Nado Natterings

The Coronado High School Girls Lacrosse Team had a strong week, winning three games to run their overall record to 9-0 this season, 14-1 if you include tournament play. By any or either measure, the Islanders are having a great season.

Tuesday they knocked off City Conference rival La Jolla 9-7; Friday they bested Monte Vista 14-4 and Saturday they dominated Scripps Ranch by the identical score of 14-4. "La Jolla was a fantastic game," said Head Coach Jessica Battle. "All the girls played well, especially goalie Liz Thaete and point (defender) Angela Naple. It definitely was a defensive game and we shut the two girls down that we needed to. That was the reason we came out ahead."

With the game tied at 5-all in the early going of the second half, the Islanders scored four consecutive goals, courtesy of Hannah Sebenaler, Julia Schelkun, Lindsey Negrete and Marissa Nagler. Long a power in San Diego County girls lacrosse, La Jolla entered the game on an eight-game winning streak. These were two very good teams playing at the height of their game.

After a rather routine non-league victory over Monte Vista Friday night at home, Coronado hosted Scripps Ranch Saturday afternoon at 1 pm and proceeded to dominate the Falcons. With the Schelkun dominating the face-offs, Coronado took a 6-2 lead at halftime. Scripps Ranch made a minor run in the early going of the second half, closing the score to 7-4 with 14:16 remaining in the game.

Undeterred by the Falcon’s brief goal-scoring flurry, the Islanders responded with seven straight goals to put the game safely in the victory column. For the game, Sebenaler scored five times; Negrete found the back of the net three times, Amanda Purvis and Schelkun were credited with two goals each; while Hope Alexander and Greer Goebels each had one goal.

The really good news is that of the six athletes who scored in the Scripps Ranch game, only Schelkun, who is the team’s primary playmaker, is a senior. Negrete is a junior, Alexander and Purvis are sophomores, while Sebenaler and Goebels are both freshmen. The team is quite young, but enormously talented.

Coronado is currently in the driver’s seat in the City Conference, according to Battle. "If we win our games, we’re assured of at least a tie in the league. We play at La Jolla on April 29^th. The only other tough game we have is with Poway, which is a non-league game. Unfortunately that game is scheduled for the day after the La Jolla Game."

Other than La Jolla, the county’s powers in Girls Lacrosse are in the North County. Poway, Torrey Pines, and La Costa Canyon are in another league. Battle sprinkles games against those teams into the schedule to gauge where her team is in relation to the other county powers for the playoffs. All of the teams in the county go into one CIF playoff, regardless of school enrollment, so regular season victories are important for seeding purposes.

This week the Islanders host San Dieguito Academy Monday evening at 7 pm; and host St. Margaret’s Thursday at 6 pm at Niedermeyer Field.

Proving what many had long suspected, that Your Natterer isn’t smart enough to come in out of the rain, yours’ truly sat through the boys lacrosse game featuring Coronado and Poway Friday night.

Aside from the intermittent April showers that fell during the contest, the game was unusual in several other respects. Coronado’s Kelcey Fisher scored the first goal of the contest, with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter. Drawing first blood in what is expected to be a close game is normally a positive development, but unfortunately Fisher’s tally proved to be the Islanders’ lone score of the evening. Poway scored the game’s next five goals, the final one coming with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. Another oddity was that the second half was scoreless.

Islander Head Coach Alex Cade tipped his hat to the Titan goalie for his effort. "We faced a hot goalie. He was on fire, making all the saves. And he was making good decisions on his outlet passes. The parity in lacrosse right now is a sign that the sport is growing and evolving to where it should be. It’s no fun when two teams are winning everything."

The Boys Lacrosse scheduling format is similar to that described earlier in the Girls Lacrosse report. The Islanders are in the City Conference and play the county powerhouses only once during the regular season. "The county rakings are kind of up in the air right now," Cade said. "La Costa Canyon is probably number one, with Torrey Pines two and Poway probably number three. Coronado is looking like number four. We have to play those teams, because they are the best in the area. We’re still a very good team, a young team, building for the playoffs."

Earlier in the week, the results were more positive as Coronado dominated La Jolla 9-1 on the strength of five goals from Fisher, two from Geoff Worley and single goals from Pat Murphy and Erik Karlsson. Goalie Kevin Chenoweth was credited with 13 saves.

Cade credited his defense for their play. "Chris Arthur, Ryan Cummins and Kyle McArthur all did a great job. Midfielder Nick Hamilton did a nice job. He’s a sophomore just putting the stick in his hands for the first time. He’s a tremendous athlete doing a great job for us."

This week the Islanders host University City Tuesday at 7 pm; travel to USDHS for a 5:30 pm game Thursday; then host De La Salle High School at 7 pm Saturday evening.

Okay, so we went for the obvious headline, but CHS sophomore Sarah Player has quickly become a factor in the San Diego County track and field scene. Islander Head Track Coach George Green provides the details.

"Every now and then an athlete has a good day. Maybe he’ll knock a half second from his 400-meter time, toss the discus a little further, long jump a little longer or high jump a little higher. Last week Islander Sarah Player had a couple of extremely good days.

Her previous best time in the 300-meter hurdles was 48.85 seconds, run in last year’s Harbor League prelims, with a sore hip flexor muscle. Her best mark in the high jump was 5-feet, which she had done several times. Those aren’t bad marks, as they put her at the bottom of the Top 20 in the county-wide lists in those events.

However, in Coronado’s dual meet with Madison last Thursday, she ran a 47.1 in the 300-meter hurdles, to set a new school record, which also jumped her into the fourth spot in the county in that event for the 2005 season. The previous school record was 46.72 set 21 years ago by Gigi English. Two days later at Poway’s Titan Track Fest, Sarah the event was electronically timed and she ran the race in 47.3.

At the Titan meet, she didn’t set a school record in the high jump, because Senior Jamie Klages has put that record beyond the reach of mere mortals with a jump of 5-feet, 10-inches, which places her in the Top 3 in the nation this season. Still, Player added a remarkable 5 inches to her previous best height, while winning her division with a jump of 5-5. Sarah’s high jump mark (as opposed to the hurdles time) is the more impressive result, because the height required for automatic entry into the State meet is an inch lower than her effort over the weekend. In most years, a jump of 5-5 will win the CIF San Diego Section, but this year there are two of the section’s all-time best high jumpers in Klages and Mt. Carmel’s Lindsey Whetstine, who has cleared 5-8. Sarah’s jump is third best in the county, behind only that talented pair.

In a span of 3 days, Sarah jumped from a pretty accomplished athlete at Coronado to being in the top-flight mix in the county in two events. Remember that name; it’s Sarah with an ‘h.’ You’ll be seeing it a lot in the future.

Both the Boys and Girls teams lost their dual meet with Madison, but that’s the way it’s going to go this year. We’re a great big-meet team, with some of the best athletes in the county, but we’re lacking the depth to do well against a large team that can fill all the events. Madison, as an example, came to our meet with 70 athletes.

Other notable marks in that meet were turned in by Adam Munns and Reid McLean, with high jumps of 6-3 and 6-0 respectively, good enough to take the top two spots. Megan Mushovic won the long jump with a leap of 32-feet, 2-inches; Rebecca Waterman won the shot put with a toss of 28-feet, 4-inches; Player won the 100-meter hurdles in 17.2; and Ben Enowitz supplied victories in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs in times of 5:02 and 11:01. McLean won the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 42.2 and then came back Thursday evening at the big Arcadia Invitational with a run of 40.26, so he’s back on track to take the county lead in the event."

Girls Soccer held their post-season banquet last week and the honors and awards flowed freely for the CIF Division III Co-Champions. The team awards were voted on by the players and announced by Head Coach Miles Ramirez. Team MVP – Ashley Copp; Best Offensive Player – Sasha Vido; Best Defensive Player – Maureen Mulvey; Islander Sports Foundation Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship – Kelly Walsh; Most Improved Player – Kindall Caldwell; Most Inspirational Player – Jamie Klages; Coaches Awards – Alex Vido and Ashley Walsh; Un-Sung Hero Award – Marissa Nagler; Rookie of the Year – Colleen Burns; Student Athlete Awards: Senior Class - Erin Buss, Junior Class – Megan Mushovic, and Sophomore Class – Kelly Walsh.

The Junior Varsity Awards included: Team MVP – Becka Runyon; Best Offensive Player – Jenny Bolander; Best Defensive Player – Rosie Harris; Most Improved Player – Anneke Nelson; Most Inspirational Player – Emily Kopp; and the Coach’s Award – Anni Korhonen.

In the Western League, Klages was named Player of the Year; Klages and Copp were named to the Western League First Team; Mulvey and Sasha Vido were named to the Second Team; Ashley Walsh, Alex Vido, Caldwell, Rachel Poe and Kelly Walsh earned Honorable Mention.

For the CIF San Diego Section Division III Team, Klages was Player of the Year; Copp, Klages and Sasha Vido were named to the First Team; Caldwell, Mulvey and Alex Vido were named to the Second Team; and Ashley Walsh, Kelly Walsh, Poe and Nagler earned Honorable Mention. For The San Diego Union-Tribune All-County Team, Klages and Copp were both named to the First Team.

One of the consistently strong programs at Coronado High School over the past decade has been the CHS Sailing Team, the winners of several national team and individual titles. Several alums are currently sailing on the international level in a sport that is world-wide in its appeal.

The 2004-05 team is smaller in numbers than in past years. Nine sailors tried and true sail for Coronado this season; but according to Coach Kate Sheahan, the Islanders have been ranked in the Top 10 in the 100-school Pacific Coast Division. Approximately 550 schools compete in sailing throughout the United States, including the East Coast, Great Lakes, Texas, and of course the Pacific Coast regions.

"The Pacific Coast is the most competitive of all of the fleets," said Sheahan, who shares Islander coaching duties with local sailing legend Willem van Waay. "In the high school format, there are five big regattas, which are called 10-percenter regattas. At the end of the year, we take the three best results for 30 percent of a team’s score. Then the Pacific Coast Championships, which are held next weekend (April 16 and 17), account for 70 percent of the total. The event will be sailed from 10 am to dark both days." The Gold Division of the PCC’s will be competed at the Encinal Yacht Club in San Francisco, while the Silver Division will be hosted by the Coronado Yacht Club at the same time.

Competing in the Gold Division for Coronado will be the ‘A’ boat driven by Pike Harris and crewed by Kati Eckert. The Gold ‘B’ boat will be driven by Tyler Kelleher and crewed by Mickail Murawski. In the Silver Division, Kelly Kephart will drive the ‘A’ boat crewed by Heather Miller. In the ‘B’ boat, Ryan Sullivan and Jessie Kephart will share driving chores, with the crew being Lauryn Francis.

Due to coaching scheduling conflicts, CHS alumnus Zack Maxam, an international level 49er class sailor will coach the team in the Gold Division event, while Sheahan guides the Islander efforts in the Silver Division.

This past weekend, in one of the 10 per center regattas, Pike Harris/Ryan Sullivan won the event, with Kelleher/Murawski finishing in third place. April 23-24 elimination races will be conducted for team nationals, which feature three boats from one team racing against three from another. That event will sail from the San Diego Yacht Club from 10 am to 4 pm both days.

"It’s been a great season," said Sheahan of the Islanders effort. "It’s been a rebuilding year and the team will continue to grow. Harris is a freshman and he sails against the best of the best. Since we have a smaller team, we have invited other schools to sail with us, as we want to have as many boats on the water to sail against, as possible. Francis Parker High School sails with us quite a bit. We’re combining forces to have 8-10 boats during a practice. We sail out of the Coronado Yacht Club with the full support of Junior Sailing Director Jon Rogers."

For more information on the Coronado High School Sailing Team, please contact team director Scott Harris at 619-981-9215.

Embroiled in the City Conference tournament last week, the Islanders defeated Morse High School Tuesday 7-6, to set up a showdown with Patrick Henry on Thursday. Both teams were undefeated in pool play, with the winner slated to advance to the tournament semis. Coronado came out on the short side of a 3-0 result, while Henry rode onto win the tournament title.

"They are coming into their own," said Head Coach Sam Ceci of the Patriots. "They got off to a real rugged start this season, but they have won six in a row."

"The game didn’t seem that close," said Ceci of the Morse 7-6 contest. "They weren’t a particularly strong team. They jumped out front, and we came back on them. In the Morse game, pitcher Danny Cepin earned the victory, throwing four innings. In both games, Mike Hollinger went in the game in a closer role. I’m thinking that’s a role that is better suited for him. Hollinger earned the save in the Morse game."

In addition to winning the game on the mound, Cepin went 2-3 at the plate and Jimmy Gersonde was 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs. On the unusual statistical front, Josh Okerman was 0-0 at the plate, with two walks, two sacrifice flies and two RBIs, while not having an official at bat. Ceci jokingly described Okerman’s offensive effort as being "extremely efficient."

Unfortunately the humor Ceci flashed over the weekend may be less in evidence now that the tough Western League season starts in earnest this week. Tuesday the Islanders travel to University City and then host always strong USDHS team at 3:00 pm at Strand Field. Said Ceci of his team, "If we start swinging the bat, we should be able to hang with all of these guys."

The Western League schedule consists of 12 games against USDHS, University City, Mission Bay, Point Loma, La Jolla and Clairemont. Unlike past years, there are no crossover games that count in the league standings. In the next 3 weeks, the only non-conference game on the schedule is against Christian High School, which comes during a bye week in the Western League schedule.

Last week the CHS Girls Softball Squad played three games. They lost their two Western League tilts against USDHS by the score of 18-0 and to University City 8-4. Things got better when the team played a non-conference game against Kearny, which the Islanders won 7-5. The University City game was unique in the respect that Coronado was credited with seven errors. The good news is that Islander hurler Sara Noceto pitched a complete game and was dinged for only one earned run. In addition, she was one of the team’s offensive stars going 2-3 at the plate, with four RBIs; three of those coming courtesy of a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Kristin Barker was 2-4 with a triple and shortstop Farrell Pompa had a perfect day at the plate, going 2-2.

Against Kearny, it was Barker earned the complete game victory, with all five Komet runs being unearned. Barker was an offensive star again, with two hits in three trips to the plate, including a triple and two RBIs. Pompa was 1-3 with two stolen bases; Noceto hit a triple; and Alana Zimmer was 2-4 with two RBIs.

This week the Islanders’ Western League odyssey continues as they play at La Jolla Tuesday and Thursday they host Mission Bay at Green Field. Both games are slated for 3 pm.

Making up a week off during Spring Break, the Islanders Golf Team swung into action last Monday at the Bonita Country Club, where they defeated Crawford 202-211. Senior Taylor Hakes was the medalist with a one over par 37. The following day Coronado was at their home Coronado Municipal course, where they defeated Madison 207-231, with Hakes again the medalist, this time with an even-par round of 36.

Wednesday against Clairemont Stuart Gallant paced the Islanders and earned medalist honors with a 35 as Coronado defeated Clairemont 192-207. Friday Coronado finished in the middle of a five-team field in an 18-hole match which featured (in order of finish) St. Augustine, Grossmont, Coronado, Bishop’s and Army-Navy. Coronado was hampered by the illness of one of their best scorers Stu Harris, who was in and out of Head Coach Lee Price’s lineup all week.

For those of you who enjoy scheduling anomalies, the Islanders face Harbor League rival Christian both Monday at Cottonwood Golf Course and then again Tuesday at Coronado Muni. The scheduling strangeness was due to the difference in Spring Break schedules between the two institutions. Price summed up the league race by saying, "If we win both Christian matches, we will win the league. We should go undefeated in league play."

Head Coach Robbin Adair went into battle last week without two of his better players, Daniel Souza, who was appearing in the (nearly) eponymously-named school production of "Seussical The Musical. " Matt Rowan was involved in the production of the Every 15 Minutes Program, which was presented to the CHS student body. But the Islanders charged into battle none-the-less.

Head Coach Robbin Adair picks up the story line. "On Tuesday we lost to USDHS 15-3, but Allan Hernandez played great. He beat their No. 1 and No. 3 singles players, before losing to their No. 2. He had not beaten their No. 1 player in the last 3 years. The third point came from Lewis Guess and Dan Schneider in doubles."

Guess/Schneider accounted for the lone Islander point in a 17-1 loss to Scripps Ranch. Souza returned for the third match of the week, an 11-7 loss to University City. Souza won two singles matches, as did Hernandez. The doubles team of Mike Holman and Chris Mitchell won two matches, with Guess/Schneider winning one match.

This week the Islanders are busy as the host Mira Mesa Monday; host La Jolla Tuesday; play St. Augustine at Morley Field on Thursday, and host Otay Ranch Friday. The Islander home matches are played at the Glorietta Tennis Center. All matches begin at 3 pm.