Marion Jones Second in Voting for Her Third National Award

In something of an upset, Marion Jones finished second in Track & Field News magazine’s voting for its 1993 high school female athlete of the year.

Jones, a freshman at North Carolina, capped her high school career by winning the 100 meters, 200 and long jump for Thousand Oaks High in the state track championships in June, but she was edged by Amy Acuff of Corpus Christi, Tex., 172 points to 170, in the balloting among 18 track and field experts.

Acuff, a freshman at UCLA, set a national high school record of 6 feet 4 inches in the high jump.

Jones, shooting for an unprecedented third consecutive athlete of the year award, produced national season-leading marks of 11.28 seconds in the 100, 23.00 in the 200 and 22 feet 1/2 inch in the long jump.

The long jump mark moved her to second on the all-time national high school list behind Cathy McMillan, who leaped 22-3 for Hoke County High in Raeford, N.C., in 1976.

In other news, Jeff Nadeau, formerly of Monroe High, and Jeremy Fischer of Camarillo ranked second and third nationally in the boys’ high jump.

Nadeau, a freshman at Arizona, defeated Fischer for the state title and set a City Section record of 7-2 1/4 while winning the Valley Pac-8 Conference title in May.

Fischer raised his personal best to 7-2 and cleared 7 feet or higher in 10 meets as a junior.

Tennis

Jenia Karimov of Pierce College finished sixth in the singles competition in the junior college division at the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. National Small College National Championships that ended Sunday at Edmond, Okla. Karimov, a Russian who is a freshman at Pierce and will play for the Brahmas in the spring, won one match and lost two in the eight-man event. Karimov participated as the Southern California regional champion.

Motor Racing

Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale posted his second consecutive NASCAR Southwest Tour championship after finishing 37th at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday in the final main event of the season.

Hornaday, 35, a former Saugus Speedway Modified division champion, posted a tour-high five victories in 18 starts and also led the circuit in earnings with $47,475. Hornaday’s margin of victory over Doug George of Atwater, Calif., was 129 points.

Keith Spangler of Northridge finished sixth in points, Lance Hooper of Palmdale was eighth and Bob Lyon of Newhall finished 10th.

Volleyball

Nikki Wallace of the University of San Diego has been named the West Coast Conference women’s player of the week.

Wallace, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Antelope Valley College, had a combined total of 43 kills (.466 hitting percentage) and 21 blocks while leading San Diego (19-3, 7-2 in conference) to victories over Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount last week.

Girls’ Basketball

Mark Celaya has been named girls’ basketball coach at St. Genevieve High. Celaya, 46, was an assistant girls’ coach at North Hollywood last season and the Huskies’ junior varsity coach the past two seasons.

A graduate of Loyola High and Valley College, Celaya also has coached American Roundball Corp. basketball. Celaya will be a walk-on coach.

Softball

Bell-Jeff High pitcher Carrie Breedlove made an oral commitment to play softball next year at Arizona State. Breedlove, a three-sport athlete at Bell-Jeff, will sign a letter of intent during the week of Nov. 10th, the first week of early signings.

Triathlon

Mark Edwards of Westlake Village finished 50th among 218 California entrants Saturday in the 15th Gatorade Ironman Triathlon at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Scott Berry of Ventura finished 115th, Garren Mizutani of Camarillo finished 129th, and John Steidl of Thousand Oaks finished 174th, Becky Ilagan of Westlake Village finished 199th and John Melville finished 204th.

Miscellany

Armando Valdivia and Jennifer Andrews have been selected athletes of the month at Cal State Northridge.

Valdivia, a senior, led the Matador men’s soccer team to a 6-3 record and berth in this weekend’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs at UCLA, the Matadors’ first postseason appearance since moving to Division I in 1990. Valdivia had 29 points (eight goals and 13 assists).

Andrews, a junior, ran in four of Northridge’s six regular-season cross-country meets in 1993 and lowered her time in each outing. She will represent Northridge at the NCAA Region VIII meet Nov. 13 at Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland, Wash.

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The Foothill Athletic Club is sponsoring a canned food drive through Nov. 20 to benefit LIFE (Love Is Feeding Everyone). Cans may be dropped off at the club’s headquarters at 3931 Lowell Ave. in La Crescenta, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Information: 818-957-0204.

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The City of Palmdale Parks and Recreation Dept. is sponsoring a 5K/10K run and 2K fitness walk Saturday at Desert Sands Park. Competition is scheduled to begin 8:30 a.m. Registration is $15 and includes a T-shirt.

Information: 805-948-5048.