Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

22 April 2009 Issue #16

Perched high atop the ‘Nado Natterings’ World Headquarters, your scribe has spent a large portion of the morning contemplating the question ‘What happened to spring 2009?’ The extreme improbability of being able to accurately answer that topic has driven me back to the task at hand.

CHS Boys Lax Remains No. 1 in California

Last week the CHS Boys Lacrosse Team took their lessons learned from their one win and two losses during their trip to Maryland and applied them first to Torrey Pines and then La Jolla. The Islanders currently 8-2 on the season and ranked No. 1 in California went on the road for their 9-6 win over Torrey Pines and returned to the road Friday for their 12-3 domination of La Jolla.

In the Torrey Pines game, Kyle Runyon scored three goals, followed by Bobby Braun and Jackson Cusick with two goals each. Eddie Vita and Kevin Seifert found the back of the net once each.

“Kodie Englehart did a lot of work to produce those goals,” said Assistant Coach Dan Meehan, substituting for Head Coach Alex Cade in this space, who was traveling as the deadline approached for this week’s column. “Sean O’Brien dominated the face-off ‘x’ (lacrosse term) to get us a lot of possessions,” Meehan said. “He takes about 80 percent of the face-offs. Sean runs marathons, so he doesn’t get tired too much.”

Then it was on to La Jolla where the depth of the Islander team became apparent as freshman George Bailey scored twice in the victory over the Vikings. “Two goals from a freshman are pretty impressive,” Meehan said. Other goal scorers include Runyon and Vita, with another four goals coming from Braun. Peter Zeller earned the victory in goal for Coronado.

“Daniel Nevitt, Jonny Poe and Jonathan Little shut the door on the other teams’ offense in both games,” added Meehan.

This week the Islanders have three games scheduled, starting Tuesday when they host Patrick Henry at 7 pm. Thursday Coronado travels to Cathedral Catholic for another 7 pm game. Saturday the Islanders will travel to play Foothill of Orange County, currently ranked No. 13 in the state on Westsidelax.com.

Meehan thinks Coronado will face a challenge from the Falcons. “Foothill is going to be solid. They are the best team in Orange County. We play them pretty much every year and this adds another meaningful game to the schedule. This game has developed into a mini-SoCal rivalry.”

Boys Volleyball Posts 2-1 Record Last Week

The sledding has been mostly uphill thus far for the Islander Boys Volleyball Team, but last week Coronado posted a 2-1 record in Central League play. They lost their first match of the week at Lincoln in five tough games, on what the Coronado faithful were convinced was a missed call by the referee.

Things improved Wednesday when Coronado hosted Christian and the Islanders emerged with a 25-10, 25-18, and 25-22 victory. The festivities started well with outside hitter Jake ‘Chad’ Nicholson serving for two points and then hitting a back-row kill shot to earn a sideout a couple of plays later.

‘Chad’ apparently has replaced the phrase ‘hey you’ among the members of the Islander volleyball team. Nicholson, who joined the varsity midway through the current campaign after a season-opening stint on the JV, wasn’t known by name to his new teammates, who resorted to calling the sophomore ‘Chad’ and the appellation stuck.

“Jake (nee Chad) has been our most consistent player,” said Head Coach Adam Lockwood. “He’s going to be a good player if he stays after it. He’s very coachable and I’m real happy with him.”

The opening flurry by Nicholson was followed by four consecutive point-winning serves from Will Cumming and the Islanders were off and running. A kill from Chris Maskevich, the Islanders primary presence in the middle, another nice serving run this time from Cotter Stacy and the Islanders cruised to the easy first game victory.

Game Two was more of the same, as Nicholson won a few service points, punctuated by a nice kill shot from Nick DeMarco. Game Three found the Islanders coming from behind on the strength of five consecutive serves from Maskevich, while Wade Zolla successfully finished off Christian by serving  for the final two points of the match.

“I think we’re getting better,” Lockwood said after the successful week of play. “We’ve lost the bad attitudes and we’re just playing. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re just competing and getting along on the court.”

Lockwood assessed some of skills of some of his team members. “Maskevich is getting a lot better. He needs to keep working hard and to continue to improve. I love his attitude. DeMarco has played the most volleyball and he has played club ball. He is most familiar with the game, the mechanics and with how to play the game. Stacy and Zolla are our setters and Cumming is doing a good job. Will is our other middle (blocker) with Chris. Nick and Jake are our outside hitters. We have a very unique set of kids. All nine of the team members have their own personalities. We’re still working on a team identity.”

This week the Islanders travel to Clairemont Wednesday for a 3 pm game and then host Crawford on Friday, with the starting time slated for 3:30 pm.

Islander Track and Field News

CHS Track Coach George Green delivers the lowdown on his teams’ events from last week. “In our dual meet with Madison last week, the Boys Track Team won their share of events.

Charles Westbrook took the 100 meters in 11.4 seconds; Andrew Smith won the 200 in 23.6; Mike Gasparro took the 400 in 56.0; David Grimes won the 800 meters in 2:11 and the 1600 in 4:46; Tim Conway was victorious in both the high jump and long jump; while Will Bartsch won the pole vault.

However, the Warhawks’ depth was too much to overcome and they won by the score of 80-56. Other Islander scorers were Phil Scott, who claimed second place in the shot put and third in the discus;  Smith (third in 100);  Gasparro (second in 200 meters), Aryan Shay (third in 1600), and Bartsch (second in high jump).

The Girls meet was a different story with Coronado winning by the score of 80-37. Lauren Bower and Briana Giorgione went 1-2 in the 100 meters, with the latter also placing second in the high jump, won by Islander Danielle Gillberg, and first in the pole vault. Bower also placed second in the long jump, which was won by Cassie Callahan with a nice leap of 15 feet 2.5 inches. Callahan also picked-up second in the 300 hurdles, won by Maddie Danielson in 49.8, and Callahan was also second in the triple jump. Yvonne Wood took the third spot in the triple. The 400-meter run was swept by the Coronado trio of Sadie Gimber (with a winning time of 61.5), Stefanie Pietkeiwicz and Katie Centeno. Nicole Davies and Natalie Pettee finished 1-2 in the 800-meter run and the Islander Girls swept the 1600 with Sallie Privett, Annie Lovering and Adie Davies finishing in that order.

Privett was going for a fast time and clocked 5:11.2. Considering the windy conditions and with no competition from Madison to pace her, that was a nice accomplishment and moved her up to the No. 6 spot on the list San Diego’s best marks list for the season.

Danielle Swanson was third behind Gillberg in the 100 hurdles and ran a pretty good time of 52.2 for fourth place in the 300 hurdles. 

In the throws Bethany Bucklew placed second in the shot put and third in the discus throw with Mariah Stacy picking-up the third spot in the shot put.

The only big meet action this weekend was by Adie Davies who placed fifth overall out of 60 finishers (from a total of heats) with a time of 12:05.44 at the Jaguar Invitational at Valley Center. This week is a bye for the team but some individuals will compete in the invitational events (100, 300 hurdles, 800, Pole Vault) at the Grizzly Relays at Mission Hills this Saturday.”

Girls Lacrosse Posts 1-1 Week

Last Tuesday was about as bad as it gets if you are a Coronado Girls Lacrosse aficionado.  The game was played at La Costa Canyon on what Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle described as being “A pretty miserable night, in the freezing cold and it rained pretty hard the whole time.”

And the Islanders lost 9-5.

“We were down 4-2 and then tied the score at 5-5,” Battle recounted. “Then La Costa went on a three-goal run and some of our girls lost it. They feared that LCC was a strong team and were waiting for them to come back. This is probably not their strongest team in recent years. Player for player we are the better team. We have to get past the fact that we are playing LCC and we’ll be fine.”

The Islander goals were scored by Coco O’Brien, Melissa Humphrey, Michaela Guerrera, Alex Reidy and Jillian Reidy.

After the LCC game, Battle went back to the drawing board and ramped up the Islander attack. “We worked on some stuff in practice Wednesday and Thursday, which were imperative for us to address. We were getting away from the fast break, which hurt us in the last couple of games, not just in the loss to La Costa Canyon. Our team is known for how well we move the ball downfield. The improvement showed in the game Friday. Taylor Udell had 12 saves in goal.”

And by the way, the Islanders prevailed 12-7. Goal scorers included Guerrera with three and Jillian Reidy, Humphrey, O’Brien, Anna Turpit and Sandy Shepherd accounting for the balance.

The CHS Girls Lax squad, like the Boys squad, holds a lofty state-wide ranking. The Girls are No. 3 according to Westsidelax.com and are the owners of an overall record of 8-3. According the Battle, ‘improvement’ is the key word that would apply to the 2009 girls lacrosse season county-wide. “It’s been a really interesting year. It’s a fun year because all of the teams at every level have gotten better and better. There are five teams with the potential to win the CIF title this year. I honestly feel that player for player we have the strongest team. It’s a question of getting the job done or not.”

This week the Islanders play at Patrick Henry at 5:30 pm on Tuesday. Friday afternoon Coronado hosts Cathedral Catholic at 3:30 pm.

Islander Baseball Splits Pair with Point Loma

It was a week that could have been glorious, but turned out to be a 1-1 week for the Islanders as they split with Pont Loma in the Western League season opening series for both teams. With a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, on the road last Tuesday, a misplayed double play toss that could have ended the game led to a 4-3 Islander loss.

Islander Head Coach Sam Ceci described the setback as “One of the worst losses we have had. Bryan Crabb had 10 strikeouts and was in total command until the end. Bryan is the unfortunate recipient of the ‘No Support Award.’ When he has pitched, we have given up six or eight unearned runs. You take those out and he wins those games. He has an ERA of 2.25”

The tide turned in the return game Thursday and the Islanders prevailed 6-1.This time it was Kyle Couture’s time to twirl a gem, and the senior right-hander scattered seven hits to earn the complete game victory. Speaking of sparkling earned run averages, Couture currently weighs in with a 1.89 ERA to go nicely with a 4-0 record.

“Kyle pitched a great game,” opined Ceci. “Our starting pitching has been fabulous. Kyle has a great ERA. In fact the whole team does.” A quick check of the stats supplied by Bill Seager finds the Islander team ERA is at a nifty 2.65 runs per game.”

Thursday’s game saw Keith Englehart go 2-4 at the plate and scoring two runs. Sean MacDonald scored twice and the RBIs were scattered among Blake Malkemus, Englehart and Crabb.

“We split with them, but that’s not the end of the world,” said Ceci in assessing last week’s schedule. “Two wins would have given us a real leg up. Point Loma is a tough team and their whole lineup hits the ball and their pitching is solid. They are now 13-2.”

The Islanders are now 9-8, and 1-1 in the Western League. This week Coronado will play three Western League games. Monday they host La Jolla, Tuesday they play at La Jolla and Thursday Coronado plays at University City. All games are slated for 3 pm starts.

Ceci sees improvement from his club. “We’ve been playing better. We’re getting key hits and we’ve been putting the ball in play. Winning two of the three games this week would be good.”

Islander Boys Golf Posts 2-1 Mark

Parity has hit the CHS Boys Golf Team, but in a good way. Last week, though the Islanders lost to Christian by the score of 201-212, the leading scorer for Coronado was freshman Brian Turley, who shot a 40 at the Coronado Municipal Course. In a 221-306 win over Madison, the Islander trio of Robert Phelps, Alex Valle and Taylor Mitchell shared medalist honors with a 43. In the week’s third match, a win over Otay Ranch, Valle was the match medalist with a 41.

Somewhat ironically the lone contributor who didn’t medal last week is the team’s scoring average leader Connor Pompa.

“Christian won the Central League,” Coronado Head Coach Randy Coutts explained. “That was one of the few times they have shot over 200 this season. Golf is a sport of peaks and valleys and we’re on a plateau right now. I know we are better than we are showing, but right now we’re just not scoring.”

The Islanders are 10-5 with four matches remaining, not including the City Conference Finals, which is followed in short order by the City Conference Match Play event and the CIF Finals. This week Coronado plays Otay Ranch Monday, Crawford Tuesday and Madison on Thursday. Coutts concluded by saying, “Hopefully we’ll get three victories.”

Girls Soccer Honors and Awards

The Islander Girls Soccer Team, which was the CIF Division III Runners-up this season, held their post season banquet last week at the Coronado Yacht Club. The awards announced by Head Coach Kiko Medina included: Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Cassie Callahan; Rookie of the Year – Katie Centeno; Co-Most Improved Players – Brianne Clifford and Paige Berube; Coaches’ Award – Kaitlyn Couture; Most Valuable Offensive Player – Mallory Mitchell (six goals and 17 assists); Most Valuable Defensive Player – Sandy Shepherd; and Team MVP - Andrea Davis.

Girls Softball Runs Into Tough Western League Schedule

The Islander Girls Softball Team ran into the proverbial buzz saw last week, which happens on occasion in the tough Western League, one of the toughest softball conferences in the county. Their first encounter was against Cathedral Catholic, with the Lady Dons prevailing 11-1. “We had some errors and we weren’t aggressive at the plate,” said Head Coach Tony Isabella.

However, there were two bright spots as Kayla Englehart (brothers Kodie in lacrosse and Keith in baseball have previously earned mentions this week) was 2-2 at the plate and Rachel Bible was 1-2 with a triple.

The second contest was an 11-0 loss to University City. “We played well, but they were the better team and they were really hitting the ball,” Isabella said. “They were very aggressive at the plate and Coronado is learning to do that. We only had four hits in the game.”

The Islanders are now 5-6 overall, but Isabella likes what he sees from his team. “The girls are coming around. We haven’t been in the batting cages for five weeks (due to electrical power problems at Green Field) because there is no power to run the pitching machines. They are playing the best they can for the conditions they have. The girls are having a good time. I like what we are doing and what we have accomplished.”

This week Coronado has one game, as they host Mission Bay Thursday at 3 pm. The second round of Western League play commences next week.

Boys Tennis Goes 0-1-1 Last Week

Last Tuesday’s surprise run of bad weather had a strange impact on the CHS Boys Tennis Team, who were playing a match against University City at Morley Field. After playing about two-thirds of the match, a heavy mist rolled in and the balance of the match was postponed.

Islander Head Coach Jim Mashburn noted that the match would be completed when the two teams complete their home-and-home schedule later in the year.

The other match of the week produced a well-played, but losing result as the Islanders fell to St. Augustine 10-8. Coronado’s No. 1 singles player Sean Lee won two matches; No. 2 singles Patrick Holman won two of his three sets; while the doubles combo of Brenton Mashburn and Michael Whalen also won two of their three sets. Single set wins were turned in by the doubles teams of Luke Hoffman and Brad Mathews as well as Andrew Stump and Luke McCue.

“Holman played very well in his singles matches,” said Coach Mashburn. “He hasn’t been playing many singles matches and I was pleasantly surprised. He won his sets 7-5 and 7-6 in a tiebreaker.”

Coronado, now 5-9 on the year, plays at Scripps Ranch Tuesday and at home against La Jolla on Thursday. Both matches start at 3 pm.

CHS Track and Field Team Combines with La Salsa Restaurant for Fundraiser

One of the better and most tasty fundraisers held in recent years is back again as La Salsa Mexican Grill, located at 1360 Orange Avenue has combined with the CHS Track and Field Teams for an event to be held Thursday, April 30^th from 4-9:30 pm.

The concept is simple, take a copy of the special fundraising flyer, which can be downloaded from IslanderSportsFoundation.com, with you to La Salsa and 20 per cent of the net sales of your food order will go to the CHS Track and Field Teams. In addition, you can phone in your order ahead of time by calling 435-7778. Eating and donating at the same time is a wonderful concept.