Railbirds in horse racing refer to the concept as ‘stepping up in class,’ where a horse having proven itself against a lower level of talent, now opts to run against better equine competition, often over a longer distance. The prep soccer equivalent was executed this year by the Coronado High School Boys Soccer Team, as they went from winning the Gold Division of their own tournament a year ago to winning the Premier Division of the same event in 2006.

After Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu explained the scheduling upgrade, the move made perfect sense. "We won our (tournament) division a year ago. We did so well last year, with only three losses and with all of our returning players, I thought we could step up. We played some of the best teams in the county and did okay." Well, actually better than okay.

To start the tournament proceedings, Coronado defeated Hilltop 9-0. According to Hiatt-Aleu, the Islanders scored on their first three possessions and never looked back. Next was a 4-1 domination of Santana, followed by a 2-1 loss to Poway. The tournament was formatted for the three pool winners and one wild card team to advance to the semi-finals. Coronado qualified for the wild card slot.

The Islanders drew Eastlake in the semi-finals and powered by goals from Matt Ganyard, Christian Herrera and Christian Bond, Coronado prevailed 3-1. On the other side of the bracket, Bonita Vista did Coronado a favor and disposed of Poway, setting up a Bonita Vista vs. Coronado final. Coronado brought their ‘A’ game to the finals and won the title 2-0, with Ganyard scoring both goals in the championship game.

Hiatt-Aleu provided an overview of his team. "Jeff Bucklew is playing really well in goal for us and anchors our defensive back line which includes defenders Austin Speer, Pat Ahern and Charlie Wood. The midfield includes ‘The Christians’ (Herrera and Bond) and a new player to the team, Clay Butner. Nick Hamilton is a center mid and is a returning All-CIF Division III player. Ganyard is up (at forward) with Jake Vita or Pat Murphy."

Proving there is no rest in the early going of a prep soccer season, the Islanders went from winning their tournament Monday to playing two more games last week, which included a 7-2 victory over Serra. "That was a good game for us, because a lot of players got to play," said Hiatt-Aleu. "Our starters only played about 20 minutes and all of the kids got to play a lot."

However, the busy schedule caught up with Coronado Saturday, with a 3-0 loss to Westview in the opening round of the Grossmont Tournament. "The Westview game was Saturday morning and we played Friday," Hiatt-Aleu said of his team’s frenetic early-season schedule. "It was our fourth game in five days and it caught up to us a little bit. We were a little flat in the warm-ups. Westview is the defending CIF Division II champion. The boys want to play them again in the tournament final."

Coronado, in both Boys and Girls Soccer, is the smallest team in the CIF San Diego Section Division III, a mere 106 students larger than Palo Verde, the largest school in Division IV. Currently the Coronado Boys Soccer Team is 5-2, having competed against a roster of strong programs. This week the Boys host Hoover Monday at 6:45 pm and then host University City on Wednesday at the same time.

"We’re knocking the ball around technically and tactically in midseason form already," Hiatt-Aleu said of his team. "We’re stronger than in the past. This should be an interesting year. I’m looking forward to making a run at it (the CIF title) like we did last year."

There is no grass growing under the collective feet of the CHS Girls Soccer Team either. Last Monday the Islanders lost to Mt. Carmel by the score of 3-1, which effectively knocked Coronado out of the tough Barons Invitational Tournament. A 2-1 record in bracket play wasn’t good enough to advance to the semi-finals. Brooke Clifford scored the lone goal for Coronado.

The Islanders rebounded nicely with a 4-1 victory, with all four goals from the foot of junior forward Leah Hatheway. When asked by a smart aleck columnist (me) if he was going to buy Hatheway dinner this week to reward her for her efforts, Head Coach Kiko Medina laughed and responded, "I’ll have to do something to keep it going." (Note: CHS Head Tennis Coach Robbin Adair has long had the tradition of buying dinner at In & Out for players who won three sets of tennis without allowing the opposing players to win any games. Four goals in a soccer game should be worth at least a double-double and a large shake.)

"We had good games last week from newcomer and left defensive back Courtney Ryan," Medina said. "She played well. Obviously Leah played well. And Rosie Harris (center defender) and Sandy Shepherd (right defender) are playing very well."

The CHS Junior Varsity won their division in the Barons Tournament, going undefeated and outscoring their opponents 18-2 in the five games they played. According the Medina, the JV defeated Steele Canyon High School in the final 4-0.

This week the varsity has a rough schedule, with home games Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus a first round game in El Capitan’s Lady Vaquero Tournament Saturday morning. The home games include Point Loma Monday, Serra on Wednesday and La Jolla on Friday. The latter contest is Coronado’s first foray into their Western League schedule for 2006-07.

When combined with the Boys Varsity Schedule (see above) there is a soccer tripleheader Monday and Wednesday, with a JV Girls Game at 3 pm, the Varsity Girls at 5 pm and the Boys Varsity at 6:45 pm.

It’s tournament time in the basketball world as well, and the CHS Boys Basketball Team successfully launched into their annual appearance in the Small Schools Tournament last Wednesday with a 61-46 victory over last season’s CIF Division V Runner-up San Pasqual Academy. "They had two of their best three kids back," said Head Coach Sandy Dillon of Coronado’s opponents. "We handled them pretty decently. I was pretty pleased with the way we played. Matt Oakley had 21 points and Chas Marks added 20. We took care of business."

We’ll allow Coach Dillon to channel the 1990 musical hit by the Bachman-Turner Overdrive, at least in part because Coronado won their second tournament game the following day, defeating Foothills Christian 69-68. "We were behind 28-20 at the end of the first quarter because they made nine of their first 10 shots," Dillon said. "They were nine for 17 from the three-point line in the first half. Geoff Worley had eight points and five assists, Liam Cronan had six assists and 13 points, and Chas had 31 points." A 22-10 third quarter helped Coronado earn the victory.

Next on the docket was La Jolla Country Day playing on their home floor, as co-host of the tournament. The Islanders fell 57-53 in what Dillon described as "Our best game of the weekend." Marks with 20 points and Oakley with 14 again led the way for Coronado. "We were a little bit tired," Dillon said. "We were only down two pints at the end of the third quarter, but we couldn’t hit a big shot at the end of the game. We had a chance to win it and we really played well. Coming down to the end, we didn’t quite get it done."

The final contest was against Calipatria and Coronado came out on the short end of the 58-47 result. But, Dillon was pleased with the club’s effort. "The four games took a toll on us. Calipatria scored the first nine points in the game. We got back into it and got the lead at one point. Then we just tired out. Chas Marks led us with 25 points. We’re not very aggressive and we’re not very big and strong. For us to be 3-2 at this stage, especially with all the injuries we have, is not too bad."

This week the Islanders have a lone game this week on Thursday night at 7 pm as they host Mountain Empire.

In their solo game last week, Coronado fell to University City 59-32. The first half was closer than the final score might suggest, as the Islanders trailed 22-17 at intermission. But, according to CHS Head Coach Toler Goodwin, that’s when the game got out of hand. "We started slow, had a solid second quarter, and then we didn’t come out to play the third quarter. We brought it back to a three-point game and then gave them a basket at the half. We gave them a chance to score and they did. We disappeared in the third quarter."

The Centurions outscored the Islanders 26-9 in the third frame. Bria Phillips scored 10 points for Coronado, followed by seven points each for Tiffany Depfer and Emily Bell. Six points for Angela Strohbeck and two from Melissa Humphrey completed the scoring.

Goodwin summarized the game and thus the week by saying, "It comes down to this - we didn’t play well in our only game this week. We’ve got to be willing to compete every possession and on every play and be willing to make the plays to be successful offensively and defensively. We have to put the sense of urgency into every possession."

The game schedule picks up dramatically this week as the Islanders have four games on tap. Tuesday night Coronado hosts Julian at 6:30 pm; they play at Mar Vista Wednesday at 7 pm; Friday they host Marian Catholic at 6:30 pm and Saturday they host Westview High School at 3:30 pm.

Last among the Winter Sports Teams to begin their regular season, the Girls Water Polo Team dives (outstanding water polo verb choice, wouldn’t you agree) right into their schedule this week with three games. Wednesday they host University City at the Coronado Aquatics Center, with a 3 pm game. Friday the Islanders travel to take on the Bishop’s Knights at 3:15 pm, while Saturday Coronado plays Scripps Ranch at Miramar College at noon.

Three Western League games in four days is quite a way to metaphorically dip your toe into the pool of the new season. "The girls look good," said Head Coach Dave Throop of his squad. "We’re wondering how good we can be. I’m cautiously optimistic."

The Awards Season is in full bloom, so we’ll start with the CHS Boys and Girls Cross Country awards: Most Valuable Players – Ben Enowitz and Sallie Privett; Rookie of the Year – Adrianna Davies, who was also All-Central League, All-CIF and a State Meet Qualifier; Coaches’ Awards – David Grimes (All-Central League and All-CIF); Coaches’ Award and All-Central League – Michael Davies; Senior Coaches’ Awards – Sarah Player, Sheila Braun, Lindsay Pettee and Alton Smith; Coaches’ Awards and Outstanding Freshmen – Kevin Siefert and Coco O’Brien.

The banquet, which featured former World-Class Track and Cross Country athlete Ute Jamrozy as the keynote speaker, also recognized the following Central League Champions: Girls – Privett, Davies, O’Brien, Braun, Pettee, Player, Helen Luppi, Bridgid Twomey and Selina Schmeck. Boys Central League Championship Team Members included: Enowitz, Davies, Grimes, Siefert, Cotter Stacy, Jose Tijerina, Ben Green, Turner Stanley, Kramer De Laurentis and Jordan Vance.

The CHS Football Awards Banquet recognized both the JV and Varsity Award winners. The Varsity Awards included: Most Improved – Kyle Brown and Mason Mills; The Heart of an Islander Award – Ray San Giovanni; Team Captains – JJ Pontes and Ben Thorne; Scholar-Athlete Award – Pontes with a 4.1 GPA; Most Valuable Lineman – Thorne; Most Valuable Back – Ricardo Oberwager; Team MVP – Thorne.

Earning First Team All-Central League recognition were: Scott Shepherd, Brown, San Giovanni, Oberwager, Pontes and Thorne, who was also named Central League Defensive MVP. Second Team All-Central League honors went to: Keith Englehart, Stephen Conrad, Curtis Perkins, Eddie Gomez, Greg Reed and Ryan Sidorski.

The JV Award Winners were: Most Improved – Chris Declercq and Zach Welton; the Team Captain and Team MVP Awards went to John Mikesell.

The Boys Water Polo Awards Banquet honored the following Varsity Players: Most Valuable Offense – Jacob Smith; Most Valuable Defense – Kyle Pokorny; Most Improved – Sean Cook and Alex Johnson; Coaches’ Award – Jackson Crow-Mickle; Team Captain, Golden Tassel and ISF Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Eric Clapper.

JV Awards went to: Most Valuable Player – Andrew Ireland; Most Valuable Offense – Paul Pedrotty and Jared Kerr; Most Valuable Defense – Jack Nicholson; Most Improved – Colton Wandke and Alexander Aponte; Coaches’ Award – Brennan Casey; and Team Captains – Brendan Farrell and Asante Sefa-Boakye.

All CIF Division II Honors went to: First Team –Smith and Clapper; Second Team –Cook; Third Team –Pokorny.

Local athletes Jake McMahon, Josh Fink, Alex Rowan and Tucker Johnson have started a community service project to help the less fortunate in San Diego. All it takes is one phone call and they will come and pick up any new or gently used clothing, household items and toys. Once a month these items are delivered to those families who need a little help.

Give these Coronado boys a call at 435-3737 or E-mail them with your items and contact information at erowan@san.rr.com and your discards will be picked up within 24 hours. They currently are trying to meet deliveries to needy families by their Christmas deadline, so please give them a call by Wednesday, Dec. 20.

Word comes to us that CHS alumnus Stu Gallant (CHS ’05) had a fine year as a redshirt freshman on the Sonoma State men’s soccer team. They finished with a 14-6-1 record and earned their way to the conference semi-finals.

Gallant played in 19 games at left defense and earned All-Conference Honorable Mention recognition, an honor shared with only two other freshmen in the league. Sonoma State Head Coach Marcs Zeimer said that Gallant was deserving of the recognition.

For those of you who watched the recent Arizona vs. San Diego State University men’s basketball game on San Diego Cable 4, you may have found play-by-play announcer Steve Quis’ commentary regarding the Aztecs’ talent level interesting. Quis mentioned twice that there were "three or four Aztecs who can play in the NBA."

I watched the game from first bounce to last with former NBA Executive of the Year Joe Axelson (my father) and we agreed that there are no future NBA players on the Aztecs current squad. Zero. Zed. Nada. Maybe Quis was supplied with some bad pre-game press notes.

After the Wildcats and Aztecs concluded their festivities, we watched the Gonzaga vs. Washington game, which conversely did have three or four legitimate NBA prospects. The pace and skill level of the games were remarkably different. All of which is going to set up a potentially strong Pac Ten basketball season for a welcome change from recent year. Games between and among UCLA, Arizona, Washington and Washington State to name a few, should be fun to watch. Don’t be surprised if the Pac 10 Conference champion has at least two or three in-league losses this season.