LJ FB: 2nd in bracket at SDSU Camp

The campus osprey (upper left) keeps an eye out

next to the nest atop the central light standard

during weight-training Wed. morning, June 18.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla went 5-2 and took second in its bracket at the SDSU Camp in 7-v-7 games June 7-8, according to new DC Randy Cowell.

The Vikings came up against Centennial (Peoria, AZ) in the final, losing that contest on the campus at San Diego State. Cowell is installing new defensive patterns in his role as Defensive Coordinator.

This weekend, June 21-22, the Coach Tyler Roach-led offensive players will go to the USD Camp locally.

Middle linebacker Charlie Martin, sporting a visible 2-to-3-inch vertical scar on the outside of his right wrist from surgery earlier this year, said, "It's getting better. I still can't lift (weights)," as he ramps up with his teammates for the Aug. 22 season opener at Torrey Pines High.

Cowell, the DC, coached at Valley Center for 20 years. He then was an assistant at Escondido Charter most recently.

Roach begins his ninth season at the helm. He served as a defensive assistant at La Jolla prior to that time.

LJ FB: Bear crawls up Rushville St. 6/18

Photos by Ed Piper

Jon Lemery (far left) runs a workout that includes

bear crawls up Rushville St. next to the stadium

at 7:30 in the morning. Lemery is strength

and conditioning coach.

Lunges preceded the bear crawls, both after

a neighborhood run at 7 a.m.

Rising junior Nico Bardaro (C), "Snacks" (R).

Then, backward bear crawls - grueling.

Rising junior Zach "Snacks" Gergurich (R)

has his belt adjusted during morning weight-

lifting.

Adult league baseball: Pete's weekend warriors

 

The Vandals, 43 years old and up, were formed

this spring by Pete Wilkinson (24, front row

middle), who lives in Linda Vista-Clairemont.

Player-manager Pete Wilkinson,

second baseman who grew up

in Redlands. The team plays at

San Pasqual, Orange Glen, and

Escondido high schools

on Sundays.

NCAA suit settlement: What it means

By Ed Piper

What I've been reading about the settlement in the House vs. NCAA suit will change Division 1 college sports and provide a structure to pay past and present athletes.

The decision, handed down Friday, June 6, stipulates that 22 percent of colleges' athletic revenues will be distributed primarily to football and men's basketball team members--because those are the revenue-producing sports.

A small amount of that money will be split among the remaining sports, including Olympic sports like track.

In addition, past athletes will be paid out of a fund of $2.8 billion over a period of 10 years for their participation from 2016-2025 as a sort of make-up for the NIL (name, image, likeness) endorsement issues.

Beginning July 1, universities can pay current athletes up to a total of $20.5 million in NIL annually.

How do I feel about it? One, universities made billions of dollars off young athletes for decades, which wasn't right. There were cases where a player received a sandwich from a booster when his scholarship stipend ran out in the offseason, and this violated NCAA rules. That was ridiculous.

Another anecdote was from the story of Connie Hawkins, the NBA Phoenix Suns basketball player who was banned from the NBA for a time while he was stuck playing in the old ABA. On college scholarship in Iowa, Hawkins, a 6'8" athlete with tremendous natural talent, was paid for making sure seaweed didn't grow in the school's athletic stadium--obviously, seaweed doesn't encroach on facilities in the Midwest, because the ocean is thousands of miles away.

Do I like young athletes making millions off NIL? No, I'm not thrilled. What sense would you have, without wise family and investment counselors to advise you, at age 18 and a pile of money lands in your lap? Not a pretty picture.

Just take Mikey Williams, the basketball phenom from San Ysidro High. As a high school player, he was living in a million dollar home (I think in Jamul) when friends came up for a visit. Out of jealousy over a girl, he put four bullets into an occupied Tesla. Lawyers worked out a pleaded-out probation so he could move on to play college basketball, where his future is still being decided.

The articles I've read state that smaller colleges--without major football and basketball teams--could benefit by building up teams in lesser-known sports, and thereby prosper in athletics. That may be so.

With roster limits going up to 105 players on D1 football teams and 15 on men's basketball teams, this could drain a lot of the $20.5 million wealthy colleges can pay to their student-athletes.

The lesser sports--non-revenue-producing--could suffer. For example, Long Beach State has a top-flight men's volleyball team that won the NCAA title this year. Its status is in question; where does the program come up with money to pay expenses?

The NCAA doesn't whistle the tune anymore. The conferences, led by the Big 10 and the SEC, are really the movers-and-shakers, as we've seen in the realignment--for gigantic media rights money--the last few years of groupings. The old Pac-10 has dried up and been reborn with lesser teams. The wealthy conferences do whatever they feel in the pursuit of millions and billions of dollars.

LJ track: Starter King 'was a surfer', CIF champ hurdler

Annie King (far left), the starter, checks the discus

setup before the Vikings' meet April 24 against

Canyon Hills. At far right (behind) stands

La Jolla soph Janae Stanley-Castillo, who

ended up winning the Eastern League title.

By Ed Piper

Serving as the starter for the first time at a track meet at her alma mater, La Jolla High, for the Viking-Canyon Hills meet April 24 was Annie King, who graduated in the LJHS Class of 1981. King was the CIF champion in the 100-meter hurdles.

"I ran hurdles. I was a surfer in those days. I came to campus to run," said King as she arrived early at the meet, checking the discus area that it was shipshape. (I told her I had never seen another starter ever check at a meet that the throws area(s) was set up and in compliance. I am probably wrong, but I never witnessed such an official come by to check on an event on the perimeter.)

It was King's first time serving as the starter at her alma mater, she said. She, not immodestly, responded to this reporter's question, "What did you run?", that she was the CIF champ in the 100-meter hurdles--"the first year," she said, "they had high hurdles".

Annie went on to run at Mesa and UC Irvine. "I met Edwin Moses (legendary Olympic hurdler) in college," she told someone of a similar generation who recognized the name.

(Unnamed) Stadium: A 'gut-wrenching' experience

My first pancake in 10 days.

By Ed Piper

"You're going on a liquid diet (for stomach troubles)," the doctor in Urgent Care told me. I replied, "Oh, that'll be quite an experience. We're going to (name of Major League ballpark) tomorrow."

And so I did: Driving to an (unnamed) MLB park for a weekday game, 1 p.m. start--most of the driving, especially in traffic, because my wife doesn't do traffic.

What an experience.

We got there in plenty of time. We enjoyed the game, she in Cardinals red hat and "Musial" jersey (3XL, my size, looking like her nightwear, as one fan told us) with "Stan the Man"'s number 6 on the back.

By 6 p.m., stuck in massive traffic, cars barely moving, we finally hit the wall. Dianna hadn't had anything to eat since noon. Me, on a liquid diet--I bought Sprite in a souvenir cup, sipped some (I'm allergic to sugar) and my wife a little, then threw the rest out, keeping the ice and filling the cup with water from the drinking fountain.

I had finished the five or so vegetable-and-fruit pouches I had brought, so I was stranded with nothing else to eat.

I Googled directions to a Vons, we got off the I-5 at Firestone Blvd. in Norwalk--I realizing that I had to break my liquid fast after a day-and-a-half and eat some protein to keep driving--and instead, found a Target.

I ate a peanut butter energy bar, two hard-boiled eggs (finally, proteina (I'm using Spanish). At the Starbucks counter inside Target, Dianna ordered something (I'm having memory-blank-flashback--not really) and I ordered a sausage-egg-cheese breakfast sandwich (at 6:15 at night!).

We sat down and enjoyed them. A few tears, but we had hit the wall and overcome it. We regrouped, there sitting at the table inside Starbucks inside Target.

And that is the story of the first Major League game I have ever gone to on a liquid diet. I looked longingly at Di's cheeseburger she ate at (unnamed) Stadium.

We experienced all of it, and came out alive.

Oh, and by the way, the (unnamed team) came back and won the game, 6-5. Michael Conforto, Italian-American like my wife, struggling at the plate, had a run-producing single in their late rally to help win the game.

LJ track: Javelin All-American Mitchell begs to differ

All-American javelin thrower Andrew Mitchell

(second from right, rear), LJ Class of 2017, chats

with athletes and coach before the Vikings'

meet at home against Canyon Hills April 24.

(Photos by Ed Piper

By Ed Piper

"La Jolla (besides having good runners) hasn't had anybody good in the throws until (sophomore) Janae Stanley-Castillo," Viking alumnus Andrew Mitchell was told.

He reacted strongly to that. "I did the throws here (standing on the Edwards Field infield)," Mitchell told a reporter. "I graduated in 2017."

Sorry, never covered him much. The well-proportioned former Viking football player--listed in LJHS football back in 2016 at 6'2", 200 pounds as a lineman--went on to gain NAIA (small college) All-American status at Southern Oregon University.

Andrew, who had been called by a friend to run the discus throw at the La Jolla-Saints-OLP meet March 27, his first time returning to campus in three years, threw the javelin 221'7". He was competing against guys who had been throwing the javelin for years, which he didn't get exposure to during high school. 

In the NAIA national meet at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Indiana, last May, "Mitch" also threw the discus. His best mark in that event was 151'5". Those were the two throws he vied in at the nationals.

Best mark in the shot put during college: 45'3.75".

Andrew spread out his college eligibility over seven years during the COVID mess. He attended Mesa College after high school graduation and threw there. He went on to Southern Oregon, where he was a three-time All-American.

Asked what he weighed while throwing the javelin, Mitchell replied 235 pounds. On the football roster at La Jolla High in 2017, his junior year, as a lineman, he was listed at 205 pounds.

Regarding the javelin, he said, "It's hard. I first found it at Mesa. It took a while. It's hard (to do)."

A limitation is space--you need a not of room to throw a javelin, and people can't be in the way. "In California, you're not allowed to throw it in college (or high school)," he said. "Maybe it's okay in club competition."

"I think danger and safety are concerns," he went on. "You're throwing a (sharp) stick in space. In Oregon, it has more space."

Andrew made a funny substitution-of-words when asked how it was visiting his alma mater again. "It's lethargic," he first said. I asked him, "Do you mean there is low energy here?"

He replied, "No, I mix up words sometimes. What's the word? I mean I'm nostalgic" at being on campus again.

During his football-playing years for the Vikings, he played under Coaches Jayson Carter and Matt Morrison. Carter is now associate head coach for Lincoln, a dominant program. Morrison coached one year here, then took his dream job, coaching with his father at his alma mater, Francis Parker, where he had always wanted to coach.

After Morrison left, that meant La Jolla had three different coaches in three seasons. That's a lot of transition and interrupted continuity.

Back in San Diego, living with his godparents in Point Loma, Andrew was hired April 24 as Sea World's head of Environmental Supervision. His major in college was Environmental Science.

After running the discus at his first meet back at LJHS, Mitchell agreed to help out coaching some of the girls and boys in the throws. Hopefully, we'll see more of him in 2026.

Mitchell (left), who starred at La Jolla in football

and track, talks with Annalyse Abrams

before the April 24 meet against Canyon Hills.

LJ baseball: Luke Cripe - the untold story

Junior Luke Cripe (right) receives his 2025

Viking season booklet from head coach

Gary Frank (left) at the team's banquet

Sat., May 31. In the background are

assistants Johnny Agbulos (rear right)

and pitching coach Koa Scott (rear

far left). (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla head baseball coach Gary Frank told a story at the team banquet Sat., May 30, that had him dabbing his eyes in emotion.

Luke Cripe, a junior, had had a good offseason preparing and was ready to play in the outfield on the varsity.

In the second game of the season, "Luke was all set to play left field," related Frank. He had had some back issues. Gary said, "We realized that Luke wasn't going to tell us" each time it was an issue.

He was inserted in the lineup, but right before his at-bat, he told the coaches his back was feeling a little tight. Frank had to substitute for him. "I figured he would go home and put some ice on it," to take care of it.

Instead, "Luke propped himself against a wall in the dugout, to get comfortable, and spent the rest of the game involved and cheering on his teammates."

It was, obviously, an occasion that Frank would not forget, and he related that at the breakfast, as individual team members were recognized.

So, even though Luke didn't come back from the injury to play left field every game and pile up statistics, he was still a valuable member of the team. That was the upshot.

Aerial gymnastics: Pickett does it all

Matisse Pickett

performs to

"Get Lost" from

"Moana" in

aerial

gymnastics.

(Photo by

Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Matisse Pickett, captain of the La Jolla wrestling team who starred at the school for four years, performed an intricate and beautiful set of maneuvers hanging from a cord attached to the ceiling at an aerial gymnastics showcase two days after her high school graduation.

Matisse, who qualified for CIF Masters in wrestling in February, took part in performances to "Get Lost" from the "Moana" movie, then "Maleficent" from "Sleeping Beauty" Sat., May 30, with fellow students for a private aerial gymnastics program. The routines took months of practice to master the flips, drops, and twirls--all the while suspended in mid-air in an impressive display of athleticism and strength.

The showcase for parents in Kearny Mesa included performances to music--including upside-down moves--using silk pieces that look somewhat like drapes hanging from the ceiling; hoops; and straps.

LJ baseball banquet 5/31

Photos by Ed Piper

Seniors

SS Hank Hansen received

the Brent Woodall Award

at the year-end school

awards ceremony.

Vicki and Rick Eveleth applaud during awards

at the Viking baseball breakfast. The Eveleths

are both "Coaching Legends" from LJHS

in the Breitbard Hall of Fame.

LJ softball: Photos 5/29

Photos by Ed Piper

First baseman Jacey Taylor blasts a two-out

double to right-center to drive in Ella Pearl

for the Vikings' first run. The action took place

in the top of the first inning.

Nat Alvarez reaches base on an infield

grounder to bring in La Jolla's second run.

LJ softball 7, Lincoln 17 - CIF D5 Finals @ UCSD 5/29

Viking shortstop Ella Pearl (30) rounds first base

as she watches her first-inning triple roll to the fence

in right-center Thurs., May 29. The freshman scored

La Jolla's first run on Jacey Taylor's double

moments later.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's storybook season second half and surge into the playoffs--like a Viking surfer walking down two blocks from campus to ride a cresting wave at Marine Avenue--temporarily sustained itself in a four-run top of the first inning in the CIF Finals at UCSD Thursday, May 29.

But the whole wave, foam and all, came crashing into shore on a rocky seven-run response by the Lincoln Hornets in the bottom of that inning. It ended with a shortened game, called in the fifth inning with no outs, on the 10-run rule, 17-7, as Coach Olivia Hanke's Hornets pounded yet three more hits sandwiched around two Viking errors.

The surprising 2025 season was history, but what a run it had been: a 6-3 Central League record, followed by three wins in the Division 5 playoffs leading into Thursday's game.

Jacey Taylor, Nat Vasquez, and the Vikes stood at 3-10 before league play back on March 25, after a 11-0 blowout loss at Escondido. They finished with a 12-14 season record, not .500 but remarkable in the team's transformation the next two months. The squad jelled, to use a term.

LJ softball: Coach Sarain unflappable

By Ed Piper

La Jolla head coach Anthony Sarain showed his calm nature and long years of seasoning from coaching his daughter, Katja, who starred for the Vikings as a pitcher in the 20-teens, and other La Jolla players in two particular instances Tuesday, May 27.

In the Vikings' 15-10 win over Crawford to clinch a spot in the Division 5 CIF Final Thursday, May 29, Sarain, who plays the saxophone professionally, remained cool as a cucumber when opposing coach John Martinez called time out in the top of the fourth and questioned the Vikings' batting order.

Martinez, thoroughly friendly and informative in a pregame chat about his team, was working off his scorebook. He stated to the home plate umpire that he thought that Viking second baseman Imelda Lopez, outfield sub Emily Hernandez, and outfielder Maddie Ehlert were batting out of order.

The Colt coach wasn't inappropriate, but the stakes were high in the CIF semifinal contest, and he wanted to get it right.

The conversation went back-and-forth near the La Jolla backstop, involving Viking player Jacey Taylor's mother, who was keeping the Vikings' order of play on the Gamechanger app on her phone, Sarain, and the umpire.

Nearby was Stephanie Alvarez, former Viking and co-coach with Sarain in 2023 and 2024. She, likewise, was a calm presence.

All the while, Anthony remained poised, not in a hurry, listening as Martinez questioned who was supposed to be batting after three hitters in the inning.

At the time, La Jolla was leading 13-4. But Crawford, with several good hitters, is no slouch and was capable of coming back from the deficit to make it a close ballgame.

Lopez, the second baseman, had lined out on soft contact to third baseman Katerin Ponce for the first out of the inning. Hernandez, subbing in the outfield for Maddie McConnell, then lined out to Crawford shortstop Kimberly Gomez.

Finally, Ehlert singled to right, and after Martinez's discussion, the inning ended on leadoff hitter Savannah Putnam's groundout to third. The matter got resolved, and no protest was lodged.

Then, of more consequence, with only one out in the top of the seventh, the game on the line, La Jolla in the lead 15-9, the Colts had fourth-slot hitter Ponce coming up. The opening batter, in the eighth slot, walked and scored. Itzel Carrillo, batting in the ninth spot, struck out.

Leadoff hitter Dariana Neria, who Coach Martinez said "sets the table for us", singled and advanced to third. Gomez, the shortstop who caught Hernandez's liner in the fourth, stepped in and walked.

Vike hurler Nat Alvarez hit Melissa Pineda, in the third slot, with a pitch to load up the bases.

This was the situation when Sarain, again, calculating and cool--considering possible outcomes--looked at prior innings and realized that Ponce, swinging a big bat, had driven in a run in the top of the first in her first at-bat. In her next at-bat, in the third, she drove in two more with a shot to right-centerfield.

Lastly, in the top of the fifth, the reliable Katerin had again lined a shot to right, but there was nobody on in front of her to drive in. Instead, she took second on a wild pitch, and scored on Wendy Vasquez's booming shot to right-center.

Sarain calmly decided to put the clean-up batter on base, and informed the home plate umpire for an intentional walk. That caused Neria to score from third, and move the score to 15-10.

The gamble worked out perfectly, as second baseman Analia Felix struck out, and Michelle Aduba grounded out to second. Game over. Win secured.

LJ softball: Photos 5/27

Photos by Ed Piper

Viking third baseman Roxie Metcalf (4)

applies the tag as catcher Aviv Laska

throws out Wendy Vasquez on an attempted

advance on a wild pitch

in the top of the second inning.

Second baseman Imelda Lopez (31)

leaps next to shortstop Ella Pearl

as the Vikings run to the dugout

to celebrate the 15-10 win.

Roxie Metcalf (front left) and Nat Alvarez (21)

clown before the game.

Jacey Taylor's dad Darness provides

the motivation down the

right field line.

Roxie Metcalf throws out Colts' Melissa Pineda

on a ground ball for the first out

in the top of the sixth.

Leftfielder Maddie Quach (18) hugs

Jacey Taylor, first baseman, after the Vikings

secure their place in the finals Thurs.,

May 29, at UCSD.

The Vikings get serious for a moment when

Jacey Taylor gives a speech on how the team

"did it together" to take the 15-10 decision.

LJ softball 15, Crawford 10 - CIF D5 semifinals 5/27

Nat Alvarez (21, far left) is greeted at home plate

by her Viking teammates after she hit a grand slam

in the third inning for a 13-4 La Jolla lead.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Sophomore Nat Alvarez hit a grand slam in the third inning, her ninth home run of the season, and pitched La Jolla to a 15-10 win over visiting Crawford Tues., May 27, to reach the CIF Division 5 championship game.

Overwhelming the Colts in bottom of the first, the Vikings--surprise second-place finishers in the Central League this season--piled up eight runs, the big blow a booming double by Jacey Taylor to right-centerfield, driving in two runs. The deluge overcame a somewhat shaky start in which Crawford initially scored a run off Alvarez in the opening half-inning.

Natalie's power shot built the hosts' lead from 9-4 to 13-4 in one swing.

But the Colts didn't lie down and die. In the fifth and sixth, Coach John Martinez's scrappy bunch rallied for four runs, trailing now 15-8, setting up a tension-packed final inning for the Vikes to try to nail down the win.

With one out in the top of the seventh, and Crawford having plated one run on a hit-by-pitch of Melissa Pineda--the starting catcher who had to fill in as pitcher after a season-ending injury--and threatening for more, veteran La Jolla coach Anthony Sarain made a big gamble by ordering an intentional walk of Colt power-hitter Katerin Ponce.

The walk drove in a run, with the bases loaded against Alvarez, the score now 15-10. Nat struck out the next batter, and induced a groundout to second baseman Imelda Lopez for the final out, and the Vikings rushed to the home sideline to celebrate.

They will play Lincoln Thursday evening, May 29, at 7 p.m. at UCSD for the Division 5 title. The game will be played on the Triton Softball Field on campus.

Prep sports: UC's Kai Anderson takes second in pole vault in upset

By Ed Piper

Covering high school sports in my capacity as a sports reporter in the greater San Diego area, I became enamored with UC's Kai Anderson, a pole vaulter, when I did a story on him a year ago.

Well, Kai, at 16 feet-plus, went on to win the state title at the Fresno meet last May.

In somewhat of an upset this year, Anderson, who is built big and strong, not light and lithe like a long-distance runner, placed second in the CIF San Diego Section finals Sat., May 24, at Mt. Carmel High.

The finish had to do with the number of attempts made, and Dylan Yarbrough of San Dieguito Academy won out on that count.

It's all good and legitimate, and that's the way first and second place can be decided.

But at the state meeting this coming weekend, Kai can still repeat as state champ if he makes the grade. The lower finish at the local meet doesn't lock him in to a runner-up spot to Yarbrough at the succeeding meet.

In any case, both athletes are having great seasons.

What's fascinating to me is that Kai Anderson is a former gymnast, who spent eight years of training in that sport. His vault coach at UCHS, Mike Hogan, says that is a key to his success: As he put it, "being upside down" in the air comfortably is a big part of vaulting. And Kai has had that experience and worked well with it.

As Hogan tells it, speed, strength, and the upside-down comfort element combine to make a top vaulter.

LJ baseball: Hansen named City League Player of the Year, Lane also First Team All-League

The Vikings' Hank Hansen was named league

Player of the Year. Here he relieved in a 6-5 win

over Imperial April 3 on the fourth day

of the Lions Tourney.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

After the Vikings went 9-3 in the City League to finish a respectable second place, shortstop Hank Hansen was named Player of the Year for the league, while rightfielder Harper Lane received First Team honors along with Hansen in postseason accolades.

In 30 games, Hansen, a senior, hit .333, with 19 RBI's (tops on the Vikings) and 15 doubles (almost doubling the next closest teammate).

A running threat, the senior stole 11 bases to lead Coach Gary Frank's squad. He was a perfect 11-for-11 in that category.

Hank, who also starred in football for the Viking squad the last two falls, moved over from third base this season and played a sparkling shortstop, recording a .947 fielding average with a respectable seven errors.

In other stats, he led the team in slugging percentage at .624 (the next closest, Lane, was over a hundred points lower). Likewise, his OPS was 1.050, tops on the team with Lane second at .963.

"HH", as he once told this sportswriter he liked to be nicknamed, also served as a closer for La Jolla's baseball team. He saved two games, first on the team, in seven appearances.

His teammate Harper, who still has another year on the Ronnie Spelman diamond, hit .373, highest for Coach Gary Frank's squad, with 12 RBI's. His familiar lefthanded swing followed Hansen in the order, Hank hitting second, Harper third.

As Frank said late in the season, "We got just enough offense" along with excellent pitching to deliver a strong City League campaign.

Named to the All-League Second Team were Adam Lafever, Abel Delgadillo, Ryan Kestler, and Charlie Smith.

Rightfielder Harper Lane (6), hitting

in the third slot, during a walk

in the bottom of the first in a

2-0 win over Westview in the 

must-win play-in game May 20.

LJ softball: Zoomin' through the playoffs

First baseman Jacey Taylor (22) listens with teammates

Roxie Metcalf (4) and Aviv Laska (77) to Coach

Anthony Sarain check a batting card before

La Jolla's 13-1, 5-inning win over Southwest (SD)

Wed., May 21, in the CIF D5 playoffs.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

I took a look at Jacey Taylor's stats this morning (May 26). They are a major reason that La Jolla's offense has led the way this season: a ridiculous .662 individual batting average (.300 is very good in baseball and softball), with 11 home runs and 53 RBI's. Throw in 17 doubles.

The junior first baseman's average leads the team by over 200 points. (Centerfielder Savannah Putnam, a fellow junior, is hitting .451, which is outstanding.)

Her RBI count stands far above another teammate's total, Nat Alvarez, who's at 35 RBI; senior captain Roxie Metcalf, the third baseman, ranks third with 27.

Meanwhile, Taylor's home run rate is out of sight, other than Alvarez's again, at 11 home runs.

The statistics I am citing represent a very healthy team attack--Taylor is having a great season, but she's not alone in pounding the ball.

Maddie Ehlert, a third junior, is enjoying a tremendous season at the plate, batting .448. Don't let me forget catcher Aviv Laska, a sophomore, at .417. Ella Pearl, the freshman shortstop, is hitting a solid .395.

Circle back to Jacey Taylor. In 2024, as a sophomore, the left-handed power hitter had not yet hit her peak. Team statistics show Jerri, as she is rarely called, led the Vikings in average with a .405 mark.

But she only drove in 11 RBI's, which is a reflection of the anemic team and attack back then (the team was 1-23, if you can believe it).

Jacey also only hit two home runs. She didn't even lead the team in that category, being eclipsed by the since-graduated Kaitlin Murphy, who played third base, and had three home runs.

She only hit one home run her freshman year.

Jacey is only one homer away from tying Emmy Cardenas' single-season mark of 12.

Which is all to say that La Jolla under Coach Anthony Sarain head into tomorrow's (May 27) CIF fourth round playoff game at home against Crawford with a formidable attack.

LJ track @ CIF Finals - Mt. Carmel HS 5/24

Photos by Ed Piper

Janae Stanley-Castillo of La Jolla

throws the shot 33'8", her second-

best all-time as she completes

her first year of competing

in the sport. She is a sophomore.

Junior Chris Abramson of Mission Bay High

puts the shot in the para division

of competition. He has consistently set records

in meets he has competed in, as a pioneer

for student-athletes with special needs.

His one-on-one at Mission Bay is David Velasquez (left).

Chris had partial sight

until he was 7, then lost it

due to a degenerative

condition. He is quite

a yakker--he loves math,

imitates accents, is very

talkative and sociable.

Andrea Lorentzen Smith of Vista High is a

student-athlete who also competes in the

ambulatory division for para athletes.

Janae Stanley-Castillo warms up on the girls'

shot put triangle at Mt. Carmel High at 8:40 a.m.

Parents of the competitors are still assembling

on the hill (upper background) above the

boys' and girls' field events areas.