SPORTS : POOR TIMING

Santa Monica High sprinter Tyson Murphy will be among 15 runners attempting to qualify for the Southern Section Division I championships during a special runoff today at Gahr High.

The runoff is being held because the Southern Section office determined that 15 runners were improperly prevented from qualifying because the preliminary meet’s Accutrack automatic timing system had malfunctioned.

The Accutrack measures races in hundredths of a second but failed before the start of the girls’ 100-meter low hurdles--the day’s fifth event--and remained inoperable.

Joe Raya, the Accutrack operator Saturday at Long Beach Veterans Stadium, manually ran the timing system after it malfunctioned. The Southern Section office, however, determined it was not an inaccurate way to measure times of runners from different heats.

“It has been determined that due to the malfunction of the Accutrack system, the Southern Section has gone to hand times in tenths to determine the final qualifiers for the championships,” Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said. “A runoff will be held in cases where runners had the same hand times.”

The races affected were the boys’ 100, 200 and 400 meters, and the girls’ 100 meters and 100 high hurdles.

Murphy qualified in the 110 high hurdles after edging one the nation’s top hurdlers, Ken Haslip of Muir. He had qualified in the 200 and was an alternate in the 100, but will rerun both races today.

Santa Monica Coach Patrick Cady believes his runner will do better the second time because he had the same time as runners from other heats who had wind-aided times.

“Tyson can beat them now,” Cady said. “Those guys had faster times because they had gales at their backs. We’re ready now.”

In the 100, Murphy will run against Troy Searcy of Quartz Hill, Jamal Carr of Muir and Anthony Rudolph of West Covina. The top two times advance to the finals.

In the 200, he will compete against Michael Granville of Bell Gardens and Akinyela Taylor of Dominguez, with the top two advancing.

Murphy’s finish in the 110 hurdles qualifies him for the finals, but his time of 14.04--considered at the time the second fastest in the nation--will not count because of the timing system failure.

“The 110 hurdles is the biggest race for me,” Murphy said. “After that, everything else is gravy.”

Murphy, who has a B-plus grade-point average, recently chose to attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, where he will run track.

NET VICTORY

Outside hitters Raoul Williams of University and Mike DiSimone of Granada Hills put on a display of spiking the volleyball Friday during the City Section 4-A Division championships at Cal State Northridge.

The Warriors, however, won their fifth championship with their blocking and back-row play. University defeated Granada Hills, 15-11, 15-2, 9-15, 15-10.

“They could not stop our middle game,” University Coach Neal Newman said. “I think we beat them to the net.”

Williams, a sophomore, had 26 kills compared to 15 for DiSimone, who will attend San Diego State in the fall. Several of Williams’ kills came from the back row.

“I think they put two blockers on him and he still got his kills,” Newman said.

Not to be overlooked was the play of middle blockers Nick Strouse (17 kills and four blocks) and Brian Lieb (seven kills, three blocks). Setter Jamie Strofs gave a workmanlike effort.

The Warriors (15-1) also won 4-A titles in 1975, 1985, 1987 and 1992.

BASKETBALL SIGNING

James Gray, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Santa Monica College, signed a letter of intent with Georgia Sunday, Bulldog assistant Mark Slonaker said.

Gray averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists last season as a sophomore at Santa Monica.

“If you saw us play last year, you know we really needed a point guard,” Slonaker said. “Two years ago, we had one of the top two or three recruiting classes in the nation, but we didn’t get a point guard. James Gray belongs in that class.”

Gray is expected to start at point guard for Bulldog Coach Hugh Durham.

“What grabbed our attention was that he’s 6-3, quick and has long arms,” Slonaker said. “He has great instincts on defense. Coach Durham is known for his quick trapping defensive teams and James fits that mold. Offensively, he is so well-rounded: good shooter, penetrates well and he’s unselfish.”

Gray made 53.9% of his shots from the field, including 37.1% from three-point range. A two-year starter, he became the Corsairs all-time leading scorer with 1,124 points. He was named to the Western State Conference first team and was an honorable mention all-state selection.

During his senior season at Westchester, Gray was selected the City Section and The Times’ Westside player of the year.

Gray is the second California player to play for Georgia. Former St. Monica High forward Cleveland Jackson played the past two seasons for Georgia after attending Butler County Junior College in Kansas.

JUST SAY NO

Crossroads pitcher Jessica Schulman threw her second consecutive no-hitter and took part in another one last week.

Schulman threw a no-hitter to lead the Roadrunners to a 1-0 win over St. Paul in the Thousand Oaks tournament. The Stanford-bound senior followed that effort with a no-hitter in a 7-0 nonleague win over Redondo May 11.

Pitching two innings Friday, Schulman combined with Erika Kolvula for a no-hitter in a 12-0 win over Brentwood.

COACHING HURT

Notre Dame Academy softball Coach Keith Cameron felt shooting pains in his arms May 9 and was taken to UCLA Medical Center.

Five years ago, Cameron, 26, suffered four crushed disks and nerve damage in a car accident.

“I suffered partial paralysis, but nothing like that before,” Cameron said. “The disks started to move and blocked off some of the nerves in my back.”

On May 11, Cameron was back in uniform coaching Notre Dame Academy’s 11-1 victory over Flintridge Sacred Heart.