The Top Senior Athletes for the 2009-10 school year, as determined by the head coaches of the respective CHS sports, were recently honored during a luncheon at the Rotary Club of Coronado. CHS Athletic Director Robin Nixon announced the winners who included female athletes Adriana Davies (cross country and track), Hillary Estrada (water polo and swimming), Stefanie Pietkiewicz (cross country and soccer), Sallie Privett (cross country and track), Kelly Ronimus (water polo and swimming) and Ashley Young (water polo and swimming).

The male athletes honored included Rex Butler (water polo and swimming), Kodie Englehart (football and lacrosse), Andrew Ireland (water polo and swimming), David Rodriguez (water polo, soccer and volleyball) and Eddie Vita (soccer and lacrosse).

Boys Golf Honors and Awards

The Coronado Municipal Golf Course was the appropriately-themed site of the Boys Golf Post-Season Banquet that was held last week. Under the direction of Head Coach Randy Coutts, the team had a good season, taking 10th in CIF Team Play. They shot an average score of 213 in their matches this season and had a 12-10 record while playing against most of the best teams in San Diego County.

Jordan Oval was named Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the Central League First Team. Brian Turley won the ISF Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship and also earned Central League First Team honors. Jake Schwartz was presented with the Coach’s Award and Alex Valle was recognized as both Team Captain and Team MVP.

Track and Field Award Winners

Head Track and Field Coach George Green and his staff honored their award winners last week at their banquet. The Girls Team had Co-MVPs in Adie Davis and Sallie Privett. Will Bartsch, who set a school record of 14 feet in the pole vault this spring, was honored for that effort and also as Boys MVP. The ISF Award was presented to Maddy Danielson.

Central League championship plaques were presented to Aryan Shay in the 800-meter run; Sadie Gimber in the 400; Danielson in the 300-meter hurdles; and Briana Giorgione in the pole vault.

Andrew Smith earned the most points for the Boys, while Danielson won that honor for the Girls squad. Nicole Davies was named Most Tenacious for running on a broken leg in a meet early in the season and Rookie of the Year Awards were presented to Will Funk and Jack Gold.

Boys Volleyball Honors

The Boys Volleyball Team was among the first of the spring sports teams to hold their post season banquet. Head Coach Steve Merrill named David Rodriguez as Team MVP, Nick DeMarco was honored for his backcourt play and Chris Maskevich earned accolades for his net dominance.

JV Head Coach Don Woodhouse named John Nettleton Team MVP.

Softball Team Awards

Varsity Softball Head Coach Tony Isabella and his team turned in a fine 16-4 record this season and were Central League champions. The squad was honored Sunday for their efforts. Team MVP was Bree Feist; Most Valuable Offensive Player was Anik Ribera; and Most Valuable Defensive Player was Olivia Nebo. The ISF Award was presented to Shannon Julius, while the Islander Award for contributions to the team was shared by sisters Jessica Adair and Jody Adair.

JV Head Coach Jay Kruer guided his team to a 17-1 mark and the JV Central League crown. His award winners included: MVP – Lauren Curtis;  Team Captains – Lauren Penn, Liza-Jean Logan and Curtis; Most Improved was Grace Fahrenthold; Most Valuable Defensive Player – Hollyn Toomey; Co-Most Valuable Offensive Players were Katie Shephard and Lakota Abdalla-Kane; and the Islander Award went to Alexis Maribito.

CIF Division IV Champion Baseball Team’s Honors and Awards

Roughly 30 hours after winning the CIF Division IV championship, the CHS Baseball program held their banquet. The awards as announced by Head Coach Sam Ceci and his staff of Bill Seager, Jerry Brown, Chris Blanton, and Chris Barbera went to: Team MVP – Zack Wheeler; ISF Award – Leo Legidakes; The Gamer Award for playing the hardest – Patrick Toomey; the Pitcher of the Year Award - Jake Meloche and the Coach’s Award - Jack Nicholson.

Ceci just completed his 12th season at the helm of the Islander baseball program and the team has made the CIF Playoffs for 12 straight years. Of the 12 seasons under Ceci, the team has reached the CIF Semi-Finals eight times, the Finals four times and won the championship in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

On the JV side, Head Coach Morgan Cummins and Asst. Coach Tom Kelleher honored Steven Vasquez, Kodie Kessel and Devin Vaage with Coaches’ Awards.

Coronado Pop Warner Football and Cheer Sign-Ups

The second round of sign-ups for Pop Warner Football and Cheer will be held in the Coronado Community Center Abalone Room from 8:30 am to 1 pm this Saturday, June 12. The final registration will be held Saturday, July 10.

Registration fees are $170 per athlete, with a charge of $125 for each additional child from the same family. For additional information, please contact Bob Weissenfels at rdweisse@aol.com.

Stanley Cup Hockey Well Worth Your Viewing Time

My family spent a couple of years in Chicago while I was growing up. Conveniently that was during the time of the legendary Bobby Hull, also known as the Golden Jet. He played on the ‘Million Dollar Line’ composed of Murray Balfour and Bill Hay. To show how quaint that reference is, the three stars on the line (center and two forwards) earned a total of $1 Million per season, hence the name.

Hull, who grew up on a farm near Pointe Anne, Ontario, Canada, was incredibly strong and fast. He frequently controlled his stick and the puck with his right arm and held defenders at bay with his left. Whenever he went on a scoring rush up the ice, it was electrifying. He joined the Blackhawks in 1957 at the ripe old age of 18.

In the years since I had become a lapsed hockey fan, occasionally following the Stanley Cup Finals if my Chicago Cubs were out of the National League race in late spring. Teetering on the brink of yet another sub-par baseball season on the Near North Side, plus the resurgence of the Blackhawks got me interested in hockey again.

This year’s Blackhawks feature a forward named Dustin Byfuglien (pronounced ‘Bufflin’), team Captain Jonathan Toews (pronounced ‘Taves’) and forward Patrick Kane (pronounced ‘Cane,’ even the French can’t mangle on a four-letter last name). As we went to press, the Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead in the Finals over the Philadelphia Flyers.

If you are a sports fan, and the odds are good you are if you have made it this far in the column, the Stanley Cup has been fun to watch because the players play all-out every minute. Frankly, the NBA Finals don’t fare as well from an effort expended standpoint. Part of that is due to the nature of the respective games. In hockey a line will be on the ice for two to three minutes at a time before skating off to rest and most teams have four lines they deploy. In the NBA Finals, the best players will play 42-44 minutes of a 48-minute game. The theory is that even 90 percent effort from a great player is better than 100 percent effort from a lesser athlete.

During the heyday of the great Wayne Gretzky, I read a column where the author said, ‘Name five hockey players in the NHL not named Wayne Gretzky. I couldn’t do it then. I can just squeak by now and that is with Byfuglien, Toews and Kane as a head start.

But the effort put forth by the NHL players, especially if you are fortunate enough to view the game in high definition, is worth watching. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup is scheduled for Wednesday evening at 5 Pacific Daylight Time. Game 7, if necessary, will be Friday evening at the same time. Both games are on NBC.

Baseball Commissioner Misses Yet Another Opportunity to do the ‘Right Thing’

I had never been a huge fan of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, but until recently he was considered harmless enough. Although in retrospect, Selig cancelled the World Series in 1994 due to carryover from a player strike. Thus he ended a consecutive string of Fall Classics that had survived since 1903 and spanned two world wars.

Selig also decided the MLB All-Star Game should be meaningful, after he allowed one game to end in a tie. Further, he stipulated that the winning league to have home field advantage in the World Series. Upon reflection, maybe he has done more harm than good to the game.

Selig was presented a golden opportunity to have a public relations coup when Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game on a horrible call from first base umpire Jim Joyce last week. In one unfortunate moment, Joyce ended Galarraga’s perfect game and his chance to become the author of the 21st perfect game in MLB history.

Since it was the last play of the game, and Joyce admitted to missing the call immediately after the game, Selig had the opportunity to right a wrong and allow Galarraga to accept his rightful place in baseball history. Selig said he would be setting a bad precedent and would be opening “Pandora’s Box” if he overturned the call. Selig then turned the simple issue of doing the right thing for one of his athletes into a referendum on instant replay in baseball.

The point is this, two, 10 or 100 years from now when a baseball fan looks over a list of perfect games, Galarraga’s name won’t be on it. In his fourth season in the Majors, Galarraga is a journeyman pitcher, with a career record of 21-18 and a 4.50 ERA. Galarraga pitched the game of his life last week and won’t earn the recognition he deserves.

In a recent story, Selig said, “I don’t want to be trite here, but it really turned out to be a great story. You had a picture who acted just beautifully. You had an umpire who did what a lot of people in life should do. He told the truth.”

For his part, Selig stuck his head in the sand and stayed with a thought process from the mid 1900’s. He and his advisors had the chance to correct a wrong and honor a player in the process, and struck out when it counted.