Hunter Wins in Heptathlon

Gayle Hunter, one of the top multi-event athletes in the nation, won the women’s heptathlon last weekend at the USA Junior outdoor track and field championship at Texas A&M; in College Station.

Hunter, a graduate of Riverside North High who has signed with Penn State, finished with 3,231 points on Saturday, ahead of the 3,156 recorded by runner-up Hillary Werth, a sister of Dodger outfielder Jayson Werth who will be a senior this fall at Chatham (Ill.) Glenwood High.

The top two finishers in each event qualify to represent the U.S. at the World Junior championships, July 13-18, in Grosseto, Italy.

Shalonda Solomon of Long Beach Poly, the Gatorade national high school girls’ track and field athlete of the year, finished second behind Allyson Felix, a 2003 graduate of North Hills L.A. Baptist, in the women’s 200 on Sunday.

Sharon Day, a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after graduating from Costa Mesa High in 2003, finished first in the high jump in 6- 3/4 on Saturday.

Newport Harbor’s Allison Stokke finished tied for third in the pole vault on Sunday with Whitney Johnson, the Mission Viejo graduate who has committed to New Mexico, at 12-1 1/2. Jenny Green, a freshman this season at Nebraska, won with a mark of 13-1 1/2.

--Bob Rohwer

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Football

The Compton Unified School District is investigating Compton football Coach Ramon Taylor for allegedly altering students’ grades.

Christine Sanchez, director of communications for the district, acknowledged the district “is conducting an investigation related to these allegations,” and that while the investigation is underway, Taylor is working at a different job site within the district. Compton is in the Moore League.

Martin Henderson

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Basketball

Santa Margarita, coming off a 29-4 season, could be one of the top high school boys’ teams in Southern California this season after the arrival of three transfer students.

Set to enroll are 6-foot-3 sophomore Landon Pluimer from San Clemente, 6-1 sophomore Cheyne Martin from Laguna Beach and 6-4 junior Jonathan Gunderson from Santa Ana Mater Dei. Martin averaged 16 points as a freshman. Pluimer averaged 9.2 points.

Another player on the move is 6-7 junior Matt Shaw of Los Angeles Verbum Dei. He has withdrawn from his school and could end up at L.A. Fairfax.

Eric Sondheimer

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Water Polo

Kami Craig of Santa Barbara and Lauren Silver of Long Beach Wilson were the only high school players chosen to the U.S. women’s squad that will compete in the Junior Pan American Games, July 17-25, in El Salvador.

The U.S. team roster of 13 players includes former Santa Ana Foothill and current UCLA standout Gabbie Domanic, an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team, as well as former Foothill teammates Brittany Hayes, Emily Feher and Jillian Kraus.

-- Lauren Peterson