A team from Sweetwater High has won a division of the National Junior ROTC Youth Physical Fitness Championships.

The squad competed in five events designed to test physical and mental strength – sit-ups, push-ups, standing broad jump, pull-ups and a 300-yard shuttle run.

Members of the team are Danielle Acosta, Jose Jurado, Eriz Gonzalez, Allen Cota, Daniel Orozco and Michael Reyes.

“With so many negative things being written about the youth of America, (the championship) is a great example of the positive,” Robert E. Jackson, a senior Marine instructor for Sweetwater, wrote in an e-mail.

The event, which was held at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, was sponsored by the Marine Corps League.

Arizona highways

Oceanside High is trying to schedule a football game against Phoenix Brophy Prep. The Southern California and Arizona powerhouses would play Aug. 23 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Several factors remain to be worked out, Oceanside coach John Carroll said. Chief among them is obtaining permission from the San Diego Section and whether the contest would count as an 11th regular-season game or serve as Oceanside's preseason scrimmage.

“Arizona is counting it as a game, but I'm not sure what our (section) will say,” Carroll said.

The game is expected to be televised in San Diego and Phoenix.

Carroll said he was approached by Brophy Prep and the Arizona Interscholastic Association, the state's governing body for high school sports.

University of Phoenix Stadium is home to the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.

“It would be really exciting,” said Carroll, whose team is no stranger to big stadiums.

The Pirates have won four straight section Division II titles at Qualcomm Stadium and last year won a State Football Championship Bowl game at The Home Depot Center in Carson.

National kicks

Players on the Cathedral Catholic High girls soccer squad believed they were one of the top 10 teams in the country, and now they have something to back it up.

Coach Dawn Lee received a plaque from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, commemorating the Dons as the No. 4 team in the country. Cathedral capped a section championship in March by winning a Southern California Regional title.

Baseball rankings

Poway High is ranked No. 2 in the state overall and No. 1 in Division I, according to the final Top 50 compiled by CalHiSports.com.

The Titans (31-6), who overcame a first-round loss, won five straight playoff games to claim the section Division I championship.

Grossmont (29-7), which captured a section-record fourth-straight Division II title, is ranked 15th overall. The Foothillers are No. 4 in Division II.

Other section teams cracking the Top 50 are No. 32 Cathedral Catholic (27-8), No. 45 Oceanside (25-8) and No. 48 Montgomery (24-8).

In the state Division III rankings, Cathedral is No. 4 and El Capitan (23-10-1) is No. 15. Coronado (26-8) is No. 4 in the state Division IV rankings.

Sherman Oaks' Notre Dame (27-4) is ranked No. 1 overall in the state.

New coaches

Jim Earley is the new baseball coach at Grossmont High, where Rob Phillips has stepped down. Earley has been a longtime assistant with the program.

George Gentry, who was an assistant at Christian High this spring, has been named head softball coach. He succeeds Roma Dawson, who guided the Patriots girls the previous 22 seasons.

The next step

Castle Park's Arturo Gomez and Eastlake's Brandon Ballow will continue their athletic careers at Notre Dame de Namur, an NCAA Division II school in Belmont, south of San Francisco.

Gomez will play soccer for the Argonauts. The midfielder, who maintains a 3.23 GPA and was named All-South Bay League, joins two other local athletes on the team.

Ballow, a midfielder in lacrosse, was Eastlake's MVP with 20 goals and 29 assists.

Other local high school athletes continuing their careers in college:

BASEBALL: El Capitan's Marco Mariscal and Ramona's Cole Susler, Dartmouth; Mission Bay's Brian Sagun, Westview's Kyle Collins, La Jolla's Wyatt Hoff, Poway's Brent Clinkscales, Serra's Korey Spearin and Mission Bay's Robbie Santos, NAIA Cal State San Marcos.

BASKETBALL: Grossmont's Tina Rios, Division III Redlands.

SOFTBALL: Granite Hills' Jessie Schatz, Division II Hawaii-Hilo.

FOOTBALL: Carlsbad's Joey Searson and Stephen Simpson, NAIA Southern Oregon; El Capitan's Ben Wilkins and West Hills' Dominic LaRussa, Division II Minnesota-Crookston.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Poway's Emily Capozzoli, Division III Redlands.

---