LJ FH: Tryouts open

By Ed Piper

"We have 77 girls coming out, and 37 of those are freshmen," enthused La Jolla High field hockey coach Amanda Combs Warford on the first day of tryouts on the Edwards Stadium field Mon., Aug. 13.

As the three groups--returning varsity players, JV players, and those "new to field hockey"--rotated among stations, Combs, who led the Viking varsity to the Division 1 finals in her first year as head coach last year, losing 1-0 to Mission Vista, said, "I always want the girls to be active doing something. I don't want them sitting around."

One group ran a timed mile. Another group hit the ball back and forth in pairs, or performed another drill. A third group received instruction in basic stick skills.

Returning varsity starters at the opening workout included high-scoring Morgan Hansen, a 5'5" senior; Reagan Jetter, a 5'7" senior midfielder who gets the energy going; Serene Liu, 5'5", a junior, who came out of nowhere last year to be a star; and Royce Epperson, a 5'6" junior.

Also returning as starters for the CIF finalists were Paxton Stolper, 5'2", a junior; and Caeley Hickson-Long, 5'6", a junior.

Other varsity returners at the 8:30 a.m. workout included Jordan Wolf, 5'6", a junior, and Malia Buljat, 5'7", a junior.

The Vikings are aiming at a scrimmage next Thurs., Aug. 23, against El Capitan at home. Their season opener is against super-power Scripps Ranch a week later, Aug. 30, at home, as Combs is not one to wait around for her team to square off against the top teams.

"We could have started official practice a week ago," explained Combs, "but some girls were away. This way, we could start with everybody together.

"Also, (this year) I ran some camps. I didn't run one week of skills to open the practice schedule like last year, because the girls could come to a camp (to get that)."