Amy Weissenbach, the state 800-meter track champion and record-setter from Studio City Harvard-Westlake, returned from France on Monday after placing fourth at the World Youth Games. She had little time to rest because she was honored Tuesday night in Hollywood as part of the Gatorade Awards program.

She was a candidate for female athlete of the year after winning the Gatorade national track athlete of the year award. Soccer player Morgan Brian from Frederica Academy in St. Simons, Ga., received the national award. The boys' winner was pitcher Dylan Bundy from Owasso, Okla.

Weissenbach experienced a year to remember and reflected on her accomplishments in an interview afterward.

Talking about racing in France, she said, "It was a little overwhelming but incredibly exciting."

The good news for track fans in California is that Weissenbach will return for her senior year this fall. Her big decision will be selecting a college.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Left-hander P.J. Conlin of Placentia El Dorado has committed to the University of San Diego. The senior-to-be was 4-3 last season with a 1.98 ERA.

-- Eric Sondheimer

First-year Coach Sheron Butler of Inglewood Morningside is grateful for the $30,000 worth of equipment and other services donated by the Joseph V. Caselle Foundation of Inner City Youth.

The equipment includes 60 new helmets, new uniforms, 200 footballs, a ball machine, plus the team will get to take a field trip to Raging Waters at the end of the month.

"Joe has truly been a blessing to Morningside High School," Butler said.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Get ready for a transfer controversy in the South Bay.

Kevin McMahon, a 6-foot-4 quarterback who helped South Torrance go 12-2 last season and reach the Northwest Division championship game, has transferred to Carson for his senior year. He passed for 1,321 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Last week, McMahon (pictured above) was playing for South Torrance in a passing competition. On Monday, he was playing for Carson in a passing competition at Gardena Serra.

Carson Coach Elijah Asante said McMahon moved into the school's attendance boundaries. That will be the key to see whether he's eligible, because South Torrance isn't going to be happy with his abrupt departure.

Carson needs a quarterback to get the ball to All-City receiver Darreus Rogers. McMahon threw a touchdown pass on his third attempt Monday.

This will be an interesting summer decision to be made by the City Section.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Prime Ticket is beginning to decide which high school football games to televise this coming season in the Southern Section, and the zero week games will feature Mission Viejo and Oaks Christian.

Mission Viejo's opener against Bakersfield Centennial on Sept. 2 and Oaks Christian's opener against Bellevue at Mission Viejo on Sept. 3 will be broadcast by Prime Ticket.

-- Eric Sondheimer

The New York city public school system is negotiating with the MSG Varsity Network, owned by Cablevision, for a possible two-year, $500,000 contract to televise high school sporting events.

Since the CIF is trying to put together a television contract for high schools in California, what's happening in New York could be used in comparison.

Of course, no one with the CIF is talking about its negotiations that have been going on for weeks.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Priscilla Rodriguez from Silverado and Anna Tatsuno and Shuhei Shibahara from Peninsula have been each awarded $6,000 scholarships for college from USTA Serves, a charitable foundation of the United States Tennis Assn.

Ahdiv Nathan from Tesoro was awarded $1,000 to help with purchasing textbooks.

-- Eric Sondheimer

UCLA has pulled the trigger and offered a scholarship to sophomore-to-be Parker Cartwright, a 5-foot-9 point guard at Los Angeles Loyola, his father, Ramon, confirmed on Monday.

"We're very happy," his father said. "This is just the beginning of the hard work."

Cartwright was a standout as a freshman at Loyola. He's in South Carolina playing in a tournament. He's expected to pick up other scholarship offers, but UCLA is considered the favorite to land Cartwright.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Photo: Parker Cartwright dribbles between Harvard-Westlake's Josh Hearlihy, left, and Michael Sheng in February. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Senior first baseman Peter Hofman of St. Francis had a game to remember last Friday in the VIBL. He hit three home runs, including two grand slams, and finished with nine RBIs in a 15-7 victory over host Alemany.

"I was picking the ball up reall well," he said. "It was just one of those days."

Hofman hit two home runs last season, but he has dropped football and is focusing only on baseball this summer, which has helped his swing.

"He's been absolutely crushing the ball," Coach Brian Esquival said.

Hofman hit a solo home run, then hit consecutive grand slams.

"Everybody was going crazy," Hofman said.

Hofman flied out in his final at-bat. That caused teammates to tease him.

"Why can't you hit four home runs? You [stink]," one joked.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Simi Valley has produced its share of top catchers in recent years, from Bryan Anderson to Drew Sandler to Denny Vigo, and now the Pioneers have another good one in junior Dylan Alexander.

Alexander's development has helped the Pioneers to an 11-4 record in the VIBL, which is surprising because Simi Valley uses the summer to play a lot of players and doesn't normally have such a good record.

But it's also a sign Simi Valley is going to be a Division 1 title contender in the spring with the likes of shortstop Cody Ramer and pitchers Reece Schmidt and Nick Vigo.

Simi Valley is scheduled to bring together its top players for the 32-team VIBL playoffs that begin next week.

-- Eric Sondheimer