Each of the past eight Boys Water Polo seasons have found Coronado playing The Bishop’s School in the CIF Division II Finals. Saturday evening, before a standing room only crowd at La Jolla High School, the championship rivalry was extended for a ninth consecutive time, with Bishop’s prevailing 11-7. In another milestone, the contest marked the 13^th straight time Coronado has been to the finals.

In a foreshadowing if later events, Islander senior forward Sean Castillo, who has developed into Coronado’s best player this season, was called for an off-the-ball ejection 25 seconds into the game. Castillo would score Coronado’s first goal less than a minute later on an assist from Preston Lujan. On the strength of a Lujan goal with under a minute remaining in the first quarter, Coronado closed the scoring gap to 3-2 at the end of the first frame.

Bishop’s, which converted on their first four man-advantage situations in the game, scored the first three goals of the second quarter. Castillo picked up his second exclusion (only three exclusions are allowed per player in a water polo game) at the 5:08 mark of the second quarter and sat out most of the rest of the first half. Junior Eric Clapper scored after he grabbed a rebound on a missed shot to break the Bishop’s momentum. Castillo returned to the game to score his second goal with one second remaining in the half, leaving Bishop’s with a 6-4 lead.

The Knights opened the second half with two goals, before Islander Jesse Farquhar scored on a Landon assist to make the score 8-5. Ninety seconds later, Castillo was ejected for the third and final time on a controversial non-call involving Bishop’s player Nico Sardo, who would finish the contest with five goals. Defending Castillo well away from the goal, Sardo swam over the top of Castillo, a move in water polo which normally results in the possession being retained by the offensive team. The referee didn’t whistle Sardo for the obvious foul. Castillo retaliated and was ejected. It was a classic case of the referee seeing only the conclusion of the entire play.

Bishop’s led the game 9-5 at the end of three quarters of play. The Islanders and the Knights traded goals in the fourth quarter to reach the eventual 11-7 final score. Sophomore Jacob Smith scored on an assist from Farquhar and again later on an assist from Landon. The Islanders trailed 9-6 early in the fourth quarter and the Coronado faithful were cheering for a dramatic comeback, but it was not to be.

Landon finished the game with three assists and three steals. Senior goalie Patrick Queisser played the whole way and was credited with six saves. For the game, Coronado received eight ejections to four for Bishop’s.

"Give them their props and their kudos," said Coronado Head Coach Randy Burgess. "They were 3-0 against us this year and they deserve it. They also had a solid group of seniors. I thought our kids played very well, but we didn’t have a lot of breaks go our way. We never backed down."

The final was set up by a 10-8 semi-final win over La Jolla, playing in their home pool. The scoring came via three goals from Lujan, two from Devin Farrell, and one each from Smith, Farquhar, Joe Moffitt and Landon.

One of the toughest players on the squad scored just once in the last two games, but Burgess acknowledged junior Eric Clapper as perhaps the team’s most consistent player in the playoffs. "Against La Jolla, Eric took a kick from their center back. I thought he broke his ribs. If we gave out a ‘Golden Bulldog’ award, Eric would have won it. We had a great season. We won 22 games this year and went to the CIF finals."

A Coronado vs. Bishop’s CIF Final is a happening event. Several members of the Coronado student body attended the game in costume, winning points for originality in the process. A couple of members of press row attempted to assess the symbolism of the student attire, to no avail.

CHS Head Cross Country Coach George Green provides insight to the CIF meet. "At the CIF finals Saturday, sophomore Ben Enowitz qualified for a trip to the state meet in Fresno by finishing third in the Division IV championship race with a time of 17:29 over the 3.04-mile Footlocker Course at Morley Field. His Top 10 finish earned him All-Division honors for the second year in a row. Last year he finished in sixth place.

Ben was followed by sophomores Michael Davies (15^th), and Jose Tijerina (29^th), freshman Cotter Stacy (52^nd), Jack Harms and Andrew Falkiewicz.

The top finisher for the girls was Sheila Braun, who finished 35^th with a time of 21:31 for 2.75 miles. She was followed by Marissa Nagler (36^th), Karolin Ivarsson (42^nd), Allison Cabana (44^th), Katie Gomrick (54^th), and Sammie Runyon (62^nd).

In Coronado Middle School action, both the 8^th grade boys and the 8^th grade girls won the team championships. Coronado’s Sallie Privett was the overall girls winner. The CHS teams are both young and they will be bolstered by Daniel Luiken and Kevin Siefert next year for the boys and by Privett for the girls. Hannah Green (no relation) is an up-and-coming 7^th grader in the CMS program."

Traditionally the CHS Girls Basketball Team is the first squad to play significant games during the winter sports season, as they annually host the Coronado Thanksgiving Shootout. This year is no exception as Head Coach Toler Goodwin’s squad plays two games this Friday and two more Saturday.

The schedule of games reported last week has changed somewhat, as one of the teams that had entered the tournament will not field a team this season. Coronado’s tournament schedule is now: Friday at 12:40 pm vs. Southwest; Friday at 4 pm vs. San Dieguito; Saturday at 12:40 vs. Imperial; and Saturday at 5:30 pm vs. Serra.

Goodwin will ride into battle with a starting lineup consisting of four guards and a forward, no longer that unusual in high school competition. The good news is that all four guards are returning letter winners and include seniors Jessica Davis-Ricci and Farrell Pompa, junior Brooke Becky and sophomore Tiffany Depfer.

Pompa is the leading rebounder of the quartet and according to Goodwin, "she will slide down to pick up some of the responsibilities of the four (rebounding forward). She is also our back up point guard. That’s a unique situation and it is nice to have the flexibility."

Depfer will play the point and the primary scoring duties will fall to Becky and Davis-Ricci. "Brooke and Jessica were neck and neck last year, with Brooke finishing with a little higher scoring average," Goodwin said. Both players concluded the season by scoring more than 10 points per game.

"We’re going to have to be able to shoot the ball well," said Goodwin of his club. "We are going to have to find a way to get some points from the post. We just can’t live from the outside. We need to get a lot of penetration and kick (pass the ball to the team’s shooters), and use a lot of ball movement. We also need to establish the ability to come off of screens and make the proper decisions regarding passing and shot selection. I think we will have to be more up-tempo and create offense off of defensive pressure and transition."

Striving to attain those goals will be several players that competed on the JV level last season, including sophomore Arrielle Luna and junior Emilie Waickwicz. "Both of them worked out on the varsity level, but played primarily on the JV last year," said Goodwin. "Arielle has a chance to be our fifth starter and she has a very good understanding of what a motion offense is and how we need to move the ball to be successful."

Adding depth to the squad will be Lisa Bernardy, Kelsey Branch, Hallie Todaro and Heidi Hofmockel. Newcomers who will have the opportunity to play on the varsity or who may lead the JV squad include Angela Strohbeck, Emily Bell, Melissa Humphrey and Laura Herrscher.

The CHS coaching staff includes Head JV Coach Robin Nixon, who also serves as a varsity assistant. Andre Anderson and David Willey will also coach at the varsity level.

"Look out for Cathedral Catholic in the tournament," said Goodwin. "Based on past play and their returning players they are probably the favorites. OLP is right there. Chula Vista and Christian will be competitive also."

When last we left the CHS Girls Volleyball Team, they had just earned a hard-fought home victory over Horizon in the CIF Division IV playoffs, and were preparing to face Francis Parker in the semi-finals. Last Tuesday, the Islanders fell to the Lancers 25-6, 25-10, 25-13.

Actually that is a positive result, considering the fact that Parker is now 28-4 and is the No. 2 seed in the CIF State Division IV Playoffs. It was also a moral victory of sorts as Parker played all of their starters, which include four players who will compete at the NCAA Division I level next year, for the entire match.

Head Coach Phil Trotter, who stated at the team’s post season banquet that he is retiring from coaching after 20 years, announced his team’s award winners. They included: Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Megan Mushovic; Team Captain – Kelly Phelps; Most Improved – Lauren Fancy and Katie Legidakes; Coach’s Award – Christy Mebust; Islander Volleyball Award – Caitlin Kennedy; Golden Ball Award to the Best Underclassman – Heidi Hofmockel; Team MVP – Mushovic. All of the members of the varsity team also earned scholar-athlete awards, for students with a grade point average over 3.0.

Junior Varsity Head Coach Kari Dykema presented the following awards: Most Improved – Neisha Scales; Coach’s Award – Andrea Davis; and Team MVP – Alexis Wright.

For those of you who just can’t get enough soccer, consider the fact that the CHS Boys Soccer 2005 Islander Invitational has grown to an impressive 24-team event, which will start play Monday, Nov. 28^th. Coronado will make their season debut Wednesday, Nov. 30^th, with a 5:30 pm game under the lights at Niedermeyer Field against Bishop’s.

Coronado’s other scheduled games in their own tournament include Friday, Dec. 2 vs. Mar Vista at 5:30 pm, and Sat. Dec. 3 vs. Brawley at 6:15 pm. Both games will be played at Niedermeyer Field.

Tournament playoffs will be held Monday, Dec. 5 and Wednesday, Dec. 7. For the complete schedule of games, please go to www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com and follow the CHS links.

The CHS Girls Tennis Team held their post-season awards banquet last week. The Varsity award winners, as announced by Head Coach Robbin Adair included: Team Captains – Nicole Aponte, Hayley Kitzmiller and Alicia Ruiz; Most Improved – Simmi Deo and Hannah Schneider; Team MVP – Nicole Aponte.

The JV Awards went to: Most Improved Player – Christy Simeral and Team MVP – Briege McConville.

CHS Senior Hannah Sumner has done a great job singing the National Anthem prior to each of the CHS Football home games this year. She sings a vocally challenging song with grace, ease and style… Congratulations also to the Islander Company Cadets who handled their rifle drill performance at halftime of the Madison football game so well. The blind-folded cadet was Matt Fowler and the rifle drill group was lead by Cadet Roger Collier… Joe McCarthy has been added to the staff of the Coronado Aquatics Club as an instructor and coach. McCarthy was an active swimmer, water polo player and surfer in high school before he was injured in a surfing accident in 1996. After a long rehabilitation effort, McCarthy became a member of the USA National Paralympics Swimming Team in 1999 and competed for the USA team in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens in 2004. McCarthy has claimed 27 American swimming records and is in the Top 10 in the World in four sprint events… For all you high school football fans, circle Tuesday, Dec. 13 as the date for the Divisions I, II, III, and IV Quadrupleheader CIF Football Championship Games at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium… When you watch USC tailback Reggie Bush the next time on television, keep in mind that as a junior track athlete at Helix High School, Reggie ran 10.42 seconds in the 100 meters and a 21.07 seconds in the 200-meter dash. He finished third in the state of California in both events as a junior. Bush has proven several times this season that if he can get around end, nobody is going to catch him until he reaches the end zone. Bush amassed 513 all-purpose yards against Fresno State over the weekend, to likely earn the Heisman Trophy and to save the Trojan’s undefeated season… Finally, having lived all over the U.S., I have mixed group of allegiances to sports teams throughout the country. But last weekend was an unusually good pro and college sports weekend for Your Natterer. Several of the teams I follow from afar including the Chicago Bears, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the hometown USD Toreros were victorious. Let’s not forget that the powder blue-clad Chargers kicked the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon. But the beauty of sports is that it could all turnaround by next week.