JC Notes / Irene Garcia : Surging El Camino Harriers Challenge Taft for State Crown

Thanks to outstanding back-to-back performances, the El Camino College men’s cross-country team will compete in Saturday’s state meet at Fresno.

First the Warriors won the South Coast Conference championship at Mt. San Antonio College and last Saturday they won the Southern California Championship meet at Bakersfield.

El Camino was led by sophomore John Federoff in both meets. At Bakersfield he finished fourth overall in 18:58. Freshman Antonio Carreno was second for El Camino and 16th overall at 19:28.

Federoff, who will compete at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo next fall, won the SCC meet in 20:28. Freshman Carlos Carbajal finished second for El Camino and third overall at 20:32.

The Warriors’ toughest competition in Saturday’s state meet will be top-ranked Taft, which has the state’s best junior college cross-country runner in George Kersh.

The women’s team will not go to the state meet because it placed sixth at the Southern Cal meet and only the top four teams qualify.

The Warrior women won the SCC title, but an injury to their top runner, Chris Hamilton, set them back in last week’s race.

Hamilton reinjured her right hamstring in the conference meet, where she placed second overall and first for El Camino with a time of 19:44. Last week at Bakersfield she ran in pain and placed 60th.

Three of her teammates finished in the top 30 at the Southern Cal meet and qualified for the state meet. Mary Hazell, Gina Kang and Kelly Griebel will compete at Woodward Park in Fresno.

L.A. Southwest quarterback Herman Tatum continues to be the top-rated passer in the Western State Conference. The 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore from Los Angeles High has passed for 1,675 yards and 13 touchdowns. In last week’s 24-12 victory over Harbor, which improved the Cougars’ record to 5-4, Tatum completed 12 of 33 passes for 222 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Cal State Fullerton and several Division III schools have shown interest in recruiting him.

Niu Sale has proved to be one of El Camino’s greatest football assets. The freshman has been the Junior College Athletic Bureau’s defensive back of the week twice in a row.

The 5-foot-8, 160-pound player from Serra High earned the first title for his performance against Mt. San Antonio. He made 12 tackles and deflected three passes in El Camino’s 13-6 victory.

In the Warrior victory over Long Beach he caused a fumble, had 9 unassisted tackles and 2 assisted tackles. Sale also returned two kicks for 74 yards.

This week’s defensive community college player of the week is El Camino back Frank Bonner, who tied a school single-game record with three interceptions.

El Camino men’s soccer Coach Norm Jackson has plenty of reason to celebrate. A couple of weeks ago he earned his 100th victory when the Warriors shut out Glendale, 11-0, and his team ended South Coast Conference play this week undefeated.

The Warriors (12-0, 15-2-2 overall), who haven’t lost a game since Sept. 23, have scored 92 goals in 21 games and 76 goals in the conference games. They have been led by freshman Raul Haro (28 goals for the season, 22 in the SCC) and sophomore Mark Sharpe (20 goals for the season).

El Camino starts Southern California playoffs against Mira Costa at home on Saturday seeded No. 3. If the Warriors win they will play in the semifinal the following Saturday. A victory next week will earn them a trip to Hayward to compete for the state title.

The women will participate in the Southern California regional tournament today at Palomar College but won’t have a chance at the state title because they did not win the SCC title.

El Camino (8-2, 12-6-1) finished second to Orange Coast in the SCC and will play Bakersfield at 2 p.m. today. If the Warriors win, they will play the winner of the Orange Coast-Golden West game on Saturday.

The Warriors, who have not allowed a goal in four games, ended the regular season by shutting out Palomar, 10-0, on Wednesday. They have been led by freshman Jennifer Loeser from North Torrance High (9 goals and 7 assists in 10 games) and freshman Carla Swain of West Torrance High (4 goals and 6 assists in 10 games).

The El Camino women’s volleyball team ended South Coast Conference play on Wednesday with a loss to Cerritos. It was the Warriors’ only conference loss. The teams will meet again Saturday in the Southern California regionals at Long Beach City College.