Glendale High

Qualifying to Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College required the local entrants who earned such advancement to turn in very good results at last weekend's divisional prelims all over Southern California. This weekend, however, the bar will be raised from very good to exceptional. Of course, that's to be expected as divisional championships and CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet berths are on the line with the trip to Cerritos College available for the top 12 finishers in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and top nine in every other event.

The Glendale High School choir is scheduled to perform in the Los Angeles Master Chorale High School Choir Festival on Friday. Five of the students were also selected by taped audition for the Festival Honor Choir, which will be conducted by Music Director Grant Gershon. The students include Frankie Castro, tenor; Kevin Chung, tenor; Jose Galvez, bass; Sofia Rezvani, alto; and Ariana Verhauz, soprano. The festival choir concert is from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

A cast of six singers with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles shared stories of facing discrimination and finding hope with Glendale High students on Tuesday during a sneak peak of a new musical to debut Feb. 1. The personal testimony and intimate performances brought huge applause from the hundreds of students who attended the event. The chorus reached out to Glendale High to perform part of their new musical in conjunction with the It Gets Better Project, an organization that promotes positive messages for lesbian, gay and transgender youth.

Hundreds of graduates, along with their principal, bid farewell Thursday to four years at Glendale Unified High School. More than 600 graduates dressed in red and black caps and gowns took center stage at Moyse Stadium as they prepared to move on to the next steps of their lives. Also preparing for change is Principal Deb Rinder, who is moving on to a district-level position next school year. Reminding them of their great potential and endless possibilities, Salutatorian Vahe Avagyan asked his fellow classmates, “What do you want to achieve?

BASEBALL Glendale 9, Muir 5: Josue Aguilera walked three times and singled in scoring twice and leading the Nitros to a Pacific League victory Wednesday afternoon. Jacob Funaro also singled and drove in three runs for Glendale (3-16, 2-9), while Javier Aguayo tossed all seven innings to pick up the win. The Nitros return to league action Friday against Burroughs. Campbell Hall 3, Flintridge Prep 1: Karlsen Termini went one for three with a run batted in for the Rebels, who had just two hits, in a nonleague road loss Wednesday.

A Glendale High School student who was arrested this week after he allegedly grabbed a 42-year-old woman's crotch told police he was accused of the same crime at another school campus, according to police. The student, Ryan Navarrete, 18, of Los Angeles was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual battery after he allegedly assaulted the Santa Clarita woman as she walked on Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale. Navarrete denied grabbing the woman, but told officers he was accused of “doing the same thing at Crescenta Valley High School and has had to transfer to Glendale High due to the allegations,” according to police reports.

More than 1,000 Glendale High School students wearing matching outfits filed into the school?s auditorium in complete silence on Thursday to hold the school?s annual oratorical competition, the longest-running tradition at Glendale High. The event is about showing school spirit and preserving a tradition, said teachers, students and alumni there to watch the event. ?It?s something that?s so unusual because it?s so old and it?s such a long tradition,? said Miya Joo, 16. It was the 99th year the school has put on the oratorical contest, in which the school?

Darleene Barrientos A new principal for Glendale High School was appointed this week, introducing a wave of change to the city's largest and most diverse high school. On July 1, Kathy Fundukian, 42, will take over the position previously shared by LeRoy Sherman and Lou Stewart, making the campus the first comprehensive high school in the district to return to the one-principal model. Fundukian, who comes from Diamond Bar High School, where she was assistant principal for seven years, will also be the school's first Armenian principal.

Three USC graduate students will be assisting Glendale High School this year to bolster counseling services on the campus. Under a new venture between USC and Glendale Unified, the three interns will counsel students while earning hours for their graduate program at no cost to the district. “Especially in our lean financial times, it's a great opportunity to offer free services to our kids,” said assistant principal Mike Bertram. “It's a terrific idea - especially with everything our kids are going through.” School board member Nayiri Nahabedian - a professor of social work at Cal State Los Angeles - knew that USC was reaching out to schools and brought the idea to the district.

Half of Glendale High School's new freshman class packed the gym Thursday morning as teacher Kevin Ozar said, “Welcome to high school!” Then he asked each student to give a shoulder massage to the one in front of them. “It's the very first thing we do and they freak out,” Ozar said. As a facilitator with Boomerang Project, Ozar started the day's first ice-breaker at the sixth annual Link Crew event - a half-day of activities, prompts and exercises that connect Glendale High's freshmen to its juniors and seniors.

Qualifying to Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College required the local entrants who earned such advancement to turn in very good results at last weekend's divisional prelims all over Southern California. This weekend, however, the bar will be raised from very good to exceptional. Of course, that's to be expected as divisional championships and CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet berths are on the line with the trip to Cerritos College available for the top 12 finishers in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and top nine in every other event.

GLENDALE - Coming into their season-ending rivalry game on Thursday, the Glendale High and Hoover softball teams had somewhat disappointing seasons. Both the Nitros and Tornadoes were out of the playoff hunt in the bottom half of the Pacific League pack. But one of them would end the season with a win and a rivalry win, to boot. "It's huge," Glendale Coach Christine Paknik said. "There's no bigger word you can use. They needed this. This is how they should have played all year.

BASEBALL Glendale 9, Muir 5: Josue Aguilera walked three times and singled in scoring twice and leading the Nitros to a Pacific League victory Wednesday afternoon. Jacob Funaro also singled and drove in three runs for Glendale (3-16, 2-9), while Javier Aguayo tossed all seven innings to pick up the win. The Nitros return to league action Friday against Burroughs. Campbell Hall 3, Flintridge Prep 1: Karlsen Termini went one for three with a run batted in for the Rebels, who had just two hits, in a nonleague road loss Wednesday.

A motorcyclist was seriously injured Sunday after he reportedly led police on a high-speed pursuit that ended when he lost control of the bike and crashed into a BMW, officials said. Adrian Sandoval Perez, 21, of Arleta suffered broken bones and internal injuries as a result of the crash that occurred about 1:04 p.m. in the 2700 block of Verdugo Road, according to authorities. [Note: This story has been corrected, please see note below.] California Highway Patrol officers spotted Perez riding with a group of motorcyclists on the Glendale (2)

I am very glad that Zareh Sinanyan finally took the step to own up to his offensive remarks made in the past on YouTube. And for his sake and for ours, I'm grateful for Zehra Siddiqui, the Glendale High freshman whose remarks brought him to the point of honesty about those remarks. I am left, however, with deep reservations about Sinanyan, whose record shows him (a) maintaining silence until after the election, (b) accusing a council member of lying for exposing those remarks, and (c)

Unlike past years in which the prestigious Ojai Tournament served as an entity unto itself for community college tennis, this year, players had to qualify out of conference tournaments. The 113th annual Ojai Valley Tournament was the final event for junior college tennis, with the Southern California Regionals and state tournament taking place under the umbrella of the prestigious tourney. “It was a lot different. You had to qualify this year,” Glendale Community College men's Coach Bob MacKay said.

GLENDALE - With playoffs already assured for the Hoover High boys' tennis team and out of the question for Glendale, all that was left to play for was bragging rights Thursday. That was enough for both sides, as both engaged in a fierce Pacific League clash that ended with the Tornadoes, who'd already secured third place in league, squeaking by their cross-town rival, 10-8, at Glendale High. “It's nice to beat our cross-town rival and end the season on a win. My singles players carried us all season and my one team carried us all season and they were able to do it again,” said Hoover Coach Julie Hoppe, whose team finished the season 9-7, 7-5 in league and as the No. 3 team in league.

GLENDALE - Entering Tuesday's Pacific League finale, the Glendale High and Hoover swimming teams remained in search of their first victories of the season. With plenty of pride on the line between the crosstown rivals, each team picked up a win at Hoover. PHOTOS: Glendale vs. Hoover swim contest Glendale received two individual victories each from Jayson Wilia, Bijan Rezvani and Arthur Khachikyan to lead the boys' team to a 103-66 win. Hoover's girls' team got two wins from Maggie Amirian to pick up a 95-80 victory.

GLENDALE - Glendale High's softball got the quick start it desired. But archrival Hoover kept coming back, nipping at the host Nitros' heels. That all changed in a momentous sixth inning in which the Tornadoes came one disputed call away from tying the game in the top of the stanza and the Nitros exploded for five runs in their half, sealing an 11-5 Pacific League victory. “That's what it is, it's momentum,” said Nitros Coach Christine Paknik, whose team improved to 5-8 and 3-4 in league.

ARCADIA - Though the Glendale High boys' golf team doesn't have enough players to field a complete lineup, it hasn't deterred Russell Caletena from showing he may be a key building block for the program's future. Just a freshman, Caletena has put together a couple of impressive rounds during the first three Pacific League matches this season. His latest effort turned out to be his best, as Caletena carded a two-over-par 73 on Thursday to finish sixth overall at Santa Anita Golf Course.