Polk Chooses Arizona Over USC and Illinois

Taft High School defensive star Dashon Polk said Wednesday he has made a verbal commitment to play football for the University of Arizona.

Polk, the Northwest Valley Conference Player of the Year, said that Arizona “felt right” for him. He said that Arizona plans to use him at strong safety.

“Arizona is the best choice for me,” Polk said. “I like the style of their defense and feel that I can fit in there.”

Polk canceled his recruiting trip to Hawaii. USC and Illinois were other schools that Polk considered.

Basketball

Ember Brown has established the Ventura High girls’ basketball record for career scoring. Her 22 points against Hueneme Tuesday night give her 1,288, surpassing the mark of 1,275 set by Cori Herman from 1988-91.

Brown, a senior, has signed a letter of intent to play next season for Long Beach State.

Baseball

The Master’s College has postponed its opening game Friday against Menlo because rain has made the Mustangs’ field unplayable.

Master’s Coach Jack Mutz said he did not know if the game would be rescheduled.

Mutz said the Mustangs’ game against Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday will be moved to Pomona or postponed.

Boxing

The U.S. team for the Pan American Games, which includes Fernando Vargas of Oxnard and Lance Whitaker of Northridge, will face the Russian national team in a tuneup Feb. 3-5 in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Pan Am Games are in March in Argentina.

Contributing: Dave Desmond, Jeff Fletcher and Bryan Rodgers.