Long Beach Poly’s Brulois Will Miss Preliminaries

Kevin Brulois, one of the top two runners on Long Beach Poly’s boys’ cross-country team, had an appendectomy Wednesday and won’t run today in the Southern Section preliminaries at Mount San Antonio College.

Coach George Wright, who has guided Poly to the top ranking in the state Division I poll, said it’s too early to tell if Brulois could race in the section championships Nov. 23 or in the state championships Nov. 30, assuming the Jackrabbits advance that far.

“He seems pretty optimistic,” Wright said, “but it’s going to depend on what the doctors say.”

The preliminaries start at 7:56 a.m. with a Division V boys’ race. The last race, a Division II girls’ heat, is scheduled to begin at 3:44 p.m.

Lena Bettis of Riverside North, the defending state champion in the girls’ long jump, has committed to Penn State and is expected to sign a letter of intent today.

Bettis, who took recruiting trips to Miami and Penn State, has a career best of 19 feet 10 3/4 inches in the long jump and will be the No. 5 returnee in the nation for the 2003 season.

Ashlee Brown, Bettis’ teammate and the two-time defending state champion in the 300-meter low hurdles, has yet to commit to a four-year school. She has taken recruiting trips to Miami, Penn State, Illinois and Arizona State.

John Ortega

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Chino (9-1, 3-1), which tied La Verne Damien and Chino Hills Ayala for the Sierra League football title, won a series of coin flips Friday and was named the league’s No. 1 team heading into the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

Damien (8-2, 3-1) is the No. 2 team based on its victory over Ayala (8-2, 3-1) on Thursday.

Newport Harbor won a coin flip with Laguna Hills and Irvine Friday to settle a three-way tie for second place in the Sea View League football standings. The Sailors (7-3, 3-2 in league) finish behind Santa Ana Foothill (8-2, 4-1)

Laguna Hills (6-4, 3-2) also receives an automatic berth in the Division VI playoffs as the league’s No. 3 team based on its 33-6 victory over Irvine on Thursday.

The Vaqueros (7-3, 3-2) are eligible for the division’s lone at-large berth.

-- Dan Arritt

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L.A. Murphy (5-5, 2-2) won a coin flip for the No. 2 seed from the Santa Fe League after its 59-24 victory over Burbank Bell-Jeff (5-5, 2-2) created a three-way tie for second place.

Bell-Jeff won a coin flip for the league’s third berth in the Division XII playoffs, leaving L.A. Salesian (3-6, 2-2), which played a nonleague game Friday night, as the fourth-place team.

-- Dan Loumena

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Campbell Hall (5-5, 3-1) is the No. 1 team from the Delphic League heading into the Division XIII playoffs after winning a coin flip on Friday.

Pasadena Marshall (5-5, 3-1) is No. 2, and Simi Valley Grace Brethren (6-3, 3-1), which played a nonleague game Friday, is No. 3.

-- Eric Maddy