LJ FB: Guardian caps

Daniel McColl (55) hits #50 on the head in player

skit about the new Guardian caps Viking football

players will wear in practice next fall.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

Viking football players will be wearing Guardian caps in practice this year, Dr. Steve Hayden said in remarks during the La Jolla High football gala Sat., May 30.

"Guardian caps absorb 33 percent of the energy," said Andrew Mitchell, a Viking player, in part of a skit by players during the event, held in Bird Rock in the evening.

Hayden, who serves as team doctor for the La Jolla football team and with his wife, Marina, who is head of the booster club, has a son in the program, said that the San Diego Unified School District has okayed use of the Guardian caps.

The Viking version is black and red, school colors, and looks like a bonnet or padding on the player's head. It was included as a prop in the player skit.

"A lot of things will happen in the next few years," said Hayden after his comments from the microphone, "and hopefully we will be out in front of them." The UCSD Medical Center staff member has been involved with the LJHS football program in developing a protocol for athletes related to concussions. He worked the sidelines during games last year to be vigilant and available when needed.

Dr. Steve Hayden (right) discusses the new

Guardian caps and their use in protecting

LJHS football players.

Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ baseball: Holdgrafer Player of the Year

Right-hander Timmy Holdgrafer grinds against

UC in 6-1 win Wed., May 27.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

Timmy Holdgrafer was named Player of the Year and teammates Weston Clark and James Whelan were also named to the First Team in Western League honors for La Jolla baseball players.

The Vikings, who defeated Scripps Ranch 9-3 in a second-round game Fri., May 29, to advance to the semifinals Tues., June 2, set a school record by winning their 22nd game with the victory on their home field. Last year's team, which won the Western League title, tied the previous school record with 21 wins.

Left fielder Luke Bucon and first baseman Noah Strohl garnered Second Team honors.

Holdgrafer, who owns a 9-1 record on the mound, with Tuesday's start in his sights, and a .350 batting average, could potentially also be named CIF Division II Player of the Year. Part of voting often depends on how far his team goes. He would be deserving in view of his two-way abilities. Reaching the title game would provide more ammunition in his favor.

All five players recognized are seniors graduating from LJHS June 15.

By the way, at the Viking football gala Sat. night, May 30, it was announced from the front that the football team will be practicing on the baseball team's field at Muirlands Middle School in the fall. The football team will play every game on the road in 2015, due to the reconstruction of the Edwards Stadium surface, press box, coaches' offices, locker rooms, restrooms, and tennis pavilion.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ baseball 9, Scripps Ranch 3

Viking catcher Ben Wintringer applies the tag on

right-fielder Ben Hutchins' throw to nail Connor Bailey

of Scripps Ranch at the plate. The play stopped

the Falcons' rally in the top of the fourth inning.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

Weston Clark hurled a complete-game six-hitter and right-fielder Ben Hutchins threw out a runner at the plate to stem a Scripps Ranch rally as La Jolla won a second-round CIF Division 2 playoff baseball game at home Fri., May 29, 9-3, to earn a place in Tuesday's semifinal match-up.

Clark, the senior lefty, upped his season record to 7-2 by striking out seven Falcons and walking two. The only serious trouble he encountered came in the fourth inning, after pitching three perfect innings. But that was when Hutchins' throw came into play.

Scripps Ranch, like La Jolla the winner of its first-round game Wednesday, had plated two runs to get back in the ballgame 5-2 in the top of the fourth. On a flyball by Reid Norberg, Hutchins gunned his throw to catcher Ben Wintringer to nail baserunner Connor Bailey at the plate.

That staunched the bleeding, as the La Jolla players erupted and Coach Gary Frank did a double-first pump toward his right-fielder in front of the home dugout.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ softball 1, Escondido Charter 4

Linda Brown (15) slides into second base with the last

hit of the Vikings' season in the bottom of the seventh

inning. But she was left stranded on base.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

La Jolla's softball team took one on the chin Tues., May 26, falling to Escondido Charter, 4-1, in an elimination playoff game.

The Vikings, tied 1-1 entering the top of the sixth inning on their home field, surrendered three runs in the inning and were unable to rally in their final two at-bats to mount a comeback.

La Jolla finished the season 14-16, a vast improvement over cellar-dwelling finishes in years past.  The Vikings were a factor in the Western League, and were seeded fourth in the CIF Division IV playoffs. This was LJHS's first competitive unit in seven years, according to former athletic director Bob Allen.

Information is that an eighth-grade pitcher and a catcher will join Coach Anthony Sarain's team next year, filling the spots that will be left by graduating seniors Stephanie Alvarez and Katja Sarain. There may be an 11th-grader, unable to play this year due to health problems, who may be able to play for the Vikings next year.

The softball team is the only team with a home field on the high school campus that will not be displaced next year, when the Edwards Stadium turf will be torn up and replaced over a projected 18-month period.

Escondido Charter advances to a 1 p.m. playoff game Thurs., May 28, at the Santee SportsPlex. It will be the first game of a doubleheader. Escondido would have to win back-to-back games in the consolation bracket that day, at 1 p.m. and another at 3 p.m., to advance to the championship game the following day against the winner of the Oceanside-San Diego High Tech semifinal in the winners bracket.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

Trainer Ben Howe leaving

Ben Howe, athletic trainer for LJHS, third from left, at

Vikings' quarterfinal football game against Santa Fe

Christian Nov. 14. From left, Assistant Principal Will

Hawthorne, Dr. Steve Hayden, Howe, Carter

Simington (in wheelchair), and student trainer

Annamarie Allen. (Photo by Ed Piper)



Ben Howe, who has been the athletic trainer at La Jolla High for the past four years, has resigned to focus on his career as a personal trainer and a caterer of hot meals. His employment will end upon the conclusion of the final sport of the spring--baseball.

"I've seen one class of athletes all the way through their four years of high school," said the likeable medical professional, a certified trainer with a degree from San Diego State University. He named Anthony Stanley (football), James Penner (soccer), Max Scott (football and lacrosse), and other students whom he has worked with who will graduate June 15.

Howe transformed his position caring for Viking student athletes, bringing a medical kit not only stocked with expertise in diagnosing young athletes' bumps and bruises, but also interpersonal skills that have made him a friend and favorite of many members of the La Jolla High family.

His easy, outgoing manner often places him in conversation with students and coaches during games. He is a magnet for the young people whom he has treated, who often are observed chatting with him on the sidelines of games of sports they are not involved in.

He said he has two locations he works out of as a personal trainer, both in San Diego County. He will remain in the area. His long-term career goals have included medical school and possibly oncology. He has shadowed a physician at the Veterans Administration in La Jolla.

In his catering business, he prepares meals that he delivers hot, including some steak dishes. He is known for riding his motorcycle through rush-hour San Diego traffic to destinations, though the catered meals are transported in his passenger car.

Howe said he formally submitted his resignation to Athletic Director Paula Conway "two or three weeks ago." He recommended an individual as his replacement.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ aquatics: First state meet

Jackie Real performs some of her magic from the

one-meter board in gaining a score of 255 in the

CIF Finals May 15. (Photo by Ed Piper)

In the first CIF state swimming and diving meet in history, La Jolla's Jackie Real garnered 151.80 points in dives from the one-meter board to finish 25th Friday in Clovis (near Fresno).

The boys relay team of Dominick Wallace, a sophomore, Parker Seale, a sophomore, Simon Hirschfield, a junior, and Reed Vickerman, a senior, finished 15th in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:37.37.

Real, a week earlier for Coach Tom Atwell's Vikings, scored 255 in the finals of the CIF San Diego Section at Mesa College. She is a senior.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ g BB: Coach Darice Carnaje

"The philosophy really meshes with mine," said Darice Carnaje, newly named girls basketball coach at La Jolla High, of the approach she heard from Athletic Director Paula Conway and Assistant Principal Will Hawthorne in recent talks.

Carnaje, the head varsity basketball coach at Our Lady of Peace (OLP) for the past three years, took a break from competing in a USTA seniors tennis tournament in Austin, Texas, and was interviewed by phone.

What is her philosophy, that meshes so well with the LJHS philosophy? "I hope the girls like practicing, because I do," said the Mt. Miguel High alumna, who played four years of varsity basketball as well as four years of varsity tennis as a Matador. "I think you only win because you put in the time."

Regarding next year's Viking team, Carnaje (pronounced car-NAW-hee; "Darice" pronounced "duh-REESE") said, "I'm going to have to see what girls are there to see what kind of offense we run. It's kind of like chess. You have to figure out how it fits together."

The new Viking coach, who will continue to coach OLP's tennis team next fall, said she is familiar with some families and athletes at La Jolla. "We (OLP) play in the same (Western) league," she said. "I keep track of all the players of our opponents."

She chuckled. "I'm very happy that the tall volleyball player (Madeleine Gates) didn't come out last season. I'm surprised that La Jolla didn't win CIF" with her at center in 2014. (The Vikings made it to the championship game.)

What will you bring that's unique? "I don't know if it's unique. I try to teach the fundamentals. Sports like basketball--you take these fundamentals, you try to put them together in combination. The girls learn how to do a layup. Then they have to learn how to do it together. That's my job. It's such a simple game. It's so dynamic. Hopefully, that's what I'll bring to the girls."

"I play tennis," Carnaje continued. "You have these fundamentals. You try to put them together. It's like a chess match."

"Basketball is like tennis. It's both mental and physical."

As far as possible summer league this year, the walk-on coach said she didn't know what the summer would hold. "I haven't met with the girls yet. I would have to get on the floor to teach them some (skills). We could throw something together." She didn't sound inclined to do something haphazardly. She isn't sure if there is enough time to be ready to have a unit for summer league.

A key part of the mesh in philosophy with Conway and Hawthorne seems to be this, in Carnaje's words: "I think they just want to teach and coach. That's what I want to do, just teach (basketball skills) and coach. I don't coach travel (teams)." Some coaches devote considerable time to non-school travel teams.

Carnaje is not an on-campus classroom teacher.

She also coaches softball at OLP. Regarding continuing to coach softball for the Pilots, she didn't know if she would.

How the hire came about, according to Carnaje, was this: "I had told a couple of people I had resigned from (coaching basketball at) OLP. So Paula called me. She said, 'Come in, let's talk.' Everyone was so nice. My assistant coach said she would come (to LJHS), too."

She repeated: "The athletic director and assistant principal are both really nice."

She knows the Harmeyer family, whose daughters have played multiple sports at La Jolla. Jen Harmeyer was basketball team captain the past season. Her older sister, Katie Harmeyer, was two years ahead of Jen. Both played basketball. Track was also in the picture. "I thought Katie would come to OLP (for high school)," said Carnaje.

Another La Jolla High connection for the new coach is Dave Westhem, the girls basketball coach two years ago. "I've played tennis with Dave's sister," she said. "I was devastated when Dave left (coaching at LJHS)."

Another reason for taking the La Jolla position: "I like projects. It's a challenge."

Carnaje will be in Austin for the USTA tournament at least till Monday. "Longer, if I make the finals," says the tennis enthusiast.

At OLP, she said, "I was originally hired to coach basketball." Coaching tennis and softball came later. She began coaching at the private Catholic school in 1996.

Said a source: "This is a major hire" (for La Jolla). "Look at how well her teams have done at OLP. They've been ranked among the top teams."


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ g BB: New coach

Paula Conway, athletic director at La Jolla High, acknowledged Wed., May 20, that the Vikings will have a new girls basketball coach next season.

I think I got this right: Paula had to go attend to another matter when I spoke to her during the boys volleyball playoff, but before she left she said "Darice" (Carnaje) is going to be the new coach.

If this is so, then Carnaje was the varsity head coach at Our Lady of Peace (OLP) the past four years, according to information online. She guided OLP to a 10-3 record in the Western League the past season, 12-16 overall.

Carnaje, a talented tennis player who has won several high-level tournaments, has coached basketball at OLP for 13 years, tennis for 12 years, and softball for four years, according to the private Catholic school's website.

She played four years of varsity basketball and tennis at Mount Miguel High School.

She is included in a photo in a Facebook post from the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) Southern California in 2009 as a member of their team in the National Women's Intersectional Championships.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ spring sports: Playoff city

I congratulated Athletic Director Paula Conway on the Vikings' spring sports teams' success, with several competing in post-season CIF playoffs.

"Your magic touch has worked," I told her, smiling. Paula had a big grin on her face. "A busy week," she said in acknowledgement of Viking success recently. This was during the boys' volleyball second round match in the Open Division, an honor itself, at home against Mt. Carmel.

The boys lacrosse team won its first round match Tues., May 19, 12-8, over visiting Country Day.

La Jolla's softball team opens play in CIF Thursday afternoon, May 21, at home against Monte Vista.

The girls lacrosse team, with its season completed, vied in the Open Division playoffs, though losing its initial game.

Of course, the boys tennis team, a perennial power, competed in the Open Division as well--unfortunately matched up against Torrey Pines, which has won a CIF title every year since the late 1980's.

The baseball team looks to be a first or second seed when the CIF meeting is held Sat., May 23, with its first game to be Wed., May 27, following the three-day Memorial Day Weekend.

Meanwhile, the boys volleyball team had its hands full in the second round match against visiting Mt. Carmel as Paula and I spoke.

Another remarkable thing is the fact that many or most of these teams mentioned above have been seeded high enough to host playoff games. This is truly a golden spring of sports at the 93-year-old school on Westbourne.

Everyone is enjoying it.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ softball: Monte Vista is opponent

La Jolla's softball team will face Monte Vista in its first CIF playoff game in many years Thurs., May 21, at home at 3:30 p.m.

The Monarchs, the higher seed, clubbed Southwest (San Diego), the 12th seed, 12-6, in a play-in game Wed., May 20.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ lacrosse: Success

What is going on with the lacrosse programs at La Jolla High?

The boys team under Coach Tom Duerr went 9-0 in the Western League and enters the CIF playoffs this week.

The girls team, at 7-4 in league and 14-7 overall, was good enough to be among the top eight teams in the section chosen to play in the Open Division playoffs, though the Vikes lost their first game to the top seed, La Costa Canyon, which is no cause for embarrassment.

Kitty Cullen and Sam Farrell were the new coaches who led the girls. Said the captains of the Bishop's team, which is perennially among the top teams: "We heard La Jolla was having a good season." You bet.

I've watched Lauren Robbins play sports at La Jolla through her four years of high school. She gave me periodic previews and updates on the team this season. What a gift for her to go out with her team doing so well in 2015.

Wherever Athletic Director Paula Conway and Principal Chuck Podhorsky found these coaches, keep 'em coming. They seem to relate well to the kids, they care about them, and, hey, winning is fun. Winning isn't everything, but if everything else is equal, why not have a program that wins games as well?


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ softball: Playoffs

To put "LJ softball" and "playoffs" together in the same phrase (see title of post) is remarkable in itself.

Senior captains Stephanie Alvarez and Katja Sarain and their teammates have blazed their way to a fourth seed in the imminent CIF Division IV playoffs, giving them a bye in the first round Thurs., May 21, which is also remarkable.

Alvarez, Sarain and company kick off the Vikings' return to playoff action after many years of absence this Sat., May 23, against the winner of the Monte Vista-Southwest (SD) game on Thursday.

Gary Sinkeldam, who is the father of Josie, La Jolla's freshman shortstop, alerted me to the Vikings' possible seed last week. His daughter is part of the new look and new excitement surrounding the softball program, which was moribund for years.

From three wins last year to their current record of 5-7 in the Western League, 13-13 overall, Linda Brown, a sophomore at third base, and Emily Alvarez, Stephanie's sister at first base, have been part of the whole reconstruction of Coach Anthony Sarain's team.

The youth movement led to La Jolla's first league win in four years over Clairemont in the first round, followed by a walkoff grand slam home run by Stephanie Alvarez to beat a stunned Point Loma, which La Jolla hadn't beaten in many years and was treated almost like a non-entity by in the losing years.

Monte Vista, seeded fifth, is the Vikings' likelier second round opponent. Southwest is the lowest seed in the division at 12th. The playoffs allow for two losses by a team before elimination. Buckle your seat belts. It should be quite a ride.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ baseball: Rankings

With two league games against Point Loma left to play, La Jolla's baseball team finds itself in third place in the Western League behind Madison (8-2 in league, 17-9 overall) and the Pointers (7-3, 15-10), yet ranked second in Division II ahead of Madison.

The Vikings (6-4, 19-8), going into Tuesday, May 19's home game against Point Loma, have righted the ship after a slow start in league play. In Saturday's seeding meeting for the CIF Division II playoffs, they should find themselves in a favorable position.

Timmy Holdgrafer, Tuesday's starter, is 8-1, enjoying a fabulous season as a senior. He leads the team with a .356 average and 19 RBI's, with 17 runs scored, tied with teammate Weston Clark in the last category.

Towering first baseman Noah Strohl has experienced a second season of an alive bat after starting out hitting .207 after the first 12 games. The 6'6" senior is now hitting .304 and is second only to Holdgrafer with 17 RBI's.

Another bat that has come alive is that of left fielder Luke Bucon, who has raised his average from .233 to .338 in the last 15 games.

A bat that has cooled considerably is Trenton Fudge's, down to .259 after the early lofty heights of .385 when anything he swung at seemed to scream out of the infield.

If the playoffs follow last year's pattern, there will be play-in games next Tuesday for seeds 5-12, which La Jolla as a higher seed will be exempted from. Then games will take place Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, the following Tuesday and Thursday, with the championship at USD's beautiful Fowler Park Sat., June 6.

That should mean La Jolla is guaranteed games next Tuesday and Thursday in the double-elimination format that has been in place the last several years.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ diving: Jackie Real

"She's had an amazing four years here at LJ," Tom Atwell, head swim coach at La Jolla High, emailed about Jackie Real.

She's the senior who just finished third in the Division II section finals with a score of 255.20.

It's easy to miss her, or to take her for granted. I don't think Atwell does, because he has commented more than once on the importance of the points that Real's dives have contributed to the Vikings' team score at each dual meet over the four years of Jackie's high school career.

But others may miss her. Diving takes place often apart from the rest of the swim meet, even though she's part of the LJHS swim team and wears "LJ" in prominent red letters on her swimsuit.

For example, the CIF diving finals, which take up to four hours to complete--and that's just for the girls, with another three to four hours for boys--are held at a venue separate from the swim events and on a different day. The finals are always held on a Friday at Mesa College, while this year the swim prelims and finals were held Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday far away at Granite Hills High School.

Real, the diver, gets plenty of attention from her coaches, though. Her father and mother, who sat poolside at Mesa, dispensed support and advice each time Jackie came over to the spectators' section before each of her six dives.

Janelle Sherako, her LJHS coach, new this year, was available and calling out tips from the stands, even though she was hobbled with a brace to support her knee two days after undergoing surgery.

Jackie is in an outstanding program at San Diego State, in which she is introduced to a dive while being hooked up in a harness that lifts her and allows her to simulate the movements. Only later does she take to the diving board to begin practicing the dive in the swimming pool.

I mentioned this to the dive coach at Santana High during the finals. He said, "Oh, no, that's expensive. We don't have the resources for that at our school." So Real is privileged to be in a well-funded, advanced program.

Another element of Real's dive career is peer fortitude. Dive coaches don't hesitate to mention this. The danger of hitting the board as one performs a dive, and the pounding that a diver takes in hitting the water each time, add up to quite a risk.

The Santana coach said he sits a diver hit the board about once a year. One diver during the girls' competition narrowly missed the board during the finals Friday, and evoked gasps from the assembled spectators, who are mostly moms and dads of the divers.

For the petite Jackie, who measures about five feet in height, it takes courage to get up on the board each time and ply her trade. At her level of the sport, with private coaching, she is performing dives with increased D.D.'s--Degree of Difficulty. This means multiple twists, somersaults, and speed, all of which increase the risk. She's gutsy, and she's taking it to Cornell, deservedly so, next fall.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ diving: CIF Finals

Jackie Real tucks her knees as she

performs a 1 1/2-somersault in her

sixth and final dive.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

Senior Jackie Real closed out her CIF San Diego Section Finals career by racking up an exquisite score of 255.20 on her six dives as she finished third in the event held in the rain at Mesa College's pool Fri., May 15.

Real competes in the state meet for the first time next Fri., May 22, at Clovis in central California.

She was pleased with her dives and score when congratulated later in the day Friday, after the sun had stopped around 3 p.m. The rain during the girls event, held in the morning, made conditions on the diving boards slick and contributed to a 54-minute delay in the start of the event with the computer system down.

Judges, as a result, used a manual system, showing Real's and the other girl divers' scores on cards they held up. The scores then had to be entered manually into the CIF software.

Spencer Elliott, the sole LJHS diver in the boys finals held in the afternoon, also competed. He is a ninth-grader. By the time the boys finals began, the computer system was up and he judges submitted their scores on each dive electronically.

Real's and Elliott's teammate Brooke Kaufman scratched after warm-ups and did not compete in the girls finals in the morning. Another Viking, Heloise Carion, qualified for the finals, according to coach Janelle Sherako, but did not attend the event.

A score of 155.05 was required to qualify for the finals for girls, 151.20 for boys. Kaufman recorded a score of 174.35 for 10th place in the City Championships prior to the finals. Carion achieved a 154.4 score for 13th place in that event. Elliott finished at 175.1 for third place. Real set a City record for high score for a six-dive championship with 265.85.

Both Real and Elliott finished their league seasons undefeated this year. Real did not lose a dual meet after her freshman year, according to a source.

Taylor Pamplin, a diver from Escondido Charter High School, set a San Diego Section record with 317.20 points in the Divison II finals. The only other diver finishing ahead of Jackie was Shelby Steiger of Mission Vista High with 261.60.

Real, who has competed for LJHS head swim coach Tom Atwell all four years of high school, will dive next year for Cornell University in New York. Her father, Jon Real, also coaches Jackie, along with Sherako.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ baseball: On a tear

La Jolla's baseball team, after a slow start in Western League play, is now on a tear equal to its early preleague success after an 11-1 waxing of winless Mission Bay at home Thurs., May 14.

Timmy Holdgrafer had four RBI's and Zach Sehgal three as the Vikings pommeled the Bucs (0-11 in league) in rainy conditions on the synthetic surface at Muirlands Middle School.

La Jolla, 1-3 in its first four Western League games, has won five of its last six in league and now finds itself in third place behind Madison and Point Loma at 6-4 with back-to-back games against the Pointers looming next week in the last week of conference play.

The team's bats have come to life in the past few weeks. A team batting average that languished at .237 only a month ago has blossomed into a solid .280 after yesterday's win.

Coach Gary Frank's squad started the season 12-4. Holdgrafer and Weston Clark have continued to be mainstays on the mound, as they work a rotation each week of Timmy, the right-hander, followed by Clark, the left-hander.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ football: Schedule

La Jolla's 2015 football schedule has the Vikings playing three games on Mission Bay's brand new field, and two games each at Country Day and University City as they travel throughout the fall while their new home field is installed beginning this summer.

Homecoming will be a rare experience on the road, with that event and Senior Night coming on the same night November 6 against Point Loma at University City. That will mark the final game in the regular season in the Western League.

A big change in starting times, due to having to share facilities with other schools, comes with 5 p.m. games on Friday nights the following dates: Sept. 4 against Bishop's and Sept. 18 versus West Hills, both at Mission Bay. A 6 p.m. starting time is scheduled Sept. 11 against Fallbrook, and Homecoming Nov. 6 against Point Loma, both at University City.

Beyond the unique situation of having to play all games on the road in 2015, including home games in the CIF playoffs in November, Coach Jason Carter has put together an interesting palette of games in his third season at the helm.

Carter's team vies against his former team, Country Day, for the second season in a row. This year it will come in the second week of the season. Last year LJCD hosted the season opener.

Bishop's and La Jolla have scheduled a rematch of their clash last season in the third week. Fallbrook travels down to UC in week number four for a reprise of the explosive 100-plus-point game between LJHS and Fallbrook played in North County in 2014. That will also mark Blastoff.

Christian, whom La Jolla played in the CIF playoffs last November, becomes a regular season opponent this time around in week seven.

Finally, Imperial, whom the Vikings have not faced in recent memory, provides the opening game opposition on Sat., Aug. 22, at Country Day at 7 p.m. That event is part of what is being called the Kickoff Classic.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ diving: Two undefeated

Jackie Real, La Jolla High's phenomenal diver, set a new record for high score for six dives in the City Championships with 265.85, according to head swim coach Tom Atwell.

Real, a senior headed to Cornell University to dive after graduation from high school next month, accomplished her feat May 7 under the coaching of new LJHS diving coach Janelle Sherako.

Real and teammate Spencer Elliott both finished their Western League seasons undefeated. Elliott, a freshman, recorded a score of 175.1, finishing in third place at the City Championships.

Commenting on Real's career, Atwell said, "She's had an amazing four years here at LJ." Her points from the dive portion of meets provided a major chunk of scoring for the Vikings in swim meets over the past years.

Backing up Real in the girls portion of the City Championships, Brooke Kaufman, a ninth-grader, collected 174.35 points while Heloise Carion, a 10th-grader, had a score of 154.4.

Real's growth from her scores in meets when she competed against 12- and 13-year-olds six years ago to now is remarkable. She has steadily worked hard at her craft, taking all the blows and hits that come with negotiating a metal diving board and an unforgiving water surface, making gains along the way.

In the City Championships on Thursday, Jackie, a compact five-footer in height, landed her highest score on her fourth dive, a reverse one-and-a-half somersault tuck dive. It was 48.4. All but her first dive of the six scored over 40 points each, putting her in position for the record high score.

Her scores on dives, in order, were 39.1, 44.4, 44.85, 48.4, 46.2, and finally 42.9, for the 265.85 total.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ b VB: Coaches' tenure

According to La Jolla's school website, Vikings boys volleyball coach Dave Jones has the longest tenure of any coach for the team since 1984. Jones, who leads his team into the Senior Game Tuesday, May 5, at home against St. Augustine, has served in 1999, and then continuously since 2002.

The skein of 14 years plus the additional year three years prior add up to 15 total years.

The longest any other coach has served in that capacity is Greg Volger, presently JV baseball coach and father of Brett, record-holding shortstop of the Vikings baseball team who holds the all-time school record for game starts at any position. The elder Volger coached seven years, from 1991-1997.

Vicki Eveleth held the boys position, according to the website, from 1984 to 1989.

Another potential distinction for Jones is being the coach that ushers La Jolla into the sport of sand volleyball, assuming it gets sanctioned by CIF in the near future. Sand volleyball is still played as a club sport, with no official status.

The chart:

Current head Coach: David Jones, 1999, 2002 - Present
Ricci Luyties 2000 - 2001
Kate Pearson 1998
Greg Volger 1991 - 1997
Jeri Wrigley 1990
Vicki Eveleth 1984 - 1989

LJ softball 0, Point Loma 10

From all reports, the Point Loma softball team wanted to make up for losing to the new upstart La Jolla team in the first round.

"It was ugly," said pitcher Katja Sarain, who I ran into in the hallway outside the theater where my wife and I were going to watch "Avengers." Katja was just coming out of having seen a different movie--"The Age of Adaline."

To bring you up to speed, in the first round of Western League play a couple of weeks ago Point Loma showed up at the LJHS field not listing its top pitcher and the same for at least one position player in the starting lineup.

Point Loma had not lost to La Jolla in softball in recent memory. I've been to some killer games. Spirit-killing, that is. I recall one game at Point Loma was the final regular season game for the Pointers' shortstop, who had accepted an athletic scholarship to a well-known university whose name I forget. It was almost like the Vikings weren't there. Many fans, all cheering for the super player and her team, and La Jolla getting drubbed badly as usual.

There have been games--in previous years--in which the 10-run rule was invoked because Point Loma (and other opposing teams) led by so many runs, the game was called early. Ouch. It's embarrassing.

So, not starting their top pitcher, the Pointers went down early. I arrived from other duties midway through the game. Point Loma's bench was silent. The players looked like they were in shock. I think their coaches were really giving it to them. Ticked, mad, scolding. The PLHS coaches were undoubtedly upset themselves at finding their team trailing formerly lowly La Jolla.

But Point Loma, in this first round game last month, battled to come back and lead 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Vikings, with ability, power, and growing confidence, loaded the bases with one out. Who steps to the plate but Stephanie Alvarez, senior and catcher and co-captain with Katja. She drills the first pitch (from the now more skilled pitcher of the Pointers who was substituted in midway through the game) narrowly inside the foul line and over the fence down the right field line.

Walkoff grand slam homer. The Vikings win, 7-6. The La Jolla players exulted but, advised by their coaches not to show up the other team, keeping their celebration under control.

A look at the Point Loma players: blank expressions of shock. A morgue. Point Loma losing to La Jolla in softball! Unheard of.

So, fast-forward to Thursday, April 30. Point Loma started its best players, I'm sure, at all positions, and positively scorched the Vikings. Payback. 10-0.

You know what's going to be fun to watch? Next year's games against PLHS. Stephanie and Katja will be graduated. But Linda Brown, the sophomore third baseman, will be a year older. Shortstop Josie Sinkeldam, a freshman, will have a year of high school softball under her belt. Emily Alvarez, a freshman and sister of Stephanie who starts at first base, likewise. Plus there's more coming in. It's gonna be fun. Some real competition.

The good part of the Vikings' blanking? At least the game didn't get called early. Like I talked about earlier, in the old days the game would have been called prematurely due to the Vikings being drubbed so badly.

A little note is that Katja mentioned she got a home run in the Vikings' 3-2 loss to Clairemont Tues., April 28. She was pretty happy about that. Of the four hits against Point Loma Thursday, she had one of them and it was a double.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

Journal of a germ

Sick days are over-rated...

Sick days are over-rated, when you feel too bad to do anything on your supposed "day off".

That was my experience during the "lost week" that just passed, three of those days relegated to suffering under phlegm, headache (which I never have), and no energy.

At first, it seems like a break. Wow, I don't have to go into work. I can read the paper, including sports, at my leisure. I don't have to grab it, throw it in the car, and race to work to be on time.

Maybe watch a little MLB Network on Channel 306, my current favorite since Spring Training and with our second cable outlet allowing convenient viewing in another part of the house.

But then, as you would have it, feeling "a little better" means doing more activity than you can sustain. The next day, you find yourself back in bed, with more phlegm and feeling worse than the day before.

What was kind of comical was having the cleaning lady come the second day. That meant getting out of the house. Feeling miserable parked in the car somewhere isn't better than feeling miserable at home. At least, at home you can lie down when you're hacking and feeling terrible.

Meantime, there wasn't even a thought of going to an LJHS sports event and taking photos. Now, that takes a big cold to bring that.

The one time slipping out to sports was a pre-arranged interview of a high school athlete (not even from LJ) for a local newspaper. I had to do it.

Finally, after the second day back at work at the end of the week, it meant photo-taking at a boys lacrosse game, away at Point Loma. The fresh breeze wasn't too cold, though Point Loma can get really chilly when the fog rolls in.

But the present heat meant no fog in the late afternoon, and portended for a nice 13-3 clobbering of the Pointers on their own artificial turf.


Copyright 2015 Ed Piper

LJ b LAX 13, Pt. Loma 3

Viking defenders pound on Pointer Timothy
O'Brien (28), forcing him to cough up the ball
at midfield during first half. (Photos by Ed Piper)

On the day before the Mayweather-Pacquiao prizefight, La Jolla was doing a pretty good smackdown of host Point Loma during the first half in the two teams' boys lacrosse matchup Fri., May 1.

The Vikings, utilizing various scorers, built up a 6-1 lead, finally holding an 8-2 advantage at halftime.

LJHS put the Pointers away, 13-3, in the final count.

The Pointers have only four seniors after graduating eight seniors last June, and the predominantly ninth- and tenth-grade team showed its youth.

La Jolla started slowly, holding only a 1-0 edge after the first several minutes of the opening period. Then momentum sped up and red-and-black goals started to mount. It was 3-0 at the close of the first quarter.

In one somewhat comical though productive sequence, Viking Connor Usselman was defended by Point Loma's Timothy O'Brien at one o'clock in front of the Pointers' goal. At the time, early in the second quarter, LJHS already led 5-0.

As O'Brien defended Usselman, who had the ball, his stick slipped down around Connor's left leg. The attacker swung forward to launch his goal attempt. As he did so, he tripped over O'Brien's stick and was falling forward as his shot attempt went in to make the score 6-0 with 6:16 left in the period.

Defenseman Erik Woods (10) shows how little

pressure he feels in the first half as La Jolla dominates

ball control at the other end of the field.

Copyright 2015 Ed Piper