Former lifeguard misses out on Summer Olympics

Former Golden West College athlete and Huntington Beach lifeguard Micha Burden finished in 31st place Saturday at the 2008 FINA Water World Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain.

She finished the 10K event in 2:04:39.4. The 26-year-old was seeking to become one of the top 10 female finishers in the event, a placement that would automatically qualify her for the upcoming Olympic Summer Games.

In addition, four other female competitors, despite not placing among the top 10, qualified for the Summer Games.

The Beijing Games is hosting the inaugural Olympic open water swimming event with a 10K marathon swim in August.

Burden swam her trials race on Saturday at the Guadalquivir River

Oiler athletes sign collegiate letters of intent

Two Huntington Beach High seniors, Chad Smith and Nick Becker, each recently signed a national letter-of-intent.

Smith, a track and field and cross-country athlete, received a scholarship to Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. A team captain in both sports the past two years, Smith was the No. 2 runner on the Oilers’ boys’ cross-country team and ran the 800 and 1,600 in track and field.

Becker, who set a school record for career scoring on the basketball court, signed his letter May 5 with San Francisco State University.

Becker was named first-team All-Sea View League and was named to the boys’ 2008 All-Divisions (formerly All-CIF) 1A second team. He averaged 20 points, four assists, two rebounds and nearly two steals per game.

“I am proud that he is being awarded for all the hard work Nick has put into not only being a great basketball player, but a great student in the classroom as well,” Huntington Beach boys’ basketball coach Fabian Luna said. “I think he will be a quality student-athlete for the Gators.”

Huntington resident third at adventure competition

James Perkins, 34, of Huntington Beach, and teammate Brandyn Roark Gray, 29, of Sandpoint, Idaho, finished in third place at the 2008 Land Rover G4 Challenge Nevada Passage.

Perkins and Roark Gray made up Team Red.

The four-day competition held at Nellis Dunes, located 20 miles north of Las Vegas, wrapped Friday. Ten, two-person teams competed in the following categories: communication, navigation, kayak, driving challenge, run, written mechanical, written first test, mountain bike, climbing and winching.

Perkins called the challenge “an opportunity of a lifetime.”

— Mike Sciacca