Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

18 March 2009 Issue #11

One of the smaller spring sports teams at Coronado High School in 2009 has gotten off to a very fast start. The Boys Golf Team, which currently features six players with a seventh about to join the squad, has sprinted off to a 5-1 start.

“The team has high expectations,” said Head Coach Randy Coutts. “The kids are pretty happy with themselves. They have been responsible and are working hard.”

Early in the year, the Islanders suffered their first loss, which was to perennial links power St. Augustine. Coronado’s victories thus far have included two wins over Mar Vista, and one victory each over Hilltop, Clairemont and Mira Mesa.

“Connor Pompa is one of the best players in the county,” said Coutts. “Right now he’s not scoring as well as he wants to, but he’ll get there. Alex Valle and Connor are pretty much tied for the scoring lead on the team. Alex has been the medalist (posting the lowest score) in three out of our six matches. He gets the ball out there and has scored well.”

In the team format, six golfers compete and the best five scores are used to determine the team’s total score. In order to be successful, depth is important and the Islanders have that element on this year’s squad. “We’re consistent through the fourth guy and that includes Taylor Mitchell and Robert Phelps,” Coutts added. “All of them are capable of shooting a couple over par. They just need experience in the short game. All of the kids have been playing six days a week. We lift weights and do a lot of stuff. They like it and they like the hard work.”

The final two members of the team are freshman Brian Turley and Gonzalo Arozarena. “Turley is the future of the team. He’s going to be really, really good. He has shot some good scores in practice, but he just hasn’t taken it out on the course yet. He’s been shooting 44 or 45 and he is capable of shooting 38 or 39. Gonzalo is developing into a fine player.” Juan Pedro Quintana will join the team this week as the squad’s seventh member.

Coutts has proven to be a coach for all seasons, co-coaching the CHS Girls Golf Team in the fall with Hanna Cohan; teaming with Cohan again in the winter and working with the Coronado Middle School golf program; and now guiding the Boys Team in the spring. “It’s been interesting that we have had some of the middle school kids come watch us tee off,” said Coutts of his winter season team members. “It’s a continuation of what we started at the middle school during the winter.”

This week is a busy one for the Islanders as they host league favorite Christian on Monday, host Point Loma on Wednesday and then play in the St. Augustine Tournament at Singing Hills on Thursday and Friday. Included in that event are some of the best teams in San Diego County including La Costa Canyon, Cathedral Catholic, Torrey Pines, St. Augustine and Coronado.

Islander Girls Lacrosse Again Among County-Wide Contenders

After an opening game setback to Rancho Bernardo by the score of 11-6, the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team figures to again be in the thick of the chase for the CIF title again this season.

The loss to Rancho Bernardo was unusual, because according to Head Coach Jessica Battle, the Islanders had soundly defeated the Broncos in a scrimmage just two days before. “Ten of their 11 goals came on direct shots, which are the result of penalties. It was a frustrating game to coach and it was a humbling experience for the team. We completely lost our composure. Now they know they can be beaten and the pressure is off.”

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Coronado recovered later in the week and took out their frustrations on San Dieguito, winning by the lopsided score of 15-3.

If Coronado was a little over-confident in the early going of the new season, they may have reason to be. When asked to discuss the strength of her team, Battle replied, “Player for player we have no weak spots this year. Usually there are one or two players who are not as strong. We have a great starting lineup and they play really, really well together.”

In the starting lineup are six seniors, including Melissa Humphrey at attack wing, Jillian Reidy at line attack, Sandy Shepherd at defensive wing, Kirsten Krock and Jenna Harrison at line defense and Taylor Udell in goal.

Starters from other classes include line attackers Coco O’Brien and Michaela Guerrera, midfielders Anna Turpitt and Kaitlyn Couture, center Alex Reidy and Lainey Mebust at line defense. A total of 19 players are on the varsity this season.

Lacrosse is unique among the CIF sports, as all schools regardless of enrollment, compete in one division. The Islanders will continue to play in the City Conference, where according to Battle, La Jolla and Cathedral will provide the best competition. “La Jolla is a developing team. They have a new coach and a couple of excellent players. If all goes as planned, we should be able to beat them. Cathedral has some good players and consistent coaching. We play at Cathedral next Friday, but we don’t play La Jolla until May.”

On a county-wide basis, the same familiar foes are back again. “La Costa Canyon is the team to beat,” said Battle of the team that stopped the Islanders in last season’s CIF Championship Final. “Poway is pretty strong. Rancho Bernardo is a good team. They surprised me. I think they will go pretty far as well. Torrey Pines is always good.”

This week Coronado hosts Monte Vista Wednesday at 7 pm. Saturday the team competes in a tournament to be held at Westview High School. Included in the Islanders’ bracket is one of the top girls lacrosse teams from Colorado. Potentially Coronado could play Germantown Academy from Maryland. Also Poway, Scripps Ranch La Jolla and Poway are in the same bracket with the Islanders.

Track Tidbits

George Green sent a tweet (incredibly hip technological reference) of sorts this week regarding the CHS Track Team, although he may have exceeded the required 140 character limit. “There is little to report yet in the world of Islander Track and Field, except that Sallie Privett had a nice outing at the Bronco Invitational at Rancho Bernardo last Saturday, placing third in a tactical race behind two of the top San Diego Section runners, Mollie Grabille from Rancho Buena Vista and Elizabeth Apgar from Lincoln. The dual meet season gets underway this Thursday at Lincoln, beginning at 3 pm.”

NCAA Basketball Bracket Nattering

Now that every media type in the country has overanalyzed the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball bracket, Your Natterer supplies the best first round matchup of the tourney, at least from a nickname perspective. In a South Regional game to be played Thursday in Portland, Oregon (Could I make that up?) No. 4 Gonzaga plays No. 13 Akron. The game will be contested between the Zags and the Zips. Since the ancestral home of the Natter Wife is Akron, Go Zips!

CHS Boys Tennis Squad Features New and Returning Players

With 13 varsity members on the CHS Boys Tennis Team, Head Coach James Mashburn noted recently that roughly half of the team consists of returning players while the other half are new to the varsity.

Probably the most important returning player is No. 1 singles player Krishna Samperio. The singles lineup then goes to freshman No. 2 player Sean Lee, followed by senior Patrick Holman at the No. 3 slot.

Prep tennis matches are competed with three singles players and three doubles teams, so nine players are in action at any one time. The doubles teams, which tend to change and evolve during the season, include senior Daniel Grazian and junior Chase Dalton playing No. 1. The No. 2 team is comprised of senior Brenton Mashburn and sophomore Michael Whalen. The No. 3 team is sophomore Chase Mashburn and freshman Brad Matthews. Competing to make the game lineup are the doubles tandems of junior Robbie Cattell and freshman Luke Hoffman and junior Andrew Stump and freshman Luke McCue.

Thus far this season, the Islanders defeated Mira Mesa 15-3, lost a close match to Point Loma 11-7 and lost 17-1 to La Jolla Country Day, one of the best teams in the county. Coronado will again compete in the Western League for tennis, where according to Mashburn, “All of the teams are good.” La Jolla and Cathedral Catholic are at the top of the list followed by everybody else including St. Augustine, University City, and Scripps Ranch.

This week the Islanders travel to Canyon Crest Tuesday, they play at Grauer Wednesday, and they host Hilltop Thursday. All of the matches are scheduled for a 3 pm starting time.

CHS Baseball Has Tough 0-3 Week

The old baseball line is that when a team is having trouble hitting, it looks like they are batting with a rolled up copy of “The Sporting News” instead of a bat. The Islander Baseball Team is going through one of those stages currently, but if their success over the past several years is any indication of the future, they’ll snap out of their slump.

Last week playing in the Bully’s Tournament, Coronado went 0-3, but said Head Coach Sam Ceci, “We probably could have won all of them with some timely hitting. We are pitching okay, at least good enough to win. But we are walking as many hitters as we are striking out.”

Specifically last week’s contests included a 7-2 loss to Mission Hills, a 5-1 loss to Western League rival La Jolla, and the final game of the week against San Ysidro resulted in an eight-inning 9-5 loss. “San Ysidro outplayed us,” said Ceci. “We looked like the boys and they looked like men. There were three or four Major League scouts there looking at their catcher and center fielder. They had a couple of kids who could run like the wind.”

Currently the Islanders are hitting .234 as a team, which by Ceci’s reckoning is about .200 points lower than Coronado was hitting at a comparable point in the season last year. “We’ve got to get untracked. In all fairness, we are in one of those spells when we hit three or four balls right on the button and they went directly at one of their players.”

The Islanders are still competing in the Bully’s Tournament this week. Tuesday Coronado plays Valley Center at home and Thursday the Islanders travel to El Camino. “We had a tough draw in the tournament, and all of the teams were quite worthy, although beatable.” The first pitch for both games is scheduled for 3 pm.

Boys Basketball Honors and Awards

Your Natterer was the master of ceremonies (Don’t forget to tip your waitress, I’ll be here all week) at Boys Basketball Banquet Sunday evening. The event was a celebration of the success of the roundball program from top to bottom. The Frosh/Soph team was 8-8, the JV was 21-6 and the Varsity was 19-11. The varsity’s season included a strong finish and second place in the competitive Central League race.

Frosh/Soph Head Coach Bob Linfeld announced his team’s award winners as follows: Captains Andrew Ovrom and Hayden Deitrick, and Most Improved Player Jason Fielder.

J.D. Laaperi, the JV head coach announced his award winners, who included Most Improved Players Brian Turley and Eddie Vita; Co-Captains Turley and Jake Meloche; and Co-MVPs Meloche and Harley Ralph.

The Varsity awards announced by Head Coach Ken Caesar included: Most Improved – Bryan Beverly; Team Captain Blake Malkemus; and MVP Krishna Samperio.

Girls Water Polo Honors

As a reminder, the CHS Girls Water Polo Team emerged victorious in their CIF Division II championship showdown with The Bishop’s School recently, and the Islanders are being rewarded for their efforts with several post season honors.

The Coronado trio of Alex Adamson, Ashley Young and Kelly Ronimus were named to the All Western League First Team and also to the CIF Division II First Team. Young was runner-up for Player of the Year honors in Division II.

Earning Western League Second Team honors and Division II Second Team honors were Hillary Estrada and Kathryn Bailey. Maddie Murphy earned Honorable Mention recognition.

Adamson, Bailey and Michelle Carroll were named to the Senior All-Star Division II team, which defeated their Division I counterparts recently by the score of 12-11.

Recruiting Realities Presentation Monday at 7:30 pm

For the past several weeks, we have been running mentions regarding the Islander Sports Foundation’s presentation of college recruiting expert Jack Renkens, which will be held Monday, March 23^rd at 7:30 pm at the CHS Theater. Admission to the presentation is free of charge, with the ISF covering the speaker’s fee.

After Renkens appeared last year in Coronado, we received very positive feedback from those who attended the presentation, strong enough to warrant a return visit. Some of the folks who have received flyers regarding the presentation by E-mail have said that their kids are too young to gain anything from Renkens. It’s never too early to receive good advice.

If aimed at anyone, Renkens’ presentation should be heard by middle school kids and younger high school kids, so they know what they have to do to continue to play sports at the next level. His presentation, simplified to fit this space, is that with good grades and a willingness to continue to compete at some level, there is a place for you in college athletics. The ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ that comprise Renkens’ presentation are well worth listening to.

So, pass up the third re-run of Two and a Half Men and join us Monday night. You and your kids will gain from the experience. The presentation is open to CHS and CMS students as well as students and parents from Sacred Heart and Christ Church schools.