Nado Natterings Back to Islandersports
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

19 March 2008 Issue No. 11

Sports rankings, especially those conducted and published in the very early going of a season, are often fickle. Although they are only three games into the new season, the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team on the strength of a quality win over No. 5 ranked Torrey Pines a week ago and a 20-10 victory over No. 10 Carondelet, has been named the No. 1 team in California according to Laxpower.com.

“There is no rhyme or reason on how they do their rankings,” said CHS Head Coach Jessica Battle. “They put the numbers into a computer and it spits out the rankings. But, we’ll roll with it for now.”

Friday night Coronado bested Kincaid High School 12-1, with the Islander offense being led by senior All-American Bria Phillips, who contributed four goals and three assists. Saturday afternoon it was fellow senior All-American Greer Goebels’ turn as she scored six goals to go with one assist as Coronado clobbered Carondelet.

Phillips and Goebels had considerable assistance, according to Coach Battle. “Hannah Sebenaler, Melissa Humphrey and Michaela Guerrera are all playing really well for us now. We have one practice and two more games this week and then we go on Spring Break. We’ll regroup after that.”

This week the Islanders play San Dieguito on the road Tuesday at 5 pm and then return home to face Monte Vista Wednesday at 5 pm. Monte Vista is coached by former Islander lacrosse and basketball star Alicia Ghio (CHS ’99).

Boys Lax Splits First Two Regular Season Games

The ‘pre-season ranking’ theme continues as we move along to the CHS Boys Lacrosse Team, which currently is ranked No. 39 in California by Laxpower.com. Last week the Islanders continued their recent tradition of playing strong out-of-area teams in preparation for their regular season schedule, defeating the state-wide No. 5 team De LaSalle 5-4 and then losing Saturday to No. 1 ranked St. Ignatius Prep by the score of 9-5.

“We play those two teams every year,” said Islander Head Coach Alex Cade. “It’s a good early season test to see where we’re at.”

Having voted in sports rankings in the past myself, it’s fair to say that if the No. 39 team beat No. 5 squad and then lost to the No. 1 ranked team in a close game, that their stock in the polls should improve considerably.

Cade provided an overview of the 2008 Islander team, and since he played goalie at Notre Dame, the veteran Coronado head coach started with his defense. “In goal, sophomore Peter Zeller is doing a great job and it’s good to see him stepping up and playing as well as he is. Ryland Stanley is one of our senior defensemen. Jonathan Little is a junior defenseman and junior Daniel Nevitt is an outstanding player on defense.

Our attack is very strong and is led by seniors Cory Couture and Olivier Schmied and junior Bobby Braun. Our first line (think line changes in hockey) is made up of all seniors, including Curtis Perkins, Cole McLean and Jack Christiansen. Our second line is made up mostly of juniors, with the notables being Jackson Cusick, Sean O’Brien and long-stick middie Johnny Poe.

Our leading returning scorer is Couture and we will be more team oriented this year. We don’t have a super, superstar and we’re trying to get back to a pure team concept. After two games, I think this is the toughest, most blue collar team that I have ever had, so I am really pleased with that.”

The best teams in San Diego County are, in no particular ranking (returning niftily to the unifying lacrosse theme) are Torrey Pines, Poway, La Costa Canyon and Santa Fe Christian. Cade, who believes in jumping directly into tough competition each season, goes on the road Tuesday to face La Costa Canyon in a 7 pm contest. “This is a big game. We’re starting out with a really heavy schedule in the beginning of the season,” Cade said.

CHS Track Team Has First Dual Meet of the Season

CHS Head Track Coach George Green provides an update on the latest developments with his team. “The Islander Boys' Track Team started their dual meet season last Thursday with a win over Madison by the score of 66 to 53.

Rather than go for personal records on the Warhawk's dirt track, the goal was to run and jump only as fast and as far as needed to accumulate points. Kyle Brown won both the long jump and triple jump and placed second in a close 100-meter dash. Andy Centeno took the 1600 and placed third in the 400 behind the winner of that event, David Grimes, who also won the 800. Michael Davies placed second in the 800 meter run, followed by Turner Stanley in third place. Davies also finished third in the 1600.

Mike Gasparro, running in his first track meet ever, looked great while winning the 200 and will be a nice addition to our sprint team. Ben Enowitz, coming off of an injury, looked good winning the 3200, followed by Stanley in second. Will Bartsch took the high jump followed by Tim Conway in a tie for second. In the two hurdle events Stanley Wright picked up a pair of third place finishes.

In the throws, Tracy Cummings set a personal record with throw of 41 feet, 1 inch in the shot put, winning the event. Robert Schneider had an unofficial personal best in the discus, with a throw of well over 125 feet but the discus landed out of the throwing sector.

The Islander Girls Track Team’s 72-61 loss wasn't indicative of their true strength, as six of our key players were missing due to sickness and other commitments. Add to this a couple of falls and we lost to a team we should have beaten easily.  The distance team of Sallie Privett, Annie Lovering, and Adie Davies won all of the points in the 800, 1600, and 3200 meter runs. Grace Laukaitis running in her first track meet won the 400. Danielle Swanson placed second in the 300 hurdles, while Bethany Bucklew won the high jump. In the 100 hurdles Rishana Mancillas crashed her way to a second place finish, but then later fell in the 100 meter dash after leading for the first 90 meters.

At the Bronco Invitational on Saturday Sallie Privett placed fourth in the Invitational 1600 meter run with a time of 5:13.38 which places her in the Top 5 County-wide so far this season.  Two weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational Kyle Brown long jumped 21-8.5 which placed him second in the San Diego County standings.”

CHS Baseball Team Posts 3-0 Week

One of the recurring themes in prep sports is that to be a strong, representative team with a chance for success, leadership from the team’s senior class is important. That’s especially true if the seniors in question also happen to be fine athletes.

Last week returning CHS Baseball MVP and senior Tim Leary had a pretty special three-game stretch, which was strong enough for Head Coach Sam Ceci to describe the 6-foot, 6-inch Leary’s efforts as ‘exceptional all week.’ It should be pointed out at this juncture that Ceci, a card-carrying member of baseball’s Old School, throws around compliments like sewer covers.

Coronado defeated San Ysidro 10-4 last Tuesday on the road and then swept a twin bill from Mar Vista Saturday by the scores of 10-1 and 12-3. In nine at bats last week Leary, who also helped anchor the Islanders’ line in football during the fall, banged out six hits including two doubles and two homers. In the process Leary scored five runs, and was credited with nine RBIs. Adding to the subtext of the stats is that Leary didn’t play full games due the lopsided scores the Islanders were able to run up on the opposition. Leary is now hitting .591 for the season with a slugging percentage of 1.227.

To show that the junior class can contribute as well, Bryan Crabb pitched three perfect innings against San Ysidro in a performance Ceci described as ‘dominating.’ Crabb evened his record at 1-1 on the season and dropped his earned run average to 1.40.

In the Mar Vista doubleheader, senior hurler Tucker Johnson earned the victory in the first game, and junior Austin Hunter was credited with the ‘W’ in the second game. “Austin has been throwing mainly on the JV team, but he has a good upside,” said Ceci. “He may see some action this week.”

Johnson has developed into a fine utility player for the Islanders and in the second game of the Mar Vista twin bill, the senior pitched, and played first base, second base, shortstop and third base. Justin Parsons “hit the ball hard and he’s a tough out,” according to Ceci. “Todd Kelleher played in the second game and did real well. He walked, got hit, beat out a passed ball on a strikeout and did a nice job at third base.”

According to Ceci, this week the Islanders “jump into the fire.” The primary reason for that is they are participating in the Premier Division of the Lions Tournament, the largest high school baseball tournament in the nation with 108 teams. Monday Coronado hosts Viewmont High School from Utah in a 3 pm game and Tuesday La Costa Canyon team visits Coronado, also at 3 pm. Wednesday the Islanders travel to Vista High School to play Fallbrook at 2 pm. The divisional semi-finals and finals are scheduled for Thursday at UCSD.

“It’s a tough road to hoe,” Ceci said. “LCC is unbeaten in eight games so far and Fallbrook is 4-2 against real solid competition. We know Viewmont is going to be good. We’ve never played Fallbrook or LCC. They are both CIF Division I powerhouses and LCC might be in the top two or three teams in the county. This week will be fun and challenging. We’re trying to set up our pitching to win the thing.”

Islander Softball Plays Four Games in Five Days

The CHS Softball Team ran into some tough competition last week, as they marched through a schedule that included four games in five days. Several of the games were against historically strong softball programs.

Tuesday the Islanders fell 7-1 to The Bishop’s School, at least in part because they ran into a strong pitching performance and  weren’t able to score until the sixth inning. “Olivia Nebo led off the sixth with our first hit of the game,” said Islander Head Coach Marti Bonelli. “A fielder’s choice followed by consecutive singles from Alexis Wright and Brandi Bible drove in our lone run.”

Bonelli knows that the mental side of the game is critically important to success at the prep level. “We were very flat and it was a good object lesson. Energy and attitude are key components to achieving success. The pitcher for Bishop’s pitched a great game and was supported by some nice defense.”

Thursday the Islanders returned home to face Castle Park, which was a contest that was part of the Hilltop Tournament. Coronado prevailed 9-0 in five innings, which was a tournament-related mercy rule. Coronado hurler Briana Feist threw a no-hitter, with the only two Castle Park runners in the contest reaching base on Islander fielding errors. Bible continued her hot hitting, going 3-3 with two runs scored. Nora Kaminski added two hits and Sandra Cepin was 1-3 with two runs scored and a double.

Game No. 3 of the week was an 8-0 loss to Southwest El Centro and again the Islanders face a tough opposing pitcher and were only able to get one hit. Bonelli recapped the game. “Southwest is a very good team which is always at the top of the CIF Division II softball standings (Coronado resides in Division IV). They displayed a blend of speed, power and good pitching. It was a fun game for us because we played extremely hard and learned a lot. The girls had great attitudes and fought hard, even though the score does not indicate that.”

The game marked the return of Rosie Harris to the softball squad, after her role on the CHS CIF Division IV championship soccer team concluded. Harris was 1-2 in the game and a walk, with her lone out posted on a blistered line drive.

Coronado concluded their week with an 11-1 loss to Bonita Vista, perennially one of the best Division I softball programs in the San Diego section. Harris scored the lone Islander run on a sacrifice fly/line drive from Nebo. Kayla Englehart took the loss on the mound for Coronado.

“Bonita Vista’s offense was relentless,” Bonelli said. “They are unbelievably strong at every position in the field and amazingly big in the batter’s box. We again competed with enthusiasm and a lot of heart and it was a good opportunity to see a top team. We all thought Kayla pitched a good game. She was consistent and demonstrated a willingness to change speeds on any count. Even though the score was very lopsided, our team never gave up and gave a great effort.”

This week the Islanders play Mater Dei in Chula Vista on Wednesday at 3 pm. Western League play will start for Coronado during the week of Spring Break. “These last two games should help prepare us to compete even better this season,” Bonelli concluded. “I’m very, very proud of this team.”

Boys Tennis Wins Twice Last Week

The Coronado Boys Tennis program launched into battle last week and came away with two victories, including an 11-7 victory at Hilltop on Tuesday, followed two days later by a 13-2 home victory over Granite Hills.

“The Hilltop match was a good, close match,” said Islander Head Coach Jim Mashburn. “Evan Wheeler and Patrick Holman both won two of their three singles matches and Chase Mashburn won one.” 

On the doubles side, the No. 1 squad of Daniel Grazian and Frankie Harrison won all six doubles sets they played last week. “They are pretty much dominating No. 1 doubles, usually with a clean sweep,” said Coach Mashburn. One of the other successful doubles teams last week was the pairing of Brenton Mashburn and Jordan Vance, which played No. 2 doubles against Hilltop.

“We have Spring Break off,” said Coach Mashburn. “Then we come back hot and heavy into the Western League matches. That’s where the rubber hits the road. I think we’ll do okay in league. We’ll certainly hang in there and hold our own.”

Girls Basketball Honors and Awards

The winter sports banquet season is in high gear and the Girls Basketball program under the direction of Head Coach Toler Goodwin held their banquet last week.

The Varsity Awards included: Most Valuable – Tiffany Depfer; Best Defensive Player – Melissa Humphrey; Most Inspirational – Arrielle Luna; Most Improved – Samantha Saunders; and Rookie of the Year (best first year varsity member) – Maggie Harris.

Junior Varsity recognition went to: Most Valuable – Stephanie Viazon; Best Defensive Player – Delaney Luna; Most Improved – Anna Marie Valetta; and Most Inspirational – Chantal Perez.

All-Central League First Team honors were accorded to Depfer and Bria Phillips, with Angela Strohbeck and Arrielle Luna being voted to the All-Central League Second Team.

Girls Water Polo Awards

The CIF Division II champion Islander Girls Water Polo program held their post season banquet recently. The varsity awards presented by Head Coach Dave Throop included: Most Valuable – Hannah Sebenaler; Most Valuable Defense – Alex Adamson; Most Valuable Offense – Ashley Young; Coach’s Award – Alana Burgess; Most Improved – Hillary Estrada; Team Captain and Golden Tassel (highest grade point average) Award Winner – Aly Rodgers.

The JV Awards were presented to: Most Valuable Offense – Laura Luttrell; Most Valuable Defense – Natalie Stringer; Coach’s Award – Hilary Hansen; Most Improved – Hannah Green and Team Captain – Megan Meloche.

The Novice Team Awards included: Most Valuable Offense – Shelby Couture; Most Valuable Defense – Kendall Martin; Coach’s Awards – Candyce Day and Alex Reza; Most Improved – Brooke Bernardy and Kaylee Ginnane; and Team Captain – Nathalie Wisecup.

The All-Western League and All-CIF Division II Teams were identical and Coronado was well-represented. Sebenaler was voted the Player of the Year in the Western League and is the “San Diego Union-Tribune” Player of the Year. She was joined on the First Team by Adamson, Burgess and Young.

Second Team league and Division II honors went to: Carly Hoshko and Sabrina Anonas. Honorable Mention status went to Kelly Ronimus and Hillary Estrada.