Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

25 March 2009 Issue #12

Girls Lacrosse at Coronado High School continues to make its presence felt, when they won five consecutive games Saturday to capture the Gold Bracket title in the Surf, Sun and Stix Invitational Tournament held at Westview High School .

According to Head Coach Jessica Battle, the Islanders aren’t strangers to the tournament, which just concluded its fifth year of operation. “We won it in the second year the tournament was held and we played in it again two years ago. Last year it was held over spring break, so we couldn’t play in it. But we came back this year.”

After losing their opening game of the season to Rancho Bernardo, the Islanders have been flawless since that time. They dominated San Dieguito two weeks ago and last week they used five goals from Jillian Reidy and four scores from Coco O’Brien to defeat Monte Vista 17-9. Saturday they went undefeated through their side of the bracket, knocking off Jesuit High from Colorado, tournament host Westview, La Jolla and Poway. The Westview game, played mid-morning was a little dicey as the Islanders prevailed 11-10, prompting Battle to say that her group “Was not a morning team.” Perhaps a local cappuccino company could sponsor Coronado’s remaining morning contests this season.

The contenders from the other side of the Gold Bracket were a team from Germantown, Pennsylvania, which Coronado defeated 12-10 in the title tilt. Since the game was played in the later afternoon, clearly this one belonged to the Islanders. O’Brien scored five goals, while running mate Reidy added three and they were joined by Michaela Guerrera, who found the back of the net twice. Goalie Taylor Udell was credited with eight saves for the Islanders.

“The player of the tournament for us was Melissa Humphrey,” said Battle of the Cal Berkeley bound senior. “Coco O’Brien played very well and Jillian Reidy had quite a few goals on attack. Taylor Udell had a lot of good saves in goal.”

Not resting on their collective laurels, the Islanders have three games this week, starting with their first City Conference game of the season against arch-rival La Jolla Tuesday at home, with the opening face-off slated for 7 pm. Thursday Coronado hosts Saints Stephens and St. Agnes from Virginia, which is currently ranked No. 2 in all of the U.S. by Laxpower.com. That contest will start at 7:30 pm. Friday the Islanders travel to Cathedral Catholic for a 5:15 pm game. Competing lacrosse website Westsidelax.com, which specializes in teams and players west of the Mississippi River, ranks Coronado No. 12 in the state of California and No. 4 in San Diego County.

Boys Lacrosse Off to Strong Start

The Islander Boys Lacrosse Team has played twice this season and twice they have beaten highly-rated opponents in the Westsidelax.com ratings. In their first outing, Coronado defeated Concord De La Salle 10-8 a week ago and Saturday afternoon, the Islanders bested St. Ignatius, who had not lost a game against a California-based opponent in three years, by the score of 7-6.

For their early season efforts, Coronado is ranked No. 1 in the state of California, with St. Ignatius No. 2 and De la Salle No. 4. But watch out for No. 3 La Costa Canyon, but more on that in a minute.

Leading the way for Coronado against St. Ignatius was senior attackman Bobby Braun, who scored two goals and was credited with two assists. Junior Eddie Vita and sophomore Kyle Runyon each scored twice and were credited with one assist each. Jackson Cusick rounded out the scoring for the Islanders. Peter Zeller earned the victory in goal. Senior Sean O’Brien won a critical face-off in the game’s final minutes as Coronado held on to earn the victory.

The Islanders, who many observers believe are the deepest and most talented in the school’s lacrosse history, have to win Wednesday night at home against La Costa Canyon, or the early season victories against opponents from outside the CIF San Diego Section, will be little but a positive memory. Face off for the game which pits California No. 1 Coronado vs. No. 3 LCC is scheduled for 7 pm.

CHS Swim Team Preview

It’s still early in the season for the CHS Boys and Girls Swim Teams, which have historically been populated by members of the school’s successful water polo program, with a few ‘swimming-only’ additions sprinkled in as well. Head Coach Dave Throop provides an overview of both teams.

“The Boys Team started the season well, with their training and attitude being on par with some of the great teams of the past. I think we’ll surprise some opposing programs at the end of the season. We’ve got talent in the senior and junior classes, and while we’re not 100 per cent settled on everyone’s roles yet, we are looking forward to strong performances in certain areas. Seniors Jackson Hummeldorf and Francisco Heredia will focus on breaststroke, while Adam Ratcliffe will likely lead the butterfly group. Michael Aguilar looks as though he will contribute in the sprint events and possibly the 200 individual medley. Brendan Farrell and Anthony Salvatore will contribute as well.

The juniors are looking to challenge their older teammates, with Rex Butler and Andrew Ireland contributing a lot of versatility to the team, while Lex Aponte, Brennan Casey, Tommy Schofer, Alex Johnson and Asante Sefa-Boakye are working extremely hard and look to challenge for points at the City Conference and CIF Division II meets.

Sophomores Patrick Geer, Dylan Peterson, Garret Sabesky, Ryan Hughes and Braydon Hummeldorf, along with freshman Van Burgess will help the team as well. There are always pleasant surprises as the season progresses.

Truthfully, the Girls Team is almost the same as last year, except for the loss of graduating seniors Alana Burgess and Heather Ireland. We are looking for Kathryn Bailey, Rachel Rodriguez, Alex Adamson, Michelle Carroll and Laura Luttrell to have outstanding senior campaigns.

The depth of the junior class, combined with the senior class standouts, should result in scoring many points during the season. However, the Girls side of swimming in San Diego is much more competitive due to the inclusion of many more year ‘round swimming specialists, than are found on the Boys side. Juniors Maddie Murphy, Ashley Young, Kelly Ronimus, Hillary Estrada, Kaylee Ginnane, Sidney Hoshko, Natalie Stringer and sophomore Hannah Green will all contribute and solidify our lineup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of other juniors and possibly some sophomores develop into real assets to the team as time progresses.”

Track and Field Teams Compete Against Lincoln Hornets

CHS Head Track Coach George Green checks in with his report from last week’s activities.

“Both the Boys and Girls Track Teams were stung in their first dual meets of the season against Lincoln last Thursday, with the boys losing by the score of  80-37 and the girls keeping it close with a score of 71-60. Had we had all of our squad, including the ones just finishing soccer, it may have gone the other way.

In the girls' meet Sallie Privett and Adie Davies placed second and third respectively to Lincoln's Elizabeth Apgar in the 1,600 meters (mile) with Davies clocking a personal best time of 5 minutes, 30 seconds. Both came back later in the 3,200 (2-mile) meter run to place 1-2. Danielle Swanson and Olivia Lillegraven looked good with a 2-3 finish in the 100 hurdles. Swanson later teamed-up with Maddie Danielson in the 300 hurdles, with the latter winning with a nice early season time 49.8 and Swanson only a couple of seconds back in 50.0. 

Sadie Gimber, running the 400 meters for the first time, nipped a Lincoln girl at the tape to win in 63.1, followed closely by Annie Lovering (64.0) and Nicole Davies (64.9).  All three came back in the 800 to finish in the order of Lovering, Gimber, and Davies.  Briana Giorgione won both the high jump and pole vault. Bethany Bucklew placed second in the high jump as well as third in both the shot put and discus throw.  Yvonne Wood and Bridgid Twomey placed 1-2 in the triple jump.

For the boys, the only winners were David Grimes in the 800 meters, Phil Scott in the shot put and Tim Conway in the high jump.  Andrew Smith had a nice pair of sprint races. After stumbling in the blocks, he placed a step behind Islander freshman Charles Westbrook in the 100, with Westbrook clocking 11.4 and Smith 11.6. Later, in the 200, Smith finished a step in front of Mike Gasparro with a time of 23.1. 

I don't know whether it's a school record or not but Nate Ferraco managed to fall on half of the hurdles in the 110 highs (there are 10 hurdles in the race), with the crowd cheering him on the whole way. He was fine, by the way, and we won't talk about his time, other than to say it was under 30 seconds by a half-second.”

CHS Boys Volleyball, A Work in Progress

Islander Head Coach Adam Lockwood is new to the CHS Boys Volleyball program and currently has nine athletes competing at the varsity level. They include: Cotter Stacy, Kevin Clay, Nick De Marco, Cody O’Connell, Chris Maskevich, Will Cumming, Zack Lindeman, Connor Martin and Wade Zolla.

Last week the Islanders lost two matches, the first a 25-10, 25-6, and 25-17 loss at home against Kearney, followed by a 25-16, 25-8, and 25-23 loss to Clairemont.

“Due to circumstances, we had Cotter Stacy set the whole game,” said Lockwood. “We used just one setter that match. Cotter has been one of our more consistent players. He’s a senior, he’s working hard in practice and he’s coming along.”

Another notable in the Clairemont match was 6-foot, 7-inch Chris Maskevich, who had five kills and a couple of stuff blocks for points to his credit. “This is the first time (year) that Chris has played. He’s been out for the last two weeks after basketball. I’m real happy with him. He wants to learn and improve and he’s very coachable. He’s worked real hard and will be a factor by the end of the year.”

“We need kids who want to learn and improve,” Lockwood added. “We’ll be better by the end of the year.”

There may be some help down on the farm, as the Islander JV under the direction of Don Woodhouse won the Monte Vista JV Tournament Saturday, defeating Escondido 15-13 in the third game of the championship final. The match score was 25-23, 12-25, and 15-13.

“Our setters Jake Nicholson and Chris Allen had a great tournament,” Woodhouse said. “They worked with our front row hitters Cameron Oakley, Tyler Webb, Jason Fielder and John Nettleton. Our back row defenders included Mack Koelle, Jaime Gonzalez-Luna, Brandon Shariffi and Trevor Marcone.”

Islander Boys Golf Hits the Links

Entering last week with a 5-1 record, the CHS Boys Golf Team’s first outing last week was against Central League favorite Christian, which resulted in a 197-212 loss to the Patriots, in a match played at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. Leading scorers for the Islanders included Alex Valle with a 39 and Connor Pompa and Brian Turley, who both shot 40.

Wednesday the Islanders hosted Point Loma, which resulted in a 224-250 win for Coronado. Pompa was the match medalist with a 39.

Then the going got really tough, as Coronado competed in the St. Augustine Tournament, an event which featured the host school as well as Torrey Pines High and Ramona. The event was played at the Oak Glen course at the Sycuan Resort, formerly known as Singing Hills. A typical high school golf format is a nine-hole affair. This event was two consecutive days of 18 holes each. “We scored just about what I expected,” said Head Coach Randy Coutts. “It was a unique experience to play 18 holes, two days in a row. Taylor Mitchell and Gonzalo Arozarena both improved by a couple of strokes from the first day to the second. I told the kids, ‘there’s golf and then there’s tournament golf.’ It was a good learning experience and I’m glad we did it early in the season.”

For most of this week, it’s back to the grindstone for the team, according to Coutts. “We’re going back to work this week. We don’t have a match until Thursday (vs. Clairemont at Coronado Muni). We’ve been so busy with matches that we haven’t been able to work out as much. Our competition comes from Christian and St. Augustine. They are good teams with a lot of depth. We need to get motivated and play better.”

CHS Boys Tennis Posts Winning Week

The CHS Boys Tennis Team won two of their three matches last week, but started with a tough 16-2 loss to Canyon Crest High School. Head Coach Jim Mashburn thought the score would have been more even that it was. “The matches seemed close, but we only got two games and both were from freshman Sean Lee at No. 1 singles. Sean is really playing well, is really focused and dedicated. He has been taking private lessons and playing in a lot of tournaments. He’ll be a shining star for the next couple of years.”

After a tough start, the results started to pick up, including a 12-6 win over Grauer. A typical high school match is played on six courts simultaneously. Grauer had only five courts and there seemed to be some mixing and matching from the loyal opposition. Mashburn politely described the event as, “not a traditional match.”

The major win of the week was a 13-5 victory over Hilltop, which featured three singles victories each from Krishna Samperio, Lee and Chase Mashburn. The doubles entry of Daniel Grazian and Patrick Holman won all three of their matches, with Brenton Mashburn/Michael Whalen and Luke Hoffman/Luke McCue winning one set each.

This week the team keeps up the pace with three more matches, including their Western League opener on Thursday. “This is a pretty big week,” Mashburn said. “Tuesday we have West Hills at home. Wednesday we play San Dieguito Academy on the road and Thursday we play Scripps Ranch at home. Western League play starts Thursday.” All three matches will begin play at 3 pm.

Islander Softball Has 2-2 Week

Unlike the Boys Tennis Team (see section above), the four-game schedule faced by the Coronado Girls Softball Team last week got progressively tougher as the week went along.

Wednesday, the Islanders dominated Southwest 17-0, ending the game with the 10-run mercy rule after four and one-half innings.

With a lot of runs scored and a shutout on the board there were many heroes according to Head Coach Tony Isabella. “Kayla Englehart pitched and had 12 strikeouts. Shannon Julius went 2-2 at the plate and scored two runs. In addition to her pitching, Kayla was 4-4 with three doubles and scored three times. Anik Ribera and Rachel Bible both went 3-4.”

Also of note on the JV level, Coronado’s Alana Pompa pitched a perfect game against the Southwest JV squad.

Thursday it was time to take on Morse High, in the first game of the Hilltop Invitational Tournament. Coronado won by the score of 11-3, with Brianna Feist earning the victory on the mound, striking out seven Tiger batters. According to Isabella, Nicole Aguilar went 3-5, including a home run, while Jessica Adair was 3-5 with two runs scored.

Saturday the games got a little more intense as the Islanders lost their first game of the season in a 12-3 affair against Santana. Offensive stars for Coronado included Englehart who was 2-3 and Julius who was 2-2. “Kayla has been hitting the ball well,” explained Isabella, who moved the sophomore from the sixth spot in the batting order to the third slot. “And she has been hitting it hard.” Unfortunately, the Islanders committed five errors in this game, which contributed to the loss.

The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader was against Eastlake, which defeated Coronado 9-3. Englehart and Ribera both were 2-3 and Sandra Cepin added a double to the Islander offensive attack.

This week Coronado is off until Thursday, when they travel to La Jolla for the start of the Western League season. Game time is 3 pm. “The girls are doing great,” said Isabella of his team, which is now 3-2. “It’s a fun atmosphere.”

CHS Baseball Splits a Pair of Games

In baseball, good team hitting can cover up a variety of transgressions, but when the bats are quiet, the going gets tough. “We’re just stumbling around,” said Islander Head Baseball Coach Sam Ceci. “We all are. We’re not sharp and we’re not hitting. Consequently, for everything we are doing wrong, we are paying the price. We need more hits and we need more of them to be timely. No one is hitting the ball consistently.”

Despite that important mostly missing element, the Islanders were able to split their two games last week. The first contest was a 5-3 home win over Valley Center, with the Thursday game being a 7-1 loss at El Camino. Ceci discussed last week’s opposition. “Valley Center is a decent team and it was a struggle to beat them. Justin Parsons pitched a complete game and did a nice job. El Camino is a very good baseball team and they will do just fine in their league. They played like men and we didn’t.”

Part of the intrigue of the El Camino game was that Islander starter Bryan Crabb was experiencing an unusual bout of wildness and hit several Wildcat batters. Crabb, who throws in the mid to high 80’s angered El Camino, which in turn plunked four Islander hitters. “We had one guy reach third base all day long,” lamented Ceci.

The El Camino contest was the last game in the Bully’s tournament. This week the Islanders go into the City Conference Tournament, as they host Crawford Monday. Tuesday Coronado plays at Clairemont and Friday Coronado hosts Mira Mesa, with all three games starting at 3 pm. “We need to use this tournament to get healthy and make it work for us,” Ceci noted. “So far we are 3-4 and a little lucky to be there. In the next week or two, we have to get untracked. In another week we go into the Lions Club Tournament. We have our work cut out for us.”

San Diego Hall of Champions All-Section Honors

The San Diego Hall of Champions recently announced their high school winter sports selections. This voting is done county-wide, without respect to divisions or league affiliation.

In Girls Water Polo, Ashley Young and Alex Adamson were named to the First Team, and Coronado Head Coach Dave Throop was named Coach of the Year. Second Team honors went to Kelly Ronimus and Hillary Estrada.

In Girls Soccer, senior Sandy Shepherd was named to the Second Team.