FOOTBALL

* Ed Croson, who guided Chaminade High to consecutive football playoff berths and a league championship in his only two years as coach, has been appointed coach at Birmingham High.

“I’m thrilled,” Croson said. “It’s a big school, a great league and an incredible facility. We’re ready to go to work.”

Croson, 43, will replace Dave Lertzman, who was fired. Croson worked at Chaminade since 1989, serving as athletic director and as an assistant coach before taking over the program in 1998.

Wayne Sink, who served on the selection committee, said, “I thought he showed outstanding experience. He showed he was well organized and had an idea what an overall program should be.”

BASKETBALL

* Gary Abraham, the boys’ coach at Channel Islands High from 1991-98, has been hired as the first boys’ coach at Oaks Christian.

Channel Islands qualified for the Southern Section playoffs in five of Abraham’s seven seasons, finishing third in the Pacific View League in 1997 and ’98.

“I’m really excited about getting started over there,” Abraham said of Oaks Christian, which will open in the fall. “Not too many people get an opportunity to build a program at a school from scratch.”

MOTORSPORTS

* Defending NASCAR Winston West Series champion Sean Woodside of Saugus will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway in the same program as the Winston West opener.

Woodside was forced out of his Winston West ride when team owner Bill McAnally of Sacramento took on a partner to meet the team sponsor’s desire to field an entry in the Craftsman and Winston West series.

Woodside has signed a two-race deal to drive the No. 31 Ford truck jointly owned by Bob Brevak and Shelly Brevak. He will face off against a field that includes Gaughan in the Chevy Trucks 150 at noon, Saturday, and will race again March 26 in the Dodge California 150 at Mesa Marin Speedway in Bakersfield.