DIGEST

*Lou Lichtl, athletic director at Thousand Oaks High for the last two years, is leaving for the same position at Westlake..

* Gary Thran, athletic director at Harvard-Westlake and a former football coach, is retiring Sept. 1. He has been at the school for 27 years and been athletic director for 15 years.

* Jim Woodard, athletic director at Taft for the last five years and a teacher for 35 years, is retiring. He coached boys’ basketball for 13 years.

TRACK AND FIELD

* Mel Hein has stepped down as coach at Taft High. Hein, who held that position since 1989, will remain cross-country coach.

Taft won its third consecutive City Section girls’ title and its first boys’ title since 1987 in the section championships at Birmingham on May 25, but the 59-year-old Hein felt fatigued during the season after undergoing emergency brain surgery last August to repair an aneurysm.

* Junior Melissa Astete of Birmingham High, the three-time defending City Section champion in the girls’ pole vault, set a region record of 12-5 1/2 to win the high school division of the beach vault at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

Astete’s mark topped the previous region record of 12-3 1/2 set by Heather Sickler of Camarillo in 1997.

BASKETBALL

* John Taylor, women’s basketball coach at Valley College for the last seven years, has resigned to become women’s coach at Antelope Valley College.

Taylor will be replaced at Valley by assistant Mike Muro, who played at Poly High, like Taylor, and served as Taylor’s top assistant for the last five years.

* Pat Yerina, former Crespi High guard, was inducted into the Fairfield University athletic Hall of Fame last winter.

* Nicolas Colon, a men’s assistant at The Master’s, has been hired as coach at Patten College, an NAIA Division II school in Oakland.

FOOTBALL

* Daniel Escalara, former coach at Santa Monica High and defensive coordinator last season at Venice High, has been hired as running backs coach at Cal State Northridge.

Junior Thurman, former defensive back in the Canadian Football League, will coach the secondary for Northridge. Thurman is the brother of former Dallas Cowboy Dennis Thurman, a USC assistant.

* Keith Borges, a former assistant at Cal State Northridge, has been hired to coach receivers at Granada Hills High.

* Dave Lertzman, former coach at Birmingham, has joined Cleveland as an assistant coach.

* Ron Ponciano, former head coach at Cal State Northridge, has been hired as defensive coordinator at Valley College.

* Coach Ed Croson of Birmingham is holding a summer camp for students 8-14 from July 10-14 at Birmingham High.

Information: (818) 887-5702.

* Travis Johnson, All-American defensive lineman at Notre Dame High, scored a 1090 on his Scholastic Assessment Test, clearing the way for him to play as a freshman at Florida State this fall.

* Westlake and Agoura had 5-0 records at the Ventura County Football Coaches Assn. tournament Saturday at Rio Mesa. Hueneme won the Hogs tournament for linemen.

BASEBALL

* The St. Louis Cardinals signed third baseman John Santor of Highland High, a 35th-round pick last week, and outfielder Brian Fatur of Moorpark College and Calabasas High, a 41st-round choice. They will report to Johnson City, Tenn., of the Appalachian League.

* Jack Cassel, a right-handed pitcher from Pierce College, has signed a contract with the San Diego Padres and will report Friday to Idaho Falls, the team’s rookie league affiliate.

Outfielder James Rivero of Notre Dame signed with Loyola Marymount.

* Saugus High is expected to announce the selection of its new coach on Thursday.

The school has several candidates, including assistant Matt LaCour of Chatsworth, assistant Dave Siedelman of El Camino Real, Coach Mike Solor of Los Altos and assistant Casey Burrill of Valencia.

Also interviewed were Dave Stradling, former coach at Quartz Hill; George Lopata, freshman coach at Valencia; Jim Phillips, former Valencia assistant, and Kevin Miner, Valencia junior varsity coach.

VOLLEYBALL

* Bobbie Estes of Saugus High has resigned from coaching the boys’ team after 10 years.

* Matt Biernat, a 6-5 Crespi graduate, has accepted a partial scholarship to San Diego State.