The time has come for the 7^th Annual Axey Awards, which as always comes with two disclaimers. First, the awards that follow are totally subjective. Second, the awards for the best athletes by class are intentionally biased toward honoring multi-sport athletes.

Team of the Year – Breaking a two-year hold on this award held by the Girls Soccer Team, is the CHS Varsity Baseball Team, winners of the CIF Division IV title in 2006. The championship was the first in the sport in the 86-year history of Coronado High School. The Islanders went undefeated in the playoffs, including a 4-2 victory over Santa Fe Christian in the finals and finished with an overall record of 20-14.

Honorable mention goes to Boys Soccer, which had a great run, including posting a 19-3-4 record on their way to a semi-final CIF playoff appearance. Both the Boys and Girls Water Polo Teams reached the Division II finals.

Best Comedic Moment Award – When the Dillon Dozen, a group primarily composed of football players, showed up at a home basketball game all dressed to imitate Head Basketball Coach Sandy Dillon. Their accessories included a towel to kneel on during the game, wigs to imitate Dillon’s hair line, along with similar clothing and the identical gestures of the real thing. The kids, the crowd and Dillon all seemed to enjoy the fun.

Career Most Improved Athlete Award – Until this year, senior Bryan Reed was a big guy (6-6, 220 pounds) playing basketball. Early in the 2005-06 season, Reed morphed into a force on the basketball floor. One of the big center’s highlights was a 15-point, 12-rebound effort against Tyrone Shelley and Crawford High School. Reed also was on the travel squad for the Boys Golf Team and made a strong contribution to that squad. Alarming Trend Award- The level and quality of officiating in all sports at the prep level is not keeping pace with the consistently high level of play exhibited by our athletes. Generally speaking, the officiating is bad for both teams, but that’s not a good defense and the problem is getting worse. Adding insult to injury, the expense of the game officials is rising in direct proportion to the decline of their work.

Strangest Game Setting Award – The Boys Soccer CIF Division III Playoff Semi-Finals played between Coronado and St. Augustine at Balboa Stadium had a surreal quality about it. Between the airplanes flying overhead on their landing approach to Lindbergh Field, fog rolling in, the old artificial turf surface, and minimal lighting for the night game, the setting was bizarre. Fortunately, the conditions did not negatively impact the quality of play, as both teams played well until the game’s conclusion.

The Hey, I’ve Been Wrong Before Too, But…Award - CHS Grad J.D. Laaperi, who has a great future in basketball coaching, told me that Crawford’s Tyrone Shelley was a better basketball player than Chase Buddinger of La Costa Canyon. To his credit, Laaperi amended that dizzying personnel assessment later in the season, but the ‘damage’ was done. Buddinger, in addition to being named a McDonald’s All-American, is the San Diego Section’s all-time leading scorer in basketball.

Outstanding Non-Sports Performance Award – CHS Senior Hannah Sumner sang the National Anthem at a home baseball playoff game recently, which reminded me of what a great job she did before the CHS home football games this year. She sings the vocally challenging National Anthem the way it was written and does it beautifully.

Outstanding Sports Performance Award – There are many to choose from, but twice in one baseball playoff game against Christian High School, senior centerfielder Max Weinfurtner threw out Patriot runners at home, preserving a tenuous 2-0 Islander lead. Weinfurtner also made another great catch in the same game.

Honorable mention goes to junior lacrosse player Geoff Worley who picked apart Rancho Bernardo in the CIF quarter-finals. Worley directed the Islanders offense, set up his fellow players and scored four goals himself. He paced the Islanders to an 8-1 lead before the Broncos could catch their breath.

Another honorable mention goes to football tailback Kelcey Fisher, who rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries in a 41-0 victory over University City last fall, all in the first half. Fisher galloped through the Centurion defense for runs of 36, 24, 21, 35, 53, and 18 yards, as well as a couple of shorter runs.

Best Game Award – A three-way tie between the Boys Lacrosse game against De LaSalle of Concord, won by the Islanders 16-15 after they trailed by two goals late in the game; the Girls Volleyball Team’s playoff game against Horizon, won by the Islanders 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 25-20 and 15-12, with both teams earning their points rather than benefiting from their opponent’s poor execution; and the Boys Lacrosse Team again in their 7-6 CIF semi-final playoff loss at Poway, a really fine game where the Islanders fell just short and ran out of time.

Best New Coach Award – To Islander Trainer Connie Martinez, who coached a CHS team which won the 4^th Annual Sports Medicine Interscholastic Competition, which was held in Los Angeles. The winning team included Cameron Feallock, Jessica Davis-Ricci, Preston Lujan, Brandi Bible, Josh Watts, Enrique Araiza and Hayley Kitzmiller, who took third place individually from a total group of 180 competitors. Connie, it’s all downhill from here, but congratulations on the achievement.

Best Goal Line Stand – This award is pretty well limited to the football team for consideration, but seniors Levi Lozano, Dustin West, and Tim Sexton, joined by junior Ben Thorne, stopped four consecutive Crawford running plays from inside the 1-yard line and helped the Islanders defeat the Colts 28-0 in an important Central League game. It was a great team effort from the ‘Big Uglies.’

The ‘Only in Canada’ Award – Kelcey Fisher was awarded a ‘rouge’ or a ‘single’ in the Islanders game played in Canada last fall. This is a point earned when a kickoff cannot be returned from the 20-yard end zone used in Canadian football.

The ‘You Announce the Obvious with an Air of Discovery’ Award – Your Natterer wins this one, when I said to Boys Soccer Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu, "I gather your defense played well, since you didn’t give up any goals last week." Clearly World Cup analysis on the network level is next for me.

Best Story Award – Sophomore Kyle Pokorny went from having a life-threatening illness (Stevens Johnson’s Syndrome) and an eight-day hospital confinement, to three weeks later starting as shortstop for the Islanders in their CIF Division IV championship game with Santa Fe Christian. It’s hard to top that story.

Coach of the Year – Boys Teams – It’s hard to argue with the success of Sam Ceci and the Islander Baseball team. One year ago they reached the Division III championship finals and lost. This year they won the Division IV finals. Honorable mention to Brian Hiatt-Aleu, who took a team that figured to be in re-building mode and took them to the CIF semis.

Coach of the Year – Girls Teams – Jessica Battle of Girls Lacrosse upgraded her schedule and faced the best teams in San Diego County during the regular season. A late season injury to offensive star Marissa Nagler hurt the cause, but the team played well all year. She wins the Axey for her fine efforts. Girls Basketball Head Coach Toler Goodwin is always in the mix when this category is brought up. The ultimate accolade for a coach is to get the most out of his or her talent and Goodwin does that on a consistent basis.

Best Coaching Staff – For depth of coaching experience and results gleaned from a small student population, the CHS Track and Field staff of Head Coach George Green, and his assistants Jack Nash, Kerry Elders, Mel Bechtel and Doug Stone are hard to beat. To have that caliber of coaching at the Division IV high school level, with the collective athletic experience of the staff, is quite extraordinary.

Best Coach – Retired – Boys and Girls Volleyball Head Coach Phil Trotter retired from coaching, hopefully only temporarily, after the girls’ season this fall. It would be fair to say that Trotter doesn’t sweat the small stuff, but he coached for all the right reasons. His unique perspective on sports and good humor will be greatly missed.

Girls Freshman Athlete of the Year – Multi-sport contributors at the varsity level among the freshman class were relatively few this year, but the best was Alex Adamson, who earned a lot of playing time with the varsity as a goalie in Water Polo and was a CIF qualifier in Swimming.

Boys Freshman Athlete of the Year – Krishna Samperio played No. 1 singles for the Varsity Boys Tennis Team this year, was the team MVP and was a major factor on the Boys JV Basketball Team. He is the winner of the Freshman Axey Award.

Girls Sophomore Athlete of the Year – As we step up a grade level, the competition becomes more crowded. Among the contenders for the Sophomore Girls Axey are Christy Mebust in Volleyball and Softball; last year’s Girls Freshman Athlete of the Year Hannah Sebenaler in Water Polo and Lacrosse; and Greer Goebels in Soccer and Lacrosse. Mebust showed signs of being the next Islander volleyball star and contributed in softball. We’ll call it a tie for the Axey between Sebenaler and Goebels, who had strong outings in water polo and soccer respectively. They were two of the three primary scoring options on the successful Girls Lacrosse squad, with Sebenaler a finisher and Goebels being the primary distributor of the ball on offense. It’s too close to call between the two fine athletes.

Boys Sophomore Athlete of the Year – The Boys group is defined primarily by their potential. Last year’s winner Ben Enowitz had a great cross country season, but was ill for most of the track season. Josh Fink (Cross Country and Baseball) showed great promise as a closer in baseball. Kyle Pokorny, the heir apparent in goal for the Water Polo Team, missed a large amount of the baseball season with an illness, but could be starting shortstop on the baseball team next year. Cole McLean figures to be a standout in Basketball and Lacrosse next season, while Cory Couture made contributions in Football and Lacrosse. But based on his fine two-way performance in football at tailback and defensive back, and as a contributor in Lacrosse, the Axey goes to Ricardo Oberwager. This will be a very deep class by their senior year.

Girls Junior Athlete of the Year – Last year’s winner Brooke Becky was Girls Basketball MVP again this season, but received a stiff challenge from Sara Noceto (Volleyball and Softball), Amanda Purvis (Tennis and Lacrosse) and Sarah Player (Cross Country and Track). The Axey winner this year is Player, who now co-owns or owns outright three CHS track and field records. She missed qualifying for the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles by one-thousandths of a second. From dashes, to hurdles to the high jump, Player is basically a one woman track scoring machine.

Boys Junior Athlete of the Year – Three sport contributor J.J. Pontes (Football, Basketball and Lacrosse) had fine moments in all three of his sports and should be a force next year. Chas Marks was Basketball MVP and had several good outings as a pitcher and outfielder in Baseball, but missed a large portion of the season with a sprained ankle. Ben Thorne, last year’s winner had a standout season in football at offensive and defensive line and was a baseball contributor. Thorne has drawn Division I recruiting interest in football. This year’s Axey goes to Geoff Worley, who was the starting point guard in Basketball and was the mastermind of the Boys Lacrosse Team’s potent offense. Worley has also received major college recruiting interest in lacrosse.

Girls Senior Athlete of the Year – Pardon me while I go third person, but Your Natterer had a tough time deciding among three outstanding seniors for the coveted Axey for Senior Girl Athlete. The winner in a tough call but the Axey goes to Megan Mushovic, who will graduate with 12 athletic letters, four each in Volleyball, Soccer and Track. She edges out fellow three-sport standout Marissa Nagler, who earned a total of 10 letters in Soccer, Cross Country and Lacrosse. Nagler scored 76 goals in lacrosse this season and was a focal point of the team’s offense. Kelly Phelps in Volleyball, Water Polo and Swimming was in the Axey mix with nine letters. Mushovic will play volleyball at Cornell, and Phelps will compete in water polo at Arizona State. Jessica Davis-Ricci, Farrell Pompa, Sandra Fernandez, Lindsay Naple, and Sasha Vido were all multi-sport athletes who made great contributions to their teams in 2005-06.

Boys Senior Athlete of the Year – Legitimate three-sport stars are hard to find, but Coronado has had one in Kelcey Fisher for each of the past two years. As a tailback, linebacker and place kicker in football; as a forward in soccer; and an attackman in lacrosse, Fisher has made each team he participated on better this year. Fisher will attend NCAA Division III lacrosse powerhouse Salisbury University next year and he graduates from CHS with 10 athletic letters.

Other multi-sport stars included Chris Arthur (Lacrosse and Football), Sean Castillo (Water Polo and Swimming), Preston Lujan (Water Polo and Swimming), Kyle McArthur (Lacrosse and Football), Bryan Reed (Basketball and Golf) and Blake Spitzer (Basketball and Baseball). A talented class, this year’s seniors will be tough to replace.