Best of the blog

The Varsity Times Insider blog, a source for observations, news and game coverage, can be found at latimes.com/highschool.

Here are some excerpts we like to call “Best of the Blog”:

From the City Section

You might think Jimmy Wellman would be out celebrating after clinching Taft’s second consecutive City Section boys’ team tennis title, but the Toreadors’ sophomore had other plans.

“I’m going right to work on the ball machine,” he said. “I need all the practice I can get.”

Wellman lost his first three singles sets Friday, but he’ll remember the one he did win for the rest of his life. Having failed to convert three championship points at 5-4, he saved three championship points in the 12th game, then won the tiebreaker over Palisades’ Trinity Thornton to score the last point Taft needed to repeat. . . .

“Today it seemed like everyone was doing their job except me,” he said. “So it’s kind of ironic that I ended up winning it for us.”

-- Steve Galluzzo

From Los Angeles County

At the Southern Section-Toyota Division III track and field preliminaries, there are “more stars than there are in the heavens” but one name might stand out over all the others -- Randall Carroll, the L.A. Cathedral junior who has committed to play football at USC.

“Randall Carroll . . . the fastest competitor in the state!” informed the event’s announcer, as Carroll stepped into the starting blocks.

If you don’t know Carroll, here’s the most critical track tidbit about him: He clocked the state’s best time in the 100-meter dash, at 10.49 seconds, this season at the Arcadia Invitational. . . .

I asked Carroll if it put extra pressure on him when he heard the announcer call him “the fastest competitor in the state.” He shook his head. “Nah, it doesn’t bother me because my mom likes to hear it.”

-- Anthony Stitt

From Orange County

Foothill ended up winning the unofficial Southern Section championship for boys’ lacrosse with an 11-7 victory over Palos Verdes. . . . But man, you had to feel for Foothill senior goalkeeper Sam Goings, who had nine saves on the night.

He took a shot to the groin in the final seconds of the third quarter on a play in which he got an assist. . . . So when the final horn sounded, all Foothill players made a beeline to Goings and piled on. Man, that is not the way to treat a hero.

“It was a little scary because I’m a little hurt,” Goings recalled when he saw about 50 teammates headed at him. “But it’s a good feeling.”

-- Martin Henderson

From the San Gabriel Valley

Former Florida State quarterback Chris Rix has joined the Bishop Amat coaching staff.

The Lancers staff, which already included former NFL and USC star Daylon McCutcheon as defensive coordinator, is likely to be the most star-studded staff in the Southland next season. Will that translate into more victories? Time will tell. . . .

Rix is no stranger to Amat, of course. Lancers die-hards will remember that he attended Bishop Amat for three years before transferring to Santa Margarita for his senior season in 1999.

-- Jaime Cardenas