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1990

Santa Cruz Sentinel Lang a Special Kind of Athlete He’s Competing in Swimming and Track
There haven’t been many breaks lately for Victor Lang, a Santa Cruz High junior who has taken on a demanding double this spring, competing on both the Cardinals’ swim team and the track team. “I’d say all the guys on the track team respect him pretty much,” Santa Cruz track coach Marty Kruger said. “I mean, by the time he’s finished a major workout, the rest of them are 2 hours from getting up in the morning.” It’s not uncommon for Lang to put in training time in the Santa Cruz High pool, then take a break long enough to dry off before he begins working out on the track at Memorial Field. Usually, though, he has put in early morning time in the pool, then gone to class all day, then followed it up with afternoon swim and track workouts. “For me, a typical day is being tired,” Lang says with a laugh. What has developed from all this is possible the best-conditioned athlete in the SCCAL. “Training is one thing,” Kruger said, “but you have to wonder how you keep the competitive edge from getting lost–particularly when he has four competitions in four days.” But Lang has developed into a good enough competitor to establish himself as the top 800 meter runner in the SCCAL, with a season-best of 1 minute 57.6 seconds, which is about 3 seconds faster than any other time that’s been posted. Lang also has the No. 3 time in the 1,600 (4:30.3) and ran on the 1,600 meter relay team that is the best in the league at 3:27.2. His best split in the relay–where he runs a bit in the shadow of team stars Mike Hones and Tim Shields–is an impressive 51.4. In the water, Lang is one of the Cardinals’ top freestyle sprinters and he anchored the 200-yard medley relay team that recorded the No. 2 time in the SCCAL this season, 1:54.61, going into Saturday’s SCCAL Swimming and Diving Championships. Individually, his bests are not great in the 50 free (24.1) or in the 100 free (53.5). But he’s confident he can hammer those two with season bests Saturday. “I’m expecting him to swim a good 100, because of all the running he’s done,” Cardinal swim coach Mike Bennett said of Lang, who is seeded fifth in the event. “I’m anxious to see what he can do now, with a good taper. He has a great second 50; he goes out hard and holds it.” Lang’s main goal this week, though, is to help get the medley relay team to the Central Coast Section meet. “We need to get down to 1:50 to qualify, and we’re all going to have to just go for it,” he said. Going for it is what Lang has been doing all year. Although he first tinkered with both sports last year as a sophomore, he didn’t put in the serious double-training schedule he has this year. It has helped that Bennett and Kruger are both workout maniacs who believe in the value of cross-training, Bennett being a competitive tri-athlete. “They understand me and what I need in my workouts,” Lang said. “I think they’ve tried just not to kill me,” When Lang’s body started talking to him earlier this season, saying, “The legs can’t take all this,” Bennett and Kruger concluded that Lang would delete leg-kicking from his swim workouts since his legs were putting in enough time on the track. It helped. “Before this year he had never won a running race,” Kruger said. “We talked about that. He knows his training has come along and the winning will come.” The breakthrough came last month, when Lang found himself running at the front of the pack in a classy 800-meter field at an invitational meet in Arcadia. Lang, who has taken training to a level most athletes his age can’t, seemed to take himself to another level of competition. “I got used to following, but this year I was leading,” Lang said of his track improvement. Lately, as Lang has tapered his workouts for the league swim finals, and has begun to taper toward the track championship meets, his body has been talking to him again. “Hey, what’s the matter? I have all this energy left. Let’s go!” “I think I’m going through withdrawal,” Lang said.

Bobby Hultzen another triple threat All League in football and basketball and one of the top three hurdlers in track.

Mike Jones had the top league marks in no less than five track events this season. Also played basketball.

From the Yearbook. Fleming II Sports Therapists Keep Santa Cruz Competitive. It has been forty years that the Fleming family, starting with father Eugene and now sons Murray and Rod, both three sport athletes at SC have given free physical therapy to SC athletes. Starting in 1979, the brothers expanded the program to include all county schools. All the athlete needs is a reference from a coach to be treated. “At any one time, we carry 30 to 35 visit’s a week,” said Rod. Even though this seems a bit hectic for community service, Fleming keeps a positive attitude, “It’s fun. It’s exciting to stay involved in athletics.” Through daily treatments athletes are able to misses less time participating and can come back sooner without pain. The Fleming’s are an asset to the schools and their communities that will never be forgotten. By Victor Lang a four sport athlete and former Fleming patient.

Yearbook. Coach Leads Athletes To Break School Records Including His. Don Roberts has been coaching the hurdlers for nearly twenty years. (In 2009 he is still working with hurdlers at SC) Don held the school record for the 110 meter high hurdles for over ten years. All the hurdle records at SC, boys or girls have been broken by athletes Don has coached. This year Tim Shields broke the 300 meter record. When Don was running the hurdles at SC Murray Fleming, in the previous paragraph was also running the hurdles and sprints. It could be considered a weird kind of track reunion of almost 25 years that each one is featured on facing pages in this yearbook.

1990
FOOTBALL Practice games: RLS 41-7, Carmel 6-0, North Salinas 18-28. Practice record 2-1. League: Aptos 20-31, North Monterey 14-31, Soquel 22-6, Watsonville 36-21, Harbor 61-6, SLV 47-14. League record 4-2 tied for second. Season record 6-3.

Yearbook Roster. Brad Nichols, Bob Hultzen, Justin Discoe, Russell Powell, Ryan Reber, Aaron Myers, Keith Scully, Jessie Trumbull, Jeff Thuringer, Bernie Escalante, Stan Pillsbury, Fernando Flores, Joe Craw, Ed Hutchings, Fred Smith, Bill Orton, Ram Tipton, Nick Hawley, Eric Knight, Cesar Oliva, Bill Imperial, Mark Marquez, Junior Chavez, Ben Jay, Rafa Rodriquez, Andrew McGraw, Mark Northcutt, Josh Riggins, Doug Kishi, Fidel Guerrero, Saul Martinez, Mario Espinosa and Chad Sherlock. Coaches: Ron Mehuron and Vic Miguel.

Sentinel pre-season write up. Santa Cruz Confident It’ll Be Improved. The guts of this years team are experienced, have leadership qualities and a positive attitude. It’s a small team with about 30 players in uniform, but 17 of them are lettermen. “The leadership factor is what coaches rely on with returnees,” said Coach Ron Mehuron, who starts his fifteenth season heading the varsity squad. “Now they’re under fire. They’ve learned from mistakes, they made as juniors and they’re hungry. They’ve got great potential. It’s a matter of having the right mental attitude. Returning are two first string All SCCAL players, Bernie Escalante and Jeff Thuringer. Plus second team All SCCAL defensive lineman Doug Kishi and honorable mention tight end Ryan Reber. Nick Hawley and Joe Craw will start on both offensive and defensive lines. Letterman Jesse Trumbull and newcomer Edwin Hutchings will stick mostly on the defensive side. Chad Sherlock, Fred Smith and Mark Northcut are expected starters on the offensive line. Jason Barry, at 260 pounds is looking for action in the line. Cesar Oliva and Escalante will team up as linebackers. Defensive ends Russell Powell and Rafa Rodriguez and safety Fernando Flores will be starters.

A ‘Sweet’ Season Opener For Santa Cruz as Cards shell Robert Louis Stevenson 41-7. “Its nice to be a winner,” said coach Mehuron, whose team won only two games last year. “I just want to make sure it happens again. I’m excited, its nice to see them get off to a good start like this.” The Cards led only 6-0 at halftime on a quarterback sneak by Andrew McGraw. At halftime, Mehuron asked his players, who wanted to win more? The Cards, who won the Jamboree last week, proved they wanted to win by scoring 35 points in the second half. Jeff Thuringer’s one yard run capped a five minute drive as SC took the second half kick off and marched 63 yards for a score. Thuringer then ran for a two point conversion to make the score 14-0. After Ben Jay picked off his first of two passes, Fernando Flores’ one yard touchdown run put SC ahead by a commanding 21-0 lead. Linebacker Russell Powell got to play only one down on offense and made the best of it with a 84 yard touchdown run to cap the Card scoring.

Cardinals Make Like Penguins In 6-0 Victory over Carmel. With the weather getting progressively worse as the game went on, SC held on to the lead they got in the first quarter. Carmel had the ball on the SC 47 yard line with 2:22 left in the game. With mud and rain dripping from their jerseys, the Cards led by linebackers Bernie Escalante and Caesar Oliva, dug into the slop and held the Padres to two yards in the next four plays to end the threat. On its first possession of the game SC piled up 67 yards rushing, including runs of 13 and 11 yards by Escalante and another 17 yards by Oliva. At the 3:43 mark Escalante blasted in for the quick 6-0 lead. Escalante was the top rusher with 103 yards gained. The win was the fourth in a row for SC, counting the last two games last year.

Pre-game write up. The Tough Guys. Cards Attitude Takes A Turn For The Better. There’s an attraction the football players at SC have for being Tough Guys. They talk a lot about it, which doesn’t necessarily make them tough. They picked up the term from one of their Colt league baseball coaches during the summer. Instead of saying good play or big league play, he would say tough guy play. “People are shocked, because they’ve never seen us win,” senior two way starter (all of the players mentioned in this article are two way starters) Ryan Reber says of the Cards being 2-0, besides winning the North Jamboree, they are on a four game streak dating back to last year. “We’ve never won a preseason game and never opened the season with a win,” Reber said of the current group of Cardinals, who mostly have been together for four years now. They did not win much as freshmen or frosh-soph and started last year as varsity players with a 0-2 record. Until this year, SC hadn’t won a season opener since 1985. “Tough guys don’t back down,” says senior wide receiver Bobby Hultzen. “It’s an attitude you have to have, otherwise you will be left behind. If you slow down …You just can’t do that.” “Its been projected as a motivation type thing,” said Reber. “Whenever we have a good play, make a good block or have a good run, it’s a Tough Guy play.” “It will probable inspire other teams,” senior running back Bernie Escalante said of the teams Tough Guy attitude being publicized, but that is okay.” “It just fires people up,” says Jeff Thuringer a senior running back “You’ve got to prove it in your actions. Believing in the Tough Guy image will help you stay mentally in it, no matter what happens.”

Fourth Quarter Surge Boosts Aptos in 31-20 win over SC. SC scored first with 1:58 left in the first quarter, when Jeff Thuringer followed a down field block by Bernie Escalante for nine yards into the end zone. Ryan Reber’s fumble recovery set up the 58 yard drive. Aptos then scored two touchdowns to go ahead. SC tied the score 12-12 on Tony Oliva’s 14 yard run. Aptos scored again before halftime to go ahead 19-12. McGraw passed to Reber over the middle for a five yard scoring connection. Oliva’s two point run gave SC its last lead 20-19. SC moved the ball to the Aptos 5, but lost the ball on a fumble, which was the deciding play of the game. Aptos has won all three of their games and said this was their toughest game.

Errors Prove Costly For Cards in a 31-14 loss to North Monterey, who has won 13 games in a row. SC built a 14-7 halftime lead with an inspiring brand of football. Then SC began to collapse against the predominant power in the SCCAL. SC worked hard and held a 14-13 lead into the fourth quarter, before succumbing to a bad snap from center and an intercepted pass, which the Condors capitalized on for scores. The North Monterey coach said, “The Cards are a good football team. They can beat anybody in the league. They have a fine offense. They do some things better than we do.”

Santa Cruz Stuns Soquel. Cardinals Spoil Knights Homecoming With 22-6 Victory. ‘It’s Hard to Believe.’ SC’s Jesse Trumball. It was the first win against Soquel since the Johnny Johnson era. (On this same day Johnny helped San Jose State beat Stanford.) SC last beat Soquel 59-28 in 1985, when Johnson, now playing at San Jose State was a senior. Soquel coach, “They outplayed us today. They’ve got good talent.” Coach Mehuron, “I was very pleased. We’ve overcame a lot of adversity.” Soquel scored first on a field goal for their only lead of the game. On Soquel’s second field goal attempt, Jeff Thuringer returned the short kick to the SC 41. Bernie Escalante scored from the six yard line. Thuringer, the holder for the extra point kicks, grabbed a botched snap from center and ran it into the end zone for two points and a 8-3 lead. In the third quarter Soquel kicked another field goal to make the score 8-6. From there, the SC defense ranked second in the league took over. SC limited Soquel to 59 yards in their final five possessions. In the middle of the fourth quarter, Cesar Oliva hopped over three Soquel defenders on his way to a ten yard touchdown and a 15-6 lead. SC finished the scoring with 1:50 left, when quarterback Andrew McGraw hooked up with Ryan Reber for a 15 yard scoring pass. The game’s turning point may have come at the 6:40 mark in the fourth quarter, when assistant coach Vic Miguel gave a passionate speech to the Card defense. Bobby Hultzen and Josh Riggins sacked the quarterback for a loss to stop a drive. . “The defensive backs had a tremendous game,” said Mehuron, who later roared to his team, “I want to thank every one of you guys because I love beating those guys.”

Cardinals Take It Down To Wire, But Lose to North Salinas 28-18 in non league game. The Cards played well enough, but a key interception in the fourth quarter with the Cards down only 21-18 proved costly. “We fought hard all game, but we turned the ball over in a situation that was very crucial,” said coach Mehuron. Trailing in the third quarter 21-6, defensive back Ryan Reber intercepted a pass at the North Salinas 38 yard line. Reber did not stop there. He avoided a tackler or two, jumped over a couple of more to score and close the gap to 21-12. Later, SC took over on their own 21 yard line and quickly moved down field to score. McGraw, who finished the night completing 9 of 19 passes for 152 yards, connected with Reber for a 20 yard touchdown to make the score 21-18 with six minutes left in the third quarter. SC opened the scoring with an impressive drive off the opening kickoff. Starting on their own 21 yard line, SC drove 79 yards in 12 plays, with running back Bernie Escalante running the final 11 yards off right tackle. The Cards tried for a two point conversions after each touchdown, but failed each time. Escalante led SC in rushing yards with 60 yards in 13 carries. SC was out rushed 202 to 130 yards.

Santa Cruz Runs Over Harbor. Escalante Piles Up 269 yards in total offense, scores five TD’s to lead Cards in 61-6 romp over winless Bucs. “It was fun, but it wasn’t all me. A lot of the credit goes to the linemen,” said Escalante, who rushed for 220 yards and caught two passes for 49 yards. “The offensive linemen were opening up the holes and picking up the blitz as well and there was a lot of good down field blocking.” Escalante scored on runs of 1, 10, 41, 53 and 58 yards. Cardinal quarterback Andrew McGraw kept the ball on the ground most of the time, attempting only seven passes of which he completed five for 166 yards and two touchdowns. The longest was 66 yards to Ryan Reber, who ran 35 yards of it for a TD. Jeff Thuringer returned a kickoff 87 yards for his second TD.

Santa Cruz Denies SLV Playoff Bid with a 47-14 win. Anchored by center Mark Northcutt, the Cards offensive line Fred Smith, Rafa Rodriguez, Nick Hawley and Chad Shelock, along with tight ends Ryan Reber and Bobby Hultzen dominated the game allowing eight Card runners to combine for 350 yards rushing. “I tried to get everybody pumped up, because our success starts here with the offensive line,” said Northcutt, who helped Jeff Thuringer and Cesar Oliva rush for 103 and 109 yards, respectively. Said a smiling Northcutt, “I can’t tell if the runner gains any yards until the play is over. I just hope the runner is in front of me when I get off the ground.” After Reber returned the opening kickoff 44 yards to the Cards 43, it took SC less than two minutes in six plays to go up for good. The offensive line opened holes for gains of 22, 8, 13, 13 and finally a one yard TD plunge by Fernando Flores. Two minutes later, Thuringer got loose on a 20 yard touchdown sweep giving the Cards a quick 14-0 lead at the 7:42 mark of the first quarter. “The holes were huge and the cutback lanes were there,” said Thuringer, who scored his second touchdown from 9 yards out with 5:06 left in the first quarter. After SLV scored, the Cards answered with a 11 play, 65 yard touchdown drive in four minutes. Bernie Escalante, who gained 74 yards for the day, exploded up the middle and scored from 7 yards out to put the Cards up at the half 27-6.

SC lost to Aptos and North Monterey, the two league leaders, after being ahead in the first half. The loss to Aptos kept SC out of the CCS playoffs. Comment by the SLV coach, “I think Aptos would have a hard time beating them now.“ SC may be the best SCCAL team not to make the CCS playoffs. “I look at the way they play sometimes and get remorseful,” Coach Mehuran said. “I think of the games that were so close. But I’m happy for these guys. We have not beaten some of these team in a while.”

Santa Cruz Ends ‘89 With A Bang-Up Win over Watsonville 36-21. (this is the 1989-90 school year) After trading touchdowns with Watsonville in the second quarter, Paul Friedenbach blocked a Cat punt and smothered the ball in the end zone to put SC ahead with three minutes to play in the first half. SC exploded for 36 unanswered points to win and tie Aptos for second place with a league record of 4-2 and a 6-3 overall record. This is the Cards best league record since the 1967 team won the MBL championship. Coach Ron Mehuron, “They’re a great bunch of guys . . And they will hold a special place for me. They decided to go out winners.” Unable to get their powerful running game going in the first half, the Cards made a couple of adjustments at halftime and began to roll. The passing game was on as well. Junior quarterback Andrew McGraw completed 8 of 11 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns, including 9 and 21 yard touchdown passes to Bob Hultzen. Cesar Oliva was the leading rusher with 58 yards in 10 carries. The Watsonville coach, “SC is an offensive machine. That is the best I’ve seen the fly offense run in years.”

From the Yearbook. Seniors Bernie Escalante, Cesar Oliva and Jeff Thuringer were the third, fifth and eighth rushers in the league, respectively. Their total of 1,703 yards was the best in the league. Defensive backs Thuringer, Bobby Hultzen, Stan Pillsbury and Ryan Reber allowed the fewest passing yards in the league. The offensive line of Nick Hawley, Rafael Rodriguez, Mark Northcutt, Fred Smith and Chad Sherlock averaged 180 pounds were the keys to the running backs being able to lead the league in rushing. Defensive linemen Jessie “Big” Trumbull, Doug “Bad” Kishi and Joe “Deadly” Craw led the leagues second best defense.

Bernie Escalante was selected as one of the two scholar athletes in the county for the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame award. He will receive a $1,000 scholarship at the NFFHF formal dinner in San Francisco, where former 49er coach Bill Walsh will be honored. The award is based on 40 percent athletics, 40 percent academics and 20 percent leadership qualities. “On all of these grounds, Bernie deserved what he got. He has worked hard,” said friend and teammate Stan Pillsbury. Escalante, a 5-11, 175 pound senior, played running back on offense and inside linebacker on defense. Ecalante rushed for 711 yards this season, ranking him third among SCCAL runners. He was a two way starter and a first team All League pick the past two seasons. He was voted the team MVP this season. Coach Mehuron said, “Bernie has to be included among the best players ever at SC. His style of play and sportsmanship have served as an inspiration to players and coaches alike.” Escalante has an 3.7 GPA and has been a member of schools honor society since his junior year. He also was an All Leaguer in basketball and baseball last year (and repeated again this year) Jesse Trumbull was also nominated from SC.

Sentinel All County offensive team: senior, 5-11, 175,running back Rudy Escalante, senior, 6-2, 190, tight end Ryan Reber, senior 6-0, 191, tackle Nick Hawley and senior 5-9, 180,guard Rafa Rodriquez. On defense: Ryan Reber strong safety, Bobby Hultzen senior, 6-3, 190, corner back, Paul Friedenback 6-1, 200 senior inside line backer; senior, 5-11, 240, defensive end, Jessie Trumbull and Doug Kishi, nose tackle, 5-7, 193, senior.

Honorable mention: Joe Craw, Andrew McGraw, Mark Northcutt, Cesar Oliva, Stan Pillsbury, Russell Powell, Chad Sherlock, Fred Smith and Jeff Thuringer.

ALL SCCAL first team selections were on offense by name, position, height, weight and year in school: Rafa Rodriquez, guard, 5-9, 180, senior; Bernie Escalante, running back, 5-11, 175, senior; On defense there were two defensive backs: Jeff Thuringer, 6-1,175, senior and Ryan Reber, 6-2, 190, senior.

Second team offense: Nick Haley, tackle, 6-0, 191, senior; Ryan Reber, tight end. On defense: Jesse Trumbull, tackle, 5-11, 240, senior, Paul Friedenback, running back, 6-1, 200, senior and Bobby Hultzen, defensive back, 6-3, 190, senior.
Honorable mention: Andrew McGraw and Doug Kishi.

JV FOOTBALL
From the Yearbook. Lead by lineman Chris Kaspar, running back Jamie Carr and team MVP Blake VanDeveer the team finished with a 3-7 record. VanDeveer is a three sport player in his first year of football. He played middle linebacker and tight end.. His biggest game was a four sack game against Harbor.

Yearbook Roster. Steve Cardoza, Jason Whiteman, Chris Grey, Kevin Brawley, Chris Kasper, Femi Ayanbadejo, Ryan Coonerty, Jake McCormick, Alez Gary, Serge Formiga, Nathen Bell, Blake Van DeVeer, Jim Weaver, Zack McCormick, Stefan Fish, Cesar Rios, Augie Guardino, Roberto Ruiz, Mike Pappas, Jamie Carr, Mike Goldstein, Geoff Thomas, Nick Marini and Jason Swolguard. Head coach Tex Ronning and assistants John Hopping, Randy Quilici and Price.

FROSH-SOPH FOOTBALL
Yearbook Roster. Jason Knee, Gabe Blanchett, Chris Croghan, Pat Doe, Josh Sutton, Alex Robinson, Devon Eselius, Dan Jalkut, Neal Churchill, Jason Nevin, Jonah Shanks, Mark Rivas, Jay Gardner, Aaron Gleasman, Jason Dalbesio, Robin Thom, Josh Peterson, K.C. Kaiser, Efrain Brito, Lev Stryker, Derick Moore, Tom Reed and Mark Argaloni. Coaches Booth Wainscoat and coach Shaun.

CROSS COUNTRY BOYS
Yearbook. The top runners were juniors Nathan Johnson and Victor Lang. Rounding out the varsity were seniors Tim Shields, Mike Jones and Kenny Martinez. Sophomore Bryan Anderson rounded out the team. Johnson took fifth place at the CCS championships at Belmont to qualify for the state meet. Coach Marty Krueger.

The Junior varsity were led by Josh Homan, Aaron Woliczko and Brooks Allen.

BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS
Trident December 1. Johnson went on to the State meet and placed forty-eighth.
For the girls, freshman Kenna Karst placed twenty-third.

Sentinel September 26. No More Running On Empty. New SCCAL Format Designed For The Long Haul. Two center meets replace the dual meets on the schedule. The league championship will be determined by the results of the two center meets at 50 percent and the league championship meet at Schwann Lagoon worth 50 percent. If there is a tie, the team finishing higher in the Championship meet will be the champion. This is just an experiment this year and will be re-evaluated for next year. It is an attempt to keep runner’s fresher for the long haul.

Sentinel. At the SCCAL season opening Center Meet at North Monterey. In the 5,000 meter race, Nathan Johnson took third in 16:19 and Vic Long was fourth in 16:26.
In the girls race, freshman Kenna Karst was third in 20:53. Watsonville easily won both team titles.

October 13. SC’s Johnson Races To First Place. Johnson kicked up dust on the fire trails above UCSC as the boys varsity beat Harbor 18-37 in a non-league meet. Johnson, coming off a strong showing at last weeks Stanford Invitational, ran the 2.1 course in 11:38. Tim Shields and Kenny Martinez were fourth and fifth.
In the girls race, freshman Kenna Karst chopped off almost a full minute off her best course time and won in 15:02. “She’s still learning how to run, how to race,” said coach Kruger. Elly LaRoque was third in 16:40.

October 17. Watsonville Run Away From Field In SCCAL’s second Center Meet held at UCSC. In the boys 3 mile course, Johnson won the race in 16:08, 18 seconds ahead of the second place runner, who had won the first Center Meet in September. “That was his biggest win,” said coach Kruger of his junior. “He knew he was going to win, too. He came up to me before the race and said, ‘I’m going to win. This is my kind of course.’
For the girls, Kenna Karst took fourth place in 21:21.

November 5. At the SCCAL Boys Cross Country Championships at Schwann Lagoon 3.1 mile course, junior Nathan Johnson placed third.
Watsonville won easily in both the boys and girls. For SC girls, its top runner Kenna Karst, who was expected to finish fifth, did not make it to the meet as she had a 103 degree fever.

Sentinel. Former course record holder Nathan Johnson was second in 16:19 at the Banana Slug Cross Country Classic at UCSC. Vince Lang was seventh in 17:01. In the frosh-soph division Brian Anderson was third in 18:57. In the frosh-soph girls race Kenna Karst won in 21:21. In the freshman race, Aaron Woliczko took seventh in 20:59.

BOYS
Sentinel Athlete of the Week of October 31 was junior Nathan Johnson. He was second at the 12 team Banana Slug Cross Country Classic at UCSC. Johnson after running the first two miles in a personal best time of 9:48, his previous best was 10:48, had a tough time up the hill on the third and final mile and finished in 16:19. He briefly caught the leader on the final mile, before the winner pulled away to win in 16:04. Johnson is a favorite at the SCCAL championship meet next week. Last year he was fifth, despite running with a high fever and “he went surfing in the morning too, said Coach Kruger, “I hope he’ll be more intelligent this year.”

CROSS COUNTRY GIRLS
Yearbook. Was led by freshman Kenna Karst, who took honors at both the center meets and qualified for the CCS finals. Sophomores Elly Laroque, Charis Williamson, Kara Vernor and Michal Broadbent filled out the varsity team.

ALL SCCAL: State meet entrants Nathan Johnson and Kenna Karst

GIRLS TENNIS
League games: Soquel 1-6, 1-6; Harbor 1-6, loss; Aptos 0-7, 0-7; Watsonville 2-5, loss, SLV 5-2, 6-1. League record 2-8.

Yearbook. From 1983 to 1988 the girls tennis team went undefeated with a record of 53 wins and zero losses in league play. But this year with a new coach, Karen Hughes and new players the team won only one league game. “We did not have many returning players and these players did not play much for the varsity,” Coach Hughes. The top singles players were Maggie Marini, Brette Plauche, Lara Minium, and Bree Nystrom. The top doubles team was Mercedes Bauer and Mary Croghan. Almost all these players will be back next year.
Other players were Dana Mellon, Alison Aldrich, Sandy Bartu, Alison Agosti, Rachel Freitas, Molly Carter, Sabrina Dalbesio, Olivia Suchman, Colleen Cooney, Jenny Nisperls and Erin Plauche. JV players are included with the above.

Sentinel Sept. 27. Soquel 6, SC 1. Soquel upended the 1989 league champion SC in decisive fashion. “They were pretty solid all the way down the lineup. We had some chances, but most of the matches weren’t even close,” said first year coach Karen Hughes. Senior Brette Plauche won her number four singles match.

Sentinel Oct 4. Harbor 6, SC 1. The top match was the number one singles, where Bree Nystrom went down 4-6, 2-6. SC’s only win came in the number two doubles of Erin Plauche and Jenny Nisperos.

Sentinel Oct. 6. Aptos 7, SC 0. SC put the heat on Aptos in at least two matches. In the two singles, Maggie Marini lost a close one 5-7, 5-7. Even closer was number one doubles, where Mary Croghan and Mercedes Bauer held on for two hours before losing 6-7 (6-8 tie-breaker) 6-7 (5-7). Aptos is 4-0 in league.

Oct. 10. Watsonville 5, SC 2. Watsonville won the 1, 2 and 3 singles matches and two of the three doubles in a rain make up. Brette Plauche won the number four singles in three sets. SC also won the number one doubles.

Oct. 11. SC 5, SLV 2. SC earned its first league victory in five SCCAL matches. Maggie Marini lost 0-6, 2-6 in number one singles. At number three Laura Minium won 6-3, 6-4. At number four, Brette Plauche won 6-3, 6-2. The other SLV win was by default.

Oct. 13. Soquel 6, SC 1. In number one singles, Bree Nystrom lost 0-6, 1-6. Mercedes Bauer won in the third set, when her opponent had to retire, because of illness. The number one doubles team of Dana Mellon and Sabrina Dalbesio made their opponents work for their victory losing in the closes match of the day 2-6, 4-6.

Oct. 26. Aptos 7, SC 0. Aptos won everything in straight sets. The tightest matches were in one and two doubles, which both went 6-3, 6-4. Aptos has lost only two individual matches in league play.

Oct. 27. SC 6, SLV 1. SC had more to celebrate than just a win over SLV. When number two, Maggie Marini battled and won 6-4, 6-0, it was time to rejoice. Marini’s win helped inspire the rest of the Cards. At number one, Bree Nystrom won by default. The top doubles team of Mary Croghan and Mercedes Bauer won in straight sets. Jenny Nisperos and Erin Plauche won in number two doubles 6-1, 6-1.

BOYS WATER POLO
Watsonville Invitational: Reno 11-2, Watsonville 7-4, Menlo 4-14, Nordhoff of Ojai 14-11. SC 3-1 for second place. League: Harbor 7-11, Soquel 13-7, Aptos 8-11, Watsonville won. League playoffs: Watsonville 13-12, Aptos 13-7 to take second place and qualify for the CCS playoffs were they lost to Leland 8-16.

SCCAL standings in round-robin play: Harbor 4-0, SC, Aptos and Watsonville 2-2 and Soquel 0-4. SC won two games in the league tournament to earn the right to play in the first CCS playoffs by a SC polo team. SC beat Watsonville 13-12 in the league championship tournament. The overall season record 15-9.

Yearbook. The best season ever this year, led by seniors Dave Field, Jordie Larson, Danny Schultz, Jeff Wickum, and goalie Zack Gallagher. The season started 0-3, but turned the season around after this. The team lost their CCS game against defending champion Leland. The Cards held Leland until the second half, then went down 16-8.

Seniors playing for the first time were Loni Adams, Dave Royal and Shane King. Juniors were Pat Chapman, Joaquin Munoz, Chris Stevens and Jesse Boyd. Second year player sophomore
JV and varsity players not mentioned above were Gabe Schoonover, Adam Phillips, Johnathan Golder, Ron Poole, Ben Gersick, Kevin Murphy, Zack Thompson, Jeff Smith, Joel Ackerknecht and Stefan Freeman. Coach Mike Bennett who also coaches the swim team.

Sentinel. Oct. 1. Cardinal Poloists Take Second Place at the nine team Watsonville Invitational. Senior driver Jordie Larson scored five goals in the win. “He’s a great player with a great shot,” said coach Mike Bennett, whose team is 6-5. On Friday, SC beat Reno 11-2 and host Watsonville 7-4. The Cards have lost three of their games this season by one goal. “This is the best start we’ve had in the last six or seven years,” Bennett said. Menlo won the tournament and beat SC 14-4 in the first game Saturday. Joaquin Munoz scored two goals in the game.

Wickum, Santa Cruz Chalk Victory. Jeff Wickum scored all of SC’s five fourth quarter goals in a 14-11 win over visiting Nordhoff of Ojai. The game was tied 6-6 after one quarter and it was 9-6 at halftime. SC 8-7 overall got six goals from Wickum and Jordie Larson added four.

Sentinel Oct. 4. Harbor 11, SC 7. SC was able to score just one goal the first half and picked up their six other goals in the fourth quarter. Jeff Wickum scored four goals.

Oct. 11. SC 13, Soquel 7. SC broke a 5-5 halftime tie, by scoring the first three goals of the third quarter to even their league record to 1-1. “By the third quarter we were playing some tight defense and we didn’t leave anybody open for an outside shot. It’s such a small pool, you can pretty much shoot a good shot from anywhere,” coach Bennett said. Soquel led 3-1 after one quarter, but in the second half, the Cards took control with an 8-2 run. David Fields and Jeff Wickum each had three goals.

Nov. 9. Scoring three goals in overtime, Aptos rallied past SC 11-8 in a wild finish to the SCCAL season. The Aptos goalie made 17 saves and held SC scoreless in overtimes. Dave Field led SC with six goals. Goalie Zack Gallagher played tough throughout the game, keeping SC close.
And its not all finished yet. Aptos, SC and Watsonville are all 2-2 and Soquel is 0-4. behind Harbor at 4-0, going into the first round of the SCCAL championship tournament. (There was a big controversy over how the teams would be seeded and the tournament was delayed)

Nov. 12. Santa Cruz Holds Off Watsonville 13-12 in the championship game of the SCCAL at Cabrillo College to earn a trip to the CCS tournament. “We might be the first SC water polo team to go to CCS. That’s been a neat incentive for the kids,” said coach Mike Bennett. SC and the SCCAL champion Harbor, which went unbeaten during the round-robin season to earn a spot in the CCS tournament, will be two of the 16 teams in the field. David Fields, Danny Schultz and sophomore David Thompson each scored three goals. “Field’s kept us in the game the whole time. He made a couple of outstanding shots. He played really well,” Bennett said. SC had a 13-11 lead with 220 seconds left and was running down the clock, when Watsonville got a hold of the ball and scored with one second left.
In the first round of the tournament, SC beat Aptos 13-7, behind Field’s seven goals. Watsonville beat Soquel 14-8. “As a second year player, Fields had a great season. He’s become a great player, and our goalie, Zack Gallagher …without Zack, the performances he’s had the last three or four games, we couldn’t have done what we did this weekend,” said coach Bennett.
Bennett also said that the Cards were dealt a setback early in the season, when they lost one of their top players, Jeff Wickum with an injury. “Losing him slowed us down, but the kids came back and a couple of players off the bench filled that void,” Bennett.

Nov/ 19. Harbor, Santa Cruz Fall In CCS Tourney Openers. Leland 16, SC 8. Coach Mike Bennett, said his team didn’t play that poorly, the score is misleading. The score was tied 2-2 until two minutes before halftime. But Leland, the number three seed, showed how much a year around polo program pays off in the postseason play. They have excellent swimmers. They just wore us out. If we want to be the caliber of teams like Harbor and Leland, we’re going to have to start playing year around, too. That’s the next step. Senior Danny Schultz led the Cards with three goals and Jordie Larson had two. SC finished 15-9 for the season, the best finish under Bennett’s five year direction.

FROSH-SOPH WATER POLO
October 29. Frosh-soph SCCAL play concluded with six games at Harvey West Park. Harbor captured its second straight undefeated league season 4-0, followed by Aptos 3-1 and SC and Soquel tied for third at 2-2 and Watsonville fifth 0-4. Harbor is the Northern California defending champions and have gone 49-0 over the last two seasons.

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING
League dual meets: Live Oak 60-109. Aptos 59-113, Gilroy 77-95, Watsonville 113-56. League record 1-3. Season record 1-4.

Trident December 1. Three Cards qualified for the CCS meet. Juniors Ann Shumate qualified in swimming and Ann Wolfsen in diving. Senior Julie Grijalva qualified in diving. At the CCS meet, Shumate swam her personal best times in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles. Grijalva played twenty-first and Wolfsen twenty-third out of 60 divers.

Sentinel Sept. 22. Live Oak 109, SC 60 in the league opener. SC had only one first place, which was turned inby diver Julie Grijalza. Ann Shumate just missed out taking two first places. She was second in the 50 freestyle in 27.59 and in the 500 freestyle in 6:40.56. Lorraine LeBer was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:22.80. SC is 0-2 overall.

Sentinel Sept. 29. Aptos Too Strong For Santa Cruz, sweeping to a 113-59 victory. Senior diver Julile Grijalva won for the third time in as many meets, with 169.15 points.

Oct. 8. Gilroy 95, SC 77. Coach Carol Kreppel, “There were a lot of close races and a lot of season best times. Were getting closer, There was a lot of improvement.” Diver Julie Grijalva remained unbeaten in diving with 171.40 points. Ann Shumate led a 1-2-3 SC finish in the 100 breast winning in 1:20.43.

Oct. 13. Cardinals Notch First Victory beating host Watsonville 113-56 to put their league record at 1-3 and season record at 1-4. “Everybody had best times, it was great and there was a lot of improvement,” Coach Kreppel. SC won eight of 11 events and had a triple winner in junior Ann Shumate. Individually she won the 200 yard individual medley in 2:38.81, the 100 freestyle in 1:01.15. Shumate swam the last leg of the winning 400 free relay team of Lindy Ribiero, Nicole Arndt and Heather Singer in the time of 4:22.18. SC swept the 500 free as Arndt, Angie Bacon and Caitlin Fox finished 1-2-3. The same happened in diving with Julie Grijalva, Liza Fitchen and Allison Lawton. Grijalva undefeated in five meets won with 160.5 points.

Yearbook. The earthquake disrupted the teams training schedule and some of the meets were cancelled. The big annual show down with arch rival Harbor was cancelled and it was a let down for the team. Nicole Arndt the team captain was named the “most spirited” athlete for the third year. Diver Julie Grijalva took a third place at the CCS finals. Junior Ann Shumate is the third member of her family to be one of the top athletes at SC. Ann qualified for the CCS meet.

Yearbook Varsity team members were Ann Wolfsen, Liza Fitchen, Allison Lawton, Laura Ross, Heather Singer, Angie Baron, Catlin Fox, Cindy Bruce, Julie G, Jana Zucksworth, Simone Krietz, Ann Shumate, Lindy Ribeiro, Kirsten Silbaugh, Lorraine Leber, Nicole Arndt, Jessica Lang and Meghan Kinney. Coach Carol Krepple.

Yearbook JV team members were Meesook Grueneich, Amy Hunt, Sonia Hernandez, Millisa Sutcus, Arie Bonnell, Leslie Laurant, Lani Foster, Shawna Murphy, Lisa Waters, Meghan P, Dana, Laura Fuller, Lauren Ricker, Amber and Katie Nagle, Coach Cathy Santos.

ALL SCCAL: Ann Shumate, Ann Wolfsen and Julie Grijalva

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
League games: Aptos, 0-3, loss; SLV, 3-2, 3-1 ; North Monterey, 0-3, 0-3; Harbor, 0-3, 0-3; Watsonville, 0-3, 2-3 and Soquel, 1-3, 1-3. League record 2-10 and 2-11 overall.

Yearbook. Junior middle blocker, Diane Gergen the most powerful player on the court made the ALL SCCAL first team and was voted the team MVP. Amy Smith, the only senior was selected for the second team. Lyn Beach and Mieko Imai were co-captains. The only sophomore on the varsity, Becky Long was the setter and her alternate was senior Lori West.
On the day the 7.1 earthquake hit the junior varsity was warming up to play Aptos. Two league games were postponed along with a portion of the second half of the season.
Other varsity players were Megan Freitas, Rosalyn Pillars, Rachel Heit, Ruby Lipsenthal, Misti Doughty, Krista Anderson and Terra Schooley. Coach Blair Barnett.
At the Harbor Tournament the Cards tied for third with Soquel. Megan Freitas was named to the All Tournament team.

Sentinel Sept, 22. Aptos beat SC, 15-7, 15-10, 15-7. SC was led by the play of Krista Anderson and setters Rachel Heit and Becky Long.

Sept. 27. After taking the fourth game, 15-2 and then zooming to a 7-0 lead in the fifth, SLV was on its way to a victory over SC. But the Cougars never got there. The hosts Cardinals fought back to a 12-12 tie, then won the final game in overtime 16-14, in what coach Barnett could only call “a crazy game.” “My kids learned a lot,” Barnett said after a 6-15, 15-9, 18-16, 2-15, 16-14 triumph.

Sept. 29. Despite leading in both the first and second games, SC lost both and the third to North Monterey, 15-11, 15-13, 15-5. SC took a 10-7 lead in the first game, but scored only one point after that. In the second game, SC found themselves bounced back to a 12-7 lead, but again only managed one more point.

Oct. 4. Harbor beat SC 15-8, 15-3, 15-8. The Harbor coach was impressed with the play of SC setter Krista Anderson and middle hitter Diane Gergen.

Oct. 6. Watsonville slipped past SC in the first two games, then put them away in the third. Watsonville, 15-13, 16-14, 15-8. “Obviously, the first two games could have gone either way. They went their way, so that’s why we lost in three,” said Barnett. SC lost despite the strong play of middle blocker Diane Gergen, who had ten kills and served three aces. She basically carried us through the match, said Barnett.

Oct. 11. Soquel beat SC 15-12, 5-15, 15-11, 15-11 and moved into a three way tie with Aptos and North Monterey at 4-2. Barnett said his top players were Diane Gergen with seven kills and 14 digs and Misty Daugherty with six kills. “That was Misty’s best game of her high school career.”

Oct. 25. Although the Cards took early lead in all three games, inexperience reared it ugly head and North Monterey rallied for a 15-13, 15-7, 16-14 victory. “We were ahead 5-0, 3-0 and 3-0, but North Monterey came back every time. We get into situations where we can win and it’s unfamiliar territory. The girls start worrying about winning instead of just playing the game. We had a tough time receiving their serves. If our offense would have been better, it would have been a better game. Every point featured very short rallies. If the ball went over the net three times, it was one of the longer rallies,” said Barnett. He singled out setter Becky Long for her outstanding play coming off the bench in all three games playing well and made very few errors. “These girls had a tough time winning as JV’s and they’ve gotten into the habit of losing.” In the third game, SC had a 14-12 lead, but failed to hold it, by making some mistakes. Krista Anderson, a junior setter served ten of SC’s 14 points in the third game.

Oct. 27. Harbor continued its dominating ways with a 15-3, 15-2, 15-2 spiking of SC. SC was led by Diane Gergen, who had five kills on seven attempts and junior outside hitter Rosalyn Pillars, who was 3 for 3 on kills.

Oct. 29. SC may have finally figured out how to win a close match. Leading 2 games to one over SLV, the Cards found themselves letting the fourth game slip away, but held on 15-6, 15-7, 9-15, 15-12. “It was a great team effort. We showed we are really coming together,” said Barnett. Leading the fourth game 10-6, SC suddenly found SLV battling to within 12-13 and serving for a tie. But the Cards came up with a side out, then put away the match. “In those situations in the past we tended to fold. In this situation we took control.” Meiko Imai served 15 points with three aces and only one error in 19 attempts. SC missed only five serves in the match. Diane Gergen had six kills, but SLV was digging a lot of her hits. SC is now 2-7.

Nov. 1. Watsonville Rallies To Beat Santa Cruz 9-15, 4-15, 15-5, 15-6, 15-11. With Watsonville leading 12-11 in the last game, SC middle blocker, Diane Gergen went out with a knee injury. “That seemed to take the heart out of us, “said coach Barnett, who added that Geren isn’t expected to miss any match. Lyn Beach had 15 digs and won 11 points on her serve. Amy Smith was 5 for 7 in kills with two blocks. In their last game Watsonville beat SC in three games. SC is 2-8 in league and 2-11 overall.

Nov. 3. Soquel beat SC in four games, 16-14, 15-12, 5-15, 15-11. The match was very well played on both sides of the net. It was easily the best match of the year for SC. Both coaches also agreed on the star of the match: junior Diane Gergen. Physically, she’s the strongest kid in the league, no doubt. She could crush a Harbor player in two if she had to. She commits herself on each play, whether it be digging a ball or hitting a ball to the floor and she does it with strength and power. “Diane was a major factor most of the match,” Barnett said, noting she had ten kills in 20 attempts, seven stuff blocks, four aces, scored ten points on serve and she dug six balls that were almost unplayable.” Barnett also praised senior hitter Amy Smith, who had six kills in 13 attempts and seven stuff blocks.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of November 7 was junior middle blocker Diane Gergen, who turned in three impressive performances within 72 hours, in a win over Watsonville and losses to Harbor and Soquel, a total of 14 games. Gergen had 31 kills in 44 attempts, 15 stuff blocks, 11 aces and while she was serving, SC scored 43 points. “She’s been the leader of the team the whole season. We look to her in crunch time. She’s an all around great athlete. She made about four or five crucial digs to keep us in each match last week. Diane’s a kid who’ll go through a brick wall for the ball. Basically that’s what she does. She’s a player who doesn’t give up at any point in time. Even if we’re down 14-0, she won’t give up. I wish I had six or 12 of those kids. We could rewrite the league. And she’s only a junior, said coach Blair Barnett.

Junior middle blocker, Diane Gergen the most powerful player on the court made the ALL SCCAL first team. Amy Smith, the only senior on the squad was selected for the second team.

JV GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Yearbook Roster. Vanessa Dunn, Jessica Damon, Josie Heyward, Kelly Dunn, June Wilson, Sasha, Nikki Dahlberg, Melanie Arnott, Jenny Schneider, Marissa Cruz, Thea Lincoln and Katie Scharmann. Coach Dina Allen.

BOYS BASKETBALL THIRD STRAIGHT SCCAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Practice games: RLS 56-52; Dad’s Club: Win, Los Gatos 56-45, Aptos 59-73 for second place; Carmel Tournament: Lost, Branham 69-55, Salinas 61-51 for consolation title;

League: Soquel 58-45, 76-61; Aptos 60-56, 91-72; SLV 58-54, 87-44; North Monterey 61-44, 62-53; Watsonville 61-31, Harbor 59-51, 59-52. League record 12-0.
League playoff: lost to Aptos 81-74 in semifinals. Beat North Monterey in the finals 45-34 to take their third straight undisputed SCCAL championship.
Season record 21-9. (Games missing)

Sentinel pre-season write up. SC has won the SCCAL championship the last two years. Last year Pete Newell took a coaching sabbatical, so that only two players on this years team have played for Newell. They are Bobby Hultzen and Patrick Jones an All County player, who averaged 12.4 points a game and 11.9 rebounds a game last year. Two other Joneses, brothers Mike a track star and his younger brother Gabe are excellent athletes. Key seniors back are listed by name, position and height. Patrick Jones C, 6-7; Bernie Escalante F/G, 5-11; Kenny Martinez G, 5-11, Bobby Hultzen F and Mike Jones F, 5-10. Juniors are Von Barnes PG, 5-8; Gabe Jones F, 6-4; Django Sussman C, 6-5, Reed Criswell F, 6-2, Norman Hutchings G, 5-11 and Todd Trowbridge F, 5-11. The players that have not played for coach Newell know that if his stringent demands are met, SC should successfully defend their title. Comments from coach Newell, “The best thing we’ve got going for us is great kids with a great attitude and all 14 can play. I’m impressed with their concentration level. They look dedicated.”

The Center Of Attention. Santa Cruz’ Pat Jones Not Your Average High School Basketball Star. Recruiters beware, Jones is not interested in going to a large big time university. “I’ve always wanted to go to a small school where I can get a personalized education,” said Jones.
Look up at him and what you see is a 6 foot 7 senior center, who could wind up as the top player in the county. “I would like to see him have double figures in rebounding and scoring,” said Coach Newell. “I’m trying to think of ways to feature him in the offense, not in a scorers role, but as a passer, a la Bill Walton.” Look past the 11.9 rebounds and 12.4 points a game Jones averaged last season. Look past the way he runs the floor or passes the ball. “He’s an outstanding passer for a big man,” said Newell. Look past all that and you’ll see them. The screws.
Jones who has played on the varsity all four years has his head screwed on straight. “Pat has always been the same quality person,” said Newell, who before Jones. didn’t have freshmen on the team. Apparently Newell recognized that Jones could handle playing with seniors, both physically and emotionally. As reserved as Jones was as a freshman, he’s almost unchanged as a senior. “he carries himself with quiet confidence and dignity that befits him,” Newell said. “I think it’s just a feeling he has for himself. He doesn’t need false bravado to carry his weight around.”
Jones, who is carrying about 215 pounds around the basketball court this season, seems almost uncomfortable about his stature in local basketball circles. Maybe it’s because he knows he’s not what people expect. Jones isn’t thrilled about being the center of attention, as this article is about him. “I had letters from bigger places, but the thing to me is to choose a school that has the environment where I want to go even if I don’t play basketball. I don’t know what I want to be. I want to go somewhere that will allow me to explore a little.” Environment? Explore? What does that have to do about basketball. Nothing. And everything.
Jones has apparently determined that when he gets to college, he wants to make his own choices, instead of his choices being dictated to him by a basketball program. Jones is leaning toward an NCAA Division III program, which doesn’t allow giving athletic scholarships. As a freshman Pat averaged five points and 4.7 rebounds a game. Then he improved slightly to 5.5 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore on the Cards CCS Division III runner up team. As a junior, Jones made dramatic jumps statistically and became an All County first team pick. “Pat has shown distinctive improvement in each of the past three years.
At practice this year, he’s taken an even greater step in improvement than at any other time. First there is the hook shot, he is working on and he is shooting better overall from the perimeter of the key. His rebounding is better and his jumping has improved. I see him playing with more confidence, Newell says. Quiet confidence. “I don’t yell and scream on the court. I may get angry, but I direct it toward my play instead of toward another person. I get more aggressive and hustle more,” said Jones.
Its been impossible to recount a time when Jones has lost his cool on the floor or even raised his voice. Opponents have worked on him, physically and verbally, but Jones’ responses have been undetectable. There was a SCCAL game last season where a player was all over Jones. Pushing inside, unnecessary elbows, words, all that garbage. “After he pushed me, I told him if he did it again I was going to kick his butt. He didn’t push me the rest of the game,” Jones stated. There was no finger pointing. No need to hold players apart. Jones just sort of grumbled his message under his breath.
This season, the only player, who is going to push Patrick Jones is himself. “I’m just going to play my game.” It’s a game that probably will impress some college scouts. But they can save their breath.

Newell Victorious In ‘Debut’ The roof leaked at the SC gym, so the game against RLS was moved to Soquel. In Newell’s first game back after a one year sabbatical, the Cards won 56-52. Senior guard Kenny Martinez led the scoring with 14 points followed by center Pat Jones with 11. SC took the early lead and the closes RLS got was 46-44 in the fourth quarter, then Martinez scored seven of his points mostly on layups. “It was basically the transition game that worked late in the game. Kenny was getting the ball after some good rebounds and outlet passes,” said Newell.

At the thirty-fourth annual Dad’s Club Tournament, SC defeated Los Gatos in the semi-finals 56-45 to move into the finals. “I’m very proud that we played good defense and beat a good team,” said coach Newell, whose team held Los Gatos to 15 or less points a quarter. Using man to man and zone defenses, the Cards held Los Gatos to 28 percent shooting 6 for 21 in the first half. The Cards shot 52 percent, 13 for 25, to build a 29-21 lead. While forward Bobby Hultzen and center Pat Jones anchored a stingy SC defense, forward Bernie Escalante paced the offense with a game high 19 points.
Escalante, who played his best game since joining the basketball team from football, nailed a jumper with a little under four minutes to play giving SC a commanding 50-34 edge. Los Gatos rallied to close the gap to nine points. After a quick time out, Von Barnes hit three free throws to ice the victory. “For it being this early in the season, we executed very well and controlled the tempo,” said Newell, whose team improved to 3-3.

In the Dad’s finals, Aptos defeated SC 73-59. (no other information)

At the Carmel Tournament. Santa Cruz 69, Branham 55. Escalante scored eight points in the first quarter to put SC up 21-11. SC led 39-24 at halftime. Mike Jones and Escalante each scored 14 points.

At the Carmel Tournament. SC 61, Salinas 51. Bernie Escalante scored 17 points and Pat Jones added 16 to lead SC to the consolation championship of the annual Carmel Invitational. Escalante playing forward scored nine of his points in the third quarter as SC stretched a 33-29 halftime lead to 47-37 entering the fourth quarter. SC shot only 35 percent from the field on 17 for 49, but made up for it at the free throw line going 21 of 32. Pat Jones led rebounding with seven.

Pre-game to the start of league season. Sentinel write up. Cards and Coach Find Their Rhythm. It took a couple of months and a total of 14 games before Coach Pete Newell could tell he was coaching basketball again. “It was the first time I really settled into the normal routine, I felt good because the kids competed to the level I felt they need to be at in beating Palma who had a 12-0 record. We were able to do things we had to do to win. That was the game I really got into coaching,” said Newell. Newell’s most notable coaching move came after the Dads Tournament, when he moved senior three sport standout Bernie Escalante to point guard, even though Escalante had never played there before. “His individual stats are not impressive, but we are a much better team with him at the point. He’s such a competitor, he makes other people play to his level.”

Cards On The Mark. Jones Off SC Bench To Help Beat Soquel 58-45 in league opener. Junior Gabe Jones playing in only his third game after being injured in the second game of the season, came off the bench and scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help spark the Cards. There are two better know Joneses on the team, Pat and Mike, but coach Newell’s eyes light up when he talks about Gabe. “He’s good. He presents a lot of problems for the opposition, because he is so active around the basket,” said Newell. The Cards improved their record to 9-7.
Soquel held a 28-27 lead at halftime. SC hit six of twelve shots in the third quarter to go ahead 40-38. SC then came out and hit three field goals as they got their running game going. After a Norman Hutchings jump shot, the Cards were up 48-38. Soquel scored five points and then seniors Pat Jones, Bernie Escalante and Bobby Hultzen each scored to build a 54-45 lead. Pat Jones scored 16 points and had 14 rebounds. SC out rebounded Soquel 41-19 even though Soquel’s three inside players range in height from 6-4 to 6-8. SC was 26 for 57 for 46 percent from the field, but had an abysmal 4 for 14 from the foul line.

Rally Saves Cards. SC Charges Back And Beats Aptos 60-56. The local show (SC vs. Aptos) made its annual stop at Aptos high and let no one down. SC came away with the win, but even the Aptos fans walked away realizing they had been thoroughly entertained. Aptos built up a 31-19 halftime lead with a full court press that rattled the Cards. In the second half, SC quickly closed the difference to 33-28, but at the close of the third quarter Aptos was ahead 47-39.
But a couple of things altered the complexion of the game. A minute into the fourth quarter, coach Newell switched from Bernie Escalante guarding the 6-3 hottest Aptos shooter to Mike Jones. “I think the switch made a difference. Kelly was in a hot streak. If the same person is guarding him, he’ll continue to have confidence. Mike Jones causes different problems than Bernie does. That was key to our defense down the stretch,” said Newell.
At 5:10 mark of the fourth quarter, a Norman Hutchings jumper cut the lead to 49-45. At a time out, Newell told his team “I’ll tell you why we’re going to win this game. They’re sucking air, If we continue to hustle for five more minutes, well win.” SC finally took the lead with 1:42 left in the game, when Pat Jones fed Escalante for a lay up, which put SC up for good 55-54. Pat Jones scored 13 points and grabbed a game high 14 rebounds. Kenny Martinez led the Cards in scoring with 14 points and Escalante, now a point guard, dished off nine assists. “I learned that this team has a lot of heart. In the thick of adversity, we stood up to the challenge, knocked it down and walked right through it,” said Newell.

Santa Cruz Barely Survives Wild SLV Rally. Leading by 17 points at the half, helped by three, three point field goals and 11 points made by Kenny Martinez, the Cards barely manage to win 58-54. The victory raised their league record to 3-0 and 11-7 overall. “We didn’t adjust offensively very well, when we had to go from facing a zone defense in the first half to a man to man in the second half, said coach Newell. The man to man held the Cards to 13 percent shooting on 2 of 16 from the field in the third quarter. SLV outscored SC 14-5 in the third to close the score to 46-35. “We put them in the free throw bonus in the third quarter and let them cut the lead without moving time off the clock,” said Newell. With 22 seconds left on the clock the score was 56-54. Point guard Bernie Escalante nailed a short jumper to seal the win. It was Escalante’s tenth point.

Cards Reign On Condors 61-44. The win moved the Cards to 4-0 in league and 12-7 overall. Last season, Cardinal Kenny “Lightning Man” Martinez was a small power forward, struggling to get rebounds against the big boys inside. This year, Martinez is the Cards off guard, shooting and nailing three pointers every chance he gets. Against the Condors, Martinez electrified the crowd three times with a trio of first half three pointers, changing the complexion of the contest by taking the Condors out of their game plan, Martinez finished with a game high 15 points. Shooting primarily from close range, the Condors shot a sizzling 63 percent in the first half and trailed only 32-29.
“The three pointers made our inside game open up. They became more conscious of our perimeter game,” said Coach Newell. The Jones gang: center Pat with 13 points, forward Gabe 12 and Mike 11 led the scoring. “We had good ball pressure without any fouls, said Newell of his aggressive man to man defense. Our perimeter pressure forced them to catch the ball further from the basket, which allows the defensive players to react a little bit quicker to the inside play.”

Cards Pummel Cats 77-54. SC featured a dominating center Pat Jones, a solid, fundamentally sound supporting cast and a tenacious defense, which could give them their third straight league title. SC behind the often spectacular play of Jones, controlled the contest from the out set, leading 16-11 at the end of the first quarter, at halftime 34-19 and the third 56-39. Jones had a game high 28 points and 11 rebounds and at least six blocked shots and that is in addition to all the shots he altered. SC remains atop the league standings at 5-0. Overall they are 13-7. SC got strong efforts from Bobby Hultzen with 14 points and Bernie Escalante with 12 points.

Cards Hold Off Pirate Rally. Despite opening a 15 point advantage in the fourth quarter, the Cards needed clutch free throw shooting at the end to sink the Pirates 59-52. Coach Newell said, “I never know how our guys are going to shoot foul shots. Tonight the guys hit some big free throws when we needed them. Pat Jones scored six of his team high 14 points, including four free throws, in the last two minutes of the game. Harbor led 16-14 at the quarter. Kenny Martinez hit a jumper in the second quarter to give the Cards their first lead 24-22 and they never trailed after that. At halftime SC led 31-27.
In the second half the Cards tightened the defensive pressure and immediately outscored Harbor 15-4 to take a commanding 46-29 lead going into the fourth quarter. “We wanted to take advantage of our size advantage inside. The thing that really got us going was our defense. In the fourth quarter, Harbor got back into the game, because we missed a lot of easy fast beak opportunities and Harbor capitalize on our misses,” said Newell. Harbor never gave up and cut the lead to five points with 24 second left. Jones and Escalante hit free throws to seal the victory.

Hultzen’s Spark Ignites Cardinals to a 76-61 win over Soquel. If everyone on the SC team played like Bobby Hutlzen played this game, the Cards can go undefeated. And there are half way there. Hultzen scored just six points, but grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots and was “far and away the most active player on the court,” said Coach Newell. “We made a point at halftime to try and get the other players to play at Bobby’s level. He was getting rebounds, he was on the floor for loose balls, knocking passes away inside and doing all the necessary things to make us competitive.” The Cards led 17-16 at the end of the first quarter and 38-32 at halftime. Pat Jones had 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Big Victory for SC. Cards Romp Past Shorthanded Aptos 91-72. With Aptos only a game and a half behind SC, this was a big game. Two Aptos starters plus a reserve missed the game after being suspended for two games. After watching Aptos’ leading scorer hit one of his hot spells scoring ten of his game high 27 in the first quarter, the Cards put on a clinic to blow open a close game and breeze to victory, in front of a standing room crowd. “We got into a pretty good groove in the second quarter,” said coach Newell, whose team scored 33 points in the period. “We found some openings in their zone and took advantage of them.”
SC connected on 14 of 19 shots from the field, including three, 3-pointers. At the other end of the court, SC played tough man defense and limited Aptos’ ace to one shot. SC surged to a 50-34 halftime advantage. Pat Jones had the hot hand in the third quarter collecting 11 of his team high 19 points all of them from close range. Gabe Jones added 14 points.

SC defeated Watsonville 61-31 and North Monterey 62-53. (see Athlete of the week below to get some information.)

Santa Cruz 87, SLV 44. They totally dominated from the start to the finish in every category, said the SLV coach. The Cards are 2 ½ games ahead of the closes team Aptos with three games remaining. SC had seven, three pointers. Pat Jones was top scorer with 15, followed by Bernie Escalante 14, Django Sussman 11 and Norman Hutching 10. Hutchings and Mark Northcutt each had two three pointers.

(Missing second round games against North Monterey and Watsonville)
Sentinel Athlete of the Week of February 6 was senior point guard Bernie Escalante. He isn’t a prolific scorer, but he handles a lot of other duties for the first place Cards and handled them especially well last week. Escalante scored 39 points with numerous assists in three victories, to help the Cards improve to 11-0 in league and clinch the round robin championship. In Saturdays 61-31 win over Watsonville, Escalante’s passing allowed the Cards to score easy lay ups and short jumpers. Partly, because of Escalante’s assists the team when 11for 11 on field goal attempts in the second quarter as SC outscore Watsonville 22-6. Against North Monterey, Escalante had a season high 20 points in a 62-53 win. Then against SLV, he scored 14 points in a 87-44 win. “I feel like a quarterback out there, looking for open receivers. But this week, we play against a lot of zone defenses, so I penetrated and took the jumper myself more. The shots are starting to fall for me, said Escalante.

Cardinals Survive On a Scary Night. Mike Jones Injures Neck In 59-51 Win Over Harbor. SC not only survived a scare from the upstart Pirates, but also survived seeing key reserve forward Mike Jones being wheeled out of the gym on a stretcher. At the 4:27 mark of the first quarter Jones found himself in a scramble over a loose ball. Moments later Jones laid still near the free throw line. His neck was in pain from a heavy fall. The paramedics were called and took Mike to Dominican Hospital for observation. The Cards played the rest of the first quarter as if they were in a daze. They committed ten turnovers in the quarters for their worst quarter of the season. The difference in the game was the Cards depth, which helped them go undefeated in league with a 12-0 record.

Mariners Avenge Earlier Losses To SC 81-74 In SCCAL Semis. In what looked like so many of the Aptos-SC rivalry games of the past years, fast pace, high intensity, the Mariners won somewhat uncharacteristically with their defense and passing. With 6:40 to play in the game Bobby Hultzen made a follow shot to make the score 65-59 Aptos. Aptos then made four steals to up the lead to 75-63. With 2:22 left to go, SC got the score to 77-70, but Aptos blocked a shot and made a steal to put the game out of reach and then held the ball for 46 seconds to wind the clock down. It probably is the longest Aptos has taken without a shot in recent memory. Patrick Jones had 23 points and Bernie Escalante had 16. In order for Aptos to reach the finals and get the opportunity to beat SC again for the tournament championship, they will have to beat North Monterey tomorrow. But for having to forfeit 14 games for using an ineligible player, Aptos would have ended up taking second place in the SCCAL regular season.

No Surprise: Santa Cruz Wins SCCAL Title For Third Straight Year. After winning five straight games, North Monterey upset Aptos in the SCCAL Tournament semi-finals to face the round robin champion Cards in the SCCAL tournament final, but were defeated by SC 45-34. It was a struggle as the Cards hit one field goal in 21 attempts in the first quarter, but North Monterey was only two for 16 to take a 7-5 lead. It was North Monterey’s fourth game in five days. SC used a full court press for the whole game to take advantage of the fatigue factor, but the Condors did not wilt. Patrick Jones, who scored 10 points and had 14 rebounds said, “They still seemed fresh at the end of the game.” The first half was as low scoring as it was fast paced, dominated by defense. SC hit eight of 30 shots and North Monterey was 6 for 27. A Jones put back of an offensive rebound in the opening minute of the second half gave SC a 24-18 lead. The Condors cut the lead to 26-25, but a 7-0 SC run made the score 33-25 with 5:25 left in the game. SC salted the victory away hitting 6 for 6 from the foul line down the stretch.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of February 20 was senior center Pat Jones, who helped the Cards win their third straight league title. The 6-7 SC workhorse had 10 points and 14 rebounds against North Monterey and 23 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Aptos. SC had a awful time warming up their shooting arms, but Jones had 10 first half rebounds to keep the Cards in the running. “He played big on both ends in both games. It was pretty much a struggle for everyone in that game, but as usually Patrick came through.
It appeared that most of the team played sluggish against Aptos, but Patrick was the one player whose game didn’t fall off. With North Monterey collapsing on him, he was able to find open areas inside. His ability to get the tough rebound with bodies banging around him made him stand out,” Newell has said it before, but consistency has proved Jones’ most reliable asset through his four years on the varsity.

Yearbook. Kenny Martinez is a starting senior, who was told last year that he might not make the team his junior year. “When people doubt me, it inspires me,” he said. Kenny made the team that won the league crown. His best game this year was at Aptos. In the first half he missed everything. “I was depressed,” he said, “but coach Newell told me he had confidence in my shot and to keep shooting. In the second half I just shot, I just played like a machine.“ Kenny led this team back from a 12 deficit to victory in the last quarter. Kenny, who used to bring a ball to school, ever ready to play will never give up the game.

Sentinel stats. Pat Jones was thirteenth in the league scoring a 12.6 average points a game, the only Cardinal to make the top 18 scorers. (goes to show that team scoring is more important to a winning team than individual scoring) In rebounding he was fourth with a 9.6 average per game. The team was first on defense, holding their opponents to a 54.2average. On offense they were fourth, scoring at a 60 points a game average for a spread of 5.8 points.

Sentinel ALL COUNTY TEAM. First team selection at 6-7, senior, center, Pat Jones was one of the two repeat selections to the first team. He finished a four year varsity career by leading the Cards to their third straight SCCAL title. “His contributions are best reflected in the success of the team,” said Coach Newell, Jones scored 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a game and was the league MVP. “He never once complained about not getting the ball enough. Anything individual was secondary to Patrick.”

Second team, 6-0, senior, guard, Bernie Escalante was without a doubt, the best new guard this season. After making the switch in positions in December, his athletic ability may have been the biggest key to SC’s championship season. He received the only MVP vote that did not go to Jones. Bernie averaged 8.7 points a game.

Two Of A Kind. Pair of Cardinals Voted Leagues Best.
Pat Jones was voted by the SCCAL coaches as the league Most Valuable Player. Bernie Escalante was voted first team ALL SCCAL. Bernie, who moved from forward to point guard toward the end of preseason was instrumental in the Cards success with his leadership, controlling the ball and initiating the action, passing, scoring and defense. Coach Newell at the time of the move said it changed the season around.

Bobby Hultzen a 6-4, senior forward was voted third string ALL SCCAL.

Some say Pat Jones had a better season last year. That’s statistically true, his scoring and rebounding averages are slightly lower then when helped the Cards win league last year. Coach Newell, “You can’t overlook that we finished 12-0 in league. Basketball is very much a team game and Pat did a great job playing his part.” Watsonville coach Bob Linney comments, “When your preparing for a game against SC, you start with preparing for Pat. He’s not really a high scorer, but he’s certainly capable of doing that and a lot of other things. It’s not just the number of blocked shots he gets, but them number of shots he changes. If you hear a ball clang off the backboard, it’s probably because the shooter was worried about Pat blocking it.” Jones is capping off his four year varsity career with 47 wins and five losses.
Since his freshman season, Jones learned a Newell system that stresses the transition game and balanced team play. Newell said, “Jones’ knowledge and reliability has earned him the MVP award. The award is the combination of four years of hard work. He’s had an outstanding year. Consistency has been his hallmark.”
Jones said, ”This year, I’ve been passing a lot more. When I started as a freshman and sophomore, I was basically clogging up the middle, blocking shots and rebounding. Now I think I’ve taken the role of scorer more and haven’t lost those other things. I’m trying to contribute in a lot of ways, that’s what coach Newell asks us to do.” Pat at 6’7 led the team in scoring average with points per game average and 9.4 rebounds a game.12.3

Patrick Jones will play in the California North-South All Star Basketball Classic, March 25 at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL
Yearbook. Led by Dov Rathman, Jason Williams and the McCormick twins Jake and Zack racked up solid wins against teams of equal quality like Soquel 46-34.

Other team members were Ben Branch, Rob Henderson, Femi Ayanbadejo, Chris Grey, Nate Bell, Max Mugnier, Anthony Fernando and Ryan Mills. Coach Charles Burks.

FROSH BASKETBALL
Yearbook. At the end of three weeks of league the frosh were an undefeated 6-0. The team leaders were Jason Knee, Aaron Woliczko and K. C. Kaiser.

Other team members were Chris Croghan, Fred Jordan, Brian Jones Cody Dumont, Brooks Allen, Willie Bouterse, William Delgado, Jason Nevin, Michal Breeden, Chris Crawford, Joel Ackerknecht and Sal Chavez, Coach Silviano Gaona and assistant Stuart Kumaishi.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Practice games: Gonzales 44-43, Hollister 57-24, Aptos 41-36, Silver Creek 37-45, Monte Vista 43-36, Los Gatos 17-32. Practice record 4-2.
League: Soquel 37-18, 44-34; Aptos 44-37, 49-32; SLV 37-41, 54-35; North Monterey 44-33, 46-30; Watsonville 55-26, 45-46; Harbor 39-45, 20-41. League record 8-4 during round robin to tie for second place. In SCCAL playoffs: SLV 61-35 and Harbor 44-56. CCS playoffs: Los Gatos in first round 46-38. Season record 13-7? (Games missing)

Yearbook. Won the first five league games, but then lost to Harbor to put them a half a game back in league. Senior leaders were Auddrena Mauga and Mary Croghan; juniors Meghan Kinney and Rachel Heit. Freshman Jessica Lang played well on the varsity.

Other team members were Josie Heyward, Heather Singer, Erin Chandley and Maggie Marini. Coach Kathy Pappas and Pete Pappas.

Sentinel preseason write up. Kathy Pappas in her third year as coach listed her key players as seniors Auddrena Mauga a 5-4 forward and Weny Vajretti a 5-6 forward. Junior Meghan Kinney, 5-5 guard and Sophomore Heather Singer 5-6 forward. This years team is young and inexperience with only Mauga, Singer and Vajretti returning from last year. Pappas is expecting a child in January and her husband Pete will take over. (He has coach man teams at SC and has a lot of experience)

Dec. 8. SC 44, Gonzales 43. Meghan Kinney hit the game winner wigh 7 seconds on the clock for the 2-1 Cards. Leading scorer was Auddrena Mauga with 18 points and Jessica Lang with 12. Mauga also led the team in rebounds with 12 and Josie Heyward had eight. SC outscored Gonzales 13-10 in the last quarter.

Dec 13. Santa Cruz 57, Hollister 24. SC 3-1, raced to a 34-12 halftime lead and had 10 players score in the rout. Freshman guard Jessica Lang led the Cards with 12 points. Meghan Kinney had 10 points and she and Heather Singer each had 12 rebounds.

Dec. 14. Santa Cruz 41, Aptos 36. A dead paced first half ended with Aptos leading 14-11. Auddrena Mauga scored all of her 12 points in the second half. Meghan Kinney had nine of the 11 SC points in the first half added 12 in the second half for a game total of 21.

Dec. 20. Silver Creek 45, SC 37. “We kept chipping away, but we couldn’t get any closer than five points down the stretch,” said Coach Pete Pappas, whose Cards are 5-3. Mauga scored ten points and had seven steals. Heather Singer had ten points and nine rebounds.

Santa Cruz 43, Monte Vista 36. Auddrena Mauga scored a game high 23 to lead the Cards past Monte Vista Christian for third place at the SLV tournament. Mauga also made the All Tournament team.

Los Gatos 32, Santa Cruz 27. SC managed only 11 points in the first half, then bounced back to tie 24-24 with three minutes left.

Jan. 4. SC 37, Soquel 18. The halftime score was 16-4 SC.

Jan. 7. Win No Wipeout For Santa Cruz, but a 44-37 win for SC. The scoreboard showed 90–0, but it was malfunctioning board. Instead of a blow out SC and Aptos were tied 34-34 with three minutes and 46 seconds left to play. SC had trailed by 12 points in the first half, gained the lead on a short jumper by Jessica Lang with 3:10 left. Aptos remained calm and only trailed by two points with two minutes left. Then SC forced three turnovers down the stretch for a 8-3 run to seal the victory. SC is 2-0 in league and 7-3 for the season. SC played without top scorer Mauga, stepped up the defensive tempo in the second half, forcing ten Aptos turnovers in the third quarter. Thanks to the stingy defensive pressure and dominating rebounding, the Cards outscore Aptos 14-5 to take a 30-29 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Jan. 10. SLV 41, SC 37. SLV defeated SC for the first time in four years and grab a share of first place in league. SLV led 23-16 at halftime, before SC scored four straight buckets to take the lead. SC eventually extended the lead to 30-25, before SLV ran off ten unanswered points. SC then scored seven straight points to take a 37-35 lead, before SLV closed out the game with a 6-2 run for the victory. SLV outscored SC 11-4 at the free throw line.

Jan. 14. SC 44, North Monterey 33. SC blew open a 28-28 game with a 16-5 fourth quarter run to hold its share of the SCCAL lead with a 3-1 record. Four Cards scored in double figures: Auddrena Mauga and Meghan Kinney each had 11 and Heather Singer and Jessica Lang added 10. SC capitalized on a tired Condor press defense in the final minutes.

Jan. 17. Cards Beat Cats, Hold First Place with 52-26 win. Through much of the game, the Cards were letter perfect. The Cards are now 4-1 in league. They were red hot from the field hitting 47 percent. They hit from the perimeter, where wing Mauga hit most of her game high 14 points. Josie Hayward 12 points and Heather Singer 8 points hit from the key. The SC defense played a sagging, switching, player to player defense. It stopped the Cats from slicing into the key or getting any open shots. There was always a hand in the face of the Cat shooters. Scoring: Croghan 2, Hayward 12, Kinney 4, Mauga 14, Lang 8, Chandley 4 and Singer 8.

Jan. 19. Harbor Move Back On Top By Battling Past Cardinals 45-39. When Harbor with the leagues best offense clashed with the leagues best defense in SC something had to give. Harbor was held to seven points under their average score per game, but Harbor’s defense was more impressive. At the start of the fourth quarter Harbor went ahead 33-25. SC led by center Heather Singer’s three baskets went on a 10-0 run to give SC a 35-33 lead with 3:20 left to play. Singer finished with a team high 12 points and a game high 15 rebounds. With two free throws and a couple of intercepted pass put Harbor ahead 43-37 with 43 seconds to play. One telling statistic was the difference in free throws; Harbor made 11 of 14 and SC was 2of 5. Harbor leads the league with 5-1 records, while SC is 4-2 and 9-5 overall.

Jan. 24. Fast Start Pays Off In Cardinal Victory over Soquel 44-34. The Cards built a mammoth lead early going ahead 27-9 at halftime. SC 5-2 in league led 18-4 at the quarter partly because of the hot shooting of Meghan Kinney, who collected eight of her game and season high 19 points in the opening quarter. SC’s tough defense held Soquel to just five free throws in the second quarter. SC didn’t relent in the second quarter as their tough defense held Soquel to four free throws and forced a barrage of turnovers and forced them to rush their shots. SC led 27-9 at halftime. The SC quickness took its toll and Soquel couldn’t get things going the way they wanted. Soquel held SC to just four points in the third quarter to get the lead down to 31-19. Heather Singer pulled down 14 rebounds to go with her 9 points.

Jan. 28. Cardinals Breeze Past Mariners. Second Wind Lifts Santa Cruz To Victory 49-32. For Coach Pete Pappas and the Cardinals, a little extra conditioning can go a long way. In a close battle, the Cards caught their second wind in the fourth quarter, enabling them to breeze by the tired Aptos team. “We win a lot of games like that. We look slow and struggle early, but when it comes down to the end of the game, we just control the boards and play good defense,” said Pappas, who believes his rigorous conditioning program enable the Cards to emerge as winners more often than not. “We condition real hard and the girls have a good attitude about it,” said Pappas, whose team improved their league record to 6-2 and an overall mark of 11-4.
Aptos was only down 32-28 after three quarters, by using a slow down offense, that kept the Cards high-flying fast break under control. But then the Cards shifted from first to fifth gear and dominated the four quarter. With a stingy defense, led by sophomore center Heather Singer’s game high 14 rebounds, the Cards started the final quarter with a 13-2 run. Ever improving freshman Jessica Lang scored five points down the stretch to add to her game high 13 points. SC held the Mariners to 2 for 9 from the field, for a mere 29 percent in the quarter. Meanwhile, five different Cards scored in the fourth quarter. Mauga had ten points for the night.

Jan. 31. Santa Cruz 54, SLV 35. SC opened a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. It avenged a loss to SLV in the first round of league. “We controlled the tempo of the game for the entire game,” said Coach Pete Pappas, whose team is in second place behind Harbor with a 7-2 record. Erin Chandley had a season high 10 points and 10 rebounds. Heather Singer pulled down 15 rebounds.

Feb. 2. Santa Cruz 46, North Monterey 30. SC at 8-2 stayed a half a game behind Harbor 8-1. North Monterey came out pressing and the Cards handled it well. “This was a tough game for us. We were a tired ball club. This was our second game in three nights and we practiced the day in between, plus having a game tomorrow. It was a good win for us,” said Coach Pete Pappas. SC had six players score in the first period as it opened a 16-7 lead. SC was held to two points in the second quarter. Mauga had a hot hand in the second half, pouring in 13 of her game high 17 points.

Feb. 4 Wildcats Keep Rolling, Knock Off Cardinals 46-45. Watsonville improved their league record to 7-3, while SC is 8-3 and 13-5 overall. Down by seven with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter, SC applied tremendous defensive pressure, rallied back on the strength of heads up play of freshman Jessica Lang and sophomore Maggie Marini. After sophomore Josie Heywood scored on an offensive rebound, Marini nad Heywood, trapped the Cat point guard near half court. Lang then stripped the ball away and raced in for a layup to cut the Watsonville lead to 46-45. SC then forced a turnover, but committed a critical turnover with 25 seconds to play. SC tried to foul, but could not get to the person with the ball. Audi Mauga led the Cards in scoring with 16 points. Sophomore Heather Singer pulled down 14 rebounds and Heywood added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Feb. 7. Harbor Makes A Point, Tops SC 41-20. Harbor upped it league record to 10-1 and SC drops to 8-4 and 13-6 overall. Both teams came out tentatively and then Harbors offense began to click and its defense began to clamp holding SC to only two points in the first quarter. Harbor led 16-10 at halftime. At the end of the first quarter Harbor led 31-13.

Feb. 15. Cards Look Fresh In Tourney Victory a 61-35 over SLV. If you had walked into the gym and taken a quick look to see who was on the floor for SC, you might have thought you were watching a junior varsity game. Coach Pete Pappas brought up four freshman to the varsity for the SCCAL playoffs and they responded. None of the freshmen stood taller than Elaine Brown, who scored nine points and hauled down a game high 13 rebounds in her first varsity game.
“It was a good, well balanced game. It was nice to see the freshmen up. It gave us a new attitude. They’ve come a long way, I could have won a few more games if they were up, but its nice to see them now.” Pappas said. SC had a 31-18 rebounding advantage, used a balanced and fast paced scoring attack to compliment their stingy defense to bolt out to a 35-13 halftime lead. SC got a total of 25 points from its freshman reserves, was led by Meghan Kinney with 11 points and Audi Mauga with 10.

Feb. 18. Harbor Girls Win Another League Crown winning their sixth straight with a 56-44 victory in the SCCAL playoffs to take the sole title. If SC could have won this game and one the next night, they could have been co-champs. Harbor had leads of 19-8 and 25-8 in the first half. Even when faced with a 36-17 deficit, the Cards did not give up. Sparked by spunky freshman Elayne Brown, the Cards outscored Harbor 27-20 in the second half, but never got closer then 11 points. Brown finished with team highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds. “That’s one of the things we wanted to do, play the freshmen and sophomores,” said Coach Pappas, who has just one senior, Audi Mauga on a team that is 15-7 overall.

Audi Reliable In Card Win. Audi Mauga gets nervous when her mother comes to her games. The first team ALL SCCAL guard feels pressure of making a mistake, then facing mom at home. Her mom was not at the game, but Mauga scored a game high 22 points and hauled down 13 rebounds in the Cards 46-38 victory over Los Gatos in the first round of CCS Division III playoffs. With 6:14 left in the third quarter, the Cards led 24-20. Then Mauga went on a scoring spree. First, She picked a ball off the dribbler and went in for a layup. On a give and go with Heather Singer, Mauga nailed a 17 footer from the right hand corner, again from the corner and then zeroed in a three point bomb to end the quarter. This gave the Cards their biggest lead of the game 35-26. “That’s her best night of the year,” said Coach Pete Pappas, who watched his team boost their record to 16-8. “It seems like she was really in synch.” Mauga said, “I just haven’t been playing intense, but tonight I just said, I’m going all out and play my game and I have to be strong. I can’t think, I just have to go out and play.” The game started out very slowly as the combined score was 17 points at the end of the first quarter. Pappas cited “tunnel vision” and too much individual play the first half problems. At half Pappas talked about “defense and rebounding and just running what we know how to run. We came out and did it the third quarter. The Cards out rebounded Los Gatos 47 to 28 with Singer leading the way with 16. Meghan Kinney added nine and Mauga yanked down 13.

Sentinel stats on February 28 by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average per game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
4 Mauga 24 401 25 16.7
12 Kinney 25 226 19 9.0
19 Singer 24 152 13 6.3
1 SC team 25 940 37.9

REBOUNDS
PL NAME GP TR HI AV
6 Singer 24 264 16 11.0
18 Kinney 25 163 12 6.4
20 Brown 9 54 10 6.0
21 Mauga 24 127 13 5.1
3 SC team 25 1090 43.6

Sentinel ALL COUNTY TEAM. First team selection, Auddrena Mauga. Second team, Heather Singer. Honorable mention was junior guard Meghan Kinney.
Senior of the year Auddrena Mauga. Pete Pappas, “There’s still a lot of talent there. She was our only senior, so we needed her leadership to help with the confidence of the other girls.” She was second in three point goals with 16. Heather Singer was one of the Cards top young players, a sophomore who averaged 11 rebounds and 6.3 points a game in her second varsity season.

ALL SCCAL first team player senior Auddrena Muaga a 5-6 guard, who was fourth in league scoring with 11.4 average also averaged 5.2 rebounds a game.
Junior Meghan Kinney was selected on the second team.
On the third team was sophomore Heather Singer at 5-10 and Jessica Lang a 5-4 freshman. Honorable mention, Josie Heyward.
Heather Singer was chosen Sophomore of the Year
Pete Pappas the Coach of the Year. “Winning the award is a great honor,” said Pappas. “It feels good to have the respect of your peers. I think when the season started, there were not many people who though we would finish with a 8-4 record. We only had three girls with varsity experience, but the whole team worked very hard all season.”

JV GIRLS BASKETBALL
After three weeks of the season the team was undefeated. They beat Harbor, Silver Creek and every other league team.. Kenna Karst is the top player on the team and was also one of the top five varsity cross country runners in the league. Kenna scored 20 points against Silver Creek and played her best game in a two point win over Harbor.

Yearbook. Team members were Kenna Karst, Arie Bonnell, Elayne Brown, Christina Thompson, Gina Dowd, Gretchen Gkrebs, Stacy Weins, Sarah Merenghi, Kresta Mozeleski, Jesse Gonzales, Tish Cosey and Brandi Hoffman. Coach John Wilson.

Sentinel. SC beat Watsonville 55-44. SC is undefeated in league.

WRESTLING
Yearbook. The team was led by seniors Derik Eselius, Joe Craw, Doug Kishi and David Royal.

Other team members were Gabe Blanchette, Steve Marenghi, Darby Hillyard, Josh Peterson, Chris Farelli, Sean Brandt, Robbie Parry and Josh Ewing. Coaches John Corona and Chris Lovato.

Sentinel. At the Gonzales Tournament with 16 teams, the Cards place fourth. David Royal, Derek Eselius and Joe Craw all were champions of their weight division. Royal pinned his man at the 40 second mark of the first period of the finals for the 132 pound title. He had two other pins in the tourney and is now 11-0, since dropping from 138 to 132. Overall he is 18-4. Eselius at 175 pounds, threw his man down for a 53 second pin. He is 18-5 for the season. Craw moved his season mark to 18-5 by pinning his opponent in ten seconds of the match. He had a 15 second pin in the semi-finals. Chris Farrell a freshman 105 pounder placed third. Robbie Parry at 119 took fourth. Doug Kiski at 191 was fourth and Steve Marenghi at 145 was fifth.

Sentinel. The Coast Classic held at Cabrillo College is one of the top tournaments in California with a 36 team field representing schools as far south as Mission Viejo and as far north as Chico. Derek Eselius at 175 and heavyweight Joe Craw both took fourth places.

At the CCS championships with 70 schools participating, SC placed forty second. Derek Eselius, who lost to a SLV wrestler in the SCCAL finals, defeated him at CCS to take third place, which qualifies him for the State Finals.

Trident February 28. Cards Tame Wildcats. SC defeated Watsonville 48-27. To start off the matches sophomore Sean Brandt lost in the 98 pound division by decision. Freshman Chris Ferelli lost at 105 pounds. At 112 pounds, SC didn’t have a wrestler and forfeited to give Watsonville a 15-0 lead. Sophomore Robbie Parry pinned his opponent at 119. Senior Josh Ewing was pinned at 126. The Cards luck took a turn for the better. Senior David Royal started things with a pin at 138. Sophomore Steve Marenghi pinned his opponent at 145, to give SC its first lead 24-21. Freshman Devin Eselius at 154, won by pin. SC forfeited the 156 class. Watsonville didn’t have any wrestlers in the last three weight class so SC won.

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER
Games covered: Gonzales 2-3, North Monterey 3-0, Aptos 3-1, SLV 2-0.

Yearbook. The defending league champions were not able to defend their title losing to Watsonville, Soquel and Harbor. Big wins were against Aptos in a 2-1 overtime win, a 2-0 win over previously unbeaten SLV and a 3-1 win over North Monterey. Senior middle half back Jevin Albuquerque has been a top player on the team for all four years. Other team leaders were Rogaciano Garcia, Brendon Walsh; juniors Pedro Sierra and “Chewey.”

Other team members were Loni Adams, Jiame Martinez, Matt Moses, Robert Ramirez, Tim Shields, Bates Marshall, Raul Galvez, Robert Ruiz, Jerry Meyers, Javier Gonzales, Jose Marquez, Hector Diaz, Jesus Corcoles and Eduardo Sotelo. Coach Sergio Sierra

Sentinel November 30. Short Handed Cards Edged as SC played one man short for the final 35 minutes and lost on a goal with two minutes to play 3-2 against Gonzales. Pedro “Baby” Sierra and Jeven Albuquerque gave SC a 2-0 halftime lead. Thing heated up in the second half, when Card goalie Jose Marquez was ejected for arguing a call. “He thought there was an off-sides penalty called and they got off a good shot and scored,” said coach Sergio Sierra, who had to pull a halfback out of the lineup to insert backup goalie Javier Gonzales. “We had to play shorthanded and we hung in there.
But Gonzales was pumped up and put the pressure on us. I give our defense credit. But we were exhausted. Fullback Roberto Ramirez stood out,” said Sierra. “This was one of those thrilling games, like Watsonville and SC. I feel really good about the game. The defense gets credit for holding on for so long. Our back up goalie kept us in the game.” SC is now 1-1.

December 14. SC 3, North Monterey 0. SC opened defense of their SCCAL championship by blowing open a scoreless struggle with three goals in the second half. Pedro Sierra broke the scoreless tie ten minutes into the second half on an assist by Jevin Albuquerque. Ten minutes later, after some confusion by NMC fullbacks, Cesar Oliva’s pressure created an own goal, when a Condor defender passed back to the goalie in the goal. Fifteen minutes later Sierra and Jason Newlove set up a triangle play and Alburquerque scored without dribbling.

Sentinel. February 2. SC 3, Aptos 1. SC was awarded a win after a fight broke out and the Aptos coach pulled his team off the field with 18 minutes left in the game and the Cards ahead 3-1. Pedro Sierra. Scored all three goals for the Cards. There were conflicting reports on what led up to the fight and the aftermath, but according to SCCAL commissioner Pat Lovell the games last 18 minutes will not be replayed and SC get the victory by forfeit.

Santa Cruz Surprises SLV. Short handed Cards Still In The Hunt. SC in the midst of the SCCAL playoff race and in a must win situation, had to play without three starters, including its leading scorer Pedro Sierra. But the troops of Coach Sergio Sierra, his brother, rose to the occasion and posted a 2-0 victory. The win kept SC in the running with Soquel and SLV for the final two playoff spots. Watsonville has already clinched the league crown. The top three finishers in the SCCAL advance to the CCS playoffs.
“I was very happy with the way the guys responded,” Sierra said. “We were without three starters and we really needed a big game. The seniors on the team kept the guys together. We totally dominated the tempo of the game, both offensively and defensively.” Baby Sierra, who has scored 12 of SC’s 16 goals this season, had to sit out the game with teammates Roberto Rameriz and Isdo Laguna, because of their involvement in an altercation against Aptos.
The three players were given red cards and under league rules, they had to sit out the next game. “We played with a totally different attitude today. I told the guys that when you get hit hard by someone, you just have to bounce back up. I think the incident against Aptos really brought us together,” said Coach Sierra.

A FAMILY TRADITION. Soccer A Way Of Life For Sierra’s. Soccer Has Been The Treasure Of The Sierra’s Padre.
The five Sierra brothers are seemingly always on the way to or from a game. Sergio, Amando, Jose, Jorge and Pedro ‘Baby’. At almost every SCHS soccer game, home or away, there’s a small man in a soiled hat, crusty shoes and dusty clothes sitting in the corner of the stands. Sometimes he get up and walks around a little, keeping an eye on the action while monitoring the business on the sidelines. Most people don’t know who he is. But they know the man appears to have something at stake each game, as if he were owner of the team.
He is Pedro Sierra, local concrete worker. And he certainly does have something at stake. “He’s like our mascot.” said Sergio Sierra, Pedro’s oldest son and coach of the SC boys varsity team. “Somehow, he always gets out of work to come watch us play. He comes straight from work in his boots, looking dirty. But he’s always there for us.” Pedro Sierra has seen each of his five sons excel on the soccer field at Santa Cruz high. He has seen his sons celebrate SCCAL championships and he has seen heart breaking losses in the CCS playoffs. For ten seasons, the family has stood the test and battled on the beaten turf of Memorial Field. Every season since 1979, there has been a Sierra playing for the Cardinals.
“Soccer is their family, their life,” said Don Dempewolf, who coached SC from 1973 to 1987. “Soccer is what keeps that family tight knit. You have to understand what soccer does to people. It gets in their blood. It’s something the Sierra’s have made part of their lifestyle.” It started with Sergio, when he was a sophomore playing varsity ball on the 1978-80 team. Since then, Jose, Jorge and Armando each spearheaded dozens of victories for SC. This year, Pedro Sierra gets to watch his baby, Pedro junior, who goes by the name “Baby” around the house and at school and is playing for his big brother Sergio. “It’s fun watching Baby play,” said Jose, who coaches the Aptos high girls soccer team. Pedro played in Mexico, but hung up his cleats when he married Francisa.
He brought his family to Santa Cruz in 1971. Pedro said, “It was rough when we didn’t have much money. But if one of my boys needed soccer shoes, I’d do anything to get some new ones.” It paid off years later when Sergio’s 1980-81 varsity team was undefeated in 10 league games under Dempewolfe. The next season the Cards were co-champions with North Monterey. “Back then with Watsonville coming into the league, it was really competitive,” said Sergio, now 24. “We were the power in the league, but we’d lose to them 2-1or 1-0. We could never beat them.
That’s why last year was so special for us.” Last year, SC beat Watsonville for the SCCAL championship. Watsonville went on to win the CCS Division II title, but for the Sierra family, the pinnacle had been reached. “With Armando playing and me coaching, that had to have been the biggest highlight for us,” Sergio said.
Jose 23, Jorge 21 and Armando 18 have kept the tradition going as SC reached the CCS playoffs all but two years in the 1980’s. All of them played the better part of three seasons on the varsity. “They’ve contributed as much to our success at SC as anybody,” Dempwolf said. “Being that they’ve kept it going in the family makes it that much better.” Pedro, who has seen about 90 percent of his sons games, often was the only team supporter at away games. He would follow the Cards anywhere, because he said he is following a dream. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if on of them made it, like to the pros or the World Cup, he said. “Hopefully, one of them will make it to the top. But even if they don’t I wouldn’t get upset of discouraged, because I know they have put everything into the sport.
Early last month, all five Sierras were on the field for a varsity-alumni game. In the off-season, the brothers had their own soccer team, called “The Sierras,” naturally and they played in some tournaments last year. “We just keep going,” Sergio said, “The high school season ends, but soccer doesn’t end. Armando, who played for Cabrillo last year, hasn’t decided where he’ll play next season.
Prospect are bright for Baby, the 17 year old Cardinal junior. He has absorbed all the good qualities of his brothers. “He’s learned so much from them, he’ll probably go the furthest,” Pedro said. “It’s been great having all of them around,” said Baby. “I get good ideas from them. If I do something wrong, one of them will take me outside and show me the right moves. All we talk about is soccer. “What I really want is to get a scholarship to play soccer,” Baby continued. “I’d be the first one, unless Armando gets one. Either way, it would make everybody real proud.” Especially that little man smiling in the corner of the bleacher.

Two Cards make ALL SCCAL team. They are senior halfback Jevin Albuquerque and junior forward Pedro Sierra. Honorable mention were Brendan Walsh, Tim Shields, Rogaciano Garcia, Jesus Corcoles and Javier Gonzales.

JV BOYS SOCCER
Yearbook. The team lost games by close scores, but won their games by as much as seven points. Leaders were center forward Roberto Chacon, center halfback Mike Ferrant and sweeper “Ocho’

Other team members were Felipe Nieto, Neil Churchill, Greg Bruland, Kyle Murphy, Brian McGinley, John Doe, Kris Reyes, Derek Kroeger, Mike Cowley, Arial Brown, Kevin, Jason Swolgaard, David Thompson, Jesse Martin, Mike Richards and Ramey White.
Coach Jorge Sierra

GIRLS SOCCER Practice games: Monte Vista 4-0,
League: North Monterey 1-0, 1-0; Soquel 3-1, 1-0, Watsonville 2-1, 1-0; SLV 3-3, 4-1; Harbor ?; Aptos ? Ended with a 5-6-1 league record.
(games missing)

Yearbook. In their first tour of the league their record was 1-4-1. The most exciting game was a come from a 2-0 deficit to tie with SLV 3-3.

Yearbook. The team was led by juniors Janell Flynn, Roby Lipsenthal, Siri Moeller and Micko Imai. Other team members were Mercedes Bauer, Heather Bonds, Danielle Sharpen, Elly LaRoque, Kim Shirley, Allison Agosti, Malinda Ferrante, Jana Zuckswert, Cara Hopkins, Erika Oliva, Liz Baron and Andrea Seeger. Coach Amy Smith.

Sentinel December 1. SC defeated Monte Vista 4-0. Janelle Flynn scored twice and had an assist. SC is 1-2.

December 3. At the SCCAL Jamboree, games were mini-games of 20 minute halves. SC lost to Aptos 0-2. (this is the only score for SC listed)

Sentinel December 6. Soquel 3, SC 1. Soquel scored two goals on freak situations. One was a long range shot that bounced over the goalies head and into the net. The other was tap in by a SC defender. (no info on SC. Soquel home game)

Sentinel. December 13. Santa Cruz 1, North Monterey 0. Ruby Lipsenthal knocked in a deflected shoot during the first 10 minute overtime to beat the Condors. Right wing Ellie Larock took the shot that defected off the Condor goalie and Lipsenthal, the Cards center forward, kicked in the carom for the games only score. SC coach Pete Littman praised the defensive play of sweeper Cara Hopkins and center fullback Allison Agosti, Offensively, Littman and center halfback Siri Moeller passed well an left wing Danielle Sharpen “created a lot of opportunities.” SC is now 2-4-1 overall.

January 19. SC 1, North Monterey 0. Andrea Seeger scored the only goal midway through the first half and goalie Liz Barron recorded her second shut out in league play. “It was a good defensive effort,” said coach Littman, who praised the defense of Cara Hopkins and Amy Smith. “Liz didn’t have to stop many shots.”

January 24. SC 1, Soquel 0. Ganelle Flynn scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half and then the Card defense took over from there. The defense was led by Erika Oliva, Alison Agosti and Amy Smith, said coach Littman. Goalie Liz Baron had her third shut out.

January 31. SC 2, Watsonville 1. The Cards improved to 4-4-1 in league play. Ruby Lipsenthal had a goal and a assist. Lipsenthal, a junior left wing, intercepted a back pass to the Watsonville goalie and punched the ball in for a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game. She assisted Janell Flynn on an 18 yard second half goal. The third goal was an own goal. (which means SC accidentally put the ball into their own goal) Assistant coach Sean Sullivan said sweeper Kim Shirley and stopper Allison Agosti were outstanding. Shirley was playing her first game at the sweeper position in place of Cara Hopkins, who is out for the season with an ankle injury.

February 7. Cardinals Knock Off the second place Cougars 4-1. “This was a tough defensive struggle,” said coach Pete Littman, “We passed the ball very well today and that gave us a lot of scoring opportunities. Janell Flynn scored what proved to be the deciding goal for SC 20 minutes into the second half. Flynn scored after teammate Ruby Lipsenthal’s shot banked off the SLV goalie. Flynn kicked the deflected shot back into the net to put the Cards up 2-1 and in control to stay. Going into this game, SLV had given up only eight goals all season. “Erika Oliva and Alison Agosti played well on defense. I guess you could say we played a well defensively as a team,” said Littman. Amy Smith got things started 20 minutes into the first half. She scored the goal from about 60 yards out to put SC up 1-0. The Cougars were able to even the score late in the first half. Lipsenthal hit the mark later in the second half, scoring the goal after taking a crossing pass form Daniele Sharpen. Jana Zuckswert scored the final goal. SC’s record is now 5-5-1. The victory put the Cards one point behind third place Harbor.

Two Cards make ALL SCCAL first team. They are junior halfback Siri Moeller and sophomore defender Allison Agosti, Honorable mentions were Liz Baron, Ruby Lipsenthal, Janell Flynn and Cara Hopkins.

JV GIRLS SOCCER UNDEFEATED IN LEAGUE 12-0-0.
Yearbook. Went undefeated for their first six games. Top performers were forwards Michal Broadbent and Quenby Davis; halfbacks Vannessa Nobokov and Kara Vernor. Other team members were Jenny Peck, Kim Anderson, Bree Nystrom, Koren Clark, Sandra Alvarez, Justine Minnis, Rachel Freitas, Meghan Palochak, Rebecca Sanchez-Glazer, Monica Escobedo and Colleen Cooney, Coach Tara Rice.

Trident February 28. Coached by Tara Rice the team went undefeated in league 12-0-0. “We were a very strong team from beginning to the end. We all worked together as a team,’ said junior Bree Nystrom.

BASEBALL
Practice games: San Jose 15-1, Carmel 8-1, Monterey 15-6, Gilroy 7-6, Valley Christian 12-1. Soquel tournament: Harbor 4-2, Cupertino 4-14 and Bellarmine 2-12 for fifth place. Practice record 6-2 showing, (but games are missing as the record should be 6-7 to match the final record.)
League: Aptos 6-9, 9-5; Watsonville 5-6, 2-10; Soquel 6-11, loss; SLV 1-11, 1-2; North Monterey 1-2, 2-10; Harbor loss, 8-4. League record 2-10 for last. Season record 8-17.

Yearbook. Led by seniors Ryan Reber, Bernie Escalante, Mike Park, Jesse Trumbull. Fernando Flores, Junior Chavez and Pat Jones. Other team members were Loni Adams. Jamie Carr, Mario Escobar, Stephen Hamblin, Jason Loo, Andrew McGraw, Andre Pacheco, Stan Pillsbury, Steve Reyes, Louis Rifesi, Danny Schultz, Todd Trowbridge, Shane King and Jason Whiteman.
Head Coach Fred Pfyffer and assistants John Wilson. and Angelo Ross

Sentinel preseason write up. There are eight returning starters and four others on last years squad ready to play. Key senior returnees are Bernie Excalante, C, Ryan Reber, P/IF; Shane King, SS; Stan Pillsbury, P/OF; Andre Pacheco, P/OF. Junior Chavez, P/OF and Mike Park, IF. “I definitely think we will be competitive this year. We have a bunch of guys back and we are going to be very sound defensively. Although our pitching is untested, I feel with our strong defense behind them and our offense, we should be with the top teams in the league,” said coach Pfyffer.

Sentinel Feb. 28. SC 15, San Jose 1. SC fired out of the starting blocks with a bang as the defending SCCAL co-champions got an easy win. SC scored four runs both in the first and fifth innings. The big hits were triples by Andre Pacheco and Steve Hamlin. Starting pitcher Ryan Reber got the win for three innings of one hit pitching. San Jose was limited to two hits.

March 6. Carmel 8, SC 1. Carmel took advantage of five SC errors and SC knew it would be a long day after watching a ball bounce off the left fielders head and over the fence for a home run in the second inning and Carmel got three more unearned runs in the inning. Starter Ryan Reber, who got the loss, only allowed one earned run and four hits in four innings. SC is now 2-1.
Sentinel. Santa Cruz Tops Monterey. Ten SC hits and five Monterey errors equaled a sloppy 15-6 non league victory for SC. SC 3-2 for the season, rallied from a 0-3 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mario Escobar, a senior right-hander rescued the Cards in the first when he came in to pitch with the bases loaded and shut down the Toreadors. Escobar earned his first decision by pitching two innings and Ryan Reber came on to finish the game on the mound.

March 18. Cardinals Finally Able To Hold Off Mustangs. The Cards had to come from behind three times to do it, but SC was finally able to hold off Gilroy 7-6 at Harvey West Park. “We played sloppy defense again,” said coach Fred Pfyffer, whose team committed six errors, ”but we were able to hit the ball well.” Fernando Flores and Bernie Escalante each went 2 for 3 and the team had nine hits to up the Cards record to 4-2. Flores tripled and scored three runs and Escalante had a double and two RBI’s. Down 3-5 in the fifth, the Cards rallied for three runs taking the lead on Andre Pacheco’s RBI single. In the sixth Gilroy tied up the game 6-6, but the Cards came back for the last time taking the lead for good on a sharp single by Mike Park that scored Steve Hamblin from second. Stan Pillsbury, third and last pitcher, threw the final 3 1/3 innings for the victory, allowing only three hits and striking out two.

March 21. SC 12. Valley Christian 1. Mike Park’s two run double highlighted a seven run rally in the fourth inning, which raised SC’s overall record to 5-2. Park was 3 for 4 and Ryan Reber was 2 for 2 to lead SC’s ten hit attack. Reber, who started and threw the first two innings, got the win for SC, whose four pitchers held Valley Christian to five hits.

March 25. Aptos 9, SC 6. Although leading by three runs with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Aptos coach was still nervous. He said, “At our field with the short distance to the fence any hit could be out of the park.” The Aptos diamond is called the ‘Launching Pad’ of the SCCAL. No lead is safe there. Two homer runs had been hit already and one was by Ryan Reber. But a strike out finished the game. SC, co-champions last season made three errors in its league debut. There were six runs scored against Reber, but three were unearned in his three innings pitched. Coach Fred Pfyffer said, “We really didn’t stop one another. There were just too many errors. Defensively, we’re having problems I didn’t think we would have. The pitchers aren’t that bad, but we don’t give them any defensive support. We’re just struggling a little bit right now.”

March 28. Cats Win With Last Gasp. Two-Out, Two-Strike Single in Seventh Beats Cards. Watsonville scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat visiting SC 6-5. “I think we played a very good game. We just ran out of pitchers. We played hard and aren’t ashamed of the way we played, but we are disappointed we lost,” Coach Fred Pfyffer. After SC scored in the first inning on a pass ball, Watsonville came back and scored four runs in the second inning on five hits and two walks to lead 4-1. SC got another run in the third inning and added three more in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.

April 4. Soquel 11, SC 6. The two defending co-champions from last year in a rematch, Soquel rallied for seven runs in the fifth inning to put the game away. “We just couldn’t make the routine plays,” said coach Pfyffer, as Soquel scored just four earned runs.

April 8. SLV 11, SC 1. SLV and SC have been heading in two different directions in the SCCAL this season and things remained the same. SLV is 5-0 and SC 0-5. SLV exploded for five runs the first inning, which was more than enough to win the game. (no mention of any action from SC)

April 11. Four Run Rally Sparks SC To Victory Over Harbor. Unfortunately the 4-2 victory over Harbor was a non league game, coming in the Soquel High-Capitola Host Lions Tournament and did not alter the Cards 0-5 league record. Trailing 0-2 in the third inning, SC put to together a four run rally. Leftfielder Loni Adams led off the third with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball, then when to third as the catchers throw went into center. Mike Park walked and Fernando Flores singled in Adams. Bernie Escalante put SC ahead for good with a two run single up the middle. Escalante stole second and scored on Ryan Rebers single. SC held on to its lead with quality relief pitching from freshman Chris Crawford, who was untouched in two innings of work and senior Stan Pillsbury. Normally the catcher Escalante started the game on the mound and gave up two runs in the first inning.

April 13. In the Soquel tournament SC lost to Cupertino 14-4.

April 15. At the Soquel tournament Bellarmine rolled over SC 12-2 in the fifth place game.

April 18. North Monterey Holds off SC with a 2-1 victory to improve their record to 4-2. SC defending league s0-champions are now 0-6 in league and 6-11 overall. SC scored its only run in the fourth, when Mario Escobar knocked home Andrew McGraw with a single. SC had runners in scoring positions in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t get them home.

As of April 18 the following are the top averages on the team: Reber .364, Escalante .357, Park .333, Chavez .258 and Pillsbury .250. Team batting .278.
Pitching by record, innings, and ERA: Pillsbury 2-1, 36, 2.70 and Reber 2-3, 22, 3.18. Team pitching by innings 108 and ERA 2.90..
Record to date 6-10.

April 24. Sentinel Athlete of the Week, Gregg Press (last year the Cards ace pitcher) now a freshman at Cabrillo, pitched his second straight two hit shutout beating Skyline 3-0 on three walks and eight strikeouts. Press hasn’t been scored upon in his last 19 innings, which coincides with the time he started throwing the slider he learned from Cabrillo coach Andy Messer smith a former big league pitcher. He threw the pitch about 20 percent of the time the second game against Skyline. In the first game, he threw it about 35 percent in the two hit game against Ohlone. “That’s when I started to get the feel for it, so I was throwing it a lot,” Press said. “If you don’t throw it correctly, it can be hard on the arm and elbow. If you start to turn your wrist over and throw it like a curve ball, then your elbow starts to tighten up when you throw it. But in the second game against Skyline, I was throwing it more like a fastball and gripped it over the side more, like you’re supposed to. My arm felt good and it hasn’t hurt since.”

April 25. SC 9, Aptos 5. In what has been a rough, disappointing season SC bounced back for their first league win, scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth inning. “We’ve been struggling for a month,” said coach Pfyffer, who recently dismissed several players from the team, including key starters Shane King, Mike Park and Junior Chavez. “This was our first real team win. “We’ve had a million team meetings and talks, but it boils down to playing hard.” In the fifth Andre Pacheco singled, Stan Pillsbury walked and Steve Hamlin singled in Pacheco. Dan Schultz then hit a pinch hit triple off the left field wall for two RBI’s. Fernando Flores double to right to drive in Schultz, Lonnie Adams singled, stole second, then Bernie Escalante capped off the rally with a two run single. Pillsbury pitched the first five innings for the win. Freshman pitcher Chris Crawford, up from the junior varsity finished the final two innings.

April 29. Although SC is lingering around the basement of the SCCAL, it didn’t keep them from playing like it was a showdown with Watsonville for the league championship. But Watsonville broke the 2-2 tie with a eight run seventh inning to win 10-2. With two outs in the fourth, Stan Pillsbury hit a grounder that turned into a bad hop single that drove in two runs to tie the score 2-2. In the seventh, Watsonville had two runners on with two outs, but then went wild.

May 2. SC 8, Harbor 4. Andrew McGraw drove in three runs and reliever Stan Pillsbury pitched two hit ball over three and two-thirds innings for the victory. Both teams are now 2-7. McGraw tagged a two run triple during SC’s five run second inning. Ryan Reber had singled and stolen second before MCGraw’s hit. Loni Adams and Pillsbury had reached base on errors before scoring. Harbor scored four runs in the fifth to close the score to 5-4. In the fifth Bernie Escalante and Jamie Carr singled and scored in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Freshman Chris Crawford started and gave up four runs in three and one-third innings.

May 9. SLV 2, SC 1. SC gave SLV a solid scare, but SLV remained unbeaten with a 2-1 victory. SLV is 11-0 in league and 21-0 overall. (a big outing for the Cards) SC tied the score
up 1-1 with an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. SLV scored in the seventh on a one out single with the runner advanced to third base on an infield error and scored on an infield ground out. Starter Stan Pillsbury kept the Cougars, who opened the game with a .341 batting average, off-balanced with his slow curve ball. SLV coach, “Pillsbury deserves a lot of credit. That was the best games anyone has pitched against us all season.” SC scored its run in the sixth, when pinch-runner Andrew McGraw scored on a wild pitch to tie the score 1-1.

May 13. Condors Top Santa Cruz, Tie For Second. To win 10-2. (no other SC mention)

Trident June 7. There’s Always Next Year, right? The Cards ended the league season 2-10. “It was a tough one this year. There were lots of struggles, but we played hard,” said coach Fred Pfyffer. In his first year of pitching, Stan Pillsbury ended the year with some outstanding performances. With a 2.5 ERA, he was SC’s number one pitcher. But why the 10 losses? Senior Danny Schultz said, “There were problems with the teammates, a couple of players quit the team and we made lots of errors.”

Sentinel Prep Baseball Stats of May 29. By place, name, at bats, runs, hits, runs batted in and average.

PL NAME AB R H RBI AV
16 Park 54 14 10 9 .333
18 Adams 31 11 10 2 .325
20 Reber 66 17 21 6 .310
23 Carr 36 1 11 3 .305
27 Flores 76 17 22 10 .289
30 Pacheco 43 6 12 3 .279
32 Escalante 66 10 18 14 .273
34 Pillsbury 61 11 16 10 .262
35 Hamblin 39 14 10 2 .256

Doubles; Escalante and Flores were sixth with 6 apiece.
Triples: Escalante, Flores, Hamblin and Adams all two apiece.
Stolen bases: Flores was sixth with 13.
SC was second in team batting with an average of .273

Individual pitching with at least a one inning a game average.
By place, name, won-loss, innings pitched, hits, walks, strike outs and earned runs.
PL NAME W-L IP H BB SO ERA
8 Pillsbury 4-4 71 63 34 58 2.56
13 Reber 2-4 27 22 39 26 3.18
20 Crawford 1-4 25 32 20 17 6.39
6 SC 8-17 170 196 107 127 3.39

Senior catcher Bernie Escalante, who hit .304 was one of the 14 players on the ALL SCCAL first team, selected by position. SC had three senior players on the second team. They were outfielder Fernando Flores, pitcher Stan Pillsbury and third baseman Ryan Reber.

JV BASEBALL Beat San Jose 9-3.
Yearbook. Team members were Chris Grey, Chris Grey, Mike Hendren, Femi Ayanbadejo, McCormick brothers, Billy Young, Denis O’Conner, Mike Goldstein, Jason Nee, Ryan Mills, Jonah Shanks, Ben Gersick, Nick Marini, Neil Churchill, K.C. Kaiser, Joel Ackernecht and Ocho Torrez. Coaches Barry Bariteau and Josh Sutten.

GIRLS SOFTBALL
Practice games: Monte Vista 25-15, Live Oak 1-6, Monterey 2-8, Hollister 16-0, North Salinas 7-10, Gilroy 6-0, Reedsport Oregon 7-7 called by darkness. Miguel Tournament in Santa Clara: first game Leigh 1-2, Branham of San Jose 20-4, Mt. View 3-5, Harbor 7-5 for the consolation title.
League: Aptos 4-1, 7-2; Soquel 49-0, 17-3 both games called after five innings; North Monterey 12-3, 8-7; Watsonville 6-7, 4-3; SLV 1-5, loss; Harbor 6-7, 8-13. League record 7-5 for tie for second. Season record 12-11-1.

Sentinel preseason write up. Vic Miguel in his fifteenth season. Last season the Cards were league champions with a 10-2 record and were 19-7 overall. The offense will depend heavily on Mauga, who was the Cards top hitter last season at .397 and should provide leadership and sound play in the infield. Outfielders Partlow at .303 and Daughters and Dalbey each hit .275.
Key returnees: seniors, Auddrena Mauga, INF; Tyrene Partlow, OF; Sarah Daughters, OF; Sara Dalbey, OF; Lori Welch, C and Jenny Posey INF. Key newcomers: Juniors Colleen Schaeffer, P and Diane Gergen, 1B; plus sophomore Thea Lincoln, P. Rest of squad: Jamaa Mulholland, Melanie Arnott, Kirsten Silbaugh, Marisol Garcia, and freshman Jessica Lang.

Sentinel. March 7. SC 25, Monte Vista 15. SC was the recipient of 12 walks in the first inning, leading to 16 runs.

March 8. Live Oak 6, SC 1. Live Oak went ahead in the first inning on a two run homer. In the third inning Melaine Arnott doubled, stole third and scored on Auddrena Mauga’s single. SC is now 1-2.

March 11. Monterey 8, SC 2. SC committed four errors in the sixth inning, that allowed five runs to score. Mauga went 3 for 3 and Sarah Daughters drove in a run.

March 14. SC Pitchers Have The Right Stuff. Cardinal Pair Team To Hurl No-Hitter Against Hollister in a 16-0 win. Colleen Schaeffer and Thea Lincoln combined for the no-hitter. Junior Schaeffer went the first four innings, recording five strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore Lincoln went the final three innings with one strikeout and two walks. “They’re progressing,” said coach Miguel, “I’m pleased with their progress. But we’re far from being a solid team at this point.” SC made three errors, but with pitching and a 21 hit attack, things were pretty much in Card control. SC is now 2-3. In the bottom of the third inning, SC scored nine runs. Mauga and Sara Dalbey each cracked three run home runs and Diane Gergen lashed a two run triple in the inning. Mauga and Gergen each went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI’s, while freshman second baseman Jessica Lang was 3 for 4.

March 15. North Salinas 10, SC 7. Two big offensive innings were not enough for the Cards as visiting North Salinas was able to hold them at bay after piling up early runs. North Salinas jumped out with a five run lead in the third inning. In the bottom half of the inning SC got three runs on back to back triples by Audi Mauga and Jessica Lang. After a couple of walks loaded the bases, Lang score on a sacrifice fly by Diane Gergen. An alert Tyrene Partlow stole home while the Viking catcher tossed the ball back to the pitcher making the score 5-3. SC got four runs in the seventh inning. Lang, a freshman third baseman was 3 for 4 with two RBI’s. Colleen Schaeffer suffered the loss for three innings pitched.

March 16. SC 6, Gilroy 1. Pitchers Colleen Schaeffer and Thea Lincoln combined for a two hitter. Jessica Lang and Tyrene Partlow each went 2 for 4 and Partlow drove in two runs as SC improved to 3-4.

March 21. Santa Cruz 7, Reedsport 7. “It was a pretty even game all around,” said Coach Miguel after the game with Reedsport Oregon was called on account of darkness after seven innings. Mauga homered to lead off the third inning and sparked a three run rally. SC led 4-0 after four innings and 6-5 after six innings.

In the league opener, SC defeated Aptos 4-1. Colleen Schaeffer pitched a complete game victory and impressed coach Miguel, by not walking a batter. “I think our pitchers are getting some confidence in knowing our defense can do the job behind them. SC made only one error.” Miguel stated. Junior Schaeffer gave up four hits and shut out Aptos the last six innings. In the third, designated hitter Thea Lincoln reached base on an error, took second on Tyrene Partlow’s one out single. Junior first baseman Diane Gergen, delivered an RBI double for a 2-1 lead. Senior centerfielder Kirsten Silbaugh singled up the middle to drive in Partlow and Gergen for the final score 4-1.

March 28. Cards Can’t Catch Cats. Trailing 9-3 going into the sixth inning, a three run rally by host SC was not enough to catch up to Watsonville in a 9-6 loss. Diane Gergen led off with a walk, then stole second and advanced to third on an infield error on Kirsten Silbaugh’s grounder. On an infield grounder, on a play at the plate, Gergen was called out, but then reversed as the umpire saw the ball pop out of the catchers mitt. Two more runs scored on Cat errors. SC which fell to 2-1 in league, jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first inning as Gergen tripled home Lang and Tyrene Partlow, then scored herself on a wild pitch.

April 1. Harbor scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 7-6 at Harvey West Park. Harbor had taken a 5-3 lead into the top of the seventh inning, when visiting SC came back to score three times to go ahead 6-5. But Harbor won, when the third out of the inning was made just after the winning runner touched home plate, so the run counted. Harbor led off the game with four runs in the first inning off starting pitcher Thea Lincoln. SC scored three runs in the third inning to cut the lead to 4-3. Harbor scored again to make it 5-3, which remained until the eventful seventh inning.

Santa Cruz 49 Soquel 0. The game was called after four innings, which took three hours to complete. Soquel considered as one of the top challengers for league, lost their pitcher. SC scored nine times in the first inning that took 32 minutes. In the third, SC scored 16 times on 13 walks, seven hits and five errors.

April 8. SLV Top SC 5-1. Leading 2-1 in the sixth inning, SLV added three runs on three hits to make the score 5-1. In two middle innings, both pitchers retired the side in order. Colleen Schaeffer allowed seven hits, two strikeouts and a walk. SLV got two unearned runs in the second inning. In the bottom half of the inning Lori Welch hit and RBI single up the middle to score Sara Dalbey from third.

April 18. SC 12, North Monterey 3. Shortstop Auddrena Mauga suffered a broken nose in infield practice, but she played anyway and went 3 for 4 with a double. After the game Coach Miguel took her to the doctor. Diane Gergen went 4 for 4 with a single, double and two triples and four RBI’s. In the seventh she was thrown out at the plate, if she had been safe she would have hit for the cycle and had a home run.

At the Miguel Memorial Tournament at Mission College in Santa Clara, SC lost in the first round to Leigh 2-1. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh, SC committed two errors to allow the winning run to score. SC got its run in the third inning, when pitcher Thea Lincoln blasted a RBI single to right field.
In the consolation round of the double elimination tournament, the Cards beat Branham of San Jose 20-4.
Mountain View rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh, to break a 3-3 tie and beat SC 5-3. SC got on the scoreboard first. In the first inning, Kristen Silbaugh scored on a single by Sarah Dalbey. In the third inning, Auddrena Mauga and Tyrene Partlow singled and scored on two Mt. View errors for a 3-0 SC lead. Mt. View tied the game in the top of the fourth with three runs off three hits and two Card errors.

April 22. In the consolation finals of the tournament SC beat Harbor 7-5. Pitcher Thea Lincoln, who finished the Branham game had only ten minutes rest before this game started, as did the whole SC team. The Pirates had the tying runs on base with none out in the top of the seventh and the Cardinals winning pitcher Thea Lincoln managed to wiggle out of the jam by getting the next three batters out on infield pop ups. Freshman Jessica Lange was 2 for 4 and drove in a run to lead SC at the plate.

April 24. Sentinel Athlete of the Week junior first baseman Diane Gergen boosted her team to three victories with a 7 for 10 week at the plate and drove in 6 runs. In the game against North Monterey, Gergen doubled in two runs the first inning and tripled with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. She had two triples in the game. Gergen, who bats cleanup, had three more hits in two wins at the Miguel Tournament. Her hitting and defense helped in the wins. She came through in some very key moments this week. She’s exceeding my expectations so far,” said coach Miguel.

April 25. In the second round of league play, SC defeated Aptos 7-2. A three run rally in the top of the fifth inning broke open a tight game for the Cardinals and Colleen Schaeffer shut out Aptos over the final four innings, backed up by an errorless defense. Leading 3-2 through four innings, the Cards started off the fifth inning, when Diane Gergen led off with a triple and scored. Then Lori Welch and Kirsten Silbaugh both scored on a throwing error, the second error of the inning for Aptos. “We had some good pitching and excellent defense,” said Coach Miguel. Shortstop Auddrena Mauga, wearing a plastic covering over her broken nose, led the defense, scooping up everything, including three grounders in the bottom of the sixth.

Title Race Going Down To Wire. Top Four Teams Only One Game Apart. In a thrilling game, SC downed Watsonville 4-3. SLV is in the league lead with a 6-2 record, followed by Watsonville at 6-3. SC and Harbor are tied for third at 5-3. The top two teams automatically qualify for CCS. A point system determines the at large teams invited. SC was ahead 3-1 going into the fifth inning when Watsonville scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score. SC pitcher Thea Lincoln led off the seventh with a single and moved to third base on two outs. Then Tyrene Partlow flared a single to right to score Lincoln easily. In the bottom of the seventh a Cat reached first and then tried to steal second, but freshman Jessica Lang playing catcher for the first time gunned the runner down.

May 2 Harbor 13, SC 8. Harbor scored five times in the top of the first inning with the help of three Card errors, two walks and a three run homer. For SC, freshman Jessic Lang went 2 for 2. (that is all about SC in the article.)

May 6. In a game that was called after Soquel batted in the fifth inning, SC won 17-3. SC broke loose for eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, then scored four more in each of the next two innings. Freshman Jessica Lang delivered a three run homer to highlight the second inning rally. Lang drove in four runs, while Diane Gergen and Sarah Daughters each had two hits. Thea Lincoln pitched the first three innings and combined with Colleen Schaeffer for a one hitter. Lincoln gave up a single, walked four, struck out two and got the win. Schaeffer in two innings gave up an unearned run and no hits.

May 13. Mauga Saves The Day For Cards. Shortstop Auddrena Mauga took matters into her own hands, bat and arm in a 8-7 victory over North Monterey. In the bottom of the sixth inning, she hustled home from third on a high hopper to the pitcher, Then in the top of the seventh, she threw out the potential tying run at third base after North Monterey had rally for two runs to get with in one run of the Cards. It was the first win against the opposing pitcher, who came out late in the season, but had a five game win streak going. In the seventh Thea Lincoln came in to pitch in relief of starter Colleen Schaeffer and got two quick outs. Then she walked two batters. The next batter drove in the two runners and then tried for a triple, but centerfielder Sarah Dalby threw to Mauga, who relayed a strike to third baseman Jessica Lang and she made the tag on a close play to end the game. SC’s big inning was in the second, when they scored five times for a 5-2 lead. Mauga singled in a run, the Tyrene Partlow drilled a two run double to cap the rally. In the sixth, Mauga reached base on an error and then Lang was safe on an infield error and Mauga went to third. Partlow hit a chopper back to the pitcher and with a good lead and instinct on her part, Mauga scored. for the winning run.

Sentinel stats of April 10 for SC players in order of their average. Mauga .533, Gergen .372, Lang .361, Welch .292, Partlow .281and Lincoln .281. Cards overall record 5-8-1

Sentinel end of season stats on May 22. Hitting listed by place, name, at bats, runs, hits, runs batted in and average of .250 and above.
PL NAME AB R H RBI AV
4 Mauga 75 33 37 20 .493
5 Gergen 69 26 31 25 .449
12 Lang 63 32 25 16 .397
23 Lincoln 62 21 20 15 .323
33 Arnott 42 13 12 5 .286
39 Welch 44 16 12 6 .273
3 SC team 583 204 185 133 .317

Pitching stats by place, name, won-loss, innings pitched, hits, walks, strikeouts and ERA
PL NAME W-L INP H BB SO ERA
5 Schaeffer 7-9 92 85 36 27 2.40
8 Lincoln 5-2 66 63 41 39 3.81
3 SC team 12-11 158 148 77 76 3.01

SENTINEL ALL COUNTY TEAM. Card Successful Playing Kids Game. Sentinel Softball Player of The Year is SC shortstop Auddrena Mauga.
Junior of the Year Diana Gergen
Freshman of the Year Jessica Lang
Selected on the first team Auddrena Mauga and Diane Gergen
Selected for the second team, Jessica Lang, who hit 397.

Mauga Proved Her Worth To Cardinals All Season Long.
Through hard work on the diamond Auddrena Maugahas honed her aggressive, but fluid style of play to become a standout athlete and this year emerged as the Sentinels County Player of the Year. Mauga has anchored the Cards infield much in the same way a guy named Ozzie anchors another Cardinal infield in St. Louis. After her all league season as a junior, Mauga found herself in the role of senior leader on this years younger and less experienced squad. “On last years team I felt like a machine out there, everyone was in sync, everything was perfect. This year I felt it was my job to give the younger players my support and not to put too much pressure on them too early in the season. Bat at the same time I couldn’t hold back on my style of play,” said Mauga.
This year was marked with personal highlights as well as satisfaction of watching a young team grow together through the season and finish league play in a three way tie for second place with a 7-5 record. “This year was difficult for Auddrena, because she was playing with teammates who didn’t have the experience she had and it was tough at times getting the timing down. But I think, all in all, it was a tremendous effort on her part to step up to the challenge of putting together a defensive unit,” Coach Miguel.
As for her personal accomplishments, Miguel pointed out the North Monterey game. “I was hitting grounders in warm up and one took a bad bounce that caught her right on her nose. With her nose out of joint, bleeding profusely all over the place and us applying ice between innings, she played the whole game, getting a triple and driving in a couple of runs. That game sticks out in my mind and shows the endurance and durability of Auddrena,” said Miguel. Miguel credits Mauga with what he considers the top defensive play of the year in the Cards 4-3 victory over Watsonville. “A grounder was hit to Auddrena and instead of throwing to second, her natural instincts took over, she tagged the runner in the base path and in the same motion squared up and threw the runner out at first for the double play. Mauga’s final game as a Cardinal was her most satisfying. Facing a hard throwing and a top pitcher in the league, Mauga told her coach, “This is the same pitcher I faced last year. She throws hard, but she throws over the plate. I love to hit against pitchers like that.” She smacked the first pitch she got over the fence.
Mauga credits Miguel with much of her success. “Coach Miguel has been a big inspiration for me. When I first came out for the team, I was really intimidated by him, before I realized that we wanted the same thing, to win. He wants his players to play their best every game. I’m used to pressure and my coaches being tough on me. I think I’m more relaxed at the plate than anywhere else, said Mauga, who hit .493 this season. “When I’m in the batters box I’m so relaxed, I can go 0 for 2 and still feel really confident my next time up.”
Mauga has played both varsity softball and basketball for the past three seasons, earning first team all league status in both sports her junior and senior years. She was voted the sophomore All County of the Year in her first season of high school basketball. She plans on spending the summer playing on a 18 and under team from Santa Clara called the Class Act. Next year she plans on going to community college for two years working on her academics a well as her softball skills. She is considering playing basketball as well, but only as a means of getting in shape for softball, which she considers he primary sport. Then on to a four year school.

Sentinel first team ALL County player Diane Gergen, who played first base, scooped up a lot of low and errant throws to save the team errors. Her batting average pretty much speaks for itself. She hit the heck out of the ball. Gergen hit .449 with 31 hits, 25 RBI’s, eight triples, 26 runs, 12 stolen bases and four doubles. A quiet player, she let’s her bat and glove do the talking and they speak volumes..

Sentinel writer and softball guru Greg Lathrop made out a county softball dream team lineup card for the sports section.
The three top of the line up hitters are from SC. They are leading off Auddrena Mauga, who hit for a .491 average, had 37 hits, 19 stolen bases, 33 runs and three home runs.
Second batter was freshman third baseman Jessica Lang, who hit for a .397 average, had 25 hits, 19 stolen bases, 32 runs and three triples. Only a freshman, has skills far beyond her years. A franchise type player.
Third place hitter is Diane Gergen, whose stats are above.

SCCAL ALL LEAGUE TEAM. Diane Gergen Named Player of Year by the SCCAL coaches. The 5-7 Diane Gergen, who played first base not only was only one of the best defensive players in the league as a junior, she punished the ball from the batter’s box, too. Gergen was a unanimous choice as the leagues top field player. “It was surprising to see how all the coaches recognized all her abilities and talents. They notice the opponents that do the most damage to them,” said coach Miguel. In twelve league games, Gergen hit .515 and drove in 20 runs. She also led the league in triples with seven and struck out only once, in the final game of the season. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how hard she swings the bat. She is a strong young lady. She kept her body in front of the ball at first base, Very few balls got past her,” said coach Miguel.
Shortstop Auddrena Mauga, who hit .493 made the first team for the second straight year.
Freshman third baseman Jessica Lang was named to the second team. Honorable mentions were Tyrene Partlow, Thea Lincoln, Sara Daughters, Sarah Dalbey and Colleen Schaeffer.

JV GIRLS SOFTBALL
Yearbook. Team members were Kelly Dunn, Josie Heyward, Jemaa Mulholland, Jessica Conroy, Elayne Brown, Vannesa Dunn, Debbie Rayer, Leslie Laurent, Maggie Marini, Sarah Marenghi, Meagen Morelli, Jennifer Walton, Shary Landeros, Heather Kunnanz and Kenna Karst. Coach Dina Avila

TRACK BOYS AND GIRLS COMBINED FOR MOST MEETS
Boys practice dual meet: San Jose Academy 82-36. League dual meets: Watsonville 72-66, North Monterey 55-81, Harbor 85-41, Aptos 112-19, Soquel 90-41, SLV 82-54. League record 5-1 for second place. Overall 6-1.

Boys second at the SCCAL meet. North Monterey 131, SC 127 and Watsonville 98.

First at CCS Region IV for third time in row. SC 99, Watsonville 44, Soquel 39, the top three teams.

Third at CCS.

Girls dual meets: San Jose Academy 84-36. League dual meets: Watsonville 58-68, North Monterey 69-58, Harbor 77-49; Aptos 78-56, Soquel 65-60, SLV 72-49. League record 6-0 for first place. Overall record 7-0.

Girls third at the SCCAL meet: Watsonville 92, North Monterey 88 and SC 86.

The girls won the CCS Region IV meet for the second time in three years. Region scoring for the top three teams: SC 58, Watsonville 41, North Monterey 39.

At the BOYS SCCAL championship meet. North Monterey won with 131 points, SC 127 and Watsonville 98.
May 13. Santa Cruz Drops Baton In Final Race. It was the stuff that dreams are made of, the good kind and the bad. North Monterey won the final event of the day, the boys 1,600 meter relay, to hold off SC, who literally dropped the team title into the laps of the Condors. Going into the race, North Monterey led SC 121-119 in team scoring. All the favored Cardinals, who owned the league’s fastest time in the event this season, had to do was finish in front of the Condors to clinch at least a tie for the title. The two teams were running neck and neck when disaster struck SC. As SC’s number two runner passed off to the third Card, the baton slipped from their grasp. As the baton bounced away, so did the chances of an SC victory. Even a blistering 48.2 leg by anchor man Mike Jones was not enough to save SC. “We can’t use that as an excuse ,” said coach Bryan Wall, “because North Monterey didn’t drop the baton and we did.” North Monterey finished first in a season best 3:29.1, while SC was second in 3:32.3. As the exhausted Jones crossed the finish line, he dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands as the Condors rushed into the track in wild celebration.
Tim Shields set a record with a first in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 38.8. Paul
Friedenbach set a new standard with his win in the pole vault of 14-9 ½. SC was able to stay in the thick of the team race through the efforts of Shields and Jones, who was coming off a slight hamstring pull in his right leg, that eventually forced him to scratch from the high jump. “It was really hurting in the long jump, where he finished second and at the beginning of the 400.” said Jones, “but as I ran it loosened up a little and I felt I didn’t get out as fast as I wanted to in the 400, but by the 200 I was flowing.” Shields, whose time in the 300 hurdles was the second best in the CCS this year, predicted he can go even faster next week in the CCS Region IV Meet at Hartnell College. “I have a lot left. I think I can drop another second to a second and a half. I think I can make it to state, where my goal is to finish in the top six,” Shields said.
There was an issue on whether Jones, who had scratched from the high jump would be allowed to run in the relay, where he had been listed as an alternate. Meet officials hoped to clear up any potential controversy before, not after the race. Knowing full well that allowing Jones to run the relay could cost his Condors the meet, the Condor coach was the first to cast his vote to let Jones run. “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time and I still do,” said the coach after his team won the title.

At the GIRLS SCCAL meet, Watsonville won the meet with 92 points, North Monterey second 88 and SC third 86.
Mila Fierro took second in the 400 with a time of 58.6. Freshman Christina Thompson took second in the 100 dash with the same time as the winner of 12.5, while Roz Pillers placed third in 12.7. In the 200, Koren Clark was second by .01 of a second and Thompson was third in 26.7. Sophomore Heather Singer won the shot put.

May 11. BOYS SCCAL Trials. Tim Shields lowered his league best time in the 300 low hurdles to 38.90. Mike Jones showed no ill effects from a strained hamstring, finishing first in his heats of the 400 and 200. He is also scheduled to compete in the high jump and long jump.
GIRLS SCCAL Trials. Mila Fierro was second in the 400 in a personal best of 59.3.

May 10. Card Coach Confident For SCCAL Track Meet Finals. Any way coach Marty Kruger figures it, the Cards will come up winners at the SCCAL meet. SC has never won a SCCAL track championship, but are defending boy’s and girl’s Region IV champions.
BOYS race figures to be between SC, North Monterey and Watsonville with SC the favorite. Scoring for the meet goes to six places with first place worth ten points.
Mike Jones will be in four events and he has the best times and marks in all four of the individual events he’s entered in. The 400 in 50.1, 200 in 22.4, long jump at 23-1 and high jump at 6-4.
Shields is ranked number one in the triple jump at 43-5 ½ and in his premier event the 300 low hurdles in 38.92. His time of 14.95 in the 110 high hurdles is second in the league.
Lang will run on the 400 and 1,600 relays, where SC owns the best times. Lang has the best time in the county this season in the 800 in 1:57.61 and is third in the 1,600 in 4:30.3.
SC’s other best bet for a win is Paul Friedenbach in the pole vault, who is tops in league at 14-6.
GIRLS: In the girls SCCAL Meet, SC will live and die with sprinters Koren Clark, Christina Thompson, Mia Fierro and Rosalyn Pillars. Clark a junior, owns the leagues best time in the 200 in 26.4 and is second in the 100 in 12.89. She will also run the on the leagues top ranked 400 relay team in 50.33, but not the 1,600 relay in 4:07.0. which also owns the best time in the league. “We are asking a lot from Clark, but she’s capable,” said Kruger. “Our four sprinters are the key. If any one of them have an off day, we’re hurting.” SC hopes to dominate the sprints and relays and pick up enough points else where like the discus, where sophomore Heather Singer has the leagues best mark 117-3 and is ranked number five in CCS, to pull off a team victory

CARDS AT THE STATE MEET
BOYS: Paul Friedenbach took eighth place at the finals of the California High School Track and Field Championships with a pole vault of 14 feet, 8 inches. He wasn’t quite on,” said coach Don Roberts. “But I think he had 15 feet in him.” Friendenbach’s school record best this season was 15 feet. He recently acquired a pair of stiffer, heavier poles to aid his effort.
Tim Shields was eleventh overall in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles running a 38.75 in Fridays trials. Shields missed making the finals by only .07 of a second. Tim Shields owns the second best time in the state in the 300 hurdles of 38 seconds flat. Although he placed third at CCS in the event, he had tripped over a hurdle and had to dive across the finish line in order to grab the last qualifying spot.
Mike Jones had qualified for the state meet in the 200 meter dash and the long jump, but broke his ankle at the CCS finals, while running the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay for the Cards. Mike was along for the ride with his teammates, but all he could do was watch.

GIRLS: At the finals of the California High School Track and Field Championships, the 1,600 meter relay team of Koren Clark, Elly LaRoque, Christina Thompson and Mila Fierro was disqualified in the trials for running out of its lane in the opening leg. The team did finish fourth unofficial in its heat. They will have another chance next year as Fierro and Clark are juniors, LaRoque a sophomore and Thompson a freshman.

May 31. Pre-meet Sentinel write up of the state meet. From SC there is Tim Shields in the 300 intermediate hurdles, Paul Friedenbach in the pole vault for the boys. For the girls there is the 1,600 relay team of Koren Clark, Elly LaRoque, Christina Thompson and Mila Fierro.
Shields owns the second best time in the state with a 38 flat in the 300 hurdles. Although he placed third at CCS in the finals, he tripped over a hurdle and had to dive across the finish line in order to grab the last qualifying spot.
Friedenbach, whose personal best of 15 feet came at CCS, expects to improve at state. He recently acquired a pair of stiffer, heavier poles to aid in his effort.
The future is bright for the 1,600 girls relay team, which could return intact next year. Fierro and Clark are juniors, LaRoque a sophomore and Thompson a freshman.
Mike Jones qualified in both the 200 and long jump, but will not compete at state due to a broken ankle he suffered while anchoring the 1,600 relay team.

May 25. CARDS SHINE AT CCS. SC finished in third place behind Bellarmine the champion.

It was a long day at the office for SC star Mike Jones and a red letter one for the Cardinals at the CCS Track and Field Championships. “Yeah, I’d say so, a pretty long one,” said Jones, who began his shift at 1 p.m. in the long jump and ended it by anchoring the 1,600 relay team more than 9 hours later at San Jose City College. Jones and a trio of three Cardinals and a large group of SCCAL athletes, whose top three finishes qualified them for the State Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
Jones re-injured his hamstring with 100 meters to go in his quarter mile anchor leg of the 1,600 relay. SC appeared about to qualify for the state meet in the relay for the second straight year, when Jones pulled up lame. Earlier, Jones gave SC a flying start on the day, when he sailed to school record 23 feet, 5 2/3 inches on his first attempt in the finals of the long jump. “I wasn’t expecting to do that well,” said Jones, whose only practice in the event in the past two weeks has come at the SCCAL and the Region IV meets, because he’s been resting his tender hamstring. “It was a shock. I haven’t jumped 23 feet since March. Jones, who made it to state last year in the long jump, is going this year in the 200 meter as well, on the strength of a third place finish in 22.32. “I didn’t think I had that much left after the 400,” said Jones, who finished fourth in 49.93. SC also received state meet qualifying efforts from Tim Shields in the 300 intermediate hurdles and Paul Friedenbach in the pole vault.
Shield’s clutch performance in the 300 hurdles came after he had a false started in the trials of the 110 high hurdles and was automatically scratched from the event. “This was the worst day of my life,” said Shields, who thought he could qualify in the highs as well as the lows. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster.” Shields nearly stumbled in the 300 as well, when he caught his foot on the fifth hurdle and nearly fell down. The mistake dropped him from first to fifth midway through the race, but he was able to come on strong at the end and literally threw himself across the finish line. “Nothing was going to keep me from state,” he said.
Friedenback set a school record in the pole vault of 15 feet and advanced to the state on fewer misses at that height. “I was pretty lucky. I’ve been improving every week and hopefully I can continue to improve and beat these guys next week.
Bob Hultzen gave it his all in the 110 meter high hurdles, but didn’t make it to the finals.

GIRLS: CARDS SHINE AT CCS. Three individuals and the Cardinals 1,600 relay team qualified for the state meet. The 1,600 relay team of Christian Thompson, Elly LaRoque, Koren Clark and Mila Fierro place third in a school record 4:01.65. The 400 relay team of Rosalyn Pillars, Thompson, Fierro and Clark, earlier finished fifth in 49.28 for another school record.

May 24. Sentinel pre CCS championship write up. “Last year we had our league’s best representation ever at the state meet,” said SC assistant coach Marty Kruger, “That could be surpassed this year by our team alone.” Leading SC at CCS will be senior Mike Jones, who qualified for the State meet last year in the long jump and as a member of the 1,600 relay team. Jones has a chance to qualify in both of those events again, as well as in the 200 and 400. Jones is currently ranked second in the CCS in the long jump at 23-1 and third in the 400 in 49.41. His time of 22.0 in the 200 is within striking distance of a state berth too, especially since he is expected to be at full strength and fully recovered from a nagging hamstring injury he suffered two weeks ago.
Tim Shields is another potential state qualifier. His season best times of 38.0 in the 300 low hurdles rank him second in the CCS and 14.6 in the 110 high hurdles, ranking him fourth. SC’s third jewel is pole vaulter Paul Friedenbach, who won the league title two weeks ago at 14-10, which ranks him fourth in CCS.
Shields, Nate Bell, Vic Lang and Jones are within a second or two of the best 1,600 relay teams in the CCS an could come up with an effort good enough to qualify for state.
Other Card boys, who could score points are Lang in the 800, Bobby Hultzen in the 110 high hurdles and Pat Richards in the high jump.

GIRLS: SC girls 1,600 relay team has an even better shot, with its time of 4:04.8. Members of the team are Koren Clark, Elly LaRoque, Christina Thompson and Mila Fierro. Other girls who could score points are, Heather Singer in the discus, Fierro and Clark in the 400 and the 400 relay of Ros Pillars, Thompson, Fierro and Clark.

CARDS KEEP GRIP ON REGION TITLE. Santa Cruz Boys Make It 3 in a row. The Cardinals, who lost the SCCAL title last week on a dropped baton in the final race of the day, didn’t need a victory in the 1,600 meter relay this time to wrap up their third straight championship. But they won it anyway in a school record 3 minutes, 25.2 seconds. “Three-peat!” said senior Mike Jones, who anchored the 1,600 relay team and had individual victories in the 200 in 22.05 and 400 in 49.41 a school record and third place in the long jump. Jones said, “When I get completely healed, I should have better times,” Jones is less than 100 percent, because of a hamstring pull suffered last week.
Jones helped SC lap the rest of the teams at the CCS Region IV at Hartnell College, by scoring 99 points to the next closes competitors Watsonville with 44 and Soquel with 39. The SCCAL took the first three places. Although the victory in the 1,600 relay was meaningless to the outcome, the race was an emotional one for SC runners Tim Shields, Nate Bell, Vic Lang and Jones. “I had to live with the dropped baton all week,” said Bell, who wore a smile of relief as he celebrated with his teammates. “Oh, god. There was all the pressure in the world on this one.”
Other double winners included Tim Shields, who captured the 110 high hurdles in 15 second flat and the 300 intermediate hurdles. Shields as did Jones, qualified in four events, added a fourth place in the triple jump to go with his two individual and the team 1,600 relay victory. “This morning I felt really lethargic, but once the adrenaline started pumping, things just began to happen,” said Shields, who high stepped to a victory in the high hurdles, when the pre-race favorite false started and was scratched. “I just had to focus on my race,” said Shields, who led a top three finish by SCCAL hurdlers in the highs. “I can’t worry about anybody else.”
Vic Lang in addition to his leg on the first place 1,600 relay team, won the 800. He credited the 800 victory to the fact that he dropped out of the 400 this week to concentrate on the longer race. “I avenged my loss at league,” said Lang, who was timed in 1:57.5
The Cards seventh individual victory of the day was turned in by Paul Friedenbach, who won the pole vault with a jump of 14-6.

The top six in each event advances to the CCS finals at San Jose City College. SC led the way as SCCAL athletes picked up 41 of the 96 qualifying spots up for grabs among the four divisions represented.

May 22. Sentinel Boys Athlete of the Week Tim Shields qualified for the CCS Championship in four events, while helping the Cards win the Region IV title for the third straight year. Shields won the 110 meter high hurdles in 15.0 after running a career best 14.6 in the trials. He ran a 38.0 in the 300 intermediate hurdles for another career best and it was also a school record. The old record was his own at 38.8. Shields placed fourth in the triple jump at 42-11 and ran a 51.6 split time in the 1,600 relay, which set a school record in a winning 3:25.2.
“He came through with some major performances. I think since he and the other guys on the team have been working out hard together, they’ve pushed each other. In Tim’s 300 hurdles, it was over at the first hurdle. There was no completion,” Kruger said. Shields, who plans not to compete in the triple jump on Thursday, is among the states top five 300 meter hurdlers. At the Region four meet, he beat the second place runner by 2.3 seconds. “He’s got more heart than just about anyone I’ve ever met,” Kruger said.

TRACK GIRLS WIN CCS REGION IV TITLE FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE YEARS by scoring 58 points to runner up Watsonville with 41 and third place North Monterey 39.
SCCAL athletes dominate the meet. With the top six finishers in each event qualifying, the SCCAL ran away with 41 of the 90 spots up for grabs. SC dashed to the team title on the strength of its sprinters. Ros Pillars, Christina Thompson, Mila Fierro and Koren Clark opened the day for the Card with a wining time of 50.66 in the 400 relay. Clark, Elly LaRoque, Fierro and Thompson ended the day with a first in the 1,600 relay in school record 4:04.8.
Koren Clark ran for two wins in the 400 and 1,600 relay and was third in the individual 200 and 400 meter races. Qualifying for four events. Roz Pillers ran on the winning 400 relay team and took second place in the 100 dash. Heather Singer took second in the discus at 116 feet and 2 inches.

May 22. Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Week was junior Koren Clark, who was a major factor in the girls team winning the CCS Region IV meet. Despite missing two key days of practice the day before the meet, while suffering from the flu, she still qualified for the CCS championship meet in four events. Clark was third in the 400 in 1:55; third in the 200 in 26.88; anchored the 400 relay team, which won in 50:66; And led off the 1,600 relay team, with her 60.0 first leg to give the Cards a jump ahead at the beginning, as the team won in school record time of 4:04.8. “It was amazing just because how sick she was. These weren’t her best races, but she was just out there trying to qualify. To do this the next day after being out for two days was pretty gutsy,” said Coach Kruger. The 1,600 relay time was the second fastest in the CCS this season and three seconds faster then the teams best time this season. Clark will compete in all four event in the finals.

March 9. Santa Cruz Sweeps To Non-League Wins. The boys defeated San Jose Academy 82-36. Sophomore Nat Bell and seniors Dan Johnson and Bobby Hultzen were double winners. Bell won the 100 in 11.8 and the 200 in 23.3. Johnson pole vaulted 11 feet and threw the shot put 38-6. Hultzen won the 110 high hurdles in 16.4 and the 300 intermediate hurdles in 44.3. Bell and Johnson ran on the winning 400 relay that that posted a 46.9. Nathan Johnson won the mile in 5:01 and the two mile in 10:54.
Girls defeat San Jose Academy 84-36. Heather Singer and Koren Clark won three events each. Singer won the shot at 28-1, the discus at 117-2 and the triple jump at 30-2. Clark won the 100 in 30 flat, the 200 in 27.5 and the long jump at 14-6. Elly LaRoque doubled in the mile in 6:24.8 and the two mile in 15:28.

March 16. SC 72, Watsonville 66. The meet was decided in the final event, when Tim Shields made up a 10 meter deficit in the final leg of the mile relay, running a 52.9 anchor to win by 4.2 seconds. Mike Jones won four events to pace the Card win, taking the 100 in 11.3, the long jump at 21-11, the high jump at 6-4 and the triple jump at 41-7. Shields also won the 110 hurdles in 15.5 and the 300 hurdles in 42.1.
Girls: Watsonville 68, SC 58. In what was a solid competitive meet for this early in the season, the Cats had three double winners. (no information about SC)

March 18. Jones Ties School Mark In Long Jump. At the Kiwanis-Bellarmine Invitational in San Jose, Mike Jones ties school record of 23 feet, one inch in mid March. He missed the first two weeks of the track season with nagging hip and knee injuries, which occurred on the basketball court. He originally set the record at the state meet last year. Jones finished eighth in the 100 meters in 11second flat, that was timed automatically at the prestigious meet. Which hosted 70 schools and more than 1,500 individual athletes. There top marks by SC athletes at the meet, all of which were for fifth place finishes: Paul Friedenbach a 13-6 pole vault and Tim Shields in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.64.
GIRLS: At the Kiwanis-Bellarmine Invitational in San Jose in mid March, Koren Clark placed sixth in the 400 in 1:01.23.
Sentinel Athlete of the Week of March 20, senior Mike Jones grabbed the new season by the throat with strong showings in a dual meet with Watsonville and the Kiwanis-Bellarmine Invitational. Against Watsonville, Jones was a quadruple winner in his first meet of the year. He won the long jump at 21-10, triple jump at 41-6, the high jump at 6-4 and the 100 meters in 11.3. Saturday, Jones tied his own long jump of 23-1 to give him second place at one of the top meets in Northern California, which featured approximately 70 schools and more than 1,500 athletes. Jones was eighth in the 100 at 11.00 by automatic time. Coach Marty Kruger said, “Mike is pretty banged up from basketball and considering he only started working out last week, were real happy.” Jones jumped 23-1 on his first attempt at the K-Bell meet. It equaled his career best last year at the state meet. “He’s starting were he left off. I was amazed. That puts pressure on me to get him to improve,” Coach Kruger said.

At the end of March at the Twenty-first Annual Santa Cruz County Relays, SC took second place with 82 points to winner Watsonville with 109. SC won the 4×110 meter shuttle hurdles in 1:04.36 with Mike Jones running the second leg in 15.6. They also won the 4×400 relay in 3:34 as Jones’ 50.5 leg the highlight. Jones also took second in the long jump.
GIRLS: at the Twenty-first Annual Santa Cruz County Relays, the SC girls nosed out Watsonville 76-72 to win the event. Rosalyn Pillars, Koren Clark, Mila Fierro and Christina Thompson won the 4X100 relay in 51.6.

March 23. Condors Deck Cards. North Monterey 81, SC 55. A 26 year old SC record fell in the pole vault. Paul Friedenbach, who transferred from St. Francis Mt. View during the football season, cleared 14-0 in his second attempt to better a 13-9 ½ vault by the late Claude Schmidt in 1962. It was the oldest track and field record at SC. Tim Shields barely won the 300 intermediate hurdles, 42.0 to 42.1and then won the 400 in 53.7. Mike Jones took second in the triple jump at 41-2, but won the long jump at 21-1 and the 100 at 11.6.
Girls: SC Caps Victory In Style. Cardinals Pull Away From North Monterey. Koren Clark ran a sub-1 minute leg in the 1,600 relay, helping boost her team to a run-away victory insuring her team to a 69-58 win. With a blazing, 59.9 time over the third 400 meter leg, Clark helped SC finish in a wining time of 4:23. “That was the most incredible looking relay leg I’ve ever seen,” said coach Kruger. “She had 50 meters on the other runner and she’s just a junior.” Christina Thompson had her hand in four wins. The freshman won the 400 in 1:04.1 and the 100 in 13.7 in back-to-back events, plus running the anchor legs on the winning two relay teams. Heather Singer beat her personal best in the shot put by two feet as she won with a toss of 32-11. She also won the discus at 113-1.

Sentinel March 27. Jones Sets His Sights High. “I don’t feel any added pressure. The only thing I want to do is have a lot of fun on the track this year.” Mike Jones. Senior Mike Jones has soared in the classroom as well as on the track, where he holds four school records.
Jones has been anything but an ordinary kid, since he arrived on the SC Campus. He has improved by leaps and bounds every year he’s competed for the Cards to the point where he is now considered one of Northern California’s premiere track and field athletes as evidenced by the amount of interest he has generated among college coaches. Brian Wall, track coach and athletic director said, “we have gotten letters from dozens of schools about Mike. A few schools are even recruiting him as a two sport athlete. I think an ideal situation for him will be a program that has a strong individual concept as well as being a good academic school, because Mike is also a good student with a 3.2 GPA. Jones, “the three schools I’d really like to go to are Stanford, UCLA or UC Irvine. All of them have good track programs and have excellent academic reputations.” Beside being an outstanding performer in basketball, Jones holds the school record in the high jump, 6 feet, 6 inches; long jump 23-1; 400 meters, 49.2 seconds. And for good measure, he had the best marks in the SCCAL last season in the 100, 10.9 and 200 meters, 22.2. At 5 foot, 11 inches, Jones’ slender greyhound like body looks like he was born to run. “Mike is a track coaches dream,” said Wall. “He is a good natural athlete, but he is also a hard worker. It’s like he says, ’Forget the fact that I have natural ability, I still have to work hard.’ Consequently, he is good at every event we put him in.” Jones, “I would like to compete in the Olympics one day. I think I could compete in the long jump or decathlon. “Since Mike does so many things well, I think if he really concentrated and worked a bit more on the weighs, he could seriously compete in the decathlon in college an maybe the Olympic team.” said Wall.

March 30. Santa Cruz 85, Harbor 41. SC chalked up a number of personal best in improving to 3-1 in dual meets. Jeff Thuringer, a first year track man, bettered his triple jump by three feet to 37-2 and was first in the 200 in 23.4, the second best time in the area this season and nearly two seconds quicker than his previous best effort. Junior Victor Lang won three races, the 800 in 2:10.5, the 1,600 in 4:46 and the 400 in 55.6. Tim Shields not only notched the best time in the area with a 15.4 in the 110 hurdles, but took second in the high jump at 5-6 in his first attempt at the event. Pat Richards won the high jumps by clearing 5-8. Mike Jones won the 100 in 11.4 and the long jump at 20-1.
GIRLS: SC 77. Harbor 49. Singer Hits High Note For Cardinals. Heather Singer stayed unbeaten in the discus winning with a throw of 108-7. It was almost 9 feet short of her season best of 117-3 the top mark in the SCCAL. Still this last throw was the second best. She also took first in the shot put at 29-11. Singer a sophomore, tugged at the sleeves of her coaches until they said, “Oh, all right already.” So in her second attempt at the 300 low hurdles, she flashed to a second place finish in 52 seconds, which is the third best time in the league this season. “It was a great day for her,” said coach Marty Kruger. “Actually almost everything we produced today was from sophomores and freshmen. That’s a great thing to see.” Koren Clark helped the 400 relay team win in 1:03.9. Elly LaRoque won the 3,200 in 14:58 and she was second in the 1,600.

April 1. At one of the most prestigious and largest high school meets in Northern California the Stanford Invitational, Tim Shields ran a school record 57.5 in the 400 intermediate hurdles to captured second place. The time would place Tim in the top eight in the collegiate division today. It was Shields first time running the event, as the SCCAL runs a 300 intermediate hurdles. Shields ran a 15.1 split, a season best for the SC 4×110 shuttle hurdles relay team of Josh Homan, Bobby Hultzen and Mike Jones for third place in a school record time of 1:04.8. Jones was another standout for SC taking two individual third place ribbons and one fourth. Jones was third in the 100 in a season best 10.9 and third in the long jump at 21-6 and a fourth in the high jump at 6-2. Paul Friedenback pole vaulted 14-0 for fourth place and to tie his SC record. Other SC highlights: Vic Lang placed tenth in the mile in 4:37; Nathan Johnson ninth in the 5,000 in 16:12.
Girls: Junior Koren Clark had a personal best in the 100 in 13.01 good for sixth place. The girls 400 relay team, which Clark runs in, took third place in 50.7 a school record.

April 6. SC 112, Aptos 19. SC won 15 of 16 events to improve to 4-1 in league. Paul Friendenbach was a triple winner, putting the shot 39-3, throwing the discus 124-8 and pole vaulting 10 feet. Tim Shields ran the counties season best 15.3 in the high hurdles for first place and ran a 11.6 in the 100 meters for the first time. Jeff Thuringer, in his first year of track, improved 2 feet in the triple jump to 38-10, the sixth best in the county this year. Mike Jones competing in only two events, won them both, with a 52.9 in the 400, for the fourth best in the county and won the long jump at 20-8.
GIRLS: Santa Cruz 78, Aptos 56. Mila Fierro hadn’t competed in a 400 meter race before, but discovered it wasn’t such a bad race, winning in 1:02.1, the third best time in the league so far. Koren Clark, who has the top 400 time of 1:01.2, switched to the long jump and won at 15.4 and doubled with a win in the 100 in 13 flat. Heather Singer the league leader in the discus won at 114-5 and also the triple jump with a season best 29-4. The Cards are now 4-1 in league dual meets.

April 8. At the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California, Tim Shields set a school record in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 39.68 for seventh place. Paul Friedenbach won the pole vault in 13-6. Mike Jones was ninth in the long jump at 233 and the 400 relay team in 43.7 and the 1,600 relay team in 3:30.6 posted league bests for this season.

April 8. At the Gilroy Invitational, Bobby Hultzen was second in the 110 hurdles with a time that ties the top mark in the SCCAL this season. Heather Singer was second in the shot put at 52-9. The Cardinal girls were third in the 440 relay in 51.1 and third in the mile relay in 4:18.
GIRLS: At Gilroy Invitational Meet, Heather Singer was second in the shot put at 32-8. SC was third in the 440 relay in 51.1 and third in the mile relay. In 4:18.

April 11. SC athletes win the top four places in the decathlon at the Soquel Easter Multi-Event Meet. Jeff Thuringer, who played baseball until this Spring, won with 5,916 points, followed by Tim Shields with 5,822, Mike Jones with 5,411 and Paul Friedenbach with 5,178.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of April 17 was senior Jeff Thuringer, who had never competed in track before practice started in the middle of February. He piled up a school and meet record of 5,916 to win the decathlon at the Soquel Easter Multi-Event meet. Thuringer set personal best in each of the ten events. His most impressive performances were in the 100 meter high hurdles, the 1,500 and the high jump, events he has never competed in or practice before last week. Thuringer, three stepped over the hurdles in 17.3, jumped 5-8 and turned in a 4:47.8 in the 1,500. “In the hurdles, it was like he’s been doing it his whole life. Every time he does an event, he seems to improve,“ said coach Kruger. Thuringer had played baseball until this year, won the decathlon without much rest. Saturday, he helped the Card 400 relay team clock its season best 43.7 at the Arcadia Invitational down South and didn’t get back to town until midnight Sunday. The two day event started at 8 a.m. Monday.

April 20. Santa Cruz 90, Soquel 41. Tim Shields was a triple winner and got off the SCCAL season best in the triple jump, with a winning mark of 42-6, a two foot improvement for him. He also won the 110 high hurdles in 15.3 and the 300 intermediate hurdles in 39.8 and ran the first leg of the winning 400 meter relay race in 44.3 seconds. Victor Lang ran a personal best 4:30.3 to win the 1,600 meters. Norman Cook picked up his first individual victory, running 11:16.7 in the 3,200.
GIRLS: Exciting From Start to Finish. Koren Clark and Dina Moore of Harbor, who was running unattached, ran to the top two 400 meter times in the CCS. Moore timed in 58.8 and Clark in 59 flat, which was still good for a school record. Moore, a senior, was running inside, made up the stagger on freshman Clark by the 200 meter mark. But over the next 100 meters, Clark caught Moore and the two ran stride for stride down the stretch of the all weather track at Soquel. With about 50 meters left, Moore inched ahead and held on for the victory. Clark took second in the 200 in 26.5. Another highlight for SC was a victory in the 4X400 relay in 4:28.2, which set a school frosh-soph record, since the runners were all freshmen and sophomores: Laura Anderson, Elly LaRoque, Meaghan Simmons and Christina Thompson. Alison Lawton doubled with wins in the low hurdles in 17.6 and 300 low hurdles in 52.4. SC beat Soquel in the dual meet 65-60.

April 22. Santa Cruz Third At West Valley Invitational. Despite the fact that the Cards only had five athletes at the meet, the team was able to finish third. Victor Lang and Mike Jones each nailed down individual victories with first in the 800 meters in 1:58.7 and the long jump 21 feet, 10 inches respectively. Tim Shields scored big with a pair of seconds place finishes in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 56flat and 110 high hurdles 14.95, a third in the triple jump 43-6. The marks in the 400 and the triple jump were both SC school records. Paul Friedenbach was second in the pole vault with a 13-6 effort. Norman Cook took seventh place in the one mile steeplechase in 6:13.1.
GIRLS: Santa Cruz Did Well At West Valley Invitational. Koren Clark placed third in the 200 in 25.8 and seventh in the 100 in 12.89. Mila Fierro, Elly LaRoque, Laura Anderson and Clark took sixth place in the 4X400 relay in 4:18.1.

April 27. Cards Defeat Cougars 82-54. Tim Shields won three events, the triple jump at 42-6, 300 intermediate hurdles in 41.5 and the 100 high hurdles in 15.5. Just for a thrill, partly for a challenge and partly as another conditioning workout Mike Jones ran the 400 for the first time in competition and took second place. He also took second in the 800 in 2:08.3. Mike won the long jump in 21-2.
GIRLS: Singer In Tune For SC With Three wins in defeating SLV 72-49. Singer joined teammate Mila Fierro as triple winners. Singer won the shot put at 30-10. discus at 90-12 and a triple jump of 27-7. All well below her best efforts. Junior Fierro, clocked a personal best in the 400 in 1:01.7. She won the high jump at 4.4 and her third leg on the 400 relay team helped SC win in 51.4.

April 30. School Records Set At CCS Top 8 Meet. Tim Shields set a school record in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles with a second place time of 38.92. The old mark was 39.68. The new record puts Shields among the states top ten for the season. Vic Lang was third in the 800 in 1:57.9 and this is the second best in the Santa Cruz area this season. Mike Jones suffering from back pains was fifth in the 100 in 11.24 and seventh in the long jump 21-8. He ran a 49 second 400 during the 1,600 relay, a race the Cards took fourth in 3:28.6. Nate Bell, Shields and Lang were the other runners.
GIRLS: School Records Set At CCS Top 8 Meet. The 400 relay team of Pillars, Thompson, Fierro and Clark set a record with their 50.35 (fully automatic timed) the old mark was 50.7 set by the same four girls earlier this year. The same foursome was fourth in the 1,600 relay in 4:08.06. Fierro’s 1:00.8 leg was the quickest on the team.

May 1. Sentinel Athlete of the Week senior Tim Shields broke the school record in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles with a 38.95 run at the CCS Top-Eight Invitational Meet. The mark puts him among the states 10 best hurdlers at that distance. In the dual meet with SLV, Shields was a triple winner in the triple jump at 42-6, 300 intermediate hurdles in 41.5 and the 100 high hurdles in 15.5. Coach Marty Kruger said, Shields who stands 5*7 and weights about 140 pounds has plenty of room for improvement. At the Top-Eight meet, he went over the second hurdle with the wrong lead leg. That slowed him a little, because he had to adjust. See, he’s not perfect.” Shields set school records two weeks ago in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 56.0 and the triple jump in 42-6 at the West Valley Invitational. “He’s a real strong competitor. Just ask the other coaches around, about who’s got guts. He’s real tenacious,” coach Kruger said.

May 6. At the Kiwanis Invitational at Soquel, Watsonville topped SC 60-53 for first place. Top performances were by Paul Friedenbach, who broke the school pole vault record with a jump of 14-6 to take second place. Mike Jones bolted to a runner up 400 effort in 50.1, the best time in the SCCAL this season. Mike had arrived just five minutes before the start of the event as he had taken the SAT test at SCHS and went right to the meet. Mike bolted to a runner up 400 effort of 50.1, the best time in the SCCAL this season. Tim Shields’ 39.2 in the 300 intermediate hurdles, which was the best in the SCCAL this season.
GIRLS: At the Kiwanis Invitational at Soquel, Watsonville edged SC 78-67 for first place. Mila Fierro took first place in the 400 in 57.9. Fierro helped the 1,600 relay team to a win in 4:10.7 and the 4X400 relay team to second place in 52.3. Other members were Rosalyn Pillars, Christina Thompson and Koren Clark. Heather Singer won the discus with a throw of 106.8.

Yearbook. As a junior, Mike Jones won the high jump, long jump and 400 meters at the SCCAL finals. He also was a member of the 400 meter relay team that took second place. At the CCS Region IV meet he won the same three events, plus the relay team defeated the team that beat them at the SCCAL finals to take first place. Four first places for Mike. Mike took first place in the long jump at the CCS finals and anchored the school record breaking state qualifying 400 meter relay team. Mike holds ten school records. That’s nearly a third of all the track records at SC. He has been recruited by top schools around the country including Stanford and Brown. Mike likes the feeling that he is the only person that can make something good or bad happen in any of his performances.

Yearbook. This years team is loaded with talent. In addition to Mike Jones there are junior Victor Lang top runner on the cross country team and school record holder in the sophomore mile and 880 last year; Junior Nate Johnson, who placed fifth at the CCS cross country finals this year to qualify for the state meet; senior Paul Friedenbach, who pole vaulted 13’6” in the first meet this year, which would have tied him for second place in last years SCCAL finals. He also is a weight man throwing the discus and shot put; Tim Shields, who did not compete last year because of a broken leg, will vie for top honors in the hurdles; Mike Jones basically dominates everything else.

Trident June 7. Shields Shines In Athletics. Senior Tim Shields participated in cross country, soccer and track this year. Tim had an excellent track season running hurdles, relay team and the triple jump. He plans on running track at Cal Irvine next year. Tim had an outstanding track season this year breaking school records and setting many personal records as well. Last year Tim broke his leg and couldn’t compete. There is that competitive side of me that sets my goals. It took a lot of work to get back into condition. I had to work twice as hard just to get competitive again. He has been running track for five years and claims his abilities in concentration, strength and maturity as well as having definitely improved over the years. Shields said, ”track is an outlet for my aggressions and energy. I am a very competitive person and track is where I can show my competitiveness. I get an adrenaline rush when I run whether I win or lose that I can’t experience doing anything else. Track makes me work not only for myself, but for the team and coaches as well. Though track is mostly an individual sport the entire team cheers and encourages each and every team member to do their very best. Most teams have one head coach, but we are lucky to have four dedicated coaches.” The coaches put in a lot of time with us and seem to always be there for us. They run, lift weights or do aerobics with us performing to their maximum makes me want to do my best.

Yearbook. Other team members were Brooks Allen, Bryan Anderson, Sam Bernauer, Josh Bruce, Ryan Coonerty, Joe Craw, Marcus Crespi, Jason Dalbesio, William Delgato, Cody Dumont, Paul Friedenbach, Alex Garey, Fidel Guerrero, Bobby Hultzen, Norman Hutchings, Dan Jalkut, Danny Johnson, Nate Johnson, Brian Jones, Mike Jones, Doug Kishi, Sash Keyser, Victor Land, Bates Marshall, Kenny Martinez, Jason Nevin, Mark Northcutt, Cesar Oliva, Jose Orozco, Russell Powell, Pat Richards, Naz Rossi, Tim Shields, Jason Swolgaard, Jeff Thuringer, Brian Tomasso, Justin Van Alstyne, Dave Warren, Nik and Steffan Whiting.
Coaches: Marty Kruger, Don Roberts, Brian Wall and Dina Allen.

Yearbook. In the past four years, Marty Kruger, Brian Wall, Don Roberts and former coach Bill Johnson have coached their athletes into breaking 21 of the 31 school records. In the process the girls team has won both the league and region titles.

Trident April 26. The season is off to a great start, as everyone on the team is putting out their best efforts. Practices are mandatory Monday through Fridays, with Monday’s a hard workout. The dual meets are on Thursdays and the invitational meets on Saturdays are only for qualified athletes. March 30, the girls varsity 400 relay team bettered the school record with a time of 50.06, which gave them third place at the Stanford Invitational. The boys Shuttle Hurdle Relay also placed third.

Yearbook. The program has come a long way. Five years ago there were barely twenty people on the boys and girls teams combined. Today there are thirty girls out.
This years team was led by senior Alison Lawton, junior Meghan Kinney in the hurdles and underclassmen Koren Clark in the 220 and 440, Heather Singer a discus and shot put thrower and Rosalyn Pillars.

May 31. Sentinel area prep bests in the SCCAL in boys track and field.
By place, name and time

100 METERS
PL NAME TIME
1 Jones 10.9
3 Bell 11.1
9 Shields 11.5

200 METERS
1 Jones 21.8
5 Bell 23.1
8 Thuringer 23.3
10 Shields 23.7

400 METERS
1 Jones 49.4
6 Shields 52.3

800 METERS
1 Lang 1:57.5

1,600 METERS
4 Lang 4:27.2

110 METER HIGH HURDLES
1 Hultzen 14.60
1 Shields 14.60
7 Jones 15.90

300 METER INTERMEDIATE HURDLES
1 Shields 38.0
3 Hultzen 40.7

400 METER RELAY
1 SC 43.7

1,600 METER RELAY
1 SC 3:25.2
SHOT PUT
8 Friedenbach 41-11
9 Johnson 40-8
10 Tamasso 38-11

DISCUS
None

HIGH JUMP
1 Jones 6-4
10 Thuringer 5-8

LONG JUMP
1 Jones 23-5 ¾
5 Hultzen 20-2

TRIPLE JUMP
1 Shields 44-10 ½
6 Jones 41-7
10 Thuringer 39-0

POLE VAULT
1 Friedenbach 15-0
5 Johnson 12-6
6 tie Oliva 12-0
6 tie Thuringer 12-0

May 31.. Sentinel area prep bests in the SCCAL in girls track and field.
By place, name and time

100 METERS
PL NAME TIME
2 Pillars 12.50
2 Thompson 12.50
4 Clark 12.89

200 METERS
1 Clark 25.8
3 Thompson 26.7
7 Pillars 27.2
8 Fierro 27.3

400 METERS
2 Fierro 58.60
3 Clark 58.90
5 LaRoque 1:03.5
10 Thompson 1:04.1

800 METERS
7 Anderson 2:30.6

1,600 METERS
10 Suchman 6:02.1

3,200 METERS
9 Suchmans 13:25.0
10 Wunce 13;36.0

100 METER LOW HURDLES
6 Lawton 16.8

300 METER LOW HURDLES
6 Lawton 50.5
8 Kinney 51.3

400 METER RELAY
1 SC 49.1

1,600 METER RELAY
1 SC 4:01.4

LONG JUMP
7 Clark 15-4

HIGH JUMP
6 Fierro 4-8

TRIPLE JUMP
None

SHOT PUT
2 Singer 34-1
10 Brown 28-11

DISCUS
1 Singer 117-3

Yearbook. Other team members are Kim Anderson, Michelle Berryessa, Cynthia Bruce, Koren Clark, Naima Contos, Colleen Cooney, Margaret Fahl, Rachel Hagan, Daniele Johnson, Amy Jones, Daniele Kiesler, Meghan Kinney, Lisa Knight, Gretchen Krebs, Elly LaRoque, Allison Lawton, Wendy Lemmon, Amber Littlejohn, Rebecca Long, Justine Minnis, Vanessa Nabokov, Rosalyn Pillars, Vanessa Samson, Jeny Scheinder, Dana Sherwood, Megan Simons, Heather Singer, Olivia Suchmans, Christina Thompson, Monik Williams, June Wilson, Katie Wunce, Jana Zuckwerst, Mila Fierro, Laura Anderson, Jeny Craw, Laura Ross and Ann Wolfsen.

ALL SCCAL boys: made it to CCS finals were Vic Lang, Nate Bell, Bob Hultzen and Pat Richards. To State were Tim Shields, Paul Friedenbach and Mike Jones.

ALL SCCAL girls: made it to CCS finals Rosalyn Pillars and Heather Singer. To State: the 1,600 relay team of Mila Fierro, Koren Clark, Elly LaRoque and Christina Thompson.

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING
At the SCCAL meet Harbor 339 points, SC 222, Gilroy 214, Aptos fourth. In league dual meets Harbor 5-0, second place tie between SC and Gilroy at 3-1-1 and Aptos 2-3.
Dual meets: Practice: RLS 87-77, North Salinas 113-26. League: Soquel 82-64, Watsonville 94-64, Gilroy 82-82, Harbor 57-109, Aptos 84-71, League 3-1-1. Season 5-1-1.

Yearbook. Leaders were seniors: Zack Gallagher in the breaststroke and Jeff Wickum, freestyle. Top underclassmen were Adam Philips in the backstroke, Django Sussman, Victor Lang and the Thompson brothers Zack and David in everything. Although the team was small, it played a big part in league. Most of the varsity swimmers had times in the top ten of league. Freshman Damien Korte led the JV team. Other team members were David Chapman, Joaquin Munoz, Morgan Raine, Mark Yellin, Ryan Boregard, Gabe Schoonover, Damien Korte, Jeff Smith and Johnathon Golder. Coaches Mike Bennett and Joel Wilson.

May 6. At the SCCAL meet, it was no surprise to anyone that Harbor scored the most points overall 339 points, easily outdistancing SC, which won the battle for second place with Gilroy.
Harbor took first place in all but two events, which were won by Aptos. In the race for second place, Santa Cruz and Gilroy remained within four points of each other going into the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay. It was just like in their SCCAL dual meet, when the two teams tied, it came down to the last event. At the league meet SC took second and Gilroy fourth in the relay, as the Cards edged into second place overall by a score of 222-214.

Sentinel pre CCS write up. May 11. SC will be sending two relay teams and a pair of individual swimmers. Coach Mike Bennett thinks his best chance lies with Zack Gallagher, who may get a shot in the consolation finals of the 100 breaststroke. “He looks really good. He’s put in enough yards where he has some taper left in him. I think he can go under 1:03, which I think would get him into the consolation. Jeff Wickum is competing in the 500 freestyle, 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay. Adam Phillips, Joaquin Munoz, David Thompson and Victor Lang make up the 200 medley relay team, while Gallagher, Wickum, David Fields and Django Sussman will swim the 400 free relay team. Bennett hopes his all-underclassmen medley relay team will learn something from the event. “It will be a real experience to see swimmers of that caliber. For the younger kids, it should give them an idea of what hard work can get you,” he said.

Sentinel May 13. AT CCS Championships (no mention of SC)

Trident June 7. Swimmers Swim Smoothly To CCS. It ended with a lot of effort, goodwill and an overall friendly relationship between the members of the team. Senior Zack Gallagher said, “In the past there was a lot of conflict between the people on the team, but not now.” Coach Mike Bennett described the team as a “responsible and dedicated group. They are the best group that I’ve coached. According to Joaquin Munoz, despite being a young group, “they did a great job.” Of the eleven members on the varsity team, four are seniors. The team had a “positive attitude that avoided burnout this year. No school records were broken this year, although many of the swimmers made it to CCS this year. Those who placed are senior Zack Gallagher, who qualified in the 100 breaststroke as a second alternate. Senior Jeff Wickum qualified second in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore David Thompson placed third in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Zack Thompson placed third in the 500 freestyle. Junior Joaquin Munoz placed second in the 100 breaststroke. Munoz placed second after spending two months with Gallagher training for the event.

Sentinel. March 11. At the Harbor-Aptos Invitational at Cabrillo College, Harbor won with 335 points followed by SC with 151. Matt Reyes won the diving competition and Zack Gallagher won the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.6

Sentinel. March 19. Cardinal Relay Teams Sixth. SC had two sixth place finishes at the Sierra Invitational Relay Boys Swim Meet. The relay team of Django Sussman, David Field, Jeff Wickum and Zack Gallagher were timed in 3:40.60 in the 400 yard freestyle and in 1:41.5 in the 200 yard freestyle.

Sentinel. March 22. Cardinals Swim Past RLS 87-77 to improve their record to 2-0. David Thompson posted two victories, winning the 100 yard individual medley in 2:20.6 and the 100 butterfly in 1:06.13. Matt Reyes won the diving competition with 173..5 points. Zack Gallagher won the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.87 qualifying him for the CCS meet.

March 25. In a SCCAL Meet, SC won 82-64 over Soquel. Wickum won the 200 free in 1:58.35 and the 500 free in 5:28.77.

April 8. Cardinals Turn Back Wildcats. In a league dual meet SC won 94-64 over Watsonville. “We wanted to let the kids swim some different events, to get an idea for them to see what it’s like,” said coach Mike Bennett. Zack Gallagher was a double winner, despite competing in the 500 yard freestyle for the second time and won in 5:34.55. He also won the 100 individual medley in 2:18.99. “The 500 free is the kind of event you need to swim eight to ten times to get the pace down,” said Bennett, who thinks Gallagher could improve to be one of the tip six in the SCCAL this season.” Django Sussman, a 6-5 junior, who came out late for swimming after basketball season. Sussman was a double winner in the sprints, winning the 50 free in 25.04 and the 100 free in 55.56. “He’s three weeks behind everyone else and a little more run down, but for as late as he came out, he is doing real well,” said Bennett. The 400 free relay team clocked in at 3:40.66. Swimming legs were Gallagher, David Field, Jeff Wickum and Sussman.

April 18. SC Swimmers Improve Record. Swimming tired, but not without good results, SC improved to 5-1 with a 113-26 victory over North Salinas. “We got to see where we are with our times,” coach Bennett said of the Cards, whose times were fast enough to win each event. Sprinter Vic Lang doubled in the 50 yard freestyle in 25.03 and the 100 free in 54.88. Freshman Zack Thompson continued an impressive season with a win in the 500 free in 5:21.10 and then three minutes later getting right back in the pool to win the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.53.

Rare Tie In Swim Meet For Cards in dual meet 82-82 tie with Gilroy to give them a 2-0-1 record in league. “We knew it would be a close one and we would have to swim some good times to win. We went in knowing it could come down to the last relay,” Mike Bennett said. It did. SC’s 400 freestyle relay team of Jeff Wickum, Zack Gallagher, Joe Vasselstein and Zack Thompson won in 3:43.55 to give SC the tie. Thompson, a freshman swimming in his first varsity meet, won the 200 free in 1:58.50 and 500 free in 5:21.99. Gallagher also won twice, both with personal bests, taking the 200 individual medley in 2:13.47 and 100 breast, 1:06.45.

Trident April 26. Twenty-eight swimmers work out at the pool everyday, “but we need more people to come and work out with us,” said varsity coach Mike Bennett. JV coach Joel Wilson explained, “Harbor is always tough, so the target is to battle Gilroy for second place.” SC has many good swimmers, but it is a young team. Two swimmers with their times now and time for improvement could qualify for CCS. Senior Zack Gallagher with a time of 10.6 in the 100 breaststroke and sophomore Adam Phillips who has done the 100 backstroke in 1.03 to qualifies for CCS already. “We lift weights three times a week and then swim after that,” said junior Morgan Raines. SC has beaten Soquel, Carmel, Gilroy and RLS and lost only to Salinas.

April 29. Harbor has finished the SCCAL season 5-0 to win the SCCAL for the tenth consecutive time in dual meets. Harbor took the Cards 109-57. Matt Reyes was second in diving with 163.55 points to the Harbor’s winning diver with 178.7 points. They will be battling each other at the SCCAL championship meet. Freshman Zack Thompson was second in the 100 butter fly in 1:04.33. Jeff Wickum was second in the 500 free in 5:24.92. SC is 2-1-1 in league duals with one to go.

May 1. Cards Flat, But Still Beat Aptos 84-71 to close the SCCAL dual meet season. “We swam real flat,” coach Bennett said, noting that both teams were more concerned about Saturdays SCCAL Championship meet. This game was rescheduled to this later date, because of a schedule conflict earlier in the season. The win gives the Cards a 3-1-1 record to tie with Gilroy for second place behind undefeated Harbor. Aptos was 2-3. Freshman Zack Thompson was a double winner, taking the 200 yard freestyle in 2:00.62 and the 500 free in 5:30.70. Vic Lang won the 50 free in 25.33, Zack Gallagher won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.29. Adam Phillips took the 100 backstroke in 1:01.11.

Sentinel stats for boys swimming on May 11 listed by place in rankings, name and best time, followed by SC swimmers who hold the league record by their name, year set record and time.

100 BACKSTROKE
3, Phillips, 1:02.11
League Record, Hackbarth, 1986, 54.45

100 BREASTSTROKE
1, Gallagher, 1:03.56
4. Munoz, 1:07.34

200 FREESTYLE
5. Wickum, 1:53.35

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
3, Gallagher, 2:10.63
League Record, Hatch, 1980, 1:56.10

500 FREESTYLE
3, Wickum, 5:10.77
4, Thompson, 5:11.24
League Record, Melton, 1987, 4:36.62

200 MEDLEY RELAY
2. Phillips, D. Thompson, Munoz, Lang, 1:48.87

400 FREE RELAY
2. Sussman, Field, Wickum, Gallagher, 3:31.82
League Record, Melton, Hackbarth, Shumate, Getty, 1987, 3:17.22

Dave Field was selected by the coaches to the ALL SCCAL first team. Zack Gallagher and Jeff Wickum missed the first team by close margins, but made the second team. Honorable mentions were Jodie Larson and David Thompson.

From this summaries qualifying for all league is to qualify for CCS and next step to State. There for the following the following qualified individually: Zack Thompson, Jeff Wickum and relay; David Thompson and relay, Joaquin Munoz and relay and Zack Gallagher and relay. The two relay team members: Adam Phillips, Victor Lang, David Fields and Django Sussman.

BOYS TENNIS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Practice: Los Gatos 3-4, Gunderson 4-3, Salinas 6-1, RLS 4-3. Practice record 3-1. League: SC defeated every league opponent by a 7-0 score in both matches for a 12-0 league record. Record to this point 15-1. CCS: Gunderson 5-2 in first round and Los Altos 3-4 in second round. Season record 16-2.
Yearbook. Starting in the twenties, SC has been a power in the area. After a period of not being so dominate, Dennis Mullin took over the helm and racked up numerous undefeated league championships, This years team is led by seniors Art Marcum, Brendon Walsh, Mike Minium, John Sanford and Joe Marini.

Other team members are David Sanford, Chris Coulson, Josh Barthel, Aaron Wolizcko, Chris Stevens, Colt Hangan, Brice Demitruk, Josh Wiesenfield, Robin Carter, Max Swangner, Brandon Chamberland, Sean Kilpatrick, Tao Stadler and Jeremy Hewit.

Trident June 7. Great Season Screeches To Halt. SC finished another season in near perfect fashion, twice thrashing every league opponent 7-0 on their way to a 70-0 league season. No Card lost a single set. Coach Mullen, “That is something we have never before accomplished.” The winning was have not been restricted to league play, in fact SC has topped many teams from San Jose and Monterey areas. Among them are St. Francis, RLS, Carmel and Los Gatos. Despite a long line of great players, including Eddie Marcum, now playing at Cal and Cort Blackburn, the number one player at Cabrillo, Mullen’s teams has never advanced past the first round of CCS until last year. This year the Cards defeated Gunderson 5-2, which illegally stacked the ladder. Stacking is an illegal move by a coach, who puts good players in the lower spots hoping to win the four or five lowest positions, while sacrificing a few higher positions, thus insuring a team victory. It is difficult to do anything about it, but stacking can be very obvious.
In the second round against an easily beatable Los Altos team, everything seemed to go wrong for SC, who needed only one win in the last three matches. Number three singles player Josh Barthel lost a nail biting three set match. Previously undefeated doubles team of Joe Marini and Brenden Walsh lost a first set tie breaker from which they never recovered. The number two doubles team of Sean Kilpatrick and Chris Stevens were edged out by a solid team by questionable line calls. The team lost dulled a brilliant 6-0, 6-0 performance by Marcum and solid matches by Mike Minium and Chris Coulson. Comments number one player John Sanford after his own 1-6, 3-6 loss,” It’s very frustrating to lose anytime, but this was even tougher. So many of us are seniors and we have the talent to upset some strong teams,” In any case, SC is fortunate to have such a perennially strong tennis team. With league titles dating back to the advent of tie-dyed shirts (actually back to the 1920’s) Other coaches most wonder how they do it?” The answer is a well kept secret: Dennis Mullen…Oops!

Sentinel. March 15. SC Wins Wild Tennis Match. In a match up of two teams that made it to the CCS quarterfinals last year, SC was down 3-0 after the first three singles matches were completed. The Cards came back by winning both doubles matches and with Chris Coulson winning the number 5 singles, 6-4 in the third set. Senior Art Marcum pulled out second and third set tie breakers to give SC a 4-3 non-league victory over Los Gatos. The Cards remain unbeaten at 5-0 for the season.

Cardinals Take It Down To Wire. For the second day in a row it came down to the final match, when number 3 singles player Josh Barthel rallied back from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to win his match and give the Cards a 4-3 non league victory over Gunderson. Mike Minium won number 4 singles and Chris Coulson won the 5 singles. Number one doubles of Joe Marini and Brendon Walsh also won, all in straight sets.

March 8. In a non-league match, SC beat Salinas 6-1. The lone SC loss was at the number one singles, where John Sanford lost 6-2, 7-6 (7-5 tie-breaker). The closest match was Josh Barthel winning 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.

March 14. Cards League Win Streak At 42. SC opened their SCCAL season with a 7-0 win over SLV. The best match of the day was in number one singles, where John Sanford won 6-7 (6-8 tie-breaker), 6-2, 6-1. SC 4-0 overall, only lost four other games in the remaining six matches.

March 21. SC Shuts Out Aptos 7-0 for 43rd straight league win. At number one singles, John Sanford won 7-6,6-0. Team mates Art Marcum and Mike Minium both won three set matches to lead SC to 7-0 overall.

March 28. SC 7, Soquel 0. Cards win 45th straight league match with out giving up on set. Art Marcum won the number two match 6-0, 6-4 in the closest match of the day.

April 1. SC extended its league winning streak to 46 straight titles with a 7-0 victory over Watsonville. Their league record is now 4-0. Through these four matches the Cards have yet to lose an individual singles or doubles match. In the longest match of the day Art Marcum won 6-4, 6-2.

April 4. Cards Deck Pirates. Santa Cruz Wins Battle of Unbeatens. In the only three set match in SC’s 7-0 sweep of Harbor, number two singles player Art Marcum won 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4. Number one John Sanford won 6-2. 6-0. In the number three singles, Josh Barthel, the most powerful hitter for SC won 6-1, 6-2. Four and five men Mike Minium and Chris Coulson did not lose a set in the singles matches. The number one doubles team of Brendon Walsh and Joe Marini and the two doubles team of Chris Stevens and Sean Kilpatrick each won in straight sets. SC is 10-1 overall.

In a clash of the SCCAL unbeaten teams, there was no question as to which team had the most topspin going into the second half of the league season.

April 5. SC’s Josh Barthel, for the second time this season, clinched a victory for SC in the final match for a 4-3 victory over RLS. With the teams tied 3-3, Barthel won 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Earlier, Chris Coulson won 6-3 in the third set for a 3-2 lead, but Chris Stevens and Sean Kilpatrick fell in a third set tie breaker at the number one doubles to make the score 3-3.

April 8.Unbeaten Santa Cruz Blanks Aptos 7-0 in a league match that was more intense than the final score suggests. “It was really a dogfight,” said Coach Dennis Mullen, whose teams have won the past seven SCCAL tennis titles and 12 of the last 13. “We could never coast. Aptos played really hard.” Two matches that showed the heart of the battle were at number 2 singles were Art Marcum came from behind to win 6-7, 7-5, 6-0. At number 3, Josh Barthell also came back to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Number one singles player John Sanford played either 4 or 5 singles last year and was sort of buried back there,” Mullen said of his new top player, who is 6-0 in league. But this year he has really improved his game.” The team is 6-0 in league and 14-1 overall.

Trident April 26. Cardinals Serve Up Confidence. SC completed the first half of the league season with a perfect 5-0 record and 35-0 individual record and is now looking for ways to pass the time until CCS. “I’d like to go 70-0 this season,” said Coach Mullen. Although CCS doesn’t begin for another month, SC players have set their sights on a high seeding. Although SC has dominated the league every year, CCS has been a different story. “The teams in CCS are very strong and we always get the worse draw,” Coach Mullen. This years team may be able to break the trend having posted 4-3 victories over perennial powerhouses RLS, Gunderson and Los Gatos. The future looks bright, “Team Lambada” is going all the way,” chortles senior Eddie Marcum.

April 18. Santa Cruz Too Much For SLV. The strength and balance that has been the trademark all season showed up again for SC as they remained unbeaten with a 7-0 win over SLV. “Nobody is even close to the Cards in the SCCAL.” said the SLV coach, whose team lost all seven matches in straight sets. “Their top five are all real close and all really good players. They dominate with so much depth.” John Sanford won the number one singles 6-4, 6-3. SC improved to 7-0 and 15-1 overall.

Cardinal Tennis Team Notches 50TH Straight defeating Soquel 7-0. SC also clinched a tie for the title, their eighth in a row and 13 in the 14 seasons since the leagues inception in 1977. The only other school to win was Aptos in 1982. SC is now 8-0 in league, each by 7-0 scores. The 50 win streak is a league record, but not a school record. SC won 58 consecutive league matches going back to the 1976 MBL season through the 1982 SCCAL season. Counting 1976, Mullen’s teams have won 15 of the last league championships they have played for. Number one John Sanford won 6-2, 6-1 and number 2 Mike Minium’s consistent play earned him a 6-2, 6-2 win. Number one doubles of Josh Barthel and Chris Stevens won 6-1, 6-0.

April 25. Cards Extend Win Streak To 51 Matches. The 7-0 victory over Watsonville not only clinched the league title, but gave SC its fifteenth title in the past 16 seasons. Coach Dennis Mullen started digging through his old files. Even Mullen was a little surprised to see what the Cards have accomplished over the past 16 years and he has been there for all of it. Since the inaugural SCCAL season in 1977, no other school than Aptos has beaten the Cards and that has happened only four times in 14 seasons. It was also the Cards fifty-first consecutive win, dating back to the 1985 season and they did it in style, winning every set of every match, which they have done all season. “I am really excited for the kids. They have their personal goals and they know that all of this is done in practice. We don’t talk about, ’you’ve got to win this match or that match.’ They know what we are trying to do,’ Mullen said of this year’s championship team. SC, which has an entire lineup of seniors, is 9-0 in league and 17-1 overall.

Cards Finish A Perfect 10 And O by defeating Harbor 7-0. Unbeaten and untied, SC is a perfect 10-0 and has not lost a set in its ninth straight championship season. The Cards record is 70-0 in total singles and doubles matches in league and a 140-6 mark in sets won. Against Harbor in the season finale, the number two doubles team of Chris Stevens and Sean Kilpatrick were down 1-5 in the second set, but they took the next six games for a 6-2, 7-5 win in the final match of the day. In the number one doubles, Brendan Walsh and Joe Marini won 6-2, 7-5. At number one singles, John Sanford won 6-2, 6-0. Sanford will be seeded number one for the league championships. Harbor finished tied for second with Aptos with records of 7-3. The Cards overall record is 18-1.

May 10 No Upsets On First Day Of SCCAL Finals. John Sanford opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win and then stopped his next opponent in the semi-finals 6-1, 6-3. The Doubles finals will be an all SC final. Top seeds Brendon Walsh and Mike Minium won 6-0, 6-2 in the semi-finals. The number 2 seeds Chris Coulsona and Josh Barthel won their semi-final match 6-4, 6-4.

May 4. Sanford Wins Singles Crown. Cardinals Also Take Doubles Title. Watching John Sanford impersonate a backboard at the SCCAL tournament at the Imperial Courts Tennis Club one could marvel at Sanford’s yawn inducing style of play. The Aptos coach comment, “He just keeps it in the green paint. It’s like Chinese water torture. He can really frustrate you.” that’s the idea. Sanford will not puncture balls with ferocious smashes as seen in Nike commercials. His steady play gave him the title with a 6-1, 7-6 (8-6 tie breaker) victory. Sanford’s game appears on the defensive and he strokes through the ball with huge back swings and he follows through. He is totally consistent. Sanford had beaten his Aptos rival twice this season. Sanford plans to play at UC Davis next year.
In doubles play, Josh Barthel and Chris Coulson survived a battle of cannon ball overheads and point blank bullets to win the title 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The sweep is the first for SC since 1986, when now California Golden Bear Eddie Marcum won the singles title and the team of Cort Blackburn and Davey Ransom were doubles champions.
In the doubles semi-finals it was SC against SC. It was a game of chicken between four SC teammates. Barthel and Coulson are the hardest hitters on the team and their servers and overheads prove it, Coach Mullen said, “I think Barthel and Coulson might have over powered them. It’s not like Mike Minium and Brendan Walsh were intimidated. They knew who they were facing.” Barthel has played number 3 singles all season and Coulson is usually number 5, so their status as teammates has been short term. Minium is the number 4 singles player and Walsh is regularly paired with Joe Marini at number one doubles. Minium and Walsh teamed up to win the Northern California Tennis Association boy’s 18s doubles tournament over Easter vacation. Barthel said, “We took it very seriously. We knew they were good. On our team, any of the top seven guys can beat each other and that’s why the team wins. So you know it’s going to be close when we play each other. SC plays Los Altos in the second round of the CCS playoffs.

There was a time not that long ago that the SC tennis team opponents didn’t want to play the Cards. But not for the reason you might think, considering their nine consecutive SCCAL team championships. “One time we were playing Monterey and before the match their coach asked who our first three players were going to be,” Coach Dennis Mullen recalls about the old days in the MBL. “When I told him, he told his top three players, OK, you three guys go home. Then he played us with the rest of his team moving up three places on the ladder.” The Cards were that bad. “Needless to say, it was a big thrill when we finally did beat them and they had to play their number one players,” Mullen said. That was happening with regularity until 1975, when SC won the first of its two MBL titles. In 1977, the Cards moved to the new SCCAL and now have won 13 of 14 tennis championships.

Sentinel Athlete of the Week of May 8 was senior John Sanford, who went undefeated in league play and won the SCCAL singles championship. He dropped just one set in 13 league matches. Coach Mullen said he has heard opponents say “they don’t like playing John. I like to play someone who’s going to make mistakes. It shows people don’t have a lot of confidence when they play him.” Sanford played in a CCS team playoff match against Gunderson, where he ran up against the number 7 ranked boys 18s and lost 6-0, 6-1. Sanford said, “It was a major victory to get a point against him, He hit so hard, it might have helped me in my next match.” Sanford will be playing in the CCS singles tournament next. He plans to play at UC Davis next year.

ALL SCCAL singles player John Sanford and doubles team of Josh Barthel and Chris Coulson.

GOLF
Yearbook. Four of last years top six players from the third place team in league graduated. Returning are Junior Phil Pedemonte, seniors Peter Verprauskus and Andy Aldred. To top out the first six players are freshman Dove Rothman and juniors Jerry Meyer and Stefan Freeman. Team number one player Pedemonte and Rothman were strong contenders for CCS play. Justin Discoe rounded out the team for Coach Pete Pappas.

The team lost 10 of their 12 matches by narrow margins. Their only bright spot was the surprising performance by freshman Dov Rothman, who was undefeated in SCCAL play and made it to the second round of CCS play.

Trident March 30. Cards Fight For Tourney Title. SC was among the 36 teams from the Bay area to participate at the Hollister Invitational Golf Tournament. Each team played 18 holes and were represented by its top four golfers. Based on last year’s results, SC entered the tournament rank in the top ten. After this year’s tournament was over SC had dropped into the last five. Freshman, number one man Dov Rothman had the best score of 87. Junior Phil Pedemonte the number two man was next with a 106. Junior number, four man was Jerry Meyer. In the end the Cards were surprised to find themselves in second to last place. In league matches the Cards are 1-4.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL League record 4-5 for third place.
April 26. Soquel Takes Volleyball tourney. The league finished off the second season for the returning of volleyball for boys to the local schools with a one day tournament at SC. Four teams were involved SC, Watsonville, Harbor and Soquel.
Soquel won the tournament by a single point over SC. Soquel, who went 8-0 in league play during the regular season and SC, who went 6-2, finished the tournament with identical 7-1 records. The two schools had split their head-to-head tournament games, but Soquel was declared the champion on a points for and points against tie breaker.
On Friday, Soquel beat SC 3-2 in a two hour and a half match for the regular season title. In three rounds of league play, SC went 4-5. SC was 1-2 against Harbor, 2-1 against Watsonville and 1-2 against Soquel. Jordan Leahy was SC’s leading setter.
At the end of the tournament the coaches selected senior David Kemp as CO-MVP.

“The important point about the season is not how the SC team did, but how the league as a whole is developing,” said team parent Sue Roth. This year there was increased parent and student support, as well as an increased level of play among the teams to give the sport an even stronger foundation in the SC area. SC remains optimistic about next years team. With a talented group of players returning and a growing base of support, SC looks to be a team that could very well become number one next year.

INDIVIDUALS

Escalante’s
Two brothers Rudy and Bernie have been three sport mainstays for SC. Both played football, basketball and baseball for the Cards.
Rudy graduating in 1980 was All County in football. He went on to play football and baseball at Cabrillo, then to San Jose State where he played baseball and earned a degree in administration of justice. He now is a police officer for the city of Santa Cruz. Their father Rudy Sr. believes their success has been because of their will to work hard for a goal. “All I told them was to give 100 percent and be good a good sportsman. I’ll never forget, when Rudy’s team won the state baseball championship at Cabrillo in 1982, Bernie went up to him and told him he was gong to be better in sports than he was. And Bernie’s doing pretty well.” SC football coach Ron Mehuron has worked with both brothers and Rudy Junior has worked with the team as a linebacker/line coach, said there are definite similarities in the siblings. “They both have real good work ethics. They have a clear sense of task and getting things accomplished. They were enthusiastic and dedicated and both will do whatever you ask them to do. Plus they have the intelligence.”
Bernie a running back and linebacker this year (1989-90) is expected to carry a heavy load this football season, just as he did for last years championship basketball and baseball teams. He was a starter at catcher and forward on those teams, making him one of the area’s top three sport athletes retuning this year. Bernie owns a cumulative 3.8 grade point average going into his senior year. But this fall, brains won’t be enough, as it will take some of his brawn to help the Cards climb back from a 2-7 record. “Bernie can do so many things for us this year,” said Mehruon. “He’ll be a starting linebacker on the inside and be a starting running back. He can run inside and outside now that his speed has improved. He can play a number of roles for us on special teams. Clearly he is one of our key players.” Plus he ahs been taking snaps at quarterback in case he is needed there. Bernie now at 6 feet and 175 pounds, led SC with 393 yards rushing, averaged 5 yards on 78 carries last year. Bernie said, ‘Last year, we lacked experience and did not have the numbers necessary. This year the returning seniors need to take a leadership role on the team. I think we have a winning attitude. We set a goal of winning league in all three sports and I think we can do it.”

Yearbook. Mike Jones won the high jump, long jump and 400 meters at the SCCAL finals. He also was a member of the 400 meter relay team that took second place. At the CCS Region IV meet he won the same three events, plus the relay team defeated the team that beat them at the SCCAL finals to take first place. Four first places for Mike. Mike took first place in the long jump at the CCS finals and anchored the school record breaking state qualifying 400 meter relay team. Mike holds ten school records. That’s nearly a third of all the track records at SC. He has been recruited by top schools around the country including Stanford and Brown. Mike likes the feeling that he is the only person that can make something good or bad happen in any of his performances. All of this was achieved last year as a junior.