Aoki Won’t Play in Senior Classic

Isao Aoki, who tied for third in last year’s Toshiba Senior Classic, will not play in this year’s event because of back problems, the tournament announced Thursday.

Aoki had back surgery in January and won’t be well enough to play in the March 13-15 tournament at Newport Beach Country Club. Aoki won $60,000 last year at the event and has 79 top-10 finishes in his six years on the Senior tour.

Lou Graham and Larry Mowry will fill the spots left by Aoki and Mike Hill, who elected not to play.

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Matt DeLellis, a wide receiver from Servite, has committed to attend Dartmouth, his father, Mark, said. DeLellis caught 46 passes for 889 yards and scored five touchdowns in 12 games for Servite.

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Sheri Smith, a midfielder for the Cypress women’s soccer team, has signed to play at Long Beach State.

Smith set the Cypress single-game scoring record with 25 goals and is a transfer from University of the Pacific.

Scott Gray, an outside linebacker from Orange Coast, will play next season at Tusculum College, a Division II school in Greenville, Tenn., OCC announced.