Santa Margarita High’s Appeal of League Placement Is Denied

Santa Margarita High School’s appeal to prevent the placement of its athletic teams in a revised Angelus League for a two-year term beginning in the fall of 1990 has been rejected by the Southern Section’s releaguing committee.

Last month the Catholic Athletic Assn. placed Santa Margarita, a parochial school in Rancho Santa Margarita, in an eight-team league that includes Bishop Amat, Loyola, Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, St. Joseph, Rosary and Servite.

Santa Margarita’s request to be placed in a five-team league with St. Bernard, St. Paul, St. Anthony and Pius X was rejected. Loyola’s appeal concerning its placement in the Angelus League also was rejected.

The committee, chaired by Pomona principal Mike Phillips, listened to a five-minute appeal by Father Michael Harris, Santa Margarita’s principal, expressing concern for the safety of the school’s football players in a league that includes perennial powers Servite, Bishop Amat, Loyola and Mater Dei.

Santa Margarita currently competes in the Olympic League and qualified for the Division IX football playoffs this fall. Teams in the Angelus League compete in the Division I playoffs.

“While we experienced some success at the Division IX level of competition, we feel that the quantum leap to Division I would be seriously injurious to the development of our athletic programs and perhaps to our students involved in contact sports,” Harris said.

Alan Johnson, Duarte’s principal and a member of the committee, said, “The CAA went through an extensive process in grouping the Catholic schools, and we felt they had done enough. It didn’t appear that changing the CAA proposal was going to help more people (schools) than it would hurt.”