Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

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

2 Jan 2008 Year in Review (2007) part 2 - Issue #51

Coronado’s Sports Year in Review continues with an unfortunate event which began the morning of Sunday, June 23, 2007 ; a fire in the 14-year-old CHS gymnasium in the Blumenthal Sports Complex. The fire, which started in a trash can and the resulting 5,000 gallons of water which came from the sprinkler system to extinguish the fire, caused an estimated $250,000 in damage to the building and playing floor.

The final repair and cleaning of the facility will occur over the summer of 2008. The gym was re-opened at the end of November for full use.

Your Natterer has written this column for 10 years and the mention that has received the most comment in the last decade was one that appeared in the June 27^th edition of the “Coronado Eagle & Journal” and involved actor Gary Sinise. A chance luncheon encounter at the Rhinoceros Café, which included my father Joe Axelson and apparently the entire Sinise family, resulted in several people mentioning to me that they had read the piece. Mostly the comments involved how much they loved his acting and how lucky we were to meet him. Alas, little mention was given to the quality of the writing. 

Sinise, who is the star of the television show CSI: New York and has won both Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards, was in town with his family to see the Boston Red Sox play the San Diego Padres. But the really great thing about the Chicago native is that he is a Cub fan, in addition to being a nice guy.

In the same column I awarded the mythical mid-season National League Manager of the Year Award to rookie manager Bud Black of the Padres. The actual full season award went to Bob Melvin of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Black did a great job with limited playing talent to manage and guided his team into a tiebreaker game to determine the last team in the National League Playoffs. The Padres lost a heartbreaker 9-8 to the Colorado Rockies, who would go on to represent the NL in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Later in the summer, Ken Caesar, 36, accepted the position as head boys basketball coach at Coronado High School, replacing long-time teacher and Coach Sandy Dillon. Caesar had been an assistant at St. Augustine High School and for the previous year had been an on-court coach and video coordinator for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA.

The CHS fall sports season began shortly thereafter and was highlighted by the play of the CHS Boys Water Polo Team, which posted a sterling record of 23-2. Most long-time Coronado water polo enthusiasts would agree that the significant part of that won-loss record was that three of the 23 victories were against The Bishop’s School.

During the season the Islanders won the S & R Sports Water Polo Cup, more euphemistically known as the So Cal Tournament, which features most of the best prep water polo teams in the country. Coronado’s Jacob Smith helped lead the Islanders to the Cup title by scoring 16 goals in the Islander’s four tournament games.

The Islanders won the Western League and then worked their way through the CIF Division II playoff bracket, where to no one’s surprise, No. 2 seeded Bishop’s was their opponent in the finals. Coronado won the exciting contest 11-10 in overtime. Coronado’s Randy Burgess was named CIF Water Polo Coach of the Year and Smith was named the Islander MVP, among numerous other post season honors.

If the Boys Water Polo Team’s performance was the team highlight of the fall season, the truly unfortunate side had to be the devastating wild fires which swept through large parts of San Diego County. The impact on the local sports scene was that all CIF San Diego Section teams were not permitted to practice or play during a 10-day period in late fall. None of the games that were cancelled were allowed to be re-scheduled.

Despite not having a home practice facility or a home court for most of their season due to the gym fire, the CHS Girls Volleyball Team played well and provided several playing highlights of their own. The regular season highlight may well have been winning the Monte Vista Invitational Tournament, defeating Eastlake in the finals.

From a competitive standpoint, followers of the girls volleyball program would tell you that the nearly three-hour, five-game match at Patrick Henry was the best game they played all season. In rally scoring, the fifth game is won by the first team to reach 15 points, but you must win by two. Coronado took the fifth game 23-21, which reflects the closeness of the game. Both the Islanders and the Patriots survived numerous match points, but Coronado prevailed.

Coronado won their CIF Division IV playoff first round match with Holtville, defeating the Vikings 25-15, 25-18 and 25-20, before falling to perennial power Francis Parker in the second round. Team Co-MVP honors went to Christy Mebust and Kelsey Fitzgerald.

Perhaps the outstanding individual performance of the fall season was turned in by Coronado’s Ben Enowitz, who won the CIF Division IV cross country title and then finished eighth in the state in the same division, thus earning the senior athlete All-State honors. In addition Enowitz was named captain of the “San Diego Union-Tribune’s” All-Academic Cross Country Team.

Both the Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams won the Central League title. Enowitz and Sallie Privett were named team MVPs.

The Islander Football Team posted a record of 6-4, which included an appearance against La Jolla in the CIF Division IV playoffs. Among the highlights of the season was a 35-0 victory over Kearny High School in the annual Homecoming game. The squad also took a trip to Hawaii to begin the season, which was still being discussed at the team’s post-season awards banquet three months later.

The 2007 Islander team was unique in my experience, in that they had two quality senior running backs in Kyle Brown and Ricardo Oberwager, who also doubled as outstanding punt return and kickoff return contributors. Throughout the season Coronado was able to take advantage of the excellent field position provided by both players and their long returns.

Junior quarterback Mason Mills supplied numerous highlight moments with his scrambling and throwing abilities. Mills, who is also the starting shortstop on the Islander baseball team, acquired a fine downfield passing touch, which often found tight end Blake Malkemus on the receiving end. Oberwager and Brown were named Team Co-MVPs.

The Girls Golf Team posted a winning record this season and was led by the tandem of Mackenzie Coutts and Jackie Davis, both of whom earned All-City Conference recognition and qualified for the CIF Individual Playoffs. Davis and Coutts were also named Co-MVPs.

CHS coaching legend Robbin Adair retired after 40 years as the head of the Boys Tennis program and 33 years as Girls Tennis Coach. New Head Coach Rob LeBuhn had a record player turnout for the 2007 team. The team MVP was Natalie Brooks.

Boys Basketball Update

With the New Year print deadlines earlier than normal, we can provide a midpoint update in the Islander Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament. Coronado played two games in the opening day of the four-game event and behind 16 points from Krishna Samperio, defeated San Ysidro 72-42. Justin Parsons chipped in 13 points and Dallas Taylor added 12 more to lead the Islanders in the Islanders opener.

In the nightcap, in what was the most physical high school game Your Natterer has even seen in person, Coronado stepped up to the aggressive challenge supplied by Lutheran and won 74-37. The Vikings challenged every Coronado shot and fouled an Islander on most of them. With their deeper bench, the Islanders outlasted the visitors in a contest that was closer than the score would indicate.

Parsons, Coronado’s primary inside presence along with Samperio, scored 19 points and spent most of the evening at the foul line and deservedly so. Cole McLean, Samperio and Blake Malkemus all added 11 points in the winning cause. Malkemus, who was mentioned earlier in this column for his proficiency at playing tight end in football, seemingly relished the contact with the Lutheran players.

Islander Head Coach Ken Caesar was able to play his entire squad in the game. The contest lasted for nearly two hours, due in large part to the number of fouls called and free throws attempted. It wasn’t artistic, but Coronado showed both a physical and mental toughness that they will need during the rest of the roundball season.

Games against Sweetwater and Julian round out the tournament schedule for Coronado. The first Central League home game for the Islanders will be played Tuesday, Jan. 15 against Clairemont. Tipoff will be at 5 pm.

USA Men’s National Water Polo Team Invades Bent Aquatics Complex

When opening an aquatics complex, why not start with a high-profile user? In the case of the new Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex on the campus of Coronado High School, the first team in the pool was the U.S. Men’s National Water Polo Team.

Included in the training group, from which the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team will be selected, are four Coronado High School graduates: Layne Beaubien, Thomas Hopkins, Genai Kerr and Jesse Smith.

The complex, under the direction of Pool Manager Stephanie Lombardo, will be open to the public in January 2008. Early indications from the Men’s National Team were that the water felt just fine in Coronado.

Happy New Year!

Since this column will reach your front door January 2^nd, please accept my best wishes for a Happy New Year. Thanks for reading our weekly sports offering and for following the Coronado High School athletic teams.