May 25, 2004

Evergreen Sports

Strong finish for EVHS swim teams
Martinez wins 200-yard freestyle at CCS

By Jeffrey Lo
Times Intern

The Evergreen Valley High School boys and girls varsity swim teams finished strong in the Santa Teresa Division finals on April 30, with the girls receiving second place honors and boys receiving third place.

Representing EVHS, sophomore Jamie Martinez moved on to compete in this year’s Central Coast Section (CCS) championships in May. She won first place in the 200-yard freestyle for the second year in a row.

Last year, Jamie won first place in both the 500- and 200-yard freestyle as a freshman at the CCS championships. “She’s probably one of the best swimmers I’ve ever seen,” said Coach Christin Lueder about Jamie’s tremendous talent.

Her fellow teammates agree.“She is an amazing swimmer and a real nice person too,” said freshman Klayton Tang, the junior varsity captain.

Martinez was the top swimmer on the EVHS squad. She competed in both individual and relay competitions for EVHS. “I was happy with my performance at this year’s CCS,” said Martinez. “The season turned out good.”

The EVHS swim teams endured many struggles throughout the season including the lack of a pool at EVHS earlier in the year and the late arrival of swimsuits. Prior to the completion of the EVHS swimming pool, the swim teams were forced to conduct practices at the Silver Creek and Independence High School pools.

“We’ve all gotten to know each other pretty well throughout this whole season,” commented sophomore Seton Chiang, boys varsity captain, when asked if the swimmers have bonded as a team. “We have all improved so much since the beginning of the season.”

Despite the changing venues of their practices, swimmer Dan Hoang said, “We worked hard during practices, but we were held back by the fact that we were forced to start late. But the hard work paid off; we were able to beat most of the schools we competed against. I am personally proud of this season.”

EVHS’ strong performance this year leaves the team satisfied with high hopes for next year. The swimmers know that they must continue to work hard to hone their skills, and they have some time to do so with a majority of the team consisting of underclassmen.

“We have so much talent for such a young team,” said junior swimmer Elizabeth Burns about the team that includes no departing seniors.

The lack of senior leadership may have worked to Evergreen’s advantage. “This past season we worked really hard, because we knew we didn’t have any seniors to carry us through,” Burns added.

Coach Lueder is no exception to the pattern of youth on the team. This is her second year coaching on the high school level. And with all the swimmers returning next year, there is only room for improvement for next year’s team.
Junior swimmer Thomas Eng added, “You can bet that having seniors and new freshmen on the team will make us even better.”

Silver Creek badminton ends another winning season

Seniors take boys doubles badminton championship

By John Medalen
Staff Writer

Silver Creek High School delivered another successful badminton season, sending 10 players to the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships compared with five players last year. The top three places in each of the five categories (boys and girls singles, boys and girls doubles and mixed doubles) qualify for CCS.

A high point of this year’s season was seniors’ Ellis Tran and Johnny Chieng winning the boys doubles championship. They were seeded number one in the championships and easily beat their final opponent 15-3, 15-3. Last year, Tran and Hanh Dinh won the mixed doubles championship.

Prior to their final championship match, Tran and Chieng were confident of their chances and joked, “We want to take it all, take them down!” Their opponents were Brandon Poon and Jason Mei from Gunn High School, the number two seeds. “We played them during the regular season and beat them.”

It is a fitting finish for Tran and Chieng, who have been playing for five years. They started in eighth grade by practicing with the junior varsity team. Both have older siblings that also played.

Chieng played a lot of open gym and local tournaments to hone his skills. “It’s a fun sport and a tough sport.”

He played singles and doubles during league play and even tried mixed doubles. “That didn’t work out so well,” commented Chieng. He qualified for singles for league finals, but opted to concentrate on his doubles play.

Tran played mixed doubles during league competition. To hone his skills, he took badminton classes at Evergreen Valley College. “You can learn techniques by watching others and keeping what works best.”

Tran and Chieng note that badminton is not a sport for slackers. Training consists of an hour of conditioning, including footwork, jogging, jump rope, wall sits, line sprints, side slides,and cross-overs. When that’s done, they actually start playing badminton.

Both champs are a bit sad about seeing their primary badminton careers coming to a close. They will be attending San Jose State next year, where they plan to join the badminton club and hopefully compete in some tournaments. The club competes with various University of California teams, but it’s not as structured as most major college sports.

Coach will miss champions
Coach Margaret Nunes will miss her senior champions. “They are good students and good kids. And they are so well mannered. They represent the sport well.”

Coach Nunes notes the uniqueness of the two seniors. “Not a lot of boys play all four years. Most usually get involved during gym class and then take up the sport during their sophomore or junior year.” Tran played all four years on varsity, with Chieng playing some varsity as a freshman before moving up full time in his sophomore year.

Silver Creek, which plays in the top-tiered Mount Hamilton Athletic League (MHAL), qualified players for each of the five categories in the double elimination CCS championships.

Those who qualified were David Tahi (boys singles), Wendy Keo (girls singles), Danh Tran and Tran Nguyen (mixed doubles), Hanh Dinh and Michelle Pham (girls doubles), Richard Luong and David Nguyen (boys doubles) and Ellis Tran and Johnny Chieng (boys doubles).

Tran and Chieng were also team captains this season, as were Tahi and Dinh.

Silver Creek cheerleaders qualify for nationals

Hard work, dedication pays off

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Head coach Ojae Balgos will be the first to admit that it was a difficult and trying year for the Silver Creek (SC) High School cheerleaders.

Yet despite all odds, Silver Creek recently qualified for and competed in the United Spirit Association High School Spirit Nationals in Anaheim, Calif., for the fourth year in a row. Only 20 teams from around the country qualified to compete in their division.

“We started with 33 kids in the beginning of the year, but due to kids quitting and being dismissed for various reasons, it was difficult to maintain a sense of consistency,” explained Balgos, a 1999 Silver Creek graduate and former SC cheerleader. “Of those 33 students, only 18 students were able to complete the entire year.”

Then, of the 18 students who stayed on the team throughout the year, three couldn’t afford the trip to nationals. Other responsibilities kept a fourth student from attending, so the reduced squad competed in the Small Varsity Show Cheer Novice division for teams of 14 or less students.

According to Balgos, the disadvantage of having a smaller squad is an inability to do large, difficult pyramids and sequences, yet fewer girls means a less crowded floor and more mobility.

“The 14 girls that did go all the way through and were able to get on the nationals floor were very dedicated. I could not have asked for a more determined and hard working group of kids,” said Balgos, who is also a full-time student at San Jose State University.

He noted that this group really showed how dedicated they could be, especially since only six of the 14 were seniors and seven of those students were first-time participants at the national level.

“Their performance at nationals was just a testimony of how much they love to cheer and perform in front of people,” said Balgos. “I am really very proud of what they did to get where they did.”

He also commended the efforts of assistant cheer coaches Katie Honda, a Santa Teresa High School graduate and Roxanne Mena, a Silver Creek graduate.

Graduating seniors continue cheering
“This has been a really good experience and helped me grow in so many ways outside of cheerleading,” said Tiffany Chambers, who began cheering for Ley Va Middle School in seventh grade. Since then, she has competed in five national competitions.

“I got to meet a lot of cool people, I’m more outgoing, and I don’t have stage fright anymore,” she added. “I hope to be cheering a long time, and maybe I’ll come back to Silver Creek as a coach.”

Tiffany is well on her way in meeting that goal. She recently accepted a job with JAMZ, a cheerleading company based in Modesto, Calif. JAMZ is a youth and all star-focused company that provides summer camps, clinics and competitions.

In the fall, Tiffany will be attending DeAnza College and joining Starstruck, a competitive, college-level coed All-Star cheer team. She’s also looking into cheering on a traditional college team for DeAnza.

Jessica Pinon, in her first year as a Silver Creek cheerleader and returning next year, said, “Cheerleading has made me very proud of my school. I am also very proud of our cheer squad, because we all worked very hard for this event.

Hopefully next year will be a greater victory, and we will go to nationals again!”

Competition, cost impact cheer programs
“Cheerleading over the years has become one of the most competitive and athletic sports that we see available to high school students,” commented Balgos. “The days of long skirts, pom poms and performing only at football and basketball games are slowly fading away.”

He noted that with the influx of all-star cheer gyms, competitive high school teams are losing ground, and many schools have chosen to completely eliminate cheer programs due to the expense.

“Most, if not all, of the money that is needed to participate on a competitive cheerleading team is out of the pocket of the parents,” added Balgos. “The cost of uniforms, summer camp, competition fees and traveling costs to competitions are all absorbed by the parents of the participant. This is a huge reason why cheerleading is unavailable to some students in our area.”

How can you help?
“The community can help our students by giving monetary donations and participating in fundraisers,” said Balgos, who is planning on having numerous car washes, sponsorship drives, youth cheer clinics, etc. to raise money.

“But these fundraisers only yield a small percentage of the overall cost that the families must carry,” added. “I’ve found that corporate donations are the best means for raising money.”

Looking ahead to next year, Balgos said he is “focusing a lot more on learning correct cheer technique so that we can execute more difficult, intricate routines. It is my goal next year to take my team back to nationals and hopefully come home with a trophy.”

Although the initial cheerleading tryouts for Silver Creek’s 2004-05 squad have passed, a second tryout will be held at the beginning of the school year, and tryouts for a new competitive Hip Hop dance team will also be held. For more information or fundraising ideas, contact Ojae Balgos,(408) 981-1462.

EVC’s summer soccer camp cancelled

By Dan King
Staff Writer

Evergreen Valley College announced cancellation by organizers of youth soccer, basketball, volleyball and badminton camps, along with adult fitness classes. All were scheduled for the college’s athletic fields this summer. According to one of the camp organizers, similar camps last summer served more than 500 children and outside use of the soccer fields generated $72,000 for the EVC Soccer Foundation.

Clay Whitlow, president of Evergreen Valley College, said Randy Pratt, Evergreen Valley College athletic director and Minerva Duke, physical education instructor, sent out a message saying they had decided not to hold the camps this year. Whitlow said the school had nothing to do with the cancellation.

Evergreen resident Meri Coleman, who organized the camps with Pratt and Duke, said the camp was cancelled because the college wouldn’t cooperate. Pratt did not return phone calls from the Times.

Coleman said the college is making Pratt the scapegoat for the camp cancellations, when the college is refusing to provide the staff the San José/ Evergreen Community College District requires for using the facilities.

In an April 22 memo to District Chancellor Geraldine Evans, Whitlow wrote, “We never planned to cancel the summer camps. I suspect that the public may be confusing the summer camps, which are college sponsored, with outside groups.”

In the memo, Whitlow noted that outside groups need to be supervised by a college employee. “Unlike a city parks and recreation department, we have a potential legal liability when outside groups use our facility… It would be imprudent to rent the facilities without making sure that we have the proper insurance coverage and supervision by a college employee.”

Coleman formerly worked for the EVC Soccer Foundation organizing the use of the college soccer fields. On March 23, the college dismissed Cole-man and another foundation employee. She said she believed the termination was because of district classified employee union restrictions.

The field usage was discussed at the May 11 San Jose/ Evergreen Community College District board meeting. A group of four soccer organizers, led by Coleman, complained to the board about the difficulty of using the Evergreen soccer fields.

Whitlow said there is no problem with community usage of the soccer field or other facilities as long as they follow the procedures.

“There is no issue,” he said at the board meeting. “We are not opposed to community use of our faculties, including the soccer field.” Coleman, who lives in Evergreen, said the college discourages use of the field by not returning calls, not responding to requests and letting the fields and courts deteriorate.

“I think there is always going to be tension between those that think we should be like a parks and recreation department, where the public can go and just use our facilities anytime, and those, like me, who want to have some boundaries,” Whitlow said.

Coleman said the problem is the school requires district employee supervision when using the college facilities. And, she added, there is no staff in place to deal with the situation. She said prior to her dismissal, the system was working.

“Due to these dismissals there is no one assigned to supervise, oversee usage, deal with scheduling conflicts, collect donations and confirm paperwork is in order,” she said. “Because of lack of supervision, fights have occurred, beer bottles have been found, trash is left on the fields and fields are used without authorization.”

Whitlow said that the college is planning to hire staff, but as a public entity, the college must abide by union considerations and district hiring procedures, which is a long process.

Regarding the deterioration of the athletic fields, Whitlow said that has happened because neither the racquetball courts nor outdoor basketball courts are tied to any class sessions.

“Our basketball class is now indoors,” he said. “People don’t play racquetball anymore. At one time it was widely popular. In hindsight, it was a big mistake to build a building just for racquetball. I still don’t understand why anyone would do that, especially without bathrooms in it.”

Coleman said she is worried about the soccer field, which is only used by two soccer classes for a total of about nine hours a week.

“Without community use and camps, the fields could end up as the tennis, racquetball and basketball courts have,” she said. “If it is the responsibility of the college, as a tax-supported institution, to take care of its facilities and its primary responsibility is to teaching and learning, why are the facilities allowed to deteriorate?”

The college’s lighted tennis courts, often used by community members, were recently resurfaced, but two long cracks already mar the surface.

Evergreen seventh grade boys win Rawlings Division
of NJB All-Net National Tournament

Showtime, the seventh grade boys National Junior Basketball (NJB) All-Net team from Evergreen, advanced to the Northern California Chapter playoffs after an 11 and 3 regular season record. They also captured the 2004 title Seventh Grade Boys NJB National Champions of the Rawlings Division.

Seeded third, playing Coyote Creek in the first round of the playoffs, Showtime pulled together a win with a buzzer-beating shot by Tyler Murakami to advance to the semifinals. The 31 to 27 win over Coyote demonstrated that their overall defense was good, but the team struggled offensively.

In the semifinals, Evergreen faced Redwood City, a team that had defeated Showtime during the regular season. “We knew that this game would be tough, and that we would have to play our best,” said Head Coach Vernon Grant. “What a game they played, truly one of their best performances by far. They went on to defeat Redwood City, 63 to 52.”

Grant noted outstanding defensive efforts by Royal Burrell, Kyle Hype, Matthias Froehlich, Paolo Fuentes, Tyler Hartman, Tyler Murakami and Mehakpal Grewal. Jordan Gallagher with 26 points and Shawn Grant with 22 Points demonstrated outstanding defensive and offensive efforts.

The finals paired up Evergreen with Palo Alto, another team that had defeated Showtime in the regular season. Showtime played consistent offense and defense throughout the game, down by two points with a few seconds remaining in the game.
Taking a timeout to set-up an out-of-bounds play that had worked all season for them, Showtime tied up the game. Although Evergreen lost in overtime, 43 to 49, they took second in Northern California and still qualified to play down south in the Rawlings Seventh Grade Boys National Tournament.

Advancing to the National Tournament
The National Tournament for the Rawlings Division consisted of four pools and 12 teams, and Evergreen’s Showtime was placed in Pool A along with teams from Chino Hills and Santa Ana in Southern California.

“Knowing that we had to win at least one to advance to the quarter finals, the boys were pumped and played another outstanding game, defeating Chino Hills by 24, with a final score of 65 to 41,” said Grant.

In that game, the coach noted outstanding defensive and offensive efforts by Royal Burrell, 2 points; Matthias Froehlich, 10 points; Jordan Gallagher, 11 points; Shawn Grant, 12 points; Tyler Hartman, 6 points; Kyle Hypes, 15 points; and Tyler Murakami, 20 points.

Their next opponent was Santa Ana, which had lost to Chino Hills earlier by 10 points.

“The boys came out slow, giving up easy buckets and making turnovers,” remembers Grant. “At this point, I had to call a timeout to settle our team down. Once they took the floor again, they played the best overall team ball that I had ever witnessed, defeating Santa Ana by 38, with a final score of 78 to 40.”

Two chances to win
By Sunday afternoon, the first game of the quarter final round, it was either win and advance or lose and go home. Showtime’s opponent was Rancho Cucamonga, a team that had placed second in their pool.

“After playing two outstanding games the day before, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that our team was hungry,” said Grant. “We jumped to an early lead, playing good defense, but not great. By half time, we were up by 10. The start of the third quarter we added 6 more points, to lead by 16, but that wasn’t enough. The team we thought we had against the rope came fighting back.”

With a few seconds left in the game, down by two points, Showtime called a timeout to diagram a play that if successful, could win the game or at least tie it up. The ball was in bounded to Jordan Gallagher who had a chance for a shot, but waited for Tyler Murakami to come off the down screen that was set for him.

After Tyler made his way around the screen, he found himself open for a great shot. With the pass from Jordan, he took the shot. The ball hit the interior of the rim, bouncing up and around in the cylinder and then out. Although he didn’t make the shot, Tyler had been fouled while making that shot, giving Showtime a chance to either tie or win.
At the free throw line, Tyler let the first of three shots go and made the point. “Knowing that the next one could tie the game, he let his second shot go, swish, nothing but net,” said Grant.

With the score tied and facing the most important shot of this game, Tyler took a deep breath and shot the ball. He ended the game making the point, for a final score of 56 to 55, earning the advancement to the semifinals.

Two more games in the semifinals
In the semifinals, Showtime faced a team from San Clemente. “We started out slow but regrouped after halftime to defeat this team by 19 points,” said Grant, noting a final score of 63 to 44.

In Showtime’s final game for the championship, they competed with Riverside South. “We started out by playing consistent offense and defense, leading at halftime by a few points,” said Grant.

At the start of the second half and with the game on the line, the team pulled together and would not quit to defeat Riverside South by 9 points, 61 to 52, capturing the title of the 2004, seventh grade boys champions, Rawlings Division, of the NJB All-Net National Tournament.

“It was an outstanding second half played by all,” concluded Grant, with his son Shawn scoring 26 points in the game.
Head Coach Vernon Grant contributed to this article.

Local youth hockey team wins state championship 

By Hal Nunn
Special to the Times 

The Santa Clara Valley Blackhawks Midget 17U A team captured the California State Ice Hockey Championship at Logitech Ice in San Jose.  

The team, which posted a 35-9-4 record during its seven-month season, included six high school students from the Evergreen area: Nick Brandau, Zack Glasow, Aaron Hernandez, Brent Nunn, Kyle Nunn and Sean Scarabough.  

The state championship annually pits the top two teams from Northern California against the two best from Southern California. This season, the Blackhawks and Oakland Bears represented the north and the Bakersfield Dragons and Ventura Mariners represented the south.  

The Blackhawks battled the Southern teams first, and after defeating Ventura 5-2, played an exciting game against a very good Bakersfield team later that day. After blowing a 4-1 lead, the Blackhawks overcame the three-goal deficit and managed to score with just 47 seconds left in the overtime period to prevail 5-4.  

Next up was Oakland, and the ‘Hawks played one of their best games of the season, winning 8-2. The team met the Oakland Bears again in the championship game, and following a very close first two periods, the Blackhawks came on strong in the third to take the championship 6-1. 

To make it to the state championship, Santa Clara first had to win the Norcal Championship in Roseville in March. Following consecutive scoreless ties with TriValley and Cupertino, the Blackhawks defeated Oakland 7-2 to advance to the championship game. There, it was a very close game against an inspired Oakland team, which ended in a 2-1 Blackhawks’ victory. 

I was very proud of the way that our players stepped it up for the state championships and how they played so well as a team. We emphasized the ‘team first’ philosophy all season and it really paid off in the playoffs. 

Hal Nunn is the head coach of the Santa Clara Valley Blackhawks Midget 17U A.