HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Arce Leads Palmdale to Golden Title

Junior Antonio Arce led Palmdale High to its second consecutive Golden League cross-country championship Wednesday, winning the three-mile race at Littlerock High in 15 minutes 7 seconds. The Falcons dominated throughout, placing the top six runners and finishing with the minimum 15 points. Quartz Hill was second with 49 points and Ridgecrest Burroughs a distant third with 104.

Arce was one of three Palmdale runners to finish under 16 minutes. The others were Chris Bennington (second in 15:36) and Roy Johnston (third, 15:52).

In other cross-country meets:

Del Rey League finals--Sophomore Kevin Koeper led a 1-2-3 finish by St. Francis as the Golden Knights dominated the boys’ competition at Crescenta Valley Park.

St. Francis, the top-ranked team in the Southern Section Division III poll, placed five runners among the top 12 finishers to total 25 points. Bishop Amat finished second with 54, followed by St. John Bosco with 58.

Koeper timed 16:02 over the three-mile course, followed by teammates John Stires (16:28) and Danny Phillips (16:54).

Chris Mavros (seventh in 17:09) and Jobert Barin (12th in 17:44) rounded out the top five for the Golden Knights.

Condor League finals--Joaquin Pierce of Midland won his third consecutive individual title and Thacher did likewise in the boys’ team competition at Villanova Prep.

Thacher placed three runners among the top seven finishers and five among the top 16 for a 46-point total, three ahead of Cate.

Sophomore Peyton Holmes (fourth in 16:52), and seniors Nate Toll (sixth in 17:31) and Kenyon Phillips (seventh in 17:38) led Thacher.

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Bell-Jeff d. Flintridge Sacred Heart, 9-15, 15-9, 13-15, 17-15, 15-12--Junior captain Letty Cabrera had 20 kills and 20 digs for the host Guards in the nonleague match. Lauren Barrett had 11 kills and nine blocks and Stephanie Nocum had 31 assists for Bell-Jeff (18-1), which is ranked eighth in Southern Section Division IV. Flintridge Sacred Heart is a Division I team.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Taft 7, Hamilton 0--No. 1 singles player Julia Feldman improved to 13-0 and led the top-seeded Toreadors (14-0) to the easy victory in the quarterfinals of the City Section 4-A Division team tournament at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

Feldman, a junior, defeated Erin Adams, 6-1, 6-0. Taft got straight-set victories from all of its players, including Brahna Pastorini, Ravid Levy and Brooke Lewis. Pastorini, 22-0 over the past two seasons, beat Nicole Adams, 6-1, 6-1. Levy blanked Sepideh Reghabi, 6-0, 6-0, and Lewis outlasted Layla Ferguson, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Alica Whelan and Astra Ramyead, playing No. 1, led a doubles sweep by beating Amanda Ross and Jinny Sugahara, 6-1, 6-0. In other quarterfinal matches, University defeated Granada Hills, 5-2, and Chatsworth surprised Van Nuys, 4-3. The Palisades-Grant match was delayed until Friday because of the fires.