SPORTS NOTEBOOK:
GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
BALKIN TO BE HONORED BEFORE STATE MEET
Lee Balkin wouldn’t mind at all seeing his CIF State Track and Field Championships meet record in the high jump broken. Balkin, a Glendale High graduate, is actually surprised that his record is yet to be broken at the prestigious meet.
Balkin had a jump of 7 feet 3 1/4 inches at the state meet on June 2, 1979 at Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium. While the mark hasn’t been eclipsed at the state meet, it’s now the fourth-best mark overall in the state.
“I’m shocked,” said Balkin, who will be honored today prior to the start of the 90th installment of the state meet at Cerritos College. “If you told me 29 years ago that it would have lasted this long, I never would have thought that.
“I think about that day often. I’m extremely grateful. I wanted to be the best that I could be. The one thing with records is that they are meant to be broken.”
Balkin, who went on to earn All-American honors at UCLA before twice finishing second in the U.S. National Championships, is the jumps coach at Glendale Community College.
LOCALS PICK UP ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
Three Crescenta Valley High boys’ volleyball players received All-Pacific League honors after leading the Falcons to a third-place finish in the Pacific League this season behind Claremont and Arcadia.
Senior middle blocker Nico Alegria earned first-team honors for the Falcons, who went 11-10 and 8-4 in league before appearing in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. He finished with 158 kills, a team-high 48 blocks and a .316 hitting percentage.
Senior setter/outside hitter Craig La Fountaine was named to the second team. He posted a team-best 80 aces and 165 kills, in addition to registering 226 assists, 86 digs and 25 blocks.
Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Hoover each had one player receive honorable mention.
Senior setter Rio Fischer of Crescenta Valley, Glendale junior setter Aryan Madadian and senior outside hitter/middle blocker Jon Zakhary of Hoover all received honorable mention.
Fischer had 355 assists.
ZAUN PLACED ON DISABLED LIST
Glendale native and St. Francis High graduate Gregg Zaun was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday by the Toronto Blue Jays.
The veteran catcher, who is batting .264 with two home runs and eight runs batted in this season, complained of mild inflammation in his right elbow earlier this week. Toronto’s medical staff checked on the soreness before the Blue Jays opted to put Zaun on the disabled list retroactive to Monday. The 37-year-old Zaun will be eligible to come off the disabled list June 11.
“It’s just a little strain, but unfortunately, because I’m a catcher, we can’t really wait three or four days like anybody else,” Zaun told Yahoo.com. “I’m just going to give it a few days and let it calm down.”
The Blue Jays began a three-games series Friday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
