Leland tennis toughens up out of league, returns to dominate

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

According to Coach Jory Segal, Leland’s tennis team is right where they should be in terms of improvement on the learning scale, preparation for the upcoming league finals, and, ultimately, 2004 CCS competition. After dropping a match to non-league powerhouse Palo Alto High School 4-3 last week, the Chargers stormed back April 5, beating Leigh High School on its turf, taking all seven matches in the afternoon and improving upon their 6-0 undefeated league record.

Versus P.A., the Chargers jumped out to a lead, but were unable to hold on down the stretch. Leland is known for three stellar singles players, including seniors Aaron Klapper and Steven Richardson, along with sophomore Simon Cheng, but a weaker line-up through the bottom half.

“The loss to Palo Alto was a very good match,” said Segal. “It’s not always about winning. We went up there and the kids played very well against a team that gave us a little better competition than many of the teams in our league. It’s good experience to play teams like that. It gets us ready for CCS.”

Unfortunately for Leigh, however, Leland’s Viking conditioning routine led to the proverbial roasting of the Longhorns. Leigh failed to take even one match from Leland, who was led by the strong play of Klapper and Richardson, along with junior Adam Mjolsness and Cheng. Richardson especially dominated, winning consecutive sets 6-1, 6-0, from his No. 3 singles post.

“We’re all working and learning,” said Segal of her Chargers. “There’s a lot of etiquette involved with tennis. It’s nice to win, but it’s more important to play the game and have a good time.”

Easy to say as the head coach of the undefeated Chargers, who at 6-0, and more than halfway through their league schedule appear primed to take the Blossom Valley Athletic League, Mount Hamilton Division Championship.

The Chargers’ next foe is Silver Creek High School, which they face on April 8 at Leland’s tennis courts behind the gym.

Heavy equipment can’t deter Pioneer track express

The defoliates have been sprayed and the grading equipment is ready to rumble on the Pioneer High School’s athletic fields, but the Mustang track and field team, although having been evacuated from their home grounds, nevertheless are the dominating program in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s West Valley division. The boys last week thrashed Lincoln High School 90-93 while the Pioneer girls overran their Lincoln Lion counterparts 90-40 in a meet held at San Jose City College. Both Mustang teams remained unbeaten with 4-0 records. Among those contributing power points to Pioneer’s all-front assault are senior Brittany Carter, and junior boys Ken Rose, Rolando Gomez, Jeff Higashi and Steven DeLay. Gomez is undefeated in both the shot and discus this season; Carter has yet to lose in the discus. Rose, Higashi and DeLay share distance running honors with team leader Sean Lopes. As for the displacement from their home track as part of a historic $165 million San Jose Unified school District overhaul—new synthetic turf will be in place at Pioneer for the 2004-5 school year—the athletes admit to a level of discomfort as they work out on the adjacent soccer field. Carter noted that the throwers have be careful they don’t threaten the sprinters training nearby. “We have to train on grass and break our ankles,” she joked. We assumed that was a joke.

—By Karl Laucher

Players of the Week

Alex Ramon
Sport: Leland track and field
Grade: Senior

Senior Alex Ramon is currently undefeated in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division and ranked 11th in CCS. His best event is the two-mile, in which he currently has a time of 9:50. “He is capable of a much better time than that, but he really hasn’t been pushed yet,” says Head Coach Jerry Rose. “He’s pretty much won single handedly since the beginning.”

Rose added that Ramon is, “a very determined and hardworking senior. He has excellent work ethic. He’s very easy to coach because he works so hard on his own. That is why he’s so successful.”
Ramon has already qualified for the top eight meet, which will be held on April 23.

Raymond LaRochelle
Sport: Leland swimming
Class: Freshman
Position: breaststroke, freestyle, individual medley

Freshman Raymond LaRochelle set the pace for Leland’s junior varsity boys swim team last week. In a dual meet featuring three teams including Leland, Piedmont Hills, and Independence, LaRochelle won two events and is, according to Coach Mike Monsees, nearly ready for varsity competition as only a freshman.

“Raymond’s times have been dropping all year,” said Monsees. “He comes to the pool enthusiastic everyday and he’s getting faster every meet. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he’ll go in high school [swimming].”

SPORTS ROUNDUP

The Leland softball team beat Independence 7-1 on Tuesday and is now 3-2 in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division.  With a record of 13-4 overall, the Lady Chargers are tied for third place in the league and were ranked fifth out of 15 teams by the Mercury News on 4/7. 

Against Independence, the girls scored six runs in the fifth inning and batted around the lineup.  Sophomore third baseman Ashley Adams went 2-4, senior Jamie Vranich went 2-3 and catcher Ashley O’Brien went 2-3, while there were multiple contributors offensively. “We’re playing phenomenal ball.  We’re doing great defensively and we’re really hitting the ball when we need to.  I can’t ask for more of them than to give me 100 percent effort and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” says Head Coach Joe Gron.

Kelly Harrison threw six innings, had eight strikeouts and gave up one hit. 

The Leland baseball team is barreling through the BVAL Mt. Hamilton division with a league record of 4-1 and an overall record of 9-7-2.  A 5-0 win over Willow Glen on Tuesday proved the Chargers deserve a No. 2 ranking in the division.  Head Coach Scott Gillis says, “Kyle Woodruff threw a complete game two-hitter with no walks; we made no errors and hit the ball well. Right now we are playing our best baseball of the season.”
Against Willow Glen, the Chargers had seven hits, including four doubles.  Senior Darren Gemoll went 2-3, and six other Chargers contributed with hits. 

Kyle Woodruff, the senior pitcher is now 5-0 on the season and has an ERA of .294.  The Chargers travel to face Willow Glen again on Thursday.

Pioneer softball is now 2-3 in Mt. Hamilton league play and 8-5 overall.  The girls acquired a big win over No. 1 Oak Grove on Tuesday with a score of 4-1.  Pitcher Andrea Castillo pitched seven innings and punched out five batters, gave up four hits and no earned runs.  “The run Oak Grove scored was on an error.  Castillo pitched well.  We finally started scoring so that’s definitely good,” says Head Coach Brian Thompson. 
Thompson says the team goal is to keep hitting the ball hard.  “We’re a young team, but we’re a good team.  All of the games we’ve lost have been by one run.  We’re consistent and competitive,” says Thompson.  “If we win on Thursday, it will even up the league quite a bit.”  The girls were ranked 13th out of 15 teams in the Mercury News on March 31. 

Against Oak Grove, freshman catcher Nikki Rebhan went 2-3 with a triple and two RBIs.  “She’s doing really well for us,” says assistant coach Mark Thompson.

Sophomore first baseman Chenelle Blake also pitched in offensively, going 2 -3 with an RBI.

The girls play Leigh on Thursday at Pioneer.

The Pioneer golf team lost to Leigh on Monday 213-217, making its league record 6-3.  Head Coach Myron Zaccheo says, “We’re doing OK.  It’s our first year in the Mt. Hamilton Division and we have no seniors and only two juniors.  They’re all sophomores and golf is a difficult game so I can’t be too disappointed.  We’re driving the ball well, but our short game needs improvement.” 

The boys had two wins last week against Westmont and also won a practice round against Los Gatos.  Against Leigh, No. 1 player Tom Garcia shot a 39, while the No. 2 and No. 3 players shot a 43 and a 49, respectively. 

“We’re giving away a lot of puts.  Golf can be frustrating sometimes and that’s why it’s a four letter word,” says Zaccheo. 

Pioneer has their chance at Leigh again on Wednesday, and Zaccheo is confident they can pick it up.  “We should definitely be able to get this one back,” says Zaccheo.

The Pioneer badminton team is 5-4 in the BVAL West Valley Division and is tied for third out of nine teams in the division.  A short week for the team, after having a bye on Tuesday they will face Archbishop Mitty on Thursday at home.  Head Coach Blaine Hashimoto says, “We beat them last time so we’re expecting another victory.  We’re doing well despite some reshuffling in the bracketing.”  The boys lost their number one singles player Ernest Kakinami last week. “But we’re expecting to do well despite of that,” says Hashimoto.

The Leland golf team suffered its first loss in the league on Tuesday.  Branham High School was victorious over Leland with a score of 224-217.  After having to suspend one of their best players due to foul play, Adam Schiro says they’re doing pretty well despite the loss, “We played at Eagle Ridge on Tuesday and we haven’t played there yet, so that is a factor in the loss.  They just didn’t play so hot against Branham.  A score of 224 is still pretty low for us so that’s OK.  We play Branham again on Thursday at Almaden so we should win that one.”
Leland is now 8-1 in the league.  Schiro plans to discuss with the boys their faults and try and improve in the next week. 

The Pioneer boys volleyball team lost to Prospect in four games on Tuesday, leaving them with a league record of 3-6.  Head Coach Tim Koring says, “We have a few guys that are hurt so there are a lot of young players on the court right now.  Even so, we’re improving, and that is really our goal, just to get better and become better volleyball players by getting faster and improving our skills.”

Junior Ken Swezey and senior Steve Greer had a good game against Prospect. “They are both players that haven’t had a lot of playing time, and I’m already seeing improvement in their game,” says Koring.
The boys play Leigh on Thursday at Pioneer.

The Leland boys volleyball team is now 8-1 in the BVAL Santa Teresa Division and 16-6 overall.  The team is ranked No. 7 out of 10 teams by a poll of coaches in the league.  “We’re playing really well.  We came in third on Saturday at the Willow Glen Tournament after losing to Branham,” says Head Coach Jason Hilbert.  “We need to improve our passing, that’s where games are won,” says Hilbert.

Against Willow Glen last Thursday, Hilbert says, “That was a huge win for us.  Our hitting percentage was fantastic and our serving was great.  We executed everything in order to win.”

Against Gunderson on Tuesday, the boys, almost effortlessly, took the win in three games, 25-11, 25-19 and 25-11.  In the Willow Glen Tournament, Noah Hall, Tommy Phan and Sam Lee made the all tournament team. 
The boys play Branham on Thursday at home.

Almaden NJB Roadrunner basketball team earns
a spot at the NJB National All-Star tournament

By Greg Uyeda,
President of NJB
Special to the Times

It has been several years since Almaden NJB (National Junior Basketball for grades three though eight) organization sent a team to the National All-Star tournament. Since its existence in 1998, only two other teams qualified (Division III girls and high school boys). This season, Almaden NJB will send a Division III girls all-star team to the National All-Star tournament, held on April 16-18 in Anaheim. The Roadrunners had to qualify in the Silicon Valley NJB Sectional All-Star tournament. They earned a spot by winning three of their four games.

In game one, the Roadrunners played a very tough Redwood City team. The Roadrunners pulled out a 26-22 victory. Courtney Lisowski led the way with nine points, 13 rebounds and seven steals. But it was Lindsay Allmon’s great defense against Redwood’s star player that was instrumental to the win. Lindsay held Redwood’s star player to 0 points.

In game two, the Roadrunners lost to Willow Glen 29-20. Jennah George and Nicole Johnston played valiantly in the loss. Courtney Lisowski scored 10 points in the effort.

Due to the loss, the Roadrunners had to face Redwood City again. A rematch with Redwood not only provided a great challenge, but would also provide the closest and best-played game for the Roadrunners.

Krisanne Keiser scored early for the Roadrunners and provided six points in the game. Emily Griffith’s court leadership throughout the game was the major factor in the win. The lead changed hands several times throughout the game with Redwood leading late in the game. It wasn’t until Jessica Marshall scoring with less than a minute left to tie the game. Emily Griffith then made a picture-perfect pass to Aly Murakami, who scored the winning basket with 14 seconds left on the clock. Almaden Roadrunners won with a score of 27-25. Courtney Lisowski led the team with nine points.

In game four, the Roadrunners jumped out to an early lead and held it for a 32-21 victory over Coyote Creek. Two players came up huge for the Roadrunners victory. Amelia Rodriguez controlled the boards with many big rebounds, limiting the Coyote Creek team to one shot per possession. Christiana Powery’s great defensive work on the Coyote Creek shooters kept them off balance. Aly Murakami let the team with nine points. It was Aly’s three-point basket at the end of the fourth period that doused any hope for the opponent. Lindsay Allmon scored seven points, Courtney Lisowski scored six points and Emily Griffith had five points in a balanced offensive attack.

With the win in game four, the Almaden NJB Roadrunners qualified for the NJB National All-Star tournament.
To learn more about Almaden NJB youth basketball, please visit our Web site at http://www.almadennjb.homestead.com.

Leland swimming: a splashing success

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Three high schools, six swim teams, one victor. That was the setting, cast and crew April 2 when Independence High School hosted Piedmont Hills High School and Leland High School in a three-way dual meet that Leland claimed as its own. The Chargers dominated the hosting 76ers and visiting Pirates, sweeping four meets—two for the boys and two for the girls—for the price of one.

The schools agreed to conduct the two dual meets at the same time, due to the upcoming Spring break. Holding the meets on one day allows for a league-wide bye over the holidays.

However, last week Leland wasn’t rushing out the door on the way to the beach just yet.

Boys swimming
The big news for the Leland boys was the medley relay team achieving a CCS qualifying time for the first time as a group. The team consists of Mike Steranka, Nick Beene, Stephen Hoang, and Zac Monsees. Last year, the team finished seventh in CCS, however, with this early qualifying time, this year’s squad appears to be a strong entry.
In addition, according to Coach Mike Monsees, the boys frosh-soph swim team recorded more personal records at Independence than ever before. Freshmen Raymond LaRochelle and Curtis Lord especially stood out winning two events each.

“We have a really great group of young swimmers,” said Monsees, whose varsity Chargers are undefeated in league. “Everyday 42 kids come out to swim practice and have a real good, intense workout. They have great work ethics.”

Girls swimming
In simplest terms, the Leland girls are awesome. The Chargers beat Piedmont 124-58 and nearly tripled the score of their Indy counterparts, finally winning 134-44.

Freshmen Courtney Monsees and Melanie Plott, along with junior Nichole Atkin, turned in remarkable performances, winning two events each. Leland’s Casie Armstrong, Joyce Lee, and Megan Wilson also contributed wins in single events.

It was an especially big day for Wilson, who qualified as a CCS diver for the very first time.

“There are a few injuries so I’m still mixing around the lineup,” said Leland Coach Mike Haake. “We just about have the right number, but we’ve been trying to avoid bringing J.V. girls up on varsity. But that is what they’re there for.”

In fact, this week Haake called Bethany Nollette up to varsity. Nollette is a utility swimmer, with talents varying in range, covering everything from the 200- and 500-yard free through multiple backstroke and breaststroke events.

“Our toughest competition still lies ahead,” said Haake. “My main goal is to find the best match for CCS.”

What lies ahead
Both Chargers’ squads have a week off for Spring break before the schedule resumes on April 23 versus Branham High School.

Sports Schedules

Leland High School

Thursday 4/8
Baseball @ Willow Glen 3:30
JV baseball vs. Willow Glen 3:30
Golf vs. Branham @ Almaden 3 p.m.
Softball @ Mt. Pleasant 3:30
JV vs. Mt. Pleasant 3:30
Boys tennis vs. Silver Creek 3:15
Boys volleyball vs. Branham 5/6PM (JV, V)
Badminton @ Piedmont Hills 3:30

Saturday 4/10
Baseball @ PAL Stadium vs. Santa Cruz 10 a.m.
Baseball @ PAL Stadium vs. Bellarmine 4 p.m.
Track and field @ Gilroy HS 9 a.m.
Boys JV volleyball @ Willow Glen all day

Wednesday 4/14
JV baseball vs. Valley Christian

4/12-4/15
Baseball TBA

Pioneer High School

Thursday 4/8
Badminton vs. Mitty 3:30
Baseball vs. Piedmont Hills 3:30
JV baseball @ Piedmont Hills 3:30
Softball @ Leigh 3:30
JV softball vs. Leigh 3:30
Boys tennis vs. Piedmont hills 3:15
Boys volleyball @ Leigh 6/7PM (JV, V)

Bret Harte girls soccer team suffers season-ending loss

By Miranda Schultz
Sports Editor

Despite having a great 5-1 season up to this point, the Bret Harte girls soccer team lost to Ocala 1-2 in a sudden-death overtime at the quarterfinals on Tuesday at their home field. 

Just before the end of regular play, Bret Harte’s Rheanna Rinauro scored the tying goal, only to lose on a corner kick in the first sudden-death overtime half. 

“Ocala has a very good team, they were very fast and very physical.  We were also playing without our best player, Sara Chehrehsa,” says Head Coach Massoud Shamshirian.  Chehrehsa had a tryout for another team that couldn’t be rescheduled. 

“The girls tried their best. Ocala’s first goal was just bad luck with a bad bounce on the ball.  I think the girls might be a little disappointed because they had an opportunity to win, but we had a great season and the girls played hard and had fun.  I think they deserved to go to the semi-finals, but maybe it was just not meant to be.  Hopefully we’ll get there next fall,” says Shamshirian.

Bret Harte player Crystal Shaffie warms up on Tuesday before the game against Ocala. Photo by Miranda Schultz

Young Leland girls lacrosse program getting it done with depth

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

The Leland High School girls lacrosse team has scratched and clawed its way to 4-2, 3-1 record so far this year. Head Coach Becky Crozier attributes the team’s success to, as she puts it, “great leadership and a good sized team with a lot of depth.” Most recently the Chargers walloped the girls from Woodside High School, winning 8-2. The victory came after Leland’s suffering a sour defeat at the experienced hands of the Menlo School two Fridays ago, on Mar. 26. “Almost half way through the season, we’ve had a good chance to see what our strengths and weaknesses are,” said Crozier. “It’s great to know that we have strength at every position on the field.”
Next up for the Chargers are the ladies of Robert Louis-Stevenson HighSchool on April 21. The game will be held at RLS beginning at 4:30p.m.

Want to improve your soccer game?

Let Go-4-Gold Spring Break Soccer Camp can help you improve your skills. Boys and girls ages 5-16 are welcome. The camp covers all skill levels, novice to advanced, and runs April 12-16 at Almaden Country School. Visit www.go4goldsoccer.com, or call (408) 997-7775 for more details.