Highlanders Seeded No. 2 in City Tennis

Unbeaten Granada Hills High was seeded second in the City Championship draw of the City Section girls’ tennis playoffs.

The Highlanders (13-0, 9-0 in conference play), who won their fourth consecutive Northwest Valley Conference title and completed their third consecutive unbeaten conference season Thursday, will play seventh-seeded Eagle Rock in a first-round match at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Granada Hills.

Granada Hills lost in the semifinals in each of the last four seasons. Two-time defending champion Palisades is seeded No. 1.

Instead of 4-A and 3-A divisions, the playoffs are being contested for the first time in a City Championship division of the top eight teams and a Division Championship bracket of the next eight.

Other teams from the region in the eight-team City Championship draw are fourth-seeded Van Nuys (12-1, 10-0), the Valley Pac-8 Conference champion, and sixth-seeded Cleveland (10-2, 7-2), the Northwest Valley runner-up.

Van Nuys hosts fifth-seeded Carson and Cleveland travels to third-seeded Fairfax on Tuesday.

In the Division Championship bracket, third-seeded San Fernando (8-5, 4-5), third-place finisher in the Northwest Valley, will hosts sixth-seeded Bell at El Cariso Park in San Fernando. Grant (9-1, 8-1), Valley Pac-8 runner-up, is seeded seventh and will play at second-seeded Hamilton.

The semifinals will be played at Meridan’s Tennis L.A. in Los Angeles, with City teams playing at 12:30 p.m. Friday and Division teams playing at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 16. The finals are scheduled for Nov. 18.

Sisters ineligible: Teda Arunrut of Van Nuys High and her sister Chureeporn of Reseda have been declared ineligible for the City Section tennis playoffs and all athletics for a year because of questions regarding their residency, a City official said.

“It was my decision that the two girls are ineligible, but that because of the timing of the situation the teams would be allowed to go on [in the playoffs],” said Barbara Fiege, City Section commissioner.

The Arunruts were declared ineligible for failing to provide proof of residency at an address listed on school records, Fiege said.

Van Nuys will be allowed to participate in the playoffs without their No. 3 singles player because Fiege ruled that complete information regarding the player’s residence was not available until Thursday. Reseda did not qualify for the playoffs and Chureeporn Arunrut, the team’s No. 1 singles player, is ineligible for the individual City tournament.

Van Nuys and Reseda may have to forfeit victories, but a decision will not be made until after the playoffs, Fiege said.

Teda Arunrut is a senior in the math/science magnet program at Van Nuys and Chureeporn Arunrut is a sophomore in the science magnet program’s medical option at Reseda.

School records indicate the sisters live in Mission Hills, but the family, which has a home in Santa Clarita, “couldn’t provide any substantial evidence that the parents or the two girls lived at that house [in Mission Hills],” Fiege said.

Students must live within the boundaries of a City Section school or obtain an interdistrict permit to enroll in a magnet program.

BASEBALL

Landing a handful: Wes Frederic, a shortstop from Norco High, made a commitment to Cal State Northridge on Friday, bringing the total of high school recruits who will sign with the Matadors next week to five.

FOOTBALL

MVP finalist: Running back Mike Pringle of the Montreal Alouettes, a former Kennedy High and Cal State Fullerton standout, is one of two finalists for the Canadian Football League’s outstanding player award.

Pringle rushed for a league-record 2,064 yards this season. The other finalist is running back Kelvin Anderson of the Calgary Stampeders. The winner will be announced Nov. 19.

Forfeit awarded: Faith Baptist High picked up a forfeit victory Friday because Pilgrim did not have enough players to compete in a scheduled eight-man Heritage League game. .

Faith Baptist improved to 9-0, 7-0 in league play. Pilgrim, which had forfeited one other game, finished 0-7 overall and in league play.