High school notebook: Carlsbad’s Morgan Herbst named state’s best; coaching changes abound

Morgan Herbst capped a sensational senior season at Carlsbad High School by being named the Gatorade California Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

The 5-foot-7 hurdler set a state record in the 300-meter hurdles, winning a state title in Clovis with a time of 39.64 seconds. That time is second all-time in girls prep history.

At the end of the high school season, Herbst ran the state’s fastest 400-meter hurdles time, clocking 55.78 at the USATF U20 Championships. She did all that while carrying a 3.92 GPA.

Morgan and her twin sister Makenna, who won the state title in the 800 meters, have signed to run at the University of Arkansas.

Coaching changes

Greg Lanthier, who led Mt. Carmel to a 25-10 record and a San Diego Section boys basketball championship in the 2021-22 season, is back at the school after a two-year absence. Lanthier spent the last two seasons at Rifle High School in rural Colorado, going 8-38. He replaces Tanner McEntee, who was 22-36 in two seasons at Mt. Carmel; he went 17-13 in the 2023-24 season winning a league title.

• Terry Tucker, who has a 364-237 record in 21 seasons as boys basketball coach at Christian, Crawford, San Ysidro and St. Joseph Academy, is the new coach at Foothills Christian. The Knights are 42-94 in five seasons since Brad Leaf stepped away as coach.

• Scott De Jong, who had a 54-38 record in three seasons as baseball coach at Carlsbad, has resigned to take a position as a volunteer assistant on the staff at Cal State San Marcos.

• After seven seasons and a 97-86-1 record, Neil Jamison has stepped down as baseball coach at Mission Hills. He will remain as the school’s flag football coach. Griffin Teisher, who played at La Costa Canyon and Cal State San Marcos, has been named the new baseball coach, moving up from the JV team.

Pro signing

Jake Bold, who played at La Jolla Country Day, has signed with the Padres organization as an undrafted free agent.

A catcher, Bold played all 43 games at Princeton this season, hitting .260 with eight homers, six doubles and 27 RBIs. He led the team with 39 walks, the second-highest total in school history.

Baseball

Cathedral Catholic outfielders Trey Kotsay and Hunter Harrington and shortstop Alex Harrington have been named to play in the Area Code Games that run from Aug. 6-11 at Blair Field in Long Beach, joining Unviersity City pitcher/outfielder AJ Curry.

Kotsay will play for the Athletics, the Harrington twins for the Brewers and Curry for the Yankees in the Area Code games. It’s a bit of a coincidence for Kotsay, whose father, Mark, manages Major League Baseball’s A’s.

• Outfielder/pitcher Tyson Bobo of Patrick Henry will play in the Area Code’s Breakthrough Series.

• Seven players from San Diego — Elliot Irvine (Westview), Caleb McNickle (Rancho Bernardo), Jayden Parker (University City), Isaac Reese (Mt. Carmel), Hezekiah Smith (Helix) and Jeremiah Stepner (Patrick Henry) — have been named to participate in this week’s Hank Aaron Invitational at Vero Beach, Fla. Sponsored by MLB, the MLBPA and USA Baseball, the four-day event features training sessions with former major league players and coaches with an exhibition game Wednesday at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala.

Surf champions

San Dieguito Academy placed four in the finals and defeated San Clemente to capture the National Scholastic Surf Association championship in its home break at Seaside Reef.

The Mustangs, who tied San Clemente for the title last year, put four of seven surfers in the finals.

The team included Dane Libby, Sutton Tudor, Jett Maughan, Oliver Rowe, Sawyer Southern, Victoria Duprat and Delilah Lewis. The Mustangs are coached by Marcos Martinez.

Fundraiser for Crawford

The Team Crawford Athletic Foundation, an alumni arm of Crawford High School, is holding a golf tournament fund-raising event on Aug. 25 at the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo.

The aim is to fund projects such as a new scoreboard in the gym, glass backboards, shoes for the athletes, coaching stipends, practice shirts, transportation, equipment and clothing. More information is available at teamcrawfordathleticfoundation.com. Information on sponsorships can be obtained by contacting Susan Marshall at smarshallgordon@gmail.com

Field renovations

Mission Hills and La Costa Canyon are replacing the turf inside their football stadiums. In addition, both schools are doing extensive renovations to their grass fields while Mission Hills is adding sand volleyball courts and resurfacing the tennis courts.

Because of the renovations, La Costa Canyon will start football practice at Palomar College.

By the numbers

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) estimates there are 19,500 high schools in 51 states playing sports. The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association leads the way with 22 sports, followed by California and Vermont with 22. Hawaii, Illinois, Connecticut and Massachusetts all offer 21 sports.

• In the recent NFL Draft, 222 of the 253 athletes chosen (88%) played more than one sport in high school, including No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward.

• All four athletes inducted into the NFHS Hall of Fame this summer played multiple sports in high school. Ana Marie Lopez played volleyball, basketball and ran track at St. Mary’s Acadmey in Portland, Ore. Former Charger Tim Dwight played football and ran track at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa. Prince Amukamara played football, basketball and ran track at Apollo High School in Glendale, Ariz., and Caryn Schoff-Kovatch played basketball, soccer and softball at St. Johnsville Central High School in St. Johnsville, N.Y.

•  About 1% of the 537,000 boys and 1.4% of the 373,000 girls who participate in high school basketball will play at the NCAA Division 1 level.

• Of the more than 1 million boys who play high school football, only 3% will play at the college level.

•  Surveys have shown that more than 90% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies played high school sports. A survey of 821 high-level women executives showed that 90% played a sport in high school.