LJ b VB: Still more photos 4/28

 Photos by Ed Piper

Viking Walter Birnbaum (10),

headed to Vassar in the fall,

taps another shot in the

second game.

LJ b VB: More photos 4/28

Photos by Ed Piper

Vikings' 6'7" Ben Salmon (middle)

and Nolan Spann (left) attempt

to block a spike by Westview's

Christopher Kelley.

Remnants of Senior Night the day before, head shots

of seniors Walter Birnbaum (R) and Diego Pardo-

Tihanyi (L) held by fans show the relaxed

celebratory atmosphere of Friday's contest.

LJ block against Owen Sajnog (4)

of Westview.

Walter Birnbaum (10) powers a hit

in the second game, a 25-18 loss.

LJ b VB 2, Westview 3 - Regular season ends

Vikings' Nolan Spann (left, #7) hits into the

block in 25-18 first-game win

against Westview Fri., April 28.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

LJ b lax vs. Coronado - Photos 4/28

Photos by Ed Piper

Vikings' Dashiel Richardson (white jersey)

makes a shot on goal in first quarter.

George McCann (5, white jersey) defends

Teammates Kair Fukura (4) and Taylor Beck (14),

both sophomores

LJ g lax: Senior Night

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ g lax: Still more photos 4/26

Photos by Ed Piper

Freshman Sofia Rose (9)

Sasha Franklin (left)

Senior middie Ella Stephens (1)

Viking goalkeeper Liv Austin (20, left background)

Freshman Samantha Cousino (18)

Freshman Allison Hawthorne (4)

Senior Ashlyn Brunette (2)

with the ball.

LJ g lax: More photos 4/26

Photos by Ed Piper

Junior Sasha Franklin (22) prepares

to make a pass.

Lily Mebust (5) battles for a loose ball

with Scripps' Natalia DaSilva (21).

Senior Night roses

Senior Hayden Gawal (L), defending

Freshman Sofia Rose (9) scores, 6-1

Freshman Allison Hawthorne (4) scores, 7-3 lead

Christie Kim (17) brings the ball up.

LJ g lax 17, Scripps Ranch 7

Viking freshman Lily Mebust (5, left) pushes

the ball upfield against junior Norah Lutz (7)

in La Jolla's 17-7 win Wed., April 26.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's fifth-ranked (CIF Open Division) girls lacrosse team, on the strength of a furious 8-2 swamping in the second half, prevailed over Western League rival Scripps Ranch at home, 17-7, on Senior Night at Edwards Stadium Wed., April 26.

Eight seniors were honored before the game, as the Class of '23 celebrated its meshing with five freshmen and other new players this Spring to begin to put up good numbers at the latter part of the season before CIF playoffs begin in two weeks.

Senior Ella Stephens had a hat trick with 11:11 left in the game, and fellow senior Stella Artukovich scored five goals as Coach Kitty Cullen's black-and-red army, wearing white jerseys before the vocal home crowd, marched to a convincing win over the 2021 Open Division champion Falcons after a sluggish first half in which La Jolla gave up four goals at one point (their lead dropping from 6-1 to 7-5).

In the Falcon-Viking rivalry the past two years, La Jolla edged Scripps in last year's Open Division final, 9-8, for the title.

Prep sports: Blind sprinter breaking barriers

Chris Adamson (right), a blind 9th-grader

at Mission Bay High, starts the 100 meters

with guide runner David Cervantes

Tues., April 25. Notice the nylon tether

in MB colors that the two hold.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

The foot-long tether is the link that ties Chris Adamson, running the 100 and 200 meters while blind, and his trusty guide runner, David Cervantes.

"At the start of the season, they told us to use a string," said David, a one-on-one aide for Chris during the school day at Mission Bay High School. "But it can go over Chris's head." That didn't work.

Another step was the nylon tether, in bright Buccaneer gold. But in an earlier photo of the two running, they have their arms through the slots sewed on each end of the strap, Chris on the left in lane two, David on the right in lane one.

"With our stride, I don't want to pull him," David said. As his arms would swing in the rhythm of running, he would lift up and pull Adamson awkwardly. It didn't lend itself to a natural motion.

The whole point is that Chris is doing the running. His aide is merely there to run alongside him, not leading, but also not pulling him back.

Also, Chris is a few inches over five feet. A ninth-grader, he is not Usain Bolt, the famous Jamaican sprinter, who stands 6'5". David notes, "If you've noticed, I'm quite a bit taller" (than his student). Cervantes, who ran distance at Mission Bay (he won't reveal his graduation class, which had to be 2019 or earlier), is adapting to sprinting a much shorter distance with Chris.

So, at this point of it evolving, each runner holds the strap in his hand. But the two have shifted lanes from earlier in the season--Chris runs to David's left, in lane one, with David in lane two so that he won't block the visual timing device from seeing Adamson and his number clearly.

With his number sticker on his left hip at a recent track meet, Chris, before stretches on the Mission Bay infield, said, "I'll have to tuck my shirt in. I don't want to cover my number."

Having only run 100's in eight or so meets at this point, each time a record because he is the only para athlete (as he is called) running (the only blind sprinter on a high school track team in California, according to his head coach), the procedure is still very much subject to change.

*  *  *

If you spend the afternoon with Chris before and during a meet, as I did Tues., April 25, you will find the diminutive freshman to be friendly, engaging, and popular with his teammates on the Buccaneer track team. Other students came over to where Chris was hanging out on the turf infield at the track at Mission Bay High to say hi during our time together while I interviewed him.

"Chris is a cool guy, he and his brother (also named David)," said David Maier, a junior who runs the 400 and 4x400, before the meet against St. Augustine, OLP, and San Diego High.

Maelig Guesnard, a sophomore sprinter in the 400 and 4x400, said, "We're cheering for Chris. We think it's great (he's on the team)." She and Marissa Toliver, a junior in the 100, 200, and 4x100 events, noted, "Chris is our first person visually-impaired who runs here at Mission Bay."

Students from the visiting schools commented on Adamson's running. Said Sabian Scrivner, a sophomore from SDHS, "I think it's great. I saw him in the Cerveny Invite (at Mission Bay April 15), which I ran in. He ran a great race."

Said Julian Jackson, also of SDHS, who performs the 200, 400, and triple jump, "That's revolutionary. That's amazing he can do that."

Adamson, when asked about the blind and visually-impaired terms, said, "I'm blind. I can't see anything. When I was younger, I could read 30-point type. That's pretty big." But he lost all that sight. He wears cool Ray-Ban dark glasses. "The sun hurts my eyes" when it shines directly at him, he said.

We kept up a pretty constant stream of conversation, as he is more than willing to talk. And he is quite an entertainer. I think he enjoyed the attention.

But don't get caught in a name-the-capital game of countries with the first-year high school student. "My family won't play the game with me," he said. He said he's getting a new version of the capitals game.

"I work on accents," he revealed. Chris loves to listen to sports, especially NHL hockey--his dad Steve is Canadian, having been born near Toronto, Ontario, with Chris's favorite team being the Winnipeg Jets--pro tennis, and NBA basketball. He listens to lots of audio, including speakers with British accents. Having a good sense of humor, he will imitate them or twist them around.

Chris's brother is a junior who plays for the Buc boys tennis team. He is sighted. "I'm the only one in my family who is visually-impaired," said Chris.

Chris does Alpine skiing and ice skating. "I ice-skate with my dad. He doesn't control the pace, but he keeps me from running into something."

Mom, Noelle, is an "L.A. girl". "My mom fights for me. If something is not accessible, she'll (work on that). She can get feisty."

Says Chris, "I want to run para in college. I want to create change for people who are visually-impaired.

"I feel like a lot of things are not accessible. Some of the roads here in San Diego are not crossable. Like Ingraham and Law streets. There's no control, That is so dangerous."

LJ baseball: Swerdlow all that

Viking catcher Jaret Swerdlow walks

back toward the plate after a play

later in the game at Coronado

Mon., April 24.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Jaret Swerdlow was behind the plate Mon., April 24 in La Jolla's game at Coronado on the Strand. There was something noticeable about the rugby back's throwing motion--it was a little awkward. This guy is the starting varsity catcher?

It turns out, through an unforeseen and unfortunate set of circumstances, that Swerdlow has to hold down catching duties for Coach Gary Frank's Vikings. He's doing a great job, by the way, including "being one of our best hitters", according to the coach.

Jaret, ever the warrior, has a torn labrum. That's why the motion of throwing the ball back to the pitcher isn't always that fluid, nor high-powered.

Yet on one steal attempt of second base by the Islanders, Swerdlow's throw was strong and on the mark. The ball went into the mix with shortstop Cory Druse and the runner's body, and fell to the dirt. But it still was true.

With John Hartford, La Jolla's other catcher, only part-time, "It has been fun to be able to give Jaret an opportunity to play everyday," said Frank. "Jaret has had a rough go of it with injuries the past four years."

"He has become one of our better hitters, and despite having a hard time throwing, he has done a very nice job behind the plate."

LJ b tennis: CIF

By Ed Piper

On Tues., April 18, La Jolla's boys tennis team lost a first-round CIF playoff match at Canyon Crest, 17-1, thereby ending the Vikings' season. They play in the Open Division, the top level, which means they are not slouches.

Unfortunately, with La Jolla seeded eighth, they had to play the Ravens, who were seeded number one. CCA (for Academy) went on to win the Open Division championship 10-8 over Bishop's, the number-two seed, April 22.

Fortunately, individual players get to go on to the singles and doubles competition for CIF at the Balboa Tennis Club in Balboa Park, next to Morley Field, the week of May 8-13.

LJ track: Smith's the bomb

La Jolla's Payton Smith, running at the

Eastern League Finals May 6, 2022--my last

sighting of her on the track, (See below.)

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

I hate to say it again--and you guys are going to think I'm stuck in a one-track rut--that's a bad pun.

But La Jolla High sprinter Payton Smith is someone I would pay to see run.

I haven't seen much this spring (no-drive medical situation), and I haven't been to more than a handful of sports events since Jan. 29.

But the junior, who ran at the Mt. SAC Relays April 15 and the Arcadia Invitational the week before, April 8, is elite and worth seeing. She can run. "Burn" is the term I use.

At Mt. SAC, Smith ran the Invitational 400 Meters in 55.45 seconds to place third. She also ran the Invitational 200 Meters in 24.26 seconds, good for seventh place.

But failing to see her run in person, I have had to resort to using photos I took of the last track campaign a year ago. (See above.) I'm whining now. I arranged for a ride to La Jolla's meet at Canyon Hills April 13. Lo and behold, with Mt. SAC two days later--dumbie me, I didn't investigate this far enough, or know track well enough to surmise this would happen--Payton was sitting out.

Thursday, April 13 was a freezing afternoon on the Canyon Hills track set way below the level of the school campus in front of it. I didn't get my photo of "Smitty" running, and I went home disappointed.

But there's hope. If DMV comes through, I could be out driving around any time now, driving all of you people crazy out there on the highways and byways of San Diego. And--I could then go to one of the Vikings' track and field performers' last meets, as the 2023 outdoor season moves to a conclusion.

Throw up a prayer for me.

In addition, as it comes to mind, I am very grateful to my tech wizard friend, Chi, who researched Lightroom (my photo-processing software) and came up with the way to access my photos from last year's La Jolla track meets and show Smith running. Before he did so, I was stymied with a "graying" or "masking" of all the images from May 6, 2022 (Eastern League Finals) and other meets that wouldn't allow me to process the images.

LJ swim & dive: Regular season ends April 21

By Ed Piper

Tom Atwell's Viking swimmers ended their regular season with a dual meet at Coronado High Fri., April 21. This was the last of nine meets against local schools that La Jolla had scheduled, home at Coggan Pool and away elsewhere.

Prelims for Division 2 postseason competition is scheduled for Wed., May 3, at Granite Hills High, at 3 p.m.

Finals come three days later, Sat., May 6, at 9 a.m. at Granite Hills.

According to a 2020-2021 document on the cifsds.org website, La Jolla competes in Division 2.

LJ g beach VB: Playoffs upcoming

By Ed Piper

The seeding for the CIF beach volleyball postseason will take place Mon., April 24 at 6:30 p.m. Pairings for the playoffs will be posted by 9 p.m. that night.

Kelly Drobeck, the Vikings' coach, is the tournament director. She is also a San Diego Legend from her coaching at "Uni" (USDHS), Cathedral Catholic, and now La Jolla High--she was a prep star, as well.

The first round is scheduled for Thurs., April 27. Quarterfinals take place Tues., May 2. Semifinals are Thurs., May 4. The finals will be contested at San Diego Mesa College on Sat., May 6.

LJ track: Mt. SAC Relays

Speedster Payton Smith (left) receives the baton

from Ebony Crandle at the Eastern League Finals

May 6, 2022. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's Payton Smith, running at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays Sat., April 15, placed third in the Invitational 400 Meters with a time of 55.45 seconds. Though it wasn't a new personal record (PR), the performance shows the continuing maturing and development of the Viking trackster as she receives invitations and deals with the accompanying pressure.

Her times this spring, as a junior in high school, better some of her best recorded clockings from a year ago during her sophomore year by two seconds.

Smith's time in the Invitational 200 Meters, 24.26, put her seventh in the elite field at the 63rd edition of the important meet, held in Walnut, in greater Los Angeles.

Payton had never run at Mt. SAC before--a step above the Arcadia Invitational the week before, which she also competed in last year as a 10th-grader in the 100 and 400.

We could say that the Arcadia Invitational, in turn, is a cut above the local Mt. Carmel/Asics Track and Field Invitational held annually at nearby Mt. Carmel High School, off Interstate 15.

LJ track: Jim Cerveny Invitational

Senior Angel Rodriguez of La Jolla hurled

the discus 87'10" at the Jim Cerveny Invitational

Sat., April 15 to finish in fifth place.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Several La Jolla High athletes participated in the 5th Annual Jim Cerveny Invitational Sat., April 15, under sunny skies but chilly winds that made sweatpants and sweatshirts mandatory for participants and fans when not competing.

Senior Owen Davis, headed to Middlebury College in Vermont next fall to study economics (his father is an accountant), won the Open 100 Meters in 11.80 seconds, .02 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

"I played center back in soccer," said the likeable Davis before the race. He attended Muirlands Middle School before LJHS.

Elijah Vaz, in the Seeded 200 Meters, placed third with a time of 24.24. The swift Vaz, who also plays basketball, is a junior.

Up-and-coming Elena Farrar, just a sophomore, finished the Frosh-Soph 200 Meters in 28.26 for fourth place.

Ellie Levine, a junior, ran the Open 100 Meters race in 14:39, placing 11th.

Junior Daphne Mayer clocked a 2:31.41 time in the 800 Meters Invite for fourth place. She was about 11 seconds off the winning pace.

Hard-working Zoe Dunfee, a sophomore, ran 6:17 in the frosh-soph 1600 meters for eighth place.

Elena Farrar placed sixth in the

Invite 400 Meters in 1:01.84, and

fourth in the Frosh-Soph 200 Meters

in 28.26.

Cerveny Invite: Blind runner sets record in 100

By Ed Piper

A blind male student-athlete, Chris Adamson, ran the 100 meters at the Jim Cerveny Invitational Sat., April 15. In so doing, the ninth-grader set a meet record of 16.45 seconds. The result is posted on Athletic.net, listed under "Para 100 Meters".

The stadium voice announced the record. I made some comment to those around me on the infield. A student replied, "That took a lot of courage." It sure did.

I tried in vain to locate the victorious runner, who someone said must have run with a tether attached to his helper, who ran alongside him. Try as I might, I could not find the athlete. I wanted to take a photo of Adamson.

One official I went up to said, "He's not near the finish line. He walked up there" (pointing toward the starting line near the entrance to the stadium at Mission Bay High).

I was looking for someone with a tether walking alongside someone else. No dice. My goal is to either take a photo, or find a photo, of the new record-holder.

Saturday was Chris's sixth meet. He has run both the 100- and 200-meter races this spring. He has bettered his "PR" (personal record) in the 100 from 17.14 seconds (March 18 at the Elmer Runge Invitational) to the new record of 16.45. His times have steadily gotten better over the past five weeks.

LJ track: 5th Jim Cerveny Invitational at Mission Bay

Jim Cerveny (right), talking to one of the many

people in his network, on the infield at Mission Bay

High during the annual track meet named after him.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Jim Cerveny (pronounced "serve-a-knee") was a friend of mine, in the years around 2010. I met him at church, then only later found out he was a track coach, primarily helping athletes at Mission Bay High. As things happen, we drifted away from contact in latter years, but Sat., April 15, I was at least able to get near him and take a photo (see above) as people waited in line to get to talk to him.

The head track coach at Mission Bay High wanted to honor a deserving person by naming a new track meet after them/him/her in 2017--this was before COVID. So, the meet has survived despite taking off the year of COVID (2020). That's good to see.

Jim Cerveny, as a high school athlete, competed for the Buccaneers, and in 1957 he won the state title in the 880 yards in 1:52.7, according to "Bucs' History" on the Mission Bay track website.

I'm sure the meet wasn't held in the spring of 2020, with COVID having hit the area March 13, 2020. The next year, 2021, was a tenuous year, at best, so apparently the meet hadn't recovered its footing by then.

So, after a clean streak of being held in 2017, the year of its founding, then 2018, and 2019, the Cerveny Invite made a comeback last year--April 16, 2022--followed by this year's event.

LJ track: Smoole, Chu, Ruff shine

 

Wyn Smoole - the hair

By Ed Piper

The girls have been getting all the attention, but La Jolla's boys are performing well--and head coach Paul Byrne cited Wyn Smoole, Leed Smoole, Isaac Chu, Kevin Chiu, Chris Ruff, and Elijah Vaz for strong performances recently.

Wyn Smoole was everywhere at the Vikings' tri-meet at Canyon Hills High Thurs., April 13, involving San Diego High and the Rattlers. Smoole ran the second leg in the 4x100-meter relay, handing off to Vaz after "hitting my leg" with the baton, Smoole said after the race. Brenden Goldstein, Smoole, Vaz, and Owen Davis ran that relay in 44.52 to win it.

The older Smoole, a senior, known for his speed on the rugby pitch for La Jolla, also competed in the 300-meter hurdles (41.01 to win), 800 meters (no time), and the high jump (5'8" for third place).

In addition, Wyn place fourth in the long jump, with a best mark of 19', 2.5 inches.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

LJ track & SDHS @ Canyon Hills - tri-meet 4/13

Junior Daphne Mayer leads

the 1600 meters by plenty in

tri-meet with SDHS

and Canyon Hills. She won

in 5:38.04.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

On a day when the stars didn't shine--and the temperature on the infield grew increasingly chilly, even bone-chilling--Daphne Mayer of La Jolla, long a second fiddle to junior classmate Kirra Fisk, blew away the assembled field of 1600-meter runners from San Diego High and Canyon Hills High to win in 5:38.04 Thurs., April 13.

The stars included those that didn't twinkle in the clouding, overcast skies above the bright green turf at the former Junipero Serra High in Tierrasanta.

But we're referring more to Fisk and Viking sprinter Payton Smith, and their assorted distance and sprint relay partners, all of whom were laying back (or not even attending) at the Eastern League tri-meet.

An observer was disappointed to learn that the top runners were keying for their travel to Walnut two days later for the 63rd Mt. SAC Relays, a major meet that we're happy to have at near-full strength after COVID in 2020.

"I'm not running today," said Smith when asked if it was okay to take photos of her chatting with some teammates on the infield turf. She had her sweatshirt hoodie tightly pulled around her head to keep the cold at bay (and probably some sports photographers with tiny cameras on the football field).

Freshman Hannah Aalaei runs

second only to Mayer

in the 1600 meters. Her time

was 5:46.78.

Smith is scheduled to run the 200- and 400-meters at Mt. SAC, following an outstanding double in those events at another top meet at Arcadia last Sat., April 8. Fisk, likewise, is scheduled to run her specialty, the 1600. Both are also running in related relays with their fellow Vikings.

Meanwhile, in the here-and-now, Mayer's younger teammate, ninth-grader Hannah Aalaei, kept up her find showings this season by placing second in the 1600. Her time was 5:46.78. Imagine her growth in the next two years if she stays with it, to be at the level Daphne is right now as a junior.

The LJHS girls dominated the tri-meet, beating San Diego High 90-46. Canyon Hills, now called the Rattlers, narrowly lost to the Caver girls, 68.5-57.5.