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Nado Natterings |
A weekly column by David Axelson |
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Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation
9 May 2007 Issue #18
The top individual performance of the past week was turned in by the No. 1 player for the CHS Boys Golf Team, Dillon Hakes. The junior finished in second place in the City Conference Match Play Tournament, a five-day affair which was held last week at the Torrey Pines South course.
Wednesday Hakes conquered his opponent by the score of 9 & 8 (Hakes held a nine hole lead with eight holes remaining to play) and Thursday in the semi-finals won his match 8 and 7. Both scores reflect are exceptionally lopsided results in match play.
Friday Hakes lost 4 & 2 to Daniel Miernicki of Cathedral Catholic,
the defending City Conference champion. Miernicki was the best player on the
Dons squad that finished second in the state of
Last week Coronado Head Coach Dean Cummings predicted that Hakes would do well in the event and he was correct. “It was pretty impressive,” said Cummings of Hakes’ performance. “He would have qualified for the CIF playoffs anyway. Now he’s is in the playoffs for sure.”
Sophomore Connor Pompa was the only other Islander to compete in City Conference Match Play event and he lost 4 & 2 in the first round.
Cummings was hopeful that the
Islanders would qualify for the CIFs as a team, meaning all six starters would
be able to participate in the event. Golf has one of the few single division
formats in the CIF. The Playoffs, played over two days but spaced a week apart,
are held at
Girls Lacrosse Goes 2-1 in Last Week’s Play
Lacrosse, Water Polo and perhaps Tennis are unique in that there is a very short list of elite high school teams at the top of the heap annually in the San Diego Section and then there is a long, precipitous fall to the next level of competition.
Astride the summit of the Girls
Lacrosse World of late have been
“We pretty much beat ourselves in
that game,” said Coronado Head Coach Jessica
Battle. “We held them for 10 minutes and they went on a four-goal run. We
stopped playing with our heads and our hearts. They are a good team, but we
made them look great.
Then the Islanders schedule found
them hosting Serra Friday and Rancho Bernardo Saturday afternoon.
Tuesday evening
CHS Boys Lacrosse Dominates Serra in Lone Game Last Week
In their one foray onto the field last week,
the CHS Boys Lacrosse Team dominated
the Serra Conquistadors 15-1. The one-sided victory allowed the Islanders to
maintain their No. 2 San Diego Section ranking on Laxpower.com.
This week the Islanders play at
Patrick Henry Tuesday evening at 7 pm and then host
CHS Boys Volleyball Finishes By Winning Two of Last Three Matches
Islander Boys Volleyball Head Coach Steve Merrill brought respectability back to the program this year, mentoring his charges to an overall record of 11-18, a number that includes all tournament matches.
Monday the Islanders started their
week by defeating
The Islanders completed their
season with a four-game victory over
Boys Tennis Splits Pair with Cathedral Catholic
CHS Head Boys Tennis Coach Robbin Adair checks in with news of the Islanders splitting a pair of matches with Cathedral Catholic last week. “Monday we made up a match originally scheduled for the Thursday after Easter vacation. We went up there and got beat 16-2. Krishna Samperio, Chris Mitchell and Patrick Holman could not play for us. We got swept in singles with Evan Wheeler and Jordan Vance not able to win any of their three matches.
In doubles, Daniel Grazian and Frankie Harrison lost 4-6 and 4-6, before beating their No. 3 team 6-2. Robbie Cattell and Max Mero were swept at No. 2, but Collin Bowman and Andrew Stump managed to beat the No. 3 team 6-3.
Tuesday we hosted Cathedral at our place in the regularly scheduled second round match. Cathedral Coach Marquez left a few players out because of Monday’s results and we had everyone back in the lineup. We ended up beating them 10-8. In singles Samperio swept all three of his sets 6-1, 6-1, and 6-2. Stump competed hard, but got swept. Mero played really great losing 4-6 to their No. 1 and 1-6 to their No. 3 before beating their No. 2 6-3.
In doubles, Grazian/Harrison took two out of three sets 6-2, 5-7, and 6-0. Mitchell/Wheeler also took two out of three 6-2, 6-3, and 3-6. The third team of Holman/Vance also took two out of three 6-0, 1-6 and 7-6(5). It was a great upset of a very good team.
Next week we will play San Dieguito at their place Tuesday in Round One of the CIS San Diego Section Team Championships. They were seeded No. 7 and we are seeded No. 10. If we upset them, we will play at the No. 3 seeded Cathedral Dons on Wednesday.
Swimming Teams Stroke Their Way into City Conference Meet
There are essentially four meets left for the CHS Boys and Girls Swim Teams this season; the prelims and finals of the City Conference meet, followed closely by the prelims and finals of the CIF Division II meet. The City Conference prelims are set for this week.
CHS Head Coach Dave Throop uses his team’s regular season meets to help the swimmers find their best events. He recently took some time to preview his best swimmers and the events in which they will compete. “On the Boys side, we will have some freshmen contributing including Andrew Ireland in the sprint freestyles (50 and 100 yards) and Tommy Schofer in the 200 free and the 100 butterfly. Both guys have worked hard in their first year.
In the sophomore class, Adam Ratcliffe will also compete in the
200 free and the 100 fly, while Jackson
Hummeldorf will swim the 200 individual medley (50 yards each of four
strokes).
Senior Jackson Crow-Mickle will swim the 100 breast, David Foy will compete in the 100 fly and all three relays, and Lee Sebring will swim in the 100 fly and the 100 back.
For the Girls, freshman Kelly Ronimus will swim the 100 and 200 free events. She has put in as much work in a short period of time as anyone we have ever had. Sophomore Kathryn Bailey will swim the 200 free and the 100 breast, although her better event is the 200 free. Junior Alana Burgess will swim the 100 breast and Carly Hoshko will be in the sprint events, the 50 and 100 free. Lenea Smith will compete in the 200 free and Heather Ireland will swim the 200 free and the 100 back.
In the senior class, Molly Patrick will swim the 100 free, the 100 back and she will also compete in two relays. She has qualified for the finals in the 100 free every year since her freshman season. We’re looking at two other seniors, Morgan Ronimus and Katie Estrada to compete in the 100 free. It will be a nice way for them to get ready to go to college and finish out their careers for us. It will be a good week for them in that sense.
In diving, we have junior Aly Rodgers, who has been having shoulder issues for about a year. She has worked hard and she qualified for the CIFs as a first year novice diver. It is nice to have her contribute to the team.”
Islander Track and Field News
CHS Head Track Coach George Green reflects on his team’s dual meet with Christian. “The girls knew going in that the dual meet with Christian would be very close. The Islanders had a record of 4-0 and Christian was 3-1.
Christian’s only loss was to
Madison, a team that
In spite of valiant efforts by Sallie Privett, Sarah Player, and Danielle Eckert, who scored 51 of our 65 points, Christian scored 70 points to win the meet. Privett’s four wins came in the 1600 meters, which she ran in 5:29; the 400 meters (64.1); the 800 (2:28.7) and the 3,200 meters (12:34), all excellent times by themselves, but quite a workout considering they were all achieved in the same meet. (Note, the four running events totaled approximately 3.75 miles.)
Player won the 100 hurdles in 16.0; the 300 hurdles in 46.6; and the 200 meters in 26.1. Again, all were excellent times, but then she holds the school record in all three events (as well as the 100 meters). In the high jump, with dead legs, she managed second place with a jump of 5-2 in a jump-off with Christian’s excellent jumper Melody Criswell, who has jumped 5-5 this season.
Eckert won the pole vault, the triple jump and placed second in the long jump. Brianna Giorgione set a personal record in the pole vault, while placing second with a jump of 7-9. Adie Davis had all she could handle against Christian’s top distance runner Taryn Dunton and placed third in the 1600, 800 and 3200 meter runs. Her 800 time of 2:33.7 was a personal record. Sprinter Neisha Scales placed second in the 100 and third in the long jump.
Christian’s victory left three schools at 4-1, so there is a three-way tie for the Central League title among Coronado, Christian and Madison.
The Boys meet was close as well with Christian prevailing 67-55. Kyle Brown led the Islanders by scoring 20 points with excellent marks in the 100 (11.1); the 200 (23.1); the long jump (22-3) and the triple jump (42-4). Ben Enowitz took both the 1600 and 3200-meter runs for 10 points. Kenny Twomey won the 110 meter hurdles, but in his best event, the 300 hurdles, he went down over the first barrier and couldn’t quite make up the ground he had lost. He finished second in 46.0. He also placed third in the triple jump. Tracy Cummings set a personal best mark in the discus throw, winning the meet with a toss of 126 feet, 3 inches. David Grimes had a very close race in the 800, placing second in 2:09.3, his best time of the season.”
CHS Softball Continues to Improve Despite 0-2 Week
Head Softball Coach Marti Bonelli provides her insight into her team’s week. “Tuesday we lost to Clairemont 11-2, a team we had beaten earlier in the season. It was a relentless offensive attack by the Chieftains, who scored early and often. The slugfest began in the first inning. Briana Feist absorbed the loss, allowing 11 runs on 11 hits and three walks.
Our team as a whole saw first hand the value of preparation and enthusiasm, and they vowed to increase their efforts in the future.
Thursday we lost to Cathedral Catholic 6-3, but this was an outstanding effort on the part of our very young Islander softball team. The previous game against Cathedral resulted in a very lopsided 15-0 loss. This game saw the girls hold a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning and a 2-2 tie going into the top of the seventh. True to their word regarding increasing their intensity and focus, the Islanders fought hard from the first pitch all the way to the last.
The Islanders threatened all game by amassing 12 hits total. Harris was 3-4, Wright 2-4, Cepin was 2-4 and Feist was 2-3. The pivotal moment for the Islanders on offense came in the bottom of the third. Leading 2-0, the girls threatened to add more runs. Consecutive singles by Wright, Cepin and Nora Kaminski loaded the bases with no outs. Designated hitter Lizzie Nebo absolutely scalded a 1-1 fastball. Unfortunately, the Cathedral pitcher managed to snare the line drive and quickly flipped to third base for a double play.
Cathedral took a 6-2 lead in the seventh by linking some line drives and alert base running together. The Islanders refuse to quit as Harris scored on a single by Wright in the bottom of the seventh.
The girls gave a tremendous effort and it was a fun game for us and our fans. Cathedral was very frustrated all day by Alexis Wright and her pitch selection. A couple of balls hit a few inches one way or the other for both sides could have resulted in an entirely different outcome. It was fun to see the intensity and focus and for the girls to begin to play to their potential. Cathedral is a great team and it was fun for us to compete with them. All of the Cathedral fans, coaches and umpires couldn’t stop talking about how great the girls played, competed, and demonstrated good sportsmanship and composure. (CHS Assistant Coach) Rachel Lozano and I were very proud.
Next week we travel to
Islander Baseball Loses Twice in Western League Play
Perhaps the Baseball gods were
frowning on the Coronado Islanders last week for the first time all year.
Whatever the root cause, the Coronado Nine lost twice to Western League rivals
Clairemont (3-1) and
One significant contributor to the pair of losses was a lack of offense by the Islanders. “We are averaging five hits or less in the last seven ball games,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci. Speaking of the Clairemont loss, Ceci said, “Our pitching wasn’t bad. Our defense wasn’t bad, but the hitting was atrocious.”
Thursday’s game against
But the offense again was lacking
for the Islanders. “We had five hits, two of which were singles. We’re not
swinging the bat at all. We’re stealing bases, bunting and doing a lot of
things that should win ball games for us. We had the lead momentarily. In the
bottom of the fifth we scored two runs with suicide squeezes. They (
Leary, who often plays first base when he doesn’t pitch, leads the team with a .429 batting average and in RBIs with 23. Keith Englehart has the most runs scored (21) and Danny Cepin has 19 stolen bases. Tucker Johnson (1.87), Leary (1.91) and Josh Fink (2.63) are the team leaders in earned run average.
On the personnel side, Justin Parsons, an athlete who played
on the Valhalla JV last year as a freshman, has been cleared to play for the
Islanders. “The family moved to
Time is running out for the
Islanders in the Western League race, as their final conference games are all
played this week. Monday they are at
Nagler a Hit at UCLA
Former Islander Marissa Nagler (CHS ’06), who played
three years of varsity lacrosse at
UCLA finished the 2007 season at
No. 7 in the nation and will be going to the national championships in