U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : Holtz Makes West Pay Price for Penalties

MINNEAPOLIS —  Eric Holtz of Simi Valley said it was mere coincidence that, on his birthday, he scored three times to account for the South’s only goals.

Right.

The South got four opportunities to score on penalty shots in the last minutes of its 3-2 victory over the West on Friday in U. S. Olympic Festival field hockey action at Augsburg College’s Nelson Anderson Field.

Guess who attempted them all?

What a coincidence!

The last one, from 10 yards, came with 10 seconds left in the game and eluded West goalie Robbie Ryan.

With that, the celebration was on. Holtz first was mobbed by teammates, then presented with a birthday cake.

There was plenty to celebrate.

The South, composed of 15 members of the U. S. national team--including nine from the Valley area--finished round-robin play with a 5-1 record. It will face the East (4-1-1) in the gold-medal game Sunday.

The West, which is 1-3-2 and will play for a bronze medal, scored its only two goals in the game’s first 13 minutes.

Sammy Hoang of Westlake Village scored 11 minutes into the game and, two minutes later, younger brother Binh duplicated the feat.

Each of Holtz’s goals came off a penalty corner, which is essentially a free shot on goal from any place more than 10 yards away.

TABLE TENNIS

The team of Lan Vuong of Reseda and Scott Butler of Iowa City, Iowa, lost in the gold-medal match of the mixed doubles competition, falling to Sean O’Neill of McLean, Va., and Li Ai of Colorado Springs, Colo., 9-21, 21-18, 21-18. But Vuong and Butler captured the silver medal for their efforts.

Jim Butler of Iowa City and Carol Davidson of North Hollywood fell in the quarterfinals, losing to Brandon Olson of Hopkins, Minn., and Takako Trenholme of Minneapolis, 21-17, 21-14.

VOLLEYBALL

Gold is the goal for Coley Kyman and Ken Lynch, North team members from Cal State Northridge.

The North routed the East, 15-5, 15-11, 15-10 at Williams Arena on Friday to clinch a spot in Sunday’s gold-medal game.

Kyman, from Reseda, and Lynch, from Malibu, had nine and three kills, respectively.

Stanford’s Duncan Blackman led the North with 16 kills and a .461 hitting percentage, same as Kyman’s.

The South, led by John Ross of Canoga Park, also advanced to the championship match with a 9-15, 15-4, 11-15, 15-7, 15-12 win over the West. Ross has 16 kills, eight digs, eight block assists and a .500 attacking percentage.

Gary Reznick of Cal State Northridge had 62 assists and a match-high 12 digs for the West.

TRACK

Percy Knox is best known as a long jumper, but he earned a silver medal as a sprinter in the 4 X 100-meter relay.

Knox, from Lancaster, teamed with Mark Olivier of Mesa, Ariz., Bryan Bridgewater of Los Angeles and Jeff Williams of Montrose to place second with a time of 38.83.

The South team of Henry Neal (Dallas), Lee McNeill (Lumberton, N.C.), Antonio Smith (Wichita, Kan.) and Kenny Brokenburr (Winterhaven, Fla.) won the race in 38.79.

In women’s competition, Victoria Herazo of Newhall was fourth in the 10-kilometer walk with a time of 49 minutes, 26.95 seconds. Debbie Lawrence of Kenosha, Wis., broke her national record in winning the race in 46:10.26.

TEAM HANDBALL

The West team broke into the win column, 20-16, over the South as Denny Fercho of Camarillo scored twice.