Coronado High School Head Cross Country Coach George Green details the exploits of the Girls Cross Country Team, as they captured their second consecutive CIF Division IV title over the weekend. “Unlike the process used in most other sports, All-CIF individual awards for Cross Country are determined in a purely objective way.

No committee is needed. There are no votes taken and all decisions are final. To be "All-CIF" you have to place in the Top 10 at the CIF championship race. Out of the 77 girls who finished the Girls' Division IV race at Morley Field last Saturday, the entire Islander varsity squad, consisting of our seven top runners, made the cut for All-CIF honors.

This year's CIF Champion is Annie Lovering who finished first with a time of 17:30 over the 2.75-mile course. Sadie Gimber finished second only eight seconds back, followed by Sallie Privett (fourth in 17:56), Adie Davies (fifth in 18:04), Nicole Davies (sixth in 18:35), Meg Sweeney (seventh in 18:43) and freshman Ashley Engleman (10th  in 19:07). 

This is the second year in a row that Girls' coach Bill Davies has guided the lady harriers to the Division IV CIF title. There were no surprises as the girls went into the meet as the prohibitive favorites, and came away with the most lopsided team victory of the day out of all divisions, by scoring only 18 points. 

Bishop's was second with 64 points (the low score wins in cross country) and the last state meet berth went to La Jolla Country Day with 108. This Friday the team will travel to Fresno to compete in the state meet, where they are seeded as one of the top Division IV teams.
The Boys Cross Country Team finished fifth out of the 18 teams in our division, with sophomore Ryan Keeney earning All-CIF honors in his first year of cross country by placing ninth over the 3.04-mile Boys course with a time of 18:06. Aryan Shay was 16th in 18:59 followed by Kevin Siefert (29th), Will Funk (42nd) and Gabe Salvatierra (66th).”

CHS Boys Water Polo Earns Second Place in CIF Division II

Last week marked the final two games of the CHS Boys Water Polo season. Wednesday Coronado faced their archrival, The Bishop’s School in the semi-finals and came away with a 9-8 victory over the Knights. The playoff game marked the third contest between the two perennial powerhouses this season, with Coronado winning all three games.

The Islanders scored first, just 25 seconds into the game, as Alex Johnson scored on an assist from Rex Butler. The Knights answered with a three-goal scoring outburst in the final 1:38 of the first quarter and took a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter of play.

The two teams traded goals in the second quarter, with Johnson scoring twice more, one on an assist from Tommy Schofer and the other from a Butler assist. To give away the main thrust of the game story at the outset, Johnson went on to score seven of Coronado’s nine goals. Butler, who along with Johnson, are the most prolific scorers on the Islanders team, didn’t find the back of the net in the game, but accounted for two assists, three field blocks, three steals and contributed solid play on the defensive end of the pool.

Bishop’s held a two-goal edge heading into halftime, but Coronado erased that margin in the third quarter. Schofer scored on an assist from Andrew Ireland, and Johnson scored twice more, with one of the goals coming on a penalty shot. The penalty shot was set up by the hard work of Islander David Rodriguez.

The game was knotted at 6-6 headed into the final frame and perhaps not surprisingly Johnson scored the first goal of the fourth quarter on a feed from Rodriguez. Bishop’s answered a little more than a minute later and then it was Rodriguez who scored the next goal on an assist from Alex Aponte.

Coronado broke this alternate scoring mode with the last of Johnson’s seven goals and the Islanders held a 9-7 advantage with 1:37 left. In no Bishop’s vs. Coronado game that matters, and most do matter, are things settled that easily. With 1:21 remaining the Knights scored to get within one goal. With less than one minute to play, Bishop’s had a man advantage, but couldn’t convert. The game concluded with Johnson playing keep away from a Bishop’s defender as the clock expired. Goalie Garrett Sabesky had a fine game in goal, totaling 12 saves and a steal.

“Bishop’s came out very well prepared to play,” said Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess. “I told the players before the game to continue to do what we do best. I have to give the team credit for staying with it, despite being down in the score early in the game. That’s just another reason why I enjoyed this team so much. We were truly, truly the best conditioned team in that game. Physically we wore them down. You don’t usually see one player (Johnson) scoring seven goals in a high level game.”

The win over Bishop’s set up the CIF Division II Final between Coronado and Western League champion Cathedral Catholic. In the previous two meetings between the Islanders and the Dons, Coronado lost both, each by a margin of three goals.

Cathedral showed the offensive power that paced them to an overall record of 24-4, scoring the first three goals of the game to take a 3-0 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter. Coronado answered with a goal from Johnson on an Aponte assist, and then Butler scored to make the score 3-2. Both goals were in man advantage situations for Coronado. Cathedral then andwiched two goals around an Aponte score and the Dons held a 5-3 advantage at halftime.

Butler picked up the pace at the outset of the second half, scoring on an assist from Ireland. Cathedral scored with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter, to make the score 6-4, meaning Coronado held the Dons scoreless for the final 12:22 of the game. Butler scored again on an Ireland assist and the score at the end of three quarters was 6-5, which ultimately became the final score.

The fourth quarter was played at a furious pace, and on one occasion in the early going, Sabesky made two point blank saves on shots taken about one second apart. Coronado had several scoring opportunities including a Butler steal and long outlet pass to Rodriguez who was on a breakaway. Suddenly Rodriguez was going in reverse, as a Cathedral defender grabbed him from behind. A play that should resulted in at least an exclusion or more likely a penalty shot went uncalled and the Coronado scoring chance went by the boards.

“We had some nice opportunities,” Burgess explained. “Sometimes you are at the mercy of a judgment call or not. Minus the first quarter, it was just a phenomenal display of defense by Coronado and of course Sabesky was great in goal. He had 12 saves.”

Burgess went on to note the unusual relationship that binds goalies together in water polo. “Those were very athletic saves that Sabesky made,” referring to the two point blank shots Sabesky stonewalled. “You don’t coach that. That’s just a good athlete making a play. Braydon Hummeldorf was one of the reasons why Sabesky has developed. They worked hard together and you see it all the time with goalies. That’s a great example of what team sports are about. We had a great group of guys. The result of the final game won’t take away from an exciting and rewarding season. I was sorry to see the season end. They were an enjoyable team to work with and they really came together as a team.”

Coronado finished the season with a 22-9 record, while continuing to play a schedule which included most of the best teams in California.

Islander Football Advances to CIF Quarter-Finals vs. Mission Bay

There was some nervous conversation on the Islander sideline Friday night when Coronado hosted the Escondido Charter School in the first round of the CIF Division IV Playoffs. That was in large part due to White Tigers opening the game with an eight-play scoring drive on the opening possession of the game. Escondido held the early 7-0 lead before most of the late-arriving crowd had settled into their seats.

The Islanders answered with a nine-play scoring drive of their own, capped off by a Kodie Englehart 24-yard touchdown run and the subsequent Andrew Toomey extra point. The next Escondido drive went nowhere and the score was 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

A modest Islander drive followed, but ended in a fumble. Escondido ran four plays and returned the favor and the ball to Coronado. Englehart completed a 24-yard pass to Charles Westbrook and then ran 51 yards for his second of four touchdowns on the night.

Englehart is unique among Coronado football players of recent vintage. Once he hits top speed, no one is going to catch him from behind. That sequence of events recurred repeatedly Friday night and the senior signal caller amassed 202 yards rushing on just 17 attempts.

Shortly after Englehart’s second touchdown, the Islanders started to put some distance between themselves and Escondido Charter. Some nice running from Westbrook allowed the Islanders to reach the one-yard line, whereupon Toomey, now flashing his versatility as a short yardage back, barged into the end zone for a touchdown. The Islanders owned a 28-7 lead at the half.

As fortune would have it, Coronado won the coin toss before the game and elected to defer and took the ball to begin the second half. That worked out rather well as Englehart ran for 5, 2 and 59 yards, with the latter effort finding him standing alone in the end zone at the completion of the play.

Escondido put up another score, but Coronado countered when Englehart found Chris Page on a 20-yard touchdown completion. Shortly after that score, Nick Freije caused a fumble which was recovered by Jordan Jacobs and the Islanders were in business again. Toomey toted the ball into the end zone, expanding this time on a three yard scoring jaunt.

Aided considerably by an Escondido punt from their 13-yard line which went for a negative two yards, Coronado was back in business again. This time Brenden McElmoyl completed the scoring drive with a three-yard run. Coronado won 56-14 and take it from someone who was there, it wasn’t that close.

Toomey, in addition to scoring two touchdowns and converting all eight of his extra point kicking conversions, also had five solo tackles, six assisted tackles and a fumble recovery. The junior was also the lead blocker on several of Englehart’s down field gallops.

Austin Branch turned in three solo tackles, four assisted tackles, a fumble recovery and a quarterback sack. Austin Denson had one solo tackle and six assists. Copp and Jacobs accounted for the other fumble recoveries.

Westbrook had 100 yards rushing on a scant five carries; and sophomore backup quarterback Trey Jasonek played the final quarter and gained 36 yards on nine carries. The Islanders amassed 421 yards of total offense. The Islanders have now scored 396 points this season, the fourth most in school history, with at least one game to go.

Islander Head Coach Bud Mayfield knows his team worked to earn the victory. “They ran the ball in the middle from the Winged T. There was a lot of gang tackling (by Coronado). It took us a quarter to adjust to their outside speed. They faded at the end of the game and didn’t play the type of schedule we have. We’ve learned to stand up for four quarters, but this one was over at the end of the third quarter.”

The Islanders are now the winners of five straight games and six of their last seven. Their overall record heading into Friday night’s Division IV Quarter-Final showdown against Mission Bay is 7-4. The game will be played at San Diego High School’s Balboa Stadium at 7 pm.

Mayfield previewed the Buccaneers, who are 10-0 and ranked No. 5 in San Diego County in “North County Times Prep Football Poll.” “Their quarterback Dillon Baxter has matured enormously. He’s bigger, stronger and way more confident. He was a showboat last year and he is performing this year. Mission Bay uses Baxter like we use Kodie. It’s almost a mirror of our offense. Baxter can really throw the ball and he can throw on the run. They run the same plays we do and they run them well.”

Baxter reportedly will play at USC next year. The Bucs also have a wide receiver signed to attend SDSU on full scholarship and are huge across the front line on both offense and defense. Baxter has rushed for 2,178 yards this season. Englehart has run for just short of 1,400 yards, including five games rushing for 100 yards or more. Two of those five efforts have resulted in over 200 yards rushing.

CHS Girls Basketball Preview

Last week we discussed the Islander’s annual Thanksgiving Girls Basketball Tournament, which will run Friday, Nov. 27; Saturday, Nov. 28; with the final round to be played Saturday Dec. 5. However, Your Natterer committed the journalistic capital offense of burying the lead, which should have been that the defending Division IV state champion Mater Dei squad (formerly Marian Catholic) will be in the 10-team field this year.

Specifically, Pool A consists of Coronado, the aforementioned Mater Dei squad, Imperial, Francis Parker and Hilltop. Pool B is populated by Crawford, Ramona, El Cajon, Chula Vista and San Dieguito.

Games begin at 11 am both Friday and Saturday, with contests played on both courts simultaneously at the CHS gym. The final game each of the first two days is slated to begin at 5:40 pm.

Coronado will play at 2:20 pm Friday against Parker and again at 5:40 pm against Mater Dei.

Saturday the Islanders will play Imperial at 12:40 pm and Hilltop at 4 pm. The Dec. 5 game schedule is based on the results of the first weekend of play. The Thanksgiving Tournament is the largest fundraiser annually for the CHS Girls Basketball program. Admission will be charged at the gate and the snack bar will be in full operation.

To give you some idea of who you will be watching in the home Coronado uniforms when you attend the tournament, we checked in with CHS Head Coach Toler Goodwin. “We had a good first week of practice and got in some good work,” Goodwin said. “We are still very young in terms of basketball knowledge. I wonder how we can get younger every year, but we manage.”

The team’s elder statesman, so to speak, is senior Co-Captain and shooting guard Maggie Harris. “Maggie will be looked on to do a lot of the scoring this year,” Goodwin said. “She is very capable of scoring if we can get her the ball in the right situations.” The team’s other senior is Katiana Lynch, who played in the CHS program during her freshman and sophomore seasons. Lynch will be in the rotation at the guard position.

With no members of the junior class on the team, the next five players are all sophomores. Co-Captain Peri Curtis has the unique skill set of being the team’s tallest player and default center, while also playing backup point guard. Mull that over a moment as Goodwin talks about Curtis. “Peri will be playing inside and she still has a lot of the skills associated with an outside player. We will be running a lot of guard offense. Peri doesn’t yet have the strength to be a power player, but she will be right there among our leading scorers. She puts the ball on the floor and she has the shooting ability and size to create some mismatches for us.”

According to Goodwin, essentially the Islanders have the tallish Curtis and several talented guards, including Alex Evans. “Alex is one of our better athletes and will normally play small forward or on the wing. She is a good enough athlete that we need to take advantage of her athleticism. Nicolette Abrantes is another small forward type and a good shooter. We need her to be more consistent from the three-point line, where she can be an additional threat to stretch the opposition’s defense. She is also a good defender who works hard.”

Another contributor will be sophomore guard Meganne Weissenfels, who has acquired the reputation of being one of the squad’s better defensive players. Look for Weissenfels to be a stopper on defense for the Islanders.

The final member of the class of 2012 is starting point guard Cory DeMarco, who is a talented four-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball, soccer and lacrosse) and plays the challenging dual roles in the winter of starting point guard in basketball and starting varsity goalie in soccer. Simply stated, DeMarco runs the Islander offense. When asked about game conflicts for DeMarco between the two sports, Goodwin said, “The schedule seems favorable as long as the weather doesn’t force changes on the soccer side.”

The varsity also includes freshman Samantha Kirk, who is new to the Coronado area, according to Goodwin. “Kirk will play small forward and she is a good shooter. She will also back up at all of the guard positions and be involved in some of the small forward post stuff.”

Goodwin summarized his team by saying, “If you remember our four guard offense from a few years back, that is what we will be running. We have to finish our scoring opportunities and play with and for each other.”

There are some roster availabilities remaining at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. If you are interested in playing in the CHS Girls Basketball program this season, contact Coach Goodwin at 619-282-4888 for additional information.