Chaminade’s Martinez Smashes State Record

Chris Martinez of West Hills Chaminade made the state season home-run record vanish into thin air last weekend.

Martinez, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound second baseman, went into Friday’s game against Loyola with 13 homers and hit two three-run shots against the Cubs.

On Saturday, in a doubleheader at Big Bear, he went seven for 10 with five homers, including two grand slams.

Martinez’s 20 homers broke the record of 17 set by Brian Johnson of Oakland Skyline in 1986 and tied last year by Leo Daigle of Spring Valley Monte Vista.

“The air helped a lot,” Martinez said of Big Bear’s mountain location. “Once you got the ball up in the air, it took off.”

Martinez, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has driven in 52 runs in 25 games.

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The high school track and field career of Pasadena Muir sprinter Sultan McCullough is over.

McCullough, the defending Southern Section Division I and Masters Meet champion in the 100 and 200 meters, saw his season end last week when a hamstring injury prevented him from running in the Pacific League preliminaries at Arcadia High.

McCullough has signed a letter of intent to play football at USC.

“We both came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth pushing it,” said Jason Bornn, Muir’s interim boys’ track coach. “Sultan has always been a football player running track, and I wasn’t going to be the one to jeopardize his future at USC.”

McCullough strained a hamstring while anchoring Muir to a victory in the 400 relay in the state championships last year. He ran in the final of the 100, but limped home to a ninth-place finish and then withdrew from the 200 and as a member of Muir’s 1,600 relay team.

McCullough’s injury could benefit Long Beach Poly’s quest for its first Southern Section major-division boys’ title since 1965.

The defending state-champion Jackrabbits have two of the top sprinters in the state in juniors Darrell Rideaux and Kareem Kelly. With McCullough out of the running, they have an excellent chance of finishing 1-2 in the 100 in the Division I finals at Cerritos College on May 23.