Westlake Poised to Defend Title

Westlake High, defending Division III tennis champion, has been seeded No. 2 behind Beverly Hills in the Southern Section playoffs that begin next week.

The Warriors (15-0, 12-0 in Marmonte League play) face La Serna in a first-round match Tuesday at North Ranch Tennis Club in Westlake Village. Westlake has won 36 consecutive matches.

Also in Division III, Agoura plays at South Torrance and Foothill League champion Burbank hosts San Marcos.

Other matchups include Highland at Oxnard and Hoover at Diamond Bar in Division I; Valencia at Thousand Oaks, Rio Mesa at Warren, Palmdale at Keppel, Righetti at Camarillo, Simi Valley at Quartz Hill and Hart at Santa Fe in Division II. Frontier League champion Calabasas hosts Rosemead and La Canada is at Atascadero in Division IV.

Harvard-Westlake, last season’s Division I runner-up, moved to Division V this year because of enrollment-based releaguing. The Wolverines host La Salle at Studio City Golf and Tennis.

Other Division V matches are Nordhoff at St. Bonaventure, Villanova Prep at Santa Ynez, Malibu at Thacher, Crespi at Cerritos Valley Christian and Buckley at Oak Park.

Track and Field

Tom Kubler of Viewpoint School, the 1999 state Division V cross-country champion and runner-up last year, has accepted an appointment to the Air Force Academy.

Kubler, a two-time Southern Section Division V cross-country champion, clocked career bests of 4:23.45 in the 1,600 meters and 9:16.98 in the 3,200 last year.

Swimming

Royal and Ventura highs will compete in the Southern Section Division I preliminaries today at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Justin McClure and Christine Creek will lead Royal, while Grace Peterson and Paul Carter will compete for Ventura.

Division IV preliminaries also take place today with the finals scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday. The Division I finals are 4 p.m. Friday.

The Division IV competition includes swimmers from the Frontier, Golden and Tri-Valley leagues.