Colombia Has Leg Up on Iran in Teymouri’s Vacation Plans

Things to do, sights to see and relatives to visit--not to mention what their parents want to do--often influence where kids go on their summer vacations.

But when Crescenta Valley High distance runner Sonia Teymouri chose to vacation in Colombia instead of Iran this summer, she had an unusual reason: She didn’t think she would have been able to run in the latter country, where the dominant Muslim religion prohibits women from baring any part of their legs in public.

“She has relatives in both countries, but she wanted to be able to train when she was on vacation,” Crescenta Valley Coach Keith Gilliland said. “She knew that was going to be very difficult if she went to Iran.”

Passing fancy: QB or not QB? Any passer able to hold his own at the third Air 7 Quarterback Challenge last Sunday in San Gabriel can definitely call himself a quarterback.

Organized by private passing instructor Steve Clarkson, the event brought together 38 of Southern California’s top high school and college quarterbacks for an afternoon of competitive events that measured passing accuracy, agility and arm strength.

Keith Smith, the former Newbury Park High quarterback now at Arizona, finished second to BYU freshman and former Los Alamitos High left-hander Kevin Feterik, who won his second Air 7 title in three years.

Smith posed for photos with fellow Pacific 10 Conference quarterbacks Pat Barnes and Terry Hess of California and Tim Carey of Stanford.

“This is a fun way to get in some throwing, be a little competitive and meet some guys I’d only heard about or watched on TV,” Smith said. “I had a blast.”

Three Marmonte League passers--Scott McEwan of Thousand Oaks, Joe Borchard of Camarillo and Ryan McCann of Agoura--made strong showings. McEwan, who committed to attend UCLA last week, scored the most points among the trio and finished fifth overall.

McEwan and McCann take private lessons from Clarkson, a former San Jose State quarterback. Borchard met him for the first time after receiving an invitation to the competition.

Borchard might get another call soon. Clarkson uses the Air 7 Challenge to drum up new clients.

“He called me after last year’s [Air 7 Challenge] and that’s how I started taking lessons from him,” McEwan said.

Other area quarterbacks who competed included Ryan Bowne, who graduated from Notre Dame High and will walk on at UCLA, and Todd McLean, a Crespi graduate who will play at Santa Monica City College.

Can hardly weight: A leaner Le’tre Kelly could spell big trouble for opponents of the Antelope Valley High boys’ basketball team during the 1996-97 season.

Kelly averaged 14.3 points and 12.2 rebounds as a 285-pound junior last season, but he has shed 30 pounds from his 6-foot-5 1/2 frame since. The weight loss was very evident in the “War on the Floor” tournament that concluded at Sylmar High on Monday; a more mobile Kelly averaged 16.5 points and 12.3 rebounds in six games.

“He played most of last season hurt,” Antelope Valley Coach Tom Mahan said. “He hurt his knee during the first week of football practice and it bothered him all season.”

The injury caused Kelly to miss what would have been his first high school football season. And though it is now completely healed, he does not intend to try out for the football team again.

“He’s just going to stick with basketball,” Mahan said. “I think he could be a very good tight end or lineman because he’s got good hands and feet for a guy his size, but I think he’s a little wary after what happened last year.”

Double trouble: Like Kelly, Tony Walker is expected to start on the Antelopes’ basketball team for the third consecutive year when the season starts in November. But unlike his teammate, the soft-spoken Walker is a football standout.

He intercepted six passes last season to help Antelope Valley advance to the Southern Section Division II championship game. He also rushed for 145 yards and four touchdowns in 21 carries and caught 26 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s definitely, definitely a Division I football player,” Mahan said. “But he’s become as much a prospect in hoops as he is in football.”

The 6-1, 175-pound Walker led the Antelopes with averages of 14.4 points and 6.1 assists last season, but Mahan says he has greatly improved his outside shooting since.

“He’s a much better shooter,” Mahan said. “He’s so athletic that he had a tendency in the past to float through the air and just kind of throw shots up. Now he’s squaring up his shoulders and feet. Everything is going toward the basket when he shoots.”

Quotes

“I’ve got some pretty good 10-year-olds. Is it time for them to declare?”

-- Rich Goldberg, president of the Valley-based American Roundball Corp., jokingly noting that the trend of high school players making themselves available for the NBA draft might have gone too far.

Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Steve Henson, John Ortega.