Cougars to Lead Sunkist Runners

This is the time of year, a month before the prep track season, when most coaches are wondering how many athletes will come out for the team.

Then there’s Kye Courtney. The Hawthorne coach is trying to figure out how many points the Cougars will score at the state championships in June.

“If the boys stay healthy, I don’t think there’s too much teams can do to stop us,” he said. “We’re loaded. We have a dozen kids who can run the quarter-mile under 49 seconds.

“We’re capable of scoring 50 points at the state meet. Thirty is usually a lock for the title.”

Courtney should know. His boys teams have won the last two state titles and five of the last six. Last year Hawthorne came within a point of becoming the first school to win both the boys and girls titles since Berkeley did it in 1980. Courtney says the Cougars have a good chance of achieving that rare double this season.

But Hawthorne has a long way to go before it can rearrange the trophy case.

Heading a strong South Bay field, Hawthorne will get its first look at many of Southern California’s top athletes in the 30th annual Sunkist Invitational indoor track meet Friday night at the Sports Arena. Prep competition begins at 4:30 p.m., invitational events at 7.

The meet is not sanctioned by the CIF Southern Section so athletes cannot compete as members of their teams.

“They can’t wear their uniforms and you can’t coach them,” Courtney said. “They’re on their own. It’s supposed to be a low-key meet, but when you get (to the Sports Arena), you can’t tell the kids that.”

In other words, athletes take the Sunkist seriously. Courtney says Curtis Conway, Hawthorne’s top sprinter and runner-up in the state 100 meters last year, is training hard for his race in a 60-yard dash for football players.

“He’s determined,” Courtney said. “Sixty yards is a little short for him, but he’s working on his start.”

Conway, who might begin running 400 meters in addition to the 100 and 200 this season, will also run the anchor leg on the mile relay, a race Hawthorne has dominated. The Cougars have won six consecutive state 1,600 relay titles.

Joining Conway on the mile relay at the Sunkist meet will be junior Chris Alexander, who is still wearing a metal plate in the left arm he broke during football, senior Kevin Gatlin and sophomore Eric Allen. Courtney says the team is running about 3 minutes, 15 seconds, outstanding for this time of year.

Hawthorne will also compete in the 8x160 and 2-mile relays.

The Cougar girls, led by the seniors Kesha Marvin and Rhonda Kennerson and junior Kee-sha Adams, will run in three relays--mile, 4x160 and 2-mile. Marvin and Kennerson will compete individually in the 500 and 880, respectively.

“My goal has been to get them in the best shape possible so they don’t get hurt,” Courtney said. “The injury thing worries the hell out of me.”

Conway, the Hawthorne quarterback and one of the most highly regarded college football prospects in Southern California, is waiting to see if he scored an NCAA-required 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Courtney said.

A 700 SAT score and 2.0 grade-point average in core subjects would allow Conway to compete as a college freshman. If those standards are not met, he could still sign a letter of intent but under Proposition 48 would be ineligible as a freshman and lose a year of eligibility.

This may cause Conway to postpone his college decision. Prep seniors can sign letters of intent starting Feb. 8.

“I’ve told the recruiters they may have to wait all the way until June,” Courtney said. “His grades seem to be all right, but we don’t have his test back. Until then, we know nothing.”

Conway, who can re-take the test until June, has visited USC and has a trip planned to UCLA.

“That’s basically it,” Courtney said. “He wants to stay local.”

Other South Bay entries in the Sunkist track meet:

Boys: John Sabio, Rolling Hills (500), Chad Thomas, Morningside (triple jump), Leuzinger and Westchester (rated 8x160 relay), Gary Stolz, Miraleste (seeded mile), Larry Billoups, Carson (football 60).

Girls: Jennifer Tully, Torrance (long jump), Morningside (mile relay), Ashley Black, Palos Verdes (seeded mile), San Pedro (4x160 relay), Palos Verdes (2-mile relay).

Quarterback Perry Klein, who helped Carson win the L.A. City 4-A football title and finish as the top-ranked prep team in the state (according to Cal-Hi sports), has verbally committed to UC Berkeley.

Klein said he will sign a letter of intent with the Golden Bears on Feb. 8, the first day of the signing period.

The 6-3, 180-pound senior will make his official visit to UC Berkeley this weekend. He has visited Washington and Washington State.

With assistance from Leuzinger, Rolling Hills moved into undisputed first place in the Bay League basketball race Tuesday. The Titans’ 67-54 win over Santa Monica, coupled with Leuzinger’s 62-55 upset of unbeaten Torrance, caused the shake-up.

Rolling Hills is 5-0 in the eight-team league, followed by Torrance (4-1), which fell from first after its leading scoring was held well under his average against Leuzinger.

Torrance guard Rick Robison, who carried a 28.5 scoring average into Tuesday’s game and was coming off a 43-point effort against Inglewood, was held to 16 by Leuzinger’s Quang Banks, who shadowed the hot-shooting junior.

Torrance Coach Carl Strong realizes Robison has become a marked man.

“It’s going to be difficult for him in the second round of league,” Strong said. “He’ll have to combat defenses designed to stop him.”

Robison figures to face more defensive pressure tonight at 7:30 when the Tartars visit Rolling Hills.

Because it is a free-lance team, Miraleste was informed by the CIF Southern Section before the season that it would have to win 70% of its games to be considered for the basketball playoffs.

With a 9-3 (.750) record, the Marauders are on course to meeting that qualification, but a Southern Section administrator hinted it may not be necessary.

Because it is too early to determine how many schools in the 26-team 2-AA Division will qualify for postseason play, Miraleste may still gain a playoff berth if its record dips below .700.

“They would be considered if there are openings in the bracket,” said administrator Dean Crowley. “If their record is above .500, they would go before a committee.”

At this point, though, Miraleste still has to meet the original criteria.

PREP NOTES--Although Hawthorne’s girls soccer team won both of its games last week, the Cougars slipped one spot to No. 7 in this week’s Southern Section 4-A coaches poll. Hawthorne improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-1 in the Bay League with a 2-0 victory over Beverly Hills on Tuesday as goaltender Darla Cuiper recorded her 10th shutout. The Cougars are tied in the 4-A poll with South Torrance (7-2-1-), followed by West Torrance (11-3-2) in the No. 9 spot . . . Center Ken Talanoa, a 6-4, 205-pound junior, scored 20 points and grabbed 24 rebounds Tuesday to lead El Segundo over visiting Cathedral, 83-71, in an important Santa Fe League game. El Segundo improved to 5-1 in league, half a game behind 5-0 Cantwell, while Cathedral slipped to 4-1. Talanoa has 70 rebounds in the last four games, a 17.5 average . . . Palos Verdes’ soccer team, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 4-A Division, improved to 20-0 overall and 5-0 in the Bay League with a 7-0 triumph over Inglewood. Lance Haworth scored three goals and goaltender Mark Antrobius recorded his 16th shutout.

South Bay’s Basketball Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Records Through Tuesday’s Games

Rank, School, League: Record

1 Westchester (Westn.): 10-3

2 St. Bernard (Camino Real): 16-2

3 Rolling Hills (Bay): 14-3

4 Morningside (Ocean): 11-4

5 Carson (Pacific): 8-6

6 Redondo (Ocean): 11-5

7 Torrance (Bay): 9-6

8 Inglewood (Bay): 8-6

9 Banning (Pacific): 8-8

10 Gardena (Southern): 10-6