SPORTS NOTEBOOK:
GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
LOCAL FIGHTERS BACK
IN RING AND CAGE
After a card at Hollywood Park, one that would have seen Glendale fighters Art “Lionheart” Hovhannesyan and Vito “Casper” Gasparyan compete in separate bouts, was canceled, both fighters are set to return to the ring in late-August.
According to his camp at Fortune Gym, Gasparyan will fight Aug. 22 at the Toyota Center in Houston against Jermell Charlo. The bout is part of an undercard of a Golden Boy Promotions event that will see a light welterweight bout between Juan Diaz and Paul Malignaggi and a super featherweight tilt between Malcolm Klassen and Robert Guerrero. Both of those bouts will be televised on “HBO After Dark.”
Gasparyan brings a two-fight winning streak and an 11-1-4 record to the ring with five wins via knockout. Charlo is undefeated at 8-0 with four knockouts, but Gasparyan will mark his toughest challenge to date.
The aforementioned Guerrero sparred with Hovhannesyan before the Jewel City fighter’s latest fight — a sixth-round technical knockout of Daniel Gonzalez on June 12. Hovhannesyan is set to compete on Aug. 20 at the Commerce Casino, where he’ll face an as of yet unreleased opponent.
In mixed martial arts news, the Call to Arms 2 event in Ontario will still see Glendale fighter Roman Mitichyan compete, but he has a new opponent.
Mitichyan (9-3) was scheduled to fight Juliano Prado at the Aug. 15 event that takes place at Citizens Business Bank Arena, but is now apparently scheduled to face Mike Dolce.
Dolce (4-7) was a cast member of the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” while Mitichyan was a brief, but memorable, cast member on the sixth season before being forced to leave with an injury.
The bout will reportedly be contested at 170 pounds.
Also, Ando Dermenjyan (2-0), who trains at Glendale’s Main Event gym, has been added to the card. He’s set to face Dustin Rhodes, a 3-3 MMA fighter.
For more info on the event, visit www.calledoutmma.com.
FAIETA FARES WELL AT
HARRAH’S GRAND PRIX
Glendale High graduate Bob Faieta came close to sweeping both Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama races, July 25-26, at the Harrah’s Grand Prix at Autobahn Country Club, winning the fifth round on Saturday before a full-course caution ended the sixth round on Sunday with nine minutes left and Faieta stuck in second place.
“I had a good race. It was a little on the short side,” Faieta, the defending GT3 Challenge champion, said in a press release of his runner-up finish behind Martin Snow in the sixth round. “I wish it would have gone a little longer. I think I had something for [Snow]. But hey, he drove an awesome race. He made very few mistakes. We were running really fast lap times. He got me at the end with the yellow.”
Faieta’s win in the fifth round on Saturday was his third of the season in the GT3 Challenge, which features semi-professional drivers racing head to head in Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars with sealed motors and transmissions.
Martin held off Faieta for most of the race, until the two caught up to a lapped car, with Martin going to the inside of the car and Faieta sticking to the outside behind the car. The lapped car moved over on Martin, taking some of his momentum and allowing Faieta to pull even. He then beat Martin on a drag race to the next turn and held on for the win.
“It was just one of those things,” Faieta said. “We went 35, 40 minutes nose to tail and then I saw the lapper coming. I think he looked in one mirror and only saw me coming up on the left so he went to move over and he ended up moving Martin off the road because Martin was coming on the right.
“It was a good race. He every bit deserved to win that race as much as I did.”
A recap of rounds five and six will air on SpeedTV Aug.8 at 2:00 a.m. EST.
The GT3 Challenge resumes Aug. 15-18 with rounds seven and eight at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
KROPP DOES WELL AT
SPEEDO CHAMPIONSHIPS
Former Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimmer Andrea Kropp and Yumi So, who formerly swam for Crescenta Valley High, led a small group of local swimmers who participated in the 2009 California/Nevada Speedo Championship Series, hosted by Clovis Swim Club, which began on July 22 and concluded on Sunday.
Kropp had the best showing of the lot, qualifying for “A” finals in three different events, highlighted by a second-place finish in 4 minutes 54.05 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley championship heat on Friday. The former All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year also finished third and fourth, respectively, in the championship heats of the 200 breaststroke (2:33.91) on Thursday and the 200-individual medley (2:18.83) on Saturday.
While she failed to advance out of the prelims in any other event, Kropp did swim in the 200 butterfly (54th, 2:25.38) and, along with So, helped her club team, Swim Pasadena, place 38th in the 800-freestyle relay in 8:55.16.
So, who won two CIF Southern Section Division II titles and one CIF Masters Meet title as a Falcon in May, placed third on the “B” final of the 200 freestyle in 2:05.46 on Friday and seventh in the “B” final of the 200 backstroke in 2:22.90 on Thursday. In preliminary heats, So placed 41st in the 200 breaststroke (2:44.35) and 44th in the 100 freestyle (59.53) on Thursday and 41st in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.57) on Sunday.
So also swam well enough in the 400-freestyle prelims (10th, 4:24.50) on Saturday to qualify for the “B” final, but did not swim in the final.
Glendale High swimmers Katalina Sher and Mickey Guevara also entered a handful of events.
In prelims, Sher, who will be a senior at Glendale in the fall, was 65th in the 800 freestyle (9:34.83) on Wednesday, 157th in the 100 free (1:01.13) on Thursday and 148th in the 100 butterfly (1:07.93) on Sunday, while also helping Rose Bowl Aquatics place 29th in the 800-freestyle relay (8:48.36) and 11th in the 400-medley relay (4:31.85). Sacred Heart senior Briana Swinney was also a member of the Rose Bowl Aquatics 400-medley team.
Guevara, who will be a sophomore, had the 101st-best prelim time in the 200 butterfly (2:16.84) and the 140th-best prelim time in the 100 butterfly (1:00.81).
POLLAK GOES
DOWN UNDER
Crescenta Valley High’s Tyler Pollak recently left for an 18U baseball tournament in Australia.
Playing with the San Diego-based American Eagles, Pollak left Tuesday for the city of Cairns and in his team’s first game helped them in a rout.
The Eagles won their Barrier Reef Tournament opener, 17-1, against North Queensland on Friday.
Pollack had a single and a triple in the win and also threw a runner out at home from right field.
Pollak is set to return on Aug. 11. He is also a member of the San Gabriel Valley All-Stars 16-18 Babe Ruth squad, but had to forego traveling with the team to Watsonville for the Pacific Southwest Regionals. However, should the squad move on, Pollak would rejoin the team.