Andrew Park

Andrew Park, a premed student at USC, seems too smart for the ruthless world of the men's satellite tennis circuit, where phenoms, ex-college stars and former top-50 players bounce from town to town scrounging for ATP computer points and a decent meal. This week, the town is Laguna Hills and the tournament is the $50,000 ATP Challenger at Nellie Gail Ranch Tennis & Swim Club. Park, who carried 18 units and a 3.

Andrew Park, a premed student at USC, seems too smart for the ruthless world of the men's satellite tennis circuit, where phenoms, ex-college stars and former top-50 players bounce from town to town scrounging for ATP computer points and a decent meal. This week, the town is Laguna Hills and the tournament is the $50,000 ATP Challenger at Nellie Gail Ranch Tennis & Swim Club. Park, who carried 18 units and a 3.

Lately, Andrew Parks has been looking at the world from a different point of view--a quadriplegic's. "I notice bathrooms, the width of doors. I notice ramps, when curbs don't have cuts," said the able-bodied actor who plays the wheelchair-bound Larry in Ron Whyte's "Disability: A Comedy" at the Odyssey Theatre. "The most interesting thing to work on with this part was to just sit and think what it would be like to be in that situation: to be that isolated--physically, mentally and emotionally--from the rest of the world," Parks said of his character, who's been confined to a small apartment and his parents' care for almost all of his 27 years, and who is alternately clever, charming, vicious and desperate for escape.

Lately, Andrew Parks has been looking at the world from a different point of view--a quadriplegic's. "I notice bathrooms, the width of doors. I notice ramps, when curbs don't have cuts," said the able-bodied actor who plays the wheelchair-bound Larry in Ron Whyte's "Disability: A Comedy" at the Odyssey Theatre. "The most interesting thing to work on with this part was to just sit and think what it would be like to be in that situation: to be that isolated--physically, mentally and emotionally--from the rest of the world," Parks said of his character, who's been confined to a small apartment and his parents' care for almost all of his 27 years, and who is alternately clever, charming, vicious and desperate for escape.

San Marino's Andrew Park is a favorite to win the Southern Section singles tennis title next month. The sophomore, ranked No. 2 in the nation in the 16-and-under age group, is undefeated this season despite playing on a tender ankle. With a course load full of honors classes, Park maintains a busy tournament schedule.

Pepperdine senior Al Garland, ranked fourth in Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. preseason rankings after a semifinal showing at last season's NCAA championships, is the top-seeded player in the Omni Hotels ITA Southern California Men's Tennis Championships today through Sunday at Pepperdine. UCLA's Jean-Julien Rojer is seeded second in a 64-player singles draw, with defending tournament champion Andrew Park of USC seeded third.

Three former finalists have made it to the City Section quarterfinals. As expected, Robert Williams, the 1994 champion and one of two Dorsey players to make the quarterfinals, defeated Sergei Kordonsky of Palisades in straight sets. The other Dorsey player to advance was freshman LaGeorge Mauldin, the only unseeded player to reach the quarterfinals. He defeated Golan Sassoon of Woodland Hills Taft. Top-seeded Noah Newman from Marshall defeated Venice's Arman Dayutyan to advance. . . .

Andrew Park, a member of the Garden Grove Community Foundation board of directors, has submitted his letter of resignation. Park said he has to leave the board for personal reasons. The Community Foundation raises money for the Renaissance Garden Grove festival. Park was the owner of Garden Grove-based Techmedia Computer Systems, which, in the wake of a court order to pay nearly $100 million to creditors, closed its doors last week.

Taylor Dent of Newport Beach and USC's Andrew Park lost their first-round tennis matches Monday at the ATP Tour Challenger event at Nellie Gail Ranch in Laguna Hills. Dinu Pescariu of Romania defeated Dent, 6-4, 7-6. Alex Clatrava of Spain defeated Park, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Fernando Meligeni of Brazil, the only seeded player in action Monday, beat Heman Gumy of Argentina, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Today's singles matches begin at 10 a.m.

Servite's Ryan Moore, the 1997 Times Orange County boys' tennis player of the year, has given an oral commitment to attend USC next fall. Moore, who won the Southern Section boys' individual singles tournament this year, also considered UCLA, California, Washington and UC Irvine. "I didn't even take any trips," Moore said Monday. "I knew what I wanted. I liked the outlook of the team and the coach [Laguna Beach resident Dick Leach]. I spent some time with Coach Leach over the summer.

Furon Corp. has bought an industrial building in Garden Grove for $13.7 million, the largest amount ever paid for a manufacturing site in that city, a brokerage firm said Tuesday. Furon, a Laguna Niguel maker of high-performance plastics, bought the 182,000-square-foot building on 13 acres from the bankruptcy estate of Techmedia Computer Group and its owner, Andrew Park.

Taylor Dent, a 17-year-old from Newport Beach, was one of four players given wild-card berths into the main draw of the $50,000 ATP Challenger Feb. 20-28 at Nellie Gail Ranch Tennis & Swim Club in Laguna Hills. Dent, who turned professional before last year's U.S. Open, has an ATP ranking of 413. In 1996, Dent won the Southern Section individual singles title as a freshman at Corona del Mar. USC freshman Andrew Park, from San Marino, was also given a wild-card berth.