Santa Clarita Valley

On May 9 a group of dedicated Special Olympic athletes will take to the Susan Osborne field at Crescenta Valley High School and compete in the First Annual CV CAN (Crescenta Valley Community is Committed to Athletic Needs) Games. ?This is the first time we have sponsored this event,? said Grace Chase, event organizer. ?Its exciting.? The athletes vary in age and come from the Tri-Valley Region of the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Burbank and Glendale. The games will include a variety of walks, runs, relays and wheelchair races in addition to a softball toss, long jump and shot put. Chase said there will be about 150 athletes participating, but it is a real community event with many volunteers that will support athletes and their families.

GLENDALE — Gusty winds or not, there’s a Pacific League girls’ individual championship to be won today. The fierce winds that have howled the past several days throughout Southern California — touching off raging wildfires from the Santa Clarita Valley to Malibu and lighting up the sky at night — might play a key factor in determining what athlete will have the best course management in their quest to win the title....

The Crescenta Valley High boys' and girls' track and field teams showed their depth and experience Wednesday afternoon, as they each won at home in the league's first tri-meet that also featured Hoover and Burbank. Crescenta Valley earned a 108-19 win against Hoover and a 93-34 victory against Burbank in the boys' competition, which also saw Burbank post a 79-43 win against Hoover. The Falcons won 11 of the meet's 16 events. In the girls' competition, Crescenta Valley recorded a 100-17 win against Burbank and a 93-34 victory against Hoover.

Kathie Mathis has spent her entire career helping women, and so on Thursday a group of women gave back. The Soroptimist International Club of Glendale honored Mathis — who heads the domestic violence program at the Glendale YWCA — and two other women at the club's eighth annual "Accolades: A Salute to Women" luncheon at the Hilton Glendale for the impact they've had on their communities. All three women had "more or less proven themselves" through the work they had done to improve either their own communities or lives, club President Lou Rhodes said.

SYLMAR ? Let the search for a few good golfers get underway. For the Glendale Community College women?s golf team, expectations were high entering its second year of existence. With a deep lineup and some experience, the Vaqueros figured to challenge for the Western State Conference championship. However, reality set in for the suddenly shorthanded Vaqueros, who finished fifth in the first of six conference matches Monday at El Cariso Golf Course. Glendale college Coach Kirt Kohlmeier saw his squad compete without several athletes, all of whom are currently not on the team for various reasons.

Girls' soccer playoff story.Soccer: Flintridge Sacred Heart, Flintridge Prep and Crescenta Valley girls' teams qualify for CIF playoffs.GLENDALE -- The school-record 16 regular-season victories recorded by the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer squad this season certainly won't go unnoticed. Winning a playoff match for the first time in the program's history would be an exclamation point for the Tologs, who learned who their first-round playoff match will be against after the Los Alamitos-based CIF Southern Section office released its six division pairings Monday.

There are coaches from Burbank and Burroughs highs who are counting down the days until they leave the Foothill League for the Pacific League next season. However, Indian baseball Coach Tom Crowther is not all that happy to be moving from a league known for its competitive teams and accomplished athletes. "The Foothill League is a tough league, there's no doubt about that," said Crowther, a Burroughs graduate who is in his fourth year. "Because of that, when you win in the Foothill League, it means something.

LA CRESCENTA — Apparently, Crescenta Valley High track and field Coach Mark Evans taught his two sons the proper way to put together a quality program. Chris Evans and younger brother Rob have learned well from the pointers given by their father. For the first time in their respective coaching careers, the Evans brothers coached against their father. The younger Evanses got the best of the first matchup, as Golden Valley swept a nonleague dual meet Thursday afternoon at Crescenta Valley.

GLENDALE — Temperatures figure to be a bit cooler the next time the Crescenta Valley Junior All-Star Softball team takes the field. After traveling to Canyon Country and battling near triple-digit temperatures, Crescenta Valley swept its three Section 2 Tournament games. Crescenta Valley will next travel near scenic San Diego, where the temperatures figure to be cooler, to participate in the Division III Tournament. Crescenta Valley, which earlier won the District 16 title, will battle the Section 9 representative out of southwest San Bernardino in an opening-round contest at 10 a.m. today at Rolando King Street Field in La Mesa.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 67th year, meets Tuesday’s at the Elk’s Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the ninth meeting of the year .   BONDS GETS CRACK AT OLD FRIEND More than 20 years ago at Hart High in the Santa Clarita Valley, Jim Bonds learned how to play quarterback. Bonds learned under the guidance of offensive coordinator Dean Herrington , who helped mold Bonds, who would move on to UCLA, into one of the top high school quarterbacks.