Another good season of San Diego Section basketball is in the books.

St. Augustine finished sixth in the final, expanded Cal-Hi Sports listing of the top 40 teams in the state and the Mission Hills girls were seventh in rankings of the top 35.

The Saints (28-5) were a preseason No. 21 in the newsletter’s top 25  but rolled through local games and showed continued improvement.

An example of the Saints’ rise came in the three losses to No. 2 Mater Dei.  Coach Mike Haupt’s team lost by 23, 12, and finally by 6 to the Monarchs in the Southern California semifinals.

Torrey Pines (28-5) rose to 13^th after not being in the preseason top 25.  Preseason-ignored Vista (28-5) finished 24^th  and Foothills Christian (24-7)  26th after starting No. 16.

Foothills was third in Cal-Hi’s final rankings for the 2015-16 season, with Cathedral 14^th, and St. Augustine 23^rd.

St. Augustine was 23^rd, Torrey Pines 24th, and Foothills Christian 36^th in 2013-14.

Helix, the winningest San Diego team this season with a 31-6 record and a state finalist in Division IV, was not in Cal-Hi’s  top 40.

Schedules matter.  The Highlanders annually do not play the level of opponents of the section’s big three.

HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH…

The girls’ team at Mission Hills repeated its third place rating of a year ago.

The Bishop’s (30-4), with state career scoring leader Destiny Littleton,  was 12^th.

La Jolla Country (18-12) was ranked 26^th, “the best 12-loss team in the state,” according to Cal-Hi Sports, which respects the schedules and teams annually turned out each season by coach Terry Bamford.

TRACK

The spring thinclad season officially commands center stage this week at the Arcadia Invitational, where dozens of San Diego Section runners, throwers, jumpers and vaulters will compete in a variety of classes.

Charles Sanford finished the perfect race.

Etched in my memory: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, 1963 state track meet, final event, 880-yard relay. San Diego High against the field at the end of the two-day program.

Sanford and teammates Walter (Buddah) Blackledge, Gordon Baker, and Raymond Dixon, were considered one of the better entries coming into the meet with a best time of 1:27.2, but there were other, more favored teams  from the Los Angeles City and Southern sections.

Sanford, who passed away at age 72 recently, was an attacking sprinter, grinding out his races with each stride, and the best at San Diego High since the days of Roscoe Cook and Bobby Staten a decade before.

Sanford had set a San Diego Section record of :09.6 in the 100-yard dash the week before and had a best of :19.2 in the 180-yard low hurdles.

He qualified in neither event in the Friday trials  but was fresh and ready for the baton chase the next day.

The Cavers got off to a good start when Blackledge came out of the blocks with a :22-flat first 220, handing off to Gordon Baker, who put some distance between himself and the pack with a :21.3 second leg.

Baker a sometimes erratic sprinter-quartermiler, ran the most important leg, because he was able to make the second pass from the pole position to Dixon.

With the posse in hot pursuit, Dixon held the inside lane, running his furlong in :21.7, and maintaining Baker’s lead as Dixon passed to  Sanford.

Anchor man Sanford closed with a :21.3 leg, increasing San Diego’s winning advantage  to about five yards.

The Cavers had covered the distance in 1:26.3, second fastest in the country that year; almost one second faster than they had run the week before,  and bettered the record they had shared with the 1957 Cook-Staten-Charles Davis-Willie Jordan team.

Los Angeles Manual Arts was second in 1:26.8.

What I remember most were the flawless handoffs as the Cavers protected the baton amid the pressure of flying spikes, and streaking bodies in a high-powered race.

Sanford, who also was a football standout at San Diego, will be honored in a funeral service Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at Missionary Baptist Church in Logan Heights.

 

 

 

Next month, on Feb. 14 [2017], will mark the seventh year since we undertook a challenge.

I wanted to write the history of San Diego County high school football.

That’s where my career started and where it will end.

Well, I didn’t write the history (that is almost infinite), but I gave it a shot.

I attempted to write a narrative about each season. More than 100.

I just counted.

The number includes all seasons from 1914 forward.  I combined the years 1891 to 1913.

Almost all of the narratives are broken into short subjects, vignettes and photographs (pictures mostly from rustic and ragged microfilm at several Southern California sources).

Some years, like 1955, include multiple entries and, starting in 2013, football was covered on a week-to-week basis.

Most seasons usually required an average of about 2,000 words, although there are some with less and many with more.

My superstar writing friend Dave Kindred told me, “It wouldn’t sell and it would be too long,” when I suggested to David that maybe I’d write a book about this parochial subject.

He was right on both counts. But thanks to Henrik Jonson, my cyber guru, we put together a web site:  Partletonsports.com.

Partleton was the name on my father’s birth certificate when he was born in Barbados, “Little England” as it was known.

Dad changed his last name to Smith after he entered the United States following service in the Canadian army in World War I.

I asked him often why he hadn’t been more inventive. He could have changed his name to Jones.

I’m going to continue looking for nuggets of information in football, basketball, track and field, and probably baseball.

It’s a labor of love and in retirement you have to have interests.  I’ve got season tickets to San Diego State basketball and I catch a prep football or basketball game every week.

That and trying to keep Susie happy and watching our 4 grandsons grow up.

There was not a track and field event in which Dick Coxe did not have expertise, but he probably preferred the grueling discipline of cross country.

Friends and former athletes will honor Coxe with their recollections of the demanding, straight-shooting and compassionate mentor in a celebration of his life on Sept. 18 from 1-4 p.m. in the Captain’s Room of Marina Village, 1936 Quivera Way, San Diego, 92109.

Coxe, who recently passed  at age 95, coached 30 years at area high schools Mar Vista, Sweetwater, and Lincoln, and at San Diego Junior College and Mesa College

“He had champions in events ranging from distance, jumps, relays, weights and sprints (as a college volunteer assistant at Hoover in 1952, Coxe even coached pole vaulters),” remembered Mesa distance runner Rich Cota.

“Dick Coxe was organized, structured, and focused,” said Cota.  “He took great pride in having well-rounded dual meet teams. To him, this proved your coaching ability.  Plus, there was a winner and a loser.”

The graduate of Hoover High and San Diego State developed, among dozens of others, 1972 Olympic long jump bronze medalist and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Arnie Robinson at Mesa, where Coxe’s  teams produced 15 state and 4 national community college champions from 1964-65 through 1981-82.

His first-year programs in 1964-65 at the school on Kearny Mesa won the Pacific Southwest Conference and state cross country championships in the fall and the conference track championship the following spring.

“I know I’m biased,” Cota said, “but I believe Coach Coxe thought his greatest accomplishment was winning the state cross-country title in ‘sixty-four, our first year.”

Included among Coxe’s  standouts were Bob Hose, who set an American community college record of 1:48.3 in the 880; Wesley Williams, and James King, who went on to become world-ranked 440-yard intermediate hurdlers.

Williams, who won the state 300 intermediate hurdles championship in 1967,  claimed  the National AAU indoor 600-yard title in 1974 and ’75 and King was the Pan American games winner in 1975.

Williams anchored the state mile relay championship quartet in 1968.  King was leadoff man in 1968 and the first runner on the title-winning 1969 foursome.

Bill Trujillo was a state individual champion in 1964 and

Mesa’s mile relay squad of Bill Millar, Jay Elbel, Wes Williams, and Harold Moore set a national community college indoor record of 3:20.9 in the inaugural 1966 San Diego Indoor Games.

A scholarship in Coxe’s name is being established at Mesa College, c/o Simone Sherrard, 7250 Mesa College Drive, San Diego, 92111.

We’ve been idle since the state high school track meet and probably won’t be posting much for the next month, as our two grandsons, 13 and 12, from Connecticut have made their annual invasion.

For Susie and me, this represents  4-5 weeks of never-ending activity, a veritable jailbreak every day.  It seems like we are training with the SEALs.

We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The boys met us in Las Vegas on June 21.  From there came a tour of Hoover Dam, a visit to the magnificent meteor crater near Winslow, Az., and a day at the Grand Canyon.

It’s not all swimming pools and movies.  Some culture is added.

Oh, I’d better not forget.  Happy 48th anniversary today to my beautiful bride.

San Diego Section track-and-field entries placed in eight of 32 events at the 98^th state track championships in Clovis Saturday.

—About 26 per cent of the entries, out of 96 total at the beginning of Friday’s trials, scored points amid the 102-degree heat of Buchanan High. And with no individual champion for the first time in 14 years.

It wasn’t a total loss.

Fourteen boys and nine girls produced season bests.

UC BATTLER IS REWARDED

University City’s Allen Siegler represented to me what the state meet is all about, competition and the opportunity to improve.

Siegler took a 1600 season best of 4:14.09 into the trials and qualified fourth at 4:12.22. He was eighth in the finals, but Siegler came to compete.

The wiry senior hung tough against a demanding pace and whacked another three seconds off his best to close at 4:09.29, eighth all-time in the San Diego Section.

SIX RACES IN TWO DAYS

Devin Alvarado of Rancho Buena Vista was outstanding in the Friday trials.

Alvarado ran the sixth fastest 110 hurdles in section history, :14.06, clean with no wind.

The Longhorns’ senior an hour later raced to :37.45 in the 300 intermediates, tied for 13^th all time, and contributed strongly  as the Longhorns qualified in a Section season best, 3:18.84 in the 4×400 relay.

Coming back in three events on Saturday took its toll.  Alvarado was fourth in the highs in :14.10, seventh in the intermediates at :38.26, and RBV was well out of it at 3:20.33 in the 4×400.

NIGHTHAWKS EMERGING

The rising and still developing Del Norte program of coach Chris Ruff scored its first points in a state meet since the school opened in 2008.  Michelle Altice was fifth in the discus at 146-3 and fourth in the shot at 45-1 ¼.

Mount Miguel’s Laulauga Tasauga-Collins rallied for second in the shot put at 45-1 ½ after fouling out in the discus, with no measured throw despite coming into the meet with the best sectional qualifying mark, 167-3.

CAP AND GOWN?

Cathedral senior Dani Johnson, whose career was so promising after she set section records of :13.86 in the 100 hurdles and :41.30 in the 300  in 2015,  qualified in both races Friday night.

Johnson, who overcame a bothersome early-season injury, ran :14.11 and :43.10 and then withdrew from the finals sometime after the trials.

There were reports that Johnson returned to Cathedral for graduation on Saturday.

SPIKE DUST
Ruff’s uncle, Bruce Ruff, was the San Diego Section 440 champion for El Cajon Valley, running :48.6 in 1967…The tiny San Francisco Section (17 schools, including several that don’t participate) produced its first winner since 1983…Pamela Amaechi of Lincoln won the discus at 164-1 and was third in the shot put at 45-1 1/2 …so many runners, beaten down by a fast pace at Clovis, lost contact with the leaders, fell back, and turned in performances far below their season  bests…Friday and Saturday results, including leaders and San Diego results:

 SATURDAY FINALS

BOYS

100—Brock, West Hills Chaminade, :10.43.

200—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :20.42.  8. Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, :21.87.

400—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :45.77.

800—Cortes, Temecula Great Oak, 1:50.75. 12. Chinn, Poway, 2:00.47.

1600—Cortes, Temecula Great Oak, 4:04.61.  8. Siegler, University City 4:09.29, Section No. 8 all-time.

3200—28. Boone, Mt. Carmel, 9:33.69.  29.Pope, Torrey Pines, 9:55.14.   30. B.  Prince, Sage Creek, 9:56.55.

110 HURDLES—Anderson, Upland, :13.59.  4.  Alvarado, Rancho Buena Vista, :14.10.

300 HURDLES—Burton, Westminster La Quinta, :36.44.  8. Alvarado, R.B.V., :38.42.

4×100 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, :40.32.

4×400 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, 3:14.97.  7. Rancho Buena Vista, 3:20.33.

HJ—Carbin, Piedmont Hills Mt. Pleasant, 7-0.

LJ—Holmes, Oakdale, 25-5.  3. Battikha, St. Augustine, 23-11.  5. DeRoos, Tri-City, 23-7 ¾.

TJ—Osling, Lancaster Antelope Valley, 48-9 ¼. 8. DeRoos, Tri City, 46-6 ½.  Battikha, S.A., 46-5 ¾.

SP—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 69-10 ¾. 5. Lenford, Oceanside, 58-5.   9. Clark, Poway, 55-6 ¾.  10.  Miller, El Camino, 53-5.

PV—Gordon, Huntington Beach Marina, 16-8.  3T. Brown, La Costa Canyon, 15-8.  7. Hamson, Poway, 15-8.

DISCUS—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 200-10.

GIRLS 

100—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, :11.39.  8. Patterson, Rancho Bernardo, :11.85.

200—Barnes, Ventura St. Bonaventure, :23.23.  7. Patterson, R.B., :24.06.

400—Roberts, Carson, :52.28.

800—Brewer,  San Ramon California, 2:06.86.  12. Akins, R.B., 2:13.60.

1600—Gehrich, Las Flores Tesoro, 4:45.51.

3200—O’Keefe, Davis, 10:12.02.  20. Moran, Mt.Carmel, 11:02.83.  22. Loren, Canyon Crest, 11:06.86.  24. Barrett, Westview,  11:13.13.

100 HURDLES—Davis, Agoura, :13.38.  Johnson, Cath., scratched.

300 HURDLES—Woodward, Vacaville, :40.62.  7. Bell, Steele Canyon, :42.89. Johnson, Cathedral, scratched.

4×100 RELAY—Carson, :45.06.

4×400 RELAY–Carson, 3:42.80.

HJ—Palka, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, 5-9.  Snow, Carlsbad., no height.

LJ—Foster, Clovis North, 20-7 ½. 10. Stallman, Ramona, 18-2 ½.

TJ—Davis, Agoura, 42- 5 ½.  8. Nash, Calvin Christian, 38-2.

SP—Bruckner, San Jose Valley Christian, 49.5 ¾.  2. Tausaga-Collins, Mount Miguel, 45-1 ½. 4. Altice, Del Norte, 45-1 ¼.

PV—Baxter, Anaheim Canyon, 14-2.

DISCUS—Amaechi, S.F. Lincoln, 164-1.  5. Altice, Del Norte, 146-5.

FRIDAY TRIALS

BOYS

100—Brock, West Hills Chaminade, :10.54.  Others:  Morgan, Poway, :10.87; Goodwin, Christian, :10.89. Stokes, Del Norte, :10.94.

200—Diego-Willams, Gardena Serra, :21.13.  7. Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, 21.84.  Others, Goodwin, Christian, :22.04. Ellis, Bonita Vista, DQ, lane violation.

400—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :47.26.  Others: Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, :48.52.  Gunter, Del Norte, :48.92.  Ellis, Bonita Vista, :48.95.

800—Hall, Davis, 1:53.33.  4. Chinn, Poway, 1:53.46. Others: D. Prince, Chula Vista High Tech, 1:55.37.  Page, Eastlake, 1:58.8

1600—Janes, Riverside M.L. King, 4:10.86.  9. Siegler, University City, 4:12.22. Others:  Martinez de Pinollos, Cathedral. 4:16.97. Johnson, La Costa Canyon, 4:17.53.

110 HURDLES—Anderson, Upland, :13.78.  7. Alvarado, Rancho Buena, :14.06, Section No. 6 all-time. Others:  Thomsen, Calvin Christian, :14.61.  Kleppe, Rancho Bonita Vista, :15.0.

300 HURDLES—Burton, Westminster, La Quinta, :36.61.  5. Alvarado, RBV, :37.44, tie Section No. 13, all-time. Others:  Adams, Granite Hills, :39.36. Carter. Torrey Pines, :40.07.

4×100 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, :41.33. Others:  Mt. Carmel, :41.82.  Rancho Bernardo, :42.50. Del Norte, :42.61

4×400 RELAY—Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 3:16.76.  Rancho Buena Vista, 3:18.84. Others:  Mira Mesa, 3:21.61.  Mt. Carmel, 3:28.95.

HJ—Six tied at 6-8.  Others:  Nelson, Del Norte, 6-6.  Rokach, Rancho Bernardo, 6-4. Heid, St. Augustine, no height.

LJ—Holmes, Oakmont, 24-3.  8. DeRoos, Tri City, 23-0 ¾.  9. Battikha, St. Augustine, 23-0 ¼.

TJ—Thompson, Stockton Stagg, 48-5 ¾.  11.  Battikha, St. Augustine, 46-9 ¼. 12.  DeRoos, Tri city, 46-6  Other: Riggins, Olympian, 42-3.

SP—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 69-3. 8.  Clark, Poway, 56-3.  9.  Lenford, Oceanside, 55-7.  12.  Miller, El Camino, 54-0 ¼.

DISCUS–Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 194-10.  Others: Clark, Poway, 169-5.  Miller, El Camino, 166-10.  Anderson, Ramona, 161-9.

PV—Ten, including Brown, La Costa Canyon, and Hamson, Poway, qualified at 15.2.  Other: Thomsen, Calvin Christian, 14-8.

GIRLS

100—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian,, :11.49.  6. Patterson, Rancho Bernardo, :11.75.  Others:  Fletcher, Scripps Ranch, :12.11. Stallman, Ramona, :12.14.

200—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, :23.0  8. Patterson, R.B., :24.17.  Others:  Simpson, Morse, :25,01.  Fletcher, S.R., :25.09.

400—Roberts, Carson, :53.15.  Others:  Kaseberg, Torrey Pines, :57.97.  Ornelas, Olympian, :58.16. White, Valhalla, :59.01.

800—Brewer, San Ramon California, 2:08. 10.  Akins, Rancho Bernardo, 2:10.14. Others:  McCarthy, Carlsbad, 2:11.37.   Robinson, La Jolla, 2:12.25.

1600—Gehrich, Las Flores Tesoro, 4:50.14. Others: Brown, La Costa Canyon, 5:03.32; Donnelly, Torrey Pines, 5:04.93. Bernd, Canyon Crest, 5:18.09.

100 HURDLES—Davis, Agoura, : 13.50.  6. Johnson, Cathedral. :14.11. Others:  Nealis, Valley Center, :14.57.   Bell, Steele Canyon, :14.64.

300 HURDLES—March, Reedley, Immanuel, :42.34.  4. Bell, Steele Canyon, :42.51. 9.  Johnson, Cathedral,  :43.10.  Others, Nealis, V.C., :46.16.

4×100 RELAY—Carson, :45.16.  Others:  Torrey Pines, :48.42.  San Diego, :49.53.  La Costa Canyon, :49.61.

4×400 RELAY—Calabasas, 3:44.71.  Others:  La Jolla, 3:53.03.  Olympian, 3:55.52.  Torrey Pines, 3:59.22.

HJ—4 tied at 5-7.  5T, Snow, Carlsbad, 5-5. Others:  Hickey, Coronado, 5-3.  Dixon, Morse, no height.

LJ—Longmire, Rancho Verde, 20-7.  8.  Stallman, Ramona, 18-10. Others: Barnes, Olympian, 17-6. Campbell, Mt. Carmel, 17-0 ¾.

TJ—Davis, Agoura, 41-1.  11.  Nash, CalvinChristian, 38-2 ¼.  Others:  Barnes, Olympian, 37-2 ¾.  Joseph, San Diego, 36-8 ¾.

SP—Bruckner, San Jose Village Christian, 51-9.  4.  Altice, Del Norte, 43-10.  8. Tausaga-Collins, Mount Miguel, 42-0.  Other:  Tuilefano, El Camino, 40-3 ¼.

DISCUS—Bruckner, San Jose Valley Christian, 165-6.  4—Altice,  Del Norte, 146-8.  Others:  Wagenfeld, Calvin Christian, 132-4. Tausaga-Collins, M.M., no distance, 3 fouls.

POLE VAULT—2 tied at 12-6.  Others:  Wagenfeld, Calvin Christian, 11-6.  Becker, Canyon Crest, 11-6.  Myers, Poway, 11-6.