Lacrosse has long held the reputation as the fastest growing sport in San Diego County and participation levels in both boys and girls lacrosse in Coronado have increased dramatically during that same time period. But the really good news is that the quality of play has risen in Coronado as well.

Last week The Girls Lacrosse Team defeated Patrick Henry 10-6 to run their regular season record to a gaudy 9-0-1 mark, with the only blemish on their run being a tie against La Jolla High School. We’ll have more on the Islander vs. Viking rematch later.

Like their male counterparts, the 2004 girls’ lax squad is deep and talented. Head Coach Jessica Battle admitted that her club was one of the top teams in the state, an opinion based in part on her team’s 6-3 defeat of Northern California powerhouse St. Ignatius in the recent Poway/Throw Like a Girl Tournament. And no, I did not make that name up. Coronado also has a win over St. Margaret’s of Orange County and a couple of other top NorCal teams this year to add to their accomplishments.

Battle mentioned Dayna Queisser, Julia Schelkun, Alexis Castro, and Angela Naple as being major contributors to the victory over Patrick Henry. Also included in the achievement honor roll were Sasha Vido and Lindsay Naple.

One of the surprises has been the recent success of La Jolla High School, a development which Battle credits to the school starting a strong feeder program in the sport. "It’s the best possible thing you can do," said Battle of a concept that she has helped install in Coronado Middle School. "They have pulled together a pretty good program in that time."

This week the Islanders have three games in as many days. Early-week contests against La Costa Canyon and USDHS are followed by a Wednesday game at Serra High School. But the contest to circle on your calendar is the La Jolla rematch Wednesday April 28 at Niedermeyer Field. Although both teams figure to progress far into the CIF playoffs, this contest is likely for the City Conference title.

The CHS Boys Lacrosse Team defeated St. Ignatius last week as well by the score of 8-1, which means Coronado deserves mention among the best teams in the state. Going into the game, the Wildcats were the top-ranked team in California.

Glenn Goebels contributed two goals and two assists for the Islanders, while Steve Torkington added three goals. Geoff Worley had two goals and an assist, while Kelcey Fisher and Trevor Serfass added a goal each. Goalie Kevin Chenoweth was credited with 13 saves while continuing to spark the Coronado offensive attack with his pinpoint outlet passes. Outstanding defensive play was again turned in by the trio of Jeremy Redding, Kyle McArthur and Ryan Cummins.

Coronado’s next home game is against Serra Wednesday at 7 pm.

The Boys and Girls Swimming Teams both posted lopsided victories against The Bishop’s School last week. Head Coach Dave Throop is happy with his team’s training and progress. At this point of the season normally, the swimmers are simultaneously rounding into swimming shape and getting tired at the same time.

"During spring break we had a good nucleus of kids stay in town and train," said Throop. "Devon Farrell has made a nice progression in the breaststroke. In the last month he has gotten into shape and dropped 5 seconds total. He has gotten sharper in his tempo, rhythm and timing. Justin Clapper has done a nice job in the 100 butterfly. He is at the 1:00 mark, which is good enough to qualify him for the CIF meet. Sean Castillo is working hard and is enthusiastic about getting better. We move him around in events, according to need. He’s doing a great job with his training."

The Girls have their stars also according to Throop, led by senior Katherine Burt. "She’s reached the point of fatigue in her training, but she hops up on the blocks and does a 24.8 in the 50 free, which is one of the Top 2 times in either Division I or II this year. Taylor Clarkson is a year around swimmer and is doing a great job. Sandra Fernandez is everything you would want in an athlete. She swims something new every week. It’s been tough on her because she gets moved around every week."

Throop lauded the work ethic of Megan Braun, who was one of the goalies on the CHS Girls Water Polo Team this past winter. "There isn’t an athlete in the program who works as hard as Megan. She’s a girl that hates swimming, but she hasn’t missed a single session all season. She is a rare creature in that regard and is one of our hardest workers in the pool, the weight room and in the classroom."

This week, the team will compete in a relay event Saturday and will renew their friendly rivalry with La Jolla in a meet the following week. "We have a fun rivalry with La Jolla," Throop added. "That’s the way sports are meant to be."

Congratulations to CHS Head Girls Soccer Coach Miles Ramirez, who was named CIF San Diego Section Coach of the Year in Women’s Soccer. During his tenure as the head of the girls soccer program, Ramirez has earned a CIF Division IV title to match this year’s Division III title.

Head Coach George Green checks in with the Boys and Girls Track and Field report. "In a close meet Thursday, it was a duel between Coronado’s speed and Crawford’s depth. In the end, the Islanders prevailed by the score of 72-55 after winning all of the running events and yielding most of the second and third place points.

Beth Wittry, Ashley Houston, Megan Mushovic and Nila Heurtelou started the day with a come-from-behind victory in the 4 x 100 relay, as Heurtelou ran down the Colt’s anchor in the stretch. Nila also won both the 100 in 12.8 and the 200 in 26.7. Wittry also won the 400 in 61.2 and the triple jump with an effort of 32 feet, 8 inches.

Mushovic has become the girl’s equivalent to the Swiss Army knife, as she also placed second in the triple jump in 31 feet, 9 inches; second in the discus throw, and third in the high jump. Houston picked up third place points in the long jump.

Freshman Sara Player had a good day with wins in the high jump at 4 feet 10 inches, the 100-meter hurdles, and the 300 meter hurdles. Katherine Wingert and Caitlin Alley placed first and third in both the 1600-meter and 800 meter runs with times of 5:33 and 2:30.2 for Wingert and 5:47 and 2:39 for Alley. In the 3200-meter run, Alley and Wingert placed 1-2 in that order. Alexis Castro placed second in the shot put and third in the discus.

The Boys were outmatched against least year’s Harbor League champions and lost by the score of 90-37. However, there were a few good individual performances. The most impressive was Reid McLean’s win in the 300-meter hurdles in 42.0 seconds. He also won the long jump with a 20 foot, 4 inch effort, and anchored the most exciting race of the day, the boys 4 x 400-meter relay. He ran down the Crawford anchor in the stretch, while clocking a 50.1 split on Coronado’s dirt track. Blake Gory placed third in both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs with personal best times of 5:04 and 11:58.

The Islander’s next meet is with Hoover Wednesday at Coronado, beginning at 3 pm."

The Boys Volleyball Team under the direction of Head Coach Phil Trotter had an up and down week, as they defeated Gompers Secondary School 25-7, 25-7 and 25-12. They then lost a tough five-game match to The Bishop’s School by the scores of 19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, and 15. The Islanders won the first two games and had chances to win the Harbor League contest.

While recognizing that the loss to Bishop’s was tough, Trotter was able to take a philosophical stance about his team. "It was a great match, but it was also very painful. We actually played our best match of the year, but it lead to a lot of frustration. We played hard and as a coach, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. It really helps me to see how much we have improved since the beginning of the year.

We have a new goal for ourselves, which is to see if we can compete again with Bishop’s. We’re young and inexperienced and it’s important to win matches. They want to win, which is a credit to them."

Trotter was pleased with the continued fine play of Jared Gibson, Jed Considine and Andy Farmer, and Nick Tellings. "Jared played the best game of his career against Bishop’s and Jed played really well. Andy stepped in and played real well. Nick, who plays in the back row, did a fine job against Bishop’s."

The good news in the lop-sided win over Gompers is that several Islanders received extended playing time. "Brian Farley, who plays middle blocker has been improving dramatically," Trotter added. "And junior Jonathan Smith has been doing a great job."

This week, an important road match at Clairemont is on the schedule for Thursday.

The Boys Baseball Team went 2-1-1 this week, with the tie going to Mother Nature as she prevailed Saturday and washed out the Mission Bay game at Strand Field. The other two more conventional results were a 5-4 loss to University City and an 11-0 pasting of La Jolla. The other victory was earned in a forfeit that was turned in by La Jolla for using an ineligible player in a previous game. With all of that action, the islanders are now 11-6 on the season.

"We should have won the University City game," said Head Coach Sam Ceci, "but we let it get away. We jumped out early and they fought back. We did all of our hitting early and at the end we didn’t muster much of a threat at all. It was a huge loss for us. We are kind of mid-pack in the Western League with U.C. and by losing to them at home, it really gives them a leg up."

In the loss to U.C., David West had two hits and two RBIs, while left fielder J.T. Rogan was 3-4 at the plate. Geoff Thorne, Kevin Couture, and Jacques Spitzer accounted for the balance of the Islanders eight-hit attack.

Coronado laid a nine-spot on the Vikings in the fourth inning, fueled in part by five La Jolla errors in the frame. Josh Okerman had three hits and scored three runs for the Islanders, while Ryan Nunn and Spitzer had two RBIs each. Playing centerfield, Nunn added a "great catch" on defense according to Ceci, while "Blake Spitzer made a fabulous play at shortstop and Mike Hollinger made a great catch on the high throw. It was a great play."

Loren Murillo pitched five scoreless innings to earn the victory, while Okerman and Jacques Spitzer each pitched a shutout inning in relief.

This week the Islander host USDHS in an early-week game and then travel to Point Loma Thursday.

The Boys Golf Team is 12-2 overall this year and had a relatively easy time of it last week with a 190-216 victory over Hilltop and a 193-263 victory over Hoover. Taylor Hakes and Stewart Harris earned medalist honors over Hilltop, while Bryan Reed, Stuart Gallant and Hakes all shot 38’s against Hoover.

Coronado needs to play well this week to win the Harbor League crown, as they face Christian Monday and Crawford on Tuesday. "Those two matches will determine the Harbor League title," said Head Coach Dr. Lee Price.

The Girls Softball Team had a tough week with losses to Clairemont in extra innings and to USDHS. However, there were some highlights according to Head Coach Ed Shanholtz. "Missy Lopez was 5-8 at the plate and played well defensively. Lindsey West was 2-6 and played good defense, while Jessica Bridges played a real good first base for us."

The Clairemont game found the Islanders trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. "We had three walks in the rally," said Shanholtz. "We scored all four runs with two outs. Missy had a 2 RBI double, while Lindsey drove in two runs with a single. Right now we are playing the toughest teams in the Western League."

Overall the Islanders are 4-7. They travel to University City Wednesday and are home Friday against La Jolla.

The Boys Tennis Team played Western League foe University City tough last week, but lost 11-7. The Islanders were up 4-2 after the first round of play, but lost ground in rounds tow and three. Nick Ivarsson continued his fine play at the No. 1 singles slot, according to Head Coach Robbin Adair, winning two of his three matches. Alan Hernandez and Dan Schneider played No. 1 doubles and won two of their three sets. The USDHS match originally slated for last week has been rescheduled for next week.