With the beginning of practice last week, Coronado High School’s Robbin Adair began his 39^th season at the helm of the school’s tennis program. Already the winner of more than 1,000 interscholastic matches as the head coach of both the Boys Tennis and Girls Tennis teams, Adair will be joined by several returning athletes this season, as well as a smattering of freshmen who expect to contribute to the success of the 2005 squad.

Allie Gordon takes over the No. 1 singles slot and will be joined by No. 2 Nicole Aponte and No. 3 Lorena Hernandez. Lorena, a sophomore, is the last of the four tennis-playing Hernandez siblings who have graced Islander tennis rosters for the past 11 seasons.

On the doubles side, the freshman combo of Spencer Berman and Jen Carney will hold down the No. 1 position. "Jen has actually beaten everyone except Allie on the singles ladder, and they haven’t played yet," said Adair. "Spencer and Jen are a pair of really good freshmen."

To complete the doubles roster, a total of three teams are competing for the final two slots. The senior pairing of Alicia Ruiz and Hayley Kitzmiller played together last season are being challenged by the juniors Loren Metzger and Amanda Purvis, both returning varsity players. Senior Lindsey Warriner is making the jump from the Junior Varsity and is teamed with freshman Rachel Schneider, as they strive to earn a spot on the doubles rotation.

Sports are cyclical in nature and it is once again ‘in’ to play tennis. A total of 34 athletes came out for the tennis team, which Adair labeled "a very good turnout." Physical fitness instructor Valerie Jones rejoins Adair on the coaching staff and is in charge of the Junior Varsity program. "She has helped a lot and has been a real asset," said Adair of Jones, a Coronado resident. "She knows the program and what I look to do. She has a real yearn to teach the kids and help them improve."

Assessing the varsity squad as being "as good as or better than last year," Adair knows he has his work cut out for him in the Western League, which continues to earn its reputation as the toughest prep tennis circuit in San Diego County. "La Jolla won the league a year ago and graduated one kid. They were basically all freshmen and sophomores lat year. The Scripps Ranch roster contained all juniors last year and they are all seniors this year. Cathedral Catholic (formerly USDHS) graduated one kid. Last year we had a couple of wins in league and we had some good matches in the second round of league play."

Not one to waste time, Adair is launching into the season Wednesday with a 3 pm scrimmage at Mira Mesa High School for both the JV and varsity levels. "Those matches should give us a good idea of where we stand."

No stranger himself to the sidelines, CHS Boys Water Polo Head Coach Randy Burgess enters his 23^rd season with a nifty 511-135 (.791) record. When queried about the key elements of the coming season, Burgess replied, "We’ll have a home game this year, in fact we will have several of them. Being able to train at home will have some benefit down the line. It’s good to be in a beautiful new facility. Our fans can enjoy looking across the bay if the game gets boring. It is important for the kids to finally have a facility."

‘Boring’ is not an adjective normally associated with CHS water polo, and with several key seniors back, and a total of 12 returning lettermen, that designation should be safe from use for another season.

Four seniors, who contributed to last year’s impressive 20-10 record and a CIF Division II runner-up finish, return to lead the 2005 squad. Last year’s team Captain Devin Farrell returns, as do Sean Castillo, Preston Lujan and Jesse Farquhar. All four earned considerable playing time as juniors and according to Burgess, "are the four key returning seniors."

Senior Patrick Queisser, the backup net minder last year draws the starting nod this season. He is backed up by sophomore Kyle Pokorny, one of the stars from last year’s CHS baseball team that reached the CIF Division III finals. Other returning lettermen include seniors Steven Sullivan, John Landon, Daniel Pedrotty and Scott Simeral.

Rising from the JV ranks is junior Jackson Crow-Mickle. Returning to Coronado after moving away after his sophomore year is senior Joe Moffit. "He hasn’t had any varsity playing time," said Burgess of the senior driver, "but he’s a strong, quick kid and he should contribute this year."

Unfortunately the injury bug has hit the Islanders, with junior Eric Clapper and sophomore Jacob Smith, both returning letterman, sustaining fractured bones in their hands. "Hopefully they will be healthy in the next few weeks," said Burgess. "They are wearing braces and splints and not training at full bore. They will play a lot when they are healthy."

Approaching their first scrimmage Friday, Sept. 9 at Carlsbad High School, Burgess says there are still a couple of roster spots left on the varsity. "We’re still looking at a couple of underclassmen. This week we’ll round off the roster. Those younger kids, the freshmen and sophomores, will give us a lot of versatility moving them up and down during the week. We’ll travel with 14 or 15 players on the varsity."

The long awaited and much anticipated first home match at the new Coronado Municipal Pool will be a scrimmage Saturday, Sept. 10, from 8 am to noon. Coronado will host Servite High School from Anaheim and Esperanza High School from Anaheim Hills in a three-way scrimmage involving the Frosh-Soph and Varsity squads. The first Islander varsity home game at the new facility is scheduled for Wed. Sept. 21 when Coronado hosts Cathedral Catholic at 3 pm.

"The overall strength of the team is that it is a little more balanced than a year ago," summarized Burgess. "We will be a team without superstars and we have a lot of guys who can step in and contribute. We’re not solely reliant on one or two players and we have seven, eight or nine guys who can play at the varsity level on a regular basis. Playing time will be determined by training time in practice. We should be a very balanced team in the areas of assist distribution and goal scoring."

The Western League used to be Coronado vs. Bishop’s and then everyone else, but that’s no longer the case. "Everyone in the Western League will be good," said Burgess. "La Jolla and Bishop’s will be the big challenges. Cathedral will be stronger than a year ago. Scripps Ranch has a real good group of kids coming back. University City has one of the top two players in the section and they should be an improved team. This should be a closely contested Western League. We’ll probably see five of those Western League teams seeded in the Top 8 when the playoffs start in November." Of the aforementioned teams, only Scripps Ranch is in Division I for 2005, with the balance of the league qualifying for Division II by school enrollment totals. Coronado and Bishop’s have dominated the division, winning 11 of the last 12 titles between them. The Islanders have accounted for seven of the championships to four for the Knights.

CHS Cross Country Head Coach George Green checks in with a preview of the boys squad. "After losing three athletes like Jake Ruzevick, Brad Munns and Reid McLean to graduation, you’d think this year’s Boys Cross Country Team would be in a rebuilding phase. That’s not the case at all, as there is a solid core of varsity runners, who will be very competitive.

With sophomores Ben Enowitz, Michael Davies, Jose Tijerina and newcomer Andrew Falkiewicz (a senior) individually logging hundreds of training miles this summer, they come into the season ready for action. Senior Jack Harms, back from a year in Japan will be in the mix, as will freshman David Grimes, who logged over 65 miles in one day last spring, competing in the Run for Life. Also back to round out the seven-man squad is sophomore Josh Fink.

The first meet for the boys will be the Wolfpack Invitational this Friday. There is a meet schedule, along with details about the team on the website Islandertrack.com. Anyone wishing to join the team may call me at 435-3633 or E-mail from the website. I’ll report on the girls team next week."

Things are looking up for the CHS Girls Volleyball program, under the tutelage of Head Coach Phil Trotter. Coming off of an Eastern League Co-Championship run last season, Trotter figures that Coronado will again battle for the league title with Our Lady of Peace and Patrick Henry. The other Eastern League teams will include Morse, Mission Bay and San Diego High School.

Senior Megan Mushovic returns at the all-important setter slot and is joined by senior opposite Kelly Phelps. Trotter provides some insight into the team’s personnel. "Megan has developed into a phenomenal player and is going to visit some Division I schools during the season for volleyball (recruiting). Kelly is definitely our ‘go to’ person. She has the potential to dominate opponents. Being a tall, left-handed girl is always good. She is skilled and can play the back row also."

Senior Caitlin Kennedy will play middle blocker and will be joined by junior outside hitter Emmy Pickett, and a pair of sophomores who include outside hitter Christy Mebust and outside hitter/middle blocker Kelsey Fitzgerald. "We have a good list of players and we had a great first week of practice," Trotter said. "We have a real nice group of girls and I’m looking forward to a good season. This is the type of team that can really develop and play well by the end of the year.

So far in the early going, 40 athletes have tried out for the volleyball program and tryouts are still open. Trotter expected another group of players to arrive when class began Monday. A total of 13 players will comprise the varsity squad.

Trotter is pleased with the overall scope of the program. "We continue to develop and improve. The program is definitely going in the right direction, thanks to players like Kelly and Megan. I still believe this school has the potential to be a power in the county."

The Islanders will compete in two top-level competitions this year, including the Epic Tournament at the outset of the season and the San Diego Beach Classic, which Coronado helps co-host, toward the conclusion of the schedule. Participating in these marquee events continues Trotter’s concept of upgrading Coronado’s level of competition.

The bad news is that the Islanders compete in CIF Division IV again this year, which is also populated by teams from Francis Parker and The Bishop’s School. "Parker, which won the state championship, has a lot of their players back. Bishop’s is going to be real strong this year. We actually played Parker tough in the playoffs last year, compared to some of the other competition. "

Trotter, who is relentlessly positive about his teams and his players, is looking forward to another campaign. "I think we’re going to surprise some teams this year, as long as we play hard and stay positive. Volleyball is all about having fun and forming relationships. With this team it will be easy to stay positive. They’re all great kids."