August 24, 2006

SPORTS

Leland’s cross country teams prepare for competition

By Jeff Frazee
Times Photojournalist

Returning sophomore Stephanie Barnett begins a loop around Almaden Lake during a seven-mile training run. She will be leading a young but promising team during the 2006 season.

Ranked 11th in the state among freshman girls, Stephanie Barnett took the BVAL by storm, setting course records in her first year. Joined by her sister, Claudia Barnett, and several other promising freshmen, coach Jerry Rose is setting the goal of taking these girls to the state competition this year.

“The girls team is a lot stronger than the boys team,” Stephanie explains. “We lost at least three senior boys, but we didn’t lose any strong girls.”

Erica Eisenberg and Claudia Barnett are moving up to Leland from Bret Harte Middle School’s track program. Stephanie Barnett believes that much of the success of Leland’s running teams is due to the foundation laid at Bret Harte. “I want to be sure to credit Miss Nelson and Miss Petty. They started the track team at Bret Harte, and they were so encouraging that they made you love track no matter how fast you were.”

In addition, Alexa Hunter is joining Leland’s cross-country team from Almaden Country School. Without any competitions to be critiqued, judgment on this young squad must be reserved. Their potential is vast, and with three years of competition to go, Leland’s girls’ cross country team is a team to watch.

Freshmen Claudia Barnett and Alexa Hunter run alongside sophomore Stephanie Barnett as the lead a group of young girls that coach Jerry Rose hopes to take to the state meet.	Matt Vera, a top runner on Leland's cross country team, leads a set of warm-up sprints during one of Leland's preseason work outs. Photos by Jeff Frazee

Sports Briefs

Cheer coaches needed for South Valley Pop Warner
Cheer coaches are needed for South Valley Pop Warner. If you're interested in joining a team of outstanding coaches, call Tiana Zarate at (408) 464-3285 or Teresa Smith at (408) 603-8280, or go to http://www.stpopwarner.org/

Sports officials needed for high school sports
FERMAR Corporation, which contracts with high schools in Santa Clara County, is recruiting officials for high school athletics. Officials are needed for fall season sports such as football, volleyball and field hockey.

Men and women are encouraged to apply. No experience is necessary, as FERMAR will provide training through classes, clinics and tests. All training materials are provided.

Officials are paid $32-$61 per game, depending on the sport and level of competition. Additional opportunities to officiate youth and adult sports are also available.

Interested parties are encouraged to call FERMAR at (408) 567-1700.

Bret Harte Middle School needs a dance coach
Bret Harte Middle School is looking for a coach to lead its after-school dance team.  Responsibilities will include overseeing try-outs, uniform selection, practices, performances, and competitions. 

This position will be under the direction of the school administration and Bret Harte Booster. For more information, call Don McCloskey or Julie Herbert at (408) 535-6270.

San Jose Strikkers 18U girls fast-pitch softball traveling team tryouts
The San Jose Strikkers, an 18U girls’ fast-pitch softball team based in San Jose, is holding fall ball tryouts Aug. 13 and 27 at Oak Grove High School. Pitchers and catchers begin at 9 a.m. and all other position players begin at 10:30 a.m.

For more information, contact Frank King at (408) 406-8191 or Richard Fangonilo at (408) 274-9301, or e-mail fgking25@aol.com or rfangonilo@sjm.com

For additional information, got to the team Web site http://www.eteamz.com/sanjosestrikkers18u.

Almaden National Junior Basketball signups
Almaden National Junior Basketball (NJB) signups will be starting Aug. 15. Boys and girls grades one through eight are eligible. The 11-game season starts Dec. 3. For details and signups, e-mail almadenjb@homestead.net or call Ken Keiser (408) 592-4190 with questions.

Central Coast Volleyball Club tryouts
Central Coast Volleyball Club (CCVC) is holding tryouts for boys age 14-18 on Aug. 26 from 2-6 p.m. at Leland High School.

For more information about tryouts, call (408) 391-3201 or e-mail ccvclub@hotmail. com. For additional information about CCVC, go to www.ccvclub.com.

Sirious Baseball hopes to hit home run at grand opening Saturday, Aug. 26
Sirious Baseball is pleased to announce its grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 26. Come down and check it out! There will be free hitting cage use from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and new indoor bullpens for all those pitchers out there to enjoy. Enjoy a hot dog and a drink on Sirious Baseball as well and talk with the Sirious staff members about lessons, camps and all the other exciting things going on at Sirious Baseball. The new facility is located at 599 E. McGlincy Ln. in Campbell. For more information, call (408) 626-7899.

Save the date: 13th annual Almaden Times Classic will be held Sept. 24
The 13th annual Almaden Times Classic will be held early this year (it’s usually held in October) in an effort to avoid potential scheduling conflicts with the San Jose Half Marathon. The Classic will be held on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. The popular 2-mile/10k run/walk community event benefits the Almaden Valley Counseling Service and it starts and finishes at Leland High School on Camden Avenue.

For more information, visit www.avcounseling.org or call (408) 997 0200. Register at www.Active.com or look for race applications in future issues of the Almaden Times Weekly.

Leland boys set to defend MHAL crown in boys’ water polo

Coach Monsees expounds on Charger chances in 2006

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Leland water polo coach Mike Monsees said wins are in the waves of the future this season if his boys can hold onto the ball.

Junior Max Dreischer fires a score. Coach Monsees said Dreischer posseses one of the hardest shots he's seen in all his coaching experience. Photos by Justin Petersen

The Chargers will attempt to harness the momentum of their 2005 Mount Hamilton Division championship, where Leland cruised through division play, capping a perfect 8-0 campaign with an appearance in CCS. But luck dried up there when Leland faced Menlo Atherton in the opening round and lost.

So Leland landed some motivation heading into off-season.

Monsees said that the Chargers have returned bigger, better and more experienced this summer. They will surge he said, if the boys continue working hard and exercising ball control on the offensive end.

“We have a good, strong nucleus of players that have played together all summer,” said Monsees. “We are as strong as or stronger than last year. It just gets back to the basics of ball handling and becoming more of a team to start the season.”

The boys gained good ground toward teamwork this summer. They traveled the coast showcasing at 10 tournaments in the off-season. Monsees said that during regular high school season, teams are permitted just four tournaments, so summers are very valuable in water polo, while players learn about one another in real time speed.

“It started during the middle of spring last year,” said Monsees. “We took a trip to Washington to begin the off-season.” The Chargers sent 30 boys to Washington to participate in an age group tournament, where they placed fifth place in the 18 and under division. “The competition was better this year,” continued Monsees. “It was an opportunity to play against national teams in Canada.”

Another key in 2006 will be the Chargers’ development on defense. “The thing we are talking about in the last couple of meetings is better defense—keeping the score down. Last year we were racing to outscore teams, more than trying to stop them,” said Monsees.

Coach expects big things at both ends of the pool from senior hole-set Raymond LaRochelle. The 2005 Mount Hamilton junior of the year reported to twice-daily practices carrying an additional 20 pounds of muscle, according to Monsees. “He played hard all summer. We are working on a lot of different ways of scoring for him as well as controlling the center of the defense.”

Senior LaRochelle has received interest from several universities that admire his style, including Brown, who is leading in his recruitment, according to Monsees. “Raymond ranks right up there with good payers from the past at Leland,” he said. “I think anybody that can go on and play college ball ranks with the top players that we’ve had.”

Juniors Marcus Gartner, Matt Eisennberg, and Max Droushian will support LaRochelle with outside shooting and ball control. “The ball handlers have really put in the time this year,” said Monsees. “That’s the main thing, keeping the ball in our team’s hands.”

Droushian will be the Charger’ number-two valve after LaRochelle on offense. “Max has one of the hardest shots that I have ever seen,” said Monsees. Droushian is also quick across the pool. He qualified for CCS swimming finals in the 100-yard breaststroke event last year.

Junior goalie Eric Hsu will also lend strength to Charger efforts defensively. He returns to the lineup as a second year starter and with another year of maturity under his belt. “We have got to get him to be more active with creating team defense,” said Monsees, also applauding Hsu’s potential and development over the summer.

While Monsees expects that Leland will play well, there is one challenger that poses a threat to the MHAL throne. Perennial section power Live Oak will join the division this season for the first time. “Live Oak is moving into the league from the Monterey league,” he said. “They beat us last year the only time we played them, but I don’t see anybody else in the league being a major threat. Live Oak will be a big game.”

The Chargers’ final tune-up before entering league play will be at a Los Angeles tournament later this month.

“The kids are currently involved in an eight-event skill test as competition to see who will travel down south,” said Monsees.

The top 14 of 35 players get to make the travel team, so competition is stiff. “A couple of days ago we had a distance throw to see how far you can throw the ball from the water,” said Monsees. “We had six players who threw it out of the pool. We’re going to be better balanced than we’ve been in a long time.”

Hard work and positive outlook are keys to Pioneer girls’ water polo success

Mustangs are optimistic about upcoming season

By Margo Consul
Times Intern

The Pioneer girls’ water polo team is ready for redemption. After being knocked out early in the 2005-2006 season CCS race, the Mustangs want to redeem themselves by going farther this season.

Last season the Mustangs were 4-4 in league and went to the first round of CCS.

Taylor Freezor, 2005-2006 All-League player, is expected to play a big part in the team’s success this season. Photo by Margo Consul

“We consider last year a successful season for us. We had a couple close losses during the season then came back beat those teams in the league finals, so that was good,” said head coach Gordy Smith.

Although they made it to the first round of CCS, the Mustangs were knocked out early with a loss to the top seed. “We ended up playing the number-one seed in the first round so we were eliminated early but the girls did a great job,” Smith said.

Despite the tough season, Smith is still optimistic. “I hope to be competitive in our league. Obviously I feel right now that Leland is the team to beat in our league,” Smith stated. Leland’s team went undefeated last season and were league champions while Pioneer finished right behind them in second place. “Only the top three teams in our league qualify for CCS, so we’re hoping we’ll be one of those teams that qualify again.”

Even though it is early in the season, Smith is looking to the younger players to contribute. “Our first group is good but we’re hoping we have some young kids that are going to step up and fill those shoes.” With a loss of some starters he also expects the upper classmen to take the reins. “We got hit pretty hard by graduation. We had seven starters in the pool and we lost five of our seven starters. But we’ve got a good starting group coming back.”

There are three starters returning this season that Smith has high expectations for. Eylssa Sampson, who was sophomore of the year last year in the Mt Hamilton Division, Taylor Freezor, who received All League from the BVAL, and their goalie Katrina Musco, who Smith said was “very strong last season.” Smith believes that “between those three we have good experience coming back.”

Smith is not fazed by the competitive Mt. Hamilton league. Smith expects the girls to “work to improve and work to be the best that they can. ...If I do my job and they work to improve we should be pretty successful.” The team already has started their daily two-hour practices and is gearing up for the season ahead.

What do the girls want out of their season? “The girls all look at going to CCS as a goal they have every year and while it’s something that years ago we didn’t do very often, now we have that opportunity and hopefully they can achieve it again,” Smith says.

Presentation freshman makes appearance at ODP try-outs

Crystal Shaffie takes game to national level

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

What’s the best path to USA women’s World Cup soccer? Ask Presentation freshman Crystal Shaffie.

At 14, Shaffie made her first move toward making the team. She was one of the youngest of 100 under-15-year-olds selected to try out for youth soccer’s national Olympic Development Program team at Cal-Poly Pomona this month.

Though she didn’t make the team, coaches took note of Shaffie’s leadership and left-footed play-making abilities.

Shaffie qualified to compete after showcasing in a series of elite tournaments, featuring the top players beginning in the district locally, then country, state, region, and finally in the nation at Pomona.

“It was basically girls from different regions around the country,” said Shaffie, an Almaden youth soccer product. “We all sort of tried out and played games and roomed [together]. It was interesting to see how everyone adjusted at that level of competition.”

While few players even in college ranks ever receive the honor to compete at the national level in their careers, Shaffie’s club coach Owen Flannery, who guides perennial State Cup contender De Anza Force Blue Team, was far from surprised. Flannery said he will be more shocked if Shaffie misses the big time.

“The first day I saw her play, she had the ball and she wanted her teammates to make a run that the other players couldn’t see,” recalled Flannery. “Crystal said ‘move over there,’ and directed her teammates into action. I thought that was pretty impressive for a 13- or 14-year-old kid to communicate, take control and make a run like that. Crystal is a special player.”

Flannery said that Shaffie’s talent is impressive, but that her work ethic is what distinguishes her from other players in her age category and beyond. “She works as hard as any player I have ever seen,” he said. “When anybody speaks, her eyes are on you. She has a leadership ability and great communication.”

Flannery went so far as saying that Shaffie’s game is flawless for the point she is at in her career. Yet, to Shaffie, soccer is just a nice way to pass time. “Soccer is good because there is time for yourself,” she said. “You can go out and have fun and forget about everything for a little while. I don’t know if you can really name my style of play. Everyone plays different—you can’t really group it.”

When the game is on the line, Shaffie is dominant. “I like the games that are really competitive when you get to play your rivals. The intensity gets really high,” she said.

Shaffie said that she was so young when she started knocking the soccer ball around, that she can’t remember when she first played.

She comes from soccer stock. Her father played competitively in Iran and later at college in Oklahoma, before settling in the Almaden Valley. Later, her brother Shawn played for Dave Gold at Leland high School.

“Crystal is a good athlete; she has good feet and incredible strength,” said Flannery.

But no single aspect of her game stands out above the rest, according to Shaffie. She takes a natural approach, capitalizing on opportunities as they come during games, utilizing deceptive speed and game-changing abilities to make plays.

With the high school season several months off, Shaffie will continue competing with the Force until winter, before she can prove herself at the area’s top prep program. In the meantime, she will improve her conditioning with work on the Panther cross-county team.

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