Sports at Coronado High School last week were kind of a ‘hit or miss’ proposition, due to spring break. Some teams competed, some competed with partial squads, and some took the week off altogether. That constitutes a competitive potpourri of sorts.

Probably the team with the best results last week was the CHS Track Team, as they competed in the Small Schools Track Invitational. Head Coach George Green checks in with his report. “Despite low numbers of participants, because of spring break activities, the Islander girls made quite an impact last Saturday at Escondido High School. 

Adie Davies, Sallie Privett, Sadie Gimber, Ashley Engleman, Maddy Danielson, Briana Giorgione, Danielle Swanson, and Meg Sweeney amassed a total of 17 medals, 11 of which were gold, to go with four silver and two bronze. Privett’s first place finishes in the 1,600-meter run, the 800, and the 3,200-meter runs, in addition to her anchoring leg on the winning 4x400 meter relay team, accounted for four of the golds.  Her four winning runs also earned her the trophy for the female varsity athlete of the meet.

Joining Privett in the relay was Gimber who won the 400-meter run and placed second in the 200; Sweeney who placed third in both the 1,600 and 3,200; and Danielson who won the 300-meter hurdles. Danielson nearly medaled in the 100 hurdles as well, with a close fourth place finish in a race where teammate Swanson took the silver. Gimber’s second place in the 200 was only a couple of thousandths of a second behind a girl in a different heat.

Giorgione won the pole vault; Engleman won the Frosh/Soph 400 and placed second in the Frosh/Soph 1,600; and Davies placed second in the 1,600 to account for the last four awards.

In the boys varsity events, Andrew Smith just missed gathering some hardware with two very close fourth place finishes in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Aryan Shay was two places out of medal contention with a fifth place finish in the 1,600-meters, in a personal-best time of 4:44.13. The boys weren't shut-out, however, because John Scales scored a silver medal in the Frosh/Soph long jump and Jack Gold earned a bronze medal in the Frosh/Soph pole vault.”

CHS Swim Teams Figure to Do Well in CIF Division II

Islander Head Coach Dave Throop has several returning seniors to help anchor both his Boys and Girls Swim Teams, which often equates to success in prep sports. Throop provides an overview of both squads.

“The Boys have a good chance to finish in the top three of our division at the end of the season.  With the return of the majority of our point winners from last year, we have already posted some times that are close to where we concluded last season.  And last year we finished in second place at the CIF Division II Championships.  

Rex Butler will lead the sprint freestyle events, while Andrew Ireland will lead the backstroke and be a contender in whichever second event we decide to race him.  Additionally, 2010 classmates Tommy Schofer, Lex Aponte, Brennan Casey, and Asante Sefa-Boakye have added depth to our freestyle events. Senior Seth Wiley will compete in diving and all of the seniors have been training extremely hard.

The junior class is represented by Garrett Sabesky and Braydon Hummeldorf in the breaststroke and individual medley events. They are joined by classmates Patrick Geer, Patrick Erskine, Dylan Peterson, and Alex Kuznetsov who all add to an already loaded freestyle group.  

Last, we have a talented and hard working group of underclassmen led by sophomores Van Burgess in sprint freestyle and Eitan Peled in the middle freestyle distances. Tommy Grall will compete in the butterfly and possibly the individual medley, Garrett Eyer is in the freestyle events and Michael Bigham will swim the backstroke. Patrick Mayles will participate in the diving events. The class of 2012 is building on the upperclassmen's tradition. That class includes freshmen John Hill in the butterfly, Nick Wiley in the breaststroke and Andrew Morris, who will swim the middle freestyle events. 

Overall the training has been good and the athletes’ attitudes have paralleled their training.  We have some interchangeable parts, which can be a mixed blessing. To find a role for everyone and to give them an opportunity to excel is a real challenge this season. We'll compete, work hard, and see the dividends of our training when the season concludes. I'm not real surprised by how well we're swimming right now, based on what I have seen in practice.  I think the Boys will have an opportunity to finish in a top spot, but will be challenged by La Jolla and Cathedral in conference, with Mt. Carmel and others factoring in for the CIF Finals.

On the Girls Team, as with the Boys, we are senior-laden with some assistance from the younger classes.  Almost the entire roster returns intact from last season, and we're a year older and stronger, so that seems to bode well.

With Kelly Ronimus, Ashley Young, Maddie Murphy, and Hillary Estrada in various freestyle events all returning, and key contributions coming from Natalie Stringer, Sidney Hoshko, Kaylee Ginnane Megan Meloche and assistance from Colleen Moore, the group hopes to build on their most recent success in another aquatics endeavor and cap their high school experience with a great final act.  

Juniors Shelby Couture, Morgan Karney and newcomers to the varsity scene Brooke Bernardy, Candyce Day, Alex Reza, and Lauren Makridis will compete in the freestyle events. They will be teamed along with Kendall Martin and Hannah Green in breaststroke and Lauren Carroll in the backstroke. The class of 2011 is training well.  

Sophomores Kendall Hoshko and Cathy White represent a good future class of varsity swimmers and will contribute this season as well.  Ninth graders Emma Renly and Gabie Darlak will assist with team scoring and adding overall team depth.  With the help of a contingent of divers led by Savannah Marsten, the girls should be competitive in conference competition as well as CIF.  

Last year we were more competitive than our final CIF results. We had a couple of mistakes that cost us some points, but we have another shot to redeem ourselves and show we’ve learned from our past. The girls are loaded in the freestyle events, but don’t have quite the same versatility as the boys.  

It’s going to be interesting to see who performs well at the end of the season.  Our early results are good, and have heightened expectations. I think in the end those who invest themselves the most in their training will see a good drop in times.  

The girls team has a different approach then the boys, in that there aren’t as many pure year-round swimmers on the boys side as you see with the girls.  Our strengths, such as sprint freestyle, are typically areas of weakness in year-round swimming and so it’s always interesting to watch a season and championship meet develop.  Cathedral will be tough in both conference and CIF, La Jolla is solid, and Bishop’s has some talented swimmers. In the CIF Finals, Mt. Carmel among others will be tough. But we should be competitive.”

CHS Boys Tennis Posts Western League Win

Competition in the Western League in the sport of tennis, both boys and girls, is really tough. But last week Coronado notched a league victory over University City by the score of 17-1. According to CHS Head Coach Leslie Koshland, her doubles teams were perfect and the trio of singles players were nearly so.

The No. 1 doubles team comprised of Luke Hoffman/Kyle Koshland, No. 2 doubles Brad Matheus/Grey Halpin and No. 3 Chip Fisher/Shaun Koshland were all victorious, winning three sets each. No. 1 singles player Sean Lee and No. 2 singles Greg Lyon were each undefeated. No. 3 singles player Robbie Cattell lost only to the Centurion No. 1, which is still a strong result.

The prior week, Coronado lost close to Scripps Ranch by the score of 11-7 and to St. Augustine 13-5, with both matches being Western League tilts. Overall the Islanders are 5-3, which includes a 1-2 mark in league play.

“We have the heart of the Western League schedule coming up,” said Coach Koshland. “Next week we have a non-league match with Point Loma and then we play a league match with Cathedral Catholic.”

Girls Lacrosse Splits a Pair Saturday

In one of the more unique scheduling gambits of late, the CHS Girls Lacrosse Team played back-to-back games Saturday morning, defeating St. Ignatius in a thriller 11-10, before losing to El Toro by in the same score in the second contest.  

St. Ignatius has one of the stronger lacrosse programs in the Bay Area and the competitiveness of the game reflected the fact that the teams were closely matched. Anna Turpit opened the scoring festivities for the Islanders, followed quickly by a goal from Coco O’Brien on an assist from Alex Reidy. Coronado scored quickly and easily and gave the early impression that the game would be one-sided.

Well, not so fast. St. Ignatius ran off three straight goals in the next five minutes to take a 3-2 lead. Caroline Carlson evened the score for Coronado, St. Ignatius scored again and Turpit scored her second goal to make the score 4-4 at halftime.

The Islanders broke on top in the second half, scoring four straight times on tallies from O’Brien, Lauren Maack, O’Brien again and to complete the run,  a score from Nikki Kruger. Things seemed comfortable for Coronado with a four-goal lead and 15 minutes left to play.

However, St. Ignatius didn’t go quietly, as they scored the game’s next three goals. Turpit matched O’Brien’s hat trick and pushed Coronado to a 9-7 lead. St. Ignatius scored on their next two possessions to knot the score at 9-all. Reidy scored with two minutes remaining, a goal which was almost immediately matched by St. Ignatius. With one second remaining in the game, Maack scored the game-winner on a beautiful assist from O’Brien.

Coronado milled around on the field for about 15 minutes. El Toro had been alternately watching the first game, stretching, warming up and getting ready to play. Despite a three-goal first half from Reidy, two goals from Maack, and one each for O’Brien and Carlson, the Islanders trailed El Toro 8-7 at the half. El Toro went on to win 11-10.

“In the second game, we were exhausted,” said Islander Head Coach Jess Battle. “Basically we were playing without any subs. If the first game against St. Ignatius hadn’t been so intense, we would have defeated El Toro. We didn’t have fresh legs. I thought we were going to get killed in the first game. I would rather beat St. Ignatius and lose to El Toro if I had to choose.”

A few Coronado varsity members were participating in soccer State Cup games, which caused Battle to make some adjustments on the field. “We mixed things up a little. We had some players play a little farther back on the field than they normally do, which opened things up for Kruger and Carlson. Michaela Guerrera played well in the first game, as did Brianne Clifford on defense. Reidy played well. It was a really intense game. We’re just looking forward to getting back in the groove. A week off is bittersweet. We have some big games coming up.”

Tuesday the Islanders host Serra and Thursday St. Catherine’s from England comes to Coronado. Both games are slated for 7 pm starts. Friday Coronado travels to Scripps Ranch for a 5:45 pm game. “Scripps Ranch is really good this year,” Battle said. “That will be a tough game.”

An Up and Down Week for CHS Softball…

Playing with a partial squad that totaled nine players on both days, the CHS Softball Team split a pair of Central League games last week. The first game was a 19-0 home win over Hoover on Tuesday. Thursday the Islanders lost to Madison 10-0.

Addressing the cheerier news first, Islander Anik Ribera was both the winning pitcher in the game and Coronado’s offensive star. Ribera was 3-4 at the plate with five RBIs, but the game highlight was a home run that cleared the metal fence in center field, exiting the playing field between the batting cage and the scoreboard, and landing in the parking lot on the fly.

As Islander Head Coach Tony Isabella said, “Anik absolutely crushed it. She has been working a lot on her hitting and she is responding real well.”

Other hitting stars included Shannon Julius who was 2-4 and Jodie Adair who had a bases loaded triple and three RBIs. The game lasted just five innings due to the mercy scoring rule. Ribera toed the rubber for the first three frames and Alanna Pompa hurled the last two innings and neither pitcher yielded any runs.

Thursday it was on to Madison High School and the Warhawks, who are considered to be the favorites to win the Central League this season, supplied the opposition. “We lost a couple of players due to spring break,” said Isabella. “We gave up 10 hits and just didn’t play well. We had some mental errors which proved to be costly.”

This week the Islanders host Kearny Tuesday and Thursday they travel to Crawford. Both games are Central League contests and will begin at 3 pm.

…And For Islander Baseball

Mirroring the results of the Islander Softball team, the CHS Baseball Team split two contests last week. Monday Coronado hosted Kearny and bested the Komets 7-0. Coronado pitcher Steve Preciado pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and giving up five hits. Jake Meloche came in to pitch the seventh inning and preserved the shutout.

Centerfielder Zack Wheeler continued to swing a hot bat, with two hits including a triple, which raised his batting average to a nifty mark of .410. Meloche was the only other Islander with a multi-hit day, going 2-3 with two RBIs. Shortstop Dylan Campbell scored twice as did leftfielder Austin Denson.

“Preciado got the start and did fine,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci. “When Stevie throws low strikes he is effective. He got out of jams in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.”

The offense came through when needed, according to Ceci. “We had some timely hitting. We played well enough to win, to go along with the strong pitching.”

Wednesday the Islanders traveled to University City to complete their participation in the City Conference Tournament. In a move that left baseball cognoscenti puzzled, the Centurions threw one of their best pitchers, despite having already clinched an appearance in the tournament semi-finals Friday.

Coronado started well, scoring two runs in the top of the third inning. Kyle Teachout scorched a double into the left-centerfield gap, and scored on an RBI single by Meloche. Later Denson, who had walked and stole second, scored on an RBI single from Tyler Hill-Hansen.

Denson, who was the starting pitcher, was perfect through 3.1 innings. However, U.C. put together a walk, an Islander error, and a couple of hits to even the score 2-2. In the fifth, the Centurions sent nine hitters to the plate and four scored to put the game away, by the eventual final score of 6-2.

The Islanders flashed some leather in the game. Hill-Hansen made a nice running catch in left field in the second inning. Campbell dove to snare a sharply hit ball at short and executed a nice throw to get the out at first base in the sixth. Denson made possibly a life-saving catch on a shot up the middle in the second inning. It was an entertaining game to watch and a preview of Western League action to come.

“One thing we saw against U.C. is that we can play with them” Ceci noted. “They are a decent team and they don’t make mistakes. They don’t give games away. We’re still floundering. We’re trying to find the bats and some decent defense. We play U.C. again in two weeks and the outcome could be totally different.”

The tournament season is now over and Western League play begins this week. Wednesday the Islanders travel to La Jolla for a 3 pm game, with the return game coming Friday at home, also at 3 pm.

“In league play we have back-to-back match-ups,” Ceci explained. “I really prefer that. It makes it much more real. The opponents have to pitch their No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers, which forces you to do the same. Point Loma is my favorite to win the league, followed by Cathedral Catholic and Madison. Mission Bay has one very good pitcher and they have beaten some good teams. Cathedral is young, raw and talented. It will be a battle any way we look at it.”