You may not have noticed, but the prep sports seasons officially changed from fall to winter (Click for Winter Schedules) last week at Coronado High School. The CIF playoffs concluded for the Cross Country and Football teams, while Girls Basketball launched their season with four games over the weekend. This week we’ll also preview the Girls Soccer Team, as the Islanders seek to defend their CIF Division III title this year.

Friday evening Coronado traveled to Imperial to face the Tigers in the quarter-finals of the Division IV CIF playoffs. The Islanders (4-7) led 6-0 at halftime on the strength of a 9-yard touchdown run by senior Nick Shepherd. Coronado then scored on a 1-yard plunge by Shepherd, and lengthened their lead to 14-0 on a two-point conversion run by - you guessed it - Nick Shepherd.

Imperial (10-1) then rallied to score 19 consecutive points, including an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, to defeat Coronado 19-14.

Officiating, which according to several Coronado partisans present favored the home team to the extreme, played a major role in the game. "We still had the lead with 30 seconds to go in the game," said Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "They drove the ball to the 18-yard line and we knocked the ball loose and recovered (the fumble). The officials gave them the ball. They scored then and won. That was brutal. I never saw anything like it and I hope I don’t see it again. There were rumors about that kind of thing (one-sided officiating) going on in the desert. Now I know it’s true. They called us for every ticky-tack thing they could. Every time we had momentum, they threw a flag."

Figures supplied by CHS football statistician Kyle Montague support the one-sided officiating theory. Coronado was flagged nine times for a total of 85 yards, while Imperial was called for two penalties for a total of 10 yards.

Mayfield noted the contributions of junior quarterback David Loving in the game, along with senior fullback and middle linebacker Nick Shepherd. "Our interior defensive line played well," Mayfield added. "It was like the Madison game. They are a running team and we held them to 76 yards rushing. Jed Considine and Ben Thorne in particular (played well), along with defensive ends Kyle McArthur and Jack Scott. Still, we could have won. The kids did play hard. They deserved a better fate."

CHS Head Track Coach George Green supplies the season-ending information for the Islander Cross Country Team. "Coming off an impressive victory at the San Diego CIF sectional championships, it appeared that Jake Ruzevick was ready for a breakthrough race at the state championships. However, the day after the CIF event, he came down with a nasty cold that worsened throughout the week. The illness prevented him from making the trip to Fresno Saturday for the state meet. Hopefully he’ll recover in time for the Footlocker Regional to be held Saturday at Mt. SAC.

Our other state qualifier, freshman Ben Enowitz, got a taste of just how intense cross country is at this level and placed 139^th with a time of 18:21. The race was held during a rainstorm over the 5K Woodward Park course.

On the Coronado Middle School front, seventh grader Sallie Privett was the third overall women’s finisher with a time of 18:08 in the St. Vincent DePaul & Father Joe’s Annual Thanksgiving Day 5K run.

Now that the cross country season is officially over, many of our athletes are already looking forward to the spring track season. If anyone is interested in joining an off-season track club to prepare for the upcoming season, and participate in a few all-comers meets, give me a call at 435-3633. This isn’t just for long distance runners, as we coach everything from hurdles to the pole vault."

The CHS Girls Basketball Team is usually the first winter sport to begin play, due to the fact they host the Coronado Thanksgiving Shootout annually. Head Coach Toler Goodwin will dress 14 varsity players in 2004-05 and as a unit they are young, with four seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen on the team.

Due in large part to their youth, the Islanders went 1-3 over the weekend. Their results included a loss to Imperial by the score of 41-38, a loss to San Dieguito 60-29, a victory over University City 36-16 and a loss to Chula Vista 43-38.

The Imperial game featured a fine comeback by Coronado, as they trailed Imperial 25-13 at halftime and 33-23 at the end of three quarters. For much of the second half, Goodwin employed a full-court press that rattled Imperial and Coronado outscored the Tigers 15-8 in the fourth quarter.

The starting five is comprised of seniors Amanda Marks and Ashley Depfer, juniors Jessica Davis-Ricci and Crystal Curtis, and sophomore Brooke Becky. Junior Farrell Pompa is usually the first contributor off of the bench. Goodwin has a theory on the contribution of his sixth player to the team. "We like to get stronger when we make our first substitution," Goodwin said. "Farrell gives us that flexibility. She played point guard on the JV level for the past two years and she can play three different spots on the press. She has good size and strength and competes for rebounds. She can go in for anyone on the floor."

At this stage of the season, most of the scoring has come from the guard tandem of Becky and Davis-Ricci. In the Imperial game, Davis-Ricci scored 13 points and added four rebounds, an assist and three steals. Becky scored 10 points, and contributed four rebounds, three assists and four steals. Pompa was the Islanders leading rebounder with eight, while Marks added seven caroms.

Other team members include seniors Morgan Gary and Anna Moore; juniors Lindsey Negrete and Lisa Hejl; sophomore Emily Waickwicz and freshmen Tiffany Depfer (Ashley’s younger sister), Neisha Scales and Arielle Luna.

Goodwin is pleased with the makeup of his team, saying "we’ve got good kids." But he knows there is a lot of coaching to be done this season due to the club’s youth and comparative inexperience. "We used this weekend to find out more about what this year’s team is capable of doing and who the people are who are going to be the contributors in minutes played, and to see what different styles we can play. We lost so much to graduation."

An important element learned from tournament play is that the pace of practice and the intensity of game play are different. "I think we did learn quite a bit about ourselves. We learned about competitive spirit and we learned the amount of energy it takes to be successful. To be successful you have to elevate the pace you play with, physically, mentally and emotionally. We have to be stronger when it comes to live competition. Some of the younger kids, conceptually and with their energy, are coming along really well."

One problem that has surfaced in the early going this season is free throw shooting. In the Imperial game, Coronado was 8-23 (.348) from the charity stripe and they were 10-24 (.416) against Chula Vista. In both games, converting half of their misses would have earned the Islanders two more victories.

This week the Islanders travel to Mission Hills on Wednesday for a JV game at 5:30 pm and a varsity tilt at 7 pm. They then host OLP Saturday evening at 5 pm for their final game of the Thanksgiving Tournament. The championship game, scheduled for 6:45 pm will feature San Dieguito vs. Serra.

Back in the day, the Coronado Girls Soccer program featured just a couple of athletes who were talented enough to play club soccer on one of the many teams competing in Southern California. Fast forward to the 2004-05 season and focus on a question asked of Head Coach Miles Ramirez – "How many club players are on your team this year?" His reply, "all of them." In fact, seven members of the Islander program play in the elite Coast League in Orange County, which is considered to be one of the best youth soccer leagues in the United States.

The Islanders, who finished the 2003-04 season as the CIF Division III champions, by virtue of their final game victory over USDHS, have to replace the defensive play and leadership supplied by Rhett Chase, as well as the 22 goals and leadership provided by Dayna Queisser. The good news is that candidates for those roles abound, according to Ramirez. "The experience of some of these kids will allow us to put Ashley Copp up front along with freshman Leah Hathaway. Everybody coming in is a high-level club player, which makes my job easier. The returning veterans mixed with the incoming class will continue to prove the overall strength of the program."

Returning players in addition to Copp and standout goalie Jamie Klages are sisters Sasha Vido and Alex Vido, sisters Ashley Walsh and Kelly Walsh, Kindall Caldwell, Rachel Poe, and Maureen Mulvey. Other experienced veterans returning include Erin Buss, Marissa Nagler, Megan Mushovic, and Anni Korhonen.

A particularly strong freshman class provides eight or nine quality candidates for Ramirez, but only he may only be able to take two or three at the varsity squad. Assume that the CHS Junior Varsity squad will be able to successfully compete with most of varsity squads in San Diego County.

In their tune-up for the regular season, a scrimmage against Helix, Ramirez played the game without several of his starters, and played the remaining starters sparingly. "If the scrimmage is any indication, we will be a very good team," Ramirez said. "We controlled the game and won 2-0. The starters played the first 15 minutes and during that time, Helix didn’t get the ball into our half of the field. The game gave us a chance to look at some of the other kids." Hathaway and Nagler scored the two Islander goals.

Coronado’s Western League competitors will be USDHS, Scripps Ranch, Christian, La Jolla, University City and OLP this season. Ramirez thinks USDHS and Scripps Ranch will be the Islanders toughest competition for the conference title, although the overall strength of the Western League is down a little this season.

According to Ramirez, standing between Coronado and their goal to retain the CIF Division III title are USDHS, Valhalla, Valley Center and Santana. "There are five or six teams that can battle for the Division III title. My job is to make sure that they (the Islanders) are playing their best soccer at the right time of the season."

This week the regular season starts with a non-league game Wednesday at Grossmont, with the JV playing at 3:30 pm and the varsity scheduled for 5 pm. Then the Islanders will compete in the Barons Tournament in the Limited Division, where they will open play with Santana, their quarterfinal playoff opponent from a year ago.

Coronado will compete in the El Capitan Tournament, which will be played in its entirety before the Christmas break. A non-league game vs. Marian Catholic and a Western League contest against Christian account for the balance of the pre-holiday action. "It will prove to be another exciting season this year," added Ramirez. "Everyone will be gunning for us."

A reminder that the Coronado Boys Lacrosse clinic will be held Saturday mornings at the CHS and CMS fields from 9-11 am from Jan. 8 to Feb. 12, 2005 for boys in third through eighth grades. For new players the clinics present an excellent opportunity to learn skills and the strategy of the game. There will be four or five players per coach. The cost for the clinic is $90 per player, with checks made payable to Coronado Schools Lacrosse.

Included in the fee is a U.S. Lacrosse Association membership, a Coronado lacrosse sticker and a player mouth guard. Players provide a stick, cleats and shoulder pads. Helmets, gloves and arm pads are available to be loaned, although a deposit is required.

Clinic registration dates are Dec. 11 and 18 from 9-11 am and Jan. 8 from 8-9:30 am. Registration will be held at the sixth street entrance to the CHS football field. Questions may be directed to Dan Little at dlittle8@san.rr.com.