Duarte’s Trafeh Makes Good on His Main Goal

Mohamed Trafeh of Duarte achieved one of two goals he set for himself in the national cross-country championships at Morley Field in San Diego on Saturday.

He attained the most important one, however, when he finished seventh in the meet that pitted the top eight finishers from the West, Midwest, Northeast and South region championships against each other.

Trafeh, a junior, clocked 15 minutes 15 seconds over the 5,000-meter course to post the highest finish by a runner from the West region.

Senior Michael Poe of Etiwanda, who won the West regional at Mt. San Antonio College on Dec. 7, was a disappointing 22nd in 15:39 after fading badly in the second half of the race.

Senior Chris Solinsky of Stevens Point, Wis., ran 14:41 to win the boys’ race by a record-equaling 20 seconds.

Trafeh placed eighth in the West regional, but his goals for the national meet were to finish among the top 10 and be the highest-finishing non-senior.

He just missed achieving the latter when junior Garrett Heath of Winona, Minn., nipped him at the finish.

“I just felt like I had nothing to lose,” said Trafeh, one of three runners to lead the field through the mile in 4:44. “I was really hurting during the race, but I was going to run all-out for as long as I could.”

Sophomore Zoe Nelson of Kalispell Flathead, Mont., won the girls’ race in 17:30 to become the fourth champion in a row from the West.

Erik Starkey, the cross-country coach at Chino Hills Ayala for the past four years, has resigned to pursue other coaching opportunities.

Starkey, 31, guided the Ayala girls’ teams to four consecutive Sierra League titles and a fifth-place finish in the state Division I final last year. The Ayala boys’ team won league titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Steve Pye and Dawn Staabv, assistants under Starkey, will take over the Ayala program.

-- John Ortega

Larry Edwards has retired as football coach at Calabasas after 24 seasons but will remain at the school as a teacher.

Edwards guided the Coyotes to a 5-5 record this season, their first in the Marmonte League. He won the team’s only Frontier League title in 1986 and coached the ’86 team and the 1999 team to semifinal appearances in the Southern Section playoffs.

-- Dan Loumena

Jon Looney has resigned as head football coach at Brea Olinda to spend more time with his family. He will remain at the school as a teacher.

Looney won 104 games in 14 years and led the Wildcats to the 2001 Southern Section Division IX championship.

-- Dale Ruhe

Guy Gardner has retired as football coach at Westminster La Quinta. Gardner compiled a 6-33 record in four seasons with the Aztecs, who were 1-9 this year.

-- Martin Henderson

USC continues to reel in top Southern California prep football recruits, picking up commitments from tight end Chris Barrett of Tustin and linebacker Jonathan Turner of Corona.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Golfer Kevin Barrett of Los Angeles Loyola has committed to Pennsylvania.

-- Peter Yoon