Top Taft Sprinters Unable to Qualify

Sophomore Jamere Holland and junior Elijah Wells of Woodland Hills Taft, two of the state’s fastest performers in their respective sprint events, were non-qualifiers in the City Section preliminaries at Lake Balboa Birmingham on Thursday.

Holland was disqualified from the boys’ 100 meters because he false-started in his qualifying heat, and Wells did not run in his heat of the 400 because of back spasms that struck him as he was running the opening leg on Taft’s 400 relay team earlier in the meet.

The top two marks of the meet were turned in by sophomore Myra Hasson of Gardena, who won her 400 heat in 54.05, and junior Travis Bradford of Los Angeles Fremont, who won his 800 heat in a career-best 1:53.77.

L.A. Dorsey confirmed its role as the heavy favorite in the boys’ meet with its performances Thursday, and Gardena and defending champion Birmingham reaffirmed their status as co-favorites on the girls’ side. The finals are next Thursday at Birmingham.

John Ortega

*

Baseball

Thousand Oaks seemed to have every break go its way when it won the Southern Section Division II title last season.

In the Lancers’ 6-2 victory over Valencia in the semifinals, the Vikings stranded 10 base-runners in the first four innings and 13 in the game. In the championship game, Anaheim Canyon, which had committed only 37 errors in 30 games, had four miscues. Three errors came in the fourth inning, when the Lancers scored six runs -- five of them unearned -- on their way to a 7-3 victory.

This postseason, the Lancers weren’t so lucky.

Thousand Oaks (16-10) finished as co-champion of the Marmonte League and was the league’s No. 2 entry in the playoffs. But when pairings were announced Monday, the Lancers learned that they had to play a wild-card game Tuesday after their name was drawn from a hat containing 12 other No. 2 teams.

Thousand Oaks, which finished the regular season ranked No. 17 in the Southland by The Times, managed only two hits off junior Brandt Hill of visiting Goleta Dos Pueblos in a 3-0 loss.

Dos Pueblos (17-6) advanced to today’s first round, where it will play at Corona Santiago (20-5), winner of the Mountain View League.

Glendora tried to save Cal State Fullerton-bound right-hander Wes Roemer for its game today at fourth-seeded Riverside Poly in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

But the Tartans blew a three-run lead in the seventh inning Tuesday in a wild-card game at Arcadia. Roemer (7-2, 1.00 earned-run average) was called on to pitch and responded by throwing seven shutout innings before Glendora finally won, 10-6, in 14 innings. He can pitch only three innings against Poly.

“It was a real barn-burner,” Glendora Coach Dan Henley said. “We used more pitching than we would have liked to. That’s a bit disappointing, but it’s why you play the game.”

Dan Arritt

*

Boys’ Tennis

Visiting Los Angeles Loyola took six of nine singles sets en route to a 9-9 (82-80 games) victory Thursday over previously undefeated Los Alamitos (17-1) in a Southern Section Division I second-round match.

Loyola (18-3) led the match, 9-7, heading into the last two sets. The Cubs lost both of them but picked up enough games to clinch the victory. A 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 sweep by No. 1 singles Bryan Ross was a big boost for Loyola.

“Our doubles teams have often pulled us through this year,” Loyola Coach Mike Denison said. “Today it was our singles.”

The Cubs will face top-seeded and defending champion Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals Tuesday. Loyola lost, 12-6, to Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula in the quarterfinals last season. The match location will be determined by a coin toss today.

The Sea Kings (20-1) defeated Thousand Oaks, 12-6, in a home contest Thursday. In that match, Corona del Mar’s Wesley Miller gave Southland singles phenom Sam Querrey his first loss this season in team play.

Denison said two matches this season against Mission League rival North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake -- both losses -- have prepared the Cubs for top-tier competition.

“It’s a great foundation,” Denison said. “We know if we play well we’re right there. We’re not intimidated.”

Elia Powers

*

Boys’ Volleyball

Quarterfinal victories tonight by Santa Margarita, Loyola and Santa Ana Mater Dei would add a decided parochial flavor to the Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs.

Santa Margarita (23-11), which hosts Fountain Valley (22-5), pulled off the biggest playoff upset, downing top-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in Tuesday’s second round.

Fourth-seeded Loyola (19-2), the defending division champion, hosts Long Beach Wilson, which ended Newport Harbor’s season Tuesday.

Mater Dei (11-2) shared the Serra League title with Santa Margarita. The Monarchs, who outlasted Simi Valley in the second round, host another Marmonte League foe in second-seeded Westlake Village Westlake (22-1).

The other Division I quarterfinal has Irvine Woodbridge (34-7) at third-seeded San Clemente (25-3).

-- Paul McLeod

Diving

Hector Escamilla and Joe Schaefer-Sommerville of Lake Balboa Birmingham may be each other’s stiffest competition in the City Section boys’ diving championships today at Pierce College.

Escamilla, a junior, won the City title in 2003, while Schaefer-Sommerville, also a junior, placed third behind runner-up Sloan Bailey of Woodland Hills El Camino Real. Bailey has graduated.

Schaefer-Sommerville, the section champion as a freshman in 2002, won the West Valley League title on April 30.

-- Lauren Peterson