Anita Siraki shines on the track: The 2000 track and field season was mostly about Hoover High standout girls’ track and field athlete Anita Siraki. She once again captured a pair of Pacific League titles in the 1,600- and 3,200 meter races, but her biggest accomplishments came in May and June on grander stages.
Siraki made it back-to-back CIF Southern Section Division I titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 by winning both events on May 20.
On May 26, she was again a double-winner in the distance events at the CIF Masters Meet, which earned her a trip to the state meet on June 3. Siraki won the 3,200 in a personal-best time of 10 minutes 18.5 seconds. The state title was the first for a Hoover High athlete since 1962.
On June 16, Siraki traveled to Raleigh, N.C., to compete in the Foot Locker Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She took part in the two-mile race, winning in 10:18.03.
2001
Area team captures Little League World series championship: Fourteen girls and three coaches traveled to Granada Hills in late July to compete in their first game as the Glendale Little League Senior Softball All-Star team. Within a month, they returned from Jeffersontown, Ky., as World Series champions.
The 15- and 16-year-olds, representing Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Hoover highs, among others, capped off their journey with a 4-0 victory against Gladstone, Mich., on Aug. 18 in the championship game.
They became the first local squad since the 1990 Glendale 11- and 12-year-old Major Softball All-Star team to capture a Little League World Series championship.
2002
Community mourns separate deaths: The La Crescenta community was dealt a pair of severe blows with the deaths of two former area athletes.
