November 3, 2006

Evergreen Sports

Quimby Oak cross country runners Ngo and Soto-Garcia
take first place honors at County Finals

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

Quimby Oak Mid-dle School cross country runners Samantha Soto-Garcia and Michael Ngo completed a stellar 2006-07 season by placing first in their respective categories at the County Cross Country Finals, held Oct. 18 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy.

Quimby Oak’s Samantha Soto-Garcia and Michael Ngo finished first in their respective categories during the County Cross Country Finals on Oct. 18.

Quimby Oak head coach Jaime O’Brien, who also teaches social studies at the school, said both runners are talented and deserving of their achievements.

“Both are excellent runners,” said O’Brien, who oversees a cross country program with 112 runners at the school. “Michael is a natural leader.”

Ngo, an eighth grade runner who just finished up his second season on the Quimby Oak team, said he was nervous be-fore the race but said listening to music helped calm him down. The musical trick certainly worked, as Ngo finished minutes ahead of the pack, according to O’Brien.

“It was really exciting,” said Ngo, who finished in fourth place at County Finals as a seventh grader last season. “All the practice, it was really hard, especially that last week of practice. I was happy that it finally paid off and I actually got first (place) this year.”

Soto-Garcia, a seventh grader, finished well ahead of a pack of runners to take first place, and much like Ngo, was quite nervous at the start of the race. Still, when it was all said and done, the only feeling for Soto-Garcia was one of satisfaction.

“It felt really good because all my hard work finally paid off,” Soto-Garcia said.

Both runners took first place in all but one cross country race during the regular season, said O’Brien. All told, the Quimby Oak cross country team finished second out of 20 county schools at the finals.

As for Soto-Garcia and Ngo, O’Brien said she sees a bright cross country future ahead for both runners as they move up into the high school ranks in the coming year.

“I’ve had several runners from my program go on to run at EVHS (Evergreen Valley High School) and they’ve been really successful,” O’Brien said. “I can see these two definitely going far in their careers with running as well.”

SPORTS BRIEFS

East Valley Girls Fastpitch Softball signups November 8th
East Valley Girls Fastpitch Softball early bird signups for girls ages 5 to 16 will be held at Round Table (White and Aborn) on November 8th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Please note: registration fees will be going up after November 8th.

Items required at the time of registration (no exceptions) are as follows:

• Complete registration form (available at registration or online) 
• Birth certificate
• Registration fee in full (no scholarships available)
• Complete release of liability and assumption of risk agreement (available at registration and online)

Volunteer signups (each family will be required to sign up)

Forms will be available at the time of registration or can be retrieved at the Web site www.eteamz.com/evsltwisters
For more information, please call the East Valley Softball League telephone line at (408) 291-3248.

San Jose Vipers Lacrosse holding fall clinics beginning Oct. 21
The Vipers are growing up and down! Spring 2007 will include, Varsity, JV, Juniors, Pups and Pee-Wee’s. Come on out and play America’s oldest team sport and the fastest growing game in California! No experience necessary. The San Jose Vipers Lacrosse club will be holding fall clinics for kids 3rd grade through 12th grade, on Nov. 4, 11 and 18 at Harker Middle School, 3800 Blackford Ave. 95117. Please visit www.viperslacrosse.net for more information or call Craig Bowers at (408) 674-8708

EVC Women’s Soccer team Gives Back to Community With BAWSI
and Girls’ Fitness Teams at Dahl Elementary School

Evergreen Valley College’s (EVC) Lady Hawks women’s soccer team, in conjunction with the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) are donating their time and hearts to 4th though 6th grade girls at Franklin-McKinley School District’s Dahl Elementary School, through the Girls’ Fitness Teams, which utilize the GoGirlGo! curriculum created by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

First-year coach Felicia Perez and her team pay a weekly visit to Dahl Elementary, where many of the pre-teenaged girls participating are from underserved families where physical activity and fitness may not be emphasized of daughters.

“Many young women at this age give up being physically active,” said Perez. “What we’ve observed with our group of girls is that they enjoy our activities and want to be physically fit. Through the GoGirlGo! curriculum, girls are allowed to have fun being active in a safe environment where all physical activity is to be celebrated. It’s not only about winning, it’s about having fun.”

EVC’s women’s soccer team sends five team members each week to Dahl Elementary, where they serve 65 girls. They are broken into five groups, with various physical activities at four stations, and a fifth station is for talking about issues important to the girls, such as self-esteem and challenges in growing up. Every week adopts an inspirational theme word, and easily attainable physical challenges are offered and all accomplishments are praised.

“We are teaching the girls about awareness of health and exercise,” said soccer team member Jaiquelyn Cota. “It’s about having fun while staying physically fit and helping the girls find a way to keep physical activity in their lives.”

“Any time our community can find a way to engage young women— underserved or not—in physical fitness is truly an investment in our future,” added San José/Evergreen Community College Chancellor Rosa Pérez. “It is our hope that the girls who are taking part in the Girls’ Fitness Teams program at Dahl Elementary will see that participating in sports and attending college while playing at the collegiate level is a reasonable and attainable goal.”

For information about EVC’s Women’s Soccer program, please contact coach Felicia Perez at (408-274-7900 ext. 6910) or Felicia.Perez@evc.edu.

EVERGREEN SPORTS SCHEDULES 11-6 to 11-17

Evergreen Valley High
11/7 – Girls’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Boys’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Girls’ tennis CCS Team Play begins, times and sites TBA

11/8 – Girls’ volleyball CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA

11/9 – Football vs. Santa Teresa, 7 p.m. varsity and 4:30 p.m. frosh/soph

11/11 – Cross country CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

11/17 – Football CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

Mt. Pleasant High
11/7 – Girls’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Boys’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Girls’ tennis CCS Team Play begins, times and sites TBA

11/8 – Girls’ volleyball CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA

11/9 – Football at Westmont, 7 p.m. varsity and 4:30 p.m. frosh/soph

11/11 – Cross country CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

11/17 – Football CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

Silver Creek High
11/7 – Girls’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Boys’ water polo CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA
11/7 – Girls’ tennis CCS Team Play begins, times and sites TBA

11/8 – Girls’ volleyball CCS Playoffs begin, times and sites TBA

11/9 – Football vs. Leland, 7:30 p.m. varsity and 5 p.m. frosh/soph

11/11 – Cross country CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

11/17 – Football CCS Playoffs begin, sites and times TBA

For more information on local games, log on to the BVAL Web site at http://www.bval.org/

For more information about CCS Playoff schedules, go to the CIF/CCS Web site at http://www.cifccs.org/

Mt. Pleasant football drops 54-18 homecoming loss to Leland

Leland running backs rack up 444 yards rushing; turnovers by Cardinals lead to Leland points in loss

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

Homecoming might have been a fun time on the dance floor for the Mt. Pleasant Cardinals, but there was little to celebrate on the football field following a 54-18 loss to Leland on Oct. 27.

The homecoming loss, which dropped the Cardinals to 2-3 in league play, saw the Chargers rack up 444 yards rushing, while outscoring Mt. Pleasant 40-6 in the second half. Needless to say, Mt. Pleasant head coach Clancey O’Hara was disappointed with the loss.

Leland’s Adam Ondi brings down Mt. Pleasant’s Mark Flores during a 54-18 loss to the Chargers on Oct. 27. Ondi did the bulk of his damage on offense, rushing for a game-high 201 yards. Photos by Pat Killen

“They didn’t come out very well in the first half and I think they let us play with them, and then they stepped it up and we didn’t,” O’Hara said of the loss to Leland. “That’s why they are the way they are, and why we’re not very good.”
Still, the Cardinal offense’s reputation this season was enough to have Leland head coach Jason Tenner worried prior to the start of the game.

“They’re a talented team,” Tenner said of Mt. Pleasant. “I always dread coming down here because you play hardnosed kids who get after it. We just kept at it and pulled it out today.”

Offensively, the Cardinals operated efficiently in the first half, trailing Leland by just a 14-12 margin at the half before things turned south quickly in the second half. Quarterback Johnny Sandate completed 9 of 13 passes for 139 yards, but threw a third quarter interception to Leland’s Nate Jones that led to one of three scoring drives by the Chargers in the third quarter. In addition, running back Travis Driskell led all Cardinal running backs with 91 yards rushing and a touchdown on 17 carries, while receivers Mark Flores and Tyler Miller combined for 10 catches and 150 yards.

The Cardinals scored on their opening offensive possession of the game, going 69 yards on just five plays that saw a 27-yard pass from Sandate to Miller to put the Cardinals into Leland territory. The Cardinals led 6-0 soon after, following a 10-yard touchdown run from David Valenzuela with 9:34 to go in the first quarter.

Trailing 14-6 at the start of the second quarter, Mt. Pleasant cut the Chargers’ lead to two, driving the ball 68 yards on 18 plays, highlighted by a one-yard run from Valenzuela with 4:51 left in the first half.

From there however, things turned for the worse, as Leland began the third quarter with a three-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to jump ahead 21-12. Soon after, with the Cardinal offense stalled at their own 39, a high snap on a punt play sailed over punter Flores’ head, forcing Flores to down the ball at the Cardinal 8 and setting Leland’s offense up with premium field position. The Chargers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard again, as running back Kevin Krail scampered in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run with 2:20 left for a 27-12 lead.

“It’s been our season like that,” O’Hara said of the high snap on the punt play that placed the Leland offense inside Mt. Pleasant territory. “We’ve had those happen in almost every game that we’ve lost. …When things go bad, things snowball for us. I don’t think we’ve learned how to handle the adversity yet.”

Just over a minute later, Leland found the end zone again, the result of a Sandate pass that was picked off by Jones near midfield. Jones ran the ball back to the Mt. Pleasant 8, which was followed by a Lance Gemette touchdown run with 1:00 left in the third quarter, bumping Leland’s lead to 33-12.

The Cardinals managed one more scoring drive in the game, a 52-yard, eight-play drive featuring a three-yard touchdown run from Driskell with 9:59 left, cutting the lead to 33-18.

Still, that wasn’t enough to stop the Leland offense, which proceeded to score three more times in the fourth quarter, as running back Adam Ondi scored on a 39-yard touchdown run with 9:15 left, followed by a one-yard sneak from quarterback Ricky Battipede at 5:38, and a 57-yard touchdown run from Zeyad Zaky with 2:29 left in the game. Ondi led all rushers with 201 yards rushing, including 141 yards in the second half.

“We just didn’t come out in the second half,” O’Hara said. “…They (Leland) came out inspired. I think our first half, we basically woke them up. …I don’t think it was so much us playing well, I just didn’t think they (Leland) didn’t play very well in the first half and then they woke up in the second half.”

Golf tournament to help fund the Officer Richard May Foundation

Friends of Officer Richard May announced a new golf tournament in Officer May’s memory, which will be held at Stanford University Golf Course on Monday, Oct. 30.

Friends of Officer Richard May announced a new golf tournament in Officer May’s memory, which will be held at Stanford University Golf Course on Monday, Oct. 30.

Foursomes and individuals are invited to enter this first annual tournament. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Stanford Golf Course. After a putting contest and lunch, the tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Players will play a best ball scramble. The awards reception, silent auction and entertainment at the Stanford Golf Course will follow at 6 p.m. Players’ fees for this first year tournament are $250 per player. Corporate sponsorships are available at $2,000 per foursome.

Officer Richard May was gunned down on Jan. 7 this year while in pursuit of an alleged gang member. Officer May, a member of the East Palo Alto Police Department, is known for his generosity to the community and especially his spirit in helping youth and young adults.

Frank Merrill, co-chair of the Richard May Golf Tournament said, “Rich loved golf, loved kids and loved athletics. We can think of no better way to honor his work than to provide positive opportunities for young adults growing up in East Palo Alto. Our first project will be to build a rugby/soccer field in East Palo Alto in Rich’s name.”

For more information, call Anne Cribbs at (650) 856-3200 or Tami McMillan at (650) 255-5721.