Modified Sportsmen race cars and the arrival of the San Diego Chargers may have saved night football in the hills and valleys east of San Diego.

An unusual alliance.

Grossmont School District teams, faced with an illumination problem, played many games on the infield of the dirt track oval near the Gillespie Field airport from 1958-66.

New schools (Mount Miguel, 1957, El Capitan, 1959, Granite Hills, 1960, and Monte Vista, 1961) created an exponential need for lights on East County gridirons.

No lights, no night football.

Helix and Mount Miguel were the only schools in the new, seven-school Grossmont League that were able to host games after dark. Cajon Speedway, formerly County Stadium, became increasingly important.

The Speedway in north El Cajon near the future Eastbound State 52, was home for El Cajon Valley, Granite Hills, and Grossmont.

El Capitan played home games at Aztec Bowl.

BASEBALL AT GILLESPIE? 

Earle Brucker, Sr., who played and coached for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics and had a long career in the minor leagues, had baseball on his mind when he  became involved in plans to build a spring training facility for a major league team.

A plot of land next to Gillespie Field seemed destined to become the site, according to Bob Gardner, an El Cajon Daily Californian staffer who later became publicist at Cajon Speedway.

A hotel chain sought a lease from the County of San Diego to build on the land in 1955. The corporation also hoped to erect a major property on one of the hills to the  west, but a change in state tax laws forced the innkeepers to abandon their plan.

Brucker, according to Gardner, stepped up and acquired the lease.

“At the time the idea still was to build a ball park,” said Earle Brucker, Jr.  “After we got it built the baseball team (Detroit Tigers) decided to go elsewhere.

“Since the high schools around here didn’t have anywhere to play night football and since we were committed to put in some lights, we converted the baseball field into a football stadium,” said the younger Brucker.

A motorcycle track was installed after the first year of football. “The money we got from the motorcycles was the only income we had other than the minimal amount we got from the high schools,” said Brucker.

The struggling Bruckers would be gifted with some good luck.

PRO FOOTBALL COMES TO TOWN

Auto racing, a fixture at downtown San Diego’s Balboa Stadium since 1937, ceased when the San Diego Chargers relocated from Los Angeles this year and moved into the stadium.

The Bruckers hooked up with the San Diego Racing Association. County Stadium’s motorcycle track was renamed Cajon Speedway after a regulation, quarter-mile dirt oval was put in place  and modified sportsmen racers got the green flag.

By 1966, more Grossmont League schools had lights and Cajon Speedway was no longer needed.

Newspapers generally described the football-motorcycle layout as Gillespie Field, although the Bruckers originally identified their facility as  “County” Stadium.  That nomenclature officially changed with the Cajon Speedway naming in 1961.

NUTS AND BOLTS?

Al Carroll, a wide receiver-defensive back at Granite Hills in 1960-61 whose son and grandsons played for the Eagles, remembered Cajon Speedway and its peculiarities for Bill Dickens of The San Diego Union.

Despite having the gridiron regularly combed by several human metal detectors, Carroll told Dickens that players routinely had extra cuts and bruises from stray auto parts.

At halftime the Eagles retreated not to a locker room but to the school bus that brought them to the game.

Coach Glenn Otterson addressed his squad in a sweaty, humid atmosphere.

“I remember the windows fogging up more than what was being said by our coach,” said Carroll, who also married the school’s first homecoming queen.

WRONG WAY GALLUP

Dave Gallup was a tennis and prep writer at The San Diego Union.

And a curmudgeonly presence.

Gallup would take the opposite side in an  argument concerning virtually any subject. The veteran scribe was a self-styled expert on many issues but finding his way was not one.

Gallup was assigned a game for the first time at Cajon Speedway  and obtained instructions on how to get to there.

The writer was traveling at a reasonable speed on  a suddenly deserted roadway when he was startled to hear sirens and see red lights in his rear view mirror.

Pulled over by a Sheriff’s cruiser, Gallup was informed that he was motoring on the Gillespie Field runway and was about to be arrested.

Police relented after Gallup convinced the cops he was lost and not some sinister crazy up to no good. The officers ushered him to his proper destination.

Dave, of course, blamed the incident on poor directions.

EX-FOOTHILLER REPORTS BRIBE

Mickey Bruce, an all-Metropolitan League halfback and the league’s leading scorer in 1957 at Grossmont, was a star defensive back-running back at Oregon and had been subject of a bribe attempt in 1960 that came to light this year.

Bruce, testifying before a Senate committee on racketeering in Washington, D.C., identified gambler Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal during a hearing in September.

Rosenthal  and two associates approached Bruce at a hotel in Dearborn, Michigan, where the Ducks were preparing to play Michigan in September, 1960.

Bruce said the strangers invited him to their room to discuss tickets ordered by one of Bruce’s classmates, but quickly cut to the chase, offering Bruce $5,000 if he would “let a Michigan pass receiver get behind him” and helping ensure that Oregon would lose by at least 8 points.

Bruce also was offered another $5,000 if he could get Oregon quarterback Dave Gross “to call the wrong plays.” Bruce immediately informed his position coach, who told head coach Len Casanova, who notified authorities.

Bruce was asked to remain silent for almost  a year as authorities completed their investigation.

Rosenthal glared at Bruce during the hearing and took the fifth.

The Robert DeNiro portrayal of  “Sam (Ace) Rothstein”  in the 1995 Martin Scorcese-directed movie “Casino” is said to have been based on the life and Las Vegas career of Rosenthal, who died at age 79 in 2008.

After his testimony Bruce declined further participation, including serving as a witness in a possible trial in Michigan later in 1961. “I did my duty and that’s it,” said Bruce, who was advised by his father, an attorney in San Diego.

Bruce practiced law in San Diego and Oroville and passed away in the Northern California community at age 70 in 2011.

HONORS

Crawford’s Bill Rainey was on the all-Southern California first team and teammate Duane Farrar, who played tackle, was on the second team.  Third-team selections were Kearny end Bob Richardson and La Jolla quarterback Dan Berry. This was the next-to-last season that San Diego Section representatives were among the electors on  the Helms Athletic Foundation’s all-Southern California board for football, basketball, track, and other sports.

Nineteen of the 21 selectors were from the Los Angeles area and did  not feel they knew enough or saw enough of San Diego players in action. Basically the Northern representatives did not want to be pestered by the vocal, sometimes-desk-pounding San Diegans on the panel.

Guard Frank Chambliss (second team) and end Jack Waldvogel (third team) of Oceanside made lower-division honors.  Coronado back Kent Crawford was on the second team and Carlsbad back Joe Cienega made the third team.

The San Diego selectors were myself and F.W. (Bill) Whitney of the Breitbard Athletic Foundation.

POINT LOMA PLOY

Bennie Edens was going to hide a player in plain sight.

The Point Loma coach took Jeff Staggs, a tackle-linebacker, and moved him to fullback. Edens figured that if he changed the jersey Staggs was wearing each week it would confuse the Pointers’ opponents.

Staggs, who was identified by No. 62 as a junior, changed jersey numbers weekly, beginning early this season. He went from 61 to 62 to 86 to 23 to 44,  and finally to 66.

Edens thought the changes would make it difficult for upcoming opponents to identify the strapping, 235-pound Staggs in game films.

Nice try, Bennie.

Staggs later  earned Little All-America honors at San Diego State and played six seasons with the Chargers, L.A. Rams, and St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL.

TWO NEW LEAGUES

East County growth was such that the Grossmont League was formed this year.  At the same time the Palomar League for  North County squads was created.

From 1920-50 there had only been Grossmont in the East County.  Helix became the second school in 1951.

The inaugural Grossmont circuit, spinning off the two-division Metropolitan League of 1960, embraced seven:  Grossmont, Helix, El Cajon Valley, Mount Miguel, El Capitan, Granite Hills, and Monte Vista, which opened this year in Spring Valley.

MORE GROWTH

The Palomar League stretched from Poway in the South to Fallbrook in the North, Ramona in the East, and to Carlsbad’s Army-Navy in the West.

Poway and San Marcos aligned with Monte Vista as new section schools, as did Chula Vista’s Marian, which joined a truncated Southern Prep League that included only San Diego Military Academy and San Miguel School.

Fallbrook became a section football member after winning the Riverside County De Anza League in 1960.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

“You can’t tell the Grossmonts without a program,” wrote the Evening Tribune’s Roger Conlee.

Conlee noted that there was a Grossmont High, Grossmont College, the community of Grossmont, Grossmont Boulevard, Grossmont Hospital, and the Grossmont School District.

In making its bow this year, the  Grossmont League brought the total to seven. The Grossmont Center shopping mall, yet to come, would make it eight.

Lewis Smith, one of the founding fathers of the San Diego Section, was enamored of the name.  He had been principal at Grossmont High and was the school district superintendent.

“But my argument was that a league shouldn’t have the same name as one of its member schools,” said Conlee.   “I suggested Foothills League and a few others.”

COLTS WIN AT 8-0-2

Crawford was tied twice but repeated a 6-0, one-quarter carnival victory and a 13-0 nonleague win over Kearny with another 13-0 verdict over the Komets before a damp crowd of 8,500 in the AA playoffs final at Balboa Stadium.

Tom Whelan gave the Colts his usual steady quarterbacking.  Jim Rupe scored two touchdowns and led the defense-oriented 55th Street squad with 50 yards in 13 carries.  John Allison had 47 in 10 and Bill Rainey, the County’s leading scorer with 115 points, had 48 yards in 16 carries.

John Greene had 76 yards in 12  rushing attempts for Kearny.

“No matter how many times we’d play ‘em, they’d be two touchdowns better than us,” said Kearny coach Birt Slater.

The expected game of the year was the week before when Crawford met 8-0 Helix on a rain(e)y night.

The 170-pound halfback scored five touchdowns on the wet, well-worn Aztec Bowl turf as Crawford rushed for 365 yards to Helix’ 71 and pushed the Highlanders off the field in a 31-13 demonstration of power.

Colts coach Walt Harvey now had developed winning squads at La Jolla and startup programs Lincoln and Crawford.

COLTS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD, BUT…

Crawford was only one of four preseason favorites in the Eastern  League.  Point Loma,  playoffs runner-up to Escondido in 1960, was expected to win the Western, and Metropolitan favorite Escondido figured to bid strongly for a second straight AA title.

The Colts dispatched Lincoln, 28-7, in an early Eastern League showdown and battled to a 6-6 deadlock with St. Augustine. San Diego stunningly did not win a game, finishing 0-6-2, the Cavemen’s first winless campaign since 1908, but one of their ties was a dreadful, 0-0 outing for Crawford.

The Saints (6-1-1), bulwarked by all-Section center Ron Cota, second-team, all-section end John Nettles, and a host of other standouts, could have taken advantage, but on the night that San Diego tied Crawford, St. Augustine was upset by Lincoln, 13-6, as Willie Shaw ran for 128 yards and Vernus Ragsdale for 96.

Escondido struck early with a 32-12 victory over Point Loma in a rematch of the 1960 championship game.  But halfback Bob (The Blur) Blunt was injured a  few games into the season and the Cougars flattened out to 5-4, leaving Sweetwater alone at the top.

Helix won the Grossmont League showdown over Grossmont, 28-27, and was the favored team when the playoffs began.

VIKINGS ALMOST REIGN

La Jolla scored its first victory over San Diego since 1951 and went on to post a 7-1 record, its best since 1948, but a 14-6 loss to Kearny knocked the Vikings out of the Western League championship.

La Jolla may have lost the Western title but its game of the year was when the Vikings defeated  San Diego.

Trailing, 19-7, at the end of the third quarter, La Jolla rallied to a 27-19 victory.

Quarterback Dan Berry, who rushed for 153 yards in 20 carries, scored two touchdowns and passed for two, one a 35-yard strike to Butch Taylor in the fourth quarter.

Berry went on to the University of California at Berkeley and was a fifth-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles.

LANCERS WIN SMALL

Carlsbad won the A title with a 10-6 victory at Coronado’s soggy Cutler Field, stopping the Islanders on Carlsbad’s seven- and four-yard lines.

ANOTHER DAYTIME CARNIVAL

Rowdydism had forced the 23^rd annual City Schools carnival to leave the cover of darkness and was played in the afternoon for the third consecutive year.

About 17,000 Balboa Stadium patrons saw the East contingent of Crawford, Lincoln, Hoover, and St. Augustine defeat  West schools Point Loma, Clairemont, La Jolla, and Mission Bay, 12-6.

Bill Rainey ran 33 yards for an East touchdown. Lincoln’s Vernus Ragsdale hiked 51, 36, and 10 yards for touchdowns, but penalties negated the longer runs. Tom Bowden and Bob Hartin combined on a 53-yard screen pass for a score as Clairemont outpointed Hoover, 6-0.

TRUE GRID

Earl Brucker, Jr., is a footnote in the history of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres…Brucker pinch hit for Herb Gorman in  April, 1953,  at Lane Field after Gorman collapsed in left field and died in the Padres’ clubhouse during the first game of a doubleheader against Hollywood…Hoover’s 19-13 win over San Diego turned on Phil Cappelletti’s 60-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter…Hoover was 2-6  but defeated San Diego for the first time since 1956 and Lincoln for the first time since 1958… Point Loma did not have coach Bennie Edens all the week of its Western League-championship game with Kearny…Edens was in bed with a severe cold but was on hand as the Pointers fell to Kearny, 20-7…Lincoln saved a 27-26 victory over Chula Vista by stopping the Spartans twice on a run-attempted conversions in the fourth quarter…the Hornets were penalized, giving the Spartans a second chance…Harvey retired after Crawford won the AA title and was the County Coach of the Year, honored at the annual St. Augustine Appreciation Night….

Madison’s Doton Ogundeji continues to lead state and national shot putters and Mt. Carmel’s Derek Morton has moved in front of California 800-meter runners.

Both are expected to take on some of the nation’s best in the annual Arcadia Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Ogundeji leads the nation with a throw of 65-4 1/2 and is 10th in the U.S. and fourth in California with a 180-foot waft in the discus.

Morton took the state lead with a  1:53.60 last week in a dual meet at Westview and is fifth in the country.

The Sundevils senior showed promise last year with bests of 1:57.80 and 4:18.16 in the 1,600 meters and cranked a 1:55.65 month ago in the Mt. Carmel Field and Distances invite.

Other San Diego Section athletes who have moved into respective state Top 10’s:

Event	Rank	Name	School	Mark
300 HurdlesG	4	Hannah Labrie-Smith	Cathedral	:43.4
1600 MetersG	5	Emma Abrahamson	La Costa Canyon	4:55.81
1600 MetersB	7	Erik Armes	Coronado	4:16.32
Pole VaultG	8T	Augusta Thomason	Rancho Bernardo	12-0
800 MetersB	9	Bryan Alvarado	Sweetwater	1:55.30
800 MetersG	9	Kelly Bernd	Canyon Crest	2:15.09
200 MetersG	9T	Melissa Mongiovi	West Hills	:24.79
Pole VaultB	9T	Charlie Bush	Poway	15-7
Shot PutG	10	Kiely Osby	Escondido	42-10 1/2
400 MetersB	10	Brian Thomas	Scripps Ranch	:48.41
1600 RelayB	10		Scripps Ranch	3:20.75

Sprints and hurdles times are fully automatic.  Some better marks in parenthesis are hand timed. w–wind aided.

BOYS

100— Lucas (Poway), 10.81, Dickens (Grossmont), 10.82, Doan (St. Augustine), 10.84, LeBlanc (University City) 10.88, Brewer (Brawley) 10.90, Dosier (Monte Vista) 10.90, Hennie (San Marcos) 10.94, Miller (Oceanside) 10.95. STATE–Godin (Santa Ana Mater Dei), 10.36.

 200— Doan (St. Augustine),  21.76, Lucas (Poway), 21.85 (21.5), Dosier (Monte Vista),  22.01, Carson (Olympian), 22.04, Miller (Oceanside), 22.16, Dickens (Grossmont),  22.22, Mudd (Ramona), 22.23 (21.7), Kendrick III (Morse), 22.27, Ellis (Valhalla), 22.29. STATE–Godin, 21.03.

400— Thomas (Scripps Ranch), 48.18, Ezeokoli (Mt. Carmel), 48.26, Lucas (Poway),  48.73, Collins (Granite Hills), 49.1, DeHaven (Granite Hills), 49.46, Capoocia (El Capitan), 49.5, Jackson (Monte Vista), 49.5, Durall (Del Norte), 49.95. STATE–Kurtz (Brentwood Heritage), 47.35.

 800— Morton (Mt. Carmel), 1:53.60, Famolaro (West Hills), 1:54.63, Rhodes (Steele Canyon) 1:55.03, Alvarado (Sweetwater), 1:55.30, Greer (Valley Center), 1:55.49, Morton (Mt. Carmel), 1:55.65, Meza (Granite Hills), 1:55.75, Grant (Del Norte), 1:55.84. STATE–Haney, Bakersfield Stockdale, 1:51.97.

1600— Armes (Coronado) 4:12.09c, Morton (Mt. Carmel) 4:17.33, Greer (Valley Center) 4:19.16, Sinisalchi (Westview), 4:19.96, Tucker (Westview), 4:20.22, Fahy (La Costa Canyon), 4:20.32, Grant (Del Norte), 4:20.81. STATE–Corcoran, Villa Park, 4:06.

3200— Fahy (La Costa Canyon), 8:53.95 (Section No. 4 all-time), Braude (Torrey Pines), 9:06.01, Hansen (San Marcos),  9:24.54, Siniscalchi (Westview), 9:25.70, Montavo (Mt. Carmel), 9:30.15, Freeman (Carlsbad), 9:34.95. STATE–Haney, 8:46.80.

 110HH— Martin (Eastlake), 14.48, Johnson (Serra), 14.97, Goodloe (Steele Canyon), 15.02, Thibadeaux (Monte Vista), 15.12, Skillin (University City), 15.26, Alexander (Brawley), 15.27, Lachica (Mt. Carmel), 15.38, Grumbling (Oceanside), 15.42. STATE–Viltz, L.B. Millikan, 13.71.

300IH— Johnson (Serra), 39.34, Ramos (Granite Hills), 39.5, Goodloe (Steele Canyon) 39.84, Grumbling (Oceanside), 39.99, Tibodoux (Monte Vista), 40.05, Martinez (Sweetwater),  40.29, Lindsey (Poway), 40.29. STATE–Morris, Concord De La Salle, 36.94.

4x100R— Helix, 41.97  (41.8), Poway 42.02, Granite Hills 42.87, Monte Vista 43.08, Steele Canyon 43.17, Sweetwater 43.24, Rancho Buena Vista, 43.1, Oceanside 43.45, Madison 43.5, El Capitan 43.64, La Costa Canyon 43.65. STATE–Temecula Great Oak, 41.33.

4x400R— Granite Hills 3:20.46, Scripps Ranch 3:20.75, Steele Canyon 3:22.73, Mt. Carmel 3:23.07, Poway 3:23.50, Del Norte 3:24.23, Monte Vista 3:24.6, Sweetwater 3:25.43. STATE–L.A. Dorsey, 3:15.00.

 High Jump— Bush (Pow) 6-7, Arroyo (WV) 6-7, Patmon (PH) 6-6, Probe (Se) 6-6, Carson (BV) 6-5, Benson (PL) 6-5, Rettig (ECap) 6-4, Beebe (MD) 6-4, Dumas (ECap) 6-4, Podraza (SR) 6-2 ¼. STATE–Moore (Rialto Carter), 7-0.

Pole Vault— Bush (Poway), 15-7, Sones (Vista), 15-0, Wagenveld (Calvin Christian), 14-7, Zawadski (Patrick Henry), 14-6, Logan (Rancho Bernardo), 14-6, Rothweil (Rancho Bernardo), 14-2, Winters (Rancho Bernardo) 14-0, Martinez (Steele Canyon), 14-0. STATE–Johnson (Orange Lutheran), 16-8.

 Long Jump— LeBlanc (University City), 22-11 ½, Wiley (Steele Canyon), 22-7, Dodds (Oceanside), 22-5, Hennie (San Marcos), 22-4, Brooks (Patrick Henry), 22-2, Carter (Imperial) 22-1, A. Holder (Oceanside), 22. STATE–Moore (Castro Valley), 25-10w.

Triple jump— Dodds (Oeanside), 47-0 M. Holder (Oceanside), 45-4, Carter (Imperial), 45-0, Wiley (Steele Canyon),  44-11 ¾, Collins (Granite Hills), 43-10, Pritchard (Helix), 43-9 ½, Thompson (Calvin Christian), 43-7 ½, Davis (Sweetwater), 43-5. STATE–Moore (Castro Valley), 50-4 1/2.

Shot Put—Ogundeji (Madison), 65-5 ½ (Section No. 4 all-time), Braddock (Eastlake), 55-8, Wyatt (Helix), 54-10, Hendrickson (San Pasqual), 52-10, Hampton (Helix),  52-1, Basinger (El Camino), 51-0, Lecakes-Jones (Rancho Bernardo),  50-9. STATE 2: Katnik (Bellflower St. John Bosco), 65-4.

 Discus— Ogundeji (Madison), 180-2, Braddock (Eastlake), 168-0, Savage (Morse), 167-10, Hampton (Helix), 164-6, Gonzalez (El Camino,) 160-1. Black (High Tech High), 154-0, Wyatt (Helix) 151-10. STATE–Hudson (Lemoore Kings Christian), 188-7.

GIRLS

100 — Acolatse (Mission Hills), 11.92, Patterson (Rancho Bernardo), 12.13, Stallman (Ramona), 12.25, Johnson (Cathedral), 12.42, Ledbetter (Santa Fe Christian), 12.43. STATE–Washington (L.B. Poly), 11.38w.

200— Acolatse (Mission Hills,) 24.66, Mongiovi (West Hills), 24.79, Patterson (Rancho Bernardo), 25.22 (24.94w), Labrie-Smith (Cathedral) 25.38 (24.79w), Ledbetter (Santa Fe Christian), 25.44, Scott (Westview), 25.3. STATE–Washington (L.B. Poly), 23.50w.

400— Mongiovi (West Hills), 55.86, Labrie-Smith (Cathedral), 56.7, Leonard (Poway), 57.46, Birks (Mira Mesa), 58.08, Chadwick (La Costa Canyon), 58.11, McCarthy (Carlsbad) 58.19. STATE–Roberts (L.B. Poly), 53.37.

800— Bernd (Canyon Crest) 2:15.09, Kelly (University City), 2:16.44, Fierro (San Dieguito), 2:16.3, Buckle (San Pasqual), 2:16.3, Mongiovi (West Hills), 2:16.99, Akins (Rancho Bernardo), 2:17.9, Schall (Mt. Carmel), 2:18.27. STATE–Maxwell (San Lorenzo Valley), 2:08.84.

1600— E. Abrahamson (La Costa Canyon), 4:51.44, Bernd (Canyon Crest), 4:55.39, Ortlieb (San Pasqual), 5:03.2, Stetson (San Pasqual) 5:08.9, Kelly (University City), 5:09.19, Akins (Rancho Bernardo),  5:10.13, Garcia (Mt. Carmel), 5:10. STATE–Wells (Quartz Hill), 4:45.10.

3200— E. Abrahamson (La Costa Canyon), 10:23.50 (Section No. 3 all-time), Ortlieb San Pasqual) 10:46.46, LaSpada (La Jolla Country Day), 10:47.43, Cope (Viata), 11:01.76, M. Fromme (La Costa Canyon), 11:16.90, S. Abrahamson (La Costa Canyon), 11:17.65. STATE–Knights (Irvine Northwood), 9:59.2.

100H— Labrie-Smith (Cathedral), 14.62, Magdalena (Olympian), 14.97, Johnson (Cathwdral), 14.99, Molter (Valhalla), 15.11, N. Martin (La Costa Canyon), 15.27. STATE–Perry (Vacaville), 13.67.

300H— Labrie-Smith (Cathedral), 42.24 (Section No. 1 all-time), Johnson (Cathedral), 44.63, Curry (University City), 44.80, Magdalena (Olympian), 44.90. STATE–Crear (L.B.) Poly, 41.46.

4x100R— Cathedral Catholic, 48.88, Rancho Bernardo, 48.95, La Costa Canyon 49.29, Morse, 49.39, Serra, 49.43, Olympian, 49.94, Valhalla, 49.94. STATE–L.B. Poly, 45.66.

4x400R— Cathedral, 3:53.33, La Costa Canyon, 3:59.50, Rancho Bernardo, 4:00.60, Poway, 4:01.30, Del Norte, 4:02.60. STATE–3:42.84.

High Jump— Curry (University City), 5-6, Callahan (Coronado), 5-5, Rowlett (Carlsbad), 5-4, Snow (Carlsbad), 5-4, Yates (Rancho Buena Vista), 5-4, Mahon (Westview),  5-4. STATE–Kieffer-Wright (South Pasadena), 6-0.

Pole Vault— Thomason (Rancho Bernardo), 12-7 (Section No. 6 all-time), Chandler (Cathedral), 11-9, Bartsch (Coronado), 11-6, Farr (Patrick Henry), 11-6, Wagenfeld (Calvin Christian), 11-2, Jackson (Ramona), 11-1. STATE–Merritt (Rancho Santa Margarita), 13-9.

Long Jump— Cromer (University City), 18-5, Kennedy (Serra), 18-4, Muhammad (La Jolla Coiuntry Day), 18-1, Shuler (Julian), 18-1, Hasselhuhn (Carlsbad), 18-1. STATE–Corrin (N. Hollywood Harvard-Westlake), 20-8 1/4.

Triple Jump— Noiseaux (Eastlake),  38-9, Rehberg (Sweetwater) 37-4 ½, Muhammad (La Jolla Country Day), 37-2, Cole (Del Norte), 36-11 ¾, Kennedy (Serra),  36-9 (37-6w), Hasselhuhn (Carlsbad) 36-5 ¾. STATE–Kwiatkowski (Santa Clara Wilcox), 41-2 3/4.

Shot Put— Osby (Escondido), 42-10 ½, Tausaga (Mt. Miguel), 42-1, Mohamed (Imperial), 40-2, Almquist (Santa Fe Christian),  39-9, Jackson (Castle Park),  39-0. STATE–Scarvelis (Santa Barbara Dos Pueblos), 53-5.

Discus— Osby (Escondido),  133-2, Dozier, (Steele Canyon), 124-11, Cabarle Escondido), 121-10, Montion (Castle Park), 120-4, Reilly (Valley Center), 120-4. STATE–Scarvelis, 172-7.

            ,

Madison’s Doton Ogundeji continues to lead state and national shot putters and Mt. Carmel’s Derek Morton has moved in front of California 800-meter runners.

Both are expected to take on some of the nation’s best in the annual Arcadia Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Ogundeji leads the nation with a throw of 65-4 1/2 and is 10th in the U.S. and fourth in California with a 180-foot waft in the discus.

Morton took the state lead with a  1:53.60 last week in a dual meet at Westview and is fifth in the country.

The Sundevils senior showed promise last year with bests of 1:57.80 and 4:18.16 in the 1,600 meters and cranked a 1:55.65 month ago in the Mt. Carmel Field and Distances invite.

Other San Diego Section athletes who have moved into respective state Top 10’s:

Event	Rank	Name	School	Mark
300 HurdlesG	4	Hannah Labrie-Smith	Cathedral	:43.4
1600 MetersG	5	Emma Abrahamson	La Costa Canyon	4:55.81
1600 MetersB	7	Erik Armes	Coronado	4:16.32
Pole VaultG	8T	Augusta Thomason	Rancho Bernardo	12-0
800 MetersB	9	Bryan Alvarado	Sweetwater	1:55.30
800 MetersG	9	Kelly Bernd	Canyon Crest	2:15.09
200 MetersG	9T	Melissa Mongiovi	West Hills	:24.79
Pole VaultB	9T	Charlie Bush	Poway	15-7
Shot PutG	10	Kiely Osby	Escondido	42-10 1/2
400 MetersB	10	Brian Thomas	Scripps Ranch	:48.41
1600 RelayB	10		Scripps Ranch	3:20.75

There wasn’t just a millennium going on.

Wholesale league changes and the San Diego Section’s second annexation of schools in the Imperial Valley were creating a new landscape.

What started in 1980 with the addition of Calipatria, Holtville, and Imperial, was completed after Blythe Palo Verde Valley,  El Centro Central, Brawley, Calexico, El Centro Southwest, and Calexico Vincent Memorial left the Southern Section.

Winterhaven San Pasqual also joined in 1980 and Salton City West Shores became a member in 1998, but neither of those schools was in for the long run.

DID VALLEY GET SHAFT?

Not everyone was happy.

Brian Hay wondered about his new associates. The El Centro Southwest coach was miffed when his 7-3 team was left out of the playoffs and three with losing records were bracketed into D-III.

“All of the San Diego-area team reps teamed up to keep us out,” Hay told Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.  “There’s something wrong when you’re 7-3 and don’t get into the playoffs.

“Only one of the Imperial Valley teams (Brawley) made it,” Hay added.  “I’d like to see the top two teams from each league be included.”

Hay was determined:  “We’re looking for a game against a San Diego-area team next year, so this won’t happen again.”

Hay didn’t get that game for El Centro Southwest.

He  went one better.

The Southwest mentor headed west to San Diego to become head coach at Hilltop and became a fixture in the South Bay,  moving on to Mar Vista and then Sweetwater.

OTHERS UPSET, TOO

University was in the playoffs with a 3-7 record, but Rancho Bernardo (4-6-1) and San Diego (6-3-1) received the veritable rubber key.

“They say they want the best teams playing each other, so we play marquee teams and get punished because of our record,” said Rancho Bernardo’s Ron Hamamoto.  “We’re one of 12 best teams in the County.”

The Broncos defeated Vista, 6-3, and Rancho Buena Vista, 28-27.  Those teams received first-round byes in D-I.

67 YEARS FOR METRO

The Metropolitan Conference, which started as the eight-team Metropolitan League in the 1933-34 school year, servicing the city’s small schools and select suburban schools, became two-headed, splitting into Mesa and South Bay circuits.

Sweetwater, San Diego Southwest, Montgomery, Chula Vista, and Bonita Vista came together as the Mesa League, all with larger enrollments than their South Bay brethren.

Marian (enrollment about 450), was by far the smaller entry among Mar Vista, Castle Park, Hilltop, and Eastlake, which made up the South Bay.

The Metro split once before, in 1960, when it divided into Northern and Southern divisions as the San Diego Section began play.

THE ORIGINAL METRO

Coronado and Sweetwater were charter  members, with Point Loma, La Jolla, Army-Navy, Escondido, Oceanside, and Grossmont.

SEISMIC SHAKEUP

The Central League, born in 1980, went to the Great League in the Sky (only to be resurrected in 2005) and its temporary passing was felt throughout the city.

The Western League greeted Crawford, San Diego, and Madison from the Central, and Hoover, which bid bon voyage to the Harbor. Western holdovers were La Jolla, Lincoln, and Kearny.

The Eastern League, which debuted with the Western when the City Prep League divided in 1959, also was involved.

University and St. Augustine moved from the Western to the Eastern.

The parochial schools joined Morse, Mira Mesa, Patrick Henry, Scripps Ranch and Point Loma.

TAKE THIS SPLIT AND SHOVE IT

Despite attempting to level the field based on enrollment, Mesa and South Bay teams still were scheduled to play interleague games.

There were unintended consequences.

Large school San Diego Southwest (Mesa) was run off the field, 66-0, by small-school-but-traditionally-formidable Castle Park (South Bay).

“We shouldn’t have had to play this game,” Southwest coach Joe Gonzalez fumed to writer Tom Shanahan.  “We’re struggling.  We’re overmatched.  We should be in a different league.”

Gonzalez added, “Give us a couple years to turn this around, but don’t force us to play strong competition we’re not ready to play.”

In a 0-10 season the loss to Castle Park was not the most humiliating.  Mesa League rival Sweetwater defeated the Raiders, 72-0.

AVOCADO-PALOMAR-VALLEY SHUTTLE

The North County Conference also was shuffling. Torrey Pines moved from the Avocado League to the Palomar and Oceanside went from the Avocado to the Valley.

This made for three, more symmetrical alignments–five-team Avocado and six-team Palomar and Valley.

BAPTISM BY FIRE

Chris Hauser’s first game as head coach at Vista was against the most storied program in California.

It was a formidable assignment, but the fiery Hauser had been preparing for the moment.

Hauser was a wide receiver and defensive back in the early 1980s for legendary Vista coach Dick Haines.

After college Hauser returned to the school as a classroom teacher, was married to a Vista graduate, coached the Panthers junior varsity from 1990-93, and was varsity defensive coordinator from 1994-99.

The Panthers dropped a 20-14 decision to Long Beach Poly, ranked second in California by Cal-Hi Sports and third in the country by USA Today.

Hershel Dennis’ 65-yard touchdown run with 5:07 remaining clinched the victory for the visitors.

“We talked about spilling our guts and our guys spilled their guts tonight,” Hauser said to writer Mick McGrane.  “It’s neat to see them leave with a different taste in their mouth.

“They came in here pretty arrogant, thinking they were going to mow us down.  It’s great it was a close game, but I want to win.”

BUCS’ BLOCK

Mission Bay’s 13-0 season included a stiff regular-season test when the Buccaneers went to 9-0 with a 10-7 victory over Lincoln (8-1).

David Abbott, a 6-foot, 245-pound lineman, blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt by Lincoln’s Noe Gonzalez  with 5.2 seconds left.

BUSING

Although Shannon Nowden owned a car, most of Mission Bay’s football players were products of optional school choices and were bused in.

Coach Dennis Pugh said that probably 75 per cent of his team came from areas outside the Bucs’ natural enrollment boundaries.

Nowden was from the Lincoln district.  Others included JaJa Riley and Scott White (Morse), Marcus Smith and David Abbott (Hoover),  and Jared Bray and Adam Riccardulli (Clairemont).

“When we start in the fall it’s like  we have a bunch of kids moving in from out of state,” Pugh told Tom Shanahan of The San Diego Union. “These kids go through a lot to make it work.  They spend more than two hours a day on the bus.”

CHAMPIONSHIP PLUCK

Those transfers played a part in the biggest play of Mission Bay’s season.  Trailing Lincoln, 13-7, Marcus Smith pick-pocketed Lincoln quarterback Jason Swanson and raced 96 yards for a touchdown in the Buccaneers’ 27-13 win in the D-III final.

“First I went for the strip and then I went for the end zone,” said Smith, who heard “dangerous” footsteps chasing him.  Then Smith took advantage of something not usually available in high school games, according to Steve Brand.

“I looked up at the Jumbotron (in Qualcomm Stadium) and when I saw Shannon (Nowden) take out two blockers I knew I had a touchdown,” said Smith.

PRECURSOR

North County big shot Rancho Buena Vista did not play a team from any of the Grossmont leagues until it tested the waters in 1998, when the Longhorns dismissed Granite Hills, 20-0, and West Hills, 61-28.

Craig Bell’s No. 4-ranked Vistans ratcheted it up this season, visiting No. 6 Helix.

Sophomore Reggie Bush had 157 yards in 14 carries and ran 77 yards for a touchdown that gave Helix a 34-22 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Highlanders held on for a 34-29 victory, but their fifth straight victory without loss was just the beginning.

With Bush and junior quarterback Alex Smith setting the pace, Helix rolled to a 13-0 record and beat two more North County clubs in the playoffs, Oceanside, 28-10, in the semifinals and San Pasqual in the II championship, 24-14.

Bush rushed for 1,034 yards and scored 11 touchdowns and Smith passed for 1,592 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Bush’s emerging greatness was evident in another game when he ran 80 yards for the clinching touchdown with five minutes remaining  in a 22-19 triumph over Monte Vista, which had taken a 16-0 halftime lead.

The pair of future No. 1 NFL draft choices made for an outstanding coaching bow for Gordon Wood, who inherited a full cupboard when Wood took over for the retiring Jim Arnaiz.

IGNORED IN PRESEASON

For awhile at least Helix was a secret, not even in Cal-Hi Sports’ preseason state Top 20.  That was not the case with Fallbrook.

After first-year coach Randy Blankenship revived the Warriors with a 7-4-1 season in 1999, Fallbrook was ranked 11^th and ready to make its first serious run since Tom Pack’s 1986 team was 11-2-1 and upset Vista, 28-14, in the 3-A championship.

From 1987-98 the Warriors were 45-78-2, including an 11-49 drought since 1993.

Fallbrook overcame early defeats of 28-21 at Santa Ana Mater Dei and 42-23 at Anaheim Esperanza and then ran the table to an 11-2 record that included a 50-12 victory over Carlsbad for the D-I title.

Blankenship left after the season and was replaced by Dennis Houlihan.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

William Buchanon caught 84 passes in 13 games, for a 19.3-yard average and 16 touchdowns for  Oceanside this season and marked the third generation of Buchanons at the school.

Willie stood out in football and track in 1967-68 and William’s grandmother was the first Africa-American to graduate from the school in 1947.

The family lineage did not stop there.  William’s grand-uncle, C.R. Roberts, was the legendary star halfback on the Pirates’ 1951-53 squads. Roberts scored 61 touchdowns in his final two seasons.

RANCH COACH CALLS IT A CAREER

Craig Bell, who posted a record of 106-62-1 at Rancho Buena Vista and won two section championships in 14 years, retired at the end of the season.

Bell, 57, began the RBV program when the school opened in 1987.  He also was head coach at Burbank Burroughs and was 34-42-2 in eight seasons at San Dieguito.

Bell told Mick McGrane of The San Diego Union that his decision was made during a summer vacation trip to Wyoming with his wife.

“I was able to relax, my blood pressure was down, my hair wasn’t falling out, and I was able to eat something other than burritos and French fries, which is about all you ever eat during football season,” said Bell.

Bell won titles in 1988 and 1989 in a  sometimes contentious tenure that was  marked by legal proceedings and a law suit against the Vista School Board.

11TH HOUR REPRIEVE

Horizon dodged the Dreaded Administrative Glitch.

Eight hours before kickoff  Horizon’s 11-game forfeiture mandated by San Diego Section commissioner Jan Jessop was overturned by an appeals committee.

Horizon responded by defeating The Bishop’s, 33-20, for the Division IV championship.

The Panthers were penalized for using an ineligible player.  There also was a question of another player’s eligibility.

The committee consisted of John  Collins, Poway district associate commissioner; Mark Oschner, Rancho Bernardo athletic director, and Kamran Azimzadeh, Lakeside district deputy superintendent.

“It was a good decision,” said Bob Ottilie, one of two lawyers working on Horizon’s behalf.  “It was a good decision, a well-reasoned decision.  These kids will not suffer because of the administration.”

The Horizon player was declared ineligible for violating the so-called “eight-semester rule.” Students enrolled in school for eight semesters must receive a waiver from the San Diego Section to be eligible for sports in their fifth year.

Horizon did not seek a waiver, said Jessop.

EXPANSION BY MILES

Granite Hills in El Cajon was the easternmost school when the section began in 1960, as Mountain Empire in Campo remained in the Southern Section for a few years.

After the first immigration of Imperial Valley schools, the  longest distances from San Diego were to Holtville (124 miles) and Imperial (133 miles).

Blythe Palo Verde Valley, which had to make long trips in the Southern Section, was essentially in the same travel situation when it became a San Diego Section member this year.

The 104 miles from Imperial Valley League rival El Centro Central had not changed, but a Palo Verde Valley  game in San Diego would be 215 miles distant, at least three and a half hours.

SIGN LANGUAGE

El Camino’s 17^th consecutive victory was fueled in part by a sign that greeted the Wildcats’ bus when it entered the Vista campus. The sign read, “The Streak Ends Here”.

“We saw that when we drove in,” said El Camino quarterback Demetrious Spates.  “That gave us a tremendous amount of motivation.  You may not like us, but don’t disrespect us.”

It was Vista that got the message.

El Camino rolled, 56-20, as Spates passed for two touchdowns to Antwaine Spann and rushed nine times for 168 yards and three scores.

A 42-25 win over Oceanside the next week was El Camino’s 18^th in a row over two seasons and moved the Wildcats past Lincoln (1978-80) for the third longest winning streak in County history.

CARLSBAD CRUSH

El Camino’s streak came to a quick and decisive end. Carlsbad’s Eddie Sullivan scored on a 99-yard pass play and 97-yard kickoff return, propelling the Lancers to a 35-17 victory and a pungent observation by Wildcats coach Herb Meyer.

“We didn’t practice well all week and I coached us right into the toilet,” Meyer told Tom Shanahan of the Union.

“We’re 0-1 in the Avocado League,” said Meyer.  “That’s all that counts.  The streak and all that other stuff are for sportswriters to write about.”

El Camino finished with a 10-3 record, nosed out by Fallbrook, 27-24,  in the playoff semifinals.

ISLANDERS MAKE WAVES

Coronado won 10 games in a row for the most successful season in the school’s 86-season history.

The Islanders won their first seven in an 8-1 campaign in 1929 and won eight in a row in 1940, after opening the season with a 0-0 tie against an alumni squad.

Islanders coach Bud Mayfield also was part of the chorus complaining about playoff seedings.

Coronado’s reward was a seventh seed in D-III, which Mayfield described as “a kick in the teeth”.

After a bye, the Islanders were eliminated, 34-21, by Lincoln in the quarterfinals.

STRANGE TWIN BILL

It looked like a misprint: Desert Hot Springs versus Monarch High of Lewisville, Colorado…at El Camino?

The off-beat scheduling called for the two schools to be on the undercard of an opening week doubleheader featuring host  El Camino and Whitehall, Pennsylvania.

Whitehall school board bosses moved in after the game was set and declared that the Zephyrs couldn’t play a game out of state for the second consecutive season.

El Camino reconnoitered and signed to play at Rancho Bernardo.  The Palm Springs-area school and Monarch went through with their contest and played at El Camino.

AT LONG LAST

Ramona’s Jason Bash batted down a last-second Poway pass in the end zone to preserve a 20-17 victory. Poway had been 11-0 against the Bulldogs from when it opened in 1961.

FOR WHOM BELL TOLLS

The bronze bell trophy was in the offing when San Diego Southwest had a first down on Mar Vista’s two-yard line with 50 seconds remaining. The Mariners stiffened and held on to win, 20-13, and reclaim the bell.

The bauble  had sat on the desk of Southwest  coach Joe Gonzales since the rivalry was suspended after a 32-6 Southwest win in 1993. Mar Vista moved to the Harbor League in 1994.

The teams had played for the bell since  Southwest was introduced in 1976.

FAMILY FEUD

Crawford more or less ended a 14-game losing streak when it tied Kearny, 14-14, in a matchup of father (Kearny coach Orlando [Skip] Coons)  versus son (Crawford coach Laurent (Lou) Coons.

“We just ran out of time.  Give us another minute and we win,” said Lou.

TRUE GRID

West Hills quarterback Troy Burner was on fire, bettering the section record by completing 88.8 per cent of his passes (32 of 36) for 346 yards and five touchdowns, including the 35-34 winner with 23 seconds left against Granite Hills…Helix gained 578 yards and averaged 9.6 yards a play in a 57-18 win over West Hills…it was the Highlanders’ most points since a 57-7 win over  Mount  Miguel in 1993…the Helix record came in a 68-0 victory over Santana in 1966…Valhalla’s 24-14 victory over Granite Hills was the Norsemen’s first on opening night since 1990 and marked the first time since 1992 they had scored more than seven points in an opener…”Field Turf”, a modern, more convenient and safer version of  the original Astroturf, was installed at La Jolla and Grossmont College…La Jolla was the first high school in Southern California south of Ventura to use the rubbery stuff…awful loss for San  Pasqual:  Rancho Buena Vista’s Justin Nelson sneaked 1 yard for a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the game, then scrambled two yards for a two-point conversion and 22-21 defeat for Eagles…Carlsbad coach Bob McAllister opted to play a rare day game at Hoover and told his squad that the sunshine contest would be a prelude to Saturday afternoon games when they would be in college…the Lancers won, 21-0…Sean Sovacool, Fallbrook’s standout linebacker, went on to become head coach at La Costa Canyon….

Madison’s Doton Ogundeji, who made noise in the state meet in 2013, raised the decibel level to a shout  at the Sundevil Invitational Saturday at Mt. Carmel.

The all-San Diego Section football linebacker last season took the national lead in the shot put with a 65 foot, 4 ½ inch heave, almost two feet better than the reported 63-7 by Kord Ferguson of Ottawa, Kansas.

Only three other County athletes have bettered Ogundeji’s throw.

Fallbrook’s Brent Noon went 76-2 in 1990, Morse’s Darius Savage 66-3 ½ in 2006, and El Cajon Valley’s Curt Hampton 65-11 1/4 in 1974.

Ogundeji was sixth in the state shot put at 58-11 ¾ last year and was the only double-qualifier from San Diego. He was a nonscoring discus finalist at 175-2.

Meet Director Dennis McClanahan’s annual  Sundevil event is usually a barometer of the big meets in late May and early June.

Outstanding marks, including several state Top 10 efforts, were made by section athletes in what was for most the first significant meet of the season.

Hanna Labrie-Smith’s :43.4 in the 300-meter hurdles moved the Cathedral junior into second place in California behind the :43.14, converted hand time of Bakersfield Liberty’s Morganne Hill.

Labrie-Smith in 2013 came within 1/10 of Gail Devers’ 1983 San Diego Section record of :42.26.

A rare dead heat occurred in the Girls’ 3,200-meter run, when favored Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley and Irvine Northwood’s Bethany Knights were inseparable.

Each finished with times of 10:07.52, fastest in the country this year.