Idaho Runner Signs With UC Irvine

Jenny Liou, a distance runner from Moscow High School in Idaho, has signed a letter of intent with UC Irvine, Coach Vince O’Boyle said.

Liou, a 16-year-old senior, was the Junior Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters and finished third in the 800 in 1998. She finished third in the 1,500 at the Youth Athletics Nationals last summer.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Christina Callaway, a 6-foot forward, has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at UC Irvine, the school announced.

Callaway averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds last season for Shinge Springs (Calif.) Ponderosa High School.

VOLLEYBALL

Long Beach State’s Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills), UC Santa Barbara’s Roberta Gehlke (Mater Dei) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Kari DeSoto (Esperanza) have been named first-team all Big West Conference.

Charlene Conley, who played at Orange, was named to the second team, and UC Irvine’s Jamie Pilbeam and San Luis Obispo’s Worthy Lien (Sonora) were named to the all-conference freshman team.

* Senior Kristen Thompson of Esperanza signed to play volleyball and track at UC Riverside, Esperanza volleyball Coach Kurt Kersten said. Thompson took seventh in the state last year in the discus competition. This year, the first-team All-Sunset League volleyball player led the Aztecs to the semifinals, where they lost to Newport Harbor.

GYMNASTICS

Jeanette Antolin, a five-year member of the U.S. national team, has signed to participate in gymnastics at UCLA, the school announced.

Antolin, from Marina High, placed second at the recent U.S. World Team Trials, earning a spot on the U.S. team at the World Championships.

TENNIS

Laguna Hills will be one of 136 communities to receive funding from the United States Tennis Assn. Plan for Growth. The five-year, $50-million program is designed to increase tennis participation in the United States.

The communities will receive USA Tennis introductory programs, USA Team programs and promotional and organizational support.