Two Soccer Teams Seeded No. 1

Two girls’ soccer teams from the region, Buena High and Harvard-Westlake, were seeded No. 1 in the Southern Section playoffs.

Buena (27-0), the Channel League champion, will open the Division II playoffs at home Saturday against Pasadena.

Harvard-Westlake, the Mission League champion, will open the Division IV playoffs at home Saturday against Marlborough.

Chaminade, Mission League runner-up, was the only other seeded girls’ team from the region at No. 3 in Division IV.

Seeded boys’ teams include Channel League champion Ventura, No. 3 in Division II; Frontier champion Calabasas, No. 4 in Division III; Mission champion St. Francis at No. 3 and Rio Hondo champion La Canada at No. 4 in Division IV.

(Playoff matchups on D9)

FOOTBALL

* Dave Lertzman, football coach at Birmingham High for the last five years, has been fired.

Lertzman’s teams were 20-33, including 2-8 last season.

“It’s just time for change,” Principal Gerald Kleinman said. “It’s nothing negative about Coach Lertzman.”

BASEBALL

* Adam Leavitt, an All-Marmonte League second baseman at Thousand Oaks, has committed to Troy State in Alabama.

TRACK AND FIELD

* Jessica Cosby of Cleveland High, the three-time defending City Section champion in the girls’ shotput, has committed to UCLA.

Cosby, who attended Granada Hills as a freshman and sophomore, placed fifth in the 1998 and ’99 state championships.

MOTORSPORTS

* Bryan Herta of Valencia has a long way to go to get his Swift-Honda car up to speed for the Championship Auto Racing Teams season, which begins March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Herta’s fastest time during CART’s Spring Training sessions at Homestead on Wednesday and Thursday was 194.322 mph.

“We obviously have some work to do for us to understand this car,” Herta said. “These two days have been extremely valuable in terms of information. We are learning, but clearly we need to work hard to achieve a competitive performance level with the car.”

Although most CART teams began preparation for the 2000 season immediately following the 500-mile finale at California Speedway on Oct. 31, Herta did not sign a contract with Forsythe Racing until Jan. 17.

Richie Hearn, who lived in Canyon Country for several years before moving to Las Vegas in 1997, clocked 201.138 mph Thursday in his Reynard-Toyota.