SPORTS

State championship berth to top 3
Pioneer sends Lopes, Gomez, DeLay to CCS Finals, Ramon represents Leland

By Karl Laucher
Staff Writer

While most high school track and field athletes are reflecting on their production index to sum up the season of 2004, the Pioneer High School triumvirate of Sean Lopes, Rolando Gomez and Steven DeLay and Leland’s Alex Ramon still have active stock options as Central Coast Section finalists.

The CCS Champion-ships are set for Friday (May 28) at San Jose City College. Field events go at 4 p.m., running events at 6 p.m. The top three finishers get a ticket to the state championships June 4-5 in Sacramento.

Sean Lopes appeared to be local guy with the most championship-quality upside having dominated the Blossom Valley Athletic League at 800 meters and owning the second best time in the CCS prior to

the CCS Trials last week. Hisstatus still was unquestioned when he blazed his way to victory in the trials, fending off Jack Welch of Redwood Christian in a power-packed stretch run that illuminated the second of four semi-final heats.

However, when all the numbers were in, Lopes, a senior crowned in curly black hair, was but the fourth fastest finisher, his time of 1:56.30 several theoretical paces behind Francis Gadayan of Archbishop Riordan, the winner of semi-final heat No. 3 in 1:55.04.

“Sean knows he’s going to be up against it (in the CCS Finals),” commented Pioneer coach Mark Krail. “He’ll be ready for it.” Lopes has a career best of 1:55.63, set mid-season in the Arcadia Relays.

Pioneer also has another strong candidate as podium finisher in discus-thrower Rolando Gomez, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound junior who admittedly was nervous waiting out the final flight of throwers in the finals to clinch the eighth and final spot a toss of 152-7. Gomez, a junior, has tossed well over 160 feet in practice and on scratched throws. “We’re waiting for him to pop a big one in a meet,” said Krail.

DeLay, a run-away winner in the BVAL championships at 1600 meters on May 13, gained the CCS Championship round by posting a personal-best time of 4:25.57, claiming the 11th out of 12 berths for the Final.

Ramon, who was undefeated in both the 1600 and 3200 during the duel-meet season and won the BVAL 3200 title for Leland’s Chargers, felt his season ebbing away as he ran fifth in his heat of the 3200-meter run at the CCS trials. But he never quit his long-striding style, recording a personal-best time of 9:37.71, good enough for the No. 10 position on the starting line for the CCS Final. “The season is so long, I didn’t know if I wanted to go any further,” he said. When told that his time was good enough to qualify for the CCS Finals, Ramon voiced a mild profanity, presumably in jest. Leland Co-Coach Jerry Rose said he and Co-Coach Rudy Montenegro feel Ramon is capable of a much better effort,, and the potential to finish in the top half of the field. “The kid is there,” says Rose. “He just has to believe it.”

Leland junior Jessica Chen, the BVAL runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles, posted a personal-best of 47.50 seconds, just shy of the 47.03 needed to make the final eight.

Cyclist dies near Almaden’s Quicksilver Park in crash
Leaves family and friends with bittersweet memories of an ‘amazing person’

By Miranda Schultz
Sports Editor

Derek Deleon died last Sunday cycling on a steep downhill grade on Hicks Road, just west of Alamitos Road near Almaden’s Quicksilver Park, when he struck a guardrail that catapulted him into a wooden guardrail post. It was about 11:30 when the accident occurred, and DeLeon succumbed to his extensive head and limb injuries at 12:48, three minutes after a helicopter arrived to take him to Stanford Medical Center.

DeLeon, 28 and a lifelong San Jose resident, had taken up cycling earlier this year and became a member of Silicon Valley Team in Training. His goal was to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society in honor of his mother Teodora, who lost her battle with cancer two years ago. Although he pledged to raise $4,000 in his first ever triathlon, the May 1-2 Wildflower Triathlon at Lake San Antonio, he ended up raising $8,000.

According to his cousin, Casey Robertson, “Derek was a vibrant, energetic, charismatic and caring person. He affected everybody that he came across in ways that most people can’t. He was spiritual, generous and had a love for life that made him an amazing person.”

His family members know DeLeon as a person who gave 110 percent, all of the time. Always a good student, he graduated from Archbishop Mitty High School in 1993 as co-valedictorian, and moved on to the University of Southern California where he graduated with honors earning a business marketing degree in 1997. According to Robertson, DeLeon was “a huge Trojan football fan, he would go to every home game and sometimes even follow them to away games.”

DeLeon worked for Ross Dress for Less on Almaden Expressway since the age of 16. He started as a shoe salesman, and moved up to handling all of the corporate marketing research upon graduation from USC.
He was also active in the Holy Family Church in San Jose, where he volunteered as a youth minister and leadership team member since 1997. His colleague, Delana Romero was in charge of the youth program at the church while DeLeon volunteered there. DeLeon and her son went to high school together.

“Even though he was young enough to be my son, I never saw him as younger,” said Romero. “He had a maturity and wisdom about him, and his faith reflected in every aspect of his life. He didn’t have to stand on a street corner and boast about it. It was all around him,” says Romero, who will strongly feel the absence of DeLeon at her daughters’ wedding in three weeks.

Robertson says that DeLeon’s death was ironic because he had just began cycling recently in an effort to raise money in honor of his late mother, who battled cancer for four years and then he ended up dying too. “He loved this new arena, cycling was his new project. He gave it everything he could. It is ironic because he had done a lot of things in the last year that he had wanted to do for a long time, things that made him happy. We’re finding contentment in knowing how fulfilled his life was. He left this world with no regrets, we find solace in knowing that,” she says.

His brother, Daniel, 26, remembers, “Derek dedicated himself to whatever he was doing. Education was always very important to him, he was a very smart guy, he was on the dean’s list every year at USC.”
DeLeon also loved to travel. “Every year he would indulge himself in a new culture,” said his cousin. “He just went to Greece. And, he does it all on his own.”

Romero said that one of DeLeon’s cousins summed him up best by saying, “Derek was at the heart of us, he was always there, laughing and joking. You could always lean on him. He was just a fantastic guy.”

Since DeLeon was alone during the ride, the exact chain of events leading to the accident are a mystery. He was discovered shortly after the crash by two cyclists, one who happened to be a physician who resuscitated DeLeon for several minutes while the other rode down the hill to get cell phone reception to call for help.

“I’ve ridden that area hundreds of times,” says 20-year veteran cyclist Bill Ruffner. “It’s pretty tough, the speeds you can reach are pretty high and your margin for error is pretty small. The surface of the road combined with the traffic and the curves makes it a treacherous and dangerous road, easy for any cyclist to lose it.”

Robertson said that DeLeon wrote a letter to thank all of his sponsors for the recent triathlon, and in it, he stated, “Just competing in it was triumphant for me because it was a challenge that I set forth for myself in honor of my mother.”

DeLeon, according to Robertson, was a very benevolent human being, “There are special people in this world, and then there’s Derek. I look at the people that have become the mosaic of his life and he included everybody. He reached out to so many different types of people, regardless of race or status. Derek liked you for you. That’s the part of him that is truly unique.”

DeLeon lived with his brother and father, Delfin, in South San Jose. “We were the closest that two brothers could ever be,” says Daniel. “The way we were together was as perfect as I could have ever wanted it to be. I never doubted anything he said because I knew it came from his heart.”

A vigil will be held for DeLeon on Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m. at the Lima Family Mortuary, and the funeral is at 10 a.m. at the Holy Family Church on Friday, May 28—sadly the same day as the anniversary of his mother’s death.

Middle schoolers’ affinity for lacrosse stuns opponents

Broncos, S.J. Extreme make headlines by making goals

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Forget little league and soccer season, lacrosse is the latest craze for south valley elementary students and middle schoolers. This year, despite a late introduction to America’s eldest and perhaps fastest-growing sporting event, hoards of Almaden youths are learning to play lacrosse, thanks to some helpful volunteers and the coaches at Bret Harte Middle School.

For two years running, Bret Harte’s grassy knolls have served as the home field for a sprouting lacrosse program catering to boys and girls alike.

The boys boast two teams officially sponsored by Bret Harte Middle School. The first, known as the B squad, is filled with 20 players including one sixth grader and a conglomerate of seventh and eighth graders. The C team holds 22 players mixing a greater number of sixth graders in with a scattering of seventh and eighth graders. The design helps match skills with age and size.

In 2004, the B-boys and Coach Larry Adams have won their way to their first Final Four. On Sunday, the Broncos play at 11 a.m. and at 3 p.m. in Danville’s Osage Park. Bronco team captain and league scoring leader Landon Maas will look to teammates Leo Grilli, Andrew Fabian, Andrew Yoon, Kellan Barker, Chris Hirano, and Rueben Macias for support in crunch time.

Coach Adams has high hopes heading into the playoff, noting “ it’s a great team of young kids that have developed into very good lacrosse players.” According to Adams, the team scores a “bunch” of goals and are, frankly, a beauty to watch.

The girls’ side is independent of the school district and comprised of girls hailing as far as Hillsdale, just south of San Francisco. Officially known as the San Jose Extreme, the girls’ ages range from fifth grade to eighth. Last year, in the inaugural season for the Extreme, the club competed with one team of 25 girls. However, this season approximately 40 girls were broken up into two squads, including the White team, holding mostly seventh and eighth graders, and the Blue team, made of rookies and younger players.

“Anyone can play and enjoy lacrosse,” said Extreme President John Fensterwald. “But there is a learning curve. Last year, the girls learned the fundamentals: how to throw, catch, pick up ground balls and cradle (keep the ball in their sticks while running). This year, they took their game to the next level, running plays, passing on the fly, double and triple teaming on defense. It was exciting to see their skills develop.”

This year the White team competed in the “A Division” of the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association, finishing 11-4-1, good for second place in the league.

Under the tutelage of Coach Jessica Paige, a former college standout in the sport, the White team went on to the championship game during the Braveheart League Tournament held May 22. After winning two early games, 6-4, 10-4 versus Mt. Diablo-area opponents, the Extreme met an old foe, Skyline in the finals. Skyline, who hammered the Extreme in two meetings earlier this season, proved themselves once again despite a gutsy effort from several Extreme players including Catillero Cobras, Kelsey Carney and Molly Fensterwald and Bronco, Natalie Bonnepart.

Extreme member, Danielle Seto, a seventh grader at Chaboya Middle School, also played big scoring two goals in the team’s 7-6, sudden-death, overtime loss.

Happy to build on a positive note, Fensterwald and the San Jose Extreme plan to practice intermittently throughout the summer, expanding the club as far as the girls can take it.

Until then, two Extreme players will take lacrosse to Binghamton University in upper state New York. Allie Roe and Sami Vega have been selected as members of the Braveheart All-Star Team, which will represent the Northern California chapter of U.S. Lacrosse in the national Under 15 Youth Festival next month.

This summer, the Extreme will host clinics at Leland High School on Tuesdays, starting June 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information regarding girls lacrosse and the San Jose Extreme visit www.sjextreme.org or contact John Fensterwald at (408) 265-2224.

Eight-year-old Almaden boy shoots a hole in one; wins bet with surprised dad
John Raineri, an 8-year-old third grader at Los Alamitos Elementary School, shot a hole-in-one at Santa Teresa’s Short Course May 16 while golfing with his dad Alan and 6-year-old brother Wyatt. It was at hole number 5 that John hit the perfect golf shot with his 7 iron about 100 yards; it bounced twice and went into the hole. As the flag was to the back of the green, John did not realize he had a hole in one until golfers waiting on the hole above started jumping up and down yelling, “It went in! It went in!” Earlier, John and Wyatt had made bets with their dad that for a par they’d get a buck, for a birdie he’d pay them five bucks, and when asked what he’d pay if they made a hole in one he said, “You make a hole in one, I’ll pay you 50 bucks.” Seemed like a safe bet to dear old dad. Later, John happily pocketed the $50 bucks. Watch out Tiger!

Last-place Force shocks Almaden Valley Girls Softball League, comes out on top

By Miranda Schultz
Staff Writer

The Force, a 12U team in the Almaden Valley Girls Softball League (AVGSL), achieved an unexpected turnaround. At the end of regular season play, the girls clutched a record of 3-9, last place in the league, and received a last place seed for the in-league tournament.

With their only goal to have fun, the team suddenly came together and beat the No. 3 team, and miraculously beat the No. 2 team. By this time, the parents and coaches were wide-eyed with surprise. The winning didn’t stop there.

“When we knew we were going to be in the championship, I told the girls that taking second is an accomplishment,” said Head Coach Leonard LaRussa. “I told them that we had nothing to lose and to go out there and have fun. We were excited enough that we were going to get a trophy. I mean, we went into the tournament in last place!”

The championship game, played on May 22, was against the Lighting, the first place team with a record of 11-1. The Force led the entire way, until the sixth inning where they fell behind 8-7. In the seventh, the Force scored three runs on clutch hitting and succeeded in keeping the score at 10-8 throughout the bottom half of the inning.

“It was like a dream,” says LaRussa. “I had no expectations of the girls except that they played with integrity. The other team was devastated, I actually felt badly for them, they had all of the pressure.”

LaRussa considers the season to be a Cinderella story. “I can’t tell you what happened to them, but all of a sudden, everyone started hitting, and everyone started catching the ball, and everyone made the plays and knew what they were supposed to be doing.”

Team parent Lee Koolpe the girls’ accomplishment has been one that isn’t short-lived. According to him, the bond that the parents formed will last a lifetime. “In the last three championship games, the parents and girls grew closer and closer. After each win, we went out to local restaurants to celebrate. In our minds, the girls were already winners. For us parents, it was truly the feel good story of the year. Personally, I thought it was better than any Giants or sharks victory,” says Koolpe.

According to LaRussa, the girls were one of the best teams in the league, based on individual talent. In his opinion, it was the way they played as a team that kept them from winning all season.

“This final tournament was proof of what I always believed. They just played to their potential is what they did,” says LaRussa.

Koolpe says that the girls played the final game of the season with passion. “It was like the original Rocky movie, except the Force actually won instead of simply achieving a moral victory.”

The victory has been won, and another season is past, but according to Koolpe and LaRussa, the memories and friendships made this season will be cherished for a long time to come.

SPORTS BRIEFS

Pioneer track program promoted, Leland holds its ground
Pioneer High School’s West Valley Division-champion boys track and field team, along with the Mustang girls, runner-up to Evergreen Valley High in the same division, will be promoted to the mid-tier Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League for 2005, as recommended by a recent vote by the BVAL coaches. Evergreen Valley High will advance along with Pioneer while Prospect and Westmont high schools will move down from the Santa Teresa Division to the West Valley Division.

No charge is likely for the top-flight Mount Hamilton Division. Leland’s boys team went winless in 2004, and the Charger girls won but two meets. The strength of Leland’s sophomore and freshman classes is reported to have had a bearing on the issue.

Memorial Day Criterium has elbow room in Morgan Hill
The annual Memorial Day Criterium for speed-freakin’ bicycle racers formerly was held around Plaza de Cesar Chavez in San Jose, but downtown event staging can be a costly proposition, so for a blast of harrowing cyclical speed on a 1.1-mile course, both racers and spectators have more elbow room in Morgan Hill where the ST Bikes-sponsored event will be staged on Monday.

Some 300 riders are expected to participate on a course that includes Cochran and Sutter streets behind the Target store. The event is part of a two-day competition that includes the Mount Hamilton Hill Climb on Sunday. The pros and top-category amateurs will start the 164-mile Mt. Hamilton race between 8 and 8:30 a.m. at Joseph George Middle School on Mahoney Drive. Racing in the ST Bikes Criterium begins at 8 a.m. with the pro women going off at about 2 p.m. followed by the pro men at 3:15 p.m. For more information on ST Bikes, call 408 264-2453. For more information on the races, call 650 969-6456 or go on line at www.teamsanjose.org.

Times writer named to Hall of Fame...panel
I had rationalized, through a tremendous leap of fantasy, that I could qualify for the Los Gatos Hill School Hall of Fame. But after attending the first Hall of Fame dinner recently, I realized I was lucky that they let me pay $75 to sit at a table. The 10 athletes inducted ranged from an Olympic champion—Chris von Saltza Olmstead—to an All-American and All-Canadian League football star—Hugh Campbell.

My career as a maniacal hitman on many football and rugby teams, including numerous championships, unfortunately won’t qualify. I still am proud to have been a wannabe.

So, I accepted, humbly, an invitation to be on the Los Gatos High Hall of Fame selection panel. I think I know the difference between a gifted athlete and myself. It’s called the Grand Canyon.

—By Karl Laucher

Leland teams in the running for the CCS title

By Miranda Schultz
Sports Editor

Leland pitcher Anthony Trovato was the winning pitcher in Leland’s 3-1 win over Valley Christian on 5/22. The guys will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday night and play top seeded Wilcox High School at 4 p.m. at San Jose Municipal Stadium. Last year, Leland lost in the semifinals.

Leland first baseman Jamie Vranich concentrates to snare a wide throw a split second before a collision with the Live Oak runner in Leland’s 3-2 rally win. Megan Finney drove in the tying run and scored the winning run off of a basehit by pinch hitter Veronica Perrota. The chargers will face top seeded Carlmont High School at 7 p.m. Thursday at PAL Stadium.

AYA golf tournament raises more than $20,000 for proposed sports fields

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Like it or not, it appears the 35 acres along McKean Road, currently serving as home to a variety of birds and vermin alike, may soon become a venue for Little League and soccer games. Thanks to Vice Mayor Patricia Dando and the Almaden Youth Association (AYA), a group comprised of volunteers hailing from various South San Jose athletic organizations, the controversial plan to erect six soccer fields, two Little League fields, two softball fields and one full-scale baseball diamond is moving closer to fruition.

Most recently, the AYA held the association’s second annual golf tournament designed to promote the project while raising money toward further progress on the project. On May 1, more than 120 golfers and approximately 30 bunco players gathered at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club for the event.

“It really was a great success,” said Dando, who served as the keynote speaker, addressing AYA supporters at the awards dinner following the tournament. “It was a great day of golfing. There was a lot of excitement. It’s always a good atmosphere when the group you’re working with is excited about what they are doing, believe in the cause and is having success. And the AYA has all three.”

Tournament participants included president and general manager of the Earthquakes, Alexi Lalas, San Jose Unified School District trustee Gary Rummelhoff, San Jose Chamber of Commerce CEO Jim Cunneen, District 10 candidate Rich De La Rosa, and State Assembly candidate Steve Poizner, among others.

The event generated approximately $25,000, which is scheduled for use in the project’s preliminary planning expenses. Currently, the revision to an Environmental Impact Report (E.IR.), designed to alleviate concerns of neighbors in addition to revealing the project’s affects on environmental components such as transportation, air quality, noise and flooding, is the next item of concern. According to Dando, the report is due back in July with the results and further plans to be sent to the San Jose Planning Commission by early fall.

Until then, AYA supporters, Jerry Greer, Dave Lavelle, Nick Hardman and Ross McMillan can revel in their own accomplishments. The foursome finished in first place as champions of the event, beating out second place Phil Chiappe, Colin Goldstein, Mike Cannestra and Chris Atkinson after winning a tie-breaker on Lake #9.

Additional winners included Tom Beck and Joanne Bosomworth with the longest drives, Cliff Harris, who landed closest to the pin, and the sure hands of Gary Gemoll, which delivered the most accurate drive.

“As corny as it sounds, the best part of the day for me was the feeling of pride I got from watching our volunteers work so hard and so well and so many members of our community coming together as a community to show their support,” said AYA board member Brad Bosomworth. “So many of those people will never have kids play on the fields, but they give it their all anyway. They are helping kids that they don’t know and who will never know what others did for them. It honestly made me realize that the Almaden community and their kids are worthy of all the effort that is going into this project.”

“It is the right thing to do,” summed up Dando.