Nado Natterings Back to Islandersports
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

21 May 2008 Issue No. 20

You can make the case that Coronado was the center of the prep sports universe last week as the facilities at Coronado High School hosted a wide variety of events. Saturday Coronado succeeded in doubling Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks’ oft-quoted slogan of ‘Let’s play two,’ opting for four well-attended events instead.

In addition, Wednesday and Thursday the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center hosted the CIF Division I and Division II preliminary swimming events respectively, with the qualifying athletes returning for Saturday’s CIF Finals in an all-day event.

Saturday at 10 am, roughly a well-struck two iron away from the BBMAC, (ok, a Tiger Woods’ two iron, not mine) at Green Field, the Islander Softball Team hosted Holtville in a Division IV playoff tilt. In short order on Saturday, CIF first round playoff games were played at 11:30 am by the CHS Girls Lacrosse Team, followed closely by the CHS Boys Lacrosse Team at 1:30 pm.

To add to the eclectic sports mix, earlier in the week the tennis facilities at CHS, the Coronado Library and the Glorietta Tennis Center was the collective site of the Western League Boys Tennis championships. Despite liking to think that we are at the hub of a Coronado-centric universe, the Islander Boys and Girls Track teams actually had to venture off the island to compete. Coronado kids competing and playing sports. What’s not to like?

CHS Men's and Women’s  Swimming

Islander Head Swim Coach Dave Throop provides the details of the CIF Division II meet and Coronado’s success in the event. “The Boys Swim Team swam well, with the 200 medley relay of Andrew Ireland (backstroke), Francisco Heredia (breaststroke), Jacob Smith (butterfly) and Rex Butler (freestyle) swimming  a great race and winning the event with a time of 1:40.17. 

“Immediately following the relay, Ireland swam the 200 free with a winning time of 1:43.64.  Butler placed fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.90) and finished in second place by a mere .06 seconds in the 100 free (47.66 to 47.60).

“Adam Ratcliffe swam a personal best time in the 100 fly with a 54.67, while Ireland was third in the 100 back (55.26). Sean Cook dropped an additional two seconds in the 500 free to place ninth in a time of 4:57.50.  In the boys 200 free relay, CHS placed second to La Jolla by .61 seconds with a time of 1:28.61.  Ireland led off the relay with a 22.2, with Smith swimming the second leg in 22.4. Ratcliffe swam a 22.5 in the third spot and Butler swam a great anchor leg in 21.7. 
“The final event of the meet was the 400 free relay.  The Islander squad consisted of Ratcliffe (50.50), Chris Barnard (49.97), Michael Aguilar (50.22) and Cook (49.98), finishing in seventh place with personal best times recorded for all four swimmers. 

“The Girls Swim Team saw some outstanding time drops over the course of the week. The 200 medley relay of Heather Ireland (backstroke), Alana Burgess (breaststroke), Ashley Young (butterfly) and Maddie Murphy (freestyle), moved up two notches from qualifying in fifth place to finish third with a time of 1:53.74. 

“The 200 free saw Young place seventh in a 1:57.09 (her 1:56.88 in prelims was a personal best), and Kelly Ronimus placed fifth, swimming a personal record time of 1:56.65.  The 200 individual medley saw freshman Hannah Green swim a 2:20.40 in the prelims and a 2:21.78 in the finals.  Murphy moved into eighth place in the 50 freestyle in a time of 25.78. 

“The 100 freestyle saw personal best times for all three Coronado entrants. Murphy swam a 55.7, Young placed third in a time of 54.31, while Ronimus was fifth in 54.57.  The 200 free relay saw Islander swimmers post some great individual times as well, with a the relay squad as a whole finishing in second place, moving up from fourth, in a time of 1:41.37.  The team consisted of Ronimus (25.82), Ireland (26.01), Murphy (24.80), and Young (24.46).  The girls were touched out for the victory by a mere .65 seconds.  With another quick turnaround, Ireland swam the 100 back in 1:00.99 to place sixth. 

“The final race for the girls, like the boys, was the 400 free relay.  Going into the finals they were seeded in the fifth spot.  With Ronimus leading the charge with a time of 55.28, followed by Green with a 58.10, Hillary Estrada swam a 57.63 and Ireland’s anchor leg was 56.01. Unfortunately due to a quick exchange between the swimmer finishing her leg and the next swimmer about to enter the race, there was a disqualification.  The group swam well and should be proud of their performances and swims. 

“Overall, when you look at the majority of who competed in the past two meets (City Conference Finals and CIF Finals) it was a young, young team, with just enough senior leadership to keep the underclassmen focused. We were pleased with the performances, and as with any competition, we saw our share of ups and downs, with both great performances and races, mixed with ‘the agony of defeat.’ Both teams swam well throughout the two-weeks of the ‘championship season.’ 

“It was a good year, and I'll go back to what I said early in the season, which was that while we were young, both groups handled our training well and were as talented as any I've had the opportunity to coach.  Perhaps the difference was overall depth, both of experience at high level competitions, and the wealth of good swimmers around the county and within our division.  “I'm proud of the team. For the seniors, I wish them well as they move forward, while also anticipating next season.”

Islander Track Team Advances Seven Athletes to CIF Finals

Head Track Coach George Green had to pack his team and head off The Island Saturday, as his team competed in the CIF Division II Prelims, held at Mt. Carmel High School. Green provides an update on their successful day. “Kyle Brown was the top seed in both the long jump and triple jump going into the CIF Division II Prelims, so it was no surprise that he advanced to the CIF Finals next week as the top seed in the division.

“His jumps of 22 feet, 7 inches in the long jump and 45 feet, 3 inches for the triple jump, rank him among the top contenders to qualify for the State Meet May 30^th in Norwalk. He also advanced in the 100 meter dash, lowering his own school record by .09 seconds in the process, to a time of 11.06 seconds.

In the Girls' 1,600-meter run Sallie Privett and Annie Lovering advanced by placing third and fourth respectively. The rapidly-improving Lovering cracked the 5:20 barrier for the first time with an effort of 5:19.78. Privett also placed second in the 3,200-meter run and may attempt to run both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Finals.

“Ben Enowitz placed second in the boys 3,200-meter run, having scratched the 1,600-meter event to concentrate on the longer distance at the Finals. Hopefully the weather will be cooler than the 90 degree heat the runners faced at the prelims.

“Danielle Gillberg advanced in the 100 high hurdles while dropping her personal best to 16.8 seconds, but Maddie Danielson had a rough trip in the 300 low hurdles. She clipped a hurdle early in her race, which threw her timing off. Her time of 50.79, while good for a freshman, was two seconds off her best and not quite fast enough to advance.

“Both of our pole vaulters made it through with Briana Giorgione clearing 8 feet, 3 inches in the girls' vault and Will Bartsch clearing 11 feet, 10 inches in the boys' vault. In the boys 800 meters, David Grimes posted a personal best mark with a time of 2:01.78, which puts him in the first alternate position. Neisha Scales ran 13.2 in the 100 meters, but in this fast crowd it wasn't quite good enough to get through to the finals.

“The CIF Finals will also be held at Mt. Carmel this Saturday. The Field events will begin at 10 am and the Track events commence at 12:30 pm.”

CHS Softball Falls to Holtville 6-3

On paper, Saturday morning’s CIF Division IV first round softball playoff game between Coronado and Holtville figured to be a good one. The Islanders entered play as the No. 8 seed, with Holtville seeded No. 9.

The contest, which began at 10 am, had an eerie ambience at the outset, as fog was floating over Green Field, drifting from right field across toward the third base line. By the third inning, the sun was shining brightly and continued to do so throughout the balance of the 90-minute game.

The contest started well for Coronado as pitcher Briana Feist allowed a single and a walk to the Vikings in the first, but ended a two-out Holtville mini scoring threat when a Holtville player was called for runner’s interference.

The Islanders responded with a run in their half of the first on a walk to leadoff hitter Rosie Harris, a beautifully executed sacrifice bunt from Alexis Wright and an RBI single from Kayla Englehart.

Holtville, aided by two Islander errors, bounced back to score three runs in the third. Coronado sent seven hitters to the plate in the home half of the third and rallied to tie the score at 3-all. The highlight of the inning was a two-run single from Olivia Nebo, which drove in Wright and Englehart. Coronado went on to load the bases, but could only score twice.

The game’s pivotal inning proved to be the Holtville fourth, when the Vikings added two unearned runs to make the score 5-3. Holtville added an insurance run in the seventh inning to make the final score 6-3. Five of the Vikings’ six runs were unearned.

On the other side of the ball, the Islanders were making good contact, but the ball wouldn’t fall. Coronado had a total of three line drive outs in the game, including the final out of the third inning, when the Islanders had the bases loaded.

“Holtville played a great game,” said Coronado Head Coach Marti Bonelli. “They made all of their plays on defense and put the ball into play on offense. We misplayed a few balls on defense and that was the difference in the game. Our hitters weren’t fooled, but the balls just never found the gaps. We could not have tried any harder. It was a great effort on our part and by Holtville as well. This had to be the most frustrating game on offense all year. The ball just kept finding their defensive players. But our kids stayed upbeat the whole way. It was another lesson for a very young team.”

Bonelli, with help from Assistant Coach Rachel Lozano, guided the team to an overall record of 11-12, including 5-7 in the very tough Western League. “Even though we ended our season with a loss, both Coach Lozano and I are very proud of our players and their efforts. The program did make some nice progress this year. We struggled with our defense on many occasions and that was due in large part to our players learning new positions and gaining experience under fire. Look for more good things to come next year from this group.”

Unfortunately both Bonelli and Lozano will be stepping down from their coaching positions at the end of this season. Both were on their second successful tour of duty at the helm of the program.

CHS Girls Lacrosse Dominates Santa Fe Christian

Before you read the score of Saturday’s first round playoff game between No. 2 seed Coronado and No. 15 seed Santa Fe Christian, please know that Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle played her entire roster in the game, and the non-starters played a lot. But the changes in personnel didn’t slow up the Coronado offensive attack at all as they forged a 22-5 victory.

Leading the way with four-goal scoring days were Coco O’Brien and Melissa Humphrey. Three-goal efforts were turned in by Michaela Guerrera, Greer Goebels and Hannah Sebenaler. CJ Fisher scored twice and single goals were scored by Jillian Reidy, Anna Turpit and Bria Phillips. As impressive as the sheer number of different players who scored was (nine), there were also nine players who were credited with assists. The assists group included several members of the scoring list above, in addition to Sandy Shepherd and Andrea Sassenrath. 

“The game showed the depth and talent of my players,” said Battle. “Even the girls who don’t play a lot came in and were passing the ball. They were coming up with assists and goals. That is what you want to see as a coach. Pretty much everyone played well.”

The game began at 11:30 am and featured a good-sized crowd, a fact not lost on Battle. “We get people who show up for the games who are the parents of players we had eight or nine years ago. They come out and show their support for the sport and the kids.”

From the Department of “Let’s Play One Game at a Time,” neither Battle nor Boys Lax Head Coach Alex Cade really wanted to offend the lacrosse gods and discuss a game other than the one coming up Tuesday. Ironically, both teams will host Cathedral Catholic, with the Girls game set for 5 pm and the Boys at 7 pm. Both Coronado squads are 20-1 and both are seeded No.2 in their playoff brackets.

If both teams win, they will play at home Thursday, again with the Girls at 5 pm and the Boys at 7 pm. If form holds and both teams reach the CIF Finals, those games will be played at Rancho Bernardo High School, with the Girls playing at 5 pm and the Boys following at 7:30 pm.

Boys Lacrosse Bests Westview 13-2

Perhaps the relevant note in the Boys Lacrosse first round CIF playoff game between Coronado and Westview is that the Islanders scored the first 10 goals of the game. Although the margin of victory differed from the Girls Lax win over SFC, the Coronado Boys were every bit in as much control of their game’s ultimate outcome.

“I thought we played a nice, controlled game,” said Head Coach Alex Cade. “We took control of the tempo early, which was one of our goals. Offensively we controlled the game throughout. It gave us an opportunity to run really deep with the players we have, getting younger guys some experience, without a fall off of talent. That is a really good sign for the future. We have tremendous sophomore and freshmen classes.”

Nine Islanders scored against the Wolverines, with Cory Couture leading the way with four goals and an assist. Olivier Schmied scored twice and single goals were turned in by Bobby Braun, Ian McRae, Jackson Cusick, Kyle Runyon, Sergio Flores, Eddie Vita and Jonny Poe. Kodie Englehart, Curtis Perkins, Ben Green and Braun were all credited with assists.

The offensive play of the day occurred when Couture scored his fourth goal. The senior attack, on a dead run, slashed in front of the net and made a high to low fake, followed immediately by a behind the back shot which found the net of the Westview goal. The play happened so quickly that it took the crowd a while to respond to Couture’s great individual effort.

Although the youngsters are getting to display their wares in front of the appreciative home fans, Cade knows that the contributions of the senior class are important come playoff time. “The seniors are really carrying the team right now, which is exactly what we want. Couture is certainly stepping up as the playoffs come, and so has Schmied. In addition, Cole McLean and Jack Christiansen are playing great lacrosse.”

Tuesday the Boys host Cathedral Catholic at 7 pm. If their form continues to hold, they will play at home Thursday night at 7 pm and will travel to Rancho Bernardo Saturday for the CIF Finals at 7:30 pm.

Boys Tennis Season Concludes in Western League Play

To say that the Tennis post season is confusing may be today’s biggest understatement. Natter Son Michael Axelson played for four seasons at Coronado (CHS ’02), which means I remember just enough about the playoff process to be dangerously inaccurate.

Suffice to say that the Western League championships, which we noted earlier, were held in and around Coronado last week, qualify players for CIF Individual play. CIF Team play has already been contested the week before.

According to CHS Head Coach Jim Mashburn, the Islanders had three entrants win their first round matches before bowing out of the Western League tournament. The doubles teams of Patrick Holman/Jordan Vance and Andrew Stump/Collin Bowman both won in the first round matches before falling in the second. Islander No. 1 singles player Krishna Samperio won his first match, but also fell in the second round.

According the Mashburn, the hosting of the Western League event came to Coronado at the last minute, when previously booked courts fell through at a site in San Diego. “I want to thank city of Coronado Tennis Pro Phil Hopkins and city Director of Recreation Linda Rahn for coming through at the last minute,” said Mashburn. “We used six courts at the Glorietta Tennis Center, four at the high school and two next to the Coronado Library. It really went well.”

No one on the Islander team advanced far enough to earn nomination to the CIF Individual tourney, so the squad’s season has concluded. “I was really pleased with the team,” said Mashburn. “Everybody gave their best and had fun while we’re doing it. I told them to keep reminding themselves that you are representing yourself and the school in both winning and losing. If you are gracious after the losses and give credit where credit is due, it shows class. I think the season worked out pretty well.”

Islander Baseball Begins Playoff Drive As No. 1 Seed

The Islander Baseball Team rounds out this week’s “Nado Natterings,” mainly due to the fact that if they continue to be successful on the diamond, they will be playing for another two full weeks. In short, they potentially will have the final week of the 2007-08 athletic year to themselves and plenty of space in your favorite weekly prep sports column.

Baseball’s double-elimination CIF Playoff format is unique, as all other sports are ‘one loss and done.’ Counterbalancing the more forgiving format is that fact that Division IV employs a ‘play-in’ game to immediately reduce the field from 16 teams to eight. Regardless of your playoff seed, you have to win the first game or your season is over. This presents an intriguing thought patterns for coaches, as they weigh when to use their best pitchers.

Coronado by virtue of their 21-8 overall record and their Co-Champion status atop the Western League, earned the No. 1 seed in Division IV. Coronado shared a 9-3 record along with Division III’s Mission Bay. Both teams were named Co-Champions.

An alternative look at the Western League’s final outcome was provided by CHS Head Coach Sam Ceci. “In everyone’s hearts and minds, since we swept Mission Bay, we think we’re the league champions.” Sounds reasonable to me and if it’s in print for posterity, it must be true.

The Western League tie was set up by Mission Bay sweeping Cathedral Catholic in their two-game set to conclude the season. Had the teams split the pair, Coronado would have stood alone atop the conference. “I was really surprised they didn’t split,” said Ceci. “After we beat them the second time, Mission Bay looked like they were done. But they played inspired baseball the last two games. I don’t care who you are, it’s tough to get through a season without a flat spot and Cathedral was 1-4 at the end of the season.”

Last week the Islanders lost 8-6 to Christian High School, which ironically turned out to be the No. 2 seed in Division IV. “Christian will be a good opponent if we get that far,” said Ceci of the playoff journey ahead. “They’ve proven they can beat us.”

There are a lot of ‘ifs’ regarding the coming week for Coronado, the first of which is that the Islanders have to get past play-in round opponent Hi Tech High School Tuesday. The Islanders will host the game at 3:30 pm.

“They’re record is pretty good (13-8) and they were 9-0 in their conference play,” Ceci said. “If we win, we will host the winner of the Nos. 8-9 game between Tri-City Christian and Mountain Empire Wednesday. If we win that game, our likely opponent is Horizon Christian Friday at home at 3:30 pm. If we lose either Wednesday or Friday, we will have to play at Grossmont High School Saturday in a ‘Super Saturday’ elimination game.”

The obvious goal is to keep winning, which would mean that all of the Coronado games would be at home, until the CIF Finals, which will be played Saturday, May 31^st at 10 am. The championship game site is at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State University.

Save the Date – July 4 15K and 5K Race Coming

This marks the 34^th year of the July 4^th 15K Run and 5K Run/Walk which once again starts in Tidelands Park. Event proceeds benefit the Islander Sports Foundation as well as Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School sports.

Fees to enter the race are $27 with the price increasing to $31 after Friday, June 20^th. Day of event registration remains at $35. Entry fees include a colorful commemorative t-shirt for all participants.

Both races feature a flat and fast course. To register for the event, go to www.kathyloperevents.com or call 619-298-7400 for additional information.