O’Connor swings to summer victories

Burbank High golfer has success in amateur tournaments: Next week,

Con O’Connor will begin his senior year at Burbank High.

The golfer will be hoping to build upon a successful summer for

his final year with the Bulldogs.

O’Connor is fresh off some fine finishes in Southern California

Professional Golfers’ Assn.-sponsored events. In fact, he won two

tournaments last week.

He shot a 67 on Aug. 15 in a tournament in La Mirada to tie for

the championship in his age group.

O’Connor followed with a win Aug. 18 at the Cimarron Junior Golf

Championship in Cathedral City, where he turned in his best result of

the summer, a seven-under-par 64.

Monday and Tuesday he took part in the Metropolitan Junior Tour

Tournament of Champions at the Legends Course in Beaumont. He shot

rounds of 68 and 73 for a two-day total of 141, three-under-par for

the tournament. He finished tied for fifth.

O’Connor has been practicing on his home turf, De Bell Municipal

Golf Course, this week to get ready for his final tourney of the

summer.

He will play in the Foundation Desert Junior Tour Tournament of

Champions at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage on

Monday and Tuesday. He will tee off at 9:10 a.m.

Burroughs High to induct individuals into its Athletic Hall of

Fame: More than just a nonleague football game will take place Oct. 7

when Burroughs High hosts Crescenta Valley at Memorial Field.

At halftime of the contest, the school will induct three new

members into its Athletic Hall of Fame.

Former successful coaches Bob Dunivant and George Rosales will be

enshrined, along with an Indian player yet to be announced.

“We want to make this a regular thing,” Burroughs Athletic

Director Marty Garrison said. “We plan to induct new players and

coaches on a regular basis and invite them back for games.

“We are hoping to make the event at the [Crescenta Valley] game a

big thing. Hopefully, we can get a lot of people out for that.

“We are also hoping to let the fans choose an All-Burroughs

football team. Maybe we’ll have a page in our programs that people

can vote on the best Burroughs players of all time.”

The new inductees will join an impressive group of individuals who

have been honored with Athletic Hall of Fame awards. Past inductees

include:

Don Hoster (football; 1950); Bob Lethridge (boys’ basketball;

1951); Ron Morris (boys’ track and field; 1953); Tom Shollin (boys’

basketball; 1955); Jerry Persinger (football; 1956); Bill Bloom

(boys’ basketball; 1956); Jim Livesay (boys’ basketball; 1957); Tom

Holley (football; 1960); Pete Lubisch (football; 1960); Linda Murphy

(girls’ volleyball; 1960); Walter Ogden (boys’ swimming; 1961); Pete

Hillman (boys’ basketball; 1961); Ron Shackelford (boys’ basketball;

1961); Ralph Turner (boys’ track and field; 1962); Bob Stevnfels

(boys’ swimming; 1963); Bob Johnson (football; 1964); Jim Elliot

(football/boys’ track and field; 1964); Greg McKenzie (boys’ track

and field; 1964); Lynn Shackelford (boys’ basketball); Mike McDonald

(football; 1973); Ron Wollard (football; 1975); Todd Delutri

(football; 1980); Brett Mersola (football; 1983).

Hirsch having success in minor leagues: Accolades and good fortune

continue to find minor league pitcher Jason Hirsh.

The 2000 St. Francis High graduate and Burbank resident, who is

now playing for the double-A Corpus Christi Hooks in the Houston

Astros organization, was recently named 2005 Texas League Pitcher of

the Year as voted by league managers, broadcasters and sports

writers.

Hirsh was also named to the league’s postseason all-star team and

had previously played in the Texas League All-Star game. He was one

of just two Hooks named to the postseason team.

Hirsh has gone 8-2 with a sparkling 2.16 earned-run average in 12

second-half starts.

For the season, he’s 12-8, notching the second-highest win total

in the league. His 153 strikeouts lead the circuit, while his 3.11

ERA is third and his 159 1/3 innings pitched are second.

One final highlight for the 23-year-old was his game July 11

against Springfield when he struck out a club-record 11 batters.

Hirsh signed with the Astros in 2003 after having a successful

collegiate season at California Lutheran University. He posted a 9-1

record with a 3.68 earned-run average and 126 strikeouts in 100 1/3

innings, earning first-team All-West Region accolades by the American

Baseball Coaches Assn., in addition to first-team All-Southern

California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors.

Club basketball team looking for players: The Media City Tribe, a

girls’ 11-and-under basketball club team, is looking for players as

the program embarks on its fifth season.

Last year, the Tribe’s under-10 team finished seventh in

California.

The team practices two to three times a week in addition to

participating in high-profile tournaments and league play.

For more information, visit the team’s website at

www.eteamz.com/mediacitytribe, or Coach Bear Whitfield at (818)

653-2836 or bearwhitfieldmsn.com.Ice skater has championship touch:

Although she is just 11 years old, resident Roxette Howe is already a

veteran when it comes to winning awards.

Howe recently won the Juvenile Dramatic Championship at the 2005

National Showcase. In addition, she was also awarded third place

overall for the final event, which featured champions from a variety

of skating levels.

The national event was held Aug 11-13 at Ice Station Valencia and

was hosted by Tri-Valley Figure Skating Club.

Howe represents the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club out of

Burbank’s Pickwick Ice Arena.

She was invited to the event after having qualified in a United

States Figure Skating Assn. Showcase Artistic event within the past

twelve months. Qualified skaters from across the nation were invited

to participate in the competition.

Howe has been skating for almost seven years. When she was 4, she

went to New York City with her parents. She saw a skating show at the

Rockefeller Center and immediately knew what she wanted to do.

-- Jeff Tully and Grant Gordon contributed to this notebook