‘Calm before the storm,’ might be an apt way to describe last week’s sports schedule at Coronado High School. Some teams were on, some were off, but all seven varsity fall sports have regular season games this coming week.

The Crawford Colts were the first opponents for the CHS Girls Golf Team this year, when the two clubs met at the Balboa Golf Course last week. Let’s just say that the Islanders were challenged more by the course than the Colts.

Head Coach Hanna Cohan unleashed her starting six of Giovanna Ascolani, Brooke Bower, Mackenzie Coutts, Jackie Davis, Lexi Donovan, and Alexcie Sanchez on the course and they responded with a score of 219. In prep golf, six players compete and the best five scores over nine holes determine the winner. That means the girls averaged 43.8 strokes per nine holes, a scoring average that will win them a lot of matches in 2006.

"It was good for us to be out on the Balboa course," said Cohan of her team. "They enjoyed it so much. I was proud of the girls."

Bower and Sanchez tied for medalist honors with a round of 40. The round that wasn’t used was a 50, which Cohan said "is unheard of for us. That was amazing."

Easing into the regular season last week was probably a good idea, especially since Coronado has three matches in short order this week. Monday they play Mira Mesa, Tuesday the Islanders compete against Patrick Henry and Thursday Our Lady of Peace provides the competition.

Cohan will have the opportunity to play additional members of her talented squad this week, as Arrielle Luna and Chelsea Newson will swing (well-placed golf pun) into action against Mira Mesa.

Head Coach Christina Lahr guided her CHS Girls Volleyball squad into their first regular season game last Wednesday against Grossmont and they collectively emerged with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 victory over the Foothillers.

One disturbing trend, the presence of the dreaded injury bug, raised its ugly head in the victory. Junior Kelsey Fitzgerald sustained a hyper extended left knee, which kept her out of the rest of last week’s action.

Friday evening, the Islanders launched into tournament play at the Epic Center in Poway, a building which has the capability of playing five volleyball matches simultaneously. However, communication can be a problem in the converted warehouse. Coach Lahr described the noise as being so loud that "you can’t hear yourself think."

In the early going of the tournament, Emmy Pickett sustained an injury. "Emmy was injured Friday night against Calvin Christian," said Lahr of her senior outside hitter. "She succeeded in getting a kill on the hit. Emmy reached way outside and hit the ball with her left hand, got the kill and then came down off balance and hurt her right knee."

Playing against some of the stronger teams in San Diego, the young and improving Islanders were competitive against the likes of Valhalla, Rancho Buena Vista, Valley Center and Grossmont. Yes, the same Grossmont they defeated Wednesday, made a comeback in the Epic Tournament against the Islanders.

With the injuries sustained by Fitzgerald and Pickett, Lahr recruited Melissa Humphrey and Rachel Ricker, two junior varsity members for Saturday’s competition. "They were a huge help," said Lahr. "They played awesome. The girls really appreciated the work they put in."

Lahr summarized some of the better individual efforts in the 12 tournament games by saying, "Christy Mebust was one of our standouts with her all-around passing, serving and consistency. Madison Boomer, a sophomore who is new to the team, stepped in Saturday and did an incredible job with very few mistakes and very good chemistry. I was glad to see her do so well. Our setter Karli Massie set all four matches, both days. Overall, she was pretty solid for the amount of setting she did for the tournament. She was assisting the other players in being able to work together."

Against tough competition, Lahr likes the development of her very young team. "We’re coming together nicely, which is nice to see. It’s good to have a team that with so many young players is bonding well and getting along."

This week the team practices early on, preparing for the Monte Vista Tournament which begins play Friday evening. "We’ll get some rest, some relaxation and we’ll start getting everything back to the way it is supposed to be in practice. "

After last week’s ‘bye’ week, Coronado returns to the gridiron Friday evening at 7 pm at Serra High School. Two weeks ago the Islanders lost their season opener to West Hills 26-6, in a game that was closer than the score might indicate.

The Conquistadores enter this Friday’s game 0-2 after falling to Mt. Carmel 27-14 last week. Their first loss of the season came at the hands of El Capitan. Serra, which competes in the Western League (Point Loma, Mission Bay, Hoover, La Jolla, and San Diego), was picked to finish in the second division of the conference in pre-season polls.

However, the Q’s do feature one of the county’s top running backs in Chris Daniels. Coronado Head Coach Bud Mayfield saw Serra via the required game film exchange between the schools and knows that Friday’s opponent may be dangerous. "They showed a better passing game than they did the week before. This will be their third game and only our second and they certainly do have athletes. They are at home for the first time and I’m sure they think they can beat little Coronado and get a win."

Although they didn’t play an official game last weekend, the Boys Varsity Water Polo Team may have felt like they were each individually run over by their very own truck after a four-hour, three-team scrimmage Saturday.

Supplying the opposition were their counterparts from Servite and Esperanza High Schools. Servite is a CIF Division II powerhouse from the Santa Barbara area, while Esperanza is on of the Top Division I teams from Orange County.

"We played continuously from 8 am to noon, with 40 minutes on and then 20 minutes off," said Head Coach Randy Burgess of his team. "It was a conditioning and scrimmaging situation. Neither of the other teams dominated us and we were trying to get a look at all of our players."

Burgess provided some insight into the development of his team. "The hard work is starting to show for Kyle Pokorny. He has been playing really well and has been very solid as our goal keeper. A kid who in a good sense has been making a lot of mistakes, but learning from them, is Alex Johnson. He has good size, is real smart and is beginning to read what is going on in the field real well. He’s going to be a good bet to get a lot of playing time."

"We were impressed with Jake Hunzecker," Burgess added. "In the scrimmage when other people were wearing down, he stepped up at the center position. Sam Working is another junior who is improving every single day in practice. Sean Cook is starting to understand his role and is working real well with Jacob Smith. Those two could form a real good (outside) combination. C.J. Kerr has also caught the eye of the coaches with the intensity of his workouts."

Although they are seniors, several of the upper classmen have shown improvement as well, Burgess said. "Jackson Crow-Mickle is working his way into serious minutes this season. He’s finding his niche on the team. Prince Sefa-Boakye is working very, very hard. Our most impressive player has been Eric Clapper, who was named team captain by his teammates. His attitude is great, but then it has always been great. He is doing nice things with the ball and away from the ball. He makes up for a lack of size with his tenacity."

Perennial power Newport Harbor is the first stop of the Islander’s 2006 regular season, as Coronado hits the road Saturday for their first game. "We’re looking forward to Newport, of course," said Burgess. "It’s a tough start (to the season), but we always come out of the gate ready to play them. The America’s Finest City Tournament is just around the corner."

Head Cross Country Coach George Green provides his thoughts on the CHS Boys and Girls Varsity Cross Country team’s efforts last weekend.

"The Boys team had a good showing at the Mustang Invitational last Friday at Rohr Park. Their fourth place finish placed them in front of all of Coronado’s Central League and Division IV rivals entered in the event. Ben Enowitz led the Coronado charge over the 3-mile course by placing fifth in 17:00, followed by Michael Davies (13^th in 17:32), David Grimes (22^nd in 18:15), Turner Stanley (37^th in 19:10), Cotter Stacy (46^th in 19:34), Ben Green (49^th in 19:44), Cory Couture and Alton Smith.

Coronado freshman Sallie Privett won the Silver Division of the girls’ varsity race in 12:35 over the 2.2-mile course. It was a two-runner dual with OLP’s Sammy Silva until the last quarter mile, when Sallie pulled away to win easily. Only Sarah Vitug from University City, who won the Blue Division (large schools) in 12:31 had a better time from the 32 schools entered in the event. Sheila Braun placed 36^th in the same race, followed by Lindsay Pettee.

Robbin Adair and the Girls Tennis Team didn’t play competitively last week, but they return to the court Monday against San Dieguito Academy. They will also host Brawley High School at Coronado Friday, with the match slated to begin at 3 pm.