Islander Girls and Boys Lacrosse Teams Capture CIF Division II Titles

Saturday the Coronado High School Lacrosse teams, their parents and families invaded Westview High School for a pair of CIF Division II championship games and both Islander squads emerged victorious. The 2011 season marked the first time that the sport of lacrosse had been split into two divisions, with Coronado assigned to Division II due to the size of the school’s enrollment. We’ll address the irony of that concept further into the column.

First up were the Islanders Girls, who entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and they played to that level. Their Quarter-Final game was a 23-6 win over Santana at home, followed last Thursday by a 16-3 Semi-Final win over Canyon Crest. Coronado found the No. 3 seeds from Cathedral Catholic as their opponents in the Finals and dominated the Dons 13-3. Frankly the game wasn’t that close.

Kaitlyn Couture, who is about as close to an unstoppable force as you are going to find in prep sports, scored the Islanders first goal a little less than two minutes into the game. Alex Reidy scored on an assist from Caroline Carlson about a minute later. A Dons goal with 20:57 remaining in the half temporarily halted the Islanders momentum.

At 15:06, Coronado began raining goals on Cathedral, with Lauren Maack starting the scoring storm. Then Couture scored from a Mollie Privett assist, Maack scored on a Couture assist, and Michaela Guerrera scored two unassisted goals. The Dons scored with five minutes remaining in the half, but Couture and Carlson countered with goals of their own to make the score 9-2 at intermission.

To add to the scoring deluge, the Islanders had the first three goals of the second half, with Privett scoring on an assist from Martha Byrne, Maack scoring from a Guerrera assist and Carlson scoring an unassisted tally. Leading by the score of 12-3, Coronado Head Coach Jessica Battle began mixing in her younger players with the established veterans. The most excited youngster in the group was Mary Grace Braun who scored the final Coronado goal of the afternoon.

The Islander offensive attack was highlighted by precision passing that constantly created fast break scoring opportunities for the Islanders. A foot race among Coronado speedsters Brianne Clifford, Maack and Guerrera would be worth the price of admission and honestly would have been more entertaining than the final five minutes of the game.

Defensively Coronado never let Cathedral generate any offensive momentum, often shutting down the Dons scoring attempts before they developed. Coronado goalie Meganne Weissenfels had 11 saves and together the defensive backfield and Weissenfels shut out the Dons leading goal scorer. 

For her part, Couture completed her prep career with three goals, 12 ground balls controlled to go with winning 12 of 16 draw controls. Although the USC-bound Couture seemingly kicked Cathedral’s team all over the field all game long, she also won Coronado’s portion of the CIF Finals Sportsmanship Award.

So you might ask ‘How good is the 2011 Islanders team?’ “Honestly I would say this is the strongest team I have had at Coronado,” said Battle. “It’s all relative, but the caliber of play has gotten that much better over the years. This is such a great group of girls and they worked very well together. I feel that I have a solid team below me (the junior varsity) and they are a strong group of girls. It’s exciting for the program and the direction it is going to take.”

Three sports-related websites have state ratings for California prep lacrosse teams. LaxPower.com ranked Coronado No. 1 in the state as did MaxPreps.com. WestSideLax.com ranked Coronado No. 2 in the state behind St. Ignatius Prep from the Bay Area.  So the consensus is that Coronado was the best team in the state.

And yet they couldn’t play for the Division I title. To add insult to injury, the Islanders had already defeated both of the Division I finalists from Torrey Pines and Rancho Bernardo this season. At the Lacrosse post season wrap-up meetings, both Battle and Boys Head Coach Alex Cade will begin the uphill challenge of having Coronado rejoin Division I in the future.

Battle was philosophical about the Islanders inclusion in Division II. “The girls are really happy. And yes, we were the best team. We got the recognition we deserved. I know everything (playing in DII) happens for a reason, but I don’t know what that reason was. The Finals were fun and it was just a great team effort. We just played our game, had fun and did what we had to do.”

The future looks bright as well, according to Battle. In addition to the strong JV program, several varsity members return next season. “I have only one-third of my starting lineup graduating and 50 percent of my starting lineup are freshmen and sophomores. We have some good things in the works.”

CHS Boys Lacrosse Earns Division II Crown of Their Own

The Girls CIF Finals started at 11 am and at 3 pm the Islander Boys Lacrosse Team marched onto the field in pursuit of their Division II title. Both CIF Division II Finals featured Coronado against Cathedral Catholic and both games were mismatches. In the Boys side of things, the Islanders won 15-7.

There wasn’t much suspense for Coronado throughout the Boys Division II Playoffs either, as the Islanders defeated St. Augustine 17-1 in the Quarter-Finals, and San Marcos 11-4 in the Semi-Finals.

Saturday in the Finals, the Dons seized the initiative in the early going, scoring the game’s first two goals. Then Coronado got down to business. Hunter Corpus scored on an assist from Alex Bookout with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter. Two saves from goalie Reis Stanley were followed by two goals from attack Jack Perkins and the Islanders were off and running.

The Islanders outscored the Dons 4-1 in the second quarter on two goals from George Bailey, one from Perkins and one from Corpus. Of the seven goals scored by Coronado in the first half, Bookout assisted on five of them. Stanley had seven saves in the first half and a total of 14 in the game.

The third quarter was close as Coronado earned the scoring edge 3-2. Two goals from Bookout and one from Kyle Runyon gave the Islanders a 10-6 lead at the end of three quarters. The last time the result of the game was even close to being in doubt was with 7:57 left when Cathedral scored a goal to make the score 10-7. The Islanders quickly regained control of the game and ran off five straight goals on their way to winning the CIF title. 

In the final frame, Perkins scored twice, Runyon scored twice and Bookout had another tally. The final goal scoring totals were Perkins with five, Runyon and Bookout with three each, and two each for Corpus and Bailey. Perkins, Corpus and Bailey, who accounted for nine of Coronado’s 15 goals, will return to the team in 2012.

In both the Semi-Finals and the Finals, the opposing teams’ defenses seemed to be designed to stop Runyon, which opened up repeated scoring opportunities for everyone else. Islander Head Coach Alex Cade acknowledged Runyon’s contribution to his team’s success, particularly in the Finals. “Kyle had several silent contributions. Part of offense is drawing a couple of guys to you, which Kyle did and that opened things up quickly. Kyle played within himself and was very smart. We worked on trying not to force things and taking what teams gave us. We kept running the offense and eventually the shots started falling. Bookout and Runyon were our leaders and they made sure our offense stayed on track. Those two kids had a real nice day. Their composure on offense was tremendous.”

Cade was enthused about his club’s Division II title. “I’m really happy for the kids and the coaching staff. I’m pleased the kids played very hard and with great sportsmanship in spite of the other team that got frustrated. Cathedral is a tough team. Overall the Islanders executed a game plan and our offense. Our defense was stifling and played well. It was good to get a bunch of guys on the field during the game. I always feel good in those situations. To be honest we didn’t shoot well. Some things we did very well, but we didn’t shoot well. We must have hit five (goal) pipes.”

At the conclusion of the game, senior midfielder Sergio Flores was named as the recipient of the CIF Sportsmanship Award.

Losing their last regular season game to La Costa Canyon may have hurt Coronado in the final state-wide polls, but the Islanders had still had a great season. Using the three polls noted above, Coronado (19-4 overall) finished third, fourth and fourth in the state rankings, which is a fine effort.

Top 15 Senior Athletes

CHS Athletic Director Robin Nixon recently announced the 2011 Top Senior Athletes as chosen by the athletic department.  Nixon added, “What I think is interesting is that the teams they have been on have achieved the following: 21 league champions, eight CIF Runner-Ups, 16 CIF Championships, one Southern California Regional Championship, and 1 State Championship.”

The winners include Cassie Callahan, Kaitlyn Couture, Sadie Gimber, Mariah Stacy, Mallory Mitchell, Shelby Couture, Annie Lovering, Kyle Runyon, Andrew Toomey, Sergio Flores, Curtis Nixon, Patrick Geer, Garrett Sabesky, Tommy Hart and Jack Mikesell.

Islander Baseball Earns No. 5 Seed in Division IV

Things could have gone better for the CHS Baseball Team in the CIF’s back rooms last week in advance of the seedings being released for the Division IV Playoffs. Islander Head Coach Sam Ceci was expecting a No. 3 seed for his club, a seed that comes with a first round bye and the chance to host a playoff game or two.

Instead Coronado pulled the No. 5 seed and plays on the road at No. 10 seed Mountain Empire Tuesday at 3:30 pm. This is a play-in game and if the Islanders lose, they are eliminated from the playoffs. Should they win, they enter the double-elimination portion of the bracket.

And why is Coronado headed to Mountain Empire? The San Diego CIF section has long had the tradition of league champions, regardless of their seeding position, hosting a first round game. So, the Islanders must take to the road. If form holds and they win, Coronado will play at Madison Wednesday at 3:30 pm.

The greater seeding injustice involves Mater Dei being seeded ahead of Coronado when the Islanders beat the Crusaders head-to-head this year.

Last week Coronado (12-17, 4-8 in league) lost twice to Western League champion Cathedral Catholic by the scores of 7-1 and 6-2. In the first game, Tyler Brownell and Andrew Toomey had two hits each. Brownell scored the lone Coronado run with the RBI credited to Austin Denson.

In the second game, Luke Gillingham had an RBI double, which was Coronado’s only hit in the game. Denson and Toomey scored the Islander runs, with Garrett Smerdon credited with an RBI on the other run.

Despite the seeding slight, Ceci thinks the looks at the Mountain Empire game as “Potentially a much greater positive than a negative.” Stranger things have happened, like Coronado’s seemingly improbable CIF Division IV title run in 2010.

CHS Girls Softball Earns Playoff Win, Tours Southern California

In their last regular season game of the season, Coronado Head Coach Tony Isabella let his four seniors have a fun outing and let them all pitch in the contest. Kayla Englehart pitched for two innings, followed by Alanna Pompa, Olivia Nebo and the ‘closer’ for the game was Nicole Aguilar. Despite shuffling his hurling corps like a deck of cards, the Islanders won 13-1. For the record, Englehart was the winning pitcher.

According to Isabella, hitting stars for the game were Nebo, who was 3-3 with a double and three runs scored. Lauren Curtis was 3-4 with two runs scored.

Two days later Coronado (14-8, 11-3 in the Central League) entered the playoffs with the No. 10 seed and earned a trip to Imperial to face the No. 7 seed. The Islanders trailed 5-2 in the sixth inning and they strung together hits from Englehart, Pompa, Jodi Adair, and finally a double from Lakota Abdalla-Kane to tie the score 5-5.

Coronado scored the eventual winning runs in the eighth inning on a walk to Curtis, an Englehart single, a single from Hollyn Toomey and a single from Abdalla-Kane to win 7-5. Isabella credited Toomey with making a great running, shoe-top catch in left field in the fifth inning that likely saved the game.

After returning home from Imperial at about 9 pm Wednesday, two days later the Islanders were off to Blythe to play No. 2 seed Palo Verde. That’s a four-hour drive one way. “We lost to a very good Palo Verde team 9-0,” said Isabella. “They chipped away throughout the game and they were the better team.”

After returning from Blythe at 10 pm, the team traveled 30 miles to Del Norte for a Saturday morning elimination game. Del Norte prevailed 11-1. Coronado won the mileage award for the week, covering 750 miles to play three games.

Wasting no time, the softball program held their post-season banquet Sunday afternoon. Isabella announced the award winners as: Best Defensive Players – Nicole Aguilar and Alanna Pompa; Best Offensive Players – Olivia Nebo and Aguilar; Captains: Englehart and Pompa; Most Improved–Toomey; and Team MVP – Englehart. Alexis Morabito was named MVP of the Junior Varsity squad.

Islander Track Report

CHS Head Track and Field Coach George Green checks in with the results of the CIF Division II Prelims. “The qualification rounds for the CIF Track Finals were held Saturday at Mt. Carmel High School. We went in with 12 hopefuls and they all advanced. The best performance of the day was by freshman high jumper Abigail Callahan, who topped the bar with a personal best mark of 5 feet, 5 inches.

That was the best jump of the day and one of the top jumps in the county this season. Abigail however, will miss the CIF Finals Saturday due to a prior soccer commitment. Those who will be making the trip to the Finals include: Sierra Smith in the high jump, Madeline Hopson in the triple jump, Meg Sweeney in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs, Ale Bruyere in the 200 meters, Nicole Davies in the 800 meters and 4x400 relay, Aryan Shay in the 800 meters, Will Bartsch in the boys pole vault, Lauren Bartsch in the girls pole vault, and Elise Umansky, Sadie Gimber and Maddy Danielson in the girls 4 x 400 meter relay.

Bruyere's 200-meter time of 26.19 was a personal record. She's been knocking big chunks off her time every time she competes and is now within .64 seconds of the school record currently held by Sarah Player. Earlier in the year Hopson broke our triple jump record with a leap of 35 feet, 2 inches.

The 4x400 relay time of 4:10 was the best we've run this season. It was anchored by Cassie Callahan who, like her younger sister, has a soccer obligation and will not be available for the finals. Boding well for the future of our girls' track program is Abigail Callahan, Hopson, Smith, Bruyere, and Bartsch are all freshmen.”

Swim Report

The Boys and Girls CIF Swimming Finals were held last weekend at Del Norte High School and Islander Head Coach Dave Throop checks in with his season-ending report. “Entering the CIF meet, we hoped many of the 38 individual qualifying times we had would make it into the Finals competition.  

Unfortunately, we only had 18 total individual entries, which included two Girl divers in Tyler Roth and Ashley Dettmann. So, to say the meet was fast would be an understatement and we were lucky to get those individuals entered. 

We had all three Boys and Girls relays entered, which are the 200 medley relays, the 200 freestyle relays, and the 400 freestyle relays.  In addition, we had Braydon Hummeldorf and Garrett Sabesky in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, Patrick Geer in the 50 freestyle, Van Burgess in the 200 and 100 freestyles, Israel Dedina in the 500 Freestyle, Josh Williams in the 100 butterfly, Garrett Eyer in the 200 IM, and Putnam Browne and Drew Findley in the 100 breaststroke.

For the Girls, we had Kendall Martin in the 100 freestyle, Cathy White in the 100 back and Katy Gauvin in the 500 freestyle, in addition to the aforementioned relay teams.   

For Saturday's finals we re-qualified Hummeldorf in the 100 breaststroke, Burgess in the 100 free, Browne in the 100 breast and Sabesky in both the 200 IM and the 100 breast. The Boys re-qualified in the 200 and 400 free Relays, and the Girls re-qualified in the 400 free relay.  

For their efforts, the 200 free relay of Tommy Grall, Browne, Geer and Burgess finished in 10th place, while the 400 free relay consisting of Burgess, Hummeldorf, Christian Hoppe, and Sabesky finished in ninth place.  The Girls 400 free relay squad consisted of Jaicey Tyler, Morgan Karney, White and Gauvin.  

For most of the boys and girls, this was their first time through a CIF Championship meet and for them to see what it takes to be successful at that level sets a foundation for the future.  It was a pleasure working with the team this swim season, and as most of the squad is comprised of underclassmen, they established a positive starting point for their opportunities in future.”

Amateur Soccer

Recently the SOCAL National Cup Soccer Championship was held in Lancaster. Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu’s Nado Boys Under-17 Premier team made it to the Quarter-finals before they lost to the Vikings 2-1 in the last couple of minutes of the game.  The following day they won convincingly, 4-0. As far as anyone can tell, this was the farthest Hiatt-Aleu’s boy's teams have ever gone in the National Cup.

Coronado players who played on the team included Kyle Koshland, Andrew Orozco, Nathan Anderson, Riley Peterson, Ryan Keeney, Nate Hoffmann and Brian Turley. The team competed with the major soccer clubs of California and the result was a high level of soccer, with many college coaches in attendance. 

Fisher Cup Competition at UCSD Includes Seven CHS Water Polo Alumni

Friday and Saturday the 2011 Fisher Cup was held on the campus of UCSD and among the rosters of the 16-team event were seven CHS graduates. They included Jacob Smith (CHS ’08), Justin Parsons (CHS ‘09), Rex Butler (CHS ’10) and Genai Kerr (CHS ’95). Parsons was on the roster representing the U.S. Jr. National Team but was unable to play due to a concussion sustained two weeks earlier. Smith represented Stanford, Butler played for USC and former Olympian Kerr was with the Newport Club.

The event Finals featured the Olympic Club from San Francisco and the New York Athletic Club. Tommy Corcoran (CHS ’04) played for the Olympic Club while Lane Beaubien (CHS ’94) and Jesse Smith (CHS ’01) and older brother of Jacob Smith, played for NYAC. Perhaps further tilting the balance in favor of NYAC was the fact that U.S. Olympic Team member Merrill Moses was in goal.

Smith, Beaubien and Moses were all teammates on the Silver-medal winning U.S. Olympic Team in 2008 held in Beijing. Those three plus Corcoran are currently members of the Senior National Team, from which the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected for the competition in London. U.S. Senior National Team members were sprinkled throughout both rosters.

In the Fisher Cup Finals, Smith scored once and Beaubien had two goals as NYAC won 13-7. Smith guarded Corcoran as the center forwards pounded each other on the Olympic Club’s offensive end of the pool. Corcoran just returned from playing professionally in Barcelona, Spain, while Smith literally arrived in the U.S. from Italy a day before the competition began. Smith played professionally for Savona Rari Nantes and helped lead his team to the playoffs. Although Corcoran didn’t score in the Finals, he battled Smith for every square inch of the pool throughout the game.

It would be fair to say that whistles from the referees were few and far between and it was what might be described as ‘Big Boy’ water polo. To add a little pressure to some of the participants, U.S. Olympic Team Head Coach Terry Schroeder was in attendance during the tournament.