Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

14 March 2007 Issue #10

Despite representing the smallest school in terms of student enrollment in their portion of the CIF San Diego Section, the Coronado Islanders Boys Soccer Team won the Division III championship game 1-0 over Cathedral Catholic a week ago. The winning goal came shortly into the second half of play as midfielder Nick Hamilton stole a Dons pass, crossed a pass of his own to Matt Ganyard, who in turn guided the ball into the net. Islander goalie Jeff Bucklew was credited with the shutout, his 15^th of the season.

Championship game day had an inauspicious start according to Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. His car wouldn’t start as he prepared to depart for the CHS campus to meet the team. Once they arrived, they were one school van short of the number needed to transport the 25-person contingent to Mt. Carmel High School, the site of the 4 pm contest. All of this travel uncertainty had the unintended result of the team arriving at the game to find a substantial Coronado cheering section waving, cheering and honking their car horns upon the team’s arrival.

A total of 300 white t-shirts emblazoned with school’s tikki logo were distributed. The Hamilton and Ahern families organized the tailgating extravaganza and provided food and sodas for the student body.

“The other game ahead of us went into overtime, which gave us time to relax,” said Hiatt-Aleu. “We just like to warm-up for 30-35 minutes before a game. It was extremely windy. Cathedral won the coin toss and went with the wind for the first half. We had to defend like no tomorrow. We pretty much defended the whole half. At halftime, we were really, really tired. We (the coaches) let them rest for the first five minutes (of halftime). We were still tired from Tuesday night (the Islanders 1-0 semi-final victory over St. Augustine).

I told them that we had one half of soccer left. We won our tournament to begin the season, we won the Central League, and now the CIF title was 40 minutes away. I told them to go all out for the first 10 or 15 minutes.”

The result of that effort was the goal described above, which allowed the Islanders to go into defensive mode to protect their slimmest of leads, according to Hiatt-Aleu. “For the last 25 minutes, we stacked our half. We played 11 players behind the 50 (yard line). We subbed guys every two or three minutes. Cathedral couldn’t get inside the 18 (yard line). We played four defenders, five midfielders and one forward.”

Cathedral wouldn’t go quietly, as they mounted a strong scoring effort in the final seconds of penalty time, when a Dons shot attempt went wide of the Islander’s goal. As soon as the subsequent goal kick was taken, the referee concluded the contest.

Hiatt-Aleu was pleased with the crowd and the positive effect it had on his team. “The crowd was awesome. The fans and students came down to the track. Our crowd was three to four times the size of theirs. Our side was completely packed. The whole stadium was full of Coronado people. It was amazing. Everyone stormed the field when it was over.”

The Coronado throng was composed of former Islander players and their families, the parents and siblings of current players, the CHS Girls Soccer Team, and Coronado residents who wanted to see their team do well. CHS Principal Karl Mueller and CHS Athletic Director Sandy Ferguson accepted the CIF trophy on behalf of the school.

There is no truer axiom in sports than ‘defense wins championships,’ and Hiatt-Aleu was quick to credit his defensive backfield comprised of Austen Speer, Charlie Wood, Pat Ahern and Connor Marcone. “In the final, the defense stepped up. The big key was not letting their forwards dribble by us.”

The victory ended a three game title run for Coronado, which found the Islanders defeating a surprisingly good Central Union H.S. team from El Centro 2-1; followed by the twin 1-0 shutouts of No. 3 St. Augustine and No. 1 Cathedral Catholic. Coronado entered the Division III playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

To the victors go the post-season spoils. Islander Nick Hamilton, who scored 27 goals in 29 games for Coronado, was named CIF Player of the Year for Division III and is joined on the First Team by Ganyard and Christian Herrera. Wood, Ahern and Christian Bond earned Second Team Division III recognition.

The title came in the sixth season that Hiatt-Aleu has been at the helm of the Islander soccer program, after serving in the same capacity at Montgomery High School for seven seasons. During each of his six years at Coronado, the Islanders have had a winning record and have made the playoffs. Coronado finished with an overall record of 24-3-2.

But what has become of the Faustian Bargain Hiatt-Aleu made with his team? To review the bidding, Hiatt-Aleu told his team that if they all cut their hair, and the team won the CIF title, he would get a tattoo. At press time, the composition of the tattoo and its placement were still being negotiated according to the coach. “I’m going for a small tikki. We wear the school crest on our jerseys and they (the team) are fighting for the crest. The tikki is a little less work and will hurt a little less. It won’t be bigger than two and a half inches by two and a half inches.”

Allow me to be the first to initiate a drive for clemency for Hiatt-Aleu.

The bottom line for the Islander team and their championship drive was unity. “You know there is something special when they go out with the razor,” said the rightfully proud coach of his team. “They wanted the win really bad and the fought for each other. They all supported each other when it was the right time. It was a team with a lot of heart, energy, desire and conviction. They were not afraid to fight for some success.”

Islander Baseball Team Off to 4-0 Start

Opting to jump into their 2007 regular season schedule with both feet, the CHS Baseball Team has run up a nifty 4-0 record to start the year. All of the contests played to date are part of the two-division, 18-team Bully’s East Tournament.

Coronado opened their home season against Westview, a Top 10 section team from 2006. The Islanders fell behind 8-0, rallied to tie the game at 8-all and then pulled away for a 10-8 win. Coronado was paced offensively by centerfielder Danny Cepin, who went 4-4 at the plate, scored three runs, stole two bases and contributed an RBI. Infielder Mason Mills added two hits and four RBIs to the winning cause. On the mound, Steve Conrad earned the victory and a save was credited to Josh Fink.

“It wasn’t artfully done, but it was done,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci of the season opener. “The people we thought were going to hit, haven’t consistently begun to hit yet. Guys are still finding their way. Some of the guys we had hoped would play well and weren’t sure of, have stepped up.”

The Islanders next encounter came against defending Western League champion University City on the road. Ceci characterized the Centurions as “A good team with almost everybody coming back.” Coronado again spotted the opposition a lead, this time a more manageable margin of 4-0. The lead changed hands several times, the contest went eight innings in length, and ended in conditions that could be generously be described as ‘advanced twilight.’ Coronado won the hard-fought win by the score of 7-6. “I thought it would end in a tie for sure,” said Ceci. Leftfielder Keith Englehart slugged two triples in his three official at-bats. Kyle Pokorny chipped in with two RBIs.

The game ended with hard-throwing right-hander Fink on the mound. Ceci, who played for multiple NCAA title teams at USC and played baseball professionally, said of hitting against Fink in the twilight, “I sure wouldn’t want to face him.” Fink yielded only two hits over three innings to earn the win.

Then it was back home Wednesday to play Brawley High School and again the game went eight innings. This time Coronado emerged with a 2-1 victory. The Islanders’ starting assignment went to pitcher Kyle Couture, who toiled for five innings and gave up only one run and pitched well enough to win. Benson Lorden pitched the last three innings to earn the victory. Lorden threw 28 pitches in the game, 24 of them for strikes.

“Brawley was tough and they were leading most of the game,” said Ceci. “We tied it in the bottom of the sixth and won it in the eighth inning. The game-winning hit was by Brian Crabb, who came in off the bench. He has pinch hit three times, has two hits and one of them is a game winner.” Designated hitter Tim Leary added two hits to the Islander cause.

The fourth game was a road affair at San Diego High School, which was won by the Islanders 9-3. Leary pitched three scoreless innings and “Did just fine,” according to Ceci. Pokorny pitched the final four frames, and gave up three runs, with only two of them earned. “It was sloppy baseball,” summarized Ceci. “We were not as sharp as I would have liked to be.”

Cepin, Pokorny, Mills and transfer Alex Cardello all had two hit games as the Islanders pounded out 12 total base knocks. Cardello also had two RBIs and Cepin added two stolen bases.

“The biggest surprise for me is that the relievers got all of the wins, essentially. That means we’re battling too. All of last year we never had a one-run win. That’s pretty huge. The kids have shown some character. We have had some luck early, but we’re getting it done.”

The competition in the Bully’s East tourney continues this week as the Islanders play at Sweetwater Monday. If they are victorious, they will be in the finals Wednesday against the winner of the opposite nine-team bracket. Saturday they play a rare double-header as they host Mar Vista at Islander Field, located behind Silver Strand elementary School. Games times are at 10:30 am and 1 pm.

CHS Track and Field Preview

CHS Head Track Coach George Green checks in with a preview of the CHS Boys and Girls Track and Field Teams. “Last Saturday at the all-girls Tiger Relays held at Patrick Henry, Sarah Player won the 100 hurdles in 17.04 seconds; Sallie Privett placed second in the Invitational 3,200-meter run in 11 minutes and 55 seconds and Adrianna Davies placed fifth in the Open 3,200-meter race in 13:04.

As the season progresses to dual meet competition, beginning on March 28^th when the Islanders host Clairemont on our new track, these three will figure prominently in the scoring. Player holds or co-holds three school records (the 100 and 300-meter hurdles, and the 200-meter dash), while freshmen Privett and Davies were the Islanders 1-2 punch on last season’s Central League cross country league championship team.

Another athlete who will score a lot of Islander points is three-time league pole vault champion and school record holder Danielle Eckert. She will provide points not only in the pole vault, but in the triple jump, long jump and sprint events. Juniors Neisha Scales and Christian Grant, along with Player and Eckert comprise a formidable and veteran sprint squad.

Moving up from our Coronado Middle School track program are Danielle Gilberg, who dominated the middle school hurdles events; sprinters and hurdlers Stefanie Pietkiewicz and Madison Rutherford; and Brianna Giorgione, who is showing promise in the pole vault and the high jump. Other athletes back from last year’s team are Kelsey Fitzgerald, Brigid Twomey, and Rebecca Waterman, along with several promising newcomers who I will report on as they find their events.

The event specifics are less clear for the Boys Team at this time, as we have many new athletes we are still evaluating. What is clear is that Ben Enowitz and David Grimes from the Islanders Central League champion cross country squad will win most of the distance running match-ups. Michael Davies would normally be in this same category, but he is currently out with a collapsed lung. He should be back later in the season and be as good as new for the 2007 cross country season.

On the other end of the running scale is Islander junior football tailback Kyle Brown, who will be a force to be reckoned with in the 100-meter dash, the 200, long jump and triple jump. He’s new to the Islander track program, as he transferred to Coronado from Lemoore High in the CIF Central section. Rather than guess about the rest, I’ll save the rest of the Boys evaluation until after our first dual meet.

This season I will coach the pole vault, distance runs, long jump, triple jump and hurdles. I am joined by veteran coaches Kerry Elders (high jump, hurdles, triple jump and long jump), Doug Stone (sprints, relays, and long jump), and Mel Bechtel (throws). New this year is a four-year varsity runner at Cal Berkeley Oliver Brown, who is coaching sprints, hurdles, relays, and the long jump.

You can see our 2007 meet schedule and follow the team’s progress at Islandertrack.com.

Islander Boys and Girls Swimming Preview

Swim Coaches Randy Burgess, Dave Throop and Joe McCarthy, along with first year Head Diving Coach Kristin Frick will guide the fortunes of the CHS Boys and Girls Swim Team this season. Frick recently completed her competitive career at USD.

Taking the Girls squad first, Burgess discussed the program’s returning seniors. “Lilly Marfia, who is a real solid athlete and swims the butterfly and freestyle events, is back. Maggie Sosnowski, Molly Patrick, Katie Estrada and Danielle Goldblatt are all returning. Molly is one of the best sprint freestylers in the county.”

According to Burgess, there are more than 40 girls out for swimming, a group he describes as “A very diverse group. We have some newer swimmers and some pretty experienced swimmers.”

The junior class members include breaststroker Alana Burgess, freestyler Sabrina Anonas, multi-event competitors Carly Hoshko and Heather Ireland, and Lenea Smith. Sophomore Kathryn Bailey will swim the middle distance freestyle events.

An unusually large freshman class of 13 girls includes four athletes, who according to Burgess will contribute at the varsity level immediately. They are Jennifer Rodgers, Kelly Ronimus, Selina Schmeck and Ashley Young.

“We have had a couple of weeks of practice,” said Burgess of the combined Boys and Girls Teams. “And they have been well-attended. The girls are going to be a pretty strong group.”

The teams held a double-dual meet the girls swimming against OLP and Ramona. The boys faced St. Augustine and Ramona. The girls lost both of their meets (each event is competed once and the scores among the three teams are compared). The boys defeated Ramona, but lost to St. Augustine. The girls were lacking much of their depth, as the members of the CHS Girls Water Polo Team were given the week after the CIF finals off to rest.

“The Boys are young,” Burgess said of the male half of the squad. “Our returning seniors are Jackson Crow-Mickle, David Foy, Eric Clapper and Lee Sebring. Lee comes into the season in the best condition right now in terms of the seniors. He swims year around and is one of our in-pool leaders.”

The junior class provides Andy Clapper, Sean Cook, Jake Hunzeker, C.J. Kerr and Jacob Smith. The sophomores on the club include Francisco Heredia, Jackson Hummeldorf and Adam Ratcliffe. “Adam, who swims freestyle and butterfly will be one of our top point getters,” Burgess said. The freshmen include Tommy Shoffer and Andrew Ireland.

This week the team will compete in their first league meet Thursday against Scripps Ranch at the Hour Glass pool. Saturday they will venture to Katella High School in Anaheim for a meet. Both teams will compete in the Western League in 2007 and in CIF Division II. Burgess thought the early season teams to beat were the Cathedral Catholic Girls team and the La Jolla Boys.

Boys Tennis Season Underway

Last week marked the beginning of the regular season for the CHS Boys Tennis Team. Head Coach Robbin Adair checks in with a report. “Last week we played Point Loma Tuesday at the Peninsula Racket Club. They beat us 14-4. They are very deep. Krishna Samperio, playing No. 1 singles defeated their No. 3 and lost a close set to their No. 2 by the score of 7-5. Frankie Harrison and Max Mero were swept in the No. 2 and 3 singles.

Over in doubles, Chris Mitchell and Patrick Holman took two of three sets, defeating their Nos. 2 and 3, but losing 6-4 to the Point Loma No. 1 team. Jordan Vance and Brenton Mashburn defeated the No. 3 team. Our third team of Mitch Moran and Andrew Stump lost all three sets, though their loss to the No. 3 squad was very close and they lost in a tiebreaker.

This week we will have Daniel Grazian back after his ankle injury. We will host Canyon Crest Monday and Brawley Friday on our newly opened D Avenue courts.”