This is the final opportunity to remind you to register for the 30^th Annual Independence Day 15K Run, 5K Run/Walk, which will be held Sunday, July 4 at 7 am at Tidelands Park. The event benefits the Islander Sports Foundation and the student-athletes at both Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School.

For those of you (and me) who are metrically challenged, 15 kilometers equates to 9.3 miles. The big news regarding the 15K event is that this year the course returns to our original route which includes the Coronado Naval Amphibious Base.

The best way to register for the race, if you would like to do so ahead of time, is to go to the SportMart located at 7725 Balboa Avenue, July 2 from 3:30 to 6:30 pm. You will also have the opportunity to meet Track and Field Hall of Famer Steve Scott, who will be on hand to sign autographs.

Or you can sign up for the race the morning of the event. Volunteers from the various CHS and CMS sports teams will be on hand starting at 5:30 am to sign you up.

Participation in either the 15K or the 5K costs $30. The race T-shirts look particularly sharp this year and become a badge of honor to those who participate annually. For more information on the Independence Day Run/Walk, please contact Kathy Loper Events at 619-298-7400.

Another sporting event to be held July 4 is the 46^th Annual Coronado Rough Water Swim, which is held at Central Beach, with a course that starts northwest of the main lifeguard tower. The first adult portion of the event is the one-half mile swim, which begins at 9:45 am, with the mile swim scheduled for 10:15 am.

The entry fee is $35 on the day of the race. The timing is such that you can compete in the 15K Run or the 5K Run/Walk and then do the ocean swim. For more information regarding the rough water swim, please call 619-491-2221.

The Coronado High School Football Team, the CHS Football Booster Club and Coronado Youth Football have combined to create the first Coronado Football Clinic, which will be held Sunday, July 25 from 1-5 pm.

The clinic is open to kids between the ages of 7-15 and will be held at the Coronado Cays Field, next to the firehouse. The event kicks off the 2004 Coronado Youth Football season, with practice beginning the following day.

Coronado Youth Football fields teams at five levels of play including Midget, Junior Midget, Pee Wee, Jr. Pee Wees and Mitey Mites. The youngest division is Mitey Mites, which includes kids between 7-9 years of age, with a 95 pound player maximum weight.

Ken Maskevich, president of the CHS Football Booster Club and the head coach of the Jr. Midget team said of the clinic, "it brings the high school and youth football programs together. When the youth football kids go to the varsity games, they have already met the players and they have somebody to look up to."

Cost for the clinic is $25 per player, with the proceeds going to the CHS Football Booster Club. The admission is payable the day of the event, starting at 12 noon. Coronado Youth Football will also receive a portion of the revenue.

The admission price includes a barbecue after the clinic for the kids and parents are invited to attend the barbecue on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The clinic will be taught by the entire high school football coaching staff, under the direction of CHS Varsity Head Coach Bud Mayfield. All youngsters in attendance will also receive personalized coaching instruction from the players on the CHS varsity football team.

Please note that if there is a problem for any family that is financially unable to pay for the clinic, please contact a Coronado Youth Football coach or board member, anyone associated with the Islander Sports Foundation, or the CHS Football Booster Club. These organizations will cover the costs associated with the event for families with financial concerns.

CHS Junior Varsity Coach and San Diego Youth Football Conference Tackle Coaching Director Tony Isabella will be on hand to assist with the clinic and plans call for his to make a special announcement at the conclusion of the clinic. Honorary Co-chairs for the event are Karen Kerr, president of Coronado Youth Football and Maskevich. Event Coordinators are Lee and Karen Pontes. For more information on the event, please contact Maskevich at 437-8319 or the Pontes family at 435-2658.

On a related note, it’s not too late to sign up for Coronado Youth Football for the 2004 season. Players and cheerleaders at all age levels can still enroll. According to Maskevich, particularly needed are athletes between the ages of 12-14 for the Midget level of play.

For more information regarding Coronado Youth Football registration, please contact Kelly Englehart, the league’s eligibility coordinator at 437-6041.

Dayna Queisser, who made the All-CIF Teams in both soccer and lacrosse, has some travel plans in her future. Queisser’s 18-and-Under San Diego Surf Soccer Team won the Far West Regionals and is now one of four teams that will compete for a national youth soccer title in Orlando, Florida starting July 20.

Queisser, who earned a soccer scholarship at Cal, played defensive mid-field for the Surf, coached by Colin Chester.

Congratulations are also in order and travel plans to be made for Katie Hansen (CHS ’03), who just finished her freshman year at Stanford and Tommy Corcoran (CHS ’04), who will attend USC next year. Both water polo athletes were named to their respective Jr. National Teams and will go to El Salvador to participate in the Jr. Pan American Games in July.

John Wingert, father of Track and Field MVP and Co-Valedictorian of the CHS Class of ’04 Katherine Wingert, and I sat next to each other at the recent track awards banquet. After Head Coach George Green read some of the accomplishments of junior Reid McLean during the past track season, Wingert said to me that Reid would make a decathlete (10 track and field events taken as a single event) some day.

Well, that day is here.

Last weekend McLean won the decathlon at the AAU regional qualifying event in Tulare. His next stop will be at the AAU Nationals to be held in Des Moines, Iowa. McLean won the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter run and the 110-meter high hurdles. He was second in the pole vault, and the 1,500-meter run. He finished third in the javelin and discus. His point score of 5,580 was more than 1,000 points better than the runner-up.

The decathlon is a two-day event and McLean won all five events the first day. His only drawback is that he needs a javelin to practice with. If you have a spare in the garage, please contact Coach Green. Oh by the way, McLean was the CIF San Diego section champion in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and participated in the California state meet in that event.

Finally, what would a summertime sports column be without some mention of the San Diego Padres. This quote from the June 28 edition of The San Diego Union-Tribune jumped out at me. "Leadoff hitter Sean Burroughs was scratched from the lineup after reporting achiness, fatigue and tightness in his right shoulder. Burroughs said the shoulder bothered him during at-bats on Saturday."

Let’s go ahead and assume that Burroughs won’t be challenging Baltimore Oriole great Cal Ripken, Jr. for that pesky 2,632 consecutive game playing streak.

Also, the original plan for this edition of Nado Natterings was to congratulate the Padres for selecting Mission Bay High School product Matt Bush with the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Since Bush was arrested on misdemeanor charges last week for a run-in at a Peoria, Arizona bar, we’ll put that column concept in the circular file. Well, at least for now.