Yelsey Selects Stanford

Anne Yelsey, the No. 1 player on the Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team, has committed to Stanford.

Yelsey was a singles quarterfinalist in the 2001 Southern Section individual tournament but missed most of the early season because of a knee injury and is currently playing doubles. She is ranked No. 3 in the U.S. Tennis Assn. Southern California girls’ 18 division.

“This is like, the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I didn’t sleep for a couple of nights, thinking about it,” said Yelsey, who visited Palo Alto last weekend and chose Stanford over Harvard and UCLA. “But the tennis is just unmatched. They’re the best.”

-- Lauren Peterson

*

Billie Jo Grant of Arroyo Grande has been selected as state winner of Wendy’s High School Heisman award 2002.

Grant, a senior, won the girls’ discus in the state track and field championships in June and placed fifth in the World junior championships in Kingston, Jamaica, in July.

There will be a national award winner selected from 12 finalists, who will attend the college football Heisman activities Dec. 13-15 in New York. The Wendy’s Heisman award recognizes athletes who excel in the classroom and are community activists.

*

Chino Hills Ayala is favored to win its 11th consecutive girls’ title in the Sierra League cross-country finals at Mount San Antonio College today, but the season hasn’t gone as well as Coach Erik Stakey would have liked.

With its top seven runners back from last year’s team that placed third and fifth in the Southern Section and state Division I finals, Ayala figured to be among the top squads in the state this year. But that hasn’t happened.

“We’ve had setbacks,” Starkey said when asked if injuries had contributed to their struggles. “But we also haven’t performed as well as we’ve wanted to.”

The difference between this year and last year was evident in the Mount San Antonio College Invitational on Oct. 26 when Ayala placed 10th in the sweepstakes race after finishing second last year. Luckily for Ayala, the Bulldogs can still turn their season around.

“That’s what we told the girls,” Stakey said. “That we could use the [league finals] as a springboard to the rest of the season.”

John Ortega

*

Ticket sales for the Dream Classic on Jan. 4 at Pauley Pavilion, featuring a matchup between swingman LeBron James’ Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish and Santa Ana Mater Dei, have been delayed until Nov. 11.

Admission, which includes four games, will be $25 or $20 for floor reserved, $15 for loge and $10 for general admission. Tickets will be available at UCLA’s Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster locations. Tickets had been scheduled to go on sale Monday.

-- Ben Bolch

*

San Bernardino’s football team will forfeit a nonleague victory over Moreno Valley Valley View and a San Andreas League victory over Cajon for using an ineligible player. San Bernardino’s record falls to 1-7, 1-3 in league. Cajon improves to 4-4, 1-3, and Valley View to 3-5.