It Was a Season to Remember for San Marino : High schools: Titans won three Southern Section titles and a state title to rank as area’s most successful program.

The San Marino High athletic program went that extra mile this season. After all, it was the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams that played the most integral role in the school’s athletic success during the 1990-91 season.

The Titans won three CIF Southern Section championships: boys’ and girls’ Division III-A cross-country and boys’ 4-A swimming. The boys’ cross-country team also won its first state Division III title.

With three Southern Section championships, the Titans not only ranked as the most successful school in the San Gabriel Valley, but also tied Sunny Hills and Palos Verdes for the most titles in the Southern Section.

It also established San Marino as the only school in the valley that has won two or more titles in each of the past five seasons.

San Marino also came close to winning titles in football and boys’ tennis. The Titans reached the boys’ 3-A tennis final before losing to Sunny Hills and advanced to the semifinals in Division VII football before losing to Lompoc, which eventually won the title.

The only other valley schools to win more than one title were Maranatha, Walnut and Pasadena Poly. Maranatha’s championships were in boys’ and girls’ IV-A cross-country, Walnut won in boys’ and girls’ 2-A swimming and Pasadena Poly in girls’ 1-A soccer and boys’ 1-A tennis.

But it was San Marino that once again stood above the rest.

Perhaps the most impressive title for the Titans came in swimming in May, when they won a Southern Section championship for the fourth year in a row. Only this time, after three consecutive 3-A titles, San Marino won the 4-A.

In easily outscoring runner-up and perennial power Mission Viejo, 243-170, the Titans also became the first non-Orange County school to win the 4-A title since Buena of Ventura in 1969.

Leading the way for San Marino were Stanford-bound senior Dan Kanner, who won the 100-yard freestyle and finished second in the 200 freestyle, and Mike Mason, who finished first in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

The victory also marked a fitting conclusion for San Marino Coach Burt Kanner--Dan’s father--who had earlier announced his retirement after 18 years as coach.

Success has been more difficult for the Titans in cross-country, where the boys won their first Southern Section title since 1974 and the girls won their first title since 1982.

The Titans placed seven runners among the top 17 in winning the boys’ title by 31 points over runner-up San Luis Obispo. They won by 47 points over Santa Margarita in the girls’ race at Mt. San Antonio College in November. San Marino was lead by Marjorie Hsu, who won the girls’ individual title in 19 minutes 2 seconds, and Peter Nichols, who placed second in the boys’ division in 15:34.

Nichols came through with another impressive performance the following week in Fresno, finishing 11th, to lead the Titans to their first state title in Division III. The girls finished third in their division. San Marino was the only valley school to win a state title this season.

While San Marino fielded the best cross-country teams in the valley, Maranatha wasn’t far behind.

The Minutemen have consistently finished among the top teams in their division in recent years. But the 1990 season was the first that the boys and girls had won titles in the same year.

With three of its runners finishing in the top four positions, Maranatha handily won the boys’ IV-A championship by 63 points over Brentwood. Anthony Fisher led the Minutemen by placing second and he was followed by teammates Oscar Montes and John Hageman.

The Maranatha girls had a more difficult time in scoring 46 points to edge runner-up Brentwood by four points for its fourth division championship in a row. Showing the way was Karen Wester, who came away with the individual title.

It was not surprising that Walnut captured the 2-A title in boys’ swimming in May since the Mustangs had finished only six points behind Laguna Hills in 1990. But the Mustangs were not expecting to win the girls’ division with only four members on their team.

Fortunately for Walnut, one of the four was Mary Petry. A senior who will attend UCLA in the fall, Petry won the 100-yard backstroke and 100 butterfly and swam legs on the victorious 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams as the Mustangs defeated second-place Rolling Hills, 128-114.

The Walnut boys were lead by Dan Miles, who won the 200 individual medley, and Ryan Cabinte, who won the 100 breaststroke.

Pasadena Poly also had an outstanding season as it won championships in boys’ tennis and girls’ soccer. The Panthers completed an undefeated season in girls’ soccer by defeating Brentwood, 3-2, in overtime in the 1-A final in March to finish 23-0-3.

The Panthers also defeated Brentwood for the 1-A boys’ tennis title, beating the Eagles, 13-5, in the final May 30 at the Riviera Country Club. In winning the division for the second time in three years, Poly was led by its one-two combination of David Murphy and Howard Kim in singles.

Poly nearly won another title in girls’ basketball but lost to Mission Prep, 49-37, in the V-AA final. It was Poly’s first loss in 28 games. The Panthers also lost in the first round of the state playoffs.

The only valley team to win a basketball championship was Pomona, which defeated Estancia, 48-45, in the III-AA final at the Sports Arena. It was the first title in school history.

The Red Devils advanced to the Southern California Division III regional final only to lose in a rematch against Estancia.

Pomona was led by two-time Times San Gabriel Valley most valuable player Johnny McWilliams, who averaged 26.7 points and 14 rebounds to lead Pomona to a 24-7 record. Two other leaders were guard Dedrique Taylor and forward Darius McJimpson.

With only 60 students, Rio Hondo Prep of Arcadia ranks among the smallest high schools in the valley, but it did not hinder the school’s athletic success. The Kares football team defeated Faith Baptist, 35-6, to win the Eight Man Large Division championship in November. Rio Hondo finished 10-0.

Rio Hondo won the title game behind running backs Mike Whiteside, who rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and Rick Johnson, who rushed for 132. It was the fourth Southern Section football title for the perennial Small School power and its first since 1982.

The Kares also came close to winning championships in boys’ and girls’ basketball, reaching the final in the V-A divisions. The boys lost to Ribet Academy, 95-69, in the title game and went on to the Southern California Division V final where they lost, 63-56, in a rematch against Ribet. The Rio Hondo girls lost to Hemet Baptist Christian, 53-39, in the V-A final.

The Muir girls’ track team won its third consecutive 4-A title in May with 93 points--60 more than runner-ups Long Beach Poly and Long Beach Wilson.

The Mustangs were led by sophomore sprinter Deanna Knowles, who finished second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchored the winning 400-meter relay team, and senior Akua Sutherland, who won the 100-meter low hurdles and triple jump.

Another successful program has been South Pasadena in water polo. The Tigers made it back-to-back championships with a 17-12 victory over Costa Mesa in the 2-A final in November.

That also established the Tigers, who finished 26-4 and have 52 victories in 58 matches, as only the second team to repeat as 2-A champion since the division was formed in 1978. South Pasadena was sparked by Dan Cherrie, Tim Rohr and Eric Nordvedt with four goals each.

The Diamond Bar boys’ soccer team won its third 3-A title in the past five years with a 1-0 overtime victory over Fontana in March.

Diamond Bar won behind the exceptional play of senior goaltender Tyler Snow, who had 20 shutouts to lead the Brahmas to a 23-2-2 record. The Brahmas, who were also led by 3-A defensive player of the year Jim Doyle, allowed only 13 goals and only two in the playoffs.

The Brahmas also reached the final in the girls’ 2-A division for the second consecutive season, but lost to Etiwanda, 3-1.

Perennial power Keppel also defended its title in 3-A badminton with a 13-6 victory over Etiwanda in May.

In addition to the team champions, two girls also won championships at the state track finals June 1.

Walnut senior Juliana Yendork finished a brilliant high school career by winning the long and triple jumps. During the season, Yendork also established a national high school record of 44 feet 1/2 inch in the triple jump.

Duarte senior Phetima Woods won the 100-meter low hurdles at state. In addition, Matthew Harding of San Dimas finished a second in the 100-meter dash and Tyrone Edwards of Nogales placed second in the long jump.