Playoffs are blooming in mass profusion among the Coronado High School spring sports teams. Among the first to begin competition in the "second season" was the CHS Boys Lacrosse Team, seeded No. 4, when they hosted Westview High School Friday.

The Islanders were better suited to play on the dusty conditions of Niedermeyer Field, as several of the Coronado players have perfected a version of baseball’s pop-up slide when they lose their footing on the loose dirt playing surface. Despite the decided lack of terra firma, the Islanders employed their team quickness, darting around and through the Wolverine defenders to earn the 11-7 victory in the first round of the CIF Playoffs.

Westview initiated the scoring with a goal two and one-half minutes into the game. The Islanders and the Wolverines then proceeded to trade goals before Coronado went on a 6-0 run to make the score 7-2. Coronado led 8-3 at halftime.

Westview scored the first two goals of the first half, and seemingly had recaptured the game’s momentum, before a key goal was scored by senior Coltan Story. After Westview pulled to within two goals at 9-7 with 10:56 left in the game, junior attack Kelcey Fisher scored with 5:49 remaining to clinch the victory.

"Kelcey had a great game," said Head Coach Alex Cade. "He’s just a gutsy player. He’s playing a little banged up and he has been injured for a good portion of the year. He’s such a tough kid, that he kept things to himself, which is a testament to his grit. He was inactive later in the game, but we started to lose it and he went back into the locker room and put his stuff back on. He got cleared by our trainer (Connie Martinez), went back out there and immediately scored a goal. That’s what makes him one of the great players in this state."

Cade is a big believer in senior leadership at this stage of the season, and he received that intangible element from Alex Woolf, Story and goalie Kevin Chenoweth. "Alex played a great game. He’s one of those players who have really stepped up. Coltan has a style that catches a lot of people off guard and he surprises people with how quickly he shoots. When he pulls the trigger, I have a lot of confidence it will go in. Kevin kept his composure in goal. They scored a couple of goals that caught him by surprise. They had a couple of real nice players that had a good game against us. He made big saves when we needed him to make the big saves."

The Islander’s 11 goals were spread among seven players, including four players with two goals each; Story, Geoff Worley, Woolf and Fisher. Three players had single scores including Will Purvis, Pat Murphy and Erik Karlsson.

Next on the horizon for the Islanders is quarter-finals opponent Poway, the No. 5 seed, They play Tuesday evening at 8 pm at Niedermeyer Field. In their only previous meeting of the season, the Titans defeated Coronado 5-1.

Cade remembers the first Poway game well. "It wasn’t our finest performance. We had 42 turnovers. We went back and watched the tape. If you have the ball 42 times, you should win the game." If the Islanders get by the Titans, they will likely face La Costa Canyon on the road Thursday evening in the CIF semi-finals.

"Don’t confuse me with the facts," could be the mantra of many CIF Coaches’ seeding meetings, apparently including the 2005 Girls Lacrosse version. Despite the fact that Coronado had a perfect regular season record and the added element that they defeated the CIF defending champion and 2005 No. 3 seed La Jolla twice, the Islanders emerged with the No. 2 seed, with the top nod going to La Costa Canyon. Did we mention that La Costa Canyon lost to common opponent La Jolla earlier in the season?

Asked to explain the death-defying logic of the seeding process, Head Coach Jessica Battle replied, "La Costa Canyon is in a more difficult league. They play Rancho Bernardo, Poway and Torrey Pines twice. Most of the coaches are upset about the seeding."

Other than a supplying a strong story line for an ink-stained wretch (e.g. Your Natterer), the difference between the No. 1 and 2 seed is negligible, as the championship game is played at a neutral site and both Coronado and La Costa Canyon will play on their home fields until the finals. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the Islanders host Francis Parker High School Tuesday night at 5 pm. "We should win," said Battle of the pending game against the Pointers. "As long as we play like we can play."

If form holds, Coronado will host La Jolla Thursday evening at 7 pm. To reach Saturday’s finals (7 pm at Westview High School) they will have to defeat the Vikings for the third time this season, a difficult assignment against a quality team.

Perhaps most importantly, the team is healthy according to Battle. "We’re in good shape. Hannah Sebenaler is back and everyone is healthy as of right now."

On a related lacrosse note, four Islanders have been nominated for the Senior All-Star Game to be played June 4^th at Westview High School. Earning nods to compete with the elite are Julia Schelkun, Alex Vido, Christine Siefert and Jennifer Young.

Part of that weekend’s festivities is a golf tournament that benefits the San Diego Chapter of the Girls Lacrosse Association. Participation in the tournament costs $130 per person or $500 for a foursome and will be played at Carmel Mountain Country Club. The shot gun start is 1 pm. Contact Battle at 619-459-0162 for additional information.

The Track and Field season is in the process of holding their season-ending meets and CHS Head Track Coach George Green explains the process. "Track is one of those sports that doesn’t end suddenly for all team members with the last game of the season.

For most, their last meet is the league prelims or league finals. Some make it through to the CIF prelims, fewer to the CIF finals, while only the elite advance to the state meet in early June. Advancement to the league finals requires a finish in the Top 9 at the league prelims. To advance from the league finals to the CIF prelims, an athlete must either finish in the Top 2 after scratches, or achieve a qualifying mark.

The league meets were held last week at several venues. Monday at Coronado, Danielle Eckert advanced to the CIF prelims as the fourth seed in the Division II pole vault event, with an effort of 9-feet even. Most preliminary heats and the finals for the high jump, triple jump, and the 3,200-meter run were held at Hoover Tuesday.

In the girls’ high jump, Jamie Klages cleared 5-feet, 9-inches, advancing her to the CIF prelims as the top seed. Sarah Player was off her best, but also advanced with a qualifying jump of 4-feet, 11-inches. Both Adam Munns and Reid McLean advanced in the boys’ high jump. Munns won the event with a jump of 6-feet, 4.5 inches and is the second seed. McLean, nursing a sore hamstring, stopped at the qualifying height of 5-feet, 11-inches.

Jake Ruzevick easily won the 3,200-meter run in 10:14, but teammate Ben Enowitz was accidentally tripped by a Madison runner he’d beaten before and Ben finished in third place in 10:58.9. However, since Ruzevick plans to concentrate on the 800 and 1,600-meter runs at the CIF he scratched out of the 3,200-meters moving Enowitz into the second qualifying position. Enowitz was scheduled to run the 1,600 prelims but couldn’t because of a twisted ankle suffered during his fall in the 3,200. By coaches’ vote, he was advanced to the 1,600 Harbor League finals. Also advancing to the finals of the 1,600-meter run Kacey Zapatka, Ruzevick, and Michael Davies, by finishing second, third and fifth in that order.

In the girls’ sprints, freshman Neisha Scales advanced to the league finals in both the 100 and 200-meter dash events. Ashley Houston qualified for the league finals in the 200-meters on Tuesday and the long jump, held Wednesday at Crawford H.S. Not moving on, but performing well, were Megan Mushovic, who placed fourth in both the triple jump and the discus throw; David Zodrow, fourth in the discus throw; Allison Cabana, 13^th in the 1,600; Care Bach, 13^th in the 400; Tenille Workman, 13^th in the 200; Robert Schneider, 16^th in the 200; Branden Hoover, 17^th in the discus throw; and Jose Tijerina in the 1,600.

At the City Conference finals held Friday at Patrick Henry High School, Ruzevick won the 1,600 in 4:31.20, then came back to win the 800 in an excellent time of 1:58.71, fast enough to position him as the top seed at the CIF prelims next Saturday. Zapatka (4:52.58), Enowitz (4:59.29) and Davies (5:02.40) followed in the 1,600, but didn’t advance to the CIF prelims. This is the second year in a row that Ruzevick has won all three distance running events at the league finals.

In the 300-meter hurdles, McLean took a cautious approach and didn’t go for time, while winning the event in 41.67 to advance as the seventh seed. Conversely, Player went for time in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line spent, but with the best time of the day and a new school record of 45.96. She is the top seed in that event at the CIF prelims next week.

Ruzevick’s three wins in the distance events earned him the Harbor League MVP for running events for the second year in a row. Klages won the girls’ MVP for field events for her state-leading high jump mark.

To give you an idea of how dominant Klages is in her event, the automatic qualifying mark to advance to the state in the high jump is 5-feet, 4-inches. Jamie has jumped 5-feet, 10.25 inches, more than 6 inches higher than the qualifying mark.

Summarizing the efforts of our fine high jump Coach Kerry Elders, Player has jumped one inch over the state-qualifying standard, and both McLean (6-feet, 3 inches) and Munns (6-feet, 7-inches) both have legitimate shots to advance as well.

Despite tough playing conditions at Warner Springs last week, Stewart Harris, Stuart Gallant and Taylor Hakes all advanced to the second round of the individual play in the CIF Golf Tournament. Harris and Gallant both shot 79, while Hakes shot an 80. The Islanders as a team did not advance for CIF team play.

"Stewart, Stuart and Taylor are among the Top 28 players in the county, not including the kids on the Top 10 teams," said Head Coach Dr. Lee Price. "They take the combined scores from the two days. All three of our kids can go out and shoot a 70, which would give them a chance. But, you never know."

The Top 10 players in addition to the Top 2 schools in the county advance to the CIF Regionals and then on to the State playoffs.

The Coronado Boys Volleyball Team finished their regular season on a positive note, losing a close match to Harbor League Champion Clairemont 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-20, in what Head Coach Phil Trotter called "Probably our best game of the year. Everybody that played, played well. Brady Penn played his best game of the year. Jed Considine played great, even though he was sick. He was probably the best player on the court.

We were down to seven layers, but we played them really tough. We did a great job of playing as a team. The kids were disappointed, because we had a chance to win. We had nothing to hang our heads about. Despite our record, we really developed as a team."

Armed with an overall record of 6-12, 4-2 in the Harbor League, Trotter leads his team into the CIF Division IV Playoffs against No. 1 seed Francis Parker, the owner of a gaudy 29-1 record and a club that according to Trotter, "Might be the best team to ever come out of here." The assumption is that ‘here’ is San Diego, so just assume that the Lancers are the early-book favorite to win this showdown.

"The kids wanted to go," said Trotter of Coronado’s venture into the playoffs. "It was their decision more than mine. We’ve had a good year and I’m looking forward to the challenge and competing. I’m really proud of the kids and the team."

Head CHS Swim Coach Dave Throop was pleased with his team’s performance last week in the City Conference Meet, a grouping that includes the teams from the Western League, the Eastern League and the Harbor League. "About 95 percent of our times were either season or personal best records in the prelims or the finals," Throop said. "It was a really good meet in that regard. Everyone had a chance to show what they could do. I was very happy with how we performed."

At the outset of the meet, CHS was aided by a first place in girls diving by Islander Kaitlyn Gillingham, who won the diving competition with 341.5 points. "That qualifies her to go on to the CIFs," said Throop. "She did really well."

Probably the next best effort was turned in by the Boys 200 Medley Relay Team which Throop described as "Arguably as strong as, or stronger than any 200 relay team we’ve had since I’ve been here." The relay includes Sean Castillo in the backstroke, Preston Lujan in the butterfly, Dallas Chase in the freestyle and either Devin Farrell (prelims), Patrick Queisser (finals) or Ryan Cooper (likely to swim in the CIFs) competing in the breaststroke leg. Throop added, "Based on the way they swam their legs, we anticipate them to be one of the favorites in the CIF to win that relay."

Chase won both the 50 yard and the 100 yard freestyle events, while Lujan placed fourth in both the 50 and the 100. Castillo was sixth in the 200 yard individual medley.

On the girls’ side, Molly Patrick finished in third place in the 100 free; Katherine Maguire was third in the 100 breaststroke; while Carly Hoshko finished fifth in the 200 free and seventh in the 100 free.

"Probably the finals swimmer of the meet was Sandra Fernandez in the 500 free," said Throop. "We didn’t know what to expect from her, because she had been sick and out of the water for 8 days. She dropped 12 seconds from her prelim time to her finals time. She won the consolation finals by 7 seconds. She’ll do anything for the team and she will fill any role. Sandra did a really nice job. Kelly Phelps was an alternate, and wound up finishing fourth in the consolation finals."

Another fine effort was turned in by Danielle Goldblatt in the 100 breaststroke. A week ago in a dual meet, she swam the event in 1:19.9. She then chopped two seconds off of that time in the prelims and dropped another two seconds to finish with a 1:15.6 in the consolation finals.

Throop continued to honor his team’s effort this season. "Honestly the hardest part of the year has been singling people out, because they have all done so well. We had some kids who weren’t even on the radar and we found them an event. They went out and gave themselves a chance to compete. It’s almost a disservice mentioning some and not all of the kids. This team is maybe not as talented as some teams in the past, but their attitude has been great. If they continue to train this hard in the next couple of years, both the boys and girls will be really successful. I can’t give them enough praise."

The Boys finished in third place in the City Conference meet, while the Girls were fifth. The CIF Division II preliminaries will be Wednesday at 4:30 pm at Rancho Bernardo High School. The finals will be held at 9 am Saturday, also at Rancho Bernardo.

Coronado drew Santa Fe Christian in the first round of the CIF Division III Team play and lost to the Eagles 10-8. Head Coach Robbin Adair provides the narrative. "Dan Souza won all three of his singles sets and Matt Rowan won one. The doubles team of Lewis Guess/Dan Schneider took two out of three as did Javier Arozarena/Pedro de la Fuente. The freshman third doubles team of Frankie Harrison/Evan Wheeler lost all three sets, but played great."

Monday the Western League individual tournament starts at La Jolla.

Life can be tough in the Western League and that was proven last week by the CHS Girls Softball Team as they lost to USDHS 8-0 and to Mission Bay 5-3.

But, Head Coach Ed Shanholtz noted some bright spots from the week’s play. "Juliet Zimmer pitched well against USDHS and we played pretty well. We only had one error in the game, while Farrell Pompa and Karli Massie were both 1-3 at the plate.

Against Mission Bay, pitcher Sara Noceto allowed one earned run and only one of the five runs they scored were earned. All four of the runs scored in the first three innings were unearned. From the third inning on, we pretty much dominated. Offensively Lisa Bernardy was 1-3 with an RBI; Christy Mebust was 1-3 with an RBI double; while both Farrell and Sara were 1-3."

The Islanders final regular season game is at home Tuesday against Point Loma. Game time at Green Field is 3:30 pm.

It’s no accident that Mission Bay is undefeated in Western League competition and they played to that level defeating Coronado 9-2 in the Islanders’ first game last week.

Coronado rebounded in Thursday’s game, defeating Point Loma 8-4 in a complete game pitching victory for staff ace Kevin Couture. "Kevin had been sick earlier in the week," explained Head Coach Sam Ceci. "He didn’t dress for the Mission Bay game. Against Point Loma, we stayed with it. They got ahead of us a couple of times. We battled back and went ahead. Kevin pitched nice and steady, giving up four earned runs, and striking out eight. We had some pretty good hitting. Our big star was Jimmy Gersonde, who was 2-4 with a double, a bases-loaded triple and four RBIs. Josh Okerman was 1-3 and hit the ball well, which is a good sign."

Ceci re-arranged his lineup a while back, moving senior David West to the top of the batting order. "We moved David into the lead-off spot. He got on base every time against Point Loma in four plate appearances. He was hit by a pitch twice, walked once, got a hit, and scored three times. His average (.371) has been climbing. He doesn’t get hits in bunches, it’s more like a hit a game. He’s walked more this year and has become very efficient."

West qualifies for the county-wide statistics leader board with 24 runs scored, as does Danny Cepin with 21; Gersonde’s 21 RBIs earns him recognition in that important category; Couture’s wins (7), earned run average (1.57) and strikeouts (76) all qualify for the leader board as does West’s 12 stolen bases.

The Islanders have one regular season game remaining, a Thursday tilt at Clairemont at 3 pm. Ceci would like to take a victory into Wednesday’s Division III Coaches’ seeding meeting. "I think if we lose Thursday, we’ll still be in the playoffs in the 10-11-12 range. If we win, we could be as high as 8-9-10 and get a first round home game."

Ceci explained the playoff format. "A total of 12 teams make the playoffs. After the play-in round which is single elimination, it becomes an 8-team double elimination tournament. The play-in game is Tuesday, the first round game is Wednesday, the second round is Friday, and if you keep winning, you play Saturday as well. It has the makings of a great seeding meeting. We went five games last year and lost on the following Tuesday. The year before we played to Saturday and played four games. This year the quality of the teams is better. Valhalla, San Marcos, Santana, Mission Bay, Steele Canyon, St. Augustine, and Clairemont will all be in. Otay Ranch, Mission Hills and Madison will likely be in. It will be interesting."

Going into this week’s play, Coronado is 17-11 overall, 5-6 in the Western League.

The Coronado Choctaw, a team of fifth and sixth grade boys, won their third straight California Youth Lacrosse League title last weekend with a 4-1 victory in the championship game over the Ashley Falls Seminoles.

Emory Chenoweth was on hand for the action and filed this report. "League Offensive MVP and points leader Kyle Runyon dominated the ground ball play and helped spark the Choctaw offense, often drawing a double team before passing to an open teammate for a shot. The tightly played first half found the Choctaw in the lead 1-0 on a goal by attackman Andrew Gillingham.

In the second half, midfielder Sergio Flores took over offensively for Coronado by controlling the face-offs. George Bailey and Brent White provided the offensive firepower needed to build a three goal margin over the Seminoles. White led all scorers with two goals, while Bailey had an assist to go with his goal.

The Choctaw defense was missing All-Star goalie Reis Stanley, out with an injury. The goalie duties fell to back-up netminder Sean Chenoweth. The Choctaw defense included: Curtis Nixon, A.J. Vido, Dane Farguson, and C.J. Becky.

Qualifying for the CYLL All-Star game, played after the championship game were Runyon, Nixon, Flores, Vido, Farguson, Andrew Woolf and Mack Koelle."