|
Nado Natterings |
A
weekly column by David Axelson |
|
29 September 2010 Issue #39
The Coronado High School Cross Country Team competed against some of the elite squads in the state last weekend and Head Coach George Green provides a report on their success.”The Islander Girls Cross Country team went into the Stanford Invitational, hosted by Palo Alto High School on the Stanford University Golf Course last Saturday, ranked ninth in the state among all Division IV teams.
Five of the Top 10 ranked teams were in attendance in the Division IV race including second-ranked Mayfield (Pasadena), fourth -ranked JSerra (San Juan Capistrano), sixth-ranked La Reina (Thousand Oaks) and tenth-ranked San Lorenzo Valley (Felton). After the running was completed and the points were tallied, Coronado had a close five-point winning margin over La Reina followed closely by JSerra. Only three points farther back was Mayfield in fourth and San Lorenzo Valley in seventh.
CHS Girls Coach Bill Davies had hoped to crack the top five but this win was a nice surprise because a couple of the girls weren’t 100 percent healthy.
The victorious team consisted of Annie Lovering who finished 13th overall in the race, Meg Sweeney (18th), Sadie Gimber (26th), Nicole Davies (31st), Ashley Engleman (62nd), Elise Umansky and Maddy Danielson. In cross country scoring, the finish positions of the top five runners from each team are added with the sixth and seventh runners displacing finishers from the other teams.
We didn’t have our full varsity squad in the Boys Division IV race, but Aryan Shay looked great finishing the 5K grassy course in 16:52, followed by Ryan Keeney, Will Funk, Nate Wilson and freshmen Casey Engelman and Ryan Herrmann.
Most of the runners who didn’t make the Stanford trip raced on Friday at the South Bay Invitational held at Rohr Park. The best finish of the day in this meet was turned-in by Mollie Privett who placed ninth in the 2.5-mile varsity Girls’ race with a time of 16:50. She was followed by Sierra Smith, Sydney Swanson, Martha Byrne, Vanessa Tortolero, Mary Braun and Sydney Bennett. Madison McBride was our top finisher in the Girls’ Junior Varsity race followed by, Lindsay Garner, Adrienne Reyes, Emma Renly, Sarah Alfano and Melissa Wood.
In the Boys Frosh/Soph race, Nick Beall led the Islanders to sixth place finish out of all schools. In that race Jack Gold was our second finisher followed by Carlos Montez, Jason Vance, Chris Leary, Weston Breay, Josh Blore, Greg Coumes and Chad Faul. Finally juniors Paul Rodriguez, Drew Findley and Grainger Lanneau finished in that order in the open races.”
Islander Boys Water Polo Finishes Sixth in AFC Tourney
The CHS Boys Water Polo Team took a big step forward in their collective growth over the weekend, as they finished in sixth place in their own America’s Finest City Kap 7 Invitational Tournament. The 32-team affair was played over four sites and included 80 total games in two days.
“The most important thing was that going into the tournament we had had a lot of practice, but only one game,” said Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess, who doubled as AFC tournament director. “We didn’t know what to expect.”
In their first game Friday afternoon, Coronado dominated Valley Christian 19-9 and they completed their day with a hard-fought 7-6 win over Davis, which qualified the Islanders for entry into the tournament’s top eight teams. “That was the most important game of the tournament,” Burgess added. “That was the first time this year we have challenged the athletes. In the history of the tournament, we have always played at the championship site. We were in with the top-ranked teams and I thought we played very well. We went down early in some games in the tournament and fought back. Davis is a legitimate team and the best Northern California (Bay Area) team in the tournament. It was great for our guys to step up and play well enough to win.”
Burgess went on to point out that the Islanders are very young in terms of playing experience and the two players with the most varsity-level minutes played are goalies Garrett Sabesky and Braydon Hummeldorf. Another element unique to the Islanders is that they lead the prep water polo world with players with the first name of ‘Garrett,’ with Garrett Eyer and Garrett Smerdon joining Sabesky on the squad. In fact all three are often in the pool at the same time.
Saturday morning the Islanders entered the pool to face No. 1 seed Murrietta Valley. Burgess in his role as tournament director seeded the event well, as Murrietta went on to defeat Agoura 14-11 in the AFC Finals. Murrietta handled Coronado 14-6 in a game that saw Coronado trail 5-1 at halftime. Murrietta went on a 6-2 run in the third quarter to put the game away.
One of the prettiest shots of the weekend was executed by the Islanders Eitan Peled in the first quarter of the Murrietta game, a back-hand sweep shot for a goal on a Van Burgess assist. Peled scored twice in the game and contributed an assist while Burgess scored once and was credited with two assists. Eyer, John Hill and Dylan Peterson scored one goal each.
Sabesky played the first half in goal and had six saves, with Hummeldorf manning the net in the second half and earning four saves. The Islanders converted one of their seven man-up situations.
The final two games Saturday included an 8-7 win over Division I Carlsbad and then a 10-9 overtime loss to La Jolla in the fifth place game. “Going into the tournament Vista and Carlsbad were the two top-seeded Division I teams in San Diego,” said Burgess. “In our game with Carlsbad, I thought both teams played intense water polo. I was proud of our team staying in the game and hanging on to win. Carlsbad is very good and very well coached. They’ll be in the Division I CIF Finals and play Vista.”
The final game of the day, the overtime loss to La Jolla, found the Islanders mounting a comeback after trailing 7-3 at one point. “We had our chances in overtime,” Burgess recalled.
For their efforts, Tommy Grall and Garrett Smerdon were named to the All-Tournament Team. Burgess discussed the play of several of the team members. “Smerdon is a very heads up player and had a consistently solid tournament. Grall did some great things offensively, had some nice goals and played well defensively. Defensively Peled did a good job defending the opposing center forwards. Van was our assist leader and Patrick Geer had a couple of great games offensively and was a key component in our offense.”
As for the development of the team, Burgess seemed pleased with his squad. “I’m very happy where we are at. When I look back and see where we were, I’m very optimistic. But we have to continue to improve at a strong clip. Overall I’m very happy with how we played. We made a lot of mistakes, but they are all correctable.”
This week the Islanders travel to The Bishop’s School Wednesday for a 3:15 pm game. This marks the initial game between the Islanders and the Knights this season. “They’re as good as any team in San Diego,” said Burgess of Bishop’s. Saturday at 5 pm, Coronado hosts Mater Dei of Santa Ana, the No. 1 ranked prep water polo team in the United States.
CHS Girls Tennis Team Bests OLP, Loses to La Jolla
The fact that the CHS Girls Tennis Team defeated the Academy of Our Lady of Peace doesn’t sound like a big deal, but according to Head Coach Rob LeBuhn the 11-7 victory last week was a significant milestone. “From what I understand, that’s our first win against them in 10 years. That’s a big steppingstone in the Western League finally upsetting OLP. Our next goal is to see if we can beat Scripps Ranch.”
A couple of tennis campaigns ago, the Islanders were winless in the Western League. They worked their way out of the conference cellar a year later by defeating University City twice. Now they are striving to reach the upper division of the league.
“Our standouts in the OLP match were Alex Rawlings and Brooke Gensler winning all three of their sets at No. 1 doubles,” said LeBuhn. “And Elena Wang beat the OLP No. 1 singles player 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreaker).”Other contributors included two wins from the doubles team of Nikki Kruger/Brittany Kullberg and one set from Mary Mulvey/Abigail Andreasen. On the singles side, Jackie Hites had two wins and Priscila Gomez added one.
Reality came calling in the second match of the week, as perennial tennis power La Jolla hosted the Islanders Thursday and claimed a 15-3 win. “They brought their ‘A’ team,” said LeBuhn of the Vikings. “They upset Cathedral Catholic earlier in the week. This match was more of a learning experience for the girls, not whether we were going to beat them or not. First the girls saw how far they had come by defeating OLP and then they saw how much farther they need to go.”Against La Jolla, the doubles teams of Rawlings/Gensler, Jordan Vaughan/Mulvey and Layla Zbinden/Krueger all won one set each.
This week the Islanders play twice at home. They host Cathedral Catholic Tuesday and Scripps Ranch Thursday, with both matches beginning at 3 pm.
Islander Girls Golf Wins Twice
Coronado’s Girls Golf Team had two relatively easy matches last week, thumping Crawford 278-336 at Balboa and followed that up with a 245-273 victory over Mira Mesa. Coronado’s Cara Barker was the medalist in both outings carding a 46 at Balboa and then posting a 40 at Coronado.
CHS Head Coach Hanna Cohan noted that Emily Bodkin shot her personal best round of 55 at Balboa. “Balboa is a funky course. Having a personal best there is a good achievement.”
Against Mira Mesa, Liza Logan had her best round of the year with a 44.
In an unusual scheduling move, the State CIF set October 22nd as the deadline for scores to be posted to be eligible for post season play. A player has to compete in 12 matches to qualify for the CIFs. “They eliminated the last whole week of the schedule,” said Cohan. As a result the Islanders will have a pretty heavy playing schedule for the next four weeks, playing 11 matches over that span and averaging three matches per week.
The team received some positive news as sophomore Tori Davis, who is a member of the Coronado School of the Arts, has been cleared to participate with the team. Tori is the younger sister of Jackie Davis, a multiple MVP award winner in the Islander Girls Golf program. “Tori has been practicing hard,” said Cohan. “She has been playing a lot with her Dad. And she was able to work out her commitments with CoSA.”
The team now has four players who are capable of shooting in the 40’s in Barker, Davis, Logan and Erin Dupree, with Kayla Englehart not far away. Andrea Perez has been battling illness and injuries of late, but is also capable of shooting in that range.
This week Coronado will have three matches and will have to ‘suffer’ through playing on back-to-back days at Torrey Pines North. Tuesday they play La Jolla and Wednesday they return to face University City. Thursday Coronado hosts OLP at Coronado Municipal.
Islander Girls Volleyball Loses to OLP in Five Games
Momentum is a huge force in volleyball and last week’s Coronado vs. OLP match was illustrative of that fact. In Game 1, the Islanders came out flat and looked overmatched against their Eastern League rival, losing 25-13. It looked like it was going to be a short afternoon for Head Coach Leilani Ahmu and her team.
But the momentum shifted in Game 2 as the Islanders played hard and held on to win 25-23. Freshman middle blocker Ivey Schmitt and senior setter Mariah Stacy helped lead the way, with Stacy serving for the first point which was won by a Schmitt kill. Both made solid contributions throughout the game, with Schmitt and Stacy combining at one point to account for a 5-3 run which allowed Coronado to take the lead.
Game 3 was another close one, with Coronado holding on for a 25-22 victory. Ironically both of the games were won on service errors by OLP players. In Game 4, Coronado and OLP were tied 14-14 before OLP went on an 8-2 run and held on for a 25-21 victory. In Game 5, which is to 15 points, the Islanders jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but couldn’t sustain their momentum. OLP stormed back to take a 10-8 and then 13-10 lead before winning the last two points and the match. The Game 5 final score was 15-11.
In the fifth game, Schmitt had two kills, and served for three points. Delaney Luna had a nice offensive run with two consecutive kill shots at a critical point of the final game.
Earlier in the week the Islanders defeated Morse in another Eastern League game, so Coronado’s record is now 1-1 on the season. This week the Islanders travel to Mission Bay Tuesday for a 3 pm game and host San Diego Thursday at 3:30 pm.
Islander Football Hosts Crawford Friday Night
The CIF San Diego Section football scheduling policy provides for teams to play their 10-game regular season over an 11-week span. Last week the Islander Football Team enjoyed their bye week before beginning their Central League season Friday night at home against Crawford. Kick-off is set for 7:30 pm.
Crawford (0-3) is experiencing a tough season, having lost to Orange Glen 51-0, to Van Nuys High School 43-0 and Hoover last week 42-0. Coronado (1-2) defeated Ainlay High School from Alberta, Canada 25-13, a game which was sandwiched between a 33-0 loss to Grossmont and a 42-17 loss to Santa Fe Christian.
The balance of the Islander schedule includes a game at Kearny; a home game with Bishop Carroll of Alberta, Canada; an away game at Clairemont; home against Morse; at home versus San Diego for Homecoming Nov. 5; and then the regular season finale at University City.
“North County Times” Prep Football Poll
This week’s “North County Times Prep Football Poll,” voted on by 21 local Sportswriters and Sportscasters is as follows: 1. Vista, 2. Eastlake, 3. Helix, 4. Oceanside, 5. Torrey Pines, 6. Valley Center, No. 7 Steele Canyon, No. 8 Ramona, No. 9 Rancho Bernardo and No. 10 La Costa Canyon. Others receiving votes (in order) include Mount Miguel, Grossmont, Madison and Mission Hills.
A Few San Diego Charger Observations
I learned a couple of years ago to not write off the San Diego Chargers for the season after a weak showing in September and presumably that concept applies to 2010. But make no mistake, the Chargers played poorly Sunday against a weak Seattle Seahawks team.
The modern day NFL has evolved into a passing league, with the concept of a balanced ground attack no longer being relevant. Countless times over the past weekend, a team was third and long and a strong-armed quarterback dropped back and found one of his five receivers or the tight end open for a long gain and a first down. Charger quarterback Philip Rivers made a habit of that in his 455-yard passing effort in Seattle, which earned him an historical footnote, a franchise record for most passing yardage in a game, while his team earned the loss.
In past years the Chargers were able to feast on their AFC West counterparts, getting well against their weakened counterparts from Kansas City, Denver, and Oakland. The Chiefs are now one of three undefeated teams remaining in the NFL, but aren’t as good as their record would suggest. The Chargers are 1-2 and aren’t that bad. If the Chargers don’t emerge with an overall 4-2 record after their next three games, which are Arizona at home, at Oakland and at St. Louis, they could well be on their way to an 8-8 season. That means they won’t have to worry about any missed Nate Kaeding field goal opportunities in mid-January.
Somehow the Seahawks couldn’t find Charger All-Pro Tight End Antonio Gates when it counted, allowing Gates to cavort around the field and catch seven passes for 109 yards. And the Chargers lost to this bunch?
The Chargers special teams are particularly weak this season, their offense moved the ball effectively for roughly one-third of the game against a suspect Seattle defense, and only the Bolts defense was above average yielding only 13 points and a measly 26 yards of total offense in the second half. The Charger’s team grade point average so far this season comes equates to a C-, the exact recipe for the previously discussed 8-8 record.
Charger fans, things may well improve from here and Charger Head Coach Norv Turner has done it before, but the game clock is counting down and the Chargers already are two games behind the Chiefs. It’s time for the Chargers to play like these games matter, even if it is early in the season.
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 the 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.comor Ted Geer at ktkpr@netscape.net.