Carlson Brothers Hit New Heights

Brian and Kevin Carlson, Southern California College’s high jumping brothers, appear to be peaking at the right time.

The Carlsons, the only people to jump 7 feet in high school in Orange County history, are at it again. Each cleared 7 feet 1/2 inch Saturday at the Azusa Pacific Meet of Champions, firmly establishing them as co-favorites in the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships today and Saturday at Point Loma Nazarene.

It was the first time Kevin has jumped over 7 feet this year. He is a junior who won the State title for Fullerton College last year and for Katella High School in 1990. It was a personal record and third time over 7 feet this season for Brian, a freshman who won the Southern Section Division II title for Katella in 1993.

The Carlsons are also aiming for the NAIA National Championships, May 25-27 at Azusa Pacific. SCC Coach Bryan Wilkins said they have a strong chance of finishing among the top six nationally to become the school’s first All-Americans in men’s track and field since 1974.

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Two other SCC athletes have qualified for the national championships: junior Tim Hardin in the marathon and sophomore Nikee Pool in the 800 meters. Pool, who has run 2 minutes 13.63 seconds, is expected to battle Michelle Teodoro of Azusa Pacific for the conference title Saturday.

SCC junior Jason Schaefer set a school record in the 1,500 meters, finishing in 3:58.5 Saturday. The national qualifying time is 3:53.54. The conference leader in the 1,500 is former Orange High standout Jaime Martinez, a freshman at Azusa Pacific. Martinez has run 3:50.09.

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More track: The Chapman women’s track team has its most important meet of the season this weekend at the California-Nevada State Championships at Fresno City College.

The competition features top collegiate individuals from the two states and isn’t broken up into divisions so Chapman is unlikely to challenge for any titles.

“It will be difficult to get to the finals, I’ll tell you right now,” Chapman Coach Anna Wlodarczyk said. “But we will have fun and do our best. Maybe we’ll break another school record.”

The Panthers, in their second season as a Division III program after the school disbanded its Division II team in 1987, have broken nine school records this season.

Four Chapman individuals will compete this weekend: Christy Carvin, who holds the school 400-meter hurdles record, Makela Theriault, who holds the high jump record, Mary Folino, who set the 200 record Saturday but will compete in the 100, and Tanya Oliver, who will compete in the shotput and discus.

The 400 and 1,600 relay teams (Natalie Neat, Carvin, Theriault and Folino) have lowered the school record three times in each race and will also compete.

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GSAC softball: Southern California College, which will finish its regular season with a doubleheader Saturday at Concordia, needs one victory to clinch the outright title, which would be its third consecutive championship.

The Vanguards (37-16, 15-3) are two games ahead of Azusa Pacific (13-5) and Cal Baptist (13-5), who meet in a doubleheader Saturday.

The conference champion will play host to the four-team NAIA Far West Regional May 11-13. SCC, Cal Baptist, Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific will play for a berth in the national tournament May 17-20 in Columbia, Mo.

Hawaii Pacific, ranked third in the nation, and No. 6 SCC would have a chance for an at-large spot.

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GSAC baseball: Concordia and Southern California College still have slight chances to finish fourth and capture the final playoff spot. Concordia (16-26, 6-14) is two games behind fourth-place Westmont (8-12) with four games remaining in the conference season. Saturday, Concordia plays host to second-place Cal Baptist (14-6) and Westmont plays third-place Point Loma Nazarene (13-7).