Were the San Diego Section trials yesterday the “proof of the pudding” for area qualifiers who now enter the two most important weeks of the season?

Section finals will be Saturday at Mt. Carmel High, followed  by the state meet in Clovis June 6-7.

While the ancient proverb may not apply, San Diego athletes did  not come close to season standards in almost every event yesterday.

Meanwhile, 12 season bests were recorded as the rest of the state competed in divisional meets.  The Central Section held its finals.

Eastlake’s Shane Martin traversed the 110 hurdles in a fully electronic :14.48 for a 2014 best.  Dalish Dozier of Mount Miguel took the lead in the girls’ long jump at 18-11.

Two significant casualties from league meets were Helix’ 4×100 relay squad, which had a hand-timed :41.8, and Scripps Ranch’s Brian Thomas, the section leader for most of the year with a :48.18 400.

The Highlanders were guilty of a lane violation in the Grossmont Hills finals and Thomas pulled a muscle in the Eastern finals.

If healthy this week, Thomas possibly could run a leg for the Falcons’ 4×400 relay squad, which qualified.

SAN DIEGANS IN STATE TOP 10

Event		Mark	Name	School	Meet	Date
SP Boys	1	65-5 ½	Dotun Ogundeji	Madison	Mt. San Antonio	04/19/14
100 H Girls	2	:42.24n	Hanna Labrie-Smith	Cathedral	Arcadia Invitational	04/12/14
3200 Boys	3	8:53.95	Steven Fahy	La Costa Canyon	Arcadia  Invitational	04/12/14
200 Boys	4	:21.18	Brandon  Lucas	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
PV Girls	4	12-7	Augusta Thomason	Rancho Bernardo	vs. Mt. Carmel	04/24/14
3200 Girls	6	10:23.50	Emma Abrahamson	La Costa Canyon	Arcadia Invitational	04/12/14
TJ Boys	8	48-1w	Kevin Dodds	Oceanside	Valley League	05/19
4×100 Boys	8T	:41.62		Poway	Escondido Invitational	05/02/14
100 Boys	9T	:10.6w	Brandon Lucas	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
PV Boys	10	15-9	Charlie Bush	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
Discus Boys		180-2	Dotun Ogundeji	Madison	vs. Eastlake	03/16/14

 SAN DIEGANS VERSUS CALIFORNIA

Event	Name	School			Mark	Mark	Name	School
BOYS 100	Brandon Lucas	Poway			:10.64	:10.29	Curtis Godin	Santa Ana Mater Dei
200	Lucas				:21.18	:20.90	Godin
400	Tobe Ezeokoli	Mt. Carmel			:48.16	:46.99	Cameron Stone	Sacramento Sheldon
800	Derek Morton		Mt. Carmel		1:53.60	1:51.86	Ellis Newton	Lakewood Mayfair
1600	Morton		Mt. Carmel		4:14.94	4:06.00	Garrett Corcoran	Villa Park
3200	Steven Fahy		LaCosta Canyon		8:53.95	8:46.80	Blake Haney	Bakersfield Stockdale
110 Hurdles	Shane Martin			Eastlake	:14.48	:13.68w	Misana Viltz	Lakewood Millikan
300 Hurdles	Lorenzo Johnson			Serra	:38.63	:36.94	Marquis Morris	Concord De La Salle
High Jump	Luis Carson			Bonita Vista	6-8	7-0	EricMoore	Fontana Carter
PoleVault	Charlie Bush			Poway	15-9	17-1	Jake David	Ventura
Long Jump	Jordan Miller			Oceanside	23-8w*	25-10w	Nate Moore	Castro Valley
Shot Put	Dotun Ogundeji			Madison	65-5 ½	65-4	Matt Katnik	Bellflower St. John Bosco
Discus	Ogundeji				180-2	188-7	Nicolas Hudson	Lemoore Kings Christian
Triple Jump	Kevin Dodds			Oceanside	48-1w	50-4 ½	Moore
4×100				Poway	:41.62	:40.93		Roseville Woodcreek
4×400				Granite Hills	3:20.46	3:15.00		L.A. Dorsey
GIRLS 100	Suzie Acolatse			Mission Hills	:11.83	:11.38w	Ariana Washington	Long Beach Poly
200	Acolatse				:24.29	:23.40	Washington
400	Melissa Mongiovi			West Hills		:53.37	Kaelin Roberts	L.B. Poly
800	Katie Sammer			Rancho Bernardo	2:14.02	2:08.75	Ashlyn Rambo	Santa Ana Mater Dei
1600	Kelly Bernd			Canyon Crest	4:55.3	4:42.13	Anna Maxwell	San Lorenzo Valley
3200	Emma Abrahamson			La Costa Canyon	10:23.50	9:59.20	Bethan Knights	Irvine Northwood
100 Hurdles	Dani Johnson			Cathedral	:14.28	:13.66	Jasmyne Graham	Corona Roosevelt
300 Hurdles	Hannah Labrie-Smith			Cathedral	:42.24	:41.46	Ebony Crear*	L.B. Poly
High Jump	Breanna Curry			University City	5-6	6-0	Claire Kieffe- Wright*	South Pasadena
Pole Vault	Augusta Thomason			Ran cho Bernardo	12-7	13-9	Kaitlyn Merritt	Rancho Santa Margarita
Long Jump	Talisha Dozier			Mount Miguel	18-11	20-8 ¼	Courtney Corrin	Studio City Harvard-Westlake
Shot Put	Kiely Osby			Escondido	43-8 1/2	53-3 1/2	Stamatha Scarvellis	Santa BarbaraDos Pueblos
Discus	Osby				135-6	172-7	Scarvellis
Triple Jump	Joanna Noiseaux			Eastlake	38-9	42-2 ¾	Marisa Kwiatkowski	Santa Clara Wilcox
4×100				Cathedral	:47.83	:45.53		L.B. Poly
4×400				Cathedral	3:55.33	3:42.84		L.B. Poly

n–nonwinning. w—wind-aided.  *did not qualify in trials.

It’s that time of year.

Fire-delayed league finals didn’t slow San Diego Section track and field athletes in their pursuit of May-June honors. Seven new state top 10 performances were recorded (see table below).

Poway’s Brandon Lucas turned a wind-assisted :10.64 100 meters and hustled to a :21.18 200 (County No. 13 all-time) in the Palomar League finals. Mission Hills Suzie Acolatse ran :11.83 in the Valley League 100.

Oceanside’s Kevin Dodds moved up in the triple jump at 48-1, with wind, while teammate Jordan Miller proffered a wind-aided 23-8 long jump.

Poway’s Charlie Bush cleared 15-9 in the pole vault  and Mt. Carmel’s Tobe Ezeokoli logged :48.16 in the Valley League 400.

Lucas and other members of  Poway’s  fine short and long relay teams sat out those events but will be action this week. Brian Thomas, the Section 400-meter leader from Scripps Ranch, scratched from the 200 after struggling to :53.87 and seventh place in the Eastern League 400.

Ill or injured, Thomas would have to get a favorable nod to be byed into the San Diego Section trials.

Although she did not break into the state’s top 10, Cathedral’s Dani White raced over the 100 hurdles in :14.28, Section No. 3 all-time, in Western finals.

White’s teammate, Hannah Labrie-Smith, No. 2 in the state 300 hurdles at :42.24,  was cut a break when Long Beach Poly’s Ebony Crear, the leader at :41.46, stumbled and fell in a Southern Section divisional meet.

Unless Crear is politicked into the Southern Section final this week, Labrie-Smith will have one less formidable  rival in the upcoming meets.

Section trials will be at Mt. Carmel Saturday.  Girls competition starts at 9 a.m., followed by the boys at 2 p.m.

State Finishers

OOPS

Overlooked in the table is Augusta Thomason of Rancho Bernardo, who is third in the state with a 12-foot, 7-inch pole vault.

Event	Place	Mark	Name	School	Meet	Date
Shot PutB	1	65-5 1/2	Doton Ogendeji	Madison	Mt. San An tonio	04/19/14
100 HurdlesG	2	:42.24	Hannah Labrie-Smith	Cathedral	Arcadia Invitational	04/12/14
200B	2	:21.18	Brandon Lucas	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
3200B	3	8:53.95	Steven Fahy	La Costa Canyon	Arcadia Invitational	04/12/14
Triple JumpB	6	48-1w	Kevin Dodds	Oceanside	Valley League	05/19/14
3200G	6	10:23.50	Emma Abrahamson	LaCosta Canyon	Arcadia Invitational	04/12/14
1600G	8T	4:55.39	Kelly Bernd	Canyon Crest	vs. Mt. Carmel	04/17/14
400 RelayB	8	:41.62		Poway	Escondido Invitational	05/02/14
Long JumpB	8	23-8w	Jordan Miller	Oceanside	Valley League	05/19/14
100B	9T	:10.64w	Brandon Lucas	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
100G	10T	:11.83	Suzie Acolatse	Mission Hills	Avocado East	05/19/14
800B	10	1:53.60	Derek Morton	Mt. Carmel	vs. Westview	04/03/14
Discus	10	180-2	Doton Ogundeji	Madison	vs. Eastlake	03/06/14
High JumpB	10T	6-8	Luis Carson	Bonita Vista	vs. Eastlake	04/13/14
PoleVaultB	10T	15-9	Charlie Bush	Poway	Palomar League	05/19/14
Triple JumpB	10	47-3 ½	DeAndre Benson	Point Loma	Eastern League Trials	05/13/14
400B	10	:48.16	Tobe Ezeokoli	Mt. Carmel	Valley League		05/19/14

Tim Danielson was convicted last week in El Cajon Superior Court of murdering his ex-wife in 2011.  His expected sentence of 50 years to life is pending.

I’d like to remember Danielson as the billiant runner who competed  for coach Harry Taylor at Chula Vista High and set San Diego Section standards in 1965-66 that still are unequaled, 48 years later.

Danielson became the second high school runner (after Jim Ryun)  to better 4 minutes in the mile in 1966 when he finished fourth in 3:59.4 behind Jim Grelle, Neil Duggan, and Dave Bailey in the San Diego Invitational of internationally-ranked runners in Balboa Stadium.

The 4-minute mile has been reached by high schoolers twice since, by New by Virginian Alan Webb, who ran 3:53.43 in 2001, and by Illinois’ Lucas Verbickas, who ran 3:59.71 in 2011.

The mile,  the most famous event in the sport’s history, is seldom run.  Its currency faded when the United States went to the metric system 35 years ago.

Danielson competed in the era of  yards and hand-timed races, but we’ve attempted to measure  Danielson’s marks as if he were competing in meters and with electronic timing.

The table below shows Danielson’s best converted efforts in his final two years at Chula Vista, including  dominance of California distance aces.  He  won back-to-back state championships, by 10 yards in Bakersfield in 1965 and by 12 yards in Berkeley in 1966.

Today’s runners, with several evolutionary advantages, would have to hustle to keep up with him.

Event	Mark	Meet	Site	Date
400	49.95	vs. Escondido	Escondido	04/01/66
800	1:52.50	Metropolitan League	Escondido	05/13/66
1600	3:57.50n	Invitational	Balboa Stadium	06/11/66
	4:01.70n	National AAU	New York	06/25/66
	4:02.30n	Police Games	Toronto	07/23/66
	4:04.60	San Diego Section	Balboa Stadium	05/27/66
	4:05.40	State	Berkeley	06/04/.66
		Golden West	Sacramento	06/18/66
	4:05.80n	National AAU (h)	New York	06/25/66
	4:06.40	State	Bakersfield	06/05/65
	4:06.60	San Diego Section (h)	Balboa Stadium	05/21/66
	4:07.10	San Diego Section (h)	Balboa Stadium	05/22/65
	4:08.30	San Diego Section	Balboa Stadium	05/28/65
3200	8:52.0	Golden West	Sacramento	06/18/66
	9:01.40	vs. Mar Vista	Chula Vista	05/06/66

 n–nonwinning.  h–heat.

Poway’s 400-meter relay team was as hot as the 100-degree  weather at the Escondido Invitational last night.

A Titans foursome of Will James, Jarod Turnage, Brandon Lucas, and Lance Mudd flawlessly passed the baton and covered the toasty, all-weather layout  in :41.62, fourth fastest time in California this year.

It is rarefied air for the Titans, whose previous best was :42.02, and for San Diego Section squads.

No County teams  have gotten under 42 seconds since a Reggie Bush-anchored Helix quartet blazed :41 flat in 2003.  At that time there had been 18 teams which had run at least :41.44.

The Section’s all-time best is :40.66 by sprinters from University City in 1998.

High schools dropped the 880-yard relay in 1968 and went to the 440 and mile races, followed by the move to 400 and 1,600 meters with the U.S. switch from yards to meters  in 1980.

The best 880-yard relay team still is the 1963 San Diego team of Walter (Budda) Blackledge, Gordon Baker, Raymond Dixon, and Charles Sanford. That group ran a perfect half mile in 1:26.3 and won the state championship at Berkeley by almost five yards.

San Diego-area teams seldom run the now metric 800 relay.

It would have been interesting to see what the U. City and Helix squads could have negotiated in the mid-distance sprint and what that group of Cavers could have achieved in the 400.

The Highlanders, in  2003 with Bush, ran a leisurely 1:28.7 at Mt. San Antonio in an infrequent attempt at the distance.

TITANS POTENTIAL RIVALS

Poway is expected to get a challenge from Helix in the upcoming section meets.  The Highlanders have a hand time of :41.8 and a :41.97 fully automatic.

According to Athletic.net, the state leader is Temecula Great Oak at :41.33.

Mission Bay is reported second in the state with  a  :41.44.  That mark seems very  shaky, although the Buccaneers, with no history of great speed, allegedly ran ran that hand-converted time in a dual meet with Kearny at Clairemont on April 18.

Other state leaders include Upland, :41.57; Los Angeles Loyola, :41.58; Gardena Serra, :41.64; Fresno Edison, :41.64, and  Long Beach Poly, :41.76.

LUCAS BURNS

Poway’s Lucas improved the section lead in the 200 meters to :21.56, tenth fastest in the state, and threw a shot across the bow at Scripps Ranch’s Brian Thomas and Mt. Carmel’s Tobe Ezeokoli with a :48.39 in the 400.

Scripps Ranch’s Brian Thomas is the section leader at :48.18.  Ezeokoli has run :48.26.

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