Coronado Sports

A Coronado Summer tradition continues for the 48th consecutive year when the Optimist Club of Coronado’s Sports Fiesta gets underway next Saturday, July 27, at Sunset Park.

You can be part of history by participating in the world’s longest continuously running triathlon. It’s a short course, fitting for all skill levels. The competition begins at Coronado’s North Beach near the main lifeguard tower at 7a.m. with a 400-yard ocean swim. The swimmers leave the water for a mile-long run on the beach followed by a 4-mile bike race on Naval Air Station North Island.

For the more competitive, there is a 5K run that begins at 9 a.m. at Sunset Park.

Just when you thought NBA Free Agency was over, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Russell Westbrook to Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and draft picks, thereby consummating a rare trade in the world of sports that could be equally bad for both teams. Paul is 34 years old, has played in the NBA for 14 seasons, is injury prone, still chasing his first NBA title and is owed $124 million over the next three years. Oklahoma Thunder General Manager Sam Presti, who appears to be committed to rebuilding the Thunder through the draft, is already trying to move Paul off his roster. Westbrook, an 11-year NBA veteran, and another ball-dominant guard who will have to co-exist with new teammate and fellow ball-dominant guard James Harden next season. Westbrook has four years left on a five-year $205 million deal, which includes payouts of $38.2 million in 2019-20; $41 million in 2020-2021; $43.8 million in 2021-22; and $46.7 million in 2022-2023. Like Paul, Westbrook’s offensive production in in decline, most notably his shooting percentages which included 42.8 percent from the floor, 29 percent for three-pointers and 65.6 percent from the free throw line. On the plus side of the ledger last year, Westbrook averaged 10.7 assists per game and 11.1 rebounds per game. Overall Paul is a better shooter, but marginally so, except at the free throw line where Paul shot 21 percentage points higher last year. Paul however only played 58 regular season games last year, out a possible 82, due to injuries. Westbrook missed nine games and was banged up much of the year. The likelihood of any of this ending well for either team is very slim… Something NBA teams aren’t likely to waste their time doing over the summer, is creating detailed five-year plans for their rosters… One of the seminal moments in my sports fandom was reading Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” when it was published in 1970. My favorite player of all time is Ernie Banks of the Cubs, but the player I admired most was the Yankee’s Mickey Mantle, in part because Mantle and his team was on the Saturday CBS “Game of the Week” frequently. Bouton was frank and honest about Mantle’s off-field life, whose social orbit included teammates Billy Martin, Whitey Ford, and Hank Bauer. Bouton died at the age of 80 last week and was a pioneer in sports writing… Charger running back Melvin Gordon must have people, meaning his agent, telling him that he is indispensable. Unfortunately he isn’t in the NBA where the top echelon players rule the roost, but in the NFL, where running backs are expendable, and owners still call the financial shots… The Lakers have mortgaged their future by trading for Anthony Davis, who has one year left on his contract and has stated he will declare for free agency next year. This could get really interesting at the end of next season… Sports Media Watch and sportswriter Paulsen, a writer apparently famous enough to go by only one name, have accumulated the 50 Most Watched Sports Telecasts of 2019 thus far. To no one’s surprise, the Super Bowl was No. 1 with 98.19 million viewers. The rest of the Top 10 are all NFL Playoff Games, which speaks volumes as to why NFL broadcast rights fees are so lucrative for the league. College Football’s National Championship game between Clemson and Alabama was No. 11 with 25.28 million viewers; No. 12 was another NFL Playoff Game; No. 13 was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Finals with 19.63 million people viewing the Virginia vs. Texas Tech game; Nos. 14 and 15 were NBA Finals Games between Golden State and Toronto; No. 16 was the Women’s World Cup Soccer Final between the U.S. and the Netherlands at 16.87 million; No. 17 was the Rose Bowl game between Ohio State and Washington at 16.78 million; No. 18 was the Kentucky Derby at 16.3 million; and NCAA Men’s Basketball Playoff games were Nos. 19 and 20. Interestingly the NHL debuted at No. 38 with Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues at 8.72 million; and Major League Baseball’s first game on the list was at No. 43 with the All-Star Game with 8.14 million viewers. In fairness their highest numbers would come in the fall during the World Series.

San Diego Lacrosse Hall of Famer Courtney Reidarson (HOF Class of 2010) has been named Director of Coaching for the Coronado Lacrosse Club. The non-profit youth organization is in its third year and according to Board Vice President Nicole Belong, last spring the club had 115 girls playing at four age group levels. Practice for the fall season is set to begin Aug. 19.

Specifically the team levels are kindergarten through second grade; third/fourth grades; fifth/sixth grades; and seventh/eighth grades. Belong said, “At each level we have multiple teams. At the kindergarten/second grade level the games are four-on-four with no goalie. By third grade it starts looking like lacrosse and it’s eight-on-eight with a goalie. In the fifth-sixth grade levels it’s 12-man, with the same number of players you see at the high school level.”

The really big NBA Free Agent news didn’t drop until last weekend, when Kawhi Leonard announced that he was going to play for the Los Angeles Clippers, and he was bringing six-time NBA All-Star (2013 and 2014, 2016-2019) Paul George with him. Leonard selecting one of the Los Angeles-based NBA teams as his final destination shouldn’t be a total surprise, as in January he purchased a $13.3 million, 13,000 square foot home in Rancho Santa Fe. That would have amounted to a really pricey vacation home if Leonard had stayed with the Toronto Raptors next season.

Islander Boys and Girls Golf Coach Stuart Gordon recently alerted ‘Nado Natterings’ to the fact that Coronado High School (CHS) rising senior Crista Izuzquiza has qualified for the 119th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships that will be held Aug. 5-11, 2019, at the Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi. Izuzquiza, who will be the captain of the Islander Girls Golf Team this season, qualified for the Women’s Amateur July 1, 2019, at the Saticoy Club in Somis, where she shot a one-over par round of 73. A total of six golfers made the cut for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the same qualifying event.

Islander Football Head Coach Kurt Hines has announced the 10-game, Varsity schedule for the 2019 season. As a quick overview, the Islanders will again be in the Central League, a circuit that includes Clairemont, Coronado, Crawford, Hoover and Serra. Coronado returns to CIF Division IV, where 12 of the 17 teams competing in the division qualify for the post-season.

I worked in the NBA in the mid to late 1970s for the Kansas City Kings franchise and from the mid 80s to the early 90s for the Miami Heat and then again the Kings when they had re-located to Sacramento. I worked in sales, marketing and broadcasting positions and it would be fair to say the 70s years were tough going for NBA franchises, especially small market teams. Reference was made last week in this space about the NBA Finals being shown on tape delay after the local news, which would give you a pretty good indication of the difficulty selling the product nationally and locally.

After seeing writer Wright Thompson on “The Dan Patrick Show” several weeks back, I ordered a copy of his book “The Cost of These Dreams.” The book is a series of 14 short stories, mostly about notable sports figures and their backgrounds, some of the written by Thompson for ESPN publications. Among the athletes featured are Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Dan Gable, and Tiger Woods. My favorite story was “Beyond the Breach,” the subject of which was New Orleans in the post-Hurricane Katrina time frame, which intertwined the lives of several residents of New Orleans into a brilliantly written 74-page essay. That section alone is worth the cost of the book… Speaking of sports writing, I did something I swore I would never do over the weekend, which was to purchase a subscription of the online sports website The Athletic. It’s surprisingly affordable at $4.99 a month, if you purchase an annual subscription. If you enjoy long-form sports journalism, The Athletic is well worth the price… As hard as this is to believe, the NFL regular season kicks off in 72 days from when this edition of ‘Nado Natterings’ hits your front lawn. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the first game of the Chicago Bears. The NFL wisely has their opening game this year featuring the Bears and their long-time rival, the Green Bay Packers. To commemorate the Bears 100th season, the Chicago Tribune is running a series depicting the Bears 100 Best Players Ever. The series, which as of Monday was on No. 74, featured Placekicker Robbie Gould. The long-running feature is scheduled to conclude the day of the Bears vs. Packers game. Bet that No. 1 will be the late Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton with linebacker Dick Butkus and running back/kick returner Gayle Sayers either No. 2 or No. 3. Harold Edward ‘Red’ Grange (1903-1991), the original Bear star (1925, 1929-34) might sneak into the Top 5… Trivia Question, the Bears franchise is a charter member of the NFL. What was their original name? The answer follows at the end of the column… I read with interest the San Diego Union-Tribune’s 10 Most Impactful Players in Padres History over the weekend. The list in chronological order of the years they played for the Padres includes Nate Colbert, Dave Winfield, Randy Jones, Tony Gwynn, Steve Garvey, Trevor Hoffman, Ken Caminiti, Kevin Brown, Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez. Several players listed are better known for their contributions to other clubs including Winfield with the Yankees, Garvey with the Dodgers, Caminiti with the Houston Astros, Brown the Dodgers, and Gonzalez, who played in San Diego for five years, actually played longer for the Dodgers, six seasons, than he did in his hometown of San Diego. Gonzalez also played for Texas, Boston and concluded his career with the New York Mets. An interesting trivia note is that Colbert is the franchise’s career home run leader with 163… Speaking of the Padres, rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr. continues to impress with his all-around play in 2019. He is currently hitting a robust .323, with 52 base hits and 32 runs scored in the 43 games he has played this season, after missing 35 games due to injury. He also has 23 RBIs, nine stolen bases and a sparkling OPS (on base percentage plus slugging) of .958, which is outstanding production for a shortstop. The downside is Tatis has followed the trend in the Major Leagues of an elevated number of strikeouts with 52, a total which matches his base hit total. When he scored from third base on a soft flyball which barely reached the outfield grass over the weekend against the Pirates, it was an incredible display of his athleticism and feel for the game. If Tatis stays healthy over the course of his career, he will leap over several of the names currently on the list of Top 10 Padres above… Look for Tatis and Javier Baez of the Cubs to be competing for the starting shortstop slots for the National League in future MLB All-Star Games… Speaking of Baez, his three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday gave the Cubs a 5-3 win and a series split with the New York Mets. The unintended consequence of which was after the game Met Manager Mickey Callaway tried to eject beat writer Tim Healey of Newsday from the dugout after Healey said as he was leaving the clubhouse, “See you tomorrow, Mickey.” For good measure, Met pitcher Jason Vargas verbally threatened Healey afterwards. The net result is both Callaway and Vargas were fined by the Mets and there is no excuse for that type of behavior. The following day, Callaway issued the world’s least sincere apology to Healy, followed in short order by another, better effort which was obviously mandated by ownership and Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon. It came out later in the day that new Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen was dictating and relaying on-field player personnel decisions to Callaway during the game. Add all of that together and it is easy to surmise that Callaway will be fired by the Mets sooner than later… Proving that balloting for the MLB All-Star game shouldn’t be in the hands of the fans, seven Cubs reached the final three vote-off at their respective positions. They are Baez, Willson Contreras, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora, Jr. Baez, Bryant, Contreras, and Rizzo deserve to make the final three, the others don’t. This year, Baez at short, Contreras at catcher and Rizzo at first, deserve to win, but as much as I like Bryant, Colorado Rockies third sacker Nolan Arenado, one of the best players in the game, got my vote at that position… On to NBA Basketball and I was glad to see former NBA greats Larry Bird and Magic Johnson honored at the NBA Awards ceremony Monday night with Lifetime Achievement Awards. When Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores faced Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans in the 1979 NCAA Championship, they played in the game that is still the highest rated college basketball broadcast in history. A lesser known fact is that Bird and Johnson combined to usher in the Modern Era NBA. Prior to their arrival, the league’s Championship Finals Series was carried by CBS on taped delay, after the local news. It was a dark time from a league-wide perspective… Other news emanating from the NBA Awards show on TNT Monday evening included the 2018-19 season’s award winners: Sixth Man of the Year Award-Lou Williams of the L.A. Clippers; Most Improved-Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors; Rookie of the Year-Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks; Jack Twyman-Maurice Stokes Teammate of the Year-Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies, recently acquired by the Utah Jazz; NBA Sportsmanship Award-Conley; NBA Cares Community Assist Award-Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards; Defensive Player of the Year-Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz; NBA Executive of the Year-John Horst, Milwaukee Bucks; Coach of the Year-Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee Bucks; and NBA MVP-Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks. Since these awards are for the regular season, you wouldn’t know from those results that the Toronto Raptors defeated Milwaukee 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals and went on to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the Championship Finals, also 4-2… Trivia Answer-The Chicago Bears franchise began in 1919 as the Decatur Staleys, a company team for the A.E. Staley food starch company and based in Decatur, Illinois. The team name evolved to become the Chicago Staleys in 1921 and then the Chicago Bears in 1922. Owner-Head Coach George Halas purchased the team from Staley for $100. In 2018, “Forbes Magazine” estimated the value of the franchise at $2.9 billion.

Islander Cross Country Head Coach George Green provides a pitch for potential runners, complete with historic context. “You’ve probably seen the 2015 movie, ‘McFarland, USA’ where a small high school in Central California won the first-ever boys California State Cross Country meet at Griffith Park in 1987. While that was an inspirational movie, there was quite a bit of artistic license taken. For me, the two most obvious examples were that the meet wasn’t held at Griffith Park, and they didn’t beat all the teams in the State. They won the Division III championship.

A week ago in this space, my prediction of the NBA Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors splitting the first two games, proved to be accurate. That was before injuries to the Warriors, and to be fair the Raptors as well, started to dominate the series. The Warriors were without shooting guard Klay Thompson in the pivotal, at least to this point, Game Three, which the Warriors lost at home 123-109, despite 47 points from Stephen Curry.

Islander Head Coach for Boys and Girls Swimming, Paul Folts checked in with his team awards, announced at their recent post-season banquet. The Junior Varsity Awards went to: Most Improved-Isabella Zabaneh and Santiago Girault; and the Coach’s Awards-Abby Allen and Javier Garcia. For the Varsity: Most Improved-Sarah Olson and Caleb McCrillis; Coach’s Awards-Abby Sylvester and Tommy Mahrer; ISF Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship-Ryan Sund and Brandon Lee; Team MVPs-Samantha McNall and Alberto Garza.

From last Thursday thru Sunday, Your Natterer, The Better Half Sharon, our son Mike Axelson and his wife Jackie Beoris Axelson, took a trip to Chicago to see the sights and take in two baseball games between the Cubs and Cardinals. I hadn’t been in Chicago for somewhere in the range of 20 years, thus missing the improvements made by the Cubs’ Owners, the Ricketts Family, to both Wrigley Field and the surrounding environs of Wrigleyville. New statues on the grounds include those of Hall of Fame players Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, along with Hall of Fame Announcer Harry Caray.

With the conclusion of the CHS Sports for the 2018-19 school year, ‘Nado Natterings’ morphs into a general interest sports column. So, here are some stray sports thoughts that have accumulated over the past several weeks… As a Chicago Bear fan, players who have worn the Green Bay Packer uniform aren’t particular favorites of Your Natterer. However, the recent passing of Packer quarterback legend Bart Starr was sad but served as a reminder to sports fans of his greatness. Starr, who had been in poor health in recent years, passed away at the age of 85. He was a class act during and after his career. For younger readers, Starr and Packer Head Coach Vince Lombardi were the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick of their day… San Diego Union-Tribune Columnist Nick Canepa raised an interesting point about the NBA Draft Lottery held recently. His theory is the team with the worst record should get the No. 1 pick, which on the surface, is hard to argue with. In a perfect world where teams don’t lose on purpose to gain an advantage in player selection, he would be correct. In the first years of the NBA, specifically from 1950-66, college players could be selected by professional teams by means of a Territorial Draft Pick, which allowed teams to acquire players from their geographical area who might help attendance. If a territorial pick was exercised, which was defined as any player within a 50-mile radius of the home arena, the team lost their first round draft pick. The Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) as an example, benefitted by selecting Oscar Robertson from the University of Cincinnati and Jerry Lucas from Ohio State University and both players went on to Hall of Fame careers. For those of you who know Ohio Geography, the Royals were able to select Lucas because his hometown of Middletown, Ohio is 38 miles from Cincinnati, versus 107 miles from Columbus, the home of Ohio State, to Cincinnati. Other territorial picks included Wilt Chamberlain from Overbrook High School in Philly by the Philadelphia Warriors, the precursor to Golden State Warriors; Bill Bradley from Princeton to the New York Knicks; and Walt Hazard and Gail Goodrich from UCLA by the Lakers. The point is, the perfect draft procedure has yet to be determined for the sport where one player can turn a franchise around for a decade. The honor system has proven not to work in the NBA, and if there were a system for a true rookie free agent sale, as an example for the likes of Duke’s Zion Williamson, it’s hard to predict how expensive that would be. So for now, the weighted lottery the best option … Speaking of Williamson, some are questioning his ability to transition into the NBA. He’s not a great outside shooter, but Magic Johnson couldn’t successfully shoot a jumper into the ocean from the shore when he first entered the NBA, but he became an effective shooter and scorer for the Lakers. Williamson, if paired with an above average point guard who can get him the ball where he can use it on offense, will be a force in the NBA… One of the best NBA players I ever saw compete in person was Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers. Truly great on both ends of the floor, West has recently been named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump… Somebody should tell Laker Owner Jeannie Buss that neither ownership by committee nor management by committee works. I love Magic Johnson as a Hall of Fame player, but he didn’t have a handle on what he was doing as Lakers President of Basketball Operations, including letting LeBron James have too much control of the front office… A quick shout out from the ‘Nado Natterings’ staff to our good friend Reverend Steve Mather of the Coronado Community Church, who is a big fan of alliterative column titles. Go Nado… My candidate for the most over-rated player in the five decade history of the San Diego Padres is Wil Myers. He is in the midst of a six-year $83 million contract, while currently carrying a stat line of a .225 batting average, 21 RBIs and 10 homers through 57 games this year. In addition, he doesn’t have a defensive position he can play adequately. Really bad, long-term signing by the Padres… My original reaction to the Padres signing Manny Machado to his $300 million, 10-year contract would have been better spent by acquiring two pitchers at $15 million each. But Machado is a great talent, who hasn’t hit his offensive stride yet in San Diego (.251 batting average, 9 homers, 27 RBIs and an On-base plus Slugging of .751 through Monday) due in large part to the fact he has no one to protect him in the batting order. The initial lift he gave the San Diego fan base has largely faded. But Machado’s grand slam homer Monday night against the Phillies may be an encouraging sign… Back to the NBA, my prognostication from last week that the Golden State Warriors would lose Game 1 due to the rust of being off for 10 days, as was the prediction they would bounce back and win Game 2, both proved to be accurate. In the last 24 hours, various basketball pundits have individually nominated DeMarcus ‘Boogie’ Cousins, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Andre Igoudala, Head Coach Steve Kerr, and the Warriors Medical Staff, all as ‘the’ reason the Warriors prevailed over Toronto in the second game of the series. Perhaps that list reflects the depth of talent the team has to call upon. But recent and past medical developments impacting the Warriors appear to have left them vulnerable. As of Tuesday morning, Thompson was officially listed as questionable to play Wednesday evening with a mild left hamstring strain; on-site reporters question whether or not star forward Kevin Durant will play at all during the series with a strained right calf; and starting center Kevon Looney, who has improved by leaps and bounds this season, sustained a non-displaced cartilage fracture on the right side of his ribcage is out for the balance of the Playoffs. Cousins, at 6-11 and 265 pounds (a better guess would be 7-0, 295) has emerged as Exhibit No. 1 that there is still a place for a big man who can play the low post in pro basketball. He played 28 minutes Sunday after essentially not playing for 45 days due to a torn quadricep muscle, and Iguodala is also banged up physically. But none of that can diminish the performance Golden State turned in Sunday night, when they amped up their game, particularly from the end of the second quarter through the first five and one-half minutes of the third, outscoring Toronto 22-0. The game from beginning to end was physical, with almost every shot contested, with the obvious exception being the three-pointer by Iguodala in the last minute that was the nail in the Raptors’ collective coffin. Curry appeared to be ill and off his game early before finishing with 23 points, Thompson left the game with hamstring tightness with eight minutes left in the game, and the Warriors still won on the road. Green was outstanding with 17 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a blocked shot. When he wasn’t defending Toronto’s Game 1 breakout star forward Pascal Siakam, Green guarded Kawhi Leonard. The former Aztec star Leonard was great again and scored 34 points to go with 14 rebounds. He took over the game offensively for the Raptors late in the third quarter. The theory in the NBA Playoffs is the series doesn’t officially begin until the visiting team wins a game, so it’s on now. The Warriors can survive the loss of Looney, although he is an accomplished low post defender who helped out on both Leonard and Siakam. What they can’t survive is a diminished Klay Thompson, offensively or defensively, as he is a great two-way player. As we noted last week, Durant’s presence on the floor improves Golden State’s odds to win their third straight NBA title. Unless or until another Warrior sustains a major injury, they are still the favorites in my book. But the prediction here is now, with injuries piling up, the Warriors will win in seven games, instead of six.

The Islander Boys Lacrosse Team under the direction of Head Coach Alex Cade held their post-season banquet recently. The Team Awards included: MVP-Joe Walsh; Attackmen of The Year: James Witthoft; Midfielder of The Year-Devin Schulte; Defenseman of The Year-Andrew Bell; SOB Ironman Award: Casey Harris; Break out Player of the Year-Teddy Hendrickson; Coaches Award-Luke Sandie; ISF Award-George Farley; KMAC Memorial Scholarship: Bell (Named for Kyle MacArthur No. 30); Nick Castellanos Scholarship-Walsh.

George Green, Islander Track and Field Head Coach, provides an update on the California State Track Meet held Friday and Saturday. “Alysah Hickey went into the High School State Meet last weekend as the second-ranked long jumper and top-ranked high jumper in California. Until last week, she was the top-ranked jumper in both, but Upland’s Caelyn Harris knocked Hickey out of the No. 1 position in the long jump, at the Southern Section Masters Meet.

The first day of the State Meet is a preliminary event used to qualify the Top 12 contestants for the Finals Saturday. In the long jump, each jumper was allowed three jumps with the Top 12 advancing to Saturday. Harris had the top mark with a leap of 20 feet, 2.25 inches followed by Hickey with 19 feet, 4 inches. Because these were the top two jumps after two attempts, neither Girl took their third jump, as the prelim marks do not carry over to the Finals the next day. Still, Harris’ leap, showed she would be a tough adversary.

Moving up in class and against long odds, UCLA’s Christine Wastila (Coronado High School class of ’17) rode her way back to the 2019 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championships recently held at the New York State Fair Exposition Center in Syracuse, New York. Her fifth place finish represents her second consecutive top five finish at Nationals after taking third a year ago.

Coronado Lacrosse Club’s (CLC) 5th/6th grade ‘Green’ team won the San Diego Girls Lacrosse Association’s 5/6 Grade Open Division Championships this past weekend. The team overcame rain and wind to take the final lead with less than 30 seconds on a goal by Sydney DeMaio. Not only was the team undefeated, 15-0, on the season, but they also earned the first-ever CLC championship this season. Led by head coach Kirstyn Atkinson (Northwestern), who is also head coach for the Coronado High School Girls Varsity Lacrosse, and by assistant Ali Jones (Navy).

Additionally, CLC celebrates their 3rd/4th grade green team who went undefeated this season with a record of 11-0. The team was led by coaches Jada Cade, Coronado High School junior Katie Campion, and David Kieffer.

The Islander Baseball Team, under the direction of Head Coach Morgan Cummins, won the CIF Division III title last season and their reward was elevation to both the competitive Eastern League from the City League and up a level to CIF Division II. The Islanders held their own, ending the season with an overall record of 16-14-1 and 4-8 in the Eastern League.

Coronado was the No. 11 seed of the 12 teams that qualified for the Division II playoffs this season. That meant the Islanders had to win their play-in game against No. 6 seed Bonita Vista on the road to reach the double-elimination portion of the tournament. However, the Barons defeated the Islanders 7-3, which concluded Coronado’s season. The score was tied 3-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, so the game was closer than the final score might indicate.

“Jared Pratt doubled off the wall to start the game,” Cummins said. “Heath Miller laid down a perfect bunt for a single and Jared went to third. Then Tobey Brown hit a one-hop line drive they turned into a double play, but Pratt scored. A few feet either to the right or the left and we might have had a big inning, not just one run.”

Last week the Islander Softball Team, the No. 1 seed in the CIF Division III Playoffs, won their first game in the double-elimination event, defeating Mira Mesa 5-4. It was a spirited game from both sides, but a tad sloppy defensively as both teams committed three errors. Going into the fifth inning, the Islanders held a 4-1 lead over the Marauders. But a couple of Coronado errors, a couple of walks, and three base hits later, Mira Mesa tied the game 4-4.

La Jolla High School was the site of a CIF Open Division Girls Lacrosse Quarter-Final Playoff game Saturday at 4 p.m., as the No. 7 seeded Islanders visited the No. 2 La Jolla Vikings. Since both teams compete in the Western League, they had played twice before. April 12, La Jolla defeated Coronado 14-6 and April 23, the Islanders bested La Jolla 12-11 in Coronado.

Playing major roles for the Stanford University Women’s Water Polo Team this season were twin sisters and CHS (’15) Alumnae Mackenzie Wiley and Cassidy Wiley. The pair helped lead the Cardinal to a 9-8 victory over USC in the Finals, played at Stanford May 12. Both are seniors this year, with Mackenzie majoring in International Relations and Cassidy working toward completing her degree in Human Biology.

Several Islander Track and Field Athletes advanced to the CIF San Diego Section Finals, as Head Coach George Green reports. “Last week we competed in the CIF Prelims at Mt. Carmel High School. The Prelims serve as the qualifier for the CIF Finals, which, in turn, is the qualifier for the State Meet in Fresno May 24 and 25.

CHS Grad and former college athlete Susie Keeney will conduct a seminar on athletic recruiting and college applications Monday, May 20, at 6:30 p.m. The event will be held in the CHS Multi-purpose room. The general topic is, ‘How and Why to Use a Sport or Niche to Help Your Student Get into A Better College.’

On one level, the news from the CIF Division II Swim Finals was a little lean for the Islander Swim Team but did include senior Samantha McNall advancing to the California State Meet this weekend in her specialty, the 100 breaststroke. Islander Head Coach Paul Folts commented, “Sam took second in the Finals with a time of 1:03.92, which is the first time she had broken 1:04. She made the automatic cut for State with that time. Hopefully she can go a little quicker. If she does a ‘best time,’ she might advance to one of the Finals at the State Meet. Between the second place qualifier and where Sam is, there is a difference of just 2.5 seconds among the whole field. The California State Meet is one of the top swimming meets in the country.”