Grant Wins Appeal but Loses 12 Games

Guard DeWayne Anderson of Grant High won his appeal Tuesday from the City Section Rules Committee to regain his athletic eligibility, but the Lancers will have to forfeit 12 basketball victories in which he participated.

Anderson attended Grant as a freshman, then moved to Tennessee last year. He moved back to the area without his previous legal guardian, a violation of state rules. The Rules Committee gave him a waiver, allowing him to play immediately.

But Grant’s record will go from 14-3 to 2-15 because of the forfeits.

FOOTBALL

* Paul Soto of Highland High has committed to Oregon State, where he will move from linebacker to defensive line.

Soto, the Golden League player of the year and a Times’ All-Valley selection, led Highland to its first outright league championship.

* Defensive end Tucker Bennett of St. Bonaventure has committed to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Bennett had 81 tackles, including 16 sacks, had two fumble recoveries and a safety last season to help the Seraphs (14-0) win the Southern Section Division XI championship.

“I was a little worried at first about the whole military aspect,” Bennett said.

“But I went back there and all my worries were lost. It was awesome.”

* Adrian Ayala, a 6-6, 300-pound tackle for St. Bonaventure High, has committed to Arizona State.

* Steve Landress has resigned as co-coach at Cleveland.

Landress came out of retirement last season to help Coach Bill Paden, who will continue as head coach next season.

TENNIS

* No. 2-seeded Philip Sheng of Thousand Oaks defeated fourth-seeded Ryan Heinberg of Agoura Hills, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, on Monday in the championship match of the boys’ 18 division in the 85th annual Midwinter Junior Championships in Santa Barbara.

Sheng defeated Prakash Amritraj of Encino, ranked No. 6 in boys’ 16s, in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-3. Heinberg beat No. 3-seeded Quinn Borchard of Camarillo, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) in the semifinals.

Top-seeded Rylan Rizza of Rancho Palos Verdes defeated Kean Feeder of Ojai, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), in the boys’ 16 final .

Rizza advanced to the final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Lester Cook of Calabasas.

Sixth-seeded Judith DeVera defeated No. 4-seeded Ashley Schellhas of Ojai, 6-2, 6-2, in the girls’ 16 final.

Schellhas upset No. 2-seeded Cathy Sutej of Ojai, 6-3, 6-2, and DeVera beat Monica Wiesener of Woodland Hills, 6-1, 7-5, in the semifinals.

No. 1-seeded Erica Schweyer of Manhattan Beach defeated Amanda Fink of Calabasas, 6-2, 6-2, in the girls’ 14 final.

SOFTBALL

* Outfielder Kristi DiMarco, who played at Palmdale High and Antelope Valley College, has accepted a scholarship to Mississippi.

DiMarco, a three-time All-Valley selection by The Times, is one of only a few players from the region to collect more than 100 hits and 100 stolen bases.

SWIMMING

* Carly Geehr, a former resident of La Canada Flintridge, finished third in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke in 2:18.04 Monday and qualified for the Olympic trials at the Martin D. Inkmann Memorial meet at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Geehr was third in the 100 breaststroke Sunday with a time of 1:04.12, fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Senior National Championships on March 28-April 4 in Federal Way, Wash.

Qualifying for the U.S. Junior National Championships West meet on March 21-26 in Anchorage, Alaska were:

* Amy Jones of Cleveland High, swimming for Valencia-based Canyons Aquatics, in the women’s 50, 100 and 200 freestyle.

* Maureen Farrell of Alemany High and Canyons Aquatics in the 200 backstroke, 100 and 200 freestyles, and 100 backstroke.

* Aron Gyuris of Thousand Oaks High and Conejo Simi Aquatics in the men’s 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly.

* Travis Taylor of Crescenta Valley in the men’s 500 and 1,650-yard freestyles.

* Brian Brown of El Camino Real High and Calabasas-based CLASS-CREST Assn. Team, in the 400 individual medley.