LJ b golf: 'We're in a total rebuild'

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's boys golf team is young, with a few seniors leading underclassmen.

"We're in a total rebuild," said Coach Aaron Quesnell Fri., Feb. 26, after the Vikings took it on the chin against host Torrey Pines, a county and state powerhouse, the day before.

The likeable coach noted that last year's squad "was all seniors. This year we have two seniors, plus freshmen and sophomores."

The younger players on varsity are "good, but they're freshmen and sophomores". Read that to mean the young'uns are playing well at this stage of their development, but they will continue to develop and get better.

La Jolla, as recently as 2016, won the CIF title. So the program has had a good recent history. On this occasion Thursday at La Costa, the match wasn't competitive stroke-wise, but, "Our kids got to watch their (Torrey Pines') guys." It seemed to be a good learning experience, despite the decisive result going for the Falcons.

The match against Torrey Pines was "very unusual", Quesnell said. The boys and the girls teams played together, "the first time ever". The different format was mandated by an attempt by CIF to combine events and limit the spread of COVID by not scheduling separate events for boys and girls.

Here's how La Jolla's varsity shapes up in this shortened COVID season:

Lane Kearney and Richard Chao, both seniors, will lead the full varsity. (They didn't play on this occasion. There will be more time for that in future matches.)

"Lane is quiet, reserved," said Quesnell. "Actually, Richard is the same. They're both more leaders by example instead of words."

Kaden Ward, the Vikings' best golfer Thursday, is the younger brother of Nolan Ward, last year's number one who graduated.

"(Kaden)'ll be a solid 'three'," commented his coach.

"Our fourth through sixth are going to bounce around. I don't know them that well,", allowed Quesnell. "Christie Quinn (the other coach) handled that (tryouts)."

"(Junior) Edwin Feinberg has turned into a big hitter, and he's improved a lot. He's hitting the ball well."

Jaxen Torbensen is another senior in the mix.

La Jolla's next boys match is versus Patrick Henry at Mission Trails Wed., March 3.

LJ b golf: Vikings fall to TP at La Costa

By Ed Piper

Returning sophomore Kaden Ward shot a 46 at La Costa Resort in La Jolla's outstanding performance of the match, as the Vikings fell to host Torrey Pines in the opening competition of the 2021 season under COVID conditions Thurs., Feb. 25.

"Torrey Pines is potentially the best team in the state," said LJHS coach Aaron Quesnell. "We played boys and girls versus Torrey Pines. It was the first time ever (playing a coed match). It was very unusual."

While Ward carded a 46 to be low man for the visitors, freshman Nathan Wittkow shot a 54, with returning junior Edwin Feinberg a stroke back at 55 for nine holes, and freshman Evan Upham another stroke back at 56. Ciaran Snyder, a third ninth-grader, toured the La Costa course in 60 strokes.

"We didn't do too well (against arguably the best team in the county), but we're young," said Quesnell, who is transitioning to the Athletic Director's position at LJHS after this school year and will no longer coach. (Christie Quinn, the girls coach, will assume the boys golf coaching position as well next year.)

LJ wrestling: 2021 schedule

2021 LJHS Wrestling Schedule

Date                            Opponent           Location       Time

Wed., 4/14                   Hoover                Away             5 p.m.

Wed., 4/21                   San Diego           Away             5 p.m.

Wed., 4/28                   Serra                   Home            5 p.m.

Wed., 5/5                     Cathedral            Home            5 p.m.

Wed., 5/12                   Madison             Away             5 p.m.

Sat., 5/22                     City Conference Championships

Fri.-Sat., 5/28-29         CIF Divisionals

Fri.-Sat., 6/4-5             CIF Masters

Thurs.-Sat., 6/10+12    CIF State

LJ sports overview: Starting dates, etc.

Compiled by Ed Piper

Sports schedules (all "seasons")

                                                First match/        # of total matches        Head coach

Sport (Varsity)                       game/meet                scheduled

Girls/boys                                Feb. 12                              6                       Mandy Benham

cross country

Girls golf                                 Feb. 25                                                       Christie Quinn

Boys golf                                 Feb. 25                                                       Aaron Quesnell

Girls/boys tennis                     March 3                          11                        Darice Carnaje

Field hockey                            March 5                           5                         Amanda Combs Warford

Girls/boys swim                      March 13                         6                         Tom Atwell/Amy Jennings

Girls soccer                             March 19                         9                          Brian McManus

Football                                   March 19                         5                         Tyler Roach

Softball                                    March 20                       21                         Andrea Denham

Baseball                                   March 23                       27                         Gary Frank

Girls lacrosse                           March 23                       13                        Kitty Cullen/Sam Farrell

Boys soccer                             April 13                           8                         Marcos Gonzales

Wrestling                                 April 14                          5                          Ryan Lindenblatt

Girls/boys track                       April 15                          5                          Paul Byrne

Girls volleyball                                                                                            Kelly Drobeck                                                                            

Boys volleyball                                                                                            David Jones

Girls basketball                                                                                           Darice Carnaje

Boys basketball                                                                                           Paul Baranowski

Cheer                                                                                                            Elsie Lopez

Boys water polo                                                                                            Tom Atwell

Girls water polo                                                                                            Amy Jennings

LJ g xc: Fisk, Mayer the 'bomb'

Viking freshman Kyra Fisk's mile pace through two races,

in a chart on the prep cross country/track website

xcstats.com.

By Ed Piper

Back in the spring of 2019, before COVID ravaged the landscape, Denie Roberson was discussing the huge impact of female runners at La Jolla High.

"There has been a history of good girl runners at the school," observed the assistant track coach, specializing in the running events, back in April or so of that year during a track meet.

Roberson, at the time, was watching her "little" sister, Sierra Roberson, cop her respective event in the long tradition of the Roberson siblings at Edwards Stadium. Sierra, outgoing and talkative, is quite the opposite of her just-older sister Sakura Roberson, who now runs for San Diego State.

Sakura's a poetry writer, much more introspective than her loquacious sibling Sierra.

Which is all to say that eyes are beginning to open at the finishes of ninth-grader Kyra Fisk, another promising runner, in the first two cross country meets of the 2021 season.

Twice so far in the young season Fisk has led the field, first at Serra High two weeks ago versus a weaker San Diego High team, then again against Serra's team Thurs., Feb. 24, on the Morley Field course.

Fisk, who has never attended classes in person at her new high school due to COVID restrictions, dominated the field against San Diego High, beating her nearest Caver rival by over a minute. In that meet, starting and ending in Serra High's football stadium, Kyra clocked a time of 19:40.66. Way behind her in second place, Nina Graner of San Diego High ran 20:42.56.

After a week's layoff, the Viking girls moved to the more familiar setting of Morley Field (though not to Kyra). There, Fisk trounced fellow freshman Sofia Abraham of Serra in a time of 21:19.89. Abraham placed second in the field with 21:49.71.

In the same vein, Daphne Mayer, another freshman at LJHS who has never stepped on the school campus for one of her classes (again, because of the coronavirus), is making some noise behind the intrepid Fisk.

Mayer finished third in the San Diego High meet in week one (21:20.19) in her first high school meet ever on a course she had never run on (Serra's). Then, with restrictions on running in the park lifted with numbers and conditions under COVID less severe, Daphne burned a time of 22:48.93 for fourth place versus Serra at Morley Field.

Again, before the ninth-grader has ever set foot on the LJHS campus to attend a weekday class. Isn't that something?

The Serra High course measures 2.9 miles, so times were a little shorter. Morley Field stretches 3.11 miles.

On the prep track/cross country website xcstats.com, there is a chart of Fisk's first two races in high school showing a fairly steady mile pace arcking from a little more than 6.75 minutes per mile on the left to closer to 6.8 on the right.

The table below the chart lists her 6:47 pace for the 2.9 distance at Serra two weeks ago, and 6:52 for Thursday's race. Maybe she had a little less adrenaline after her initial high school competition; maybe the Morley course has more hills and is more demanding.

Kyra's average pace for her two career races is 6:49, according to the table on xcstats.com.

On the same website, Mayer's pace averaged over the first two races of 2021 comes to 7:21 per mile. The plotted line on the chart under Daphne's name is fairly flat, from what appears to be a little over 7.4 minutes per mile straight across to closer to 7.35 or so on the right side.

Daphne Mayer's mile pace, charted on the website

xcstats.com. Mayer has finished a respectable

third and fourth in the Vikings' initial

cross country meets this month.

LJ g xc 23, Serra 37

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's girls cross country team met some more serious competition than in their first meet, but Serra didn't offer that much more opposition as freshmen Kyra Fisk and Daphne Mayer led a 1-4-5-6-7 Viking finish to easily pull away from Serra, 23-37, on the longer course at Morley Field Thurs., Feb. 25.

Fisk, in her second straight top finish, burned a time of 21:19.8 over 3.11 miles to beat her nearest rival by almost half a minute. Sofia Abraham of Serra, who came in second, clocked a time of 21:49.71 as the Q's placed 2-3-9-14-15 in the team event.

Mayer followed her teammate Fisk in fourth place, behind the two top Serra runners, by a minute and a half (22:48.93). Behind her, junior Sasha Backus placed fifth in 23:20.71, and senior Hannah Nightingale sixth with 23:27.46.

La Jolla's Abigail Plezia, another ninth-grader, got seventh in 23:31.58 for the other Viking points. Running theoretically as a sixsome, a school's top five finishers score points for their team, with the place number (for example, first place) scoring that many points (first place equals one point, second place scores two points, etc.). That's why in cross country the lower score wins.

LJ FB: 'A quick turnaround'

The ring - 2019 Southern California Champions.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"It's a quick turnaround," said Viking head football coach Tyler Roach Friday morning, Feb. 26. "Practice starts today."

But he said, with the team's sole scrimmage against another school only 14 days away, on Fri., March 12, "We've been consistent in workouts. It's been slow. We've done Zoom, we've done parks, we've done (a little of everything)" during the COVID delays. "But we haven't had everyone together."

Reminded other teams are facing the same adjustments, the fourth-year coach said, "Yes, everyone's in the same boat."

La Jolla, led by the versatile receiver/quarterback Diego Solis and other seniors, enters the five-game 2021 winter/spring season as the defending Division III CIF and Southern California champions. That's a unique and rare thing to state and think about.

Many of the returners from that 2019 team will be more than anxious to get on the gridiron and start flying around come Fri., March 19, the season opener at Morse High.

"Practices are going to be week-by-week," Roach said. "There are so many (LJHS) teams practicing (with the seasons overlapping)." Friday's first sanctioned practice is scheduled for 4:30-6:30 p.m., Saturday from 1:00-3:00.

The footballers are having to vie with the field hockey team, among others, for use of the facilities. The practice Wed., Feb. 24, followed Coach Amanda Combs Warford's field hockey practice, which went from 4:30-6:30 p.m., at 7 p.m. under the stadium lights.

2021 LJHS Football Schedule

Week 0    Fri., March 12    Scrimmage (opponent, site yet to be determined)

Week 1    Fri., March 19    Morse                Away        7 p.m.

Week 2    Fri., March 26    Mira Mesa        Home        7 p.m.

Week 3    Fri., April 2        Mission Bay     Home        7 p.m.

Week 4    Fri., April 9        Christian           Away (Granite Hills HS)  7 p.m.

Week 5    Fri., April 16      San Diego HS   Home        7 p.m.

*All games - Eastern League

LJ b tennis: Photos

By Ed Piper

Nikki Zemljic

Sophomore

LJ FH: Team roster w/portraits

By Ed Piper

   Claire Telford

Senior

Goalkeeper

Headed to play at

 Denison (Ohio) College in the fall 

          

Camille Omafary-Dengler

Senior

Right midfielder

Reagan Aalbers

Junior

Right forward

   

Audrey Walton
 Sophomore

Midfielder

Ashley Brazell
Senior

Center midfielder

Vega DeLeon

Junior

Left midfielder

Nina Korevaar

Sophomore

Defense

Carly Wolf

Junior

Midfielder

Regina Cardenas

Senior

Midfielder/center defense

Charlotte Gayner

Junior

Defense

McKinley Beck

Junior

Left forward

Annie Peppers

Sophomore

Forward

Rachel Brazell

Senior

Center midfielder

Sofia Cardenas

Junior

Defense

Zoe Aalbers

Junior

Midfielder

Sylvie Bass

Junior

Defense

Allyra Ballard

Senior

Defense

Stella Wineman
Senior

Defense

LJ g golf: Opener vs. Torrey Pines Thurs., 2/25

By Ed Piper

Led by seniors Kiana Seva and Chloe Kim, La Jolla's girls golf team takes on powerful Torrey Pines at La Costa Resort Thurs., Feb. 25, in their season opener under COVID restrictions.

Coach Christie Quinn's squad, behind Seva and Kim, will be filled out in this match by freshmen Christie Kim and sisters Malia and Kiana Thacker, as well as Gloria Devitt, a senior.

LJ b golf: 1st match Thurs., 2/25 vs. Torrey Pines

By Ed Piper

In Coach Aaron Quesnell's swan song before assuming the Athletic Director's reins, La Jolla's boys golf team takes on Torrey Pines at La Costa Resort and Spa Thurs., Feb. 25, in its opening match of the shortened 2021 season.

The Viking boys, who only sneaked in seven playing dates in 2020 before COVID shut down spring sports, send out senior Richard Chao, freshman Nathan Wittkow, sophomore Kaden Ward, freshman Ciaran Snyder, junior Edwin Feinberg, and freshman Evan Upatham, in that order, against the Falcons, who always rate at or near the top of CIF San Diego Section golf sextets.

In last year's opener against Torrey Pines, La Jolla got smoked by 41 strokes, which isn't bad, considering the strength of the TPHS program.

The Vikings are a young team led by Chao, the sole senior in the top six. Three freshman and a sophomore populate the six, which portends for a new and refreshing ride in this COVID season.

LJ track: April 15 start-up

By Ed Piper

"Practices started this past week," LJHS head track coach Paul Byrne said Saturday morning, Feb. 20.

He has a tentative, not-yet-posted schedule for the abbreviated 2021 season, under COVID restrictions, listing five meets before Eastern League Finals June 4.

Thurs., 4/15          Serra/Morse at La Jolla, 4 p.m.

Thurs., 4/22          La Jolla at Mission Bay, 4 p.m.

Thurs., 4/29          (no meet scheduled for LJ)

Thurs., 5/6            Hoover at La Jolla, 4 p.m.

Thurs., 5/13          La Jolla at San Diego, 4 p.m.

Thurs., 5/20          Saints/OLP at La Jolla, 4 p.m.

5/28                      JV Conference Invitational

6/4                        Eastern League Finals

6/12                      CIF Prelims

6/19                      CIF Finals

6/26                      CIF State

LJ swim: 'Just getting some muscle tone'

LJ swimmers line up on both sides of Coggan Pool

just before they initiate their Wed., Feb. 17 workout.

The two lines are necessitated by COVID regulations

to decrease packing, according to Coach Tom Atwell.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"You see a lot of guys just trying to get some muscle tone," said Coach Tom Atwell, standing poolside at Coggan on the LJHS campus, overseeing a workout of the Viking girls and boys swim teams Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 17. Amy Jennings, able fellow coach of the Vikings, was pacing the pool deck nearby.

From March 13 a year ago, until the turn of the year 2020-2021, Atwell observed, some--many?--of their swimmers had not done much in the way of activity to keep their fitness, much less improve on it during the course of the COVID virus.

"But everybody else is in the same boat," he realized. University City, La Jolla's opening opponent in the two teams' initial meet Sat., March 13, 2021, has to deal with the same obstacles. St. Augustine and OLP, the Vikings' opposition the following week in meet number two March 20, will have to overcome similar. And so forth.

La Jolla will face six opponents on six successive Saturdays--the day of the week when Coggan Pool has fewer obstacles toward inhibiting the threat of COVID, with less "community" swimmers, and so forth--followed by City Conference Prelims and Finals April 16-17, then CIF Finals April 21-24.

At least, that's the way CIF has mapped  out the meets at this point, looking ahead one and two months with COVID numbers dropping at present and students still at home dealing with distance learning in their classes.

Atwell, the long-time coach, wanted to spotlight five individuals to keep an eye on during the truncated 2021 season:

--Josh Lolly, senior, 100-meter butterfly and freestyle.

--Rhys Bugelli, senior. "The third of four Bugellis," commented Atwell. One sibling is a goalie in water polo at UCSD. Another swims at UC Irvine. "The fourth kid, Finn, is a sophomore (at LJHS)."

--Natalie Dimeo, junior, butterfly.

--Jade Espinosa, junior. "Espinosa with an 's'," the head coach specified. 200-meter intermediate medley.

--Gavin Olson. "Paige's little brother. She's a freshman at Stanford, not playing, 'just' a student." 500-meter; maybe 200-meter.

Viking swimmers go through their paces in "building some muscle tone",

in Atwell's words, during the mid-week workout. LJHS enters

its first competition in the COVID era Sat., March 13, at home

against intercity rival University City.

LJ xc: Girls wax Cavers, boys not so good

By Ed Piper

Three 9th-grade girls, having never set foot on the La Jolla High campus for classes with distance learning in effect, led a five-way sweep for the Vikings over San Diego High in the schools' long-awaited first cross country meet Friday morning, Feb. 12, held at Serra High.

Coach Mandy Benham's girls, spotlighting new LJHS students Kyra Fisk, Daphne Mayer, and Shannon Cao, scored the maximum 15 points against zero for the Cavers as Fisk led the field by over a minute against her nearest competitor, San Diego's Nina Graner, in 19:40.66.

The course was laid out over Serra's terrain, beginning and ending on the football field below and behind the school campus on what turned out to be a 50-degree morning, not unpleasant for running.

The Vikings' event marked the first official competition the school has taken part in since classes were suspended March 13, 2020, due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Since then, there have been starts and stops, with CIF struggling over scheduling and when and how to meet the California Department of Public Health's restrictions over social contact and number of competitors.

La Jolla's boys, with sophomore Isaac Chu and freshman Elijah Vaz leading the six-runner contingent, fell to the Caver boys, 19-38, in the supremely team nature of the sport. Chu ran the 2.9-mile course in 17:29.56, while Vaz, another newcomer to the Viking program, followed in 17:48.43, good for fifth and sixth place.

Running one-three-six in the girls' race, Mayer recorded a time of 21:20.19 for third place. Cao, also a  freshman, timed out in 22:25.66 for sixth place, the Vikings' last runner to count for team points.

The other Viking girls who contributed to the team score included Sasha Backus, a junior, running fourth in 21:41.36; and Hannah Nightingale, a senior finishing her final year in high school with COVID-19 finally appearing to have met its match as the school year begins to wind down, in fifth place in 22:16.24.

On the boys side, San Diego High's Noah Ramos led the field with a time of 16:36.05, over half a minute ahead of his nearest teammate.

Down from Chu and Vaz for the Vikings, landing in eighth place was LJHS sophomore Matthew Nunes (18:05.82) and Christopher Ruff, a freshman (18:11.51).

The meet was the Vikings' 2020 opener in a revised "Season 1" schedule. Tennis, golf, and swimming will start up in the unique COVID situation in the next several weeks. All are sports that afford distance and safety under the CDPH guidelines for the virus.

LJ x-c: First meet Fri., Feb. 12

Cross country hopefuls at Canyon Crest Academy (where the reporter is

subbing this week) take off for some road work Tuesday afternoon,

Feb. 9. Only "essential workers" are allowed at La Jolla High's

opening meet this Fri., Feb. 12 at Serra High, so the reporter shares

these images in advance of the Vikings' meet

with you instead. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In the first live sports event since COVID hit 11 months ago, the La Jolla High cross country teams will compete against San Diego High at Serra High this Fri., Feb. 12, with activities beginning on the Serra High football field down below and behind the school at 9 a.m.

"Our girls should do well," said Viking head coach Mandy Benham Wed., Feb. 10. "Their boys are really strong, so that's going to be tough."

Temperatures should hover in the 50-degree range at that hour, not unpleasant for running but making it a little tough for warming up pre-race.

"There's a little flux right now (in who is going to run)," said Joni LeSage, long-time assistant coach of the Viking runners Wed., Feb. 10. "Mandy has several runners (in the mix who are going through preseason workouts)."

La Jolla High got word last week that cross country events were a live item. The sport is the first to be able to take the field or court since the coronavirus raised its evil head Fri., March 13, 2020 and school classes were postponed, then cancelled beginning March 16 a year ago.

Later in the spring, a makeshift form of distance learning classes was instituted, with teachers mandated not to give lower grades than what students were earning on the day of the cancellation, Friday the 13th.

The Vikings' athletes, as have other competitors, have had to deal with the up-and-down nature of scheduling and events in the midst of shutdowns, restrictions at home, prohibitions on team workouts, and a whole host of other issues and proclamations coming out from school, community leaders, the Centers for Disease Control, the White House, you name it in the past 11 months.

What a wild ride it has been, culminating in this first event Friday, through cancellations of the rest of Spring sports last March-April-May 2020, and no league or CIF championships; then the same for Fall 2020 and Winter 2020-2021 until now.

LJHS Athletic Director Paula Conway texted earlier this week "only essential workers" can attend Friday's event, so stay tuned as far as coverage and the progression of succeeding events in coming weeks.

The location of Friday's meet has to do with CIF's directives to use courses laid out on school campuses. What LJHS did, apparently, was identify Serra High as a site with a course already laid out. CIF directs that courses should not cross any streets (presumably for athletes' safety), and if the course does cross streets, to make it a minimum of streets.

As a result, La Jolla runs against San Diego High at 9 am. Another pair of schools follows at 10 a.m., and so forth.

Morley Field, where the Vikings usually run in meets, is closed to meets due to COVID restrictions.

On Mon., Feb. 8, CCA candidates do the familiar swing-the-leg

warmup exercise for runners on the school track

prior to setting out on their respective "pod" workouts

across Carmel Valley during the afternoon.

Griffen: 'I'm fired up'

Johnny Griffen (wearing "LJ" letterman's jacket

in center) with family members.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Johnny Griffen, an offensive lineman for the CIF Division 4-winning La Jolla High football team in 2019, celebrated college letter of intent signing day with a gathering of family and teammates Wed., Feb. 3, held at La Jolla Shores beach.

"They (Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon) have a really great program," said the Viking senior, whose high school team has not been able to get on the field for games this season due to coronavirus restrictions. He plans to pursue physical therapy in his college studies at the small private liberal arts school.

PU is located in northwest Oregon, 25 miles west of Portland. The town of Forest Grove is a short jaunt from the Washington state border. Pacific University was founded in 1849. Their mascot is the Boxers.

Pacific is an NCAA Division III school, playing in the Northwest Conference.

Stated Griffen, "I'm fired up, not even for myself, but for my brothers (LJHS teammates)," as he looked out on a group of about 40 people that included his father and brother on the lawn near the main lifeguard station.

"The support I have is unimaginable," the senior said, "from the team moms and everyone else."

"I just want to thank my coach, Coach Clay (Eubank), who molded me into the player I am, and my coach this year, Coach 'Juice' (Scott Hughley)."

Teammates line up for a photo with the three February signees, Johnny Griffen,

Devin Bale (crouching, front left), and Isaac Ramirez (front center).

LJ FB: 3 sign letters

 

Viking seniors (from left) Isaac Ramirez, Johnny Griffen,

and Devin Bale sign college letters of intent

in event held at La Jolla Shores Wed., Feb. 3,

before adoring family and teammates.

(Photo by Ed Piper)