Westlake’s Carpenter in Compliance With Section Rules

A two-week investigation by the Conejo Valley Unified School District of eligibility issues involving quarterback Rudy Carpenter of Westlake Village Westlake has found no violation of Southern Section rules, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

A private investigator was hired by the district earlier this month after concerns were raised by several Marmonte League schools as to whether Carpenter was living full time within the Westlake attendance area with his mother, Linda.

Carpenter transferred to Westlake from Newbury Park in February. After four months of appeals, reviews and investigations, he was declared eligible after his mother convinced school officials she was living in the attendance area.

But that did not deter Marmonte schools from lodging further complaints this fall, causing the school district to take another look. Chuck Eklund, the district’s director of secondary education, refused to respond to repeated phone messages left at his office.

Marmonte schools were focused on the fact Carpenter was spending time at the Newbury Park residence of his father, Scott. Under a divorce agreement, the Carpenters have joint custody of Rudy.

According to sources, the investigation determined that Carpenter was spending the majority of his time living with his mother, which fulfills section residency requirements. The district informed Southern Section Commissioner Jim Staunton of its findings Friday.

Carpenter, a 6-foot-3 senior, was the Marmonte League’s top offensive player last season at Newbury Park. This season, he has helped lead Westlake to a 3-0 start, passing for 203 yards last week against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and 240 yards Thursday against Newhall Hart.

Eric Sondheimer

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Daniel Goldstein scored his second goal of the match with 1 minute 46 seconds left in sudden-death overtime to lead the Santa Ana Foothill boys’ water polo team, (6-0), No. 1 in The Times’ rankings, to a 6-5 victory over No. 10 San Clemente Friday in a quarterfinal of the South Coast tournament.

Foothill trailed, 5-4, with 1:28 left in regulation when Goldstein scored his first goal to force overtime. Frank Reynolds had three goals to lead the Knights.

In another quarterfinal, Chris Allen scored in sudden-death overtime to give third-ranked Lake Forest El Toro a 4-3 victory over second-ranked Long Beach Wilson. The Chargers will play Foothill in a semifinal today at Corona del Mar High.

Coach Don Salyers was miffed when his Chino Don Lugo boys’ cross-country team was upset by Murrieta Valley in the season-opening Bronco Invitational at Prado Regional Park in Chino on Sept. 13.

He admits, however, that the loss served as a wake-up call for his team and played a part in Don Lugo’s runaway victory in the sweepstakes race of the Irvine Woodbridge Invitational on Saturday night.

“Some of the guys thought we could just show up at meets and teams were going to roll over for us,” Salyers said. “But they knew that wasn’t the case after [the Bronco Invitational].”

Don Lugo, the top-ranked Division I team in the state, had five runners among the top 27 finishers at Woodbridge to record a 62-125 victory over second-place Murrieta Valley.

In addition, the cumulative time of Don Lugo’s top five runners was 75 minutes 14 seconds, 76 seconds faster than the previous team-time course record set by Santa Ana in 1998.

Hesperia Sultana, the defending state Division II girls’ cross-country champion, has slipped from third to fourth in Harrier’s national rankings.

Canyon Country Canyon has moved into the rankings for the first time this season at No. 16.

On the boys’ side, Don Lugo is 15th after not being among the top 25 teams in the preseason rankings.

-- John Ortega