NOTEBOOK / ROB FERNAS : Head of the Class: West Torrance’s Yates Is Best in His Fields

Three-sport standout Jimmy Yates of West Torrance High has been named the top junior class athlete in the state by Cal-Hi Sports newsletter.

Yates earned All-Southern Section honors in football, soccer and baseball.

In addition, Cal-Hi Sports named Yates to its all-state underclass baseball team. West Torrance junior Kirk Bolling, a third baseman-pitcher who was The Times’ South Bay Player of the Year, was also selected to the underclass team.

Senior McKay Christensen, a football and baseball standout at Clovis West in Fresno, was named state athlete of the year and baseball player of the year. Bell Gardens’ Michael Granville, the state 800-meter track champion, and Mater Dei basketball player Schea Cotton were selected the state’s top sophomore and freshman athletes, respectively.

Notes

The Peninsula High girls’ basketball team beat 1993-94 national champion Brea-Olinda, 39-24, Sunday in the championship game of the Brea-Olinda summer tournament. Peninsula guard Allison Fortner, who will be a senior in the fall, was named tournament most valuable player, and junior guard Eden Palacio and junior forward Erin Ratner were named all-tournament. The Panthers return all but two players from last season’s team that reached the Southern Section Division I-AA final and finished 25-5. Brea-Olinda, which suffered heavier graduation losses, was unbeaten and won the State Division III title last season before being named national champion by USA Today. Peninsula also competed in the L.A. Watts Summer Games last weekend, but the second-seeded Panthers sent their junior varsity team and lost in the second round. . . .

Redondo topped all schools with four selections on the Southern Section Division II baseball team. Pitcher Scott Albin, third baseman-pitcher Steve Rawson and shortstop Morgan Ensberg were named to the first team, and second baseman Domonek Prince was a second-team choice. Redondo (24-5), the top-seeded team in the playoffs, lost to Gahr, 8-0, in the quarterfinals. Infielder Adam Kennedy of division champion J.W. North of Riverside was named Division II Player of the Year. In Division I, Peninsula pitcher Brian Bowles was named to the second team. . . .

It will be a meeting of old friends when Carson High plays Los Alamitos in a football game Sept. 22 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. Los Alamitos’ coaching staff includes walk-on assistant Gene Vollnogle, the former Carson coach who retired after the 1990 season. Vollnogle is the winningest coach in state history with a 38-year record of 289-73-1 and 10 City Section titles won at Carson and Banning. Carson, which also plays nonleague games against Bishop Amat and San Diego Morse, returns several key players from last season’s City Section 4-A Division championship team. They include wingback Joseph Redmond and quarterback Ramon Rogers. . . .

Hagan Kelley, a freshman at South Torrance High, recently won the National Scholastic Surfing Assn. Explorer Division boys overall title, winning five of 10 tour events. Kelley will compete in the NSSA national championships Monday through Thursday at Trestles in San Clemente. Kelley’s cousin, John Hagins, also a freshman at South Torrance, recently won his first amateur bodyboarding contest at an Amateur Athletic Union event at the Huntington Beach Pier. . . .

Registration is under way for the 29th annual Manhattan Open Tennis Tournament on the weekends of July 23-24 and July 30-31 in Manhattan Beach. The tournament, for players ages 16 and over, includes men’s and women’s singles and doubles. Matches will be conducted in A, B, C and open divisions. The fee is $20 for singles and $30 for doubles. Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and may be submitted in person or mailed to the Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department located in City Hall at 1400 Highland Ave. Information: (310) 545-5621, Ext. 321. . . .

Here is a listing of sports camps being offered this summer on the Palos Verdes Peninsula:

Baseball: July 25-29 at Palos Verdes Intermediate. The camp is for boys and girls ages 6-14. Basketball: Aug. 1-5 (boys only) and Aug. 8-12 (boys and girls) at Palos Verdes Intermediate. The camp is for players ages 6-15. Soccer: Aug. 1-5 and Aug. 8-12 at Palos Verdes Intermediate. The camp is for boys and girls ages 6-14. All three camps carry a $150 fee and will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information: Tom Maier at (310) 547-0667.

Basketball: Monday through Thursday and Aug. 1-4 at Soleado Elementary. Soccer: July 11-14, July 18-21 and Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at Fred Hesse Park. T-ball/Baseball: Aug. 8-11 at Fred Hesse Park. Outdoor adventures: July 5-8, July 26-28 and Aug. 22-25. All four camps are for boys and girls ages 5-10 and will be conducted from 1 to 4 p.m. The fee is $60 a week. Information: Barry Sacks at (310) 514-2030.