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Nado Natterings |
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weekly column by David Axelson |
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22 September 2010 Issue #38
Undefeated weeks, especially of the 3-0 variety, tend to rise to the top of our musings. The CHS Girls Tennis Team pitched a perfecto last week against their non-conference schedule and along the way improved their overall record to 5-3.
The schedule started Monday with a 14-4 win over Mira Mesa and speaking of perfectos, the Islanders won 18-0 the following day over Hilltop. Thursday’s match against the Grauer School found Coronado having to go to the game score to win after the set score was tied at 9-all. The Islanders earned the victory 72-64 after totaling the individual game scores.
“Grauer was good,” said Coronado Head Coach Rob LeBuhn. “They are a new program and they are playing in the Frontier League. Their singles players were really good. Jackie Hites won one singles match and pulled us into the 9-9 tie. Jackie came through for us in that one.”
With a deep team, and three matches against teams of varying skill levels, LeBuhn was able to mix and match his lineups. The singles players for the week included Hites, Priscila Gomez, Elena Wang and Heidi Jonson. The doubles teams included Nikki Kruger/Brittany Kullberg, Mary Mulvey/Brooke Gensler and Alex Rawlings/Katie Salinda. Abigail Andreasen contributed in doubles as did Jonson.
“All of the girls did well,” said LeBuhn of his squad. “We’re getting tighter as a team and they are supporting each other. It’s no longer just about the uniforms, t-shirts and pasta parties, although those are still important. They have found out they like to win.”
Western League play begins this week with an away match Tuesday at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace and then another road match Thursday at La Jolla. Both matches begin at 3 pm. “OLP is our benchmark this year, both them and Scripps Ranch,” LeBuhn said. “We can be in the upper division of the Western League if we can beat both of them.”
Girls Golf Splits Week in One Match
The Islander Girls Golf Team had a unique week, essentially wrapped up in one match played last Tuesday when they hosted Scripps Ranch and La Jolla at Coronado Municipal for a tri-match. Coronado defeated Scripps Ranch 241-257, but lost by a scant three swings to La Jolla 238-241. Freshman Cara Barker led the Coronado side of the ledger, carding a nifty 39.
“Cara would like to break par for sure this year,” said Islander Head Coach Hanna Cohan. Liza Logan shot a 46 and Erin Dupree added a 49. Kayla Englehart shot a round of 50, which was her personal best round at Coronado. In addition, sophomore Haley McKay played in her first varsity match.
In Girls Golf, Coronado competes in the Western League, along with Cathedral Catholic, La Jolla, Point Loma, Scripps Ranch, OLP and University City. This week the Islanders compete against two Eastern League schools, facing Crawford at Balboa Golf Course Tuesday. Wednesday Coronado hosts Mira Mesa, with tee-off set for 3 pm Tuesday and 2:30 pm Wednesday.
CHS Boys Water Polo Begins Regular Season at Newport Harbor
Perhaps the single most important element to know prior to Saturday’s Islander Boys Water Polo regular season opener at Newport Harbor was that the Sailors had already played two regular season games and defeated Foothill and Long Beach Wilson.
Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess provided an overview of the Newport opener. “It was a very tough game. They are a very good team and we are quite a young team. The outcome was as expected in terms of scoring, which was 19-8. We faced a very experienced team, but we did a fairly good job of protecting the ball. We had 11 turnovers and 12 steals. They were pretty strong in goal and our shot selection wasn’t great. We shot eight for 27, but we didn’t get a lot of good shots off.”
Garrett Smerdon led the Islander offense with three goals, followed by Tommy Grall with two tallies. Eitan Peled, Patrick Geer and Garrett Eyer supplied a goal each. Van Burgess and Eyer were credited with two assists each. Seniors Garrett Sabesky and Braydon Hummeldorf split time in goal.
“Geer did a pretty nice job for us and drew five exclusions,” added Burgess. “He was active and created problems for their team. They had a hard time guarding him.”
Burgess knows there is a long season ahead and this game represented his team’s first step. “The one thing we asked them to do was to go out and work hard. We needed to work on basic x’s and o’s. The kids didn’t back down from a superior team in terms of experience and strength. We came away with some good game experience and will bring it to practice Monday. We could have easily said we didn’t deserve to be there. The game was very positive in that regard.”
This week the team will practice through Thursday and then Friday they host the America’s Finest City Kap 7 Invitational, which is a 32-team tournament, played over four locations. Games begin at 1 pm Friday at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex, the Coronado Community Aquatics Center and at Rancho Bernardo and La Jolla High Schools.
The top four seeded teams are all from outside the county and include Murrietta Valley, Palos Verdes, Agoura and Mira Costa. The next four seeds are from San Diego and include Vista, La Jolla, and Carlsbad. Seeded at No. 8 is Coronado.
Burgess, who serves as tournament director, explained the concept of the gathering. “The idea is to get five big games in and hopefully you are playing different opponents than you are used to seeing.”
The Islanders first game in the tournament is at 4 pm Friday against Valley Christian. Tournament play runs from 1-9 pm Friday and from 8am to 8pm on Saturday. The AFC championship game is slated for 7 pm Saturday at the BBMAC.
Aquatics Golf Fundraiser Scheduled
The first Coronado Aquatics Club Golf Tournament takes place October 10 at the Eastlake Country Club. Tee time is 1pm, with a shotgun start. Fees are $100 per person, or $350 per foursome, and include 18 holes of golf, free drinks, contests, awards, lunch, after golf food, and a raffle. Come out, have fun, and support our non-profit aquatics programs.
Some of the proceeds are also going towards supporting the aquatics physical education classes at Coronado Middle School. For more information and registration, contact Jim Walsh at jim@clanwalsh.com or Ted Geer at ktkpr@netscape.net.
Islander Football Falls to Santa Fe Christian
Although the Islander Football Team lost at home Friday night to Santa Fe Christian by the score of 42-17, there were some positives to be gleaned from the contest. Junior quarterback Austin Denson had a breakout passing game, completing eight of his 12 pass attempts for 152 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. The touchdown toss was a 70-yarder to senior wide receiver Jordan Jacobs, who had a fine game in his own right, catching a total of five balls for 122 yards.
After Denson was roughed up in the final quarter, junior Trey Jasonek completed the game. Jasonek linked up with receiver Billy Ryan for a 68-yard gain to the Eagles two-yard line. Jasonek wound up scoring on a one-yard plunge into the end zone. Coronado’s other scoring effort was a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter by Andrew Toomey.
Defensively, the Islanders’ assignment was to stop the Eagles’ running game, which Coronado met with mixed results, as Santa Fe Christian rushed 45 times for 342 yards. For the Islanders, Jose Sanchez contributed seven solo tackles, three assisted tackles and one sack; Austin Copp added five solo tackles and five assisted tackles; with Glenn Smith added four solos and four assisted tackles.
“I was upset that we couldn’t knock them off the ball,” said Mayfield of his linemen. “With a bye week, we need to re-tool a little bit and get ready to go for the league season. Our schedule with Crawford and Kearny is a little soft in the middle. Morse and San Diego will be tough. Hopefully the bye will help us get healthy.”
Starting Oct. 1, Coronado (1-2) plays on seven consecutive Fridays. They host Crawford; play at Kearny; host Bishop Carroll of Alberta, Canada; play at Clairemont; host Morse; host San Diego for Homecoming Nov. 5; and close out the regular season at University City.
“North County Times” Prep Football Poll
The collective wisdom of the 21 voters in the “North County Times” Prep Football Poll is as follows: No. 1 Vista, No. 2 Helix, No. 3 Eastlake, No. 4 Oceanside, No. 5 Steele Canyon, No. 6 Torrey Pines, No. 7. La Costa Canyon, No. 8 Valley Center, No. 9 Ramona, No. 10 Rancho Bernardo, and No. 10 (Tie) Carlsbad. Others receiving votes, in order, include: Mount Miguel, Grossmont, Madison, Mira Mesa, Mission Hills and San Diego.
Cross Country Squads Work Hard as League Season Approaches
Islander Head Cross Country Coach George Green checks in with a quick update on his squads. “Two of the largest Cross Country meets in the state were held this Saturday at Morley Field, home of the Mt. Carmel Invitational and at the Woodbridge Invitational in Irvine. Some of our varsity girls went to the night meet at Woodbridge and some of the boys and various junior varsity girls competed at Mt. Carmel.
For us, both meets were approached as a fitness index because we weren't at full strength for either meet. We were, however, able to confirm that our “Chief” rival for the girls' league championship is, once again, Clairemont and our boys’ biggest hurdle for the CIF title
and possible trip to the state meet is Bishop's.
Sadie Gimber and Meg Sweeney looked good at Woodbridge as did Aryan Shay, Nate Wilson and Jack Gold at Mt. Carmel. Next week, we'll double-up again with some running at the South Bay Invitational in Rohr Park and most of our varsity squad will compete at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.”
Pop Warner Football Report
The Coronado Pop Warner Peewee Team traveled to Grossmont to take on the South San Diego Jaguars. After falling behind 13-12 the Islanders showed their superior conditioning with a 37-20 win. Braden Seay threw a touchdown pass to Quinn Karney and running backs Tyler Umansky and John DeScisciolo ran wild all afternoon behind lineman Sean Banks and Charlie Duffy. Linebackers Ian Thorleifson and Wyatt Montague both had huge days recording several stops behind the line of scrimmage. Safety Hugo Shirey had an interception to go along with some nice teeth marks left on his hand from an over-aggressive Jaguar.
Tsunami Volleyball Club Hosting Player Tryouts
CHS Girls Volleyball Head Coach Leilani Ahmu is also the director of the Tsunami Volleyball Club. That organization, which operates out of Coronado High School, San Diego City College and Point Loma High School, will be holding player tryouts soon for their girls’ travel teams in the 14, 15 and 16 age groups.
The 14’s travel team tryouts will be held at Point Loma High School Oct. 2 from 9-11 am; Oct. 3 from 5-7 pm; Oct. 9 from 5-7 pm and Oct. 10 from 5-7 pm.
The 15’s travel team will be conducting tryouts Nov. 7 from 4-6 pm; Nov. 9 from 5-7 pm; Nov. 13 from 5-7 pm and Nov. 14 from 5-7 pm.
The 16’s tryouts will run Nov. 7 from 6-8 pm; Nov. 9 from 7-9 pm; Nov. 13 from 7-9 pm and Nov. 14 from 7-9 pm. The site of the 15’s and 16’s tryouts has yet to be announced.
The Tsunami Volleyball Club will also be offering local programs for 12’s, 13’s, 14’s and 16’s and up, with that season scheduled to start in mid-November.
For additional information, contact Coach Ahmu at hulaomanini@hotmail.com.