Sports Briefs

Story Created: Aug 18, 2010 at 11:58 AM PST

Story Updated: Aug 18, 2010 at 12:58 PM PST

Tools

BASKETBALL
Gretchen Tiernan, who began her college career at the University of Pacific, has joined the Cal State L.A.  women’s basketball program.

Tiernan earned All-Big West Conference honorable mention in 2009 after averaging 8.4 points and a  conference-best 59 3-point shots for UOP.

“Gretchen will give us instant firepower,” Golden Eagles coach Janell Jones said. “Her leadership, game savvy and competitive spirit will greatly enhance our team. Gretchen is a versatile, combo guard who can play either the point or shooting guard position.”

Tiernan hit a season-best seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points against Cal State Northridge and scored 20 points against Saint Mary’s over a two-day span.

She came to UOP from American River College, where she averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and was second-team all-state in her one season with the program.

WATER POLO
Whittier College’s Xenia Castillo, an El Rancho High School grad, earned second-team honors on the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-American team.
 

Castillo, honorable mention the year before, broke her own single-season record for drawn ejections with 99. As a sophomore, she had 98.

The senior attacker also scored 38 goals and had 41 assists this past season. Her 64 steals were second on the team.

Teammates Katrina Thoreson and Anahisa Aguirre (El Rancho) were honorable mention. This is the second honorable mention selection for Aguirre, a junior goalie. Thoreson is a junior utility.

SOCCER
Cal State Dominguez Hills is No. 4 in the women’s and No. 6 in the men’s in the NCAA National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason national rankings.

The Toro women reached the NCAA Division II title game and the men made their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago.

Cal State Dominguez Hills returns all 11 starters for the women’s team, including All-Americans Jessica Murphy and Paige Reed.

The Toros men and women open the season against Concordia Sept. 2 at The Home Depot Center.
The Cal State L.A. women are 14th.

TRACK
Three members of the Occidental College track and field team received Division III All-Academic honors.

Eagles honored were senior Karuna Batcha, junior Kelly Young and sophomore Claire Larson. Batcha and Larson met provisional qualifying standards in the 100 hurdles and 800. Young was third nationally in the javelin and also threw the discus at the national championships.

A 3.30 or higher grade point average and a Division III automatic or provisional qualifying mark are required for eligibility.

SOCCER
Loyola Marymount senior forward Rafael Baca, a graduate of Inglewood’s Animo Leadership Charter High School, has been named to the College Soccer News preseason All-American third team.

A two-time first-team All-West Coast Conference pick, Baca enters the year as one of the top offensive players in the nation. In 2009, he led the Lions with nine goals and 23 points and was the first LMU player ever to be considered for the Herman Award, which goes to the top college player in the country.

He is sixth all-time at LMU with 16 goals and 43 points.

The Lawndale native has been an NSCAA All-West Region selection the past two seasons.

He led Animo to a CIF championship his senior season.
 

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

Los Angeles Wave and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

On Demand

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.