Nov 2003 Issue #9

Islander Water Polo Head Coach Randy Burgess has never made a secret of the fact that the CIF Division II Championship is his team’s goal each and every season.

To get there his program competes in the two toughest mid-season tournaments available, the NorCal and SoCal Invitationals. In addition, powerhouses from the Los Angeles area, such as Foothill and Long Beach Wilson regularly dot the schedule.

Coronado competes in the Western League, the toughest grouping in San Diego County, a conference that includes The Bishop’s School, La Jolla High School, and Scripps Ranch High School, the number 2-3-4 seeds in the CIF Division II playoffs this season.

The CIF expanded its playoff brackets in Division I and II this year to 16-teams in both divisions. Based on their 22-4 record and the twin facts that they won the Western League crown and are undefeated against San Diego County teams this year, Coronado earned the No. 1 seed in Division II.

Although the expanded brackets reflect more depth in water polo in the county, it also makes for some lopsided early round playoff matches. The Islanders drew a very young Westview High as their opening round opponent and dispatched them handily 15-2. John Arnold scored three goals, Matt Digges tallied twice, and Drew Ratcliffe contributed four assists to the Islander attack. A total of nine players scored in the game for the Islanders.

Burgess gave the nod to sophomore Patrick Queisser in goal, and the youngest member of the athletic family that has now provided three quality athletes to Coronado High School (lacrosse and soccer-playing sisters Kelley and Dayna being the other two) responded with three steals and six saves.

Second round opponent USDHS, which also resides in the Western League offered more resistance, but the Islanders prevailed 15-6. Burgess was appreciative of the play from his seniors against the Dons of USDHS. "Our older guys did a fantastic job. That was our third game against them and they did a good job focusing. Joey Jankiewicz had five assists in the game and a goal. Digges had three goals, four steals and did a great job defensively."

The rest of the scoring was done by the usual suspects, including Sean Castillo with four goals, John Arnold with three, and single goals each by Matt Landon, Tim Farrell, and Tommy Corcoran.

Burgess saved his highest praise for senior Co-Captain and goalie Scott Syverson. "One of our keys to success this past week is that Scott has really stepped up his game and he’s really been a force. He had five saves and two steals against USDHS and he really controlled the ball defensively. His consistency in the last week and a half has been a real key for us. That’s what we’re going to need in the semis."

Proving that it’s good to be the No. 1 seed, Coronado faces Santana in the semi-finals, an upset winner from the end of the bracket that included Scripps Ranch. LaJolla and Bishop’s face each other in the other semi-final game. Coronado faces Santana at 5pm Wednesday, while the Knights and the Vikings square off at 6:45 pm. The finals will be played Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 pm. All of the CIF Water Polo playoff games are held at the Coggan Pool on the campus of LaJolla High School.

Junior Jake Ruzevick repeated as league champion for the third time finishing the 3-mile Boys course in 16.41. Brad Munns and Ryan Haig also made All-Harbor League (Top 10 runners) finishing fifth and seventh in 17:14 and 17:32 respectively. The rest of the finishers were Blake Gorey (12th in 18:34), Jack Harms (18th in 19:06), Buddy Marshall (20th in 19:29), Alton Smith (25th in 20:09), Judd Lyon (37th) and Andrew Cox (48th). 

Katherine Wingert, Beth Wittry and Caitlin Alley made All-Harbor League for the Girls, covering the 2.84-mile Girls course in 18:29, 18:59 and 19:10 respectively. They were followed by Marissa Nagler (11th in 20:28), Dayna Queisser (13th in 20:40), Caitlin Bigham (14th in 20:52), Ashley Walsh (15th in 20:56), Karoline Ivarsson (16th), Anne Covington (20th), Katie Gomrick (31st) and Rebecca Waterman (33rd). 

The CIF finals for all divisions will be held at Morley Field this Saturday starting at 8:30 am. The Division IV boys run at 11:15 am; the Division IV girls at 12:50 pm. 

In Middle School action, both Sallie Privett and Ben Enowitz advanced last weekend to the USA Track and Field Youth Cross Country Regionals to be held in Las Vegas Sunday. The Regionals are the last step toward advancement to the Nationals to be held in Albuquerque Dec 13^th."

The CHS Varsity Football Team faces an uphill battle in the playoffs after their 33-13 loss at Crawford Friday afternoon. Head Coach Bud Mayfield calls this year’s Division III lineup of teams, "the deepest I’ve ever seen." The veteran coach thinks that a first round bye given to the top four teams in the division is gone and that hosting a first round game is up in the air and will depend on the results of the coaches’s seeding meeting to be held Saturday morning.

"We were a little empty for the big game," said Mayfield of the Crawford contest. "We depend on emotion and enthusiasm and it didn’t seem to be there. They had too much speed and they pushed us around up front (on the line of scrimmage)."

It’s tough being a Crawford cheerleader this season, as the Colts have adopted the college tradition of doing pushups after every scoring drive. The entire cheer squad seemed up to the task Friday, doing a total of 101 pushups in the afternoon and early evening, as the Colts found the end zone five times against the game Islanders.

Senior tailback J.T. Rogan rushed 19 times for 107 yards to leave him a scant 23 yards short of the school rushing record set by Marvin Dingle. The two Islander scores came on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Cote Perkins to Rogan at the 5:01 mark of the third quarter and a 48-yard pass play from Perkins to Zach Todaro with 9:50 remaining in the game. Perkins was sacked eight times in the game, due largely to the fact that everyone in "The Stable," the new moniker of Crawford’s home stadium, knew the senior quarterback had to throw often to keep the Islanders in the game.

"That was a nice catch by Zach," Mayfield added. "Gene Pontes played well, but it was a team loss, much the way we have had team wins all season. And injuries were a factor. Wesley Bowman was playing on one leg (hamstring injury). We’ll see how we rally now. This was the first time we had been behind in a game, let alone lost a game. We’ll see what happens."

This week the regular season concludes with a game at University City at 3 pm Friday. Mayfield provided a thumbnail scouting report on the Centurions. "They have quickness in the backfield and some big people up front. They lost to Madison, but they have spirit. They will try to end their season with a win against a good team like us."

Islander Girls Volleyball Head Coach Phil Trotter guided his club to a Harbor League title this year, made official by Coronado’s home court 25-23, 25-17, 25-16 victory over conference runner-up Madison. The win pushes the club’s record to a perfect 10-0 in the Harbor League and 15-15 overall.

The victory earned the Islanders an early-week match with Bishop’s in the first round of the CIF playoffs. If the Islanders can survive that match, they will face La Jolla Country Day and Stanford-bound Candace Wiggins in the next round.

"It should be a great match," Trotter said of the Bishop’s contest. "We lost to them early in the season and the first game was 26-24. We’re capable of playing with them and we’re really playing well right now. Kelly Phelps, Jamie Klages and Megan Mushovic are playing well and they need to play well if we have a shot at Bishops."

Trotter pointed out the contribution of varsity Assistant Coach Brittany Warfield to the program’s success. "She has really helped to motivate and instruct the kids this year."

Girls Golf Coach Kari Weidner has one of her athletes in the CIF playoffs this year as junior Monica Ascolani qualified for post-season play due to her overall stroke average for the season. Ascolani was also named to the First Team All-Western League. Lauren Davis and Alexi Sanchez were named to the Western League Second Team. Ascolani will compete in the CIF individual competition which will be held at Warner Springs.

Finally, if it seems like the sports seasons all blend together, then you’ll be glad to know that the Islander Girls Basketball Thanksgiving Tournament is right around the corner. Senior center Alexis Castro, who just signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Vermont, will lead her team into battle Friday Nov. 28 vs. San Dieguito at 12:40 pm and Chula Vista at 5:40 pm. Saturday Our Lady of Peace and Brawley will supply the opposition, with the game times being the same.

The net proceeds from the tournament helps support the Islander Girls Basketball program.