Another Smashing Exhibition by Dumais

Two days after breaking the American record for points on one dive, Troy Dumais of Ventura set another record Friday by winning his 16th national junior title in the National Junior Diving Championships in Austin, Texas.

Dumais, 17, won by 33 points in the boys’ 16-18 one-meter springboard competition.

The previous record of 15 titles was held since 1994 by Bryan Gillooly of Kissimmee, Fla. Dumais will go for a 17th national title and a sweep of the boys 16-18 events when he competes Sunday on platform.

With another year of eligibility in the junior ranks, he could finish with as many as 20 national titles.

Dumais’ brother, Justin, 18, won the silver medal.

TENNIS

Erin Boisclair of Agoura Hills and Jessica Lehnhoff of Cooper City, Fla., upset the top-seeded team to advance to the semifinals of the girls’ 18-and-under doubles division Friday in the United States Tennis Assn. Junior National tournament in San Jose.

Boisclair and Lehnhoff beat Diana Ospina of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Holly Parkinson of Houston, 6-3, 6-3.

Brandis Braverman, who moved from Encino to Newport Beach last year, lost to Jacqueline Trail of Paducah, Ky., in the singles quarterfinals.

In the boys’ 16-and-under division, Ryan Redondo of Ojai and Carl McCafferty of Highland lost in the doubles semifinals in Kalamazoo, Mich. Jackie Jenkins of College Park, Ga., and Lesley Joseph of Rock Hill, S.C., beat Redondo and McCafferty, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

FOOTBALL

David Melo’s eligibility to play football at Taft High is being challenged by his former school, Coach Mark Pomerantz of Van Nuys said Friday.

Melo, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound All-City 3-A linebacker, checked out of Van Nuys and into Taft through open enrollment Thursday.

Pomerantz believes the Toreador coaching staff was involved in Melo’s decision to transfer.

Pomerantz accused Taft coaches of violating Rule 144 of the City Section orange rule book regarding contact with athletes outside of the high school attendance area.

“Conversations with David and his father led us to believe that there was more than just passing comments [between Taft coaches and Melo],” said Pomerantz, who believes contact was initiated in May during a passing league game.

“In order to protect our program, we’re going to instigate an investigation,” Pomerantz said.

Van Nuys officials filed paperwork Thursday with the City Section to deny Melo’s eligibility at Taft, Pomerantz said.

Taft Coach Troy Starr said his first contact with Melo was at a Toreador practice Thursday.

“We categorically deny all allegations,” Starr said. “He was OK’d by [City Section Commissioner] Barbara Fiege to practice.”

Fiege was unavailable for comment.

GOLF

Jason Gore of Valencia, one of the hottest amateur golfers in the country, begins play today in the Walker Cup in Scarsdale, N.Y.

The Walker Cup pits the top 10 amateurs from the U.S. against the top 10 from Great Britain and Ireland. U.S. team members are selected by the United States Golf Assn. Selection to the team is considered a pinnacle in amateur golf.

Gore, 23, has won four of the last six tournaments he’s entered and finished second and third in the others. He is teamed with 45-year-old John Harris of Edina, Minn., in today’s first-round alternate shot format. Harris is the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion.

Gore will face 31-year-old Graham Rankin of Scotland, a member of the victorious 1995 Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, in an afternoon singles match.

ESPN2 will televise the matches today and Sunday from 7-9 a.m. NBC will show afternoon matches from 1-3 p.m.

SOCCER

Lara Heifner, girls’ coach at Channel Islands High the past three seasons, said she has been named to the same position at Van Nuys.

Heifner said she was not told by Van Nuys administrators that the girls’ soccer program is on probation through the end of the 1997-98 school year and can schedule only one preseason practice match next season instead of three.

The sanctions were handed down in January by the City Section as a result of an illegal preseason scrimmage in 1996 between the Wolves and Cleveland.

Heifner, 23, was selected Marmonte League coach of the year last season. She is a former soccer player and 1996 graduate of Cal Lutheran. She will also teach physical education at Van Nuys.

SOFTBALL

Oli Keohohou hit a home run and drove in four runs and the Ventura County Pumas won two games at the ASA 14-and-under national tournament in Rockford, Ill.

Keohohou’s blast keyed a 6-0 victory over the Quad Cities (Ill.) Batbusters. Kamala Kifee had two doubles and two RBIs, and Katie Stokx and Jessie Ruiz combined on a one-hitter.

In the second game, Keohohou and Adrianne Alo each had two hits and two RBIs in a 10-2 win over the St. Louis Sluggers.

BASEBALL

The Westlake Senators, a 14-and-under baseball team headed by West Coast Baseball School founder Nez Balelo, advanced to the semifinals of the Amateur Athletic Union 14-and-under national tournament in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Brian Horwitz had three hits and Tyler Adamczyk, Marshall Plouffe, Matt Brown and Ryan McCarthy each had two hits for the Senators in a 9-2 victory over the Dallas Hurricanes on Friday in the quarterfinals. Brown and Andrew Petersen had two RBIs.

Westlake will play the Encinitas Reds in the semifinals.

RECREATION

A swim meet sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Foundation for youngsters 7 to 17 will take place today from 8 a.m. to noon at Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park.

The top four swimmers in each age event will advance to the AAF Summer Swim Festival at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center on Aug. 23.