Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

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

28 March 2007 Issue #12

Typically the opening portion of this column is devoted to the hottest team or best sports performance of the previous week. This week we’ll opt for career achievement as the criteria for our opening item.

Sunday evening at the Boys Basketball post-season banquet, two veteran coaches and educators were honored for their respective roles in the success of Islander sports. Head Boys Basketball Coach Sandy Dillon and JV Head Coach and Varsity Assistant Robbin Adair are both retiring from coaching and teaching at the conclusion of the 2006-07 school year.

Dillon, who has more than 300 victories as a head basketball coach, compiled a record of 231-121 at Coronado in the past 14 seasons. Known primarily as a defensive-minded coach, Dillon’s teams were often found in the Top 5 of fewest points allowed by team in San Diego County.

Adair compiled a record of 216-54 as the JV head coach over the same period, but is best known in San Diego prep circles as a tennis coach. As the head coach of both the CHS Boys Tennis and Girls Tennis programs over the years, Adair has amassed more than 1,000 victories on the courts in and around Southern California.

A large and appreciative crowd was in attendance at the banquet and both coaches received prolonged standing ovations. Both educators were presented with plaques made from the gym floor of the old Carrothers Gymnasium, the predecessor to the current Blumenthal Sports Complex facility, to honor their contributions to the basketball program.

One of the funnier elements of the evening was the slight disparity regarding the recounting of the details of who hired whom and why for the Islander basketball program. Adair served as CHS athletic director at the time of Dillon’s original hiring. Adair and Dillon are close friends and had similar philosophies regarding encouraging Islander athletes to participate in more than one sport; a vanishing concept in modern-day prep sports.

In other awards presented Sunday evening, Head Frosh/Soph Boys Basketball Coach Bob Lindfelt announced Max Treadway as the Most Improved Player. The JV awards as presented by Head Coach J.D. Laaperi included: Most Improved – Tyler Hustwick; Co-Hustle Award Winners – Luke Bernardy and Blake Malkemus; Team Captains – Mike Emerson and Dallas Taylor; and the Team MVP was Lynden Ostrander.

The Varsity Awards included: The Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship to Drew Zeller; Co-Captains – Chas Marks and Geoff Worley; Most Improved – Alex Rowan; Hustle Award – Liam Cronan; Most Valuable Assistant Coach – Geoff Worley; Co-MVPs – Matt Oakley and Chas Marks. Scoring a total of 1,047 points in his career at Coronado, Marks now stands in second place behind Randy Nixon in career points scored.

CHS Boys Baseball Squad’s Record Stands at 9-1

During the month of March, the Islander Varsity Baseball Team has lost twice. The first was a meaningless scrimmage against Central Union High School of El Centro. The second was a 7-0 loss to Mira Mesa Saturday afternoon in the City Conference Tournament. Would you care to take a wild guess which two games Your Natterer saw in person so far this season?

Despite a personal and apparently burgeoning “Sports Illustrated” jinx on my part, Coronado has been on a great run this season. Head Coach Sam Ceci, who probably would have taken the guarantee of a .500 record at this point in the season if asked, said that an overall 9-1 mark was, “Far better than we ever imagined. We were disappointed that we didn’t hang with Mira Mesa. The result of the game was dictated by their pitching. Had we scored early, it might have been a better game.”

SDSU-bound Derrick Hooker, the Mira Mesa staff ace, struck out 13 Islanders over six innings. “He has a nasty curveball, and he kept it down low. I was impressed with his location, rather than his velocity,” Ceci said. Coronado had doubles from Danny Cepin and Mason Mills and singles from Kyle Pokorny, Mills, Alex Rowan and Keith Englehart in the contest. However the Islanders were never able to string together more than two hits in any one inning.

Good performances were turned in by pitcher Tucker Johnson and Mills, who played second base. “I thought Tucker did well in relief,” Ceci said. “Mason continued his consistent effort this year. He’s a gamer and he’s been a real pleasant surprise.” Connecting the name across different sports seasons, Mills was the starting quarterback on the Islander varsity football team this year.

Earlier in the week, in two other games played in the City Conference tournament, Coronado defeated San Diego by the score of 6-2, and two days later bested Point Loma 10-7. Sophomore hurler Kyle Couture pitched for the first four innings against the Cavers and earned the win. Multi-hit games were turned in by first sacker Tim Leary and right fielder Benson Lorden. Leary, who doubles as a football lineman during the fall and is roughly a head taller than any of his baseball teammates, mashed a stand-up triple in the contest. “It was as hard a hit ball as I have seen all year,” said Ceci. “It was a line drive that one-hopped to the 400-foot mark in dead center field.”

The San Diego was a rather routine win, according to Ceci. “We were pretty much in control of the whole game. It was real workmanlike. Things went well and went our way. Tucker did a nice job in relief. He struck out five of the six batters he faced.”

On to Point Loma, where the Islanders jumped out to a 5-0 lead and then held an 8-4 margin before earning the victory over a quality opponent. Leary turned in his first baseman’s glove and pitched four innings to earn the victory on the mound. Stephen Conrad earned the save for his work in the seventh inning. Multi-hit performances abounded for Coronado, led by Mills with three hits. Pokorny, Englehart and Leary all had two hits each.

This week the Islanders complete their City Conference pool play with a game against Madison. The contest with the War Hawks is likely their only contest this week, unless Mira Mesa falters in their final pool play game.

Next week the Islanders host several games in the huge and storied Lions tournament. Monday they host San Pasqual at noon; Tuesday they host Brighton, Utah at 2 pm and Wednesday they are home to Sahuaro, Arizona at 1:30 pm. In addition, the Division V semi-finals will be played Thursday at 10 am and the finals are slated for 2 pm.

“That’s a big feather in our cap,” said Ceci regarding the program’s hosting of the tournament games. “(Assistant Coach) Jerry Brown got that done for us. San Pasqual is the only local team in our bracket and they are pretty good. Division V is going to be a tough sell for us. These other schools have 2,500 or 3,000 students.”

In other baseball news, the Islander JV squad under the direction of Head Coach Blaze Smallwood owns victories in the City Conference JV Tournament over San Diego, Point Loma and Mira Mesa. If they win Tuesday, they should advance to the semi-finals on Saturday.

CHS Boys Golf Off To Strong Start

Golf season is in full flight and the CHS Boys Team, coached by Islander alumnus Dean Cummings, is off to an 8-1 start, including a perfect 4-0 in Central League play. “The season is longer than when I played,” said Cummings, who doubles as a teaching pro at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. “We go from March 1 to April 26 and we are playing four matches a week.”

Cummings lost the heart of last year’s lineup to graduation, with the players ranked No. 2 through No. 6 packing their clubs and heading off to college. But the No. 1 Islander player Dillon Hakes returns and is sporting a scoring average of 36 (even par) through the first nine matches, highlighted by a round of 33 against Clairemont at the Torrey Pines North Course.

According to Cummings, the top three slots on the six-member playing squad have held firm through the early part of the season. Those players are Michael Emerson and Connor Pompa. Depending on the opponent, the next three spots are filled by three from the list of Ryan Kieras, Joe McMahon, Alex Valle and Robert Phelps. Others competing for slots include Paul Pedrotty, Taylor Mitchell and Seth Willey.

The good news is the team has no seniors and is really young and talented. The bad news is, well there really isn’t any. Especally when you are young, talented and are sporting an 8-1 record.

The closest Central League competitor to the Islanders is Crawford. The league lineup consists of Coronado, Crawford, Clairemont and Christian this year. Coronado’s lone loss came by the score of 197-213 to Scripps Ranch March 20^th.

This week Coronado faces Crawford; La Jolla Country Day at Lomas Santa Fe on Tuesday; Mira Mesa at Torrey Pines Wednesday and Thursday Clairemont will visit Coronado for the Islanders fourth match of the week.

Track and Field News

George Green, the grand guru of Coronado track and field, checks in with a report on last week’s activity. “Although the league track season gets underway Wednesday, with our first dual meet on the new track against Clairemont, a few Islander athletes have been competing in some of the early invitational meets.

At last Saturday’s elite Mt. Carmel Invitational, junior Kyle Brown placed third in the triple jump with a 45-foot, 1-inch effort, against a couple of the best athletes in the state. He is currently ranked among the Top 10 state-wide for both the long jump and the triple jump.

Freshman Sallie Privett placed 10^th in the fast head of the 1,600 meter run, and was the first freshman runner to cross the finish line. Her time was 5:20.63, only 11 seconds behind the winner. Danielle Eckert tied with several other pole vaulters, finishing behind state leader Emily Mattoon from Rancho Bernardo. Danielle’s best vault was 10-feet, 2 inches.

Sarah Player used this meet as a training exercise after a hard week of workouts, so she was a bit off her best times. She placed sixth in her 100-meter hurdles heat in 17.96, was seventh in the Invitational 300-meter hurdles in 48.00, and finished fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet.”

Boys Tennis Plays Well, But Falls Twice

Boys Tennis Head Coach Robbin Adair, he of the 1,000+ tennis coaching victories, checks in with a report from his team. “Wednesday we hosted San Dieguito Academy, played well, but lost 12-6. Krishna Samperio swept his singles matches, but Patrick Holman and Brenton Mashburn were not able to add to his total.

In doubles, Daniel Grazian and Frankie Harrison took two, 7-6 and 6-1 before falling to the third team 6-3. Chris Mitchell and Evan Wheeler defeated the No. 2 team 6-2, bet were defeated 6-4 and 7-5 by the other two teams. At third doubles, Andrew Stump and Jordan Vance played very well, but fell 6-4, 6-4, and 6-3.

Thursday we hosted La Jolla and they are every bit as good as we thought. They beat us 17-1, with Krishna and Patrick playing doubles and winning the only set. In singles, Vance played No. 1 and lost 6-0, 6-2, and 6-0. In doubles Krishna and Patrick’s scores were 6-3, 7-5, and 6-1. Grazian/Harrison went 6-0, 6-1, and 6-2. Mitchell/Wheeler’s set scores were 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3.

This week we host University City Tuesday and travel to Morley Field to play St. Augustine Thursday.

Boys Volleyball Wins Central League Tilt

It was an interesting week for the CHS Boys Volleyball Team, as they began their week with a five-game victory over Central League rival Christian. The contest was more compelling because they spotted the Patriots the first two games, before running off three victorious games to win the match. “Ian Petersen dug some good balls and Nolan Woodhouse had some good sets for us,” said Head Coach Steve Merrill.

Friday and Saturday, the Islanders competed in the La Jolla Beach Tournament. They hosted the first round of pool play at the Blumenthal Sports Complex. The tournament organizers didn’t do them any favors however, as Shadow Ridge High School, which went on to finish in second place in the tournament to Taft High School of Los Angeles, was assigned to Coronado’s pool. Ramona and Mar Vista were the other pool entrants, and Merrill said the team “played well with Mar Vista.”

Saturday Coronado defeated fellow Central League team Clairemont 21-25, 25-9, and 15-9, before losing to Tri-City Christian the eventual winner of the Bronze Division. “We played with some of the teams. We scored 15 points off of Shadow Ridge, but we were outclassed. The kids played well and learned a lot. Dan Ross served tough for us and Phil Smith had a good tournament.”

This week the team plays Bonita Vista Tuesday and travels to The Bishop’s School Thursday.

CHS Girls Water Polo Awards

The banquet season is in high gear and CHS Girls Water Polo Head Coach Dave Throop announced his award winners at the team’s recent dinner. The Varsity Awards included: Golden Tassel (Best grade point average) – Maggie Sosnowski; Co-Captains – Katie Estrada and Molly Patrick; Most Improved – Kathryn Bailey; Coach’s Award – Alex Adamson; MVP-Offense – Katie Estrada; MVP-Defense – Carly Hoshko; and Team MVP – Morgan Ronimus.

The JV Awards went to: Team Captain – Hillary Hansen; Most Improved – Colleen Moore; Coach’s Awards – Katie Shepherd and Laura Luttrell; MVP-Offense – Sidney Hoshko; MVP-Defense – Kelly Ronimus and Natalie Stringer; Team MVP – Hillary Estrada.

Islander Girls Soccer Awards

Head Coach Kiko Medina announced the award winners for the CHS Girls Soccer Team at their recent gathering. The awards included: Rookie of the Year – Courtney Ryan; Most Improved – Lauren Shuffett; Coach’s Award – Kelly Walsh; Most Valuable Defensive Player – Rosie Harris; Most Valuable Offensive Player – Leah Hatheway; and Team MVP - Hatheway.

Hatheway also earned First Team CIF Division III honors and Harris was named to the Second Team. Harris and Hatheway earned First Team Western League recognition, while Callie Caldwell and Kelly Walsh were named to the Western League Second Team.

Additional Honors and Awards

“The San Diego Union-Tribune” recently announced their winter sports season All Academic Teams. In Boys Soccer, senior Matt Ganyard (4.24 gpa) was recognized for his academic and athletic efforts. In Girls Water Polo, junior Hannah Sebenaler earned a slot on the squad with a 3.82 gpa.

The San Diego Hall of Champions announced their All-CIF teams for 2006-07, which includes the best players in their sport, regardless of the division in which they compete. Coronado’s Nick Hamilton was named the CIF Player of the Year for Boys Soccer. Katie Estrada, Morgan Ronimus, and Hannah Sebenaler were all named to the All-CIF First Team for Girls Water Polo.

Congratulations to those athletes for superior performances in the class room and in competition.

LPGA Girls Golf Program Tees Off

The LPGA Girls Golf Program in Coronado held their annual kick off event (wouldn’t tee off be better, but I digress) Saturday, according to Program Director Hanna Cohan. It was held at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course from 2 to 5 pm.

“Girls golf is a great avenue for girls to not only learn golf, but it provides a wonderful social setting to learn etiquette, patience and golf skills,” Cohan said. “Not to mention the ‘oh so fun’ driving range.”

The program began 5 years ago under the direction of Carole Tessicini, who is now taking over a golf program called ‘Future Stars,’ which is a senior program where girls are selected for their leadership and playing skills.

New to the LPGA Girls program is Coach Bruce Crosser, an assistant at Coronado Muni. “He’s very knowledgeable about the golf swing, the rules of golf, and we’re glad to have him,” Cohan added. “I truly enjoy seeing all of the girls having fun, honing their skills and making new friends, all in the circle of golf.”

For more information regarding the program, contact Cohan at 619-990-8755.

David West Cranking Out Power Numbers for Biola University

CHS Alumnus David West has taken his metal bat and developed a power hitting stroke for the Biola University Eagles baseball team. After starting the season with a strained knee, West has earned considerable playing time, and helped his team run off 14 consecutive victories.

In a recent victory over The Masters College, West hit a three-run homer in the in the bottom of the seventh inning and then blasted a grand slam homer in the eighth. He finished with seven RBIs in the game, batching a 10-year old school record in the process. Biola is 19-7 on the season and is currently No. 9 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national rankings.