Canyon Runners Aren’t Looking Down Their Noses Anymore

Several members of the Canyon High girls’ cross-country team might have started a trend similar to one sweeping the NFL when they wore Breathe Right Nasal Strips during Saturday’s Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

The nasal strips, which the San Francisco 49ers’ Jerry Rice first popularized in the NFL, bridge the nose like adhesive bandages. Their maker claims they facilitate breathing by opening the nasal passages.

Canyon senior Danielle Hadfield was ridiculed by teammates for wearing one in a practice last week, but when it was time to race Saturday, Julie Harris, Lauren Fleshman, Jean Drummond and Brandi Plasschaert all had procured their own from Hadfield’s supply.

“It wasn’t planned at all,” Hadfield said. “They asked me about them right before we starting warming up.”

So do the strips work as advertised?

Hadfield and Harris both say yes.

Harris had a cold at Mt. SAC, but she said it didn’t bother her when she was wearing the nasal strip.

“It made breathing through your nose a lot easier,” she said. “I definitely want to keep wearing them.”

Good hands: His name is William Nassour III, but friends call him Tripp.

“I’ve always been Tripp,” said Nassour, a senior wide receiver for Notre Dame High. “Tripp was the nickname my parents gave me because I’m the third.”

Nassour is tied for second among Knight receivers with 11 catches, good for 118 yards. His brother, Bryan, a junior receiver, has two receptions for 23 yards.

Friends call Bryan “Slip.”

“They just started calling him that when he came to Notre Dame,” Nassour said. “But we call him Bryan at home.”

The pair’s brother, Christopher, 13, a Notre Dame ball boy, already has a nickname waiting.

Said Nassour: “They’ve already decided: When he plays, he’s gonna be called ‘Fall.’ ”

Back on track?: To run or not to run in this afternoon’s Ventura County cross-country championships? That is the question facing Nordhoff High’s Will Bernaldo.

Bernaldo led Nordhoff to the Division III team title in the prestigious Stanford Invitational on Sept. 30 but didn’t run at Mt. SAC because he was recovering from a case of mononucleosis.

Without him, the Rangers lost their first meet of the season and they could be vulnerable to Buena in today’s meet.

“He’s training right now, but we want him healthy for the later meets,” Nordhoff Coach Ken Reeves said. “We don’t want to bring him back too quickly. . . . I’ll leave the decision [on whether to run] up to him.”

Flag day: The closing of Saugus Speedway in July proved to be a blessing for one of the newest employees at the track. Flagman Chris Morgan of Ventura found that his four-month tenure was long enough to get him noticed by NASCAR officials, who were looking for someone to work the SuperTruck series.

Morgan, the 23-year-old son of Ventura Raceway manager Cliff Morgan, took time off from his studies at UC Santa Barbara to work the SuperTruck race at Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield last weekend. Three NASCAR vice presidents were on hand to observe his performance.

“For the first 50 laps, I was getting used to the way they call the races,” Morgan said. “After that, it was like flagging a race.

“The qualifying was tough, because they wanted to watch me do my show. It was the first time I’ve been nervous in eight years [of flagging races].”

Morgan--who has worked at Mesa Marin and Ventura and pulled a three-year stint on the regional United States Auto Club Western States Three-Quarter Midget tour--has been invited to work another SuperTruck race, this weekend in Phoenix.

Honors

Moorpark College running back Gary Clemons was selected Western State Conference offensive co-player of the week, and Glendale linebacker Brian Collins was named defensive co-player.

Clemons, a sophomore from Inglewood High, had 89 yards in 11 carries and three touchdowns in a 70-20 victory over Compton last Saturday. Collins, a freshman from Westchester High, made nine tackles in a 20-9 victory over Ventura.

Quotebook

“People are always grabbing my Speedos, but luckily they haven’t come all the way off yet.”

-- Burroughs 6-foot-4 water polo player Alfonso Tucay, on the tactics opponents use to try to stop him.

“I’m like a Home Depot store.”

-- Race car driver Cory Kruseman, on the three plates, six pins and 21 screws connecting his right arm, wrist and hand--the result of injuries sustained after his car flipped 14 times in a recent race.

Things to Do

The Glendale College men’s cross-country team, paced by Ramon Serratos, heads a list of local entries in Saturday’s Johnie O Invitational at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa.

The undefeated Vaqueros are expected to battle for the team title with Rancho Santiago and El Camino in the meet that starts at 10 a.m.

The top eight men’s and women’s teams automatically qualify for the State championships in Fresno on Nov. 18.

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Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Darin Esper, Vince Kowalick, John Ortega, Peter Yoon.