Islander Athletic Director Robin Nixon dropped a line the other day to say the Coronado High School Top Senior Athletes for the 2019-20 school year had been selected. That list includes: Casey Harris-Cross Country and Lacrosse; Crista Izuzquiza-Golf; Elsa Ostermarker-Tennis; Raden Perry-Base…
In honor of the conclusion of the documentary, “The Last Dance,” I have one additional Michael Jordan anecdote. My 12-year career in the NBA included a two-year stop with the Miami Heat, the first two years the organization was in the league. And as an expansion team for the 1988-89 season, …
One of the fun things that has happened to Your Natterer of late, was that for a four-second period of time, I was part of ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” better known as the Michael Jordan documentary. In the fourth hour of the show, 20 minutes in, a disembodied voice introduces Scottie Pippen in his first All-Star Game, which occurred in 1990 at the Miami Arena. That voice was me. In the game itself, Pippen played 12 minutes, scoring just four points. The talent on display in that game was formidable, with the East Team’s starting lineup including Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley. The subs for the East included Robert Parish, Kevin
Due to the continued restrictions at the beach, the City made the difficult decision today, May 7, to cancel the first session of Jr. Lifeguards and Surf Awareness. Please check back for further updates on the next scheduled sessions. The programs were set to be held in mid-June. As a result…
Nine years ago, I collaborated with Coronado Youth Soccer’s Director of Coaching Manny Neves on a column that discussed his background as a player, his love of the game of soccer, and what he thought was important in instructing youngsters new to the game. As it turned out, our interview and the subsequent article came out at about the mid-point of his 22-year career with the organization, during which time he coached literally thousands of Coronado kids the techniques required to play the game. Recently Neves retired from his post with CYSL.
Pre-dating his coaching career, Neves, a native of Pico Island in the Portuguese Azores, had a fine professional career, that included being drafted after graduating from Point Loma High School by the North American Soccer League (NASL).
This week turn the calendar back to November 23, 2011 and look at the coverage of the Islander Boys Water Polo Team as they won the CIF Division III Championship. At this point, the CIF San Diego Section was adding division levels throughout all sports, with the schools assigned to their res…
This is the second half of a ‘Nado Natterings’ article from May 25, 2011, which detailed the Lacrosse championships won by both the Coronado High School Boys and Girls Lacrosse Teams. As a reminder, in 2011 the CIF Divisions for Postseason Competition were determined by school enrollment and…
This week’s look back at ‘Nado Natterings’ columns from the past is actually the first of two-parter, which covers both the Boys and Girls Lacrosse Teams winning CIF Division II titles in the Spring of 2011. Both teams were dominant and this week, we’ll cover the Girls title run. As an aside, Caroline Carlson in this column from May 25, 2011, is now Caroline Dineen-Carlson, the current Head Coach of the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team.
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 Quarterfinal game was a 23-6 win over Santana at home, and they followed that effort last Thursday by a 16-3 Semifinal 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.
The 2009-2010 sports season was memorable because four Islander sports teams won CIF Division titles and the Islander Sailing Team finished as the best team in California and No. 6 in the United States. In the past two weeks we re-ran columns that extolled the virtues of the championship Isl…
This week we’re continuing our series of past Nado Natterings columns that reflect some of the better teams in Coronado High School’s rich athletic history. This article is from the June 9, 2010 issue of the Coronado Eagle & Journal Newspaper and provides the highlights of the Islander B…
With no sports to cover, prep or otherwise, we’re digging back into the Nado Natterings vault to revive some past articles about Islander championship teams from the past. As a reminder, when this was written, the CIF Sections were determined by a school’s student enrollment. This column is from March 10, 2010, and highlights one of, if not the best, Girls Soccer Team to represent Coronado High School.
-David Axelson
By the time the Coronado Girls Soccer Team took to the pitch at Valhalla High School Saturday evening, they were the lone No. 1 seed to advance to the Finals in San Diego County CIF Soccer, Boys or Girls. The Islanders were also ranked No. 2 in the CIF San Diego Section, second only to The Bishop’s School, which handed Coronado their only loss earlier in the season. But Bishop’s fell in the Division IV Semifinals and No. 3 ranked Torrey Pines was an early round Division I playoff victim.
Mixing metaphors, the Islanders were the lone tree standing in the forest, with a target painted on their collective backs the size of the USS Ronald Reagan. If you were looking for additional elements to wring your hands over, Coronado didn’t look particularly sharp in their 1-0 Semifinal victory over Mission Bay. Also, Coronado was going to face La Jolla High School in the Division III Finals, a team the Islanders had knocked off twice already on their way to an undefeated season in the Western League. The Vikings were the same team that defeated Coronado in the Finals a year ago, under similar circumstances, by the score of 4-0.
Coronado Recreation and Golf Services has closed the Coronado Community Center, John D. Spreckels Center and Bowling Green, Aquatics Center, Tennis Center office, and the Club Room and Boathouse.
After a decisive 13-5 win over The Bishop’s School to begin their season, the Islander Boys Lacrosse Team hit the proverbial bump in the road last week. They lost to Kingwood High School from the Houston, Texas area 14-9 in a rare Monday afternoon game which began at 2 p.m. Then Coronado los…
“It was fantastic,” said Islander Golf Head Coach Stuart Gordon of his team’s round of 189 last week against Poway. “If you look at it, we’re as good as Cathedral Catholic and others at the top. And still, we didn’t play as well as we could. The potential is really there. Easton Phillips sho…
Between the weather and the postponement of the rest of their game schedule, the Islander Boys Tennis Team (2-4 overall) was able to play only one match last week. That turned out to be a 10-8 loss to Cathedral Catholic. Islander Head Coach Mackenzie White said, “Our No. 1 and No. 2 doubles …
A couple of weeks ago when I first interviewed new Islander Girls Lacrosse Head Coach Caroline Dineen-Carlson about her team, I realized how talented they are. And as noted in our overview above, they stand at 3-0. Last week they hosted Cathedral Catholic and dominated the Lady Dons 15-4. Wednesday, they traveled to Rancho Bernardo and drilled the Colts 15-0. Unfortunately, a big test at home against Poway wasn’t played.
Dineen-Carlson said of the Cathedral game, “We played really well together. The score was just 5-3 at the half and we took off from there. We were a little sloppy early in the game, but we scored fast break goal after fast break goal.
As has been often said over the past several days, as a nation we’re in unchartered waters due to the presence of the COVID-19 virus. In the sports world, once Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with the virus, it set off a chain reaction which has resulted in the shutdown of virtual…
Baseball has a way of evening itself out over the course of an entire season. After an absurdly difficult three-game stretch to begin the season against Helix, Eastlake, and Grossmont, all in the Top 10 as the season began, the Islander Baseball Team’s season turned around. As we’ll soon see in some detail, Coronado has defeated in order Otay Ranch 5-3; Steele Canyon 7-2; Steele Canyon again 4-1; and Bonita Vista 3-2.
“It’s a bad time to have the season postponed, but what can you do?” said Head Coach Morgan Cummins. “March 2, we played at Otay Ranch and we got our first win of the season. Nico Sanchez got his first varsity start, pitched well and kept us in the game. He pitched 3.2 innings, gave up one hit, two earned runs and struck out one. The one hit he gave up was a 3-2 fastball that challenged the batter and he hit it just over the fence. Dylan Noble came in and pitched 3.1 innings and gave up two hits for his first varsity win. It was nice to see him step up. We need somebody to finish games and he set the tone for us out of the bullpen. The defensive play of the game came when Otay Ranch had runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth. Kanon Billings caught a line drive at second base and flipped the ball behind his back for a double play. We let them do that in practice on occasion and this time it came in handy. Catcher Brady Roulier got hurt on a foul tip and had to come out of the game. We moved Heath Miller from shortstop to catcher, Ryan Ward from third to short and Caden Sutherland to third. We had to shake it up on the fly. We hadn’t won a game to that point, so we took a risk, and everybody stepped up. Heath stepped in and did a great job behind the plate, with no practice this season at that position.”
At the recent Islander Girls Water Polo post-season banquet, Head Coach Dave Throop announced his team’s award winners for the 2019-20 season. The Included: ISF Award-Jordan Mickel; Varsity Captain and Justin Meek Scholarship Award Winner-Lauren Gauvin; Varsity Captain-Emmie Muschek; Varsity…
Boys Golf Head Coach Stuart Gordon has been at the helm of the program for five years and the team score the Islanders posted last week against Francis Parker of 196 was the lowest the team has shot during his tenure. Coronado won 196-201 in a match played at Coronado Municipal. “We missed a…
The Islander Boys Basketball program held their awards banquet over the weekend, honoring both the Varsity and JV teams. First up was JV Head Coach Brian Turley who presented the following awards: Team Captains-Donny Couts, Will Haley and Tommy Pate; Most Improved Players-Darren Hopkins and …
Islander Boys Tennis Head Coach Mackenzie White believes in challenging her team with a competitive schedule, a fact that was born out last week. The Islanders began the week with a 12-6 loss to Westview Monday; Tuesday they dominated San Dieguito Academy 16-2; and Thursday Coronado lost to …
Islander Track Head Coach George Green provides a first look at the Boys and Girls Track Teams this year. “Our first meet of the season was last Saturday at the Mt. Carmel Field and Distance Invitational. As the name of the meet suggests, there were no sprint or hurdle events. We took 14 ath…
Coronado resident and soon to be five-time Olympic water polo player Jesse Smith took time out from his busy training schedule to visit kids and parents of the Coronado Aquatics Club (CAC). CAC recently kicked off its Spring season, but is still accepting players of all ages and skill levels…
Islander Girls Lacrosse Head Coach Caroline Dineen-Carlson earned her first victory at the helm of the Coronado program last week, as her team defeated Helix 18-7. “It was a big win,” she said. “I hope we keep that going tonight (Monday) against Cathedral. Our goal scorers included freshman …
Islander Boys Lacrosse Head Coach Alex Cade was decidedly upbeat about his team after they defeated their counterparts from The Bishop’s School 13-5 last week to begin their regular season. “We’re pretty well-rounded this year and we have a lot of the same characters as last year, they’re just a year older. The thing I love about this team is we have great seniors doing a good job, being positive and they have a blue-collar mentality we haven’t seen for a couple of years. The kids are working their butts off in practice, from beginning to end. Those are the teams we like to coach, but we have a ton of work to do.”
A nod for the quickest start during the Islander 2020 Spring Sports season goes to the Boys Volleyball Team which stands at 8-2. Several of the Coronado High School teams have played a game or two and the Islander Volleyball squad, by virtue of their competing in a major early-season tournament already have played 10 matches. Ironically, both losses have come to the same opponent, the Knights from The Bishop’s School.
Islander Head Coach George Cavaco said when we talked by phone Monday, “We ended the curse of not being able to beat the Saints.” In their game played March 4, it took the Islanders five games to defeat St. Augustine and the scores were 16-25, 25-23, 25-20, 22-25 and 15-12. A measure of how close the match was is total points scored, which the Saints won 105-103. But the number of sets won is the relevant score and Coronado prevailed where it counted.
Another new head coach at Coronado High School is Tom Dull, who is in charge of the Islander Girls Softball Team, which began their season with a mark of 2-2. Dull is simultaneously upgrading the Islanders strength of schedule and trying to maximize the growth potential of the 20 players in the program this year. So far this season Coronado has lost to Helix 4-2; defeated Southwest High School from El Centro 3-2; lost to Santana 8-0 and defeated Chula Vista on the road 6-3.
Dull, who has had extensive coaching experience on the club level said, “This is a weird year. We’re trying to maintain a JV and a Varsity Program, and 17 is my standard number of players I have in a week. And we’re trying to manage both teams for the betterment of the program. We have seven seniors this year and the Girls are buying into the concept that this is a little different and it’s about the program.”
Dull provided a rundown on his Varsity squad. “Katelyn Smith is one of our team captains, second baseman and pitcher. She brings the Girls together and the seniors respect her. She is a good communicator and she is fantastic.
The Islander Girls Basketball Team, which concluded their season with a Quarterfinal appearance in the CIF Division III Playoffs, and amassed an overall record of 19-11, held their annual awards banquet over the weekend as well. The awards as announced by Head Coach Toler Goodwin included the following JV awards; Most Improved-Anna Youngblood; Best Defender/Hustle Award-Kathleen Potter; and Team MVP-Pita Lopez.
The Varsity Awards were presented to: The ISF Award for Integrity, Sportsmanship and Friendship-Tamya Flenoy; Most Improved-Jenevieve Joseph; Best Defender-Gianna Spatafore; and Team MVP-Janie Ruttert.
Competing in the Aztec-Foothiller Tournament last week, the Islander Baseball Team was given a challenging Opening Week schedule of games including a road game at Helix, a home game with Eastlake and a road game against Grossmont. All three programs are ranked among the top six teams in San Diego County at the start of the season. Coronado lost to No. 5 ranked Helix 13-0, to No. 1 Eastlake 5-3 and to No. 6 Grossmont 8-0. Islander Head Coach Morgan Cummins noted that Grossmont, the ‘lowest’ ranked team among the trio, may have been the best team Coronado faced last week.
As the Islanders turned the corner to this week’s schedule, the Islanders played on the road again Monday and defeated Otay Ranch 5-3, to break into the win column. We’ll have more details on that contest next week.
The Islander Boys Tennis Team, led by Head Coach Mackenzie White, started their season Feb. 20 with a 12-6 loss to La Jolla Country Day. White said, “My lineup included Jorge Yanez playing No. 1 singles; Isaac Del Rincon at No. 2; and Nicolas Rios at No. 3. Mauricio Rivero/Andres de la Lama …
The Boys Golf Season typically starts early, goes quickly and ends early, in large part because the State CIF has an elaborate post-season playoff system. Case in point, the Islander Boys Golf Team under the direction of Stuart Gordon has already played five matches this season, while other …
Caroline Dineen-Carlson (CHS ’13) is the new head coach of the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team this season. Kirstyn Atkinson, last year’s head coach and her husband moved at the end of 2019 to Virginia due to a new Navy assignment. Dineen-Carlson starred for the Islanders during her high school…
The Islander Girls Soccer Team under the direction of Head Coach Mike Costaglio completed their season last week, losing a hard-fought CIF Division III Semifinal game to Otay Ranch 2-0. Coming off a tough 4-3 overtime win against Sage Creek in the Quarterfinals, seemingly it took the Islanders a half to get going against Otay Ranch. “I wasn’t concerned about the match-up,” said Costaglio of the Semifinal. “I was concerned about the possible emotional letdown. We beat University City for the City League championship, then we had Sage Creek, which was an emotional win. We talked about it, but in the first half, it looked like we had already played a game. We just looked tired. But we came out in the second half and wound up with 14 shots on goal in that match. We gave up the second goal when we were pushed up pretty high. If one of our 14 shots would have gone in, we would have been okay. None of the Top 4 seeds in Division III (Coronado was the No. 4 seed) made it through to the finals, none of them.”
Next year there will be 12 seniors on the team, who played for Costaglio when they were all freshmen. “As far as high school programs go, this should be our premium year comping up,” Costaglio said. “It will be the seniors’ fourth year together and we have some JV players coming up who should make us just as good as we were this year. I feel lucky to have coached a great bunch of young people this year. They are good players and really good people. I just love these kids.”
If you are a devotee of prep Boys Basketball, then last Thursday evening at Montgomery High School was a must-see game for you. The game featured a showdown between Coronado junior Wayne McKinney and San Ysidro freshman Mikey Williams, two of the best, or perhaps the two best guards currently playing in San Diego County. Apparently 1,800 people agreed with me, as the Montgomery High School gym was sold out and the main parking lot was filled up at 5:30 p.m.
For much of the first half of the CIF Division III Championship game, McKinney and Williams guarded each other in a battle that was at times physical and riveting to watch. The players exchanged words on occasion and Williams complained to the referees about McKinney’s defense on a couple of occasions, but the battle brought out the best in both players. Williams was in foul trouble much of the game and suffered in the second half from leg cramps, so McKinney won the statistical battle handily. Hopefully the two will face each other again next year.
Coronado Little Leaguer Taylor Werth, center, from Smith’s Intermediate team, celebrates with his teammates as he jumps on home plate after hitting a home run during their game against Team McCarty on Opening Day, Feb. 29, 2020, at Bradley Field in Coronado. Smith’s team won 13-3.
Another Islander spring sports squad off to a flying start is the Boys Golf Team under the direction of Head Coach Stuart Gordon, who began our phone conversation Monday morning by saying, “We’re off to a great start this season.” He was referring to Coronado’s 202-204 victory over Olympian …
By the time this newspaper has landed on your front stoop, the Islander Baseball Team will have played their season opener against Helix Monday and are preparing to face Eastlake Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. Head Coach Morgan Cummins believes in getting into competition early, as Coronado is competing in the Aztec-Foothiller Tournament. Helix is ranked No. 5 in the CIF San Diego Section; Eastlake is ranked No. 1; and Friday’s road opponent Grossmont is ranked No. 6.
Before you feel sorry for Coach Cummins, it should be noted that All-CIF First Team pitcher from two years ago Raden Perry has returned from knee surgery and is the ace of the staff. Perry is followed closely in ability by pitcher-shortstop Heath Miller, who had a fine season in 2019. Seniors Nico Sanchez and Kyle Phin will pitch for Coronado as will junior Caden Sutherland and sophomore Dylan Noble. Cummins is hoping Luke Meloche will be able to overcome his arm soreness and be able to contribute on the mound later in the year.
Cummins said, “Phin is a senior captain, who plays center field and pitches for us. He’s our one returning All-Eastern League player from last year. Kyle has a fastball in the mid-80’s and a good curveball. Perry is fully recovered and has been throwing on the mound since October. He’s been running the bases, sliding and throwing for multiple innings. He’s the ace of our staff and we’ll turn him loose.”
It has already been a successful season for the Islander Boys Basketball Team, as they stepped up the strength of their non-conference schedule and after winning their first two Playoff games in CIF Division III, their record stands at 20-9 this season. Last week Coronado, the No. 2 seed in Division III, defeated San Dieguito Academy 53-36 in their opening round game and then defeated a determined West Hills squad 63-39, in a game that was closer than the final 14-point spread might suggest.
“The last time we lost was Jan. 2,” Islander Head Coach JD Laaperi noted. “That was an overtime loss to Otay Ranch and at that point we were 8-9. All things considered it was a good 8-9. We knew going into the season that we had a 6-9 guy in senior Dane Hansen, and I liked where we were, being able to compete against Division I teams. Dane was hurt earlier in the season, and lately he was coming back. I felt sorry for him when he got hurt 35 seconds into the San Dieguito game. He landed on his shoulder, separated it and he is likely out for the rest of the year.”
The Coronado High School JV silver sailing team went up to San Francisco the weekend of Feb. 22 and placed first out of 30 teams that sailed in the 2020 Golden Bear Regatta. The team sailed 20 races with winds up to 10-15 knots. Sailors from left are crew freshman Celine Song; back skipper j…
A fine season turned in by the Islander Girls Basketball Team (19-11 overall), under the direction of Head Coach Toler Goodwin concluded Saturday with a 61-34 loss to No. 3 seed Foothills Christian. The Islanders entered the CIF Division III Playoffs as the No. 6 seed. The game was played at…
By virtue of their No. 4 seed, which earned them a bye into the CIF Division III Quarterfinals, the Islander Girls Soccer Team was able to host last Saturday night’s game against the No. 5 seed from Sage Creek High School and Coronado emerged with a 4-3 overtime victory. With five minutes an…
One of the unfortunate parts of taking a week of vacation in February is Your Natterer missed the first round of the CIF Open Division Girls Water Polo Playoffs. The No. 7 seeded Islander Girls Water Polo Team lost to No. 2 seed The Bishop’s School by the score of 13-7, thus concluding the I…
The Islander Boys Basketball Team (18-9 overall, 8-0 in league) steamrolled through the City League this year, posting a perfect 8-0 mark, which in turn helped them earn the No. 2 seed in CIF Division III this year. The Islanders are paced by junior standout guard Wayne McKinney III, who fin…
The Islander Girls Soccer Team (14-5-1 overall, 9-0-1 in the City League), under the direction of Head Coach Mike Costaglio, has had a fine season. From their league record, you could assume correctly they were the champions of the City League. They are also entering the CIF Division III Playoffs on a roll, the winners of four straight games. The Islanders defeated High Tech San Diego 3-0 at home; defeated Hoover 5-0 at home; beat University City 1-0 on the road; and concluded their regular season with a 2-0 win at Clairemont.
One thing you need to be aware of as a prep sports fan in San Diego, is that almost every CIF sport has a different playoff system, which can also vary by the divisions within each sport. In addition to driving sports columnists crazy, the changing formats make the sports hard to follow for fans. That thought aside, the Islanders with their strong record earned the No. 4 seed in the CIF Division III Playoffs, and a first-round bye. Their first game will be Saturday at home against the winner of the game between No. 5 seed Sage Creek and No. 12 seed Pacific Ridge. That game will be played at 5 p.m.
The final week of the regular season found the Islander Girls Basketball Team (18-10 overall, 5-3 in the City League) playing two games, with the first being a 50-37 loss to Point Loma, the eventual City League Champion. The Pointers went 8-0 in league play and earned the No. 1 seed in Divis…
The Islander Boys Soccer Team (8-4-5 overall, 4-2-2 in the Eastern League concluded their regular season with a 2-1 road loss to San Diego, a 1-1 tie with Westview, and a hard-fought 3-2 road win at Crawford. Playing a very competitive non-conference schedule allowed the Islanders to claim the No. 5 seed in CIF Division I. They were scheduled to host the No. 12 seed from Mission Hills Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.
Islander Head Coach Aaron Brooks assessed his team’s regular season. “Honestly, our team had some good performances this season. On any given night we might play really well and on other nights we might be a little off. Our last win against Crawford was a very good one. It makes me optimistic for Tuesday. I think the No. 5 seed was fair and the draw works out fine. We just had some inconsistent performances. We beat some good teams and tied others that weren’t as good. But the goal is to get hot as you reach the playoffs. We played last Wednesday and got to rest Friday. We’re missing some players, but the Boys are ready to play.”
Senior Nadia Quijano, who was also the field goal kicker for the football team this past year, has been a valuable player on the Islanders soccer team as well.
A full and exciting 2019 at the Coronado Yacht Club Junior Program was highlighted recently at the San Diego Association Yacht Club (SDAYC) Junior Board Installation dinner in January.
At the dinner, Coronado Yacht Club (CYC) Junior Preston Miller was presented the SDAYC Conner Series Perpetual in the Naples Sabot Class and Tommy Rudowicz, with Miller, received the Reynolds Perpetual in the C420 Class.
Max Olson placed second in the O’pen Skiff Series which is a new and exciting class that hasn’t named its Perpetual yet. These series combine overall results at three events hosted by San Diego area clubs.
“Tuesday, Feb. 4, we traveled to University City to start our second round through league play. University City (UC) started the game hitting six threes in the first quarter en route to a 24-17 lead. UC would increase that lead to 38-27 at half. Both teams traded scoring runs in the third quarter and ultimately the lead was still 11 going into the final frame.
“The bright spot was that UC picked up seven fouls in the quarter which meant we were shooting bonus free throws the rest of the way. We traded baskets with UC for the first two minutes, then our scoring picked up tremendously while getting key stops on defense. With two minutes to go Wayne McKinney III hit a 3 to pull us within two points and after a Kieran Ashley block, Mike Cunningham hit a 25 footer to give us our first lead of the game. A couple more stops and layups by McKinney and Ashley gave us a five point cushion. UC hit a three at the buzzer to make the final score 74-72. It was a signature win for us coming back from what looked like a night that wasn’t going to go our way. Scoring 30 points in an eight minute high school quarter is quite a feat.
CHS Senior goalie Jack Irvine has been a key player for the Islander boys’ soccer team this season, and is shown here making a dramatic save in a recent game.
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