‘Marathon ‘is a sports term normally reserved for the 26-mile, 385-yard race, which is based on the distance run by Pheidippides in 490 B.C., when he carried the news from Marathon to Athens, of a Greek victory won in battle over the Persians.

An alternative meaning might be the three games played by The Coronado Girls Soccer Team Saturday, which resulted in the Islanders winning the Limited Division of the annual Barons Soccer Tournament. This marathon, employing the revised soccer-related definition, included 240 minutes of high-level play on Saturday alone.

"Three games is torture on the girls," said Head Coach Miles Ramirez of the games that started at 8 am and concluded nearly 12 hours later. "Coming off the field you could tell how fatigued the kids were. We’re lucky we have the gladiators we do, but it’s just too much and we’re risking injury."

The Islanders earned their way into Saturday’s play with a 5-1 victory over Clairemont and a 1-1 tie with Francis Parker in tournament play conducted earlier in the week. This set up a quarter-final contest Saturday morning with Marian Catholic, which was won 1-0 on a goal by senior Ashley Copp.

That victory earned Coronado a semi-final berth against Horizon Christian. Copp, who has scored seven goals in the first seven games of the season, responded with what Ramirez described as a "beautiful half volley" for a score. Horizon countered with a goal in the second half and the teams then proceeded to play four 5-minute overtime periods, followed by penalty kicks. Senior standout goalie Jamie Klages saved two Horizon shots and they missed a third, earning the Islanders a title game shot against La Jolla Country Day.

Ramirez summarized the tournament finale by saying, "Sasha Vido scored in the 75^th minute of the game, Klages preserved the shutout, and we walked out of there victorious. Sasha was named Tournament MVP, in part because of her defensive presence and partly because she scored the winning goal. We had some dominating performances, but we’re not putting teams away when we should. We haven’t found our scoring niche. Our three strong defenders Maureen Mulvey, Rachel Poe and Alex Vido have been dominating. Opposing teams have been lucky to get five shots a game."

Playing in a tournament requires some coaching strategy and a deep bench. "We moved Greer Goebels back into the defensive mid position and moved Sasha up to the forward position to help create scoring chances and it has been working. We had to go to the bench knowing that we were going to play three games. We had to use a lot of bodies to see what we could find and what would work out for us. We missed Ashley Walsh (SAT testing) for the first two games at the outside mid position. She returned for the final and added that spark we needed."

This week the Islanders begin play in the Vaqueros Tournament in an early-week game at Otay Ranch Monday. Another early week game Tuesday vs. Marian Catholic at 5 pm is followed by a Western League game at Christian High School Friday.

Coronado and Julian are like-sized schools, both with deep and storied traditions in their respective Girls Basketball programs, and they tangled last week in Coronado in a game that was in many ways unique. Coronado prevailed 46-45, but it was the way the teams arrived at that result that was interesting.

The Islanders put together a 4-minute period of inspired play to begin the game, jetting off to a 15-4 lead, only to see Julian dominate the balance of the quarter by running off nine straight points. Julian scored their baskets on five lay-ups, an offensive rebound and putback, and a free throw. In the final 5 minutes of the second quarter, Julian outscored Coronado 15-2 to take a 32-23 lead at halftime. Allow me to editorialize at this point – things look bleak for the home team.

In a ‘Lombardi-esque’ halftime speech, Head Coach Toler Goodwin reminded his team to play some defense and the Islanders outscored Julian 14-3 in the third quarter to forge a 37-35 lead. Both teams played evenly in the fourth quarter and it came down to Coronado holding a one point lead, with 5 seconds remaining, and Julian inbounding the ball under their own basket. Julian attempted a shot, which missed, got the offensive rebound and senior Morgan Gary blocked a Julian attempt as the clock expired to earn the victory.

One of the many keys to winning the game was the rebounding of senior Amanda Marks, who snared five offensive rebounds in the final quarter of play. Her fifth offensive rebound and subsequent follow shot with 51 seconds remaining, proved to be the game winner.

Goodwin recognized the fine effort of Marks, the team’s senior Co-Captain. "Amanda has been providing leadership and defense to the team. She is solid defensively and her rebounding has consistently been able to help us."

The game stats were also unusual, with Coronado snaring a total of 47 rebounds in the 32-minute game. A total of 11 rebounds came from senior Co-Captain Ashley Depfer, who also contributed seven points. Jessica Davis-Ricci scored 14 points and had eight rebounds; Marks finished with 10 points and nine rebounds; Brooke Becky scored seven points and added eight rebounds, three assists, five steals and two blocked shots; while Farrell Pompa had eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals.

According to Goodwin, Pompa continues her fine play for the Islanders. "She is providing us some offense, a defensive presence and flexibility on the floor. She can guard post players as well as defend out on the perimeter."

Despite the character-building victory, Goodwin knows there is work ahead for his club. "We’ve got to continue to work on getting better shots in the key moments of the game and continue to get better at making decisions and possessing the ball throughout the game. The value of ball possession has to become a priority for us."

This week the Islanders have an early week game vs. Otay Ranch in Coronado Tuesday, followed by a game Thursday at La Jolla at 4:30 pm, and then a home game Saturday at 2 pm vs. Mar Vista.

The fall sports awards season completed its run Sunday, when the final two post-season banquets were held.

The Girls JV Volleyball Team awards as announced by Head Coach Lisa Kessler included: Team Captains – Karli Massie and Bridgette Burdeaux; Most Improved – Molly Lorden; Coach’s Award – Lisa Bernardy; and Team MVP – Karli Massie.

The Girls Varsity Volleyball Awards as presented by Head Coach Phil Trotter went to: Scholar-Athletes with GPAs of 3.0 and over – Megan Mushovic, Emily Howe, Deidre Kelly, Ashley Copp, Jamie Klages, Caitlin Kennedy, Emmy Pickett, Kelsey Fitzgerald, Kelly Phelps, Christy Mebust, and Jacy Norton; First Team All-Eastern League – Norton and Mushovic; Second Team All-Eastern League – Phelps and Howe; Coach’s Award – Deidre Kelly and Kelly Phelps; Most Improved – Kennedy; Most Inspirational – Howe; Islander Award – Klages and Copp; Co-MVPs – Norton and Mushovic; the Seniors Golden Volleyball Award to a deserving Underclassman – Christy Mebust.

The Boys Football Awards as announced by Head Coach Bud Mayfield and Assistant Coaches Ed Shanholtz, Keith Sippy and Corey Loomis included: Team Captain – Jed Considine; Senior Scholar-Athlete – Nick Shepherd with a 3.7 GPA; Most Improved – Brandon Wheeler, Lance Winslow and Ryland Gill; Most Valuable Back – Kelcey Fisher; Most Valuable Lineman – Considine; winner of the Adrian Taufaasau Award presented by Ivy and Victoriana Taufaasau – Kyle McArthur; First Team All-Harbor League – Considine and Fisher; Second Team All-Harbor League – McArthur and Shepherd. McArthur was also named as the Team Captain for 2005.

Two Western League wins by the Girls Water Polo Team over Scripps Ranch 13-5 and La Jolla 10-6 were followed by a loss Saturday to Newport Harbor by the score of 12-5. There is no dishonor in losing to Newport Harbor as they are currently Ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section behind Foothill. Or as Head Coach Dave Throop put it, "they are No. 1 and 1A until they play each other."

The La Jolla game is perhaps reflective of the very young Islander squad; brilliant at times, followed by periods of inconsistency. Leading by only one goal at the end of the first half, Coronado outscored La Jolla 5-1 over the second half of the third quarter and the beginning half of the fourth frame, to earn the victory.

Over a 2-minute period to begin the run, sophomore Katie Estrada scored three times and simply could not be contained by the La Jolla defense. Junior Sandra Fernandez scored on a power play, followed in short order by a goal from Team Captain Elizabeth Hopkins to complete the scoring run. For the game, Fernandez had four assists and two goals, Hopkins had three tallies, Estrada scored four goals and Hannah Sebenaler converted a 4-meter penalty shot.

"She has the ability by the position she plays and her own ability to take over a game, given the opportunity," said Throop of Estrada, who plays the center or 2-meter position. "She is young by the standard of experience, but you can never question her desire. Her focus is getting better and her teammates are relying on her."

At times the Islanders played outstanding defense, and at times, it was less than outstanding. La Jolla tied the game to start the second half at 5-5, before Estrada and the Coronado team defense took over.

"We made some of the same mistakes in all three games we played last week," Throop added. "On offense we have spacing issues, which led to opportunities for opposing teams coming the other way. We recovered against Scripps and La Jolla, but it (spacing) led to goals vs. Newport. They’re starting to learn the things we’ve been preaching. They’ve heard it and now they know how it will really affect us. We’ll address the problems in training. We’re young and we’re going to be all over the place sometimes."

Against Newport Harbor, Estrada had three goals, while Fernandez and Hopkins scored once each. "They are one of the best defensive teams in the country," said Throop of Newport. "They do a couple of real basic things and shove it down your throat; some things we hadn’t seen before. Katie Etrada drew four exclusions against Newport. She’s a handful, that’s for sure.

This week the Islanders play Wednesday against Patrick Henry at Allied Gardens at 3 pm. When they return from their Christmas training experience, the Islanders play USDHS Jan. 5, travel to the SoCal Tournament in Santa Barbara, and play Bishop’s Jan. 12. "It will be a daunting stretch," Throop said of the post-New Year schedule. "We have a good three weeks of training coming up and two of the weeks the kids are out of school."

In a similar fashion to several of the other winter sports teams, the CHS Boys Basketball Team is very young and are subject to up and down play. For the ‘down’ portion of the equation, consider that the Islanders scored three points in each of the first and third quarters against La Jolla Country, fueled in part by 2-20 shooting from the floor in the first half, and lost to LJCD 45-29.

On the ‘plus’ side, the Islanders put together wins over Army/Navy by the score of 41-38 and Sage Hill (from the Newport Beach area) 46-36. Their fourth game of the tournament was a tough 46-45 loss to St. Margaret’s, which ended with a running, length-of-the-floor drive and shot by Jonathan Smith, which was nearly down for the possible win, before rimming out. Overall the Islanders were 2-2 in the tournament and are now 3-2 overall. Smith finished the game with 13 points

"By all rights we should be 4-1," said Head Coach Sandy Dillon. "We gave one away Saturday." Dillon received consistent backcourt play from the appropriately named Ryan Guard, including a 15 point effort vs. Sage Hill and a total of 33 points in the four-game tourney. Dillon also noted the fine individual play of Brad Munns in the Sage Hill contest, the effort of Chas Marks in the LJCD game and Drew Zeller’s effort against St. Margaret’s.

This week the Islanders host Mt. Empire Thursday at 6:30 pm and then host San Dieguito Academy at 7 pm Dec. 20.

Continuing the youth theme of this column, the Coronado Boys Soccer Team is not only young, but they are facing injuries already in the early part of the season. Junior center-mid Ryan Manazir has painful shin splints that have limited his playing time, while forward Taylor Patino and center-mid Dallas Chase are both out with injuries.

For the week, the Islanders lost 2-1 to Santana in the semi-finals of their own tournament. Senior Stuart Gallant scored the lone Coronado goal. That game was followed by a 2-0 loss to Mission Bay, which in turn was followed by a 2-0 victory by the Islanders over Serra. Kelcey Fisher and Gallant accounted for the two goals.

"When we beat Serra, we were more composed, although the game was really no different than the Mission Bay game," said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. "Against Mission Bay we didn’t finish the easy opportunities when they presented themselves."

Gallant, who is the team’s leading scorer in the early going, played well in the Mission Bay loss. "If he’s not on tactically or technically, we’re going to struggle," Hiatt-Aleu said. "The team’s effort and will to win are there, but we need a little character, a little nastiness to put teams away. In the past Thomas Hopkins, Josh Copp, Phil Bond or the Hammets (Greg and Tom) have been the ones to have character and be a little nasty. We’re missing that this year. They are a great group of kids and fun to be around."

Hiatt-Aleu notes that 70 percent of the team’s goals are coming on set plays, including free kicks, throw-ins and corner kicks.

This week an early week game against El Cajon is followed by a game Thursday at 3 pm at La Jolla.

A reminder to all that are interested, that the Coronado Boys Lacrosse Clinics will be held on consecutive Saturday mornings at both the CHS and CMS fields, from Jan. 8 to Feb. 12, 2005. Clinic times will be from 9-11 am. The clinics are designed 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. 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.