Boccato Among City Times Honorees

Bell Gardens High Coach David Newell, Loyola quarterback Clelio Boccato and Lincoln receiver Marcelo Ortega will be honored at the inaugural City Times All-Star football banquet today at the University Hilton.

Newell was selected City Times Coach of the Year after leading Bell Gardens to a 12-2 record and the finals of the Southern Section Division III championship game. Hawthorne beat the Lancers, 14-6, in the final.

Boccato, the area’s second-leading passer, was named City Times Back of the Year after leading the Cubs to the Southern Section Division I finals. Boccato completed 59% of his passes for 1,757 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Ortega was tapped as City Times Lineman of the Year after leading the area in receptions (71) and finishing second in yardage (1,085). Ortega also had seven interceptions, and was the team’s punter, place kicker and leading return specialist.

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Soccer pairings--Belmont, which posted a 7-0-1 mark and won the Northern Conference, will be the top-seeded soccer team in the City Section playoffs.

First-round matches begin Wednesday. The Sentinels will play host either North Hollywood or Bell, whose wild-card game was rained out Friday. The game will be played Tuesday. If that make-up game is not possible, Belmont’s opponent will be decided by a coin toss. Other first-round pairings: University at Granada Hills; Venice at Manual Arts; Kennedy at Fremont; San Fernando at Monroe; Washington at Palisades; Jefferson at Birmingham, and Taft vs. San Pedro at Daniels Field.

Last season, the Sentinels lost in the finals to Garfield, which did not qualify for the playoffs this year.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Belmont Coach Nancy Carr-Swaim. “There are a lot of tough teams. I feel my team has improved since the second half of the conference (play). My team is playing smarter and making fewer mistakes.”

The girls’ soccer playoffs also start Wednesday. In the first round, Bell will play at Chatsworth; Palisades at Garfield; Granada Hills at Grant and El Camino Real faces San Pedro at Daniels Field.

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Tech-nically great--It’s been a great season, so far, for Los Angeles Trade Tech basketball.

The men’s and women’s teams have won a combined 26 of their first 35 games. The Beavers have rolled to a 15-4 record, and the Lady Techsters have kept pace at 11-5.

Returning players--such as forward Erica Stinson, a first team All-South Coast Conference player last season who is averaging 23 points and 16 rebounds per game this season--have the Lady Techsters headed toward a repeat appearance in the post season.

The women’s team was 20-6 overall and 6-3 in conference play last year, but suffered an 81-72 loss to L.A. Valley College in the first round of the playoffs.

During the off-season, Trade Tech received some good and bad news.

The good news was the Southern California Conference was disbanded, moving the Lady Techsters out of a scarcely known four-team conference that also included Harbor, Southwest and Compton community colleges. The bad news is that opponents now include powerhouses such as Cerritos, El Camino and Mt. San Antonio.

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Volleyball ace--Cal State Los Angeles women’s volleyball Coach Mark Massey has been selected the Asics/Volleyball Monthly NCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

The fourth-year coach guided the Golden Eagles to the Division II semifinals and their best season in school history. Cal State L.A. finished 25-11 after a 9-19 season in 1991.

Massey was also named Southwestern Regional and California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Coach of the Year.

Freshman outside hitter Andrea Ferchaw was a second-team All-American selection, becoming the first Cal State L.A. volleyball player to receive All-American honors.

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Hall of Fame--Larry Smith, who coached the Dorsey High tennis team to 80 consecutive Southern League victories from 1971 to 1979, is among three inductees into the Cal State L.A. Hall of Fame.

Smith was captain of the Cal State L.A. tennis team from 1957 to 1959, winning both CCAA singles and doubles championships.

Former Cal State L.A. athletes Ken Lohnes and Martin Vasquez were also chosen from a committee of alumni and staff.

Lohnes, an All-American third baseman, set an NCAA record with 84 hits and ranked third in the country in batting average (.440) in 1968. He also holds school records in runs batted in and batting average.

Vasquez played three seasons on the Cal State L.A. soccer team before leaving for the professional ranks in 1983.

He has competed with Mexico’s World Cup National team and is now playing for the Atlas Club in Mexico.