Dos Pueblos Wins Golf Title Again

The top-ranked team in girls’ golf found itself in the position of underdog, but Goleta Dos Pueblos showed the mettle of a defending champion and squeaked out a one-shot victory Thursday in the Southern Section team championships.

Dos Pueblos, ranked No. 1 by The Times all season, shot a five-player total of 401 at Indian Hills Golf Club in Riverside and defeated No. 2 Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula. No. 6 Alhambra Keppel continued its impressive playoff run with a 404 to finish third and No. 7 San Clemente was fourth with 427.

The top four advance to the CIF-WSCGA finals Nov. 24 at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Calimesa.

Many pegged Peninsula as the team to beat even though Dos Pueblos was the defending champion with five returning starters. The Panthers, runners-up for the second consecutive year, had posted several impressive 18-hole scores this year, including a 377 on Monday to win the Central Divisional.

But Victoria Alimonda and Sara Ovadia shot six-over 78 and Nicole Dishman shot 80 to lead Dos Pueblos, which became the first back-to-back winner in the six years the Southern Section has crowned a champion.

“I still can’t believe it myself,” Dos Pueblos Coach Doug Mitchell said. “We knew we had our work cut out for us. Peninsula is awesome and I was worried about Keppel too. Even I don’t think we should have been ranked No. 1, but it just goes to show you that on any given day any one of us can beat the other.”

-- Peter Yoon

The North Hills Monroe boys and the Lake Balboa Birmingham girls had the top qualifying performances in the City Section cross-country preliminaries at Pierce College.

Monroe, led by the 1-3 finish of sophomore Gabriel Guzman and junior Salim Benmohamed, totaled 39 points in the second of two qualifying heats to finish 13 points ahead of second-place Los Angeles Belmont.

Birmingham, with a 1-2-3 finish by sophomore Jennifer Hernandez, senior Marina Santana and sophomore Emmaline Hartel, defeated second-place L.A. Garfield, 22-83, in its heat.

The top individual times were posted by senior Mehdi Taieb-Brahim of Birmingham in the boys’ competition (15 minutes 26 seconds) and by sophomore Kirsten Adams of San Pedro in the girls’ heats (18:33) over the 2.9-mile course.

Sprinters Lionel Larry of Compton Dominguez and Carol Rodriguez of Long Beach Wilson have committed to USC and are expected to sign letters of intent during the early signing period that started Wednesday.

Larry won the boys’ 200 meters and tied for fifth in the 100 in the state track and field championships last season.

Rodriguez, who transferred to Long Beach Wilson from Anaheim Western, placed third in the girls’ 100 and sixth in the 200 in the state meet.

-- John Ortega

USC continues to dominate Southern California football recruiting, with its latest commitment coming from 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive lineman Lawrence Miles from La Quinta.