Hicks started the year as a top outfield prospect, but his 97-mph fastball is likely to make him a first-round draft pick as a pitcher. His next start is Thursday's playoff opener against Huntington Beach Edison at Blair Field.
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Eighth-grader is in for big pressure
VARSITY TIMES
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When it comes to towering over people, 6-2 Camilla Dencer from tiny West Hills West Valley Christian is certainly an intimidating force on the track.
She ran the second-fastest 800-meter time in the nation -- 2:09.62 -- at last month's Mount San Antonio College Invitational and ranks as the favorite to win the Division IV title at the Southern Section-Toyota track and field championships Saturday at Mt. SAC.
Dencer is also an outstanding high jumper, having finished second at the 2006 state championships when she competed for Woodland Hills Louisville.
One of only two girls on the West Valley Christian track team, she signed with UCLA in February. At the Harbor League finals, she won the 200, 400, 800 and high jump.
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Desperate times require desperate measures, and that's what happens when your pool is broken in the middle of the high school swim season.
Venice went three weeks without use of its pool last month. For two days, the experienced swimmers practiced in the ocean off Venice Beach trying to stay in shape. Most wore wetsuits, but two who didn't had to be escorted out of the water. A third swimmer cramped up. It led to a reprimand for Coach Sophie Sabbah.
Earlier, the pool went six weeks without a heater. Swimmers and water polo players had to take warm showers to deal with the cold water.
It's been a year of adversity, but Venice swimmers will get to compete in the City Section preliminaries at 2:30 p.m. today at the John C. Argue Swim Stadium, adjacent to the Coliseum.
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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
