December 18, 2003

Day named MVP as Leland’s ‘O’ line honored en masse in BVAL Santa Teresa
By Karl Laucher
Sports Editor

To no one’s surprise, Leland High School senior Michael Day was named the Most Valuable Player as the explosive running back par excellence in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division. The path to the pinnacle of post-season league honors was paved by a devastating Charger offensive line, five of whom, headed by Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman, senior Scott Glicksberg, also received all-conference recognition.

Among other top honorees for Leland were senior quarterback Joe Hurley as Most Valuable Offensive Player, and senior Sean Connors as Most Outstanding Wide Receiver.
The Chargers named to the first-team offensive line were junior Gabe Castaneda and seniors Alex Baumeister and Alex Gregarick. Offensive lineman Tyler Graf was a second-team pick.

Leland players named to the first-team defense were linebacker Darren Gemoll and defensive back Kyle McDaniel, both seniors, and junior Kirk Andre at strong safety. On the second team defense, besides Graf, are three Charger defensive backs, Will Hurley, Kevin Barton, and Jake Garrett.
Day chewed up defenses to the beat of 11.1 yards per carry as

the Chargers swept to the BVAL Santa Teresa Champion-ships. He led the league with 2,080 yards gained and 148 points scored on 22 touchdowns. His season came to an abrupt halt on the post-season Central Coast Section playoffs when he injured an ankle just minutes into the game after returning the opening kickoff for a touchdowns. The Chargers went on to lose 57-33, but finished the season at 9-2.

Leland Head Coach Kelly Edwards commented that Day “did a great job” for the Chargers, noting particularly his game preparation. “He does the intangibles, the little things,” Kelly said. “He watches a lot of film, studies the opponent and critiques himself.” It was reported earlier that Day has had talks with UC-Davis coaches about a possible scholarship. Edwards said the Davis representatives recently came to Leland to look at films and will make a decision in early January. Day said Davis would be his first choice, but has also received interest from St. Mary’s College and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

The 275-pouind Glicksberg earlier this month accepted a scholarship offer from UCLA. Gemoll will attend Stanford University in the fall on a baseball scholarship.

In other Leland football developments, as BVAL Santa Teresa champions, Leland’s Chargers will move up to the premier BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division next year along with BVAL Santa Teresa runner-up Branham High School. Gunderson High School and Santa Teresa High School of the BVAL Mt. Hamilton will drop down to the BVAL Santa Teresa in 2004.

Briana Scala repeats as volleyball MVP;
sister Chaulet, Gillick, Coach Moore also honored

By Miranda Schultz
Staff Writer

Five players on Leland High School’s girl’s volleyball team received post-season honors for leading the Chargers to a second straight championship in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division. Senior hitter Briana Scala was named Most Valuable Player and has dominated the league this year with 295 kills on 584 attempts.

Co-head Coach Trish Moore just completed her third year as a head coach for the team, but her ninth year overall. Receiving Coach of the Year Honors for the BVAL this season, she says, “Briana’s performance was unbelievable, she was a great offensive threat last year but improved so much coming into this year. She sees the court better than any other player I’ve ever coached.”

Briana, who has decided not to pursue volleyball through college, has been named the team MVP two years in a row.

Also commended for her talent on the court is setter Christy Gillick, who transferred from Mitty last season. She was named BVAL Junior of the Year. “She proved to be an outstanding addition to the team,” Moore said. “She does a great job at being what I like to call, a deceptive setter, she helped our offense be more effective than we would have otherwise.”

There is another Scala on her way up the ropes, freshman Chaulet Scala was named BVAL Freshman of the Year and also named to the First Team All-League. A freshman with 325 attempts and 121 kills, Moore is pleased with the prospect of another having Chaulet step up in the program. “Not only are we excited that we were able to have Briana for four years, now we get her little sister, too! Chaulet’s hitting ability is amazing as a freshman,” Moore said.

Other Charger honorees were senior Aliana Walker, a first-team selection, and freshman Joyce Chang, with a second team all-league designation.

A SUPERIOR POSITION FOR THE CHARGERS 2003-4

The Leland High School wrestling team finished in a tie for second place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division last season, but co-coach Val Esquival figures the Chargers will put a few more shoulders to the mat this time around. “We’re probably favored to win our league,” he said. Esquival is pictured kneeling center with co-captains Mark Azzarello (left) and Greg Edwards. The Chargers got a real boost with the addition of West Catholic Athletic League heavyweight champion Scott Glicksberg, shown wrestling in the background with co-coach Dan Lloyd. Glicksberg, also a highly-touted football and rugby player, transferred in from Bellarmine College Preparatory in the fall. Azzarello placed fourth in the BVAL to qualify for the Central Coast Section tournament at 119 pounds. Also qualifying for CCS last winter was junior Brian Herz, then at 112 pounds, now at 135. Edwards might have had the right stuff as well, but couldn’t make the weight at 140 pounds in the BVAL tournament. He will wrestle at 171 pounds this year. The Chargers faced Westmont High school Tuesday in the Leland circle, and will next enter the Lynne Dyche Tournament at James Lick High school on Saturday. Dyche was a pioneer of high school wrestling in the South Bay. —By Karl Laucher

Pioneer soccer fortunes bounce low, then high

Pioneer High School's boys soccer team looked mediocre season in the face and said, "No!" Emphatically.
After losing the first three games of the 2003-2004 campaign, the Mustangs bounced back with four straight victories. They hosted Oak Grove High school on Wednesday and will visit Santa Teresa High on Friday, 3:15 p.m., in hopes of keeping the momentum surging forward.

Mustang Coach Jef Farro disclosed that the teams organized a players only meeting after the three losses, "and decided they wanted to be more serious and work hard to do the things they need to do to win." The result is in the win column. "We working together more of a team now," Farro said.

Alvar Bribeno has been the prime executioner at the offensive end with five goals, with sophomore goalie Ryan Gall proving to be a potent repellent on defense with two shutouts and only two goals allowed in the Mustang win streak. -By Karl Laucher

Charger boys are working on a grand tradition

As three-time defending Blossom Valley Athletic League champions, the current edition of the Leland High School boys soccer team is showing its has a connection with the past, going undefeated in its first eight games at 4-0-4. The Chargers also advanced to the second round of the Homestead Christmas Cup tournament, which they have won the last two years. The lineup of captains posing with Head Coach Dave Gold charged with driving the team to new heights are (kneeling from left) David Dally, Patrick Davoudi and Sean Connors, and (standing left) Richie Gharapetian. “We have a lot of experience,” said Dally. “We’re young,” said Davoudi. “We’re hungry,” said Gharapetian. “We’re sexy,” said Connors. The Chargers, 67-4-12 over the past three seasons, faced Homestead on Wednesday and tackle Live Oak High School on Saturday (2 p.m.) at Evergreen Valley College. In the BVAL season-opener last weekend, the Chargers were tied 0-0 by Overfelt High school. “If you ever wanted to see a zero-zero game that was exciting, that was it,” said Gold. “Everybody plays their A game against Leland. If they can beat Leland, that makes their season.” The Chargers did have a serious setback with the loss of two-year starter Ryan Villapiano with a fractured leg bone, but Gold believes Villapiano will heal in time as the Chargers made a run at another title in the new year.
—By Karl Laucher

Charger girls are working on continuity. They finished third in the Blossom Valley Athletic League last season, and started the 2003-4 campaign with a win and two losses, but it’s just a matter of “getting the intuitive dynamic synchronized,” said Charger head coach John Vasquez (standing left) and co-captain Kellie Gleed (kneeling left). “We have a mixture of a lot of skill, a lot of talent,” said Vasquez. “It’s just trying to get them to play together.” Added Gleed, a second-team All-BVAL honoree last season: “We’re just getting used to playing together, we still adapting.” Among other key links to the cerebral chain are co-captains Megan Finney (kneeling center) and Stefanie Van Dyk (kneeling right). Assistant coach Rick Roman is standing at right. The Charger girls host Leigh High School in a BVAL game here today (Dec. 18), 3:15 p.m., and will not play again until the Los Lomis Tournament in the East Bay on Jan. 1-3.
—By Karl Laucher

Pioneer boys basketball team takes defeat in stride; girls take tournament championship
By Justin Petersen

The basketball programs at Pioneer High School continued to gain momentum this week. Pioneer’s (4-1) varsity men bounced back from early defeat to beat the Los Gatos High School Wildcats at their own gym, securing the Consolation Championship of the Los Gatos Shootout. Meanwhile, the lady Mustangs (8-2) beat three worthy opponents, taking home the Monta Vista Tournament’s championship gold.

“This was a great test for us,” explains ladies’ basketball coach Blaine Hashimoto. “We faced several talented DIII teams which we will probably see again in CCS playoffs.”

The Mustangs’ next opponent is the Christmas goose, but holiday cheer must make way for holiday competition. The girls open the Homestead Tournament on Dec. 26 versus host and defending champ Homestead High School. Last year the two teams met in the finals, where Homestead left victors and a young Mustang team went home second place losers.

“We’re excited to get another chance at Homestead,” says Coach Hashimoto. “Our young players are beginning to step up, but I’m still waiting for some of them to deliver their best performance.”

As per the Mustangs’ young talent, freshman guard Samantha Tsukiji led the charge against league rival Branham High School in the championship at the Homestead Tournament. While Branham covered senior Mustang Gina Bivian with two players, Tsukiji picked up the slack, hitting two three-pointers. Finishing with 12 points, Tsukiji led her team to a 51-44 victory for the championship.

After beating an athletic team from Armijo, 59-52, the Mustangs suffered their first loss of the season to MHAL powerhouse Leigh High School.

Marcus Morgan, Leigh’s 6-foot 5, 240-pound Charles Barkley dominated at will.

As the game slowly slipped out of Pioneer’s grasp, the Mustangs’ pinnacle of terror came when Morgan grabbed a pass off the backboard from senior point guard Ryan Wilkinson and threw down a two-handed dunk on top of two Mustang defenders.

“I’ve been playing with Wilkinson for 10 years,” said Morgan of his former teammate at Dartmouth Middle School. “I still didn’t think he’d throw that.

“That was improv.”

The game ended with a final score of 56-37, Leigh moving on to the championship game.

Pioneer bounced back in the consolation game against Los Gatos, winning 60-47 and correcting the mood swing, just in time for the Fremont Sunnyvale Holiday Tournament. Pioneer opens the tournament at 8:30p.m. on Dec.18.

“We’ll get them in league,” comments senior point guard Ceylon Elgin-Taylor on the loss to Leigh. “I know we can do it.”

Almaden locals garner coveted black belt

By Justin Petersen

Recently years of hard work and dedication paid off for several young Almaden martial artists. A group of 10 students, three of which reside in the Almaden Valley, were promoted from “black belt recommended” to “first degree black belt” classification.

Local American Taekwondo Association instructor Eric Ekholm, also an Almaden resident and California State champion in sparring, led the promotion ceremony that awarded the students with the coveted black belt; an honor attached to a stringent moral code, mental toughness and physical coordination.

A panel of four judges evaluated each contestant’s form, skills in weaponry, and performance in one-round sparring matches.

Form tests consisted of kicks, punches, blocks, and footwork. Only 5-years-old, the youngest black belt recommended, Niko Bonafede, a student at Guadalupe Elementary School, demonstrated remarkable form in his kicks and punches, especially. Bonafede executed complicated combinations many adults would struggle to complete.

“The key to good form begins with the stance,” says Ekholm. “From there, the black belt needs focus and balance, timing and a clear load to prepare for the strike.”

Testing for weaponry skills, the students could choose between numchucks, a bow staff, or a saber. The majority of students chose the saber.

“It’s all part of the mental program,” says Ekholm, who opened his studio just three years ago and continues to see his students’ enthusiasm grow.

In the final leg of promotional testing, the black belts recommended were assigned a partner and issued full pads, covering feet, hands, and head. Each pair squared off for a one-minute round of sparring.

One match stood out in particular. Jennifer Oie, a Castillero middle schooler and 2003 State Sparring Champion, faced off against a boy of her same size. The match was even. Jennifer landed numerous kicks, exhibiting an impressive amount of power in her legs. The contest was encouraging, considering that many young women face the challenges of sexism and nature’s feminine physique. Taekwondo gives a young woman, such as Oie, the power and confidence to defend herself, if she were to encounter a physically or mentally threatening situation with the opposite sex.

“Taekwondo is a great challenge for me,” says Oie. “And I really like getting to meet new people.”

Recently Oie, whose friends, Sarah Skipwith, a Blossom Valley resident, and Elizabeth Goodhart, a Dartmouth Middle School Seventh Grader, also received their black belts, struggled with math.

“Through Taekwondo, I have learned self discipline,” continues Oie. “I used to give up in math, but now I have the power to stick with it.”

Despite the inherent fighting skills developed when somebody learns to punch, kick, and block accurately, Ekholm does not teach Taekwondo in terms of fighting.

“I hope that none of our black belts ever have to use their skills on the streets,” continues Ekholm. “We design our program to help with life skills: self-discipline and self esteem.”

For example, Ekholm’s students are required to greet each instructor when they come into the studio for practice. Students must also participate in circuit drills, requiring the participant to repeat exercises, improving their skills and learning that they can accomplish what they attempt.

As a result of these training techniques, the gym echoed with brave bellows throughout the promotion ceremony. Students burst out with conviction as they kicked and punched with strength and polish.

After each student’s test was evaluated, all of the candidates were approved to become first-degree black belts.

Then the Taekwondo promotion ritual ensued. Three giant candles were lit in the front of the gym. From these, students lit their own smaller candles, symbolizing the fire that burns within a black belt’s soul, and the passing of that fire from one generation to the next. Last, actual black belts were issued and the promotion was complete.

Ekholm’s studio offers four programs catering to all ages, excluding no one based on a lack of athleticism or with little talent for quick thought.

The first program teaches structure. Students learn how to line up correctly, show other people courtesy, how to look people in the eye, and how to follow the rules of the school.

The second program is the black belt course. In this program students train specifically to acquire a black belt. The black belt program helps students improve on their attitude, continuing to emphasize the “yes I can” way of thinking.

The third stage is called the master’s program. At this stage, the instructors encourage attention to detail and guide students to desire knowledge and understand its value.

Last is the leadership program. Students who make it this far are taught to teach and lead others, taking advantage of natural gifts and practicing successful techniques exhibited by many leaders.

Ekholm’s ATA Academy is located at 1375 Blossom Hill Rd. Call (408) 268-5423 for more information.

Leland basketball girls remain undefeated; boys join party, blowing out Anzar

By Justin Petersen
Special to the Times

The Leland High School boys’ basketball team (2-6) tasted victory again, while the Lady Chargers (5-0) continued business as usual this week, logging three more victories in three games.

After dropping two straight games and making a quick exit at the Independence Fukishimi Tournament, the Charger men took a step toward maturity, leaving the past behind and trudging ahead with fortitude, commanding a resounding, 70-20 victory over visiting Anzar High School.

The victory fuels the Chargers as they close out the pre-season with games at San Lorenzo Valley High School on Thursday Dec. 18 at Leland, versus Santa Teresa High School on Tuesday Dec. 30, and at Saratoga High School Saturday Jan. 3.

The attack on Anzar was led by sophomore David Farsai who finished with unearthly numbers, scoring 20 points and grabbing six rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Iasias Asfaha, a 6-foot junior forward, added 17 points of his own, also working quickly in 16 minutes. And junior Danny Hamouie made his long-waited return from a sprained ankle suffered during the first game of the season. The forward helped himself to nine points in his personal homecoming.

Leland coach Dave Frandsen made sure that everybody played against overmatched Anzar. The players responded to opportunity. Everybody scored against what was most likely the softest opponent the Chargers will face this season.

The lady Chargers continued to control opponents beating Gunn High School 49-28 and Gunderson High School 50-36.

“We’ve been very consistent,” says head coach, Wade Nakamura.

Senior leaders Jackie George and Liz Widgren have met all expectations, providing leadership by example, averaging a combined, 30.6 points and 19.3 rebounds per game. However, Nakamura has been pleasantly surprised by the play of his five-guard rotation.

“Our defense wins the games,” admits Nakamura. “The guards are hustling and playing great defense.”
Freshman point guard Kristen Yoshioka leads the team with nine steals, shining as the top defensive performer of the five-guard rotation.

The Chargers have one game and two tough tournaments left before they open up league play versus Oak Grove on Jan. 7. This week, the ladies take their undefeated record up to Washington High School of Fremont, facing off against Analy High School this afternoon (Thursday) at 4:30 in the first round of the Washington High Tournament. Next, the Chargers play 8-1 Mills High School at home on Tuesday Dec. 23, with a 7 p.m. tip-off before entering the prestigious West Coast Jamboree, featuring 80 of the toughest teams in the West.

PIONEER SPORTS SCHEDULE

Thursday 12/18
Boys Var Basketball @ Fremont Tournament (5 days)
Boys F/S Basketball @ Santa Clara Tournament (2 days)

Friday 12/19
Girls Soccer Varsity and JV Home vs San Benito 3:15 p.m.
Boys Var Soccer @ Santa Teresa 3:15 p.m.
Boys F/S Soccer Home vs Santa Teresa 3:15 p.m.

Friday 12/26
Girls Basketball Var and JV @ Del Mar Tourney (3 days)
Boys Varsity Basketball @ Reno High School 7 p.m.

Saturday 12/27
Boys Varsity Basketball @ North Valley High in Reno 5 p.m.

Wednesday 12/30
Boys Varsity Basketball @ Soquel Tourney (runs through Sat 1/3/04)

LELAND SPORTS SCHEDULE

Thursday 12/18
Girls Soccer Home vs. Leigh, Varsity, 3:15 p.m.
Boys Basketball @ San Lorenzo Valley, Varsity, 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball Tournament @ Washington High (3 days)

Friday 12/19
Boys Soccer vs. Mt. Pleasant at Evergreen Valley College, Varsity 3:15 p.m.

Saturday 12/20
Boys Wrestling @ Lynn Dyche Tournament @ James Lick
Boys Soccer @ Homestead Christmas Cup (3 days)

Tuesday 12/23
Girls Basketball Home vs. Mills, Varsity 7 p.m.

Tuesday 12/30
Boys Basketball Home vs. Santa Teresa, Varsity 7 p.m.