Calvary Chapel Wasted No Time

Calvary Chapel High of Santa Ana started competing in sports five years ago, shortly after opening, and has built one of the top athletic programs in the Southland.

Calvary Chapel and Riverside Poly each won three team sectional titles in this academic year, the most among schools in the City and Southern sections. Both are parochial schools.

Although Poly is a well-established school with 2,000 students, Calvary Chapel is new and has only 550 students. It does not field teams in every sport and has limited athletic facilities.

Despite its handicaps, administrators have carefully built successful programs by hiring top-quality coaches and limiting growth.

“We tried not to field too many teams right away so that they wouldn’t all be talent-poor,” said Kris Van Hook, the school’s football coach and athletic director. “Slowly, we’ve built up, and we plan to add girls’ tennis next year.”

The Eagles won section titles in boys’ and girls’ volleyball and wrestling this year, and the baseball team finished as runner-up.

The wrestling team has been the most productive. Coach John Azevedo is a former college assistant at Notre Dame and Wisconsin and quickly built the school into a power. Calvary Chapel is the two-time defending State champion.

Many teams at the school practice off-campus because of a lack of facilities. The football team, for example, works out at a nearby elementary school, and the wrestling team trains at a sports center in Fountain Valley.

“We estimate that about 70% of our students participate in at least one sport,” said Van Hook, a former football assistant at Cerritos College. “We never envisioned this kind of success so soon, but I think it’s great.”

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Parochial schools fared well in championship competition this year, further adding to the debate that they should compete separately from public schools.

Santa Ana Mater Dei won titles in boys’ basketball and soccer and finished as runner-up in football and girls’ basketball. Pasadena Poly won championships in girls’ tennis and soccer and finished second in boys’ basketball and tennis.

Palos Verdes Peninsula had the most successful year among public schools. It won a title in girls’ tennis and finished second in boys’ cross-country and girls’ cross-country, basketball and soccer.

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As expected, Toyota has signed on as title sponsor of the California Interscholastic Federation, effective July 1.

Details of the contract are being worked out, but it is believed that the deal is worth between $1 million and $2 million over three years.

The CIF has been without a title sponsor since last July, when Reebok did not renew its contract.

Toyota is the second corporate sponsor to sign on with the CIF in the past year, joining the Vons grocery store chain.

Marketing and Financial Management Enterprises of Woodland Hills has been representing the CIF in marketing negotiations for the past year.

“We’ve tried to remain patient and build a model program that can be used for years to come,” said Chet Swenson, president of M&FM.; “Toyota is a big boost and a company we targeted from the very beginning.”

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Dean Crowley’s fate as Southern Section commissioner will be decided at an Executive Committee meeting Friday.

Crowley, 60, has been the section’s acting commissioner since last October, when Stan Thomas was forced to resign for allegedly misusing his expense account.

Despite a 25% reduction in staff, Crowley has turned things around, and the state’s largest section probably will come in under budget for the first time in two years.

“One of our options is certainly to make Dean’s position as commissioner permanent,” said Gary Smidderks, Executive Committee president. “My feeling is that his performance has been favorable with the committee, and I don’t expect any problems.”

Prep Notes

Troy Starr will remain as football coach at Woodland Hills Taft next season despite recent allegations that he recruited players. Starr denies recruiting, but the City Section Rules Committee recently placed the program on one year’s probation. Principal Ron Berz met with Starr last week to discuss his fate, and Berz decided to keep his coach. “A mistake was made and we addressed the issue,” Berz said. . . . Jeff Sink, girls’ basketball coach at Fairbanks Lathrop High in Alaska the past 14 years, has been named the new coach at Brea-Olinda. Sink replaces John Hattrup, who resigned this month after only one year on the job. Sink, 43, was 172-73 at Lathrop. At Brea-Olinda, he takes over one of the country’s premier programs. The Ladycats have won four consecutive State titles. . . . The 27th L.A. Watts Summer Games begin Saturday and continue through June 26. More than 12,000 athletes will compete in 14 events.

Times’ Top 20 Baseball Poll

The Times’ final top 20 high school baseball poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Fountain Valley SS I 27-3 1 2. Lakewood SS I 24-7 3 3. La Quinta SS III 28-3 4 4. Bishop Amat SS III 26-1 6 5. Cres. Valley SS I 19-6 6 6. SO Notre Dame SS I 21-6 7 7. El Camino Real City 4-A 23-7 11 8. Chatsworth City 4-A 28-5 2 9. Tustin SS III 22-6 8 10. Nogales SS I 21-7 9 11. West Torrance SS III 25-7 10 12. Sylmar City 4-A 25-6 12 13. Brea-Olinda SS II 22-5 13 14. El Dorado SS I 21-8 14 15. JW North SS II 18-11 15 16. Rio Mesa SS II 21-7 16 17. Hart SS II 21-6 17 18. Corona SS III 22-7 18 19. Simi Valley SS I 20-7 19 20. Gahr SS II 22-9 20