Prelims

SWIMMING Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in Mission League prelims: A slew of Tologs fared well Monday in the prelims at L.A. Valley College and will next compete in the finals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the same venue. In the 200-yard medley relay, Meg Ryan, Emily Balog, Katie Altmayer and Eva Dulcich took first in 1:58.92. Altmayer won the 200 freestyle (1:59.24), Ryan finished first in the 100 freestyle (56.12) and Balog took first in the 100 backstroke (1:11.14).

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD St. Francis in CIF Southern Section Division III preliminaries : Reigning All-Area Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year James Knowles ran to a return berth in next week's finals at Cerritos College. "This is just to get him ready for next week," said St. Francis Coach Patrick Donovan of Saturday's prelims at Estancia High. "[His results were] what we were hoping for. " Knowles won his heat in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 38.12 seconds, which was third-fastest across the board.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Pacific League prelims at Arcadia High: Numerous area athletes qualified for Friday's upcoming Pacific League finals with top-nine, or in some events, top-12 performances on Friday. Area winners included Glendale's Michael Davis in the 100-meter dash (11.06 seconds) and 200 (22.08), Burroughs' Anthony Monroy in the 1,600 (4:22.55) and Crescenta Valley's Josh Strachewski in the 110 hurdles (15.75) and 300 hurdles (41.29). Other qualifiers for CV were James Maturan in the 100 and 200, Hayden O'Burke in the 100, Justin Springfield in the 200 and 400, Alex Damla in the 400, Adam Akopyan in the 400, Mike Duncan in the 800 and 1,600, Nick Beatty in the 800, Aaron Esparza in the 800 and 1,600, Davit Shahamanyan, and Cody Heidenreich in the 110 hurdles and Mike Jaramillo in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

Charles Rich It's a good thing that Pat Donovan's running marks have reduced gradually. Even if it took a remarkable performance from the St. Francis High boys' cross-country runner to set a personal-best mark on one of the more demanding courses he's encountered. Donovan clocked 16 minutes 18 seconds on the three-mile Crescenta Valley Park course Wednesday to help St. Francis finish third with 85 points at the Mission League final. L.A. Loyola (19)

Erik Boal If there was one local athlete who was a safe bet to advance to the CIF Southern Section-Toyota Track and Field Championships out of Saturday's preliminaries, it was Lindsay Fletcher. But the Flintridge Prep junior won't be the only area standout competing at Cerritos College during Saturday's event. She'll have 17 other individuals making the trip to Norwalk, including 11 of her Rebel teammates and male counterparts. Fletcher posted the second-fastest qualifying marks in the 100- and 200-meter events at the Division IV prelims at Moorpark High -- trailing Woodland Hills Louisville sophomore Elizabeth Olear in both events -- in addition to helping Flintridge Prep's 400 and 1,600 relay teams qualify for the final with the third-fastest times in each race.

GLENDALE — More than a dozen athletes from the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and St. Francis High track and field teams participated in the Mission League finals Thursday at L.A. Valley College. While none of them captured league supremacy, many of them punched their ticket to the CIF Southern Section division prelims. Eight Tologs and two Golden Knights will compete in the prelims, which will be held May 15 at different venues. Sacred Heart received five second-place finishes to reach the Division IV prelims at Carpinteria High.

GLENDALE — Jumping up a level to CIF Southern Section Division I has considerably diminished the presence the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming team will have at Friday’s final meet at Mount San Antonio College, compared to each of the last two seasons, when the Tologs were a force at the Division II finals. Crescenta Valley High’s boys’ team, on the other hand, has a good chance to advance a bigger group of swimmers to championship heats of Saturday’s Division II final than in previous seasons in Friday’s Division II prelims.

GLENDALE — The Glendale Community College men’s and women’s track and field teams’ efforts in Saturday’s Western State Conference finals at Moorpark College resulted in four individual conference titles for the Vaqueros and even more qualifications for the upcoming Southern California prelims. Amid sweltering heat, Vivien Wadeck captured conference championships in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters to lead the women’s team to a second-place finish with 140.5 points, while Michael Flowers became conference champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the ninth-place men’s team (40 points)

GLENDALE — After surviving their respective league finals, a slew of local track and field high school athletes traveled to Orange and Santa Barbara counties to take part in the CIF Southern Section prelims on Saturday. Several made the cut to move on to the CIF Finals, which will be held Saturday at Cerritos College in Norwalk.   Division I at Trabuco Hills High — Three members from the Crescenta Valley High girls’ squad got through the prelims.

GLENDALE — Both the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and St. Francis High track and field teams were once again reminded just how formidable the Mission League is. On Thursday afternoon at the league finals at L.A. Valley College, the teams combined to advance six athletes to next week’s CIF Southern Section prelims with Sacred Heart sending four. “I really haven’t seen a tougher league in the Southern Section than the Mission League,” said Golden Knights Coach Pat Donovan.

After enjoying big performances at the CIF Southern Section track and field division prelims, a handful of local athletes will converge on Mount San Antonio College to participate in the division finals. There will be plenty at stake for each contestant, beginning with trying to record qualifying marks today at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut to advance to the Masters Meet. Field events will begin at 11 a.m. and running events will kick off at 1 p.m. James Knowles of St. Francis High will take part in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles in the Division III race.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD St. Francis in CIF Southern Section Division III preliminaries : Reigning All-Area Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year James Knowles ran to a return berth in next week's finals at Cerritos College. "This is just to get him ready for next week," said St. Francis Coach Patrick Donovan of Saturday's prelims at Estancia High. "[His results were] what we were hoping for. " Knowles won his heat in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 38.12 seconds, which was third-fastest across the board.

Whether chasing a CIF Southern Section divisional team title like the Crescenta Valley High boys, an individual crown like Glendale's Mickey Mowry or somewhere in between like Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, today and Friday's divisional preliminaries at Riverside Aquatics Center can't be overlooked. That's where seeds are established and cuts are made with a top-20 finish in each heat required just to advance to Saturdays finals at the same venue and a top-10 finish needed in order to compete for big points and individual titles.

ARCADIA - Explosive starts seem to come natural for Mike Davis. His finishes aren't too shabby either. The Glendale High track and field star showed precisely how important both facets can be on the lanes during the Pacific League finals at Arcadia High on Friday night. Davis, a junior, had no trouble capturing the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the second straight season. "It's key getting out of the blocks and then being able to hold it the rest of the way," said Davis, who captured the 100 in a personal-best time of 10.72 seconds and the 200 in 21.80.

PASADENA - Throughout the regular season, Emile Ohanyan proved he could compete with many of the best players in the Pacific League. Now, the Hoover High boys' tennis player is looking to do the same in the league tournament. Ohanyan passed his first two tests Monday afternoon at Pasadena High, winning his first two sets to advance to the semifinals. Ohanyan, the fourth seed, started off with a 6-1, 6-1 win against 13th seeded Charbel El Khouri of Pasadena and then netted a shortened 5-1 second-round win against fifth-seeded Michael Whelan of Burroughs.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Pacific League prelims at Arcadia High: Numerous area athletes qualified for Friday's upcoming Pacific League finals with top-nine, or in some events, top-12 performances on Friday. Area winners included Glendale's Michael Davis in the 100-meter dash (11.06 seconds) and 200 (22.08), Burroughs' Anthony Monroy in the 1,600 (4:22.55) and Crescenta Valley's Josh Strachewski in the 110 hurdles (15.75) and 300 hurdles (41.29). Other qualifiers for CV were James Maturan in the 100 and 200, Hayden O'Burke in the 100, Justin Springfield in the 200 and 400, Alex Damla in the 400, Adam Akopyan in the 400, Mike Duncan in the 800 and 1,600, Nick Beatty in the 800, Aaron Esparza in the 800 and 1,600, Davit Shahamanyan, and Cody Heidenreich in the 110 hurdles and Mike Jaramillo in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

It didn't play out ideally for Cecilia Nicolas and Nohemi Martinez, but both Glendale Community College women's track and field runners said their desire to succeed fueled them to cross the finish line first at the Western State Conference Championships. Rodriguez and Martinez were the only Vaqueros - both men and women - to finish first Friday at Moorpark College, as the women took third with 108 points, behind West L.A. College (119) and College of the Canyons (112). The Wildcats swept on both sides, as their men also finished first with 135 points.

LA CRESCENTA - With the regular season now complete, some of the members of the Crescenta Valley High boys' and girls' track and field teams can turn their attention during the next two weeks toward winning league championships. In particular, Josh Straschewski and Kayleigh Carrillo. Crescenta Valley closed out its final dual league meet Wednesday, falling to rival Arcadia. The boys' lost, 86-50, while the girls' suffered a 90-46 defeat. Straschewski did his part, capturing the 110-meter hurdles in 15.2 seconds before taking the 300 hurdles in 40.6.

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level. DeAndre Daniels (Renaissance Academy) freshman, Connecticut men's basketball: Daniels logged two minutes of court time in his NCAA Tournament debut, which saw the defending-champion Huskies suffer a 77-64 loss in the second round to Iowa State on Thursday. The former Wildcat, who transferred to Taft as a junior, didn't register any statistics in the loss, but did manage to make an impact on the team this season.

PASADENA - Girls' tennis singles players Emily Borkowski and Kathy Henry made quick work of their opponents during the first two rounds of the Pacific League Tournament on Monday afternoon. So fast that neither player lost a game despite battling warm temperatures. Borkowski of Crescenta Valley High and Henry of Burroughs proved to be among the best singles players throughout the regular season and are now looking to further prove that throughout the two-day tournament. "I've been playing well and I've stayed consistent," said Borkowski, the No. 2 seed who posted an 8-0 win against No. 15 Taylor White of Pasadena and 10th-seeded Gabrielle Markari of Burroughs at Pasadena High.