March 7, 2008

Evergreen Sports

Making a splash: synchronized swimming for the Santa Clara Aquamaids

By Helen Hong
Special to the Times

Biz Burns, a resident of Evergreen, teaches the basics of synchronized swimming as part of the Friends, Fitness and Fun program at the Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club. “Internationally, this sport is like soccer, but in the States, it is not,” she comments. Burns hopes to broaden perspectives on this sport by promoting and spreading the word of the Aquamaids organization.

Since its founding in 1964 by Wilbur Luick, the Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club has trained world-class athletes to produce more than 58 percent of all Olympic synchronized swimmers for the United States. Currently, the Aquamaids, a team consisting of youths between seven and 25 years of age, are preparing to represent the USA Olympic synchronized swimming team in Beijing this summer.

Through recruitment of experienced and world-renowned coaches, the Aquamaids have gained an international reputation for synchronized swimming. Chris Carver, the current head coach and three-time participant in the Olympics, has brought the Aquamaids to its record of 15 national championship titles. She trained some of USA’s gold-medal swimmers for the 1996 Olympics, and as head coach of the USA National Olympic Team, she has also worked with the two Aquamaids, Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova, who brought the nation an Olympic medal for duets in 2004.

With 48 years of experience and vigorous competition, the Aquamaids continue to train swimmers for the upcoming Olympics this August. Athletes engage in six to eight hours of training a day while squeezing in academic activities and/or jobs into their tight schedules. This year, the exceptional coaching staff has attracted athletes from countries including Russia, Netherlands, Peru, Switzerland, Aruba and Japan. In the midst of challenging training, however, the Santa Clara Aquamaids are also offering swim lessons for beginners in the afternoon.

Before the Olympic team leaves for Beijing, they will hold an exhibition in the George E. Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara on May 24. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to witness world-class coaches and swimmers in action.

For more information, contact Biz Burns at bizkburns@yahoo.com or the Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club at www.aquamaids.com.

Silver Creek Sportsplex Grand Opening

Silver Creek Sportsplex will hold a grand opening celebration. Mar. 15. The grand opening will feature a ribbon cutting by Councilmember Forrest Williams, as well as a variety of family-friendly activities, food, live music, demonstration classes, and more. San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie will visit, as will several San Jose Sharks players.

The 240,000 square foot Silver Creek Sportsplex, located in south San Jose at 800 Embedded Way, is a multi-faceted fitness and sports destination catering to today’s active families and individuals. The Sportsplex, which brings together a group of partner businesses offering state-of-the-art programming and amenities, features a spectacular Club One Fitness center, four indoor turf arenas, three state-of-the-art rink systems for inline hockey, a party destination, retail store, restaurant, banquet/event rooms, and more.

Size and age is no matter for girl’s basketball team

By Jeremy Barousse
Special to the Times

The Evergreen Valley High School girl’s basketball team proved that size is not an requirement this season, winning the Mt. Hamilton division title of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with only two players taller than 5 foot 4.

And the fact the team was made of mostly sophomores makes the team’s story more sensational.

“It was kind of surprising,” said Evergreen Valley girls basketball coach Dan Johnson. “We’re so young and so short, we were very quick and had a great season.”

The team went 11-3 in league, which was good enough to earn them byes in the first two rounds of the Central Coast Section playoffs.

They were able to fend off second-place Santa Teresa with a pair of close wins that came down to the final shot in both of their meetings. The Cougars eventually ran into Piedmont Hills High School in the quarterfinals and lost.

But what made Johnson’s team so unique was that they used the height and speed to their advantage. Instead of running a traditional offense with a pair of guards, two wings and a post-player, Johnson made his starting five all guards.

“Our fifth fastest player was a lot faster than their fifth fastest player,” Johnson said. “Our five-guard offense would exploit the other team’s forwards and centers to how slow they are. We didn’t have too many plays, we would just run up the floor quickly and score.”

And with young, fresh legs, the team was able to outrun most of its opponents off the dribble.

Two of the team’s leading season scorers were sophomores, 5-7 guard Lanyssa Fiaui, who averaged 14 points-per-game on the season, and 5-4 guard Alyssa Prudencio with 11.5 ppg.

Both Evergreen Valley standouts were selected as All-League first team players. “It was surprising in a sense that they were mostly sophomores,” the third-year coach added. “The girls really stepped it up. It was a fun team to coach because of the style of basketball that we played. It was more of letting them have free reign out on the court.”

With a roster full of sophomores, Johnson will have the majority of the team coming back next year in what he hopes to be another successful season. “We want to win the division again next year and go further in CCS,” Johnson said. “We’ve shown that we can be good if not better than this year. We went undefeated in the “C” division a few years ago, but going 11-3 in the “A” division is a little harder to do.”

Cougars kick off season with a pair of late-game comebacks

By Jeremy Barousse
Special to the Times

The Evergreen Valley High School girls softball team has kicked off its season with a pair of late-game comebacks with a tie to Archbishop Mitty and a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Mountain View High School last Tuesday.

The lady Cougars went into the bottom of the seventh inning down 5-1 and produced five straight singles in a row to the tie the game.

Senior Erin Mendiola was down to her last strike when she singled home the winning run to seal the win. Junior Bianca Molina led the scoring attack for the Cougars going 2 for 3 with a double and was the game’s winning pitcher with a five-hit complete game. The Cougars had nine hits total.

Evergreen Valley softball coach Rick Flores said he is pleased with his team’s efforts in its pair of late-game comebacks. “I’m very proud of these girls,” Flores said. “These last two games we had to come from behind. Bianca has been doing great for us so far.”

Molina also pitched a complete game in the Cougars’ season opener against Mitty.

Evergreen Valley came from behind in the seventh inning to tie the Monarchs at three and send the game into extra innings. The game looked to be over when Mitty scored three runs in the top of the eighth but the Cougars rallied right back and scored three in the bottom half. The game eventually went 10 innings and was called due to darkness.

The young team has started its league season with 1-0-1 record and will host Leigh High School next Tuesday for its league opener in the Mt. Hamilton division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

With the start of the 2008 season in sight, Flores said that his team is looking forward to getting some games under his belt and producing some wins. “We are an excellent team,” Flores said. “We are a young team but we are looking to gain much more experience. Hopefully, after these two games, we are on the road to winning.”

EVERGREEN SPORTS SCHEDULES 3/8 - 3/21

Evergreen Valley High
3-11 – Boys’ tennis v. Yerba Buena

3-13 – Boys’ tennis at Westmont
3-13 – Swimming v. Westmont
3-13 – Track meet at Willow Glen

3-14 – Baseball at Sobrato

3-18 – Badminton at Westmont
3-18 – Baseball at Willow Glen
3-18 – Boys’ tennis at Leland
3-18 – Softball v. Leigh

3-19 – Swimming v. Leigh
3-19 – Track meet at Mt. Pleasant

3-20 – Badminton v. Piedmont Hills
3-20 – Baseball v. Willow Glen
3-20 – Boys’ tennis v. Prospect
3-20 – Softball at Santa Teresa

Mt. Pleasant High
3-10 – Badminton at Gunderson

3-12 – Badminton v. Yerba Buena
3-12 – Baseball at Lincoln

3-13 – Swimming v. Sobrato
3-13 – Track meet at Silver Creek

3-14 – Badminton at Leigh
3-14 – Baseball v. Lincoln

3-18 – Baseball v. Prospect
3-18 – Softball v. Prospect

3-19 – Swimming at Prospect
3-19 – Track meet v. Evergreen

3-20 – Baseball at Prospect
3-20 – Softball at Del Mar

Silver Creek High
3-11 – Baseball at San Jose

3-13 – Baseball at Gunderson
3-13 – Swimming v. Branham
3-13 – Track meet v. Mt. Pleasant

3-18 – Badminton at Independence
3-18 – Baseball v. Overfelt
3-18 – Softball v. Branham

3-19 – Swimming at Willow Glen
3-19 – Track meet at Willow Glen

3-20 – Badminton at Westmont
3-20 – Baseball at Yerba Buena
3-20 – Softball v. Independence


For more information on local games, log on to the BVAL web site at www.bval.org.

—Helen Hong

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