El Camino Real Seeded No. 1 in Tennis

Unbeaten three-time defending champion Woodland Hills El Camino Real was given the top seeding in the upcoming City Section boys’ tennis playoffs during the seeding meeting Wednesday night at Los Angeles Hamilton High.

Palisades (18-1), a 2002 quarterfinalist that has lost only to Cupertino Monta Vista in a tournament, is seeded No. 2, ahead of 2002 runner-up Granada Hills (11-2) and Eagle Rock (13-0).

Bruce Aiken, El Camino Real’s No. 1 singles player, also is seeded No. 1 in the City individual tournament, ahead of No. 2 Artyom Fatkhiev of Fairfax and Palisades’ Chris Ko, who won the Ojai tournament boys’ 16-and-under division title last week.

-- Lauren Peterson

Justin Johnson of Oxnard Rio Mesa, one of the top hurdlers in the Southland, will not compete in the Ventura County track and field championships at Moorpark High today because he strained his right hamstring while training Tuesday.

Johnson, the defending Southern Section Masters Meet champion in the 110-meter high hurdles, hopes to run in the Pacific View League preliminaries at Camarillo next Tuesday.

Johnson’s teammate, Phillip Reid, will be shooting for his fifth and sixth individual titles in the Ventura County championships, which start at 3 p.m.

Reid, the yearly state leader in the 1,600 at 4 minutes 9.44 seconds, is favored to win his second consecutive title in that event and his fourth consecutive championship in the 3,200.

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The Woodland Hills Taft girls’ track and field team will be without sprinters Tamra Jett, Tori Johnson, Whitney Cooper and Courtney Crosby today when it runs at Lake Balboa Birmingham in a meet that will determine the West Valley League championship.

Taft Coach Quincy Watts said the four sprinters will be kept out of the meet because they recently failed to conduct themselves in a manner established by the coaching staff before the season.

“This is just one of those things where you have to establish discipline,” Watts said. “One of my jobs as a coach is to help these young ladies develop a strong sense of character. And if that means I’m going to have to discipline them, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

-- John Ortega

Infielder James O’Neill, and pitcher Jordan Craft, both from Phelan Serrano, have committed to Cal State Northridge and Pepperdine, respectively.

In other college commitments:

* Brian Roades, a third baseman at West Hills Chaminade, to UC Irvine.

* Dion Cook, an all-league guard at Chaminade, to Cal Poly Pomona.

* Quarterback Adam Gonzalez and defensive lineman Andrew Morris from Los Angeles Loyola to Iona College.

* Chris Sargoy, pitcher/third baseman for Brentwood, to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

* Troy Durk, a quarterback at Inglewood, to Humboldt State.

* AnnMarie Summerhays, a guard at Saugus, to Idaho.

* Gilbert Urbina, an infielder, and Josh Walker, a pitcher, both from Covina Northview, to St. Mary’s and Cal State Northridge, respectively.

* J.J. Valicenti, a pitcher at Huntington Beach Marina, to Cal Poly Pomona.

* Jiliane Hartfel, an infielder at Santa Ana Foothill, to Nevada.

* Yuri Kalika, state champion at 171 pounds for Calvary Chapel this season, to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

* Jake Collins, a basketball forward at Mission Viejo, to Seattle.

* Mike Chavez, a distance runner at Anaheim Esperanza, to UC Santa Barbara.

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Tom Gregory is returning as boys’ basketball coach at Chino Hills Ayala only one year after stepping down from the position. He replaces Bob Erbst, who resigned after citing philosophical differences with the school administration.

Ayala went 12-15 this season, ending a 10-year streak of 20-win seasons. Gregory had compiled a 407-179 overall record in 23 years as a head coach, including 253-65 in 12 years at Ayala.

In other coaching news:

* Bob Mount, the Chino Hills Ayala swimming coach and a football assistant the last six years, has been selected head football coach, taking over for Lou Randall, who left to become coach at Riverside North at the end of last season.

* Wayne Crawford has been chosen football coach at Los Angeles Locke, taking over for Vincent Smith, who resigned in December to relocate his family and pursue other opportunities. Crawford, who has worked at Locke for 10 years, was an assistant coach to E.C. Robinson before Smith’s arrival. He also was the head football coach at L.A. Harbor College.

* Val Popov has announced his retirement as boys’ basketball coach at Corona Centennial after guiding the Huskies to seven league championships in 12 seasons, including five in a row. Popov, who has coached for 27 years, will continue as a teacher at the school.

* Russ Howard, baseball coach at Palisades for the last 18 years, will retire at the end of the season to become the school’s dean of discipline.

Other changes at Palisades:

* Tina Timura, athletic director the last three years, is retiring from teaching to pursue interests in athletic administration.

* George Cuddy, walk-on soccer coach the last three years, has resigned to go into private business.

* Janell Chapman, girls’ volleyball and softball coach the last three years, is resigning as coach but will remain at the school as a teacher.