to become an assistant at Pepperdine. Last season, Lawler led the Corsairs to a 18-8 record and second place in the state championships.

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Palisades linebacker Erwin DeLeon, The Times’ 1992 Westside lineman of the year, is expected to be among 33 area players competing for the South-West all-star team in the 17th annual Chris Mims-Los Angeles Prep Senior Bowl Classic on Friday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

Also expected to play for the South-West, coached by Glenn Bell of Kilpatrick, will be receiver Richard Bowden (Westchester), defensive back Kelvin Moore (Hamilton), running back Oliver Baines (Westchester), quarterback Sultan Ali (Dorsey), quarterback Reza Ghodstinat (Beverly Hills), defensive back Ghalee Wadood (Dorsey) and quarterback Hasan Muhammad (Fairfax).

Tackle Tyrone Carter (Westchester), tackle Steve Buether (St. Bernard), guard Enrique Romero (St. Monica), center Brian Collins (Westchester) and tight end Chris Bowman (St. Bernard) will anchor the South-West offensive line.

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USC Coach John Robinson is expected to be the guest speaker for a high school football coaches’ clinic at 9 a.m. on Saturday at USC’s Heritage Hall.

All coaches are invited to join the Los Angeles Football Coaches Assn. and attend the meeting. The cost is $3.

Information: Dorsey Coach Paul Knox 213-932-0812.

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Teams from Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and New York City will participate in the National Summer Basketball Championship on Aug. 14-15 at Venice Beach.

All-star teams from the National Pro-Am City Leagues in those four cities are composed of current and past players from major college teams, the Continental Basketball Assn. and European leagues.

The tournament will be televised live by ABC to most of the country, but shown on a delayed basis by KABC-TV Channel 7 at 4 p.m. on Aug. 14 and 3 p.m. on Aug. 15. Roger Twibell, Dick Vitale and Cheryl Miller will be the announcers.

Steven Herbert contributed to this notebook.