Ladah tries to lose 2 seconds

Spencer Patterson

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 10:29 a.m.

To the average person, two seconds goes by in a flash. For Bishop Gorman graduate Ramzy Ladah, it separates him from his ultimate goal.

Ladah, one of two area swimmers competing in the upcoming Junior Nationals (Long Course) Swim Meet in San Jose, Calif., needs to shave two seconds off his best time in the 200 meter breastroke to qualify for the following week's prestigious Senior Nationals.

"My goal is to qualify for seniors, and my time is very close," said Ladah, who will head to the University of the Pacific in the fall on a swimming scholarship.

In addition to the 200 breast, the 18-year-old Ladah will swim the 100 breast and the 200 and 400 individual medleys in the meet, which runs from Saturday until Wednesday. He also qualified in the 50 meter freestyle, but competitors are limited to four events.

Last year, Ladah finished 14th in the 100 and 200 breast, 22nd in the 400 IM and 25th in the 400 IM.

"He has a good possibility of being in the top eight in all of them," said Ron Aitken, coach of Ladah's Clark County Sandpiper Swim Club. "He's going to peak at the right time."

Joining Ladah at the highly competitive meet will be Chaparral senior-to-be Jodi Hashagen. The 17-year-old will swim the 400 meter freestyle for the second straight year.

"She's still trying to gain experience from being there," Aitken said. "She's trying to do a little better than last year."

UNLV graduate Jarvis Marlow will represent Southern Nevada at the Senior Nationals, set Aug. 11-15 in Clovis, Calif. Portions of that event will be televised on NBC.

Heating up

The Las Vegas Heat dominated early action at the Grand Finale Basketball Tournament this week, earning victories in its first three games.

The squad, comprised of most of the area's top players, opened with a 32-27 win over Galveston (Texas) in a shortened, 20-minute contest Monday. The Heat initially was scheduled to play a team from California, but the Stockton club was a no-show.

Tuesday, coach Pat Welby's team slipped past the Arkansas Wings, 72-68, behind the play of point guards Larry Graves (Cheyenne) and Marcus Banks (Cimarron-Memorial).

"Larry and Marcus really got us going," said Welby, who played the duo together for most of the game. "They play really well together even though they play the same position."

The Heat, which also went undefeated in pool play at last week's Big Time Tournament, posted win No. 3 Wednesday, defeating the San Diego Kings, 84-72.

This time, the club's post players did the bulk of the scoring, with Cimarron's Brian Lang and Eldorado's James Bayless chipping in 18 and 17 points, respectively.

* DOUBLE DUTY: Cimarron-Memorial graduate Markus Streicher recently became the first wrestler in state history to earn double All-American status at the National High School Championships in Fargo, N.D. Streicher started his run by finishing second in the Greco-Roman division before taking third in 191-pound freestyle competition later in the week.

* THE THOMPSON TWINS: Henderson sisters Christian and Catrina Thompson took a major step toward securing a year-ending No. 1 doubles ranking this week, capturing the under-14 title at the National Clay Court Championships in Plantation, Fla. The twins, who captured the prestigious Easter Bowl doubles title last spring, did not lose a set in their six clay-court matches, finishing the job with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Pennsylvania's Jackie Carleton and Eva Wang.