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1992
SC To Retire Johnson, Graff Numbers. For the first time in its history, SC will retire the numbers of two of its football greats. Scott Graff, a 1969 graduate, wore No 33 and Johnny Johnson, the class of 1985 wore No 44. The ceremony will take place before the SC vs. Harbor basketball game. Graff was a fullback on offense and nose guard on the undefeated MBL championship team of 1967 as a junior and an all league selection. Graff was named most valuable lineman of the MBL in 1968. The 1967 team is Santa Cruz’ last championship football team. Johnson still holds the SCCAL single season rushing record with 1,729 yards in the 1984 season. He was also the All County player of the year. Johnson now plays for the Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL. Both players were named to the Sentinel Silver Anniversary All County football team.

The list of the Sentinels Top Girls Athletes of the Year 1991-92 for Santa Cruz County in alphabetical order for SC: Allison Agosti. The senior forward in soccer for the Cardinals was SCCAL Co-Player of the Year for soccer. She led the league with eight goals for half of SC’s total.
Faith Hasty. An ankle injury early in basketball season couldn’t prevent Hasty from nabbing Player of the Year honors. She led the league in scoring with 15.3 average.
Kenna Karst. A three sport athlete, cross country, basketball and softball. Karst’s speed is her most dangerous weapon. Was first team All League in basketball.
Heather Singer. Late season illness ended her dream of going to the state meet in the discus. But still the senior capped a fine career a SC as All League in basketball.

The list of the Sentinels Top Boys Athletes of the Year 1991-92 for Santa Cruz County in alphabetical order for SC: Femi Ayanbadejo. Three sport athlete. Ran for 238 years in football, played basketball and had a .429 batting average, plus was the leading hitter for the CCS runner up Cards in baseball. Sentinel All County out fielder.
Neil Churchill: Three sport athlete. All League in football and number two rusher in the county with 771 yards. All League Honorable mention in soccer and an outfielder in baseball.
Tim Nordahl: A dominate center from Australia for two years in basketball. Averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds a game and was first team All League and All County.
Aaron Woliczko: First team All League forward in basketball with a 10.7 scoring average. Started at third base for the CCS runners up Card baseball team and played free safety in football.

The list of the Sentinels Top Boys Athletes of the Year 1991-92 for Santa Cruz County listed one Cardinal: Adam Phillips: A standout backstroke and butterfly specialist. Steady water polo player with 3.93 GPA.

Sentinel Article on the two valedictorians at SCHS this year. They are Elly La Roque and Mike McGunness. Athletically, La Roque participated in track and cross country. She won three sportsmanship awards as well as the Most Valuable Runner. Elly qualified for the CCS finals in cross country and was twice voted captain of the team. She ran on the mile relay team that broke the school record and qualified for the state meet.
Athletically, Mike McGuinness swam with the swim team for three years and has been part of the Surf Club for four years.

1992
FOOTBALL Practice games: Stevenson 34-14, Carmel 14-14 (but later Carmel forfeited), King City 7-25, Gonzales 14-26. Practice record 2-2. League: Harbor 14-7, SLV 6-32, North Monterey 0-34, Aptos 14-27, Soquel 14-31, Watsonville 9-28. League record 1-5 for sixth place. Season record 3-7.

Yearbook. Team members were Femi Ayanbadejo, Mike Hendren, Josh Sutton, Steve Cardoza, Chris Croghan, Nate Bell, Chris Kaspar, Aaron Wolizcko, Joey Guardino, Jake McCormick, Jamie Carr, Matt Stevens, Jimi Weaver, Nik Whiting, Zac Mc Cormick, Geoff Thomas, Jason Dalbesio, Neil Churchill, K.C. Kaiser, Stefan Fish, Mike Goldstein, Jason Nevin, Aaron Gleisman, Will Delgado, Ryan Coonerty and Jonah Shanks.
Coaches Ron Mehuron, Vic Miguel and Tex Ronning

Sentinel write ups
Cardinals Open Season In Style beating Stevenson 34-14. Stevenson took the opening kick off and seven minutes later ended their 75 yard drive with a touchdown and conversion. The Cards came right back on their first offensive series, which began on their own ten yard line. The big play was a 62 yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback K.C. Kaiser to Steve Cardoza to tie the game at seven. Seconds later, Mike Goldstein picked up a fumble and ran 20 yards to score. By halftime SC led 20-7. At the end of the third quarter it was 34-7. Kaiser started and played the first half, completing three of four passes for 120 yards and one touchdown. He had a 57 yard scoring pass called back. Aaron Woliczko, a 6-6 junior, played the second half and was 3 for 4 for 29 yards. The Cards third drive consisted of eight plays over 65 yards. Ryan Coonerty capped it with a one yard plunge. Neil Churchill scored two third period touchdowns on runs of 11 and 16 yards. Churchill is one of the many fine juniors who dot the SC roster. “We had a good junior varsity team last year,” Coach Mehuron said. “And we’ve received good support from them.” Although the Cards fly offense looks as if it will have little trouble moving the ball this season, the Card defense may prove to be the key. SC limited Stevenson to just 208 total yards, while the SC offense gained 362.

Cardinals Settle for A Tie 14-14 against Carmel. A missed extra point on a bad snap from center proved to be the difference between a win and a tie for SC. With Carmel leading 14-8, the Cards tied the game with 25 seconds left in the third quarter, when running back Steve Cardoza made a leaping finger tip catch in the end zone. The last score was set up when defensive lineman Josh Sutton blocked a punt and recovered the ball on the Padre 23. Three plays later, a 24 yard pass from Kaiser to Cardoza tied the score. Kaiser started the second half and drove the Cards to their two touchdowns. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 74 yards. The Cards first touchdown came early in the third quarter when Kaiser hit Geoff Thomas for a 17 yard touchdown. Running back Mike Goldstein ran in for a two point conversion. (Later Carmel forfeited the game)

King City Ground Santa Cruz in 25-7 Win. “We were inconsistent offensively and defensively,” said Coach Mehuron, whose two quarterback rotation struggled throughout the night. Trailing 13-7 at halftime Woliczko took over the quarterback duties, but did not complete a pass in two attempts. The Cards picked off three King City passes in the first half. Nik Whiting scored the lone SC touchdown on a 20 yard sweep to tie the score 7-7 in the first quarter.

Cards Avoid Upset. Santa Cruz Rallies To Stave Off Bucs 14-7 in the SCCAL opener. K.C, Kaiser playing his first full game at quarterback, completing three of nine passes for 46 yards. Neil Churchill rushed for a game high 159 yards and two second half touchdowns. Harbor dominated the first half, limiting the Cards to only three offensive possessions, while they went ahead 7-0 at halftime. Trident Oct. 21. To start the second half, the offensive line started opening holes for Femi Ayanbadeo and Churchill, which lead to a 80 yard drive for a TD. Ryan Coonerty scored a two point conversion to put the Cards up 8-7. Harbor came right back and took the ball down to the 25 yard line where the Cards held on fourth and five. SC drove the 75 yards to score the final TD.

Trident, Oct 24. After beating SLV for the last two years, the Cards lost to SLV 6-32. SC was held to 130 yards gained, while SLV’s strong running and passing attack put down the Cards.

Condors’ Defense Shuts down SC 34-0. North Monterey, after losing for them, their uncommon first five games had no trouble with the Cards. The Condors sacked the quarterback four times and limited the Cards to just 136 yards of total offense. SC mustered just one first down and 24 yards in the first half.

Aptos Survives Cardinals Scare 27-14. On a rain drenched Memorial Field, SC came within inches of being in position to pull a huge upset. On fourth down from the Aptos 5 yard line with 11:17 to play and the Cards trailing 24-14, Neil Churchill took the ball on a draw play. After being stacked up at the 3, he nearly wriggled free and as he went down made a desperate stretch with the ball for the end zone, but touched down a half-foot short. Aptos took over and eventually scored an insurance touchdown with 58 seconds left to earn a 27-14 win. After being stopped at the goal line, SC had one more legitimate chance to score. On a third down and 4 from their 33 yard line, the Cards faked a run. Quarterback K.C. Kaiser had Mike Goldstein alone behind the secondary, but the pass was short and was intercepted. Aptos converted three SC turnovers into touchdowns. In the first quarter, the Cards caught a break. Aptos stopped SC on its first possession, but ran into the punter and gave the Cards possession again. After the penalty, SC drove 32 yards in eight plays, capped by a five yard touchdown pass from Kaiser to Zack McCormick. Ryan Coonerty ran in the conversion to put SC ahead 8-0.

Knights Rally Past SC 34-14. Nine minutes into the game, SC was ahead 14-0. Neil Chruchill scored on 56 yard run around the left side and followed it up with a 5 yard run. The second score was set up by a 37 yard pass from Kaiser to Cardoza. SC had gained 113 yard in the first nine minutes. After that the Knights forced five turnovers, three led to touchdowns, and gave up just 69 yards and one first down during the remaining 39 minutes. Churchill’s 36 yard touchdown run was called back by a holding penalty, which would have put SC ahead at least 16-14.

Gonzales wins 26-14

Watsonville wins 28-9.

Trident, Nov 27. Dominate players for SC so far have been two way players and seniors Chris Kaspar, offensive and defensive tackle. Offensive guard and middle line backer, Jamie Carr. Defensive tackle, offensive center, Jim Weaver. Fullback and outside linebacker, Femi Ayanbadejo and lineman, Mike Goldstein. Plus juniors, quarterback K.C. Kaiser and running back Neil Churchill. Injuries affected the team. Early senior Blake Van De Veer and junior Gabe Blanchette were lost for the season. Junior Nick Whiting and senior Matt Stevens lost time. Senior Augie Guardino and junior Jason Nevin lost the majority of the season. With the returning juniors and the league champion JV team, next year the Cards could contend.

Yearbook. Junior Neil Churchill finished second in the SCCAL in rushing with 771 yards in 114 carries. His best game was against Watsonville, when he rushed for 110 yards and scored on a 49 yard touchdown run. Neil received co-player of the game award against Gonzales.
Churchill was selected Sentinel Athlete of the Week during football season and was selected firs team on the Sentinel All County team.

Yearbook. Jim Weaver was selected second team All SCCAL guard and also made the Sentinel All County team. Chris Kaspar earned All SCCAL defensive tackle on the second team and honorable mention on the Sentinel All County team.

JUNIOR VARSITY FOOTBALL UNDEFEATED IN LEAGUE PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Season record 9-1.
RLS 40-0, The lone loss was to Gonzales 28-39.

Team members were Ron Miller, Adrian Corcoran, Mike Clewis, Ben Jensen, Jesus Cortez, Donald Keller, David Graff, Cody Murray, Josh Levy, Jorge Perez, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Brandon Barbera, David Cooper, Reggie Stephens, Isiah Calderon, Matt Wallick, Jermaine Robinson, Paul Quilici. Tai Lunsford, Emeka Chukwudebe, Strider Kemp, Jonathan Pillsbury,
Todd Kidder, Rob Rodoni, David Lopez and Cesar Chavez.
Coaches John Hopping, Rich Price and Randy Quilici.

Sentinel. In the opening game of the season the Cards defeated RLS 40-0. Jermaine Robinson rushed for 192 yards on just seven carries and scored three touchdowns.

Trident, Oct. 24. The Cards won the league jamboree and are 6-0 at this point in the season. On October 11, in a battle of the unbeaten, SC beat SLV with a strong defense and a last second score. Teamwork has been the key. Coach John Hopping’s outlook is full of great expectations. “If they keep playing together as a team, they can get the title.

Sentinel write ups
Jermaine Robinson gained 1,646 yards of total offense and scored 21 touchdowns. Rushing Robinson had 1,126 yards on 90 carries for a 12.5 yard average per carry and scored 13 touchdowns. This was done in limited playing time, as he would often sit out the latter parts of one sided games. Six of the seven passes he caught were for touchdowns. He gained 337 yards for a 48 yard average per catch. He even played a little option quarterback, completing four of eight passes for two TD’s and a 45.7 average per completion. Added together, rushing, receiving and passing, Robinson accounted for a touchdown every 5.2 plays.

Reggie Stephens alternated at fly back with Adrian Corcoran and played receiver. He rushed 46 times for 341 yards. He had nine touchdowns, including two on kickoff returns and another on a punt return. That means he scored once every eight times he carried the ball from scrimmage. Stephens role on the team was more varied than the other two backs. He was used everywhere from wide receiver to fly back and fullback on offense, as well as the secondary and on special teams. Stephens has the potential with his speed and talent to break open a game in any capacity.

Corcoran gained 526 in 56 carries and scored seven touchdowns. He scored a TD on every eight carries.

Yearbook. Four rough and tough linemen were Ron Miller, Robert Rodoni, David Graff and Jesus Cortez, all who blocked spectacularly and opened holes for the running backs consistently. Outstanding running backs Reggie Stephens and Jermaine Robinson and quarterbacks Paul Quillici and Adrian Corcoran gave the team an unstoppable offense.

Sentinel All County team: Junior of the Year, Neil Churchill. Offense: Jim Weaver, 5-11, 212, senior guard; Neil Churchill, 5-8, 160, junior running back. Defense: Zach McCormick, 6-0, 160, senior corner back; Honorable mention: Chris Kaspar.

ALL SCCAL

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL
Yearbook. Team members were Mike Boffy, Nick Dunn, Sam Miller, George Arnott, James Nelson, Daniel Eaton, Tony Dutra, Jason Kearny, David Soto, Brandon White, Brian Stinson, Gabe Lopez, Sam Wenger, Herb Brown, Justin Hansen, Emery Locke, Jason Villanueva, Nate Blanchette, Christopher Hintz, Tony Quartararo, Rainer Ball and Gino Marini.
Coaches Matt Schofield and Neal Christen.

CROSS COUNTRY BOYS
League meets: North Monterey 18-45; Harbor 22- 34; Aptos 15, SC incomplete; Soquel 27, 28; SLV 19-40 and Watsonville the league winner in all divisions 15-47. League dual record 0-6. At the SCCAL finals, SC took fourth place.

Yearbook. Every runner suffered some sort of injury and as a result the team never ran with a full team. The record was 0-6. Kenny Stovall was the only boy to make the CCS meet.
Team members were Jim Meyer, Joe Street, Brooks Allen, Mike Liberatore, Josh Basinger and Ben Henry. Coach Jim Scott.

Sentinel September 20. North Monterey 18, SC 45. North Monterey overwhelmed a young and inexperienced SC in the league opener. Mike Liberatore took third place in 12:05. SC coach Jim Scott said, “today we had three sophomores, a junior and a freshman running.”

Sentinel. September 27. At the UCSC fire trails on a 2.2 mile course, Harbor broke its string of 33 consecutive losses with a 22-34 over SC. Mike Liberatore won the race in the time of 12:07.

October 4. Aptos 15, SC incomplete. At the 2.4 mile Aptos track, Mike Liberatore took third place in 15:08.

October 11. Soquel 27, SC 28. Sophomore Mike Liberatore won the 2.5 mile race in 13:40. SC’s Brooks Allen was just barely out kicked down the stretch working for third place, which would have turned the score around, but it wasn’t to be. “Neither one of us is one of the stronger teams in the league, but it was a good competitive meet,” said the Soquel coach.

Sentinel October 18. SLV 19, SC 40. Mike Liberatore was the only Card to break into the top five runners, taking second place in 12:24. SC is now 0-4 in league.

Trident, Oct. 24. Due to the onslaught of injuries and lack of people interested in running, the team has only four eligible runners the team has lost all five meets. Since league rules state that a team most field five runners, SC must run incomplete and can’t win. Sophomores Joe Street and Ben Henry and freshman Josh Basinger are injured. Sophomore Mike Liberatore is the strongest runner said, “We’re not really a team, we’re running as individuals. Junior Brooks Allen said, “We had great potential, but injuries and grades hurt us.” Coach Jim Scott said, “We’re ignoring our win/loss record and gaining experience. There’s only one senior and a slew of sophomores and freshman on the team. The senior is Ken Stovall.

Sentinel November 1. Watsonville 15, SC 47. Watsonville won the first five spots. Ken Stovall was the top SC runner taking sixth place in 16:31.

Sentinel November 8. Watsonville won the SCCAL championship meet by beating out second place North Monterey 25-36 at the Mt. Madonna 3.1 mile course. Watsonville also won the boys junior varsity and frosh-soph team titles as well.

Trident. November 27. The regular season record was 0-6. At the SCCAL finals SC took fourth place. Senior standout Ken Stovell was academically ineligible for a for the first quarter of school, but became eligible for the next quarter and performed well enough to qualify for CCS. Mike Liberatore was going strong, but was injured and was not able to compete at the league meet, which kept him from CCS.

Sentinel November 13. The SCCAL will be competing in the CCS Division III Sub-section meet in Belmont. SC runners hoping to qualify are Mike Libeatore, who missed the SCCAL championship meet, because he crashed while riding his skateboard and suffered a concussion. And senior Ken Stovall, who is still getting into top condition. Coach Scott said, “Ken and Mike could pop one off and qualify for CCS.”

CROSS COUNTRY GIRLS
League scores: North Monterey 38-17; Harbor 20-46; Aptos loss; SC 24, Soquel incomplete; SLV 24-35; Watsonville 23-34. The girls had an impressive record of 4-2 in league and took third at the SCCAL meet. For the first time since 1982, seven Cardinals qualified for CCS.
Yearbook. Seven of the girls qualified to run at the CCS meet. First year cross country runner, sophomore Melanie Café was voted the team MVP. Other top runners were Julie and Sarah Oldfield and Elly La Roque. Rest of squad: Namiste Chism, Nicole Warver, Kenna Karst, Carrie Cleveland, Olivia Suchman, Rebecca Jones and Margaret Fahl.

Sentinel September 20. North Monterey 17, SC 38 in the league opener on the fire trails at UCSC 2.2 mile course. The top SC runner was junior Kenna Karst, who placed fourth in 15:39.

Sentinel. September 27. At the UCSC fire trails on a 2.2 mile course against Harbor, the Cards won 20-46. Kenna Karst took second place and was followed by the rest of SC’s runners, as SC runners finished two through eight to give SC a 1-1 record. Karst’s time was 15:40. She was followed by Melanie Café, Margaret Fahl, Nicole Warver, Julie Oldfield, Sara Oldfield and Olivia Suchman. Most of the runners had competed in a 24 hour marathon, a fund-raiser that took place on Saturday and Sunday. “Everyone was still recovering from that,” said coach Scott.

October 4. Aptos used a “pack attack” to defeat SC. (no score listed) A group of four Aptos runners ran in a group all the way to led the win. SC’s top finisher was Melanie Café in 19:20, followed by Kenna Karst in 20:03.

Sentinel. October 11. SC defeated Soquel. Melaine Café led the Cards over an incomplete Soquel team. Café won the 2.5 mile race in a time of 17:30.

Sentinel October 18. SC 24, SLV 35. SLV took the first place, followed by SC’s Melainie Café in 15:04. Julie Oldfield finished fourth in 16:39 and Sarah was fifth in 16:40, one second behind her sister.

Trident, Oct. 24. So far the girls are 2-2, defeating Harbor and Soquel and losing to North Monterey and Aptos. The top two runners are sophomore Melaine Café and junior Kenna Karst. Senior Elly LaRoque, the only runner on the team with three years experience said, “We work well as a team. We have a lot of young talent.” Aptos is one of the best teams to come out of the county in the last few years. Coach Scott, looking toward the future is hoping for a second place finish.

Sentinel Nov. 1. In a 2.9 mile race at Pinto Lake, SC defeated Watsonville 23-34. Watsonville took first place, but SC took second place with Melanie Café in 19:46, fourth place by Julie Oldfield and fifth place by sister Sarah. Both crossed the line in 22:13.

Sentinel November 8. At the SCCAL meet at Mt. Madonna parks 3.1 mile course, Aptos took the first three places to win the meet with 20 points followed by North Monterey with 68 and Harbor with 102. (no mention of SC)

Sentinel November 13. The SCCAL will be competing in the CCS Division III Sub-section meet in Belmont. Mention of the top girl contenders from the SCCAL, included Melanie Café of SC.

Trident. Nov 27. The girls had an impressive record of 4-2 in league and took third at the SCCAL meet. For the first time since 1982, seven Cardinals qualified for CCS. Coach Jim Scott lost juniors Margaret Fahl and Kenna Karst to injuries early in the year. But sophomores Melanie Café, Julia and Sara Oldfield turned in stellar performances. Café was named team MVP. The only senior on the team Elly LaRoque another standout runner said, “The team was really special this season. We ran together an supported each other.”

GIRLS TENNIS Second in league with 8-2 record. Both losses were from league champion Aptos. Practice match: Carmel 5-2. League matches: Harbor 4-3, 6-1; Aptos 1-6, 0-6; SLV 7-0, 6-1; Soquel 6-1, 6-1; Watsonville 7-0, 6-0. League standings: Aptos 9-1, SC 8-2, Harbor 6-4, Watsonville 5-5, Soquel 2-8, SLV 0-10.

Yearbook. Juniors Rachel Freitas and Erin Plauche with three seasons of experience will be the backbone of the doubles teams next year. Sophomores Nichole Gillette and Christina Perry a transfer from York school played in the number two spot and had a season record of 8-3 and freshman Megan Fleming will be key elements to the singles team next season. Rest of team members were Natalie Bridgeman, Cindy Padilla, Ali Tom, Maggie Marini, Tiffany Barthel, Julie Randle and Andra Tom. Second year coach Scott Buss.

Sentinel Sept. 25. Santa Cruz Rolls In Tennis Opener. SC rung up a 6-1 victory over Harbor. SC won all but the number two singles match. SC’s Christina Perry lost 1-6, 6-3, 3-6. At number one singles, Maggi Marini went three sets to win 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. “Those were the two beat matches and the longest,” said Coach Scott Buss. SC next plays Aptos, the team to beat to contend for the title.

Sentinel Sept. 27. Aptos improved to 2-0 in league with a 6-1 win over SC. Aptos captured the first three singles matches in straight sets and took all three doubles matches. SC’s lone win came at number four singles, where Megan Fleming was a 7-5, 6-3 winner. The match of the day was at number three double where Aptos came from behind in the first set to win in three, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-4. SC fell to 1-1 in league.

Sentinel. October 1. SC swept singles play in routing host Carmel 5-2. Number one Maggi Marini, two Christina Perry, three Cindy Padilla and four Megan Fleming all scored straight set victories. Gloria Padilla and Valerie Lee won the number two doubles in straight sets.

Oct. 2. SC won all matches in straight sets for a 7-0 victory over SLV at the Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club. Number one singles player Maggie Marini won 6-2, 6-3. SC is 3-1.

Oct. 4. SC won all the matches in straight sets, except the number one singles, where Maggie Marini lost 2-6, 0-6. Team score SC 6, Soquel 1. The tightest match was the number two singles, where Christina Perry won 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

Oct. 9. SC rolled over Watsonville 7-0 and improved to 4-1 in league. Senior Maggie Marini had a tough match in number one singles, but fought back to win 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. One of the best matches of the day was in number one doubles with Nicole Gillette and Tiffany Barthel winning 6-3, 7-6.

Oct. 11. Spitting the first six matches they played, everything boiled down to the final match, the number three doubles, where Erin Plauche and Rachael Freitas ran away with 6-0, 6-0 win and a SC 4-3 triumph. Harbor swept the first three singles matches. At number one, Maggie Marini lost 6-7 (3-7), 3-6. Christina Perry won the second set 6-3, but lost the other two 0-6, 2-6. Megan Fleming had the only SC singles win at 6-4, 7-6.

Oct. 16. Edging closer to their third straight league championship, Aptos swept long time rival SC 6-0 with one match called because of darkness. Aptos is 7-0 and SC 5-2 in league. SC’s two losses to were to Aptos. Maggie Marini lost the number one singles 4-6, 4-6. Aptos’ number four singles player defeated Megan Fleming in three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Megan had won their first match in league. At number one doubles, Aptos had to come back from being down 6-7 in the first set to win 6-1, 6-4.

Oct. 18. SC improved to 6-2 in SCCAL matches with a 6-1 win over SLV. SLV won the number one single and SC won the rest in straight sets. Megan Fleming won her number four singles match 6-0, 6-0. She has only lost one match this season. At two doubles, Rachael Freitas and Erin Plauche won 6-0, 6-1. “They played really well,” said coach Buss. Harbor upset Aptos 4-3 to make Aptos’ record 7-1 one match ahead of SC in league.

Oct. 24. SC 6, Soquel 1. SC is 7-2 with one more match to play. Maggie Marini won one set of her singles match. SC won the other matches in straight sets. Cindy Padilla won the No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-1. In number one doubles, Tiffany Barthel and Nicole Gillette won 6-3, 6-1.

Oct. 25. SC locked up second place with a 8-2 league record, with a 6-0 victory over Watsonville in the league finale. At number three doubles, Nicole Gillette and Tiffany Barthel won 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3). Watsonville finished their best season since 1985 by going 5-5 for fourth place. Harbor finished 6-4 for third place, Soquel was 2-8 and SLV went 0-10.
Aptos defeated SLV 7-0 to wrap up the SCCAL title with a 9-1 record, one match ahead of SC.

Trident. Oct. 24. Tennis Crushes Competition. Only a loss to defending champion Aptos is keeping SC from being undefeated. SC has dominated the rest of the league going 6-2 and 8-3 overall. The team ladder for singles in order are number 1. Senior Maggie Marini, 2. Sophomore Christina Perry, 3. Junior Cindy Padilla, and 4. Freshman Megan Fleming. Wins were over SLV 7-0, 6-1; Soquel 6-1; Watsonville 7-0 and Harbor 6-1, 4-3. The team is made up of one senior, three juniors and the rest mainly freshmen. Coach Scott Buss praised, “ The freshmen have done very well , especially Megan Fleming, who never misses the ball. Megan has lost only once this year.”

Nov. 5. An All Harbor Tennis Final. Maggie Marini lost her semifinal match 3-6, 4-6. In doubles Megan Fleming and Nicole Gillette lost 3-6, 4-6.

BOYS WATER POLO
Some of the practice games: Salinas 8-9, RLS 9-13, Gunderson 1-13, Watsonville 12-8. 3-10. At the Watsonville Invitational, SC took sixth place out of eight teams going 2-5. League: Aptos 14-13, 8-9; Watsonville 8-17, 9-10; Soquel 10-6, 17-9; Harbor 0-21, 7-12. League record 3-5 for third place. Lost to second place Watsonville 6-7 in the league playoffs

Yearbook. With victories against Aptos and Soquel the team finished with a 3-5 record and third place in league. With strong efforts given from all positions all year long, the Cards were set on going to CCS. All they needed was a win over Watsonville in the final game. Unfortunately it didn’t come.

Adam Phillips a three year starter as goalie will be playing at Princeton University in the Fall with his 4.0 GPA. Other seniors were Dave Thompson, Ron Poole and Gabe Schoonover.
Rest of team members were Nick Marini, Robbie Holmberg, Jeff Smith, Ramey White, Mike Pappas, Jonathan Golder, Damien Norte, Chris Nur, Zack Thompson, Joel Ackerknecht, and Ben Gersick.

Sentinel. September 11. SC lost to Salinas 9-8 in its season opener. SC fell behind 3-0 and was not able to make up lost ground. David Thompson scored four goals and Ron Poole had three. Goalie Adam Phillips came up with a lot of key saves. Coach Bennett said, “He helped keep us in the game throughout.

Sentinel preseason write up on October 1. Mike Bennett returns after a year’s leave of absence to begin his sixth season as the Cards coach. If he only had a pool. The SC pool is undergoing repairs and the team is forced to practice at Harbor at night. Bennett says that it has been a hardship and two players have quit. The team has a 1-5 record so far. Bennett says, he has been pleased with the performance of his team and hopes to be back to the SC pool on October 15. SC is led by senior Dave Thompson and brother junior Zack Thompson. Seniors Ron Poole and Adam Phillips are also playing well.

Sentinel. October 2. Cardinals Hold Off Mariners. SC blasted from the blocks with a 10-5 lead against Aptos, until the Mariners kicked in the turbos and reeled off five straight goals. In the end, after two three minute overtime periods at the Cabrillo College pool, the Cards batted away the Aptos challenge and won 14-13 in the SCCAL opener for both teams. After a key missed scoring opportunity for Aptos, Card junior Zack Thompson finished off a counterattack play with the game winning goal with one minute and 20 seconds left in the second overtime. SC got control of the ball again and ran out the clock.
“We really self destructed at the end of the second quarter. We became lackadaisical. Our offense wasn’t moving and we paid the price. I’m just happy we were able to overcome it,” said coach Mike Bennett. It seems every time the two teams play, it goes into overtime. With 1:30 left in the second quarter, SC owned a 10-5 lead. Aptos scored twice to make it 10-7 at the end of the quarter. Then scored three times in the fourth quarter to tie the score. It was 11-11 after four complete quarters and 12-12 after the first overtime. Thompson and Ron Poole paced SC with four goals apiece.

Sentinel October 10. RLS 13, SC 9. Brothers Dave and Zack Thompson each had three goals. SC slipped to 2-6.

October 18. Watsonville pulled away in the second half for a 17-8 win over SC. Watsonville led only 8-5 at halftime and built the lead to 13-5 at the end of the third quarter.

October 23. Trailing 6-5 at the beginning of the fourth quarter SC scored five times to pull out a 10-6 victory over Soquel. SC is now 2-2 in league. Ron Poole led the SC scoring with six goals, while Dave and Zack Thompson anchored the defense. “It was a real aggressive game,” said coach Bennett.

Trident. Oct. 24. With a poor showing in the Watsonville Invitational and a loss to RLS, SC has a 2-8 record. The big win was over Aptos. At Watsonville, SC opened with a 8-5 win over Soquel, but then lost four straight to finish sixth out of eight teams entered. Coach Bennett said, “We got some good experience out of the tournament that should help us in league. In the non league game with RLS, the Cards lost 13-9.

Sentinel Oct. 25. SC beat Watsonville 12-8 at the Southside Tournament at Gunderson High in San Jose.

October 25. Aptos roared back from a 7-4 deficit midway through the third period to defeat SC 9-8. Zack and Dave Thompson scored three goals and Ron Poole had two.

November 1. Harbor clinched the SCCAL title with a 21-0 win over SC.
Harbors junior varsity team wrapped up its ninth straight league title and undefeated league season with a 12-7 win over SC

November 5. At the Gunderson tournament, SC played without six starters, because they were either taking SAT exams or on a marching band trip. SC lost to Watsonville 10-3 and Gunderson 13-1.

November 6. The score was tied with two minutes left in the game, but Watsonville scored to win 10-9 over SC. Watsonville is 6-2 in league and SC is 2-5. David Thompson with four goals scored for SC with 2:18 left to tie the game 9-9. There were six lead changes in the game, with the widest margin being a two goal lead.

November 8. Cardinals Finish Third In Polo. SC secured third place in the SCCAL round-robin season with a 17-9 win over Soquel. SC will play Watsonville in the first round of the league tournament. The winner earns a berth in the CCS playoffs. Their next game would be for the league championship. Ron Poole had seven goals and Dave Thompson five. Coach Bennett said, “Zack Thompson played well all over the field and goalie Adam Phillips had a really good game, too.”

November 16. Watsonville Qualifies For CCS Water Polo. Watsonville will be playing in the SCCAL finals after a thrilling 7-6 win over SC in the semifinals. Tied 6-6 with just ten second remaining Watsonville score the winning goal. With 28 seconds left Watsonville scored the tying goal. Ron Poole and Dave Thompson each scored two goals. The Watsonville coach, “It was definitely a thrilling game. I’ve never coached a game that close or even remember playing in a game as close. They figured out how to play us. They were tough. Coach Bennett did a great job of firing. his guys up. The wanted the game bad.” Goalie Adam Phillips blocked two penalty attempts and penalty blocks in a game is definitely not common.

Trident. Nov. 27. With two victories over Soquel and one over Aptos the Cards posted a 3-5 record for third place in the league. Needing a win over Watsonville to qualify for the CCS playoffs, the Cards lost in the final 52 seconds. Senior captain Dave Thompson praised the hard work and effort shown by first year, water polo players, seniors Nick Marini and Mike Pappas. Top players were seniors Thompson, Ron Poole and Adam Phillips and junior Zack Thompson. Injury of senior defensive hole set Gabe Schoonover, early in the year, hurt the Cards.

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING
League scores: Watsonville 123-61, Soquel 93-93, Aptos 57-134, Harbor 67-119. League record 1-2-1.for third place in dual meets. League meet: Aptos 423, Harbor 308, SC 220, Soquel 144 and Watsonville 94. Fourth place at SCCAL league meet.

November 10. Aptos win fifth straight swim title with 385 points, followed by Harbor 324, Soquel 231, SC 149 and Watsonville 120. Aptos swept the event taking first and second places in all but two events. Kim McGuinness took second place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.64.

Yearbook. The high school pool was not available for practice, so the team had to travel to the UCSC pool, Harvey West or the Boys Club for practice whenever times were available. The team lost team members in the transition of pools. To make matters worse the divers were only able to practice once a week. Leslie Laurent led the team as captain and only senior.

With all the chaos, the team sent four girls to CCS in the 400 medley relay. Arie Bonnell in the backstroke; Emily Urban, breaststroke; Jessica Lang, butterfly and Meghan Palochak, freestyle.

Rest of team members were Jennifer Gill, Dana Mellon, Melissa Sutkus, Theresa Gilbert, Arie Bonnell, Charis Williamson, Cary Creel, Molly Carter, Anna Aspesi, Jessica Lang, Emily Urban, Megan Palochak, Leslie Laurent, Jennifer Kerr, Lisa Walters, Shannon Mooney, Megan Simons, Stacy Weins and Shosona Olsen. Coach Carol Kreppel.

Sentinel. October 4. Aptos swept SC 134-57 and swept the top two positions in every race at the UCSC pool. SC won the diving, when Cary Creel scored 129.5 points.

Sentinel on down. October 11. Harbor 119, SC 67. SC had no double winners. The Cards are 0-2 in league.

Oct. 25. SC 123, Watsonville 61. SC won all but two events.
Trident, Oct 24. As of now the teams record is 0-2. Coach Kreppel said the team is building up the momentum and skill to have a successful season even with the pool problem. Team captain, Leslie Laurent looks at the season in a positive way. “I think we’ll finish a strong second in league.”

Oct. 30. A Rare Deadlock In Girls Swimming. Santa Cruz and Soquel finish at 93-93. The two teams were deadlocked at 47-47 after six events. After nine events it was 70-70 and after ten events 78-78. And at the end it was still tied 93-93. “In my 13 years coaching, this has to be the first,” said coach Carol Kreppel. “I can’t remember any other ties, but I’m sure there have been some. We had so much fun. It was a really good meet.
The competition was so tight junior Jessica Lang was the only double winner. She was first in the 200 individual medley in 2:37.96 and first in the 100 butterfly in 1:13.78. The top time of the day was the Cards 200 medley relay team of Arie Bonnell, Emily Urban, Lang and Meghen Palochak to qualify for the CCS championship meet with a time of 2:12.8. The qualifying time is 2:12.9. Urban put the Cards ahead by winning the 100 breaststroke, but Soquel came to win the 400 free relay to tie it at the end. Both teams have 1-2-1 league records.

Trident. Nov. 27. Some swimmers and their event were Jennifer Gill, 200 free, Shoshona Olsen, 500 free, Stacy Weins, 200 individual medley. 200 individual medley relay team consisted of Jessica Lang, butterfly; Emily Urban, breaststroke; Meghan Palochak, freestyle and Arie Bonnell, backstroke, qualified for CCS. Team captain and only senior, Leslie Laurent was not able to compete in league finals. Junior Melissa Sutkus complemented the good work of diver senior Cary Creel.

Sentinel stats for girls swimming on May 10 listed by place in rankings, name and best time.
50 freestyle: 6. Reimann, 27.50
100 freestyle: 6. Reimann, 1:01.1
200 freestyle relay: 4. Team of Palochak, Porter, McGuinness, Mooney. 1:56..32
100 backstroke: 2. Reimann, 1:06.65100 breaststroke: 2.
400 freestyle relay: 2. Team of Lang, Reimann, Mooney, Palochak, 4:16.9
200 medley relay: 3. Team of Reimann, McGuinness, Lang, Palochak, 2:08.29

JV GIRLS SWIMMING
Yearbook. Team members were Leridwynne Lake, Jade Ryan, Liz Harden, Raquel Tiopel, Lizzy Espinosa, Marianne Perry, Kristina Aspesi, Jody Hoberg, Christine MacNamara, Nicole Kunnanz, Jamilah Haje, Shara Hedgepeth, Sheneen Porter, Kim Strickland, Amy Belcher, and Cathy Shumate.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Practice matches: Gilroy, loss; San Jose City College tournament: Clovis and Cupertino losses, Palo Alto win, Silver Creek two wins. Practice record 3-3. League: Watsonville, 3-0, 3-0; Soquel, 1-3, 0-3; Aptos, 0-3, 2-3; SLV, 2-3, 3-0; North Monterey, 3-0, 3-2: Harbor 0-3, 0-3. League record 5-7 for fourth place.

Yearbook. The team had a 5-7 record for fourth place in league. The team leaders were seniors Becky Long, who was team captain and setter, Josie Heyward, Marissa Cruz and Kelli Dunn.
Rest of team members were Carol Gardner, Sasha Abrams, Audrey Mantell, Yvonne Kramer, Vera Mantell and Marietta O’Francia. Coach Blair Barnett.

Sentinel preseason write up on September 19. Faced with the loss of SCCAL Player of the Year, current Oregon State freshman Diane Gergen, SC has a gaping vacancy it wont be able to fill. Coach Barnett, who is upbeat about his teams talent would be surprised to see his team tie for second in the league, behind Harbor, as SC did last year. “Our offense will have to be a little more varied this year,” he said. Seven of the 12 varsity players will be sophomores, but four seniors will be back. Setter Becky Long, will run the 5-1 offense, middle blocker Josie Heyward, back row specialist Marissa Cruz and outside hitter Vanessa Dunn.

Sentinel September 20. SC defeated Watsonville in the SCCAL season opener and the Cards first game, 15-6, 15–5, 15-5. Coach Blair Barnett, “The kids were a little worried about what was going to happen, because we’re running a new offense that involves a little bit more of an athletic transition game, so we have to be a little more aggressive when we’re playing. They weren’t sure if they understood it and if it would work, but then they got in the game and played fine and things worked out. They realized once the game pressure was off them and they had to do it, they did okay.”
Barnett singled out the play of senior setter Becky Long with 15 assists and nine aces, Marietta O”Francia with nine aces and outside hitter Sash Abrams seven kills. “Becky did an excellent job running the offense, Marietta did a great job in the back row and serving, while Sasha did great passing the ball from the back row and running up and hitting it,” Barnett said.

Sentinel September 21. Before SC gained any confidence against a powerful Gilroy team, it was too late and the Cards went down 15-4, 15-6, 17-15. “We’ve played six games now, in two matches and in our first five, we’ve started slowly. Finally in this last one we got it going,” Coach Blair Barnett. Setter Becky Long had 44 assists and three aces. Carol Gardner, a sophomore swing hitter, came off the bench and contributed an ace, an assists and a kill to turn a 6-5 SC deficit into a 8-6 lead. SC had a game point at 15-14 in game 3, but hit a serve into the net.

September 25. Soquel defeated SC. What was shaping into a rout, changed quickly in the third game, but Soquel regained control to put away a young Card team 15-10, 15-4, 11-15, 15-7. Junior Sash Abrams a left outside hitter, had five kills and the Cards stayed alive with senior setter Becky Long running the 5-1 set offense and keeping the ball hittable for her teammates. Faith Hasty also came up with a block at the crucial time in the third game. Both teams are now 1-1 in league.

Sentinel. September 28. SC finished with a 4-2 record in the first day of pool play in the two day San Jose City College Classic girls volleyball tournament. SC took second place in their pool, splitting games with pool champion Clovis and Cupertino, while sweeping a pair from Silver Creek. Junior middle hitter Faith Hasty led SC with nine kills for the day, while sophomore Marietta O’Francia impressed coach Blair Barnett with her all around play.

October 2. Coming back from deficits in the first and third games, Aptos set down SC 16-14, 15-5, 15-12. The first game set the tone for the match, as SC went up 4-0, then fell behind 6-4 as the teams played leap frog. SC was serving for the game at 14-11, but couldn’t convert and Aptos took advantage. “That put some pressure on SC and we came out on the better end of the deal. I don‘t think we overpowered them,” said the Aptos Coach. Aptos also trailed 11-5 in the third game, before chipping away to outscore SC 10-2 the rest of the match. For SC, senior Marissa Cruz had nine digs from the back row and was the key to the Cards defense, while Vanessa Dunn, a senior outside hitter, had her best game of the year,” Coach Blair Barnett said.

Sentinel Oct. 4. Cougars Rally For A Win Over Santa Cruz. SLV came back from being down two games to one and defeating SC 16-14, 9-15, 6-15, 15-7, 15-4. “We should have won the first game and it would have been over quick, said Barnett, whose team dips to 1-3 and SLV is 4-1. SC had led 11-3 in the first game, before SLV came back. Playing well for SC was Becky Long, who had seven aces and 25 assists. Sophomore Carol Gardner had six kills in 16 attempts.

October 9. SC played an uneven match, but was still strong enough to beat North Monterey 15-3, 15-13, 15-10. “The kids played flawless volleyball the first game, then we got a little cocky in the second game,” said Barnett. In the second game SC led 8-5, fell behind 13-8 and eventually prevailed. Senior middle blocker Jodie Heyward led the Cards with six kills in 13 attempts and four solo blocks. Senior Faith Hasty played well and had three kills in 12 attempts and no errors. Marissa Cruz stabilized the back row with 12 digs. SC is now 2-3.

October 11. Harbor breezed through the first half of league undefeated, dropped SC in straight games 15-7. 15-6. 15-3. SC had only eight kills in the match, but played good defense with more than 100 digs. Sophomore Vera Mantell had 16 digs and only one error in service returns and senior Marissa Cruz had 20 digs and two receiving errors.

October 16. Thing went so well for SC that even 5-1 setter Becky Long had five kill attempts, converting on two of them, as SC racked up a 15-3, 15-3, 15-13 victory over Watsonville. Long also had 20 assists and three service aces as SC improved to 3-4 in league. Sophomore Yvonne Kramer came up with 18 digs in the backcourt, while junior middle Faith Hasty had ten kills out of 17 attempts with only three errors.

October 18. Soquel beat SC 15-4, 15-4, 16-14. Becky Long and Yvonne Kramer paced the play of SC, especially in the third game, when SC rallied from a 10-0 deficit only to lose 16-14.

Trident, Oct. 24. The team has started out slow with a 2-5 record. After winning their first game of the season against Watsonville, SC lost to Soquel, one of their top competitors, in four games. Against SLV, SC was up 11-3 in the first game, but lost the game as well as the match. “We’re young, we have mental problem of falling apart and not being able to finish a game,” said junior Faith Hasty. In the next game, SC bumped, set and spiked their way past North Monterey in three games, 15-3, 15-13, 15-10. “Our kids played flawless volleyball in the first game, then we got a little cocky in the second game,” said coach Blair Barnett. In the next game against Harbor the Cards lost in three games, 7-15, 6-15, 3-15. The Cards turned things around against Watsonville, 15-3, 15-3, 15-3. “If we learn how to be competitive, we could get to third place, said setter, senior Becky Long. In order to turn the season around seniors Marissa Cruz, Josie Heyward, Vanessa Dunn and most of all Long to take charge and produce. Junior hitter Faith Hasty predicted, “If we can get our act together and work through our quirks, we could be really competitive and do better in the last five games.”

Sentinel Oct. 25. SC scored more points overall, but Aptos won the points it needed to post a wild five game SCCAL win 16-14, 17-15, 6-15, 12-15, 15-13. “Setter Becky Long had 27 assist, two aces, two block assists and 16 digs. Carol Gardner and Jose Heyward, also played great defense.” said coach Barnett. Faith Hasty, who has been sick with the flu, had 44 hitting attempts with nine kills, four errors and two blocks.

Oct. 30. SC playing, “easily our most consistent match of the season,” said coach Barnett in a three game sweep of SLV, 15-13. 15-7, 15-6. SC improves to 4-6.

During last weekends Harbor Invitational Tournament, players kept leaving during the course of the day for the schools homecoming festivities. Finally in their last match with seven girls remaining, SC posted its only win, defeating Palo Alto. “These players were the ones who ended up making a difference tonight, They realized that if they don’t make errors and let the other team make them, you can win. Carol Gardner, Marrisa Cruz and Vanessa Dunn were the standouts,” said Barnett.

Nov. 1. SC defeated North Monterey 5-15, 15-6, 11-15, 15-4, 15-5. Vanessa Dunn exploded, knocking down 19 kills in 30 attempts with only two errors. Faith Hasty had 13 kills and a pair of solo blocks. Sash Abrams had nine kills and five service aces. Becky Long had 44 assists and distributed the ball effectively to the hot hitters.

Nov. 6. Even though they lost in three games, SC ended their season by playing one of their best matches despite a 20-18, 15-8, 15-10 lose to league champion Harbor. Thanks to four consecutive aces by Becky Long to open the match, SC jumped ahead 6-0 and 10-4 in the first game, but Harbor is an excellent team. SC ended league 5-7.

FV GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
JV team members were Stephanie Sauer, Evie Smith, Trisha Lee, Jessica Smith, Nikki Sudduth, Casey Coonerty, Joanne Hutson, Jessica Rawlings, Nicole Maddox, Cheryl Lynn, Bernadette Ferrante, Megan McGuire and Van-Anne Nyguen. Coach Judge.

Trident, Oct. 24. With a 2-3 won/loss record, the girls have high aspirations this season, especially coach Melanie Judge, who says “They are looking very good. There is great team spirit. We have a large team of 16 girls and are trying to rotate everyone into games.”

BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Practice games: Monte Vista 100-57, RLS 87-47. Dads Club Tournament: Paso Robles 66-53, SLV 66-49, Harbor 54-56 for second place. (Practice games are incomplete)
League games: Soquel 76-61, 78-44; North Monterey 86-72, 63-41; Aptos 54-42, 62-54; Watsonville 53-33, won; SLV 63-66, 64-56; Harbor 67-60, loss. League record 10-2 for second place in round robin schedule. By beating Harbor twice in SCCAL tournament SC earned the league championship outright.
SCCAL basketball championship tournament. SC beat North Monterey 68-52, SC beat Aptos 56-37, SC beat Harbor 54-41 to force another game for the league championship, which SC defeated Harbor 45-44 to take sole possession of the SCCAL championship. CCS playoffs lost to Lincoln of San Jose 51-54 in the first round. Season record 24-7 (by the Sentinel)

Sentinel. Key seniors are Jason Williams, 5-10, guard; Tim Nordahl 6-5, center; Ryan Mills, 6-0, guard; Femi Ayanbadejo, 6-3, forward and Rob Henderson, 6-4, forward. Juniors are Aaron Woliczko, 6-6, forward; K.C. Kaiser, 5-11, guard and Jason Nee, 5-11, guard. Sophomores are Jermaine Robinson, 5-11, forward and Reggie Stephens, 5-11 guard. SC opponents this year had better show up with their track shoes on and ready to run. Coach Pete Newell, although he has some size on this years club is retooling his offense to take full advantage of his teams speed and quickness. The team’s frontcourt will feature Nordahl, an exchange student from Australia. He has an impressive junior year averaging 11.8 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. A first team All County player and a second team All League player last year, Nordahl was able to return to the Cards when he was granted re-entry into the exchange program he participated in last year. “Every part of his game has improved. He’s quicker, jumps better and is more confident after playing club basketball while home during the summer.
Returnees Woliczko and Williams were honorable All League players last year and lend savvy to an experienced club that returns eight players. The X factor could be Robinson. Although he has yet to play a varsity game, he is expected to compete for a starting position as Newell has high hopes for him. “We are much quicker than last year, which allows us to do more things. We want to play full court pressure defense and run because of our depth and quickness. We have good kids who should comprise a solid team that we expect to be competitive with everyone in the league. Right now we’re just finding out who the better players are at each position and getting players understanding their roles. Everything is pretty much wide open. We have some talented sophomores, who could compete for playing time, including Robinson and Reggie Stephens. Others from the yearbook. Max Mughier, Brandon Chappell, Brian Jones, Brooks Allen and Dov Rothman.

Trident. December 19. In five preseason games, SC averaged 73.4 points a game by using speed, quick passes, gathering more rebounds than their opponents and won four times. In the season opener, SC scored 100 points in defeating Monte Vista 100-57. Junior Dov Rothman led all players scoring 20 points.
In the home opener, SC defeated RLS 87-47. Senior Tim Nordahl scored 27 points and had 14 rebounds. Sophomore Reggie Stephens scored 15 points.
In the opening night of the Dads Club Tournament, inspired by a spirited student body rooting section, SC beat Paso Robles 66-53.
SC upset SLV in the second game 66-49.
In the final, before a packed house, SC played tough and managed to stay close all night, before losing to Harbor 54-56.
Not to be overlooked in the SC defense are centers, Nordahl, Aaron Woliczko and Rob Henderson. SC has held their opposition to an average of 52.8 points a game. Beside defense, the Cards have rebounded well. Nordahl, Robinson and Femi Ayandadejo are all among the league leaders.

In the league opener with Soquel, the Cards won 76-61, to show they are a threat to Harbor for the league title.

Jan 11. SC 86, North Monterey 72. SC despite going into defensive hibernation in a NBA speed second period, came back with a 13-2 run that gave them a 72-59 lead early in the fourth quarter. North Monterey handled the Cards’ defensive pressure, pulled to within 59-57 with a minute and a half to go in the third quarter. The Condors got into a rhythm and outscored SC 26-23 in the second period. “Offensively, we are fine, but defensively, we still have a long way to go,” said Newell. Senior center Tim Nordahl led the team with 24 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Jermaine Robinson hit for 23 points and had eight rebounds. Aaron Woliczko gave the Cards a lift with 18 points.

Trident. Feb. 6. Cards breeze by Watsonville 53-33. SC led at halftime 28-16. Tim Nordahl led the scoring with 22 points. Nordahl said, “It was our defense that created the offense.”

Cardinals 18-0 Run Quiets Ice Cold Mariners 54-42. It was ugly, but SC will take it. SC overcame a stone cold first half, in which they scored 15 points. Tim Nordahl, picked up his second foul in the first quarter and coach Newell put him on the bench until the second half. SC was down 23-15 at halftime. With Nordahl in to start the second half, he scored nine of his game 12 points to help send the Cards on a 18-0 run to go ahead 31-23. Aptos came back to close the score to 33-30 at the end of the third quarter. Woliczko led all scorers with 15 points.

Jan 22. Santa Cruz Knocks Off Harbor 67-60. The lineup of people waiting outside Fehliman Gym was a telling sign. Would this rivalry live up to the hype for a showdown between the area’s two top teams. Nobody was disappointed. Aaron Woliczko showed no signs of pneumonia that sidelined him for three weeks earlier in the season, scored a season high 24 points in front of a standing room only crowd. It was the first loss of the league season for Harbor, which is 3-1 in league and 16-2 overall.
SC claimed first place in the SCCAL at 5-0 and moved to 13-3 overall. “I think there was a greater emphasis by SC to win this one,” said Harbor coach Mike Gruber, whose team beat SC 56-54 in the championship game of the Dads Club tourney. “They wanted to show that they were capable of beating us. We already knew we were capable of beating them.” Round two goes to the Cardinals. Round 3 is Feb. 8 at Harbor.
Many of the fans were there to see the two best girls teams play and to see the football jerseys of former SC stars Johnny Johnson and Scott Graff hung permanently on the wall in retirement.
Then the boys team didn’t put on a bad show themselves. Sophomore Jermaine Robinson scored just 12 points, but it would have been much more if he was credited with crowd appreciation points. In the games final three minutes, he followed two steals with picturesque slams that seemed to tie a nice, red bow on the Cards midseason present.
Coach Pete Newell said, “what Woliczko did tonight was just a preview of better things to come. He is a very confident athlete who is just now coming into his own. He’s still two or three weeks from being at the top of his game. Harbor tied the game at 52-52 with 5:18 left in the game and then went ahead 54-52. SC responded with three straight baskets to regain the lead for good. Woliczko tied it from the top of the key to make it 57-54 with his third three pointer of the game at the 3:10 mark.
“It was emotional, the whole game. I was out of sync early because I was too pumped. I threw up an air ball on my first shot. Later on we came together and showed we had the heart. We needed it,” Woliczko said. Robinson’s first dunk came with 2:55 left. The second came with 49 seconds left after he tipped away a pass intended for Page and while running full speed, barely stayed in bounds on the sideline. “That dunk was exciting,” said Newell, who helped the ball into the hoop with some spectacular body English. I knew it was coming. Once he had the ball, I saw where everyone else was on the court and just watched him.” The slam gave the game it’s final points. Harbor was out of time outs, committed five fouls in less then 20 seconds to stop the clock.
Reggie Stephens blocked two consecutive shots by the Harbor point guard in the waning seconds. Center Tim Nordahl entered the game the SCCAL leading scorer with an 18 point average was held to eight. A Jason Williams jump shot two minutes after halftime gave SC a 40-32 lead, its largest lead of the night. The margin was matched at the quarter’s 2:25 mark, when Robinson drove the length of the court, laid in the ball and watched it circle the rim about three times before falling to make the score 48-40. Harbor scored two quick baskets, but KC Kaiser capped the period with a bank shot with two seconds left. At the end of the first quarter, Woliczko nailed a three pointer and banked in a short jumper to end the second as SC scored in the last seconds of the first three quarters.

Jan 26. Cougars Shock Cards. Parmenter Scores 27 And Leads SLV In Rebounds, Too. He led SLV to a 66-63 upset over previously undefeated SC. The Cards are now tied with Harbor for first place each with 5-1 records. SLV took control of the game with a wild 24-11 third quarter in which they overcame a 34-27 halftime deficit. The Cougars kept SC at a safe distance until the Cards staged a furious rally in the final 1:30. Trailing 60-52, SC scored 11 points in the final 90 seconds after being held to seven points in the first 6:30 of the period. But SLV countered sinking six of seven free throws. SLV normally a 52 percent shooting team from the free throw line hit 16 of 20 for the game and 13 of 14 in the second half. Tim Nordahl finished with 18 points and gave SC its last lead with two free throws.

Jan-29. Santa Cruz Shuts Down Smith, Routs Soquel 78-44. SC had just a 33-29 lead at halftime. Smith, Soquel’s leading scorer had 11 points the first half and none the second half. SC made some defensive adjustment on him the second half, rotating defenders and using heavy pressure to keep the ball out of his hands. SC outscored Soquel 19-5 in the third quarter.
Sophomores Reggie Stephens and Jermaine Robinson were joined by senior Jason Williams and junior Jason Nee in the defensive rotation against Smith. Stephens and Nee took the lions share of responsibility against the Soquel star.
The Cards let Stephens do most of their talking for them in the second half. He helped SC to a 14-4 advantage in the first six minutes of the third quarter. He scored eight points and forced several turnovers. Stephens finished with 16 points and Tim Nordahl has a game high 21. Stephens creates as much off the dribble as any player in the league with the exception of Smith. He’s like an unpolished gem, the more you shine him, the more you see things come to light. Dribbling, passing, shooting off the dribble, penetrating, defense. He played very well,” Coach Newell.
SC and Harbor are still tied for first place at 6-1. Joining the “played very well” list of coach Newell was Nordahl, who led the Cards in scoring despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter after a skirmish nearly irrupted into a full blown fight. Nordahl scored 12 first half points and his typically strong rebounding helped SC stay just ahead in the first half and take over in the third quarter.

Feb. 5. Late Charge Comes Too Late For Mariners. Aptos put on a furious second half charge, but it wasn’t quite enough to overtake SC who won 62-56 to remain tied with Harbor at 8-1 n league. SC received a season high 22 points from sophomore Jermaine Robinson. SC led 16-11 after the first quarter and 32-20 at half time. It could have been closer, but Aaron Woliczko nailed a three pointer at the halftime buzzer. Aptos turned it around in the second half out scoring the Cards 36-30. SC hit its free throws down the stretch to ice the game. SC was 11 for 11 from the line with Robinson hitting all six of his shots. KC Kaiser saved his for the last, knocking down two clutch freebies near the end of the game.

Feb. 11. SC 63, North Monterey 41. SC led only 25-24 at halftime and then outscored the winless Condors 21-2 in the third quarter to stay in first place with Harbor at 8-1. Tim Nordahl and Aaron Woliczko each scored 13 points.

Feb. 15. Cardinals Avoid Playing Aptos. SC vs. Last Place NMC In Playoffs. Second place in league was at stake, but something more important was riding in the SC, SLV game, the right not to have to play Aptos in the opening round of the SCCAL championship tournament. SC avoided the possible dangerous match up and avenged one of their two loses, by defeating SLV 64-56.
Second place SC will play last place NMC and SLV will play 3-9 Aptos. Tim Nordahl led the Cards with 23 points, including 15 in the second half. The game was decided in the second half as the Cards exploited their superior inside strength. “We were relying on our outside shot too much, particularly in the first half. To be more successful we had to attack the defense by making an extra two passes,” Newell said. SC also denied SLV second shots, by crashing the boards hard from their zone defense. SC led a see-saw first half 27-25. In the third quarter SC put together a 14-3 run over a four minute span to take a 43-30 lead. SLV got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Feb-22. SCCAL Playoffs Not Over Yet. The fifth and final act of the ’Great Rivalry’ between SC and Harbor will be played tonight at Cabrillo College. After four bloody rounds, they are locked at two wins apiece, after SC took the SCCAL tournament with a 54-41 victory. Tonight, Harbor the round robin champion and SC the tournament champ will play for the overall league title. In one corner we have SC coach Pete Newell and his 11 player, “Red Tide” rotation and in the other corner we have Harbor coach Mike Gruber and his “Green Giants.” It’s the classic basketball clash: the hustling, scrapping transition game of SC against the measured, patient, half court offense of Harbor.
Friday night it was all SC. Playing a tough swarming defense, the Cards were able to keep 6-10 sophomore center Tim Young away from his favorite shooting spot and double and triple teamed him every time he touched the ball. Meanwhile, the SC guards harassed and attacked the Harbor wings, forcing 14 turnovers and generally disrupting the flow of Harbors game. Senior Tim Nordahl’s defense, along with 14 points in the second and third quarters, when the Cards put the game out of reach, was one of the prime reasons Young was held to 14 points and only four rebounds.
“I’ve got to beat Young to the block, then I have to push him out and keep in his face,” Nordahl said. “Once he’s away from the block he’s pretty harmless, though he’s a good passer.” After one quarter, SC led 10-9, but the game was played to Harbor’s taste and they scrambled back from an early 7-2 deficit to make it close.
But in the second quarter, Nordahl and the Cards got on track. SC started the quarter with a 8-0 run and held Harbor one field goal until 2:20 left in the quarter. Defensively Nordahl, with occasional relief help from Femi Ayanbadejo and Aaron Woliczko did everything but undress Young down low. Young did not shy away, delivering hard elbows and scratching Nordahl across the nose. By halftime, Young had only four free throws and two rebounds to show for his hard work. With two minutes left in the half, Harbor closed the score to 21-18. But Nordahl came back with a jumper for a basket and at the buzzer, buried a three pointer from 22 feet away, his first of the season, to give SC a 26-18 lead.
To start the second half, Harbor scored two quick baskets, but then SC went on a 10-3 run to take a 38-27 lead. At the end of the third quarter, Woliczko gave SC its second buzzer beating three pointer to give SC a 45-33 lead. SC opened the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run, finally getting their transition game in gear against a tired looking Harbor team, to take their biggest lead 52-33. Jermaine Robinson was the driving force in SC’s transition game scoring five of his 11 points during the spurt.

Feb-23. Card Boys Cash In by Sweeping Bucs. It all comes down to your perspective. If your SC, you’re now the SCCAL basketball champions. Period. End of discussion. Harbor finished first in the regular season. SC won the SCCAL tournament with a 54-41 victory Friday night at Cabrillo. SC came back on Saturday in the league championship playoff game and defeated Harbor again 45-44 for the overall league title. From the Pirates perspective, it all comes down to revenue. Money is the sole reason the SCCAL tournament is played. The large crowds at the two games played at Cabrillo made money for the league. If there was no tournament, the Pirates would have been league champs a week ago.
This is the first time that the round robin champ has not won the overall league championship. Put all this aside. Saturday’s game was a classic. It was intense, physical and down right brutal at times. Tim Nordahl hit what turned out to be the winning shot with 55 seconds left. Harbor had a chance to win with 6 seconds left on a driving layup, which bounced around on the rim, but would not go down. “It was that way, because both teams had a burning desire to win. It was the culmination for two teams that had their sights set on a goal from the first day of practice,” Coach Newell.
It was the fifth time this season the two teams have met. SC won three of them. And it might not be the last. They could meet the sixth time in the CCS Division III playoff semi-finals on March 4. Nordahl led the Cards in scoring with 14 points. Each time Harbor would build a lead, eight points was the largest margin in the second quarter, SC fought back. The score was tied 11-11 after one quarter.
It was Harbor 22-19 at halftime and 36-34 after three quarters. There were steals, near steals, missed shots, thrown away passes and fouls. At the finish it seemed like nothing would fall for either team in that final minute. The basketball seemed to have a mind of its own in the waning seconds.
Seaside was awarded the number one seed, Harbor 2 and SC 3 for the CCS Division III playoffs. SC had to win four games in five nights to claim the SCCAL title. At this time SC has a 23-6 record overall and 10-2 in league and Harbor is 25-4 overall and 11-1 in league.

Feb. 25. Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Tim Nordahl. Nordahl averaged 15 points and 11.5 rebounds a game last week as SC went 4-0 in the SCCAL tournament to win the league championship. He scored the winning basket with 55 seconds to go in Saturday’s finale as SC beat Harbor 45-44, finishing the game with 14 points. “Tim came here a little over a year ago with no American basketball experience an in two seasons he has become the starting center on a championship basketball team and one of the best players in the league,” said Coach Newell. The match up between Nordahl and Harbors, 6-11 sophomore center Tim Young, who is being looked at by a number of major universities was pretty much a draw. They each scored 14 points in SC’s 54-41 win on Friday and Young out scored Nordahl 17-14 on Saturday. Nordahl out rebounded Young 20-6 on Friday and Young out rebounded Nordahl on Saturday 16-6.
At this stage of Young’s career he’s pretty predictable at what he is going to do. It’s just a question of over playing his strengths and Nordahl did an outstanding job at denying those strengths. I thought both players played well against each other. Nordahl showed true value of playing defense before your man gets the ball and this significantly helped our team defense and contributed to our victories,” Newell said. Nordahl leads the league in scoring with a 17 point average and he is second to Young in rebounds 11.0 to 11.8.
Newell asked to compare Nordahl to some of the other centers in his 18 years at SC. He said, ”That’d be hard to do, just because I don’t rank players. I’m more concerned about the measure of his improvement and that has been significant. He has particularly developed his offensive game, facing the basket up to 18 feet away.” Twice against Harbor over the weekend Northahl scored on three pointers, something he hadn’t done all season. “He has tremendous confidence in his abilities and he plays like a bull. He gets stronger as the game progresses. He just keeps coming at you,” Newell said.

Santa Cruz Boys Upended by Lincoln of San Jose 54-51 in the first game of the CCS playoffs.
Lincoln employed a offensive strategy of spreading the floor and letting one player go 1 on 1 with a SC defender. It worked to perfection as the Lions were able to hit layups under pressure consistently. SC had a chance to tie the game at the final buzzer, but a three pointer popped out of the cylinder. Lincoln’s first five played the whole game. For SC it did not matter how many bodies were shuttled in, no one seemed able to solve the Lions four corner, slow down approach.
“We weren’t able to defend their half court offense in the first half, which got us down by nine at halftime. It’s not the players fault, it’s the coach’s,” Newell said. Lincoln normally an up tempo team that normally scores in the 60’s began the game attempting to run with the Cards. Lincoln led 17-16 at the quarter. After SC went ahead 18-17 on Robinson’s basket to open the second quarter, Lincoln then score 10 unanswered point with four field goals on lay-ups. SC did not score again until 35 seconds were left on a Woliczko jumper. SC scored four points for the quarter and trailed 29-20 at halftime.
SC closed the gap to 40-36 by the end of three quarters, thanks in large part to a defensive switch that put Robinson on Lincoln’s top scorer. After falling behind by ten midway through the fourth quarter, SC made a serious bid to win the game. SC made a 8-0 run to make it 52-48 with 1:55 left. Lincoln scored and Tim Nordahl hit a three pointer to make it 54-51. Aaron Woliczko’s three point attempt at the buzzer, when in and then popped out. “That shot was in,” said coach Newell. Nordahl and Woliczko scored 13 apiece and Jason Williams had eight.
Lincoln was tough on defense, constantly doubling the ball and trapping, which caused 22 turnovers for the Cards. This is the third time in a row that SC has lost a game at home in the opening round of CCS. I’m starting to see a pattern here,” said Newell. He believes the SCCAL postseason tournament may be a detriment to his team once it gets to CCS. Without the tournament though, the Cards would not have been league champions.

Senior center Tom Nordahl led the team in scoring with a 17.0 per-game average for the season followed by Junior forward Aaron Woliczko, who was second in scoring with 10.7 points per-game average. Sophomores Jermaine Robinson averaged 9.1 and Reggie Stephens averaged 8.0.

Sentinel final stats. SC was second in the league in offense scoring at a 56.4 clip. On defense they were also second allowing 51.5 points per game.
Nordahl was third in the league in scoring with a 17.0 average with a game high 29 points. Woliczko was seventeenth with a 10.7 average and a high of 24. Robinson was twentieth at 9.1 average and a high of 20. Stephens was twenty-fourth with 8.0 and high of 17.
In rebounding: Nordahl was second with an average of 11.0. No other Card averaged at least five rebounds a game.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel All County team named senior, 6-5, center Tim Nordahl Senior of the Year and a first team member. Aaron Woliczko was on the second team.
Nordahl the second year transplant from Australian, who made his initial impact last season, led the Cards to the SCCAL title. “I don’t think we win the league championship without him,” said coach Newell of Nordahl’s efforts. A repeat All County pick, Nordahl average 17 points for the overall season for number third in the county and 11 rebounds for second. “Out of 31 games, he may have had only three that he wasn’t focused to play, which is reflective of his good practice habits,” Newell said.
Junior, 6-6, forward Aaron Wolizcko was selected for the second five of the All County team. “At times he was the best player on the floor for either team. He has tremendous athletic talent. He needs to learn to play with more consistency, by taking advantage of all his skills. He could light it up offensively and wound up with a 10.7 scoring average,” Newell said. Nordahl was third in the league in scoring with 475 points for an average per game of 17.0 with a high game of 29. He was second in rebounding with 309 for an average of 11 and a high game of 20.

Named to the All SCCAL first team by the league coaches were Tim Nordahl and Aaron Woliczko. Jason Williams was selected honorable mention. Senior, 6-5, center Tim Nordahl was selected for the second time. He was the leagues leading scorer for league games with a 20 points per game average. He also averaged three assists a game, two blocked shots and one steal a game. Junior, 6-6, forward Aaron Woliczko was a key part of the Cards becoming league champions.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL League record 8-4 for second place.
Yearbook. Due to injuries, vacations and academic ineligibilities Coach Charles Burks had to bring up four freshmen to the JV’s. They were Justin Hansen, Marcus Williams, Brian Stinson and Neal Christen. They helped pick up the team to keep pace with the number one team. Coach Burks stressed the difference Hansen made as the utility man consistently played all positions and excelled. Shooting by point guard Strider Kemp, rebounding from Brendon Ayanbadejo, as well as the outside shooting of Adrian Corcoran were key elements in the teams success. Rest of team members were Jorge Perez, Alberto Cueller, Donald Keller and Paul Quilici.

Point guard Strider Kemp is the shortest in the league, not to mention the best. He has not even broken five feet yet. “My height has advantages and disadvantages. It harder for me to get rebounds, but it’s easier to steal.” said Strider. He is a serious threat from the three point area. His biggest game came in a victory over Aptos when he scored 20 points.

Trident. Feb. 6. Coach Charles Burks’s team is 5-2 in league for second place, behind undefeated Harbor. Three players have moved up to varsity and freshman Marcus Williams moved down to the freshman team. Sophomores Brendon Ayanbadejo and Adrian Corcoran have taken over the leadership of the team. “We’ve gone through a lot of changes and some problems, but hopefully we’ll beat Harbor and finish in first place,” said sophomore Albert Cuellar.

FROSH BASKETBALL
Yearbook. Team members: Sjon Tol, Mike Boffy, Mike Alexander, Larry Gross, Nick Dunn, Jason Schroeder, Gino Marini, Nick Galli, Josh Allison, Terry Muller, Steven Chiv and Sam Pain-Tingliff.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Practice games: Silver Creek 77-19, RLS 59-26, Cal High won, Sequoia 52-36, Santa Catalina 59-31. Pioneer Tournament: Monta Vista of Cupertino 50-54, Live Oak won, Mt. View won for the consolation title. Watsonville Tournament: Silver Creek 77-19, Harbor 43-56, North Salinas 60-47 to take third place. (Shows 9-2, but a game is missing. Overall record from the Sentinel 22-8)
League: Soquel 41-32, 46-53 in overtime; North Monterey 51-49, 56-28; Aptos 52-18, 43-23; Watsonville 65-26, 53-26; Harbor 46-57, 35-41; SLV 50-30, 60-41. League record 9-3 for second place behind Harbor for the third year a row. In the SCCAL playoffs beat SLV 67-43 in the first round, beat Watsonville 47-43 in the semifinals, beat Harbor 55-51 for the chance to play Harbor again for the league title. For the league championship the Cards lost to the league round robin winner Harbor in the finals 40-44.
In first round of CCS Division III playoffs defeated Cupertino 47-38 and then lost to Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco. Overall record 22-8.

Yearbook. The team was led by League Co-Player of the year Faith Hasty and All SCCAL first team player Kenna Karst. Rounding out the first team were Christina Thompson, Heather Singer and two freshman Nealy Jones and Abby Gonzales brought up from the JV team when three year varsity player Jessica Long was lost for the season with an injury. Jessica was a key player, but the two freshmen filled in nicely and helped the team continue winning. Rest of team members were Tam Perez, Erin Jones, Jennifer Elmor, Sara Maringi and Allison Trybom. Coach Pete Pappas. Kenna Karst averaged 8 points a game, led the team in steals, has a good outside shot and as the point guards gets everyone involved in the action. Kenna feels her best game came against Watsonville, “When our whole team came together and everyone played as a team and we won.”

Sentinel preseason write up on November 22. Coach: Pete and Kathy Pappas, fifth season. Last years record: 24-6 overall and 10-2 in league for second place. Key juniors: Faith Hasty 5-10 forward; Kenna Karst 5-6 guard; Christina Thompson 5-9 forward; Jessica Lang 5-3, guard and Elaine Brown, 5-8 forward. Senior center Heather Singer at 5-10. Scouting report: The word this year is beat Harbor, who gave SC four of their six losses last season.
Harbor has denied the Cards for seven straight years of the league championship, of which SC used to dominate. SC returns all but one starter. Hasty as a sophomore averaged 11.3 points a game and 6.1 rebounds. She was second team All SCCAL and All County player and freshman and sophomore of the year. “She goes out and runs after practice and is much more mature and stronger. The only senior on the team is Singer, a four year starter, who is being recruited by school’s like Stanford for her track exploits as a discus and shot putter. She is a powerful player in the post and averaged 7.9 rebounds last season for tenth in the league. Karst will have to take over the point guard position, while Lang recovers from ankle problems. Losing Lang is a possibility and would be a blow to SC. Karst was a second team All SCCAL and All County last year, averaging 7.5 points a game.
Coaches outlook: Until we can beat Harbor, we’ll only be a second place team. Our girls played well last year and gained experience. They look good this year, they have more strength, practiced really hard and look a lot better. Many of them went to basketball camps over the summer and that has helped.

Sentinel. Nov. 27. Blitzing to a 22-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, SC won their season opener with a victory over Silver Creek 77-19. Scorers were Faith Hasty 23 points, Elayne Brown and Jesse Gonzales 12 and Kenna Karst 11 points, 12 steals and five assists. Heath Singer led the Cards with 18 rebounds.

Sentinel. Dec. 1. In their second win of the season, SC defeated RLS 59-26. Top scorers were Hasty with 16 points, Brown 14, Thompson 11. Singer led in rebounding with 11. Karst contributed eight steals, seven points and six assists.

Sentinel. Dec. 12. In the first game of the Wildcat invitational, SC defeated Silver Creek 56-34, despite the news that leading scorer Faith Hasty will miss a month with a sprained ankle. She has been averaging 17.5 points a game through the first six games and led all players in the area with 105 points. SC 6-1 is also without guard Jessica Lang, who hasn’t played yet because of an ankle injury. Elayne Brown had 15 points and “played her best game, since she’s been on the varsity,” coach Pete Pappas said. Kenna Karst led the scoring with ten points and had nine steals. SC jumped out to a 12-5 first quarter lead and maintained the lead despite extensive playing time by five freshmen brought up from the JV team for the tournament.

Sentinel. Dec. 14. Depleted Cardinals Tipped By Harbor in semifinals of the Wildcat Invitational 56-43. Without some of their top players, SC was at a disadvantage against a formidable foe like Harbor. The Cards still played with intensity and confidence. Elayne Brown led SC with 11 points and Kenna Karst had eight, before she fouled out in the fourth quarter. Harbor led 13-11 in the first quarter and 29-20 at halftime.

Sentinel. Dec. 15. SC 60, North Salinas 47. Behind the tremendous play of junior guard, Kenna Karst, who finished with a triple-double, ten steals, ten assists and 15 points. The Cards were able to come back from and emotional loss to Harbor last night. The win gave SC third place at the tournament. North Salinas led early 10-9, but SC fought back to take a 30-23 lead at intermission. “We came out lazy today. It was like no one wanted to play. But we knew we had to pick it up in the second half to win,” said Karst, who was voted the tournaments best defensive player.

Sentinel. Dec. 17. SC improved to 8-2 with a 59-31 victory over Santa Catalina. Thompson and Brown led the Cards with 12 points apiece. Karst added eight points, ten steals and 11 rebounds.

Trident. Dec. 19. Girls Return Successful From Tournaments. After defeating Silver Creek 77-19 in the opener, the Cards would play one of toughest teams they could face in Monta Vista of Cupertino, one of the highest ranking teams in the Bay Area in the Pioneer Tournament. SC gave a valiant fight, but lost 50-54. “It was a good showing for us,” stated coach Pete Pappas. In the second round of the Watsonville Tournament, SC lost to Harbor 43-56, despite 11 points from Elayne Brown. Faith Hasty, who had been averaging more than ten points and eight rebounds a game was injured, could not play and probably will be out for two weeks. In the third place game, SC defeated North Salinas 60-47. With Kenny Karst being double teamed, she still scored 15 points, had ten assists and ten steals. Karst earned Best Defensive Player and Brown was voted to the All Tournament team. SC is now 7-2 with only four more games before league starts.

Sentinel. January 2. Cardinals, Singer Sew Up A Victory over Sequoia of Redwood City 52-33. Heather Singer scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Christina Thompson added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Kenna Karst had 11 points and 10 steals as the Cards improved to 9-2.

Sentinel. Jan. 6. Cards Pull Away In Fourth Quarter. In the league opener, Santa Cruz defeated Soquel 41-32 as the Cards held Soquel to only 18 points in the first half. In the low scoring battle, the lead changed frequently until the fourth quarter. After a slow start, midway through the third quarter, when six quick baskets were scored, four by SC and two by Soquel, broke a 20-20 tie. In the final minutes of the third quarter, Jenny Elmore and Kenna Karst scored to put the Cards up 28-24. That intense spurt sparked SC to a 13-8 run in the final quarter to break open a tight game.
SC improved to 10-3 for the season. Senior center Heather Singer scored 13 points and played a strong defensive game. “We were nervous coming into the league opener and weren’t playing well in the first half. At half time coach Pappas gave us a good talk, constructive criticism and it showed in our second half play,” said Christina Thompson, who scored eight points, including four fourth quarter free throws.

January 11. SC 51, North Monterey 49. Kenna Karst’s 3-point shot at the buzz saved the Cards, after the Condors looked like they had the game wrapped up. After North Monterey scored with seconds to play, to go up 49-48, Karst took an inbounds pass and hurried up the floor. Karst, who had eight assists, stopped at the top of the circle and looked to pass. But, under pressure with time expiring, she fired away an hit the game winner. “We were luck to win. They out played us in just about every face of the game,” Coach Pappas said. Karst finished with 15 points and ten steals, while Faith Hasty in her first game since injuring her ankle December 7, added 10 points. Heather Singer grabbed eight points, while Elayne Brown had 10 rebounds. “We’re not playing well right now. We lack execution and fundamentals. We have a ways to go,” said Pappas.

January 14. Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Kenna Karst, who perhaps has the quickest hands in the SCCAL. Karst is a stealing machine for the Cards. In 14 games this season, the Cards point guard has 122 steals, an 8.7 steals per game average. She’s had a high of 12 steals twice this season versus Mt. View and Silver Creek. Last week, her propensity to steal helped SC to a pair of wins to open SCCAL play. Against Soquel, she had 10 points, eight steals and seven assists in the Cards 41-32 victory. Against North Monterey, Karst scored 15 points to go with her 10 steals and eight assists. In addition she hit the winning 3-pointer with 3 second left in the SC 51-49 win. “Her anticipation is great. She understands other offenses and she anticipates the passing lanes. And in girls basketball, that will get you a lot of steals.
In practice Karst is used as a sample of how to play defense. Although her shot selection has left something to be desired lately, her value to the team is immense. I’d say we’d be below .500 percent without her and the injuries we’ve had. Karst, a 5-7 junior, rarely gets a rest, playing most or all of each game. I ask her to play the whole game, She doesn’t rest on defense or offense, she has to run the team, so she doesn’t get any breaks. Her endurance is outstanding,” Coach Pappas said.

January 15. SC 52, Aptos 18. SC had the game locked up by halftime with a 23-5 lead. SC is 3-0 in league and 12-3 overall. Kenna Karst finished with eight points, seven assists and eight steals in limited playing time, because the Cards had the game in hand early. Erin Jones led a balanced rebounding effort with seven.

January 18. SC 65, Watsonville 26. SC outscored Watsonville 20-9 in the first quarter and the rout was on. “This is the first game in quite a while that we have played together as a team offensively and defensively. We passed the ball well and stayed on them defensively, the whole game. We’ve starting to get in a little sync now. We had a week of good practices. Tonight was the first sign of a good effort by the whole team. We ran the offence well in the second half,” Coach Pete Pappas said. SC scored 36 points after halftime.
SC is 4-0 in league and 13-3 overall. Faith Hasty scored a game high 19 points, 15 of which came in the first half. The first half belonged to Christina Thompson, who scored all 15 of her points in the first two quarters. Watsonville only scored 13 points in the first half Kenna Karst scored 10 points, going 5 for 10 from the floor, had eight steals and five assist. Elayne Brown had a game high 11 rebounds.

January 22. Two undefeated teams in league met and Harbor won 57-46. Harbor is now 4-0 and SC 4-1. The Cards, who had designs on the league title, weren’t about lose before their fans in their jam packed gym. A freshman guard from Harbor, popped in 23 points this game, but has been averaging 11 a game. Harbor entered the second half leading just a 29-26, even though they shot 50 percent from the floor the first half, well above their 30 percent average. In twenty seconds after the third quarter started, Faith Hasty closed the gap to 29-28. Seconds later, Kenna Karst, who finished with 15 points and five steals, made a key steal at mid-court and passed to Hasty on her way to the net, which drew a foul. Hasty tied the game up making one of two foul shots with 34 seconds gone on the clock. In a little over two minutes into the quarter Karst was fouled and hit one of two shots to put SC ahead 30-29. Harbor finished the quarter leading 40-34. (end of story)

January 26. SC 50, SLV 30. Faith Hasty led all scorers with 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. SC led 31-9 at halftime, but SLV didn’t give up and outscored the Cards 21-19 in the second half. Kenna Karst chipped in 10 points to go along with her team high seven steals. She is averaging eight steals a game this season. Pappas said, “We’re 5-1 at the end of the first half the season and that’s pretty good considering the way we have been playing.”

January 29. Cardinals Stunned By Soquel. Knights Pull Away In Overtime 53-46. The outcome left Harbor 6-1 alone in first, while Soquel, SC and Watsonville are tied for second at 5-2. In their previous game Soquel had given Harbor its only loss. Faith Hasty finished with a season high 26 points, helped her team get back into the game early in the fourth quarter after trailing 25-20 at halftime. Hasty had eight points in the third quarter, nailed a shot at the end of the quarter as SC finished off a 12-6 run to take a 32-31 lead. With 2:39 left in the game, Hasty found the net again to tie the game 38-38. After a steal by Neely Jones and a pass to Hasty, who tossed in another basket for a 40-38 SC lead at the 1:30 mark. Soquel went ahead with 22 seconds left on two foul shots, 42-40. Tam Perez hit two foul shots to tie the score with 11 seconds left. (end of story)

February 1. SC 56, North Monterey 28. Heather Singer led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points followed by Neely Jones with 10. SC took a 12-2 first quarter lead and were never headed. SC out rebounded North Monterey 50-29. SC is now 6-2 in league.

February 5. SC 43, Aptos 28. SC came into the game with just eight players in uniform, but had little trouble containing the Mariners. SC now 7-2 in SCCAL play, enjoyed leads of 21-9 and 41-13 in putting away Aptos. “The bottom line is we won and we played together as a team, said coach Pappas. The Cards were without Christina Thompson and Abbie Gonzales, who were sick, Jessica Lang is out for the season and Elayne Brown transferred to Aptos. However, point guard Kenna Karst ran the program and kept SC focused. In addition to Karst’s stellar point play, SC received a game high 19 points from Faith Hasty, the SCCAL’s leading scorer, on 9 for 20 shooting from the field and who had 12 rebounds. Heather Singer also had a fine game, scoring 10 points on 5 for 10 shooting and a season high 19 rebounds. “Heather probably played her best game of the season, It was great,” Pappas said.

February 7. SC 53, Watsonville 36. SC outscored Watsonville 16-1 in the third quarter to extend their 25-17 halftime lead. Tam Perez, who started the season on the junior varsity, scored all six of her points early in the third quarter and nabbed four rebounds in the process of helping the Cards 8-2 inch to within a half-game of Harbor 8-1. Perez, a sophomore, is now the starting center after Elayne Brown transferred to Aptos. Faith Hasty’s 13 points led all scorers and Heather Singer added ten. Kenna Karst had six steals, six assists and eight points.

February 9. Bucs Control Santa Cruz 41-35. Harbor struggled early against SC, which started off the game by hitting the offensive boards with a vengeance. SC led the game until the 2:30 mark of the second quarter. Leading 16-14 at halftime, Harbor started the second half with a 5-0 run and never let the Cards get closer than four points the rest of the way. A couple of three point plays in the final minute by SC made the score appear close. SC has a size and strength advantage over Harbor, which they exploited in the first half. In the second half conditioning became a factor as SC’s big girls ran out of gas. Hasty is getting back in shape after an early season injury and center Heather Singer is also only now getting into shape, Pappas said. Singer led SC with 15 points and nine rebounds.

February 15. SLV Gets Another Shot At Cardinals. Teams Meet In First Round Of Playoffs. SC has three days to figure out how SLV could have held a 24-23 halftime lead over them last night. SC which went 9-3 in league will play again in the SCCAL championship tournament. Fortunately for SC their transition game clicked in the second half as they notched a 60-41 victory. Kenna Karst kept SC in the game with 11 second quarter points. She finished with a game high 17, followed by Faith Hasty with 16 and Heather Singer 10.

February 18. Once Again Harbor Is The Team To Beat. The team with the best shot at stopping the Harbor juggernaut, in the league tournament, is SC. But the Cards have been beset by injuries and health problems and ended up losing both round-robin games to the Bucs. But SC seems to be the only team with a legitimate shot of stopping the Buc express. Faith Hasty, the League, Co-Player of the Year is getting back to speed after a ankle injury and with Kenna Karst and Heather Singer, SC can provide Harbor with match up problems.

February 19. Freshmen Give Cards A Boost. SC was definitely looking to the future in their way to a 67-43 victory over SLV in the first round of the SCCAL championship tournament. Coach Pete Pappas had four freshman on the floor for the final four minutes of the third quarter, “and they held their own really well,” he said. Freshman guard Neely Jones had a solid game with seven rebounds, five assists and four points. Card big guns Hasty with 20 points and Karst 15 topped the SC scorers. The lone senior on the team Heather Singer added 13 points and eight rebounds. Christina Thompson had 11 rebounds, seven assists and five points. “We have a lot of intensity on this team,” Pappas said of adding players from the JV team for the postseason. SC out rebounded the Valley 39-26.

February 21. Cardinals Unhappy Despite Win. Although SC etched out a 47-43 victory over Watsonville in the semi-finals of the SCCAL championship tournament, you would have thought SC lost, by the tears that flowed as they left the gym. “It’s been a tough season for us this year,” said coach Pete Pappas, whose team must regroup mentally to face Harbor tonight at Cabrillo. “Watsonville beat us to the ball and made it hard for us to play together, We just put together a decent fourth quarter and won the game. Before that, they really kicked our butt,” said Coach Pappas. With 4:10 left in the game, SC closed a run of six unanswered points to tie the score at 39-39. At the 2:30 mark, SC’s Tam Perez added a go ahead bucket for a 41-39 lead, after she stole and inbound pass under the Card basket. Seconds later Perez scored twice more for a 45-42 lead. Faith Hasty, who scored 13 points add two free throws with 24 seconds left to cap the SC scoring.

Cards Stun Pirates. OT Win Sets Up Title Game Tonight. Cards knock off Harbor 55-51. On Thursday, the night before the Harbor game, the Cards defeated Watsonville in the semi-finals, but came out of their post game meeting stressed out. But the next night against Harbor it was tears of joy. With adrenalin flowing like raging waters, the Cards won 55-51 in overtime. By beating the regular season round robin champions Harbor, SC forced a Saturday game for the overall league championship.
Harbor which has won or shared every league title since 1984 was held to three points during the three minute overtime, in which three Pirates fouled out. SC back up center Tam Perez hit the go ahead bucket and the complementary foul shot with one minute, 15 seconds left in the extra period. “We had to win this game and we did it,” Perez said after the post game celebration at mid court, noting that SC had lost three times to Harbor this season.
Pappas was impressed that his girls, many of whom were in tears after a post game locker room discussion on Thursday, took matters into their own hands Friday night. “They got together and had their own meeting at school without me. They got here at Cabrillo before I did. That doesn’t usually happen. It was a real emotional win. Everybody was zoned in. It was the first time this year, after 27 games, that everybody was zoned in and concentrating on what was happening on the floor. They made it easy for me,” said Coach Pete Pappas.
Faith Hasty led the Cards with 13 points. Christina Thompson and Heather Singer grabbed 11 rebounds each. It was 48-48 after regulation. Harbor sent the game into OT on a foul shot with 5 seconds left. Harbor hit a jump shot and Singer hit a foul shot for a Harbor lead 50-49. Perez received a pass from Neely Jones and was fouled. Perez made a foul shot, Thompson made a follow up shot moments later and Jones a foul shot for the final margin. Harbor held SC scoreless for the final 2:32 of regulation. With 40 seconds left in the game, Harbor hit a three pointer, then SC missed at the foul line and Harbor touched the ball before it flew out of bounds giving SC possession. With 25 seconds left, SC was called for traveling and Harbor hit the tying free throw.
Each team was hot and cold early in the second half. SC outscored Harbor 17-3 in the third quarter, as Harbor shot only 7 percent from the floor. Harbor countered in the fourth with a 15-6 run to tie the game. SC point guard Kenna Karst got in foul trouble from the start, getting whistled twice in the first two minutes. Abby Gonzales, who was called up from the JV team at the start of the league season, plugged the hole and went on to score nine points. Karst scored all six of her points in the third quarter and totaled six assists. Harbor led 30-25 at halftime SC improved to 21-6 and Harbor is 22-6.

February 23. Pirate Girls Work For Eighth Straight. But SC took Harbor to the edge and nearly ended the Bucs’ string of domination, before falling 44-40 in the league championship extra game at Cabrillo College. SC who registered a stunning 55-51 overtime victory in the finals yesterday forcing the extra playoff, were in the game until the final minute and had the lead as late as the start of the fourth quarter. Harbor then scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to go ahead 35-32. And down the stretch the Bucs answered every challenge SC offered. Faith Hasty pulled SC within two points with 48 seconds remaining and Tammy Perez brought the Cards to within 42-40. SC hammered Harbor on the boards 18-13 in the first half, but in the second half Harbor turned it around to a 31-26 edge.
In the first half, SC a team that was ripped by turmoil after narrowly beating Watsonville in the tournament semi-finals, fought with the intensity they showed in beating Harbor in the tourney finals. SC was up 12-9 after one quarter and 21-16 at the half, thanks to seven points and seven rebounds from Christian Thompson, and six points from Hasty. After Harbor took a 9-6 lead with 2:08 left in the first quarter, SC ran off a 12-0 run. In the second quarter, Harbor had only one field goal. Harbor outscored SC 17-7 from the line.

February 26. Santa Cruz Girls Lone Survivors. Singer And Karst Pace Cards; Second Half Rally. Always Cards to beat Cupertino 47-38. Playing SCCAL champions Harbor twice last weekend within a span of 22 hours took a lot out of the Cards, both emotionally and physically. For the first three quarters against Cupertino in the first round of CCS Division III playoffs, the Cards played like it. They were listless. They were out of sync and they trailed 32-27. Then a couple of seasoned veterans, Heather Singer and Kenna Karst, did a little gut check and 8 minutes later the Cards were walking off the court winners and into the second round of CCS playoffs. SC, 22-7 for the season, travels to San Francisco to play Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Twenty seconds into the fourth quarter, Karst buried a three pointer from the left side to pull the Cards to within a deuce. To the other end they went, where Singer pulled down a missed shot. Back to the SC end. Karst fed Singer in the lane and Singer scored on a turnaround jumper to tie the game. Singer rebounded the next Cupertino shot. SC misses a shot and Singer rebounds. Singer scores. SC leads for the first time 34-32. SC never trailed again.
“We were totally exhausted after playing Harbor. The first one, a 55-51 overtime win on Friday, took a lot out of us and the second one a 44-40 loss on Saturday was real hard, too. Today was like, Whewww!” said Heather Singer. That would be the sound of a fatigued player. Which was pretty much the way Singer felt when she got to the game. She missed practice on Monday because of a cold and was on the bench for the opening tip Tuesday. “That’s the rule. Miss practice and you don’t start,” she said.
SC fell behind 12-6 after one quarter and trailed 22-17 at halftime. “The way the first half started, I was wondering if we’d win,” said Singer. “We gave them a chance at the start. They came out and pick our tails and that gave them a lot of confidence. But once we decided we wanted to play, we out rebounded them and took it to them in the fourth quarter,” Coach Pappas.
SC switched to a zone defense in the second half and it forced Cupertino to shoot further out then they wanted to. Cupertino was 5 for 21 from the field in the second half. The zone also helped SC control the boards. SC out rebounded Cupertino 23-14 in the second half after losing the battle 20-16 in the first half. “I just got a lot more energetic in the second half. I wasn’t so exhausted anymore. I just wanted to win,” Singer said. Adrenalin has a way of doing that. Singer, who went scoreless in the first half, scored twice from the field in the third quarter and then turned it up a notch in the first two minutes of the fourth with three timely field goals and four of her 13 rebounds. “We just didn’t want to lose. That’s why we played so much better in the second half,” said Singer.

Final stats from the Sentinel. SC was first in league scoring as a team in 30 games with a total of 1577 points, a high of 77 in a game and an average of 52.6. On defense, they were third with 1134 points against, lowest points given up 19 and average points per game given up was 37.8.
Top scorer for average points a game in the league was Faith Hasty with an average of 15.3. Twelfth was Karst with 9.7, sixteenth was Thompson and Singer tied at eighteenth at 7.7.
In rebounding Singer was fourth at 9.7 and Hasty was sixth at 8.0, Thompson at twenty-second at 5.6 and Perez was twenty-fourth at 5.2.

First team members on the Sentinel All County team were Faith Hasty and Kenna Karst. (part of the article was cut off, so only the following was available) Hasty worked out religiously during the off season. A knock on her as a sophomore was that she didn’t play both ends of the court. So she got into condition. And she played volleyball in the fall. That helped her leaping ability. By the time basketball season arrived, she was ready to go. In the third game of the season, she went toe to toe with Monta Vista’s 6-1 center, who has a full ride scholarship to the University of Washington. “She and Faith were going to it at both ends of the court and Faith was holding her own offensively,” said coach Pappas. “They had some great battles from the wing. We’d clear out a side and Faith would take her. It was one of Faith’s best games.”

ALL SCCAL team.
February 18. Faith Hasty a 5-10, junior, forward was selected as a SCCAL CO-PLAYER of the year, by the leagues coaches. Kenna Karst was selected SCCAL Junior of the Year and to the first team. Second team honors on the All SCCAL second team went to Heather Singer, 5-10, senior, center. Christina Thompson a 5-9, junior, forward was named to the ALL SCCAL third team. Nealy Jones was named as honorable mention. Hasty, strangely enough, has been something of a disappointment. Hasty sustained a severe ankle sprain early in the season, missed seven games and is still suffering from the effect. All the versatile forward did was lead the league in scoring with a 16.4 average and picked up 8.5 rebounds a game. Imagine what she would have done health? “She’s really been playing off one leg. It’s nice that she got the coaches recognition. She twisted her ankle and she is still in pain.” Coach Pappas said. Karst, a guard was the league’s “Princess of Thieves” with an average of nearly eight picks a game.

JV GIRLS BASKETBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS with a 19-2 record.
Yearbook. An excellent season with a team with only two sophomores and 14 freshman, but two freshmen were moved up and played important roles for the varsity. Freshman point guard Evie Smith was the team leader, who also averaged ten points, six assists, three steals and three rebounds a game. Evie took charge and got the job done.

Team members were Noelle Walker, Niki Sudduth, Ellna Damon, Jamie, Erika Lombard, Linda Alvarez, Evie Smith, Jessica Smith, Stephanie Sauer, Jessica Brown, Nataline Polanco, Tessa Hasty and Joanne Hutson. Coach John Wilson

Trident. Feb. 6. Coach John Wilson’s team is undefeated 7-0 in the first round of league play. The girls just like the boys team lost some underclassmen to the varsity. Several players have stepped forward to make major contributes. Sophomore Jessica Smith and freshman Evie Smith and Tessa Hasty have played major roles in the teams success.

WRESTLING
At the SCCAL Wrestling Championships, Watsonville won with 158.5 points to Soquel’s 122, SC 96, North Monterey 72, Aptos 67 and SLV 61
League dual meet record 3-3.

Yearbook. Defeated Aptos twice and Soquel once. The team most likely would have won more often, but with a roster of only 12 members, they were forced to forfeit in the higher weight classes.
The four seniors on the team: Steve Marenghi, Robbie Perry, Issa Brant and Sean Brant were the driving force behind the team. Combined the four were 79-29 for the season and were known throughout the league as the strongest four some of any team. All four have been to CCS and have earned numerous trophies and medals in the last two years. At the Artichoke Invitational, Steve Marenghi finished first in his weight class. Steve and Issa were league champions last year. In the second to last dual meet of this season against Soquel, the four horsemen all won by pins to help their team win 36-35.
Half the team (six members) were freshman. Two of the six who stood out most were Joey Strite and Rainer Ball. Sophomore Nathan Atkinson also has a good future in the sport.
Rest of team members were Mike Walta, Jamilah Haje, Matt Prisk, Jason Villanueva and Joey Strite. Head coach Chris Lovato and assistant Taylor.

Trident. Nov 27. Wrestling Shrinks In Size, Not Strength. In 1988-89, SC won the SCCAL title. Since that year, the team has become smaller in number, but not in talent. Last season, SC had an eight man team. Each match consists of thirteen weight classes, so five weight classes had to be forfeited. Even with a winless dual meet season for the Cards, four wrestlers made the finals of the SCCAL meet. Seniors Issa Brandt and Steve Marenghi took first places. Brandt continued to the state meet, before losing to the eventual champion. This year the team has almost doubled in size. Head Coach Chris Lovato, (a former SC football player and wrestler) a former college All American wrestler, expects the team to improve this season. The 103 pounds champion Brandt gave advice to new wrestlers, “Always work your hardest, don’t ever let up. When you start to hurt, you just gotta suck it up.”

Sentinel. February 16. At the SCCAL Wrestling Championships, Watsonville won with 158.5 points to Soquel’s 122, SC 96, North Monterey 72, Aptos 67 and SLV 61. The top three finishers in each weight division advance to the CCS meet next Saturday. Issa Brandt lost at 112 pounds in the finals. Sean Brandt lost at 119 in the finals of that weight class. Steve Marenghi was a 7-2 winner at 152 in the finals. All three will advance to CCS.

Sentinel. March 2. At the CCS finals, At 112, Issa Brandt came in fifth. At 152 pounds Steve Marenghi finished fourth. The first five wrestlers in each weight classification qualify to go to the State meet, which means both Brandt and Marenghi are going. From Brandt, “Overall it was a banner day for the SCCAL, the other side of the hill really overlooks us. We are small, but our league is tough and we work as hard as anyone else.” Marenghi won his first two matches, but then lost his third match, which meant he had to work back through the consolation bracket to get his fourth place finish. He was smiling knowing he was headed to state. His method of preparation is to listen to his walkman and space out. He cranks up the heavy metal of Metallica and Suicidal Tendencies. “It gets me pumped up. It’s one on one out there. It’s your pride against his.
Of special note: SC’s 140 pounder Robbie Parry, who dropped his match on Friday, proceeded to battle back through the consolation bracket with three straight wins, before being stopped short of placing in the top six. He wound up tenth. Second note: The son of former Card athlete Phil DiGirolamo and his uncle Mark, who was a four time state champion for SC took second in the 130 pound class, at another school will be going to state following his uncle Mark.

Trident. Dec. 19. Wrestlers Dominate In San Jose. In the first match of the season against Piedmont Hills with only seven wrestlers, when SC’s female wrestler Jamiliah Haje was told she could not wrestle with long hair per CIF rules. In the first match at 103 pounds, freshman Joey Strite pinned his man in the second round. Seniors Issa Brandt at 112 and Sean Brandt at 119 pounds, both pinned their men in the first round. The only loss the Cards took on the night that they contested, as SC had to forfeit six matches, was when JV wrestler Jason Villenueva at 103 pounds filled in for a vacant 125 pound spot on varsity. The three remaining SC wrestlers all won. Sophomore Nathan Atkinson pined his man. Freshman Emery Locke racked up 15 points for a technical pin and senior Robby Perry scored a major decision for 9 points.
Three days later, the team traveled to San Jose again to compete in the Blossom Hill Invitational. More injuries cut the squad to five. Joey Strite and Nathan Atkinson lost their first two matches and were eliminated. Issa Brandt pinned his first three opponents in the first rounds. In the finals, he gave up six penalty points to barely lose in sudden death overtime to take second place. Sean Brandt, who went 3-1 took third place. The surprise of the meet was freshman Emery Locke, who walked away with the third place trophy in the 130 division in his first varsity appearance.

Sentinel. January 9. North Monterey 54, SC 27. Rob Parry, who had been fighting the flu all week, scored a pin, which came at 3:30 in the 145 weight class. Issa Brandt’s pin came at 2:40 at 112 pounds and Steve Marenghi pin came in the first round at 160 pounds. Sean Brandt at 119, had a 9-6 victory. SC was forced to forfeit five of the heavier weight classes because of a thin roster.

January 19. At the Artichoke Invitational Meet hosted by North Monterey, Steve Marenghi was a 4-1 winner for the title at 152 pounds. Issa Brandt at 112, lost in the finals as did Sean Brandt at 119.

January 30. SC 42, Aptos 36. Sort handed SC earned their first SCCAL dual meet victory, by having one less forfeit with four than Aptos with 5. We filled the lighter weights and they filled the heavier weights, said Coach Chris Lovato. Each team had two pins apiece. Pins for SC were by Nathan Atkinson at 140 and Robbie Parry at 145. Losses by pins for SC were Sean Brandt at 125 and Mike Walters at 135. Lovato moved his wrestlers up one weight class each to avoid a fifth forfeit.

Trident. Feb. 6. Wrestling Swings Into High Gear. On December 20, SC hosted the huge Coast Classic Tournament with teams from all over California. By the end of the second day only senior Steve Marenghi remained, placing second among 42 other wrestlers.
January 6, league play opened against North Monterey. Issa Brandt pinned his man in the first round. Sean Brandt scored a 10-5 decision. Seniors Robby Perry and Steve Marenghi were the only other wrestlers to win, both by pin.
Next was a two day Jim Root Classic at West Valley College. Issa Brandt, who took fourth last year failed to place this year. Robby Perry and Marenghi were the only wrestlers to advance to the placing rounds. Parry wrestled back through the consolation brackets seven times to take third place. Marenghi was the powerhouse of the tourney going unbeaten until the finals where he was beaten by the two time CCS champion.
Against the league defending champion Watsonville, the only wrestlers to win were Joey Strite and Marenghi.
At the North Monterey two day team tournament, the Cards went 1-3 as a team. Individually Issa Brandt went 4-0, Sean Brandt 2-2, Steve Marenghi 1-2, losing to the thee time Oklahoma
The next day was the individual competition. SC came alive that day. Robby Perry placed third at 140 pounds. Three other Cards made it to the finals. The Brandt brothers lost close matches to Watsonville wrestlers. Marenghi defeated his opponent 4-1 for first place. Assistant coach Gath Taylor, said “this is the best tournament we’ve ever been to.”
Headed into the midpoint of the season, the Cards are still looking for their first win. SLV wasn’t able to fill all 13 weight classes. They were forced to forfeit many matches. At 103 pounds, Joey Strite won by pin. Issa Brandt won his match, but SC won only two more matches and lost to SLV by six points.

SC is the only team in this area with a girl wrestler, who is sophomore Jamilah Haje. Last year she had a record of 3-3-1. This year she was not allowed to participate in the preseason matches, because according to the CIF her hair was too long. Eventually she convinced them that a swim cap would keep her hair in. She has gone 1-5 this year. To the question of whether she will continue to wrestle. “It’s a good sport to get in shape. It’s just you and your opponent on the mat. I also want to continue to progress and get better, I would like to give girls a good name.”

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER
Practice games: Overfelt 1-3, Alisal 2-5, Live Oak 1-3, Gilroy 1-0 in OT,
League: Watsonville 4-0, North Monterey 3-1, SLV 2-0, Soquel 1-0, 5-1; Harbor 1-1 3-0.
(games missing) League record 8-3-1 for third place. Advanced to CCS play against King City (no information)
Watsonville won the league with a 10-1-1 record, followed by Aptos 9-3 and SC 8-3-1.

Yearbook. Led by a first year goalie, Josheulo Mondragon, who just came from Mexico last year, accompanied by a superb defense led by fullbacks Matt Moses and Ocho Torres, had five shut outs during the season.

In the biggest games of the year, the Cards shut out league power Watsonville 4-0. Junior forward Neil Churchill was a major factor, as he scored three goals himself. The “hat trick” was the first ever in SC history. “This team is unstoppable when they play as a team,” said Coach Sergio Sierra. Looking to next season with Mondragon returning plus the speedy front line led by Churchill, Mike Ferrante and Chris Crawford, the team should vie for the league title again. Rest of team members were Kyle Murphy, Greg Bruland, Josh Porter, Brian McGinley, Felipe Nieto, Jason Swolgaard, Ramey White, Jose Corcoles, Omar, Sean Barbera and Cesar Cobos. Coach Sergio Sierra

Trident. Nov. 27. After tying for the CCS Championship last year, half the team returns and a strong group of JV players are coming up. With returning defenders seniors, Matt Moses and Brian McGinley and junior sweeper Ambrosio “Ocho” Torres, the SC defense should be strong and rarely scored on.

Trident. Dec, 19. Soccer Starts Out Slow with a 1-3 record. The Cards have lost to Overfelt 1-3, Alisal 2-5, Live Oak 1-3 and the sole victory came against Gilroy in over time 1-0 as goalkeeper junior Chris Crawford and the rest of the defense kept the ball out of the net. Junior Felipe Cruz scored the winning goal. The losses don’t tell the whole story. The team is young and those games prove they can play with the best of them. “We want to develop a style, we want to set an intensity level and play hard,” said Coach Sergio Sierra.

Sentinel. January 11. CARDS BLANK WATSONVILLE 4-0. (For the Wildcats only league loss. The Cats won the title. Big game for Cards) Historical Victory In Boys Soccer. Neil Churchill is known around the SCCAL as a football player. He gained 771 yards as a running back and was named last month to the All County football team as a junior. Judging from this performance, it looks like postseason honors may be due again in soccer. Churchill, using some of the aggressiveness he used blasting through holes in the offensive line, scored three goals from his left wing position. A hat trick is nice, but a historical victory made it even sweeter for SC coach Siergo Sierra.
“Don Dempewolf was here tonight,” Sierra said of the man who coached SC from 1973 to 1985. (the person who started the soccer program at SC) “I turned around and asked him if he could remember ever beating Watsonville here at Memorial Field during the regular season. He couldn’t. In fact, it was SC’s first ever home victory against the Wildcats, the records show. SC is 1-1-1 and Watsonville 2-1-1 in league play.
“I think they are a strong team, but not as strong as in recent years. They didn’t have any defenders who could keep up with me,” Churchill said. “I love carrying the ball or dribbling the ball. When you beat a defender, it feels the same as if you’re running for the end zone.” Although the Wildcats controlled the ball more often in the second half, they were unable to get the ball past junior goalkeeper Josuelo Maldrogon. Sierra said sweeper Ocho Torres did an outstanding job clearing the ball away and Matt Moses, at 6-3 made it easier on Torres by winning every head ball that sailed into the middle of the field.
Chris Crawford, a pitcher on the baseball team, used his speed at right wing to score the games first goal in the first half. Crawford started the season in goal and was moved to center forward before Churchill suggested to his coach that Crawford’s speed would be a perfect complement at right wing to his own quickness. Churchill made it 2-0 on a quick shot from the top of the penalty box. In the second half, he tapped in two goals when defenders failed to control loose balls. Watsonville played without two starters. Two were injured and two were in Mexico.

Trident. Feb. 6. Senior Kyle Murphy scored two goals in a 3-1 win over North Monterey.

Sentinel. Santa Cruz Back In The Hunt after upending second place SLV 2-0. “We’re in the race, despite the fact that we’re so young. We’re strong enough to win the league,” Coach Sergio Sierra said. “I think Aptos is the team to beat, but I think we are one of the top contenders.” Aptos leads the league with a 5-0 record, followed by SC and Watsonville at 3-1-1with SLV 3-2-1in fourth place.
We actually started playing the type of soccer that we want to play. Put the ball on the ground. It was effective on their field. We dominated 90 percent of the game,” said the coach. The Cards first goal came late in the first half, when Chris Crawford headed in a long throw in by Kyle Murphy. In the second half, Cesar Cobos was credited with a goal after an SLV defender inadvertently headed the ball into his teams goal.
SC goalie Josuelo Maldrogan recorded his second shutout and made several nice plays going after corner kicks and punting the ball away. Sweeper Ojo Torres also played well keeping SLV’s attack at bay.

Sentinel. January 23. Churchill’s Goal Stands Up. Neil Churchill’s goal 31 minutes into the first half stood up as SC won its fourth straight game 1-0 over Soquel, to run its SCCAL record to 4-1-1. “Churchill’s goal came on a 40 yard shot that the goalie misjudged and kind of hit it into the net,” said coach Sierra. “It was such a long shot, the keeper mistimed it and popped it into the net. Neil was trying to cross it, but the ball carried. It wasn’t a spectacular goal, but it got us the win and that’s the important thing.”
The shutout went to goalie Josuelo Maldrogon, his third in the past four games, during which time the Cards have outscored their opposition 10-1. Though the score may not show it we totally dominated our opponent. We played our style, which is keep the ball on the ground and support one another. It could’ve been 7-1, but it wasn’t because Soquel is pretty good. Their defense did really well,” coach Sergio Sierra said. The Soquel coach said it was his teams best performance of the year.

January 30. Another Shutout By SC Goalie. Coach Sergio Sierra was worried at the beginning of the season when some of his top players were declared ineligible for the season. One spot he need to fill was at goalkeeper. Chris Crawford was thought to be the answer, but when his talents were needed elsewhere, untested junior Josuelo Maldrogon was inserted into the net. He has left little doubt that Sierra made a wise choice. Maldrogon notched his fourth consecutive shutout in SCCAL play, a win over Harbor 3-0. “He’s played really well, We weren’t sure about him early in the season. Look at him now and look at Chris too, he’s scoring goals for us,” said Sierra.
“Losing some kids to grades kind of did us some good.” Crawford scored SC’s first goal on a penalty kick at the 26 minute mark, brought on by a hand ball by Harbor. In the second half, Ariel Brown headed a ball into the net in the twenty-fourth minute. “He sacrificed his body. He got clobbered and had to come out of the game. But he got to the ball first and it paid off,” said Sierra. Felipe Nieto later added a successful direct free kick from 20 yards. A wall of Harbor defenders lined up in front of Nieto, but he drilled the ball between the heads of two Pirates and past a stunned goalie.
“I’m actually not that pleased the way we played. We can play a lot better. Even though we had three goals, you still don’t feel satisfied. We just have to be consistent with our style of play. Our intensity wasn’t there’re, we weren’t trapping the ball or passing correctly. Our fundamental were lacking. A lot of credit should go to the defense for keeping Harbor out,” Sierra said of his defending CCS co-champions. Stopper Matt Moses gave Maldrogon good support in the penalty box, said Sierra. Harbor had tied SC 1-1 in their first meeting.

Trident. Feb. 6. Soccer Back In The Hunt. Out of the playoff race after going 1-4 in preseason? Get Real! With five straight league wins over Watsonville, North Monterey, SLV, Soquel and Harbor, the Cards are back on track for another CCS championship. “We started out slow, but we’ve been steadily improving,” stated forward Chris Crawford. Coach Sergio Sierra, “We’re at a point where it’s one game at a time. We’re not looking at the future, we’re taking it game by game.”

February 15. Cards Likely To Get CCS At-Large Berth. Playing soccer in a swamp, in which long passes stopped short in puddles instead of rolling away is Ramey White’s kind of game. The SC junior, who has seen very little playing time this season, scored two goals as the visiting Cards closed out SCCAL play with a 5-1 win over Soquel. SC finished third in the SCCAL standings with a 8-3-1 record. Coach Siergo Sierra likes his teams chances again despite Watsonville and Aptos finishing ahead in the SCCAL race.
White benefited from sloppy field conditions on both his goals. A Cesa Cobos pass that would have bounded past White on a dry field instead splashed to a stop in front of White, who punched it in for a 3-1 Card lead in the second half. His second score came after a scramble in front of the net. “The ball ended up in front of him and it said, hey Ramey hit me!” Sierra said. Chris Crawford scored just 38 second into the game. Neil Churchill raced down the left wing and crossed to Crawford, who headed the ball in. Crawford assisted on Jose Corcoles’ goal to make it 2-0. Ariel Brown scored the Cards final score.

February 16. Most SCCAL Teams On Road For Playoffs. Watsonville won its thirteenth SCCAL title in 14 years with a win over Aptos, which gave them the only home field advantage of any other league team. Watsonville was 10-1-1 in league and was seeded sixth in Division I. Second place Aptos, 9-3 in league is a 13 seed. SC the third place team at 8-3-1 was seeded 11 in division II and travel to King City.

JV BOYS SOCCER
Yearbook. The top two games of the season were holding Watsonville scoreless twice. Forwards were Carlos Ruiz and Eddie Perez, who were assisted by halfbacks Tony Garcia, Chris Apra and Tao Seegar. The backfield was well protected by fullbacks Cody Murray, Hugo Perez, Ben Henry and Kesma Rauf. The defense would not be complete without the goal keeper Jimmy Meyer and the mobile sweeper Adrian Cruz. Rest of team members were Jaime Acevedo, David Soto, Daniel Marquez, Kyle Hirayama, Juan Gonzales and Romen Montesinos,

Trident. Dec. 19. SC is 1-3 in the preseason with one more game to play. “The team is looking better. The games we lost, we probably should’ve won. We should be in the top three teams in the league this year, ” said coach Ruben Olveira. Key players are sophomores Carlos Ruiz and Tony Garcia and freshman Tao Seeger.

Trident. Feb. 6. Their record is 3-2-2 with a little less than half the season remaining. SC is in third place behind second place Watsonville and first place Aptos. Key players for coach Ruben Oliviera are sophomores Tony Garcia, Carlos Ruiz and goalie Jimmy Meyers and freshman Tao Seeger. “We’ve played pretty well, but we’ve lost some games we should have won,” said sophomore Ben Henry.

GIRLS SOCCER
League: SLV 1-1, 1-0; Watsonville 0-1, Harbor 0-1, 1-2; Soquel 1-0 in OT, North Monterey 3-0. (games missing. League record 4-6-2.

Yearbook. Sophomore goalkeeper Marietta O’Francia consistently kept the team in the game. The girls were like the boys in that they did not allow their opponents to score often. Marietta officially earned three shut outs and could have had as many as six. The other three were 1-0 losses to SLV, Watsonville and Harbor. The proudest moment of the season came when senior Allison Agosti kicked a goal in overtime to beat a Soquel team that had not given up a score yet in the season. The win boosted the team’s morale and made them believe.

On offense the main threats were Agosti, Bernadette Ferrante and Rita Dunderdale. Agosti was among the league leaders in goals scored with nine. The team made up mainly of sophomores and one freshman gained experience for the future.

Agosti was the most experienced player on the team with ten years of soccer playing behind her. Allison assumed the role of the team leader. She could often be heard screaming out instructions to her teammates to let them know what to do.

Rest of team members were Anna Rotmann, Jenny Peck, Megan Palochak, Eva Anderson, Casey Coonerty, Michal Broadbent, Amy Jones, Rachel Moeller, Andrea Seeger, Julie Mitchell, Sandra Marquez, Harriet Norteye, Marrissa Cruz and Monica Silver. Coach Tim Morley.

Trident. Nov. 27. The leadership and experience of senior Allison Agosi, Junior Andrea Seeger and sophomore Rita Dunderdale can help the young Cards focus their many talents into a passing oriented team. “We want to work together as a team and not play kick ball,” said Agosti. A strong defense will be led by Agosti, goal keeper Marietta O’Francia and JV star sophomore Rachel Moeller. “It’s going to be a challenge,” said coach Tim Morley.

Trident. Dec 19. Soccer Psyched For Upcoming Season. The girls are now 1-2-1, not counting their own preseason Jamboree that doesn’t count on the record. At the Jamboree, SC won three contests in one day. The defense is the strongest area so far featuring sophomore star goal- keeper O’Francia. “Our objective is not have any goals scored against us,” said senior Erin Lathers. New young stars are sophomores Rachel Moeller and Casey Coonerty.

Sentinel. January 22. Overtime Breakaway Carries SC Past Soquel 1-0 in an upset. Allison Agosti broke free down the right side and beat the Soquel goalkeeper for the games lone score, 8 minutes into the first of two 10 minute overtime periods. The win was a big boost for SC, which came into the game with a 1-3-1 record, while Soquel was trying to challenge for the league title with a 2-1-3 record. “It was a super game for us. Everybody is committed to the team. They all have a stake in the outcome. It’s a neat situation to be around,” said Coach Tim Morley, who used 22 player in the game.

Trident. Feb. 6. Girls communicating Better. With a tough defense and the rock-solid support of goalkeeper Marietta O’Francia, the Cards are 2-5-1 in league at the end of the first half of the season. Their two emotional victories came against North Monterey 3-0 and Soquel 1-0. O’Francia would have three shutouts this season, but SLV scored with only 31 seconds left in the game, which after no scoring in overtime periods ended 1-1. League leading Harbor defeated the Carda 2-1. Senior Allison Agosti has five goals, so far in league and with her four years of experience and leadership, she is teaching this young Card team what its like to play at the varsity level. Agosti said, “With communication and friendship being the glue holding the Cards together, this team should be able to repel our oncoming opponents.”

JV GIRLS SOCCER Record 5-4-3.
Yearbook. The team had a good season after a shaky beginning. They ended the season with a 2-0 win over Soquel. Goalie Cathy Shumate defended the goal with miraculous accuracy. The Freshman’s specialty was stopping goals left and right. Sophomore center forward Maria Cornejo led the team in scoring with seven goals. Her fellow forwards were Blanca Sierra and Lilah Walsh. Their best game was a tie against first place SLV.

Rest of team member were Marie Miller, Lindsay Harrington, Mira Kardon, Erin Belcher, Meghan Murphy, Amy Hernandez, Olivia Woodaro, Blanca Sierra, Jemila Aldis, Lisa Howell, Mirella Del Peloso, Marjie Klemp, Rebekka Brummer, Laura Kelley, Amber Yale, Maria Cornejo, Meghan Maguire, Cathy Shumate, Amanda Owens and Lilah Walsh

Trident. Dec. 19. The Cards are 2-2 in preseason. “As long as we can score, we can win, We have good depth and good players,” said coach Tara Rice. The key players are sophomore Erin Belcher and freshmen Blanca Sierra and Cathy Shumate.

Trident. Feb. 6. With nearly all of the returning sophomores pulled up to varsity, the girls left had little high school experience. Even though it looked bleak early, the Cards quickly proved that experience is not always needed to win. With the season past the half way point, coach Tara Rice and her team has posted a 3-1-3 record for second place. “We’ve been working well together an I think we have a chance for first,” said sophomore Mira Kardon. Those who have made significant contributes to the team are sophomore Erin Belcher and freshman Lila Walsh, Blanca Sierra and goalie Kathy Shumate.

BASEBALL
Second place in the SCCAL at 8-4. Second place in the CCS Division II playoffs winning 3 and losing one. Overall record 18-9.
Practice games: Overfelt 10-3, loss ?, Alisal 8-1, Palma 8-3, Gonzales 0-1, Colfax 7-6, Monte Vista 3-6. Soquel Easter tournament: Soquel 8-10.Monterey 13-4, Skyline of Oakland 8-2 and Harbor 3-2 for third place. Practice record: 7-4. League: Watsonville 11-3, 4-1; North Monterey 3-13, 9-3; Aptos win, 13-10; Harbor 2-5, 4-2; SLV 1-3, 4-1; Soquel 3-5, 7-6. League record 8-4 for second place. Regular season overall record 15-8. CCS Division II playoffs: Palo Alto 3-1, Pioneer 8-6, King City 5-1 and Carlmont lost for second place. Overall record 18-9.

Yearbook. The strong knowledge of new head coach John Wilson (former SC all league pitcher, Cabrillo ace and All American pitcher at San Francisco State and a member of their Hall of Fame) and his assistants gives the Cards what they need to be able to compete against preseason favorites SLV and Watsonville. With pitching from Chris Crawford, Femi Ayanbadejo and Ben Gersick as well as the power hitting coming from Mike Hendren, Jamie Carr and Billy Yong the team looks to have what it takes to be a winner. The speed of outfielders Jason Nee and Neil Churchill gives the team an added bonus on both the base paths and on defense. Sergio Ulloa, a transfer from Los Angeles, at shortstop digs everything going up the middle. First baseman Zac McCormick is no slouch either as he picks up anything in the dirt or air. Rest of squad: Joel Ackernecht, Rob Henderson, Aaron Woliczko, Joseph Guardino, Nick Marini, Jamie Carr, K. C. Kaiser, Ryan Mills and Mike Goldstein.

Wilson Takes on Cardinal Baseball
One of the things John Wilson did recently after being named Santa Cruz High’s baseball coach was to pay a visit to his high school baseball coach, Bill Dodge, who in his career from 1957 to 1986 at Santa Cruz High compiled a 515-264 record and won 14 league championships.
“We sat and talked at his house for three hours”, Wilson said Thursday afternoon. “Just about different things, like the alumni game, philosophies…Three hours went by just like that.”
Said Dodge, “One thing, he knows when to be a nice person and when to get down to it and go to work. You have to be able to do that. As a player he knew when to get with the action and when it was OK to breeze a little bit. To make it through a season you need to be able to do that.”
Wilson, who has a reputation for having an excellent rapport with his players, was the assistant coach to Fred Pfyffer the past two seasons at Santa Cruz. He also is to coach the girls junior varsity basketball team for the fourth season. Wilson graduated from Santa Cruz in 1982 after spending three seasons on the varsity as a pitcher, primarily. The left-hander played at Cabrillo College in 1984 and ‘85 under former major league pitcher Andy Messersmith, and at San Francisco State in 1986 and ’87. He was a Division II all-American and the team’s Most Valuable Player in 1986. Wilson pitched for the San Francisco Giants Class A team in Everett, Washington, in 1987.
“He was our top candidate.” Santa Cruz Athletic Director Bryan Wall said of selection Wilson for the job. “We’re very pleased with him. We knew, with John, we were going to get somebody with real quality.” This year, Wilson is serving as assistant athletic director to Wall, who is filling in as a vice principal at the school for a year. Wilson also is a PE teacher at Santa Cruz. Wilson spent tine both in the dugout and coaching third base under Pfyffer, but he says he’ll be in the dugout full time now, much like Dodge did during his coaching career. “I think a (high school) coach needs to be there to keep the kids in the ballgame for the whole seven innings,” Wilson said. “You can teach from the dugout, too. If you want to go over something with a player who’s in the game, it’s hard to do it if you’re coaching third base. “I’m really going to be (coaching) the fundamentals. I’m going to try a work in a lot of things that Mr. Dodge and Fred (who coached him in Colt League and Andy taught me. I just want the kids to enjoy it. I think we’re really going to have a lot of fun. We’ve got a lot of ball players coming back, so that’ll be nice. “I’m looking forward to a good season. If we play .500 ball, that’ll be great. The last two years we’ve taken our lumps (8-17 in 1990 and 9-16 last year). I’m really looking forward to it. I hope the kids are as much as I am.”

Sentinel preseason write up. After finishing the 1991 SCCAL season in the basement, the first thing the Cards want to do is get their baseball program back into the championship mode like it did three years ago. Selecting John Wilson as the new head coach was a good start. Wilson a former pitcher for SC varsity from 1979-1982, former Cabrillo College star, All American at San Francisco State with a 11-0 record in 1986 and a San Francisco farm hand in 1987. (John later was inducted into the San Francisco Hall of Fame for his pitching success) That combined with assisting the Cards the last few years, will help make his club this year a contender for the league title.
Key seniors returning and their positions: Seniors: Jamie Carr, C; Zack McCormick 1B/P; Mike Hendren, OF; Sergio Ulloa, SS and Steve Cordoza, OF. Juniors: Chris Crawford P: Aaron Woliczko, IF/DH; K.C. Kaiser, 2B; Jason Nee, OF; Neil Churchill, OF; Ben Gercich, P. The return of Carr, a veteran catcher, is one of the Cards bright spots. Carr, who made the All County second team last year with a .328 batting average, will not only provide the team with slugging power, but leadership as well. Expect seniors Hendren and Bill Young to round out the power hitting duties. Another highlight is that the Cards starting infield is returning except the shortstop and newcomer Ulloa is expected to take over at short.
The biggest problem is pitching. Right now the season is riding pretty much on how well Crawford, who finished last year with a 3-5 record with an ERA of 3.31 can throw, because the Cards are lacking many other established pitchers. McCormick finished last year with a 2-3 record and a 2.50 ERA, will most likely be Crawford’s relief when not starting at 1B. Wilson hopes in the coming weeks some of the other players will raise to the occasion. They are lefthander Gerich, senior Ryan Mills, junior Joel Ackerknecht and junior Femi Ayanbadejo.
Coaches outlook: “One of our main goals is to improve over last year. SC has a very strong baseball tradition due to Bill Dodge. We’ve been in a down cycle the past few years and I hope this is the season we’re on the upswing,” said Coach John Wilson. “Also, I really want to stress that my assistants coaches, Rudy Escalante and Geoff Dunn are going to be key factors to helping me get us back to our winning ways. Overall, I think we will be very competitive and at least be a .500 ball club. We have a lot of depth in the outfield and more speed with the addition of Neil Churchill. Jason Nee will also help us with his quickness running the bases and our infield is full of returning players. Most of all I want the team to have fun. As long as we work hard the outcome will take care of itself.”

Sentinel. Feb. 28. Mike Hendren hit a grand slam home run to spark a six run rally as SC opened its season with a 10-3 victory over Overfelt of San Jose. Hendren, a senior right fielder, drove home Jamie Carr, Sergio Ulloa and Chris Crawford with his blast over the left field fence. Hendren was 3 for 5 with five RBI’s. Crawford got the win for pitching four innings of three hit ball.

Sentinel. March 5. SC broke open a close game with a six run, fourth inning to beat Alisal 8-1in a five inning game called because of darkness. Chris Crawford was the winner going the distance with seven strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Mike Hendren sparked the offense going 2 for 3 with a solo home run and a two run triple to highlight SC’s four inning. SC is now 2-1.

March 11. SC 8, Palma 3. Mike Hendren was sick and almost didn’t play, but he was glad he did, after going 3 for 3, with two doubles, as the Cards improved to 3-1. SC fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, then rallied with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to break open a 4-3 game to then to go ahead 8-3. Starting pitcher Ben Gersick, allowed three hits and three runs the first inning, but only one hit in the next two innings. Femi Ayanbadejo, who pitched the fourth and fifth innings got the win striking out four. Jamie Carr and Neil Churchill each had two RBI’s.

March 13. Gonzales scored an unearned run in the sixth inning for a 1-0 win to ruin a combined two hitter by three SC pitchers. Right-hander Femi Ayanbadejo struck out four and walked none through the first two innings. Lefty Zack McCormick followed with three hitless innings. Junior Joel Ackernaecht, finished off the game. Catcher Jamie Carr had two of the Cards six hits.

March 14. SC spotted Colfax an early 6-0 lead, then stormed back to take a 7-6 decision. Mike Hendren started the comeback with a solo homer. In the sixth inning SC tied things up with a five run rally on five hits. In the seventh, Jamie Carr led off with a double and Zack McCormick doubled him home. Aaron Woliczko won the game with a perfect inning of relief in the seventh. Carr was 3 for 4, Hendren 2 for 3 and Femi Ayanbadejo was 2 for 4.

March 15. In a non-league game Monte Vista, which is joining the SCCAL next season, beat SC 6-3. SC is now 4-3. SC had only five hits, two by Jamie Carr. Monte Vista had a 5-0 lead before SC scored. SC had solid relief pitching from Aaron Woliczko, who struck out seven in the final three innings.

March 25. Soquel 5, SC 3. With the teams tied at 2-2, two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Soquel scored the winning runs. An infield error, SC’s third error and a wild pitch set the stage for the double to score the winning runs. “We basically gave one away. It was things we need to keep working on,” said coach John Wilson. Chris Crawford, a key to the pitching staff, who came on to pitch the fifth, took a line drive of his pitching hand and left the game.

Sentinel. March 28. Six Run First Inning Lifts Cards Over Cats and a fine pitching performance by junior Chris Crawford to beat Watsonville 11-3 in a Friday night SCCAL game at Harvey West. The win was the first in the SCCAL for first year coach John Wilson, whose team improved to 1-1 in league and 5-4 overall. The win feels great. I’m happy for the kids and the entire coaching staff,” said Wilson, who was delighted to see the Cards jump on the Cat starter in the bottom of the first inning.
SC sent 11 batters to the plate in the decisive first. Key blows were an RBI double by catcher Jamie Carr and a RBI single by Zack McCormick and three Watsonville errors. Crawford, who retired the side in order four times and faced only four batters in two other innings. In the second inning Crawford saw nine batters and gave up five of the Cat six hits. Trailing 6-0, the Cats come out smoking in the second, connected for four straight singles, which led to three Watsonville runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Crawford found himself making his best pitches to get the last two outs. Crawford mixed up fast balls and curveballs to strike out a batter and got the third out on a ground ball to second. Neil Churchill and Femi Ayanbadejo added two RBI’s each in the Cards five run sixth inning.

April 4. Condors Romp Over Cardinals. Sloppy Fielding Paved The Way For 13-3 rout. Six SC errors led to five unearned runs for North Monterey, who improved to 2-2 in league. “We didn’t come prepared to play mentally, said coach Wilson, whose team is now 1-2 in league. “We need to work on our fundamentals and just put this game behind us. There are a lot of excuses you can use, but they outplayed us.”
The first inning set the pace for the Condors, as they scored four runs on one hit, four walks and three errors. Starter Aaron Woliczko left the game after two outs and the bases loaded for reliever Chris Crawford. North Monterey added a run in the second and four more in the third to make it 9-0. SC’s runs came in the top of the seventh with two outs. Designated hitter Neil Churchill prevented the shutout by hitting an inside the park home run with Ulloa and McCormick on base.

April 11. Harbor 5, SC 2. Harbor took advantage of four SC errors in the bottom of the sixth inning and turned a 2-1 deficit into a win at Harvey West. SC dropped to 2-3 in league. Catcher Jamie Carr hit a first inning home run.

April 12. Soquel Wins In 8 Innings over SC 10-8 in the first game of the Soquel High/ Capitola Lions Club Easter tournament. SC gave Soquel a run for its money tying the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but reliever Ben Gersick gave up four runs in the eighth for the loss. SC scored two runs in the eighth, when Femi Ayanbadejo doubled collecting two RBI’s, but SC came up short when they failed to score again. SC had many opportunities to break open the game, having the bases loaded in three innings, but could not succeed in crossing the plate. SC stranded 15 base runners.

April 14. In a second round game of the Soquel tournament, Femi Ayanbadejo pitched a two hitter and was 3 for 4 at the plate in a 13-4 win over Monterey. Ayanbadejo, a senior right- hander struck out seven and walked five to even his record to 2-2. KC Kaiser’s RBI single in the fourth inning gave SC the lead for good at 5-4.

April 16. Chris Crawford scattered three hits and struck out nine in SC’s 8-2 win over Skyline of Oakland in the Soquel tournament. Crawford a junior right-hander, got all the support he needed on Aaron Woliczko’s three run double in the first inning. Crawford walked the first two Titans he faced and they both scored. He quickly found a groove and retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
SC moved to 2-1 record in the tournament. Femi Ayanbadejo walked to begin the first inning rally. KC Kaiser reached base on an error and Mike Hendren walked to load the bases. Bill Yong drew a walk to give SC a 1-0 lead, setting up Woliczko’s bases clearing double to left field. SC put the game away with four more runs in the sixth. Ayanbadejo hammered a two run single to right center. Neil Churchill beat out a perfect bunt down the third base line and eventually came across on a wild pitch. Jamie Carr hit a deep sacrifice fly to score Ayanbadejo.

April 19. SC 3, Harbor 2. SC captured third place at he Soquel Easter Tournament, when Nick Marini’s two run single in the bottom of the eleventh inning scored Jason Nee with the winning run. Nee, who reached base on a error, went to second on a fielders choice, to third on a passed ball and scored on Marini’s looping single to right. Aaron Woliczko got the victory with two scoreless innings of relief.

April 25. Wild Finish Saves Cardinals. SC rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Soquel 7-6, Friday night at Harvey West. Soquel had rallied for six runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead 6-4. But the loss left Soquel tied for first with SLV at 5-2 records. With one out in the seventh, Mike Hendren walked and K.C. Kaiser singled. A balk moved them up one base. A walk to Sergio Ulloa loaded the bases. Jack McCornick was hit on the helmet forcing in a run and Neil Churchill walked on four pitches to force in the tying run. Femi Ayanbadejo with two strikes on him, reached out and slapped a singled to right to drive in the winning run.
“We showed a lot of character to come back. When you can bring the tying run to the plate, there’s always hope,” coach Wilson said. Ayanbadejo started on the mound and shut down Soquel for the first six innings. He had made 99 pitches and 57 of them strikes, before he had problems in the seventh and Chris Crawford came in to put out the fire. “Femi pitched a great game, and then he came back and won it for us,” said Coach Wilson.

April 29. SC 4, Watsonville 1. SC put together on of its best performances of the season. “Tonight we executed. We had good pitching, good fielding and good hitting. We just executed,” said coach Wilson, whose team evened its league record to 4-4 in league. Watsonville, who lost to SC earlier in the season 11-3 is 3-3. Soquel is in first place two games ahead of SC. Shortstop Sergio Ulloa broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single with two outs in the fourth. Pinch hitter Steve Cardoza gave the Cards some breathing room with a two run single.

The Cards “good pitching” came from two sources: Starter Chris Crawford and reliever Femi Ayanbadejo. Crawford pitched five innings, allowing three singles and one run to earn the win. The Card fielders played a near flawless game committing only one error. Ayanbadejo didn’t allow a hit in two innings of work to earn the save after scoring two of the Cards runs as a designated hitter. Jamie Carr put SC ahead 1-0 in the first inning, singling in Ayanbadejo, who was hit on the games first pitch.

Trident. With two of the SCCAL’s top pitchers on the mound SLV defeated SC 3-1.

Trident. April 30. After a 3-4 league start, SC is hoping that the respectable third place finish in the Soquel Easter Tournament will be the spark they need to improve their position in league. In the first game of the tournament, SC lost to Soquel 10-8 in extra innings.
In the second game a 13-4 win over Monterey, Femi Ayanbabejo pitched a compete game two hitter with seven strikeouts and went 3 for 4 at the plate. Against Skyline of Oakland, Aaron Wolizcko’s bases loaded double in the first inning paved the way for a 8-2 victory. With a mixture of consistent defense and clutch hitting,
SC beat Harbor 3-2 for third place. Down 2-1 in the sixth inning, Nick Marini delivered a RBI single to tie the game. In the bottom of the eleventh, Marini at the plate, bases loaded and two out, Marini drove in Jason Nee with the winning run. Femi Ayanbadeio made the All Tourney team by going 9 for 16 at the plate and throwing ten fine innings on the hill for the week.

May 6. SC 9, North Monterey 3. A North Monterey throwing error with two outs in the fourth inning broke the dam and seven unearned runs spilled over for SC. Neil Churchill hit a grounder to second and it was thrown away. Ayanbadejo followed with a three run double giving the Cards with a 5-4 record a 4-1 lead. The Condors committed two more errors in the inning. Chris Crawford improved his pitching record to 8-1, by pitching the last five innings and allowing only three hits. Steve Cardoza, starting his first game of the season, because of arm surgery, led the Cards in hitting going 3 for 4.

May 9. SC 13, Aptos 10. “I knew we were in trouble, when we scored eight runs in the first inning,” said Aptos coach Bob Beach and he wasn’t kidding. SC pecked away with three runs in the second, one in the third, five in the fourth to take the lead and three in he sixth for insurance. Chris Crawford pitched the second through the sixth innings, allowing two runs, to pick up the win. Mike Hendren sparked the offense with three hits, including a two run homer in the critical fourth inning.

Mike Hendren, senior right fielder and power hitter was awarded the Bob Vega Memorial scholarship prior to the Harbor game. Vega, who graduated in 1957 was a standout third baseman, who went on to play for the semi-pro Santa Cruz Seahawks and the US Navy Sub-Pac All Stars. He was also a fixture on area softball teams, until he became ill with cancer. He died in 1986 and the scholarship was established by his Class of 1957 mates at their 30 year reunion. The $500 scholarship is awarded annually to a Cardinal player who demonstrates exemplary talent and plans to attend college. Hendren, who tentatively plans to play at Cabrillo next season is hitting .310 with team highs of 17 RBI’s and three home runs.

May 13. Cards Top Harbor To Stay Tied For Second. (The game pitted two former Cardinals against one another as coaches. Rod Fleming a three year starter at short stop, who graduated in 1969, played on two CCS finals teams and at Cabrillo and the University of Arizona. And as you know John Wilson a three year pitcher for the Cards along with assistant Rudy Escalante. The SC family couldn’t lose in this game)
Measuring Femi Ayanbadejo’s sixth inning single would require about 300 feet of tape. It would also require a really tall ladder, since the ball went almost straight up. Ayanbadejo, the Cards left fielder, wasn’t worried about style points. He was just happy his bloop single was the game winning hit, driving in two runs to wrap up a 4-2 win. Chris Crawford pitched a five hitter, as SC won its fifth straight league game and remained in a second place tie with SLV. SC and SLV are tied at 7-4, one game behind Soquel at 8-3. Harbor and Watsonville are tied for third with 6-5 records. A tight league race. “With two strikes on me, I’m just up there keeping my hands in tight,” said Ayanbadejo, whose hit scored Aaron Woliczko and Sergio Ulloa. “That’s the fourth time that’s happened to me with two strikes on me. I get a fastball inside and try to fight it off.” SC, who have won nine of their past ten games under first year coach John Wilson and they haven’t given up on a league championship, let alone a CCS playoff berth. “This game was big,” said Crawford, who survived a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning/ “This keeps us in contention. We haven’t reached our goal yet.” The Cards next game is with SLV, which could give the winner the co-championship if Soquel loses. The winner would also assured a CCS berth. “We’re so focused right now. We know we have potential to win league, but we don’t think everyone is feeling that way. We want to prove it to everyone,” said Ayanbadejo. At the end of the fourth, Harbor led 2-0. Ulloa, a senior transfer from the Los Angeles, tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a bloop single to right, just like Ayanbadejo’s. In the first league game on April 10, Harbor won 5-2.

May 16. Santa Cruz Streaks Into Baseball Playoffs. There were times when a strike must have seemed like and endangered species. In the end, SC threw more strikes and took advantage of SLV’s inability to do so, for a 4-1 victory. Although something less than an artistic success, the Cards sixth straight victory allowed them to wrap up and undefeated second half of the SCCAL season and earn a berth into the CCS baseball playoffs. SC finished with a 8-4 record, second to Soquel with a 9-3 record. Femi Ayanbadejo went five innings to pick up the win, skirting disaster in every inning, but only giving up one run. He walked seven batters and allowed four hits, but somehow managed to strand nine runners on base.
SC 2-4 in the first half of league, wrapped up an improbable playoff charge. “We practiced so hard. We won six league games in a row. We don’t owe anyone anything. Nobody paid any attention to us, which was good, because it allowed us to stay within ourselves, “ Ayanbadejo said. Coach Wilson said, “We had a team talk and got some things out. It was before the Easter Tournament and they said, ‘Hey, we’re 2-4.’ We played hard in the Easter tournament and things just snowballed.”
The Cards got all the runs they needed, as it turned out in the first inning. SC received three walks, got three hits and picked up two runs. Ayanbadejo led off with a single and stole second, but was thrown out at the plate on a great throw on a sharp single hit by Jaime Carr. Then three batters walked to force in Carr. Sergio Ulloa followed with an infield single to make the score 2-0. Ayanbadejo said the early lead helped. “I was kind of nervous at the start,“ he said. I kept telling myself to throw strikes, but it didn’t click in my head early. It wasn’t until about the third inning that I felt good.” SLV loaded the bases in the first inning, but a 5-2-3 double play and a ground out ended the inning. “Femi was mixing it up real well. They had a tough time hitting him. He wasn’t really throwing strikes. He kept them off balance,” catcher Carr said of Ayanbadejo’s pitching. “I never threw two fastballs in a row. No, I did throw two in a row and the second one went for a double, so I got the message and didn’t do it again.” Ayanbadejo said. SC added single runs in the third inning on a walk, hit and error and in the sixth on three straight walks and a sacrifice fly to the left field wall by Carr. “I just wanted to give us the insurance run,” said Carr of the near miss. “It would have been great to hit a grand slam, because I used to go here. It would have been a little bit of revenge factor. Chris Crawford picked up the save, pitching two scoreless innings.

May 21. Cards Sharp In CCS. Crawford Three Hitter Chokes Palo Alto 3-1. At the beginning of he season, SC first year coach John Wilson said that in order to get the Cards back to their winning ways of years past, they would need to work hard and more importantly have fun. The Cards drove his point home in their CCS Division II playoff game with Palo Alto at Santa Clara’s Washington Park. They rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie, resulting in a 3-1 first round victory that filled the team full of smiles.
“I’m real happy about the game,” said junior right-hander Chris Crawford, who extended his pitching record to 11-1 by allowing only three hits and two walks. “I don’t think many people expected it from us outside the players on our team. It was a great win.” The win was the teams seventh in a row and moves them to the second round against Pioneer, who defeated Valley Christian 4-2.
“The team is playing really well and it’s really nice to see that. Crawford has been doing the job for us all year and I feel he’s the best pitcher in our league. He’s done more than we expected. We just kept battling and we knew if we got guys on base we could score. Being the home team was definitely to our advantage. As far as strategy goes, just keep chugging along, don’t change anything. We’ve got a new pitcher on the mound for us Saturday and we’re looking to win that game too,” Coach Wilson said.
Femi Ayanbadejo, who has a 3-2 record and a ERA of 3.09 is expected to get the call against Pioneer. “I just wanted to keep Palo Alto off balance and keep us in the game,” said Crawford, who struck out six and allowed one unearned run. Because our hitters can score a lot of runs quick, I knew as long as I kept us in the game we could come up with a victory.” SC trailed 1-0 after the top half of the fourth inning. But with two outs, designated hitter Aaron Woliczko smacked an RBI triple to right center to score Mike Hendren from second. Later in the sixth inning K.C. Kaiser put the Cards ahead 2-1. He beat out a ground ball to third base for a single, advanced to second on the overthrow and the took third on a balk. Kaiser scored when Zack McCormick hit into a double play. Hendren teamed with Woliczko for the insurance run to ice the game. After a 4-6-3 double play, Hendren smashed a 345 foot double to dead center. Neil Churchill pinch ran for Hendren and scored on Woliczko’s single. Woliczko went 2 for 3 with two RBI’s.

May 24. Cardinals Keep Rolling. A little more than a month ago, SC was in sixth place in the SCCAL, with a 2-4 league record. Since then, the Cards have won eight in a row after the 8-6 victory over Pioneer at PAL stadium and find themselves within one win of playing for the CCS Division II Championship. “We’re not over looking King City, but we have a legitimated shot to make it to the finals,” said Coach Wilson.
The Cardinals haven’t been this close to the championship game since 1985, when they got on a roll and won eight of their final 10 SCCAL games to make the playoffs as an at large team, the thirty second team in the 32 team field. They won three games to reach the semis, where they lost to Bellarmine 8-4. (that was before division play. All teams in the same field) This year’s team is on a roll, too.
They won their final six league games to climb from sixth to second in the standings to make the CCS playoffs for the first time since 1989. Assistant coach Geoff Dunn said, “It’s been single eliminate the whole way for us. We know we can score runs, so we’re never out of it.”
Even giving up six runs to Soquel and 10 to Aptos did not prove fatal to the Cards, because they pushed across three runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat Soquel 7-6 and they scored 13 runs to out slug Aptos.

Pioneer came into the playoffs with a 10-11 record, making the field as an at large entry and the final team in the 16 team division. Pioneer jumped on starter Femi Ayanbadejo for three runs in the top of the first inning. But SC came right back with three in the bottom of the inning and then added five more in the third to take a commanding 8-3 lead en-route to their eleventh win in the past dozen games. They are 17-8 for the season.
Ayanbadejo, as has been his wont, struggled in the early going. He walked three in the first inning, hit a batter in the second and left the bases loaded both times. “I almost got out of it with no damage. I tried not to dwell on those three runs when I went out there the next two innings. I just didn’t want to let them score,” Ayanbadejo said. He didn’t and after struggling through the second, he only allowed one base runner the next two innings. But in the fifth, under the hot sun, he began to tire. He walked two of the first three batters he faced and was lifted with one out after throwing 98 pitches, in favor of Chris Crawford. “I didn’t do that well. I didn’t really expect it to be as warm as it was. It wasn’t the best conditions to pitch in,” said Ayandabejo.
By that time SC had taken a 8-3 lead. SC scored three in the first on RBI singles by Zack McCormick and Mike Hendren and a wild pitch. SC followed that with five runs in the third, sending ten men to the plate. Jamie Carr opened with a double and scored when Zack McCormick lined a single to center. With two outs, Jason Nee reached base on an error. Nee stole second and both runners scored on Sergio Ulloa’s single. McCormick and Ayandadejo were both hit by pitches and Nick Marini drove them both in to make the score 8-3.
Crawford was not sharp and gave up three runs in the sixth inning, to close it to 8-6. “I didn’t feel too good,” said Crawford, who had only two days rest after going seven innings on Wednesday. “In the bullpen I felt good, but I couldn’t find my rhythm. Without that, it’s hard to have good control.”
In the seventh inning, shortstop Ulloa made a timely play, when a hitter rounded first base too far as Ulloa had the ball bounce off his glove, Ulloa threw to first to pick him off rounding the bag. “We did what we had to do to win today. We didn’t play one of our better games, but we won. It’s nice to get a win and keep playing,” Wilson said. Crawford threw 60 pitches in relief Saturday, but he will be back on the hill Wednesday against King City.

May 26. Chris Crawford, a junior pitcher won one game and saved another to help the Cards reach the semifinals of the CCS Division II. He beat Palo Alto 3-1 on a three hitter on Wednesday and three days later pitched the final 2 2/3 innings in a 7-6 win over Pioneer. Crawford, who is now 11-1 for the season allowed only one earned run, before he got the final out in the books. “I had an off day. The umpire had a tight strike zone and that didn’t help me,” said Crawford, who threw 60 pitches.

May 27. Carr A Driving Force. Catcher Key To Cardinals’ Success Story. It’s about 2 p.m., and practice isn’t scheduled to start for another hour and a half. But Jamie Carr is already at Harvey West Park, often with a teammate or two setting up the batting cage and putting out the bases, long before most of the other players show up. “He is definitely the leader of the team,” says assistant coach Rudy Escalanate, a former SC star catcher himself. “Everybody respects him.” As dedicated as Carr is at practice, he is even more intense on game day. “He’s caught every inning of every game.”
Carr is currently hitting .361, second best on the team and more impressively has struck out once in 72 at bats, which has helped turn him into a pro prospect, who could be drafted next month. “It’s true that Chris is our marquee player,” Escalante said, “but if we hadn’t had Jamie, we wouldn’t be where we are. He’s the man behind the plate. He’s that type of guy you need to have.” “I just like to see everyone play as hard as they can play and the best they can play,” Carr says. “He is a real motivator for everyone,” says senior outfielder Mike Hendren, who along with back up catcher Augie Guardino has spent a lot of extra time with Carr this season, getting ro practice before everyone else. “He always keeps us up, no matter what. He might get down on himself, but he’ll come right back. He keeps us on our toes. He keeps everyone going. If someone gets down, he gets right on them quick.”
If Carr seems an independent, take charge kind of guy, its because he is. He shares a house with football teammate Matt Stevens and at 18 has taken on the role of and adult taking care of himself. Coach Escalante, “He’s matured. He’s a young man, not a high school kid and he’s such a good guy.” Escalante has spent extra time one on one with Carr this season, working on technique and sometimes just talking. Sometimes they talk about baseball, sometimes about life and sometimes they talk about what one has to do with the other. “Going to SC has been an experience I’ll never forget, I have not regrets, not one bit,” Carr said. Carr says baseball is “about 80 percent of my life. I’m just a real aggressive hitter. I have a good eye and a knack for hitting a baseball,” as his only one strike out this year proves. He also has a knack for taking charge.
He is the Cards captain, even though Wilson notes, “We never really picked it. It’s something Jamie just took upon himself, But he’s the guy. No one ever questions it.” Escalante said, “He’s a good student. He’ll get out there and say, “Lets do some more. He’s a perfectionist in his own way. The hardest thing for Jamie, and he’s finally accomplished this, is trying to do the best you can do and live with that fact. He always thinks he is carrying the load. If the team doesn’t win, he thinks its his fault. He’s finally learned if he’s not hitting or doesn’t throw out a couple of runners, he can be helpful in other ways.”
Wilson says Carr has had a big influence on Crawford being 11-1 going into today’s game and he can see the connection he had with Escalante, when he pitched for SC. “Chris is looking to the future, too, but he knows Jaime has been a big part of his season. I felt the same thing when I was a sophomore and Rudy was catching. He was a rock. Now Jamie is a rock.

Cards Reach CCS Final. Santa Cruz Downs King City In Semis. Crawford 12-1 After Another Three Hitter. When Chris Crawford is on the mound these days, it seems all the Cards need to do is scratch out a couple of runs and look to see who’s next on its list of CCS victims. Wednesday Crawford pitched a masterful three hitter and the Cards took advantage of some aggressive base running and costly King City errors to post a 5-1 victory in the semifinals of the CCS Division II playoffs at San Jose Municipal Stadium.
The victory gives the Cards a chance at their first ever CCS title. It has been 16 years since SC was in the CCS finals, when they lost to Leigh 6-2 in 1976. They were also runner ups in 1968 and ‘69, losing to Homestead and Terra Nova, respectively. SC will play Carlmont Friday. Carlmont beat Carmel 2-1 in ten innings in the semifinals.
Against King City, Crawford was at his beguiling best, pitching from ahead in the count most of the game with a mixture of curveballs and well placed fastballs. He walked two batters and only went to three balls on three others. “Basically the key was to keep them off balance, so they couldn’t make good contact,” Crawford said. He struck out eight and King City only hit four balls out of the infield. Of the Mustangs thee hits, one took a bad hop past third baseman Jake McCormick and the other was a blooper to right field. King City’s only run was unearned. Crawford did get some defensive help. In the second inning left fielder Femi Ayanbadejo gunned down a runner trying to stretch a single into a double. Zack McCormick made several nice scoops at first. He’s been doing it all year for us. He stays very focused, even when he’s sitting on the bench,” said Coach Wilson.
Even the most ardent SC fan would have trouble believing the Cards could advance this far. Crawford himself admitted, “I didn’t think we had the talent to advance to the CCS finals, but we have a lot of heart. “Our big thrill is making the finals,” said Wilson trying to defect the pressure of Fridays finals. “You have CCS on your mind at the start of the year when your setting goals, but I don’t think we expected to do this well. I still feel doing well in league is more important.”
Ayanbadejo will draw the starting nod in the finals and Wilson says Crawford will be available to pitch as many as three innings. State rules allow a pitcher 10 innings a week. “I’m ready. I haven’t had the bet of outings the last three games, even though we won. I think maybe I’ve been saving it for the last game, I hope so,“ Ayanbadejo said.
Crawford’s gem was just the latest chapter in a miraculous second half run by the Cards. SC 18-8, has won nine straight games and 12 of 13 in rising from the scrap heap to the doorstep of the penthouse. At the end of the first half of SCCAL play SC was 2-4 in league and 6-7 overall. While SC has not been exactly overpowering, they still manage to win.
Wednesdays game was a prime example. While Crawford was mystifying King City, their pitcher was almost as effective. He held SC to six hits, but his defense made three critical errors and some bad decisions. He did not give up an earned run and did not walk a batter. SC got all the runs they needed in the second inning, despite getting only one solid hit.
Mike Hendren led off with a single, but was forced out at second by Aaron Woliczko. On a hit and run play Jason Nee hit a ball right at the shortstop, who let the ball go through to the outfield and Woliczko went to third. On the first pitch, Nee stole second. Sergio Ulloa hit a ball to the second basemen, who threw home, but it was late and off line and Woliczko scored. Nee went to third on the play and Ulloa was safe at first. On a double steal, Nee scored as Ulloa got into a run down. Ayanbadejo knocked in Ulloa with a single. SC put the game away in the sixth inning. SC had runners on first and third, when Ulloa hit what should have been a double play, but the throw to first was missed played and both runners scored.

Lost in finals of CCS.

Trident. May 28. After finishing third in the Soquel tourney, the Cards did turn their season around winning 11 of their final 12 games, including six straight in league to go undefeated in the second half of the SCCAL season going from 2-4 in the first half to 6-0 in the second half, to finish 8-4 in second place and a guaranteed CCS berth. Coach Wilson, ”It was kind of a rocky first half, but the whole team had a big talk prior to the Soquel Tourney, with everyone stating their roles. This got out all the animosity toward other players and the coaches and brought the team together which helped widen the road to CCS.”

From the Sentinel final prep baseball stats. The batting averages for other Cards who hit over .250 were Kaiser .340, Nee .279, Ulloa .261 and Zack McCormick .261. Pitching stats were
Crawford record 12-1, innings pitched 93, earned runs 24, walks 41, strike outs 82 and ERA 1.81 Ayanbadejo record 4-3, innings pitched 41, earned runs 22, walks 38, strike outs 35 and ERA 3.76.

Comments from Coach of the year John Wilson. I wouldn’t downplay it, but I don’t feel like I was really the driving part of this team. I don’t want to say I wasn’t a big part, but I felt more vital to the team as a player than as a coach. As a coach, I feel like the pitcher, who had just pitched the day before. I got my win and now I’m just rooting for the guys on the bench. The season would not have been as successful without assistants Rudy Escalante and Geoff Dunn, calling many of the shots.
Out of Geoff and Rudy and myself, I had the last say, but we always talked it over. Rudy and I go back to 1980, when he was a senior and I was a sophomore at SC. He’s an inspiration and puts a charge into our team. Geoff probably knows the game better than Rudy or I. A big part of my season was enjoying coaching with them. Many Cardinal supporters and old friends have gone out of their way to congratulate Wilson.

FRANCHISE PLAYERS
The Sentinel ALL COUNTY team. Pitcher of the Year and Junior of the Year honors went to Chris Crawford. Coach of the Year went to John Wilson in his first year at the helm.
First team members were Femi Ayanbadejo, senior, LF, average of .429; Jamie Carr, senior, C, .346; Chris Crawford, junior, won-loss 12-1. Second team: Mike Hendren, senior, RF, .351

Dream Team Lineup Card.
Fourth place hitter: Femi Ayanbadejo with .429 average, four home runs and 30 RBI. In the middle of rallies all season. Normally plays left field, but has talent to play center and was the Cards second pitcher.
Eight place hitter, Jamie Carr with .346 average, 24 runs and 18 RBI. Led team in runs scored. Key is leadership and ability to handle pitchers. Pitcher Chris Crawford with 12-1 record, 1.82 ERA and 82 strike outs. Junior right-hander won big games down he stretch, including two in the playoff.
Capsule look at players: Femi Ayanbadeuo, batting average of .429 was third highest in the area and he tied for the lead in doubles with eight. He also was the teams second pitcher going 4-3. “After Easter, he helped carry us hitting and he became the second pitcher we needed,” Coach Wilson said.
Jamie Carr was the driving force behind the Cards push to finish second in the SCCAL and making it to the section championship game. He hit .346 with 18 RBI‘s, caught every inning of all 27 games. “He was a rock for us. He was the team lieder,” said Coach Wilson. Chris Crawford, won virtually every big game he pitched in this season including two in the playoffs, in going 12-1 with an ERA of 1.81. “It all came together for him this year. His location was better and he was stronger and more durable,” Wilson said.

Sentinel May 29. Three Cardinals made the ALL SCCAL first team this year after having none last year. They were seniors: catcher Jamie Carr, a .33 hitter and outfielder and pitcher Femi Ayanbadejo, who hit .424. Junior pitcher Chris Crawford was 7-1 on the mound. In the voting for the league MVP, Crawford receive two of the five votes. Zack McCormick was selected for the second team for the second year. Honorable mention were Mike Hendren, Sergio Ulloa and KC Kaiser.

JV BASEBALL
Yearbook. After discipline problems in the beginning of the season, coach Milt Thompson (Former SC three sport star and baseball All League player) straightened out the team to have a successful season. The pitching staff led by Ben Person and Dylan Harley had good attitudes and strong arms. Jonathan Pillsbury at second base played well and was one of the top hitters on the team. Freshman George Arnott played shortstop and was a power hitter. Sophomore superstar, Jorge Perez was one of the best catchers in the league and was outstanding as the clean up hitter. “Despite our physical and mental errors, winning became a part of our team along with our attitudes,” said coach Thompson.

Rest of squad: Albert Cuellar, Robbie Newey, Brandon Chappell, Gino Marini, Arnold Vasquez, Frankie Moreno, Tony Quartararo, Ryan Doan, Nate Blachette, Josh Brady, Strider Kemp, Mike Liberatore, Brendan Ayanbadejo and Mark Neuman. Coaches Milt Thompson and Trowbridge

GIRLS SOFTBALL
Practice games: Hollister 4-7, 10-11, Live Oak 3-8. Pacific Grove 4-2, Gonzales 23-0, Monterey 0-4, North Salinas 3-16. Circle of Champions Tournament: Carlmont 0-2, Pioneer 0-9. Charlie Miguel Tournament: Monta Vista of Cuprtineo 1-8, Half Moon Bay 0-3, North Monterey 8-7, Harbor 3-5, Menlo Atherton 15-0, 17-1. Practice record 5-10.
League: Soquel 6-1, 3-4; Watsonville 7-15, 1-8; North Monterey 2-7, 2-9; Harbor 3-21, 0-10; SLV 3-12, 5-8; Aptos 5-6, 8-6. League record 2-10 tied for last place. Season record 7-20.

Yearbook. The young team with only three seniors had high hopes. As usually Harbor was their toughest opponent. Hitting was dominated by Jessica Lang, Leah Croghan, Thea Lincoln and Kenna Karst. Starting pitchers are Lincoln and Lang. Rest of squad: Amy Hernandez, Melanie Arnott, Tam Perez, Debbie Rayer, Lizzy Esponisa and Theresa Gilbert.

March 1. Sentinel preseason write up. Coach: Vic Miguel, eighteenth season. 1991 record: 12-12 overall, 6-6 for fifth place in league. Key players: seniors, Thea Lincoln, P; Melanie Arnott, 1B; Debbie Rayer, IF. Juniors: Jessica Lang, shortstop and Kenna Karst, IF. Sophomore Leah Croghan OF. Scouting report: Even though SC finished last year with a .500 record, most of the returning crew comprise the entire infield. So expect a strong defense, well adjusted to the Cards style of play. This experience should help the Cards move up in the SCCAL standings.
Miguel sees the consistent hitting of Lang, who was All SCCAL and All County first teams with a .410 batting average, to be the catalyst. Karst made the All County second team at second base with a .303 average with power at the plate. She is also one of the Cards fastest runners and a base stealer. On the mound, expect Lincoln, a four year veteran to hold down the fort. She finished 1991 with a 7-5 record and an ERA of 3.62. Lang and newcomer Theresa Gilbert, a first year varsity player, will provide relief duties.
Coaches outlook: Its been really rough, because the soccer and basketball seasons overlap into softball and not everyone is out yet. Our goal is to improve over last year and to get a shot at the playoffs. I think two to four teams will be fighting for first and second place. With our competitive core of girls, we have a chance to be there.

Sentinel. March 4. Hollister 7, SC 4. SC scored three times in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. Harriet Norteye drove in a pair with a single. Hollister came back with four in the third for a 4-3 led off pitcher Thea Lincoln, who went the distance.

Sentinel. March 12. Late Rally Ruined As Cardinals Fall. SC Takes, Then loses Lead In Seventh. SC took a two run lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but gave up three runs to lose to Hollister 10-11. Brenna Williams was the losing pitcher. She gave up a single to open the inning, then an error, one of seven the Cards committed, then a pass ball allowed the runners to advance. A two run single tied the score and a shallow hit just over the infield drove in the winning run. “We made some good plays, but we made too many errors,” said coach Miguel, whose team is now 1-3. Leah Croghan went 4 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and an RBI. Williams went 2 for 2. Naomi Rothman, Kenna Karst and Nikki Sudduth all went 2 for 5.

March 13. Live Oak 8, SC 3. SC fell to a 0-3 record. Shortstop Jessica Lang doubled in two runs and had a triple. Her double brought SC to within 6-3 in the sixth inning.

March 18. SC 4, Pacific Grove 2. Thea Lincoln drove in two runs early. She gave up only three hits, struck out two and walked two in a complete game win. It was the Cards first win to up their record to 1-3. SC scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Debbie Rayer singled in the first run and Lincoln drove in the other two. Rayer doubled to go 2 for 3, getting half of the Cards hits.

March 17. SC 23, Gonzales 0. Combine 10 SC hits and 10 Gonzales errors and you have a blowout. SC is now 2-3. “We played errorless ball and this was our first shutout,” Miguel said. Pitchers Rita Dunderdale, Brenna Williams and Jessica Lang combined for a three hit shutout. Kenna Karst had two hits and three RBI’s. Leah Croghan drove in four runs with two hits, including a solo home run.

March 19. Monterey 4, SC 0. SC dropped to 1-5. Harriet Norteye was 2 for 2.

Sentinel. March 25. SC 6, Soquel 1 in league. Wins have been hard to come by so far this season for SC, which had just one non league victory. But the Cards picked the right time for “W” number 2. On the strength of Thea Lincolns pitching and the hitting of Kenna Karst and Jessica Lang, the Cards defeated Soquel to open league play. “This is a tremendous win for us. We’re ecstatic, being this was our second win in six game,” said Coach Vic Miguel. Lincoln earned the win, scattering five hits and allowing only one run, SC had nine hits. Karst had three hits and two of them were bunts. She also stole three bases and drove in a run. Lang, who is coming off an ankle injury, had two hits and two RBI’s. “She’s pretty close to getting back to full strength. She’s maybe 90 percent,” said Miguel.

March 23. Watsonville 15, SC 7. Despite scoring ten runs in the bottom of the first inning, it wasn’t until the fifth inning when the Cats scored four more runs to put the game away. SC didn’t give up after Watsonville sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning, wiping out SC’s 3-0 lead. SC scored four runs in the third to make it 11-7 and all of a sudden it became a game again. Leah Croghan had two hits.

April 1. North Salinas 16, SC 3. SC committed four errors in the first inning resulting in six North Salinas runs. And it then it got worse. SC is now 2-6 overall. Jessica Lang and Harriet Nortehe each had triples to highlight the Cards day.

April 3. North Monterey 7, SC 2. Thea Lincoln took the loss allowing five earned runs. “We play better ball against the better teams, said Coach Miguel, whose team is 1-2 in league. It was just a couple of mistakes. Our inexperience showed.”

April 4. At the Circle of Champions Softball Tournament at Live Oak, SC was shut out twice, despite playing well in the first game, a 2-0 loss to Carlmont that turned on two unearned runs in the second inning. Thea Lincoln pitched well, In the second game, the Cards fell to Pioneer 9-0. SC dropped to 2-9.

April 8. Aptos 6, SC 5. Aptos scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to squeak past SC in an SCCAL game that was tight all the way. Thea Lincoln had a solid game, walking only one, struck out one and hit two batters. Jessica Lang went 3 for 4 and Lincoln 2 for 4 for SC, which is now 2-2 in league.

Trident. April 9. It has been a disappointing start for the softball team, who is 2-9 overall and have dropped their last four games at this point. SC fired up for their league opener and took Soquel 6-1. Senior Thea Lincoln pitched a solid five hit game, while allowing only one run. Timely hitting by juniors Kenna Karst and Jessica Lang pushed SC over the top. Coach Miguel said, “It was the veteran defensive infield that did the job. In preseason, we were working with a lot of different combinations. Basketball players were in the playoffs an new players had to get adjusted to the varsity level.”

April 11. Harbor 21, SC 3. SC was only out hit by Harbor 10-8 and that’s the good news. It was the eight errors, plus a handful of walks and a hit batsman, that turned the game into a laugher.

April 12. At the Charlie Miguel Tournament in the first round, SC lost 8-1 to Monta Vista of Cupertino. Leah Croghan hit an RBI triple in the first inning. “When it was 1-1, I thought we were in for a good game,” said coach Miguel, whose team is 2-12.

April 16. SC swept a double header from Menlo Atherton, 15-0 and 17-1. In the first game, Thea Lincoln allowed just three hits for the win. Kenna Karst led SC at the plate going 2 for 4 and drove in three runs. She added three more hits in the second game. Jessica Lang earned the win in the second game, striking out ten. She also homered and went 2 for 4. Debbie Rayer went 3 for 3. SC is now 4-12 overall.

April 18. At the Miguel Tournament, SC lost to Half Moon Bay 3-0. Lincoln gave up only two hits in the loss. Melanie Arnott had SC’s only two hits, going 2 for3 with a single and a double.

April 22. SLV 12, SC 3. SC is 1-5 in league games and 4-14 for the season.

April 25. Knights Charge From Behind Against Cards to win 4-3. Soquel rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win their third SCCAL game. Thea Lincoln allowed five hits, three earned runs and three walks and struck out one. SC took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning and after Soquel scored in the bottom of the second, stretched it out to 3-1 with a run in the fifth.

April 26. At the Miguel Tournament at Mission College in Santa Clara SC beat North Monterey 8-7 as Jessica Lang allowed only three hits in five innings for the win. SC rallied from a 7-2 deficit with six runs in the fourth as Croghan and Nikki Sudduth each drove in two runs with singles. In the consolation championship of the same tournament, Harbor defeated SC 5-3. It was 2-2 after one inning, as Jessica Lang and Leah Croghan each had RBI singles for SC.

April 29. Watsonville 8, SC 1. SC kept the game scoreless for three innings. “We were feeling pretty good about that,” said Miguel of the zeros on the scoreboard. “But they came through in the fourth and fifth innings and we were just cold at the plate.” Nikki Sudduth, a freshman, was 2 for 3 and scored SC’s only run in the seventh after doubling.

Trident. April 30. SC has lost their last two league games in the first half of the season and three in a row, to Harbor 22-3, SLV 12-3 and Soquel 4-3. The overall record is now 4-15 and 1-6 in league. In their latest outing at Soquel, starting pitcher Thea Lincoln was given two unearned runs to work with in the first inning. Soquel score one run in the second inning and then Lincoln shut them out until the seventh inning. SC scored a run in the top of the seventh to go ahead 3-1, but some Card mistakes allowed Soquel to come back with three runs and the win. “We’re not playing as a team. We make crucial errors at important times in the game,” said coach Miguel. A bright spot happened on April 15, when SC swept Menlo Atherton 15-0, 17-1 in a double header. In the first game, Lincoln give up only three hits in a shutout. Karst went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs. In the second games Lang pitched and struck out ten. She also went 2 for 4 and hit a home run. Debbie Rayer and Karst both went 3 for 3.

May 6. North Monterey 9, SC 2. SC had a 2-1 lead before errors took their toll. Reliever Jessica Lang suffered the loss.

May 9. SC 8, Aptos 6. SC finally notched its second SCCAL win, but it wasn’t without a late game scare from Aptos. SC built a 8-1 lead through five innings, but the Mariners score twice in the sixth and three times in the seventh to make it close.

May 13. Harbor 10, SC 0. Harbor is 10-1 with one game to go.

May 16. SLV 8, SC 5. SLV took third in the league with a 5-7 record. SC ended 2-10. Jessica Lang had a solo home run in the first inning.

From the Sentinel final prep softball stats. The batting averages for only other Card who hit over .260 was Leah Croghan .328. The team was fourth in league batting averages with .246.
Pitching stats were Lincoln, record 4-20, innings pitched 146, earned runs 126, walks 90, strike outs 50 and ERA 6-05. Lang, record 2-0, innings pitched 22, earned runs 11, walks 20, strike out 8 and ERA 3.55.

Sentinel ALL COUNTY first team included junior shortstop/ 3B Jessica Lang was also selected
d as Junior of the Year. Jessica hit for a .446 average, 33 hits, 25 stolen bases and 24 runs. She is a repeat Dream team Lineup Card third place hitter as well. She is good enough to play anywhere on the field. She was picked as a shortstop.
Second team member is junior SS/3B with a .312 batting average Kenna Karst.
Jessica Lang is the best of her class. She’s been the Freshman of the Year, Sophomore of the Year and now Junior of the Year. “A very talented athlete. She has skills to play any position,” said Coach Miguel.

The SCCAL ALL LEAGUE first team was Jessica Lang junior 3B/SS, with a batting average of .514, which was fifth in the league. Lang was tied for first in home runs with two and was fourth in stolen bases with 25. Second team member was Kenna Karst, who hit .312 and honorable mentions Melaine Arnott, Thea Lincoln and Debbie Rayer,

JV GIRLS SOFTBALL
Yearbook. Team members: Marie Miller, Rita Dunderdale, Erica Lombard, Allison Tom, Ann Rice, Meghan Lang, Kim Perry, Cathy Shumate, Lisa Howell, Oliva Woodard and Nicole Kunnanz. Coach Dina Avila.

Trident. Mar. 5. Coach Dina Avila played for Coach Miguel for two years, 1985-86 and has been coaching the JV team for four years. Last year her team had a .500 record. In looking forward to the new season, Avila said, “We’re going to have a good time.” The JV’s strengths are at shortstop with freshmen Elizabeth Espinosa and catcher/third baseman Andra Tom.

TRACK COMBINIED BOYS AND GIRLS
SC boys were second in league. Won the Santa Cruz County relays.
Boys dual meets; Monterey 88-48. League: Harbor 93-28, Aptos 104-38, Soquel 100-36, SLV 79-57, Watsonville 85-43, North Monterey 60-76. League record 5-1. Overall 6-1.

Girls dual meets: Monterey 55-49. League: Harbor 89-32, Aptos 49-74, Soquel 81-46, SLV 81-46, Watsonville 71-51. North Monterey 60-67. League record 4-2. Overall 5-2.

May 10. Condors Champs Again. But Santa Cruz Gives Them Good Run. North Monterey won the league championship for the tenth time in the last eleven years, scoring 156 points to SC’s 130 for second place. Condor Coach, “I can finally relax,” when his team had clinched the title. “We beat a really fine team in SC. I have great respect for both their athletes and coaches.” The top four finishers in each event will advance to the CCS sub-section meet at Gilroy High on May 20.
In a classic dual in the 100 meters, Nate Bell set a new league record with a time of 10.89. In addition to winning the 100, Bell also won the 200 in 22.31 and ran the anchor leg of both the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay, which were both winners for the Cards. Bell is the undisputed leader of the Cards relay teams, “Nate is really taking it seriously,” said relay mate Jermaine Robinson. “He yells at us.” For his part, Bell says he just wants to make his teammates better. “I keep them in shape. I’m always on their case. Sometimes they get mad, but they know it’s business.”
In the pole vault, the wind was a factor. Nik Whiting finished second with a less then best jump of just 12 feet, while the winner went 12-6. Both are 13-6 vaulters.

GIRLS; At the SCCAL meet, Melanie Café won the 300 low hurdles. Evie Smith won the high jump at 5-2, her personal best. Linda Alvarez finished third in the triple jump at 35-3 a new school record, while Bernadette Ferrante was second in the 100 in 13.06.

May 10. SCCAL Track Notes. New Experience Worth Wait. Competing at the SCCAL track and field championships was a first for Marcus Crespi a sprinter and jumper for SC. Although he is a senior, Crespi hasn’t been around this late in a track season yet. Last season he had a quadriceps injury and a strict edict from home, that kept him away. His father, a professor at UCSC has an hard and fast rule that unless Marcus keeps an GPA of at least 3.5 Marcus can’t compete. Marcus said, “It got me into college,” at UCSC, from where he will transfer to Cal to major in engineering.
Although Saturday was his first at the league meet, he has participated in other big meets this season, like the CCS Top 8 and the Gilroy Invitational. Crespi will now move on to even bigger things. He qualified for the CCS sub-section meet in three events. He was second in the long jump at 21-11, third in the triple jump at 43-4 and third in the 100 meters in 11:30.

May 29. CCS TRACK FINALS. SCCAL Posts Five Victories. The top three finishers in each event qualify for the state meet. SC had nine athletes qualify for the CCS finals was blanked, as far as the top three finishes are concerned. But the Cards did manage three fourth place finishes and three fifths. “We’re doing a repeat of last year.” said coach Bryon Wall, whose team had multiple fourths last season, but only one state qualifier, Vic Lang in the 800.
“But we had a great night. Sometimes the kids don’t understand that. But the number of fourths we had is good.” Discus thrower Heather Singer was unable to compete, because of illness. She was considered a favorite to place in the top three and advance. Even though he didn’t make his goal of going to state, senior Net Bell had a remarkable meet. He was fourth in the 200 in 21.94, fifth in 100 in 10.91, anchored the 400 relay team in 42.81 and the mile relay in 3:22.85.
The Card foursome of Stephens, Robinson, Nevin and Bell were among the favorites in the 400 relay. Although Bell put on a furious push at the end, it was not enough. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be,” said Josh Nevin, who ran the third leg for SC. “Everything went right. We were fast and our passes were good, but the other teams just got faster.” Marcus Crespi was fourth in the long jump at 22-2. Evie Smith tied for fifth in the high jump at 5-0. Melanie Café was fifth in the 300 hurdles in 45.58.

BOYS: May 24. Local Sprint Into CCS Final. Athletes Have Sights Set On State. The top eight placers in the trials at Gilroy, earned the right to compete in the section trials at San Jose City College on Thursday. This is called a sub-section rather than the previous Region IV meet. This next meet is called the CCS trials
Sprinter Nate Bell will be competing in the maximum four events, tops among SCCAL athletes. Bell’s afternoon of qualifying was perhaps the most grueling. Friday night, he attended the prom and didn’t get home until late. Two days earlier Bell had to endure a lengthy sub-section meet in Gilroy. “I’m really tired,” said the weary Bell after helping SC earn the eighth and final spot in the 1,600 relay, the last event of the day. “But it pays off.” Bell is also the eighth qualifier in both the 100 and 200 meters. He has his sights set clearly on the future: the state championship on Friday and Saturday, June 5 and six. “When you get to the state meet, finals and trials are in two days. It’s good to do this, it gets you in condition for state,” Perhaps Bell’s best chance for state is the 400 relay. The once strong field of competitors in the section keeps getting smaller and smaller.
At the south sub-section the top team was eliminated after not making a pass in its zone. The north sub-section top team was eliminated for the same reason. SC, as the result, is now the number two seed going into the CCS finals. The top three at the finals go to state. At the trials SC didn’t win, even though they have the third best mark in the section. “It’ll be real interesting at the finals,“ said Don Roberts an assistant coach at SC.

May 26. Nate Bell Sentinel Athlete of the Week. Bell qualified for the CCS finals in four events at Saturdays CCS trials: in the 400 and 1,600 meter relays and the 100 and 200 meter dashes in the respective times of 10.975 and 22.13. SC’s time in the 1,600 relay was the teams season best. “I hate that race. There’s so much pain. But I like the team camaraderie on it,” Bell said.

GIRLS: May 24. Local Sprint Into CCS trials. Athletes Have Sights Set On State. The top eight placers in the trials at Gilroy, earned the right to compete in the section trials at San Jose City College on Thursday.
Melanie Café turned in a remarkable performance in the 300 hurdles and qualified for the finals. The sophomore ran a 46.12 and finished second in her heat. She had the fifth fastest time in qualifying with a strong push at the end. “She is a fierce competitor, She’s got strength at the end of the race. She was seventh coming around the corner. She’s all heart,” said Roberts of the wispy hurdler.
In the discus, Heather Singer was the fourth qualifier at 122-9. Evie Smith went a personal best of 5-4 in the high jump and reached the finals. After getting over the bar, Smith jumped up and said, “Yes, I did it. I kind of felt I could do it after going five feet. I just cleared it. I didn’t even feel the bar,”
List of the three girls and their events in the CCS finals: Heather Singer, discus; Melanie Café, 300 hurdles and Evie Smith, high jump. Melanie Café could be the surprise of the section finals. At the trials, Café was second in her heat with a 46.12 in the 300 hurdles, which is the fifth best mark in the section. If she can improve on that she could be making a trip to state. Evie Smith had the best high jump in the league this year at 5-2.
Heather Singer missed making the state meet last year by one place, taking fourth place instead of third. Coach Wall said, “Heather has been throwing consistently the last two weeks. She has the potential to be an excellent heptathlete of the seven discipline event. I can see Heather being asked in college to be a heptathlon or throw the javelin or discus. In her career a SC, Singer has done everything from the triple jump to hurdles to 400 meters, before finally settling on the throws. Singer and the Watsonville thrower, the two best throwers in the league, have developed quite a rivalry over the years in the discus and the shot put.

Boys: There are six boys who have qualified for the CCS finals. They are Nate Bell in the 100, 200, 1,600 relay and 400 relay; Jermaine Robinson, 400 relay; Reggie Stephens, 400 relay; Jason Nevin, 400 relay and 1,600 relay; Ben Henry 1,600 relay and Marcus Crespi, long jump and 1,600 relay. Nate Bell will have four chances of making it to state. The best possibility will be in the 400 relay, where the Cards have the second fastest qualifying time. Also on the team are Stephens, Robinson and Nevin.

SEASON OPENER. DUAL AND INVITATIONAL MEETS
Sentinel Feb. 28.The Cards opened their season with boys and girls victories over Monterey. Top winning marks for the boys, who won 85-48 were provided by Nate Bell in the 200 meters at 23.2 and Nick Whiting in the pole vault at 11 feet plus.
For the girls, Bernadette Ferrante’s 100 time of 13.3, along with the 4-8 high jump of Emily Johnson and the 13-6 long jump by Stephanie Sauer, highlighted the SC girls 55-49 win.

March 13. SC 93, Harbor 28 in the SCCAL opener. Nik Whiting and Jermaine Robinson each won two individual events. Whiting won the 110 meter high hurdles in 17.7 and the pole vault at 11-6. Robinson won the high jump at 5-8 and the long jump at 19-9. Nate Bell won the 200 in 22.9 and Reggie Stephens took the 100 in 11.7, both good early season marks. Jim Weaver won the discus at 125-4.
GIRLS: Santa Cruz Shows Stuff In Streaking Past Harbor 89-32. Linda Alvarez won three events, while Bernadette Ferrante, Melanie Café and Heather Singer won two events. Alvarez won the long jump at 14-4, triple jump at 31-3 and high jump at 4-6. Café won the 100 meter hurdles in 16.8 and the 200 meters in 51.7. Ferrante won the 100 in 13.6 and 200 in 27.9. Singer won shot put at 32-4 and discus at 102-3.

Sentinel. March 20. Crespi Paces Cards. Marcus Crespi won three events and was a mere 0.3 seconds from a fourth victory, as SC ripped off Aptos 104-38 in a SCCAL dual meet. Crespi won the 100 meters in 11.5, took the long jump at 20 feet nine inches and the triple jump at 41-7. Crespi ran the 200 meters in 23.2, second to teammate Nate Bell’s 22.9. Nik Whiting won the 110 meter hurdles.
GIRLS: Aptos 74, SC 49. Melanie Café won the 100 hurdles in 17.0 and 300 hurdles in 50.1.

March 27. Cards Outclass Soquel 100-36. Soquel coach said, “We’re not up to SC’s class. We don’t have the numbers, but they have a lot of quality, also. They’re going to be right up there for the league championship.” Nate Bell displayed his speed, winning the 100 meters in 11 seconds and the 200 meters in 22.3. He also ran on the winning 400 relay team that had an impressive time of 43.8. Marcus Crespi was also a double winner, taking the long jump at 21 feet and the triple jump at 43-7.
GIRLS: SC 86, Soquel 38. Heather Singe, Melanie Café and Linda Alvarez were double winners. Singer winning the discus at 122.1 and shot put at 31.9. Café won the 100 low hurdles in 16.6 and the 300 low hurdles in 50.9. Alvarez won long jump at 15-6 and triple jump at 32-0.

March 29. SC ran away with the Santa Cruz County Relays at Soquel. SC had a combined score (boys and girls) of 172, followed by Aptos 152, Watsonville 145, SLV 126, Soquel 103 and Harbor 98. Some athletes went to Stanford to compete instead. The SC boys won with 114 points and Aptos won the girls with 98 points. The SC 400 relay team of Jermaine Robinson, Reggie Stephens, Jason Nevin and Nate Bell turned in an impressive time of 43.6. Robinson had the best high jump at 6-2: Marcus Crespi the top triple jump at 43-4 and Nik Whiting tops in the pole vault at 12-3.
GIRLS; Evie Smith won the high jump at 5-2 and Heather Singer led the way in the discus at 121-10.

April 3. SC won the SCCAL dual meet with SLV 79-57. Marcus Crespi won two events, the 100 meters in 11.5 and the long jump in 21-0. He lost the triple jump by one inch, 43-6 to 43-5. Jermaine Robinson won the high jump at 6-2. Nick Whiting surpassed his own best mark of last week at 12-6 to win at 13 feet today in the pole vault. Nate Bell was a triple winner with his 52.6 in the 400 meter, 22.7 in 200 meter and the anchor leg on the 400 relay team. His 400 time is .7 better than his seasons best. Robinson, Reggie Stephens, Jason Nevin and Bell round out the relay team that was timed in 44.3.
GIRLS: SC 81, SLV 46. Heather Singer’s 33 foot, 5 inch shot put beat her previous league best mark by more than a foot to help the Cards out score SLV. Singer also had an impressive show in the discus, which she won with a fling of 120-4. Bernadette Ferrante was a triple winner with a a 13.3 in the 100 meter, 28.2 in 200 meter and a lead leg on the 400 relay team that was clocked in 53.7. Melanie Café won the 300 low hurdles in 48.6. She also won the 100 low hurdles in 16.8. Linda Alvarez soared to victories in the long jump at 15-3 and the high jump of 4-8.

April 10. SC 85, Watsonville 43. SC dominated the sprints. John Potter won the 300 hurdles in 44.1 and the 100 hurdles in 16.4. Nate Bell won the 100 in 10.9 and 200 in 54.4. SC won the 400 relay in 45.3. Marcus Crespi won the long jump at 20-10 and the triple jump at 40-7. Jermaine Robinson won the high jump at 6-4,
GIRLS: SC 71, Watsonville 51. In a battle between the number one and three discus throwers in CCS, Heather Singer won with a throw of 123 feet. Melanie Café won the 100 hurdles in 13.6 and the 300 hurdles in 49.5. Bernadette Ferrante won the 100 in 13.2 and the 200 in 28 flat.

May 1. North Monterey Fends Off Santa Cruz Challenge with a 76-60 win. Despite the setback, SC coach Bryan Wall, sounded like anything but a loser. “It was one of the most fun meets I’ve had in a long time. We barely lost in the boys. I was thrilled because our kids tried so hard.” Perhaps no event typified the meet more than the final event, the pole vault, as Nik Whiting matched his opponent jump for jump, even though the meet was over and the Condors assured of victory. Whiting pulled out the win with a jump of 13-6, which is the best jump in the league this season. Nate Bell won the 200 in 22.4 and was on both of SC’s winning relay teams. “I’m just pleased with the way the kids rose to the occasion. North Monterey has a lot of good athletes and good coach,” Wall said.
GIRLS: North Monterey 67, SC 60. Freshman Bernadette Ferrante was a quadruple winner, but not enough to carry SC past the Condors. Ferrante won the 100 in 13.0, second best in the league and .2 off her personal best. She won the 200 in 27.7 and ran on the two winning relay teams. Melanie Café won the 300 hurdles in 49.5 and ran on the winning mile relay team. Heather Singer won both the shot put at 33-0 and the discus at 116-0.

May 3. At the high powered CCS Top 8 Track and Field Classic at Los Gatos High, SC’s 400 relay team finished third with a season best time of 42.6. Reggie Stephens, Jermaine Robinson, Jason Nevin and Nate Bell look to be on track to make it to the state meet, at least judging from their performance at the Top 8. Bell ran well on an individual basis as well. He finished fourth in the 100 in 10.7 and fifth in the 200 in 22.0. In the 1,600 relay, SC finished third at 3:26.8, which is ten seconds faster than they had run before.
GIRLS: At the high powered CCS Top 8 Track and Field Classic at Los Gatos High, SC took fourth in the mile relay with a time of 4:07.

Yearbook. Heather Singer, four year member of the team is the backbone of the field part of the team. The senior is defending league champion in the discus and the shot put. She has broken the discus record at SC. “After talking with the track coaches at Stanford and Brown, they say I should be throwing 140 feet in the discus at the end of the season. So I need to improve about 15 feet to get into these schools. I have put in a lot of summer work this year so I can get to a high point. Our team is rebuilding, therefore we will have to work harder to defend our second place in league.”

Trident. March 5. Track coach Bryan Wall has very high hopes as he said, “We didn’t lose many seniors and we have gained a lot of freshman talent. The high caliber frosh are sprinters
Incoming freshmen such as Natalie Bridgeman and Bernadette Ferrante and second year sensation Linda Alvarez will need to pick up the slack along with the 400 meter relay team for the team to win.

Sentinel. These top league marks are all that show of the track article at the end of the season, before the CCS finals.. Triple jump, Crespi, fourth at 43-5; High jump, Robinson, third at 6-4 and Corcoran eighth at 5-10; Shot put, Weaver, fourth at 46-7, Croghan, eighth at 41-4 and Sutton, tenth at 39-0; Discus, Weaver, third at 138-11 and Sutton, sixth at 131-4 and Pole Vault, Whiting, first at 13-6, Dalbesio, second at 11-6 and Greiner fourth at 11-0.

Yearbook. The team was very strong this year. The best events were the pole vault, relay teams and the two mile run. The relay was the top event with senior Nate Bell, junior Jason Nevin and sophomores Reggie Stephens and Jermaine Robinson. The two mile was run by Josh Baisinger and Ken Stovall.
Top runner Nate Bell runs the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meters along with anchoring both the mile and sprint relay teams. He has been offered scholarships from around the country, including Oregon State, Penn State and Virginia. He hopes to run a 10.4 in the 100 meters. He credits coaches Don Roberts and Bill Johnson for some of his success.. They have helped me a lot,” explained Nate.
Sophomores Reggie Stephens and Jermaine Robinson after leading their Junior Varsity football team to an undefeated SCCAL championship, started on SCCAL co-champion varsity basketball team and ran the first two legs of the SCCAL champion 440 meter relay team.

Trident. March 5. This years team includes the league record holding 400 meter relay team of senior Nat Bell, and sophomores Jermaine Robinson, Jason Nevin and Reggie Stephens. Senior Heather Singer, who went to state in the shot put and discus and sophomore Linda Alvarez, who made the CCS regionals in the 100 and 200 meters. There are three strong pole vaulters. They are juniors Nick Whiting at 12-6, Jason Dalbesio and Matt Newman at 11-6.

Sentinel June 12 the final Area Prep track and field records for the girls, by event, place, name and time.
100 meters
2 Ferrante 13.0
5 Jones 13.4

200 meters
5 Ferrante 27.20
6 Jones 27.60
9 Silver 28.20

400 meters
4 Lin 1:01.9

3,200 meters
9 DeWorken 13:42

Mile relay
1 SC 4:07.2

400 meter relay
2 SC 51.5

100 meter low hurdles
4 Café 15.79
7 Hutson 16.7

300 low hurdles
1 Café 45.6
4 Hutson 48.34
5 Smith 49.15

Long jump
5 Alvarez 15-9
8 Café 15.0
9 Ellston 14-8

High jump
1 Smith 5-4
2 tie Alvarez 5-2
4 tie Jacobsen 4-10

Triple jump
3 Alvarez 35-3

Shot put
3 Singer 33-5
5 V. Dunn 32-4

Discus
2 Singer 126-7
4 D. Dunn 97-0
6 K. Dunn 95-0

Sentinel June 12 the final Area Prep track and field records for the boys, by event, place, name and time.
100 meters
1 Bell 10.62
3 Crespi 11.1
7 Stephens 11.4

200 meters
1 Bell 21.94
3 Crespi 23.1
7 Nevin 24.0

400 meters
2 tie Nevin 51.9
2 tie Henry 51.9
5 Bell 53.3
7 N. Allen 54.5

800 meters
5 N. Allen 2:04
8 Stovall 2:10

1,600 meters
10 Stovall 4:54.7

400 meter relay
1 SC 42.77

Mile relay
1 SC 3:22.85

110 meter high hurdles
3 Whiting 15.8
7 tie Meyer 17.2

300 meter intermediate hurdles
5 Porter 41.6
9 Meyer 43.0

Long jump
2 Crespi 22-2
3 Robinson 21-1
5 Stephens 20-4
10 Keyser 19-6

Triple jump
4 Crespi 43-7
10 Meyer 38-7

High jump
3 Robinson 6-4
5 tie Corcoran 5-10

Shot put
3 Weaver 47-6
8 Croghan 41-4
10 Sutton 39-0

Discus
3 Weaver 138-11
6 Sutton 131-4

Pole vault
1 Whiting 13-6
2 Dalbesio 12-0
4 Greiner 11-0

Yearbook Boys squad: Brooks Allen, Nathan Allen, Gabe Blanchette, Neal Christen, Marcus Crespi, Chris Croghan, Jason Dalbesio, William Delado, Tony Dutra, Dylan Greiner, Zach Hart, Ben Henery, Brian Jones, Chris Kaspar, Donald Keller, Alex Keyser, Todd Kidder, Jose Lainez, James Meyer, Jason Nevin, Joe Peterson, Josh Porter, Alex Robinson, David Soto, Joseph Street, Josh Sutton, Jason Swolgaard, Sjon Tol, Jimmy Weaver, Sam Wenger, Nik Whiting, Scott Carson, Josh Baisinger, Mario Guerrero, Colt Hangen, Paul Quilici, Mason Torres, Brandon White and Ken Stovall.

Yearbook Girls squad: Abra Allen, Linda Alvarez, Erin Anderson, Anna Aspesi, Natalie Bridgeman, Melanie Café, Pauline Carothers, Karina Chirinos, Namaste Chisam, Carrie Cleveland, Melissa Connerly, Naima Contos, Brook DeWorken, Jessica Duncan, Kelli Dunn, Vanessa, Margaret Fahl, Bernadette Ferrante, Megan Fleming, Jody Hoberg, Joanne Hutson, Rebecca Jones, Gretchen Krebs, Val Lee, Wendy Lemmon, Cheryl, Lin, Hilary Musselman, Julie Oldfield, Sara Oldfield, Gloria Padilla, Lauren Ricker, Marian Rodriguez, Stephanie Sauer, Monica Silver, Megan Simons, Evie Smith, Tamara Slaten, Jamie Strange, Christina Thompson, Alyson Tom, Noelle Walker, Jennifer Walton, Morgan Wrankle, Kati Wunce, Amber Yale, Emily Jacobsen, Mira Karden, Jessica Pusser, Nicole Naver, Amy Smith, Anna Smith, Chione Flegal. Coach Brian Wall.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Yearbook. Varsity members: Hakuin Haas, Kevin Justin Robinson, Sean Barbera, Jay Gardner, Deva Mercado, Brian Vernor and Jeremy Whitner. Coach Mark Tedsen.

JV members: Peter Dixon-Mosses, Sage, Brian, Chris Apra, Keith Sherwood and Corey.

Trident. April 9. Lacking Consistency, Volleyball Struggles. The team has experience, but is lacking in consistency. With a record of 5-3, the third place team has been unable to string together two consecutive victories. Once again Soquel is the Cards toughest opponent. SC lost at home to them in five games, 10-15, 11-15, 15-6, 15-13, 11-15. The highlight of the game came in the fourth match with the Cards ahead 14-10 for 13 side-outs. Finally by winning the point, SC won the game. In the final game Soquel went ahead 7-1, but SC fought back within two at 10-12 before losing.
SC had their share of big wins over Harbor and Aptos twice. “Everyone is skilled at their positions and they know how to play the game well,” said Coach Mark Tedsen. The experience comes from the eight players who have played for Team Santa Cruz, the local volleyball club, for three or more years. Plus most of the players who took second place behind Soquel are back. Key players are junior, outside hitter Jay Gardner and sophomores Hakuin Haas and Ryan Oliver as setter and the only starting senior, middle hitter and team captain Jeremy Whitner.

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING
SCCAL swimming championship. Harbor scored 444 points to out-distance second place SC with 266. SC finished second at the nine team Northern California invitational at Foothill College. Serra won with 610 points followed by SC 313 and Los Altos 255. Second at SCCAL relay meet. At the Santa Cruz High Sprint Invitational meet, SC took second place with 58 points. Aptos-Harbor Invitational at Cabrillo College, Harbor finished with 352 points in the seven team meet, SC was second with 219 points.
Practice Meets: Carmel 111-73, North Salinas 135-40. League: Watsonville 124-34, Aptos 99-39, Harbor 76-111, Soquel 114-64. League record 3-1 for second place. 5-1 overall record.

Yearbook. Led by Zack Thompson, the Cards are expecting to equal their second place finish in league last year. As a sophomore Zack was a good enough swimmer to compete at the CCS finals and has continued to excel. “Coach Mike Bennett has taught us how to compete, maintain a good work ethic and a competitive edge while at the same time demonstrating good sportsmanship,” said Zack. Team members: Greg Burland, Adam Philips, Peter Dixon-Moses, Ron Poole, Damien Korte, Mike McGuinness, Chris Nur, Dave Thompson, Jeff Smith, Scott Reed, Ryan Trum, Zach Patrick, Danny Smith, Zev Gardner, Robby Holmberg, Matt Bonnell, and Paul Kele. Coach Bennett.

Trident. March 5. Coach Bennett said, “We have six varsity swimmers returning so we should be a very good team,” SC has only three divers, which is small. The 1991 league champion Matt Reyes said, “We have a very strong team this year even though we are pretty small in numbers.”

Sentinel. March 2. It’s Harbor Again In SCCAL Swim Relays for the fifteen straight year. Harbor had 112 points with SC in second, close behind with 92. The meet is a preliminary to the SCCAL dual meet season. All races were relays with no swimmer allowed to compete in more than two events. There were no meet records broken. One of SC’s wins came in the 400 breast-butterfly, with swimmers alternating strokes each leg. SC won in 8:14.1, as Dave Thompson started with the breast, Mike McGinnis following with the fly, Zack Thompson the breast and Adam Phillips anchored in the fly. SC also won the 800 free relay in 4:18.14

Sentinel. March 5. SC started off its dual meet season on a positive note with a 111-73 victory over Carmel. SC had two double winners. Zack Thompson won the 50 yard freestyle in 24.23 and the 100 free in 52.10. Adam Phillips won the 100 butterfly in 1:01and the 100 backstroke in 1:03.20. Matt Reyes won the one meter diving with 159.70 points. Damian Korte took the 200 free and David Thompson claimed the 100 breaststroke. “I was really pleased and surprised, I didn’t think our times would be this good so early in the season,” said coach Mike Bennett.

March 8. At the Santa Cruz High Sprint Invitational meet, SC took second place with 58 points. Zack Thompson was second in the individual standings. Thompson won the 100 free in 51.15, and the 50 free in 23.78.

March 10. At the Aptos-Harbor Invitational at Cabrillo College, Harbor finished with 352 points in the seven team meet, SC was second with 219 points followed by Aptos 163, Carmel 154, Watsonville 149, Soquel 129 and Monterey 86.

March 12. Adam Phillips, Zack Thompson and Damien Korte each had two victories. SC defeated North Salinas 135-40. Phillips won the 200 yard individual medley in 2:19.56 and the 100 butterfly in 1:04.91. Thompson won the 50 free in 24.03 and the 500 free in 5:12.15. Korte won the 100 free in 53.54 and the 100 backstroke in 1:08.90 Also winning were Mike McGuinness in the 200 free in 2:00.47 and David Thompson in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.72.

March 15. At the Aptos Invitational SC was second to Harbor with 256 points and third place Carmel had 160. Matt Reyes was second in diving with 145.55 points to the winners 152.20 points. Zack Thompson took two second places in the 50 free in 23.90 and the 100 free in 52.01.

March 22. SC took eighth place among ten teams with 75 points at the Serra Invitational Relay Meet. The Cards best race was the 750 yard freestyle relay, in which they took second place in a time of 7:21.31. Zack Thompson swam a 400 yard leg, Damien Korte the 200, Mike McGinness the 100 and Adam Phillips the 50. SC took third place in the 400 free relay in a time of 3:33.90.

March 27. SC 124, Watsonville 34. Zack Thompson won the 200 individual medley in 2:09.90 to qualify for the CCS championship meet. Thompson led a 1-2-3 SC finish in the 500 free with a 5:28 finish. Mike McGuinness was second in 5:31.45. Adam Phillips was third in 5:35.26. Phillips also won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.24. Damian Korte was second in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.88, a very good time according to Coach Mike Bennett.

Sentinel. March 29. SC finished second at the nine team Northern California invitational at Foothill College. Serra won with 610 points followed by SC 313 and Los Altos 255. Zack Thompson had two wins, the 1,000 yard freestyle in 10:42.64 and the 500 free in 5:10.12, which is a CCS qualifying time. Ron Poole was second in the 50 backstroke in 32.08. Adam Phillips was sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.6 a qualifying CCS time. Dave Thompson was fourth in the 100 butterfly in 1:00.91. Greg Bruland was second in the 50 breaststroke in 34.63.

Sentinel. April 4. Santa Cruz Stays Unbeaten with a 99-39 SCCAL win over Aptos. SC is 4-0 for the season and 2-0 in league. Zack Thompson and Adam Phillips were double winners. Thompson took the 200 freestyle in the leagues best time 1:54.59 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.76. Phillips won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.24 and the 100 backstroke in 1:03.65. Damien Korte won the 500 free in 5:19.95 and David Thompson won the 200 individual medley in 2:22.31.

Trident. April 9. Swimmers Vie With Harbor For First. SC with a 4-0 overall record and 2-0 in league is fighting for first place with Harbor. Seniors Dave Thompson, Ron Poole, Mike McGuinness, Adam Phillips and Scott Watkins have been the backbone of the team so far, with additional help from juniors Zack Thompson and Damien Korte. In league SC defeated Aptos and Watsonville. At the Northern California Invitational, SC finished in second place ahead of many dominating schools from the valley. For the second straight year, SC and Harbor are vying for the top spot in the SCCAL. Phillips, who qualified for CCS in the backstroke last season said, “We are a strong second to Harbor in league. In past years Harbor has been overpowering, but we can give them a run for their money this year,” None of the other schools in the league can compete with these two teams.

Sentinel. April 10. Cards Can’t Keep Up. SC Swimmers Have Good Day, But Harbor Wins Dual Meet. Even though SC set six season bests times in its own pool, it wasn’t enough to get past powerhouse Harbor, who won 111-76. Harbor won ten of the 12 events. One of the better races was in the 100 butterfly, where Mike McGuinness was nosed out at the finish, but his 59.94 time was his seasons best. Adam Phillips was edged out in the 100 backstroke and his time of 1:01.14 was his seasons best. Other seasons best were Zack Thompson took first in the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:05.04, which was five seconds better than his previous best. Matt Reyes took first in diving with 167.40 points. Other seasons best were Adam Phillips in the 200 individual Medley and McGuinness in the 500 free in 5:21.57. “We really had some good swims today. I was pleased with the team as a whole and especially the times in our distance swims, Harbor is such a strong team. They have so much depth and quality. That really helps in gaining points in relays a lot,” Coach Bennett.

Sentinel. April 25. Despite some exhausting workouts in preparation for next weeks SCCAL championship meet, the Cards dunked Soquel 114-64. Zack Thompson got wins in the 200 free in 1:54.37 and 500 free in 5:23.27. His 200 free time is second best in the league. SC is now 4-1 in league meets and 6-1 overall. Other winners were Adam Phillips in 200 individual medley in 2:16.42. Scott Watkins in 50 free in 24.38. David Thompson season best in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.86.

Trident. April 30. With their impressive 5-1 overall record and 3-1 in league, the team destroyed all competition except for fearsome Harbor. For the second straight year SC finished behind Harbor. Zack Thompson, “We ended up a lot closer to them in our meet, then we usually do and we qualified for CCS.” Only a few swimmers took first for SC. The SCCAL finals are coming up. The four seniors with support from juniors, Damien Korte, Ramey White, Jeff Smith and Chris Nur are ready to compete for the top spot.

May 19. Sentinel Athlete of the Week was senior diver Matt Reyes, who finished off a brilliant high school career by placing seventh at the CCS championship meet. It was the highest ever by anyone from the SCCAL. “He’s always been very motivated,” said Coach Mike Bennett. “He loves to dive. He put in a lot of time and effort. He works out year round and it paid off for him this year.
Reyes was unbeaten in dual meets this year and won the SCCAL championship for the second year in a row after finishing second as a sophomore. He finished eleventh in CCS last year. “I hope he continues to dive in college. He’s a great diver. He has good dives and good forms. He has a lot of potential still ahead of him,” coach Bennett said.

Trident. May 28. At the SCCAL Championship meet, SC took second and had 11 top six place finishes in the individual events. Junior Zack Thompson took second in both the 200 and 500 meter freestyle. Junior Damien Korte took third and fourth in the same events. Senior Adam Phillips took second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 100 butterfly. Senior Scott Watkins took fifth in the 50 freestyle. All six qualified for CCS. Junior Greg Bruland was on the 200 medley relay team at the CCS meet at the Stanford Swim Center. Senior Matt Reyes, the star diver for the Cards walked away with his second consecutive first place finish with 382 points a new school record. Sophomore Corey Warner and junior Rob Holmberg took third and sixth place respectively in diving. Reys placed seventh at CCS.

Sentinel. May 10. Again Harbor Wins SCCAL Swim Title. Harbor won every race on their way to their twelve consecutive SCCAL swimming championship. Harbor scored 444 points to un-distance second place SC with 266, Watsonville 145, Soquel 145 and Aptos 104 and North Monterey with only on participant 17. The only event not taken by Harbor was the diving, where SC’s Matt Reyes finished with 382.80 points. Harbor did sweep all the swimming events for the second consecutive year.

Sentinel stats for boys swimming on May 15 listed by place in rankings, name and best time. 200 medley relay: 2. Team members Phillips, Thompson, McGuinness and Watkins 1:50.02
200 freestyle: 3. Zack Thompson, 1:49.23, 4. Korte, 1:54.44
200 individual medley: 2. Zack Thompson 2:08.90. League record Hatch 1980 in 1:56.10
50 freestyle: 6. Watkins 23.63
100 butterfly: 2 Phillips 57.44, 6. Dave Thompson 57.42 and 6. McGuinness in 59.61
100 freestyle: 5 Zack Thompson 52.01
500 freestyle: 2 Zack Thompson 4:58.33, 4 Korte, 5:10.69, 6. McGuinness 5:13.81
200 freestyle relay: 2 team members Thompson, Korte, Watkins, Phillips 1:34.83
100 backstroke: 2 Phillips 57.96. League record Hackbarth 1986 54.45
100 breaststroke: 3 Zack Thompson 1:05.04 4 Dave Thompson 1:05.23
400 freestyle relay: 2 Team members Korte, Zack Thompson, McGuinness Phillips 3:27.54 Diving: 1 Reyes 382.80, 3 Warner 295.15, 6 Holmberg 261.00

BOYS TENNIS Trident. May 28. UNDEFEATED IN LEAGUE 10-0 for CHAMPIONSHIP, while sweeping the league singles and doubles titles. In the first round of CCS, lost to Carmel 4-3 in a long and intense battle.
In league play SC defeated Soquel, Watsonville and Aptos 7-0 twice. SLV 6-1 and Harbor 6-1 and 5-2 were the only teams to score against the Cards.
Practice matches: Overfelt 6-1, Leland 2-5, St. Francis of Mt. View 5-2, RLS 0-6. Practice record 3-1. Overall record 13-2.

Yearbook. After Aptos broke their string of championship seasons last year, the team is out for revenge this season. The mobility of number one singles player Sean Kilpatrick and the consistency from the number two and three singles positions held by Norwegian exchange student Joe Jakobsen and returnee Max Swanger, the team was above all other league competition. Rest of squad: Josh Sheridan, Tyler Brunnemer, Max Mugnier, Chris Hiromura, Ben Dezur, Gabe Murphy, Sergio Torchio, Tao Stadler, Bryce Dimitrick and Jed Oliver. Coach Dennis Mullen.

Sentinel March 11. SC their record to 2-0 with a 6-1 win over Overfelt. SC dropped only three games in the top two singles matches as Sean Kilpatrick won at number one, 6-0, 6-1. Jo Jakobsen won at number two. 6-0, 6-2.

March 13. Leland of San Jose a traditional powerhouse, chalked up a 5-2 win over the traditional local powerhouse SC. SC won at the number two singles, as senior Jo Jakobson won 6-4, 6-2. Number two doubles team of David Sanford and Sergio Torchio, won 6-4, 6-4.

Sentinel March 19. SC defeated St. Francis of Mt. View 5-2. SC is now 3-1 on the season. St. Francis is traditionally a strong team and the win is an important one for SC. Picking up singles wins were Jo Jakobsen, Max Swanger, Tao Stadler and Gabe Murphy. Josh Sheridan and Chris Hiromura won the number two doubles.

Sentinel March 24. A powerful RLS team that made it to the CCS semifinals last year showed it hasn’t lost much, nailing SC 6-0. SC is now 3-2-1, were closer than the shutout indicates, as three matches went to three sets. Jo Jacobsen at two singles, lost for the first time this season 6-4, 4-6, 3-6. At three, Max Swanger was edged 6-4, 6-7 (4-6). The number two doubles team of David Sanford and Chris Hiromura were headed to the third set when the match was called for darkness.

Sentinel. March 25. SC 7, Soquel 0. Looking like the powerhouse team they were in the late 1980’s, the Cards smothered Soquel, dropping only seven games overall in taking all five singles matches in straight sets. Setting the tone for the Cards in the league opening win was Sean Kilpatrick, who took the number one singles 6-0, 6-0. SC, coming off a non league loss is 4-2-1 overall.

March 28. SC 7, Watsonville 0. The closes match was 6-2, 6-1 win by the doubles team of Josh Sheridan and Sergio Torchio. The Cards did not drop a set in its third consecutive 7-0 league win.

April 1. Harbor Gives Santa Cruz A Battle, But Loses 6-1. SC’s depth proved to be its strength, as SC lost only six games in number 4 and 5 singles and the two doubles matches. SC was forced t fight through a couple of tough matches at the top of the ladder. Sean Kilpatrick, one of the top players in the league coming into the season, had to scramble back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to finally win 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. At three singles Max Swanger lost 3-6, 3-6. “I was impressed with Harbor’s top players. It’ll make us focus a little more,” Coach Dennis Mullen. SC is now 3-0 in league.

April 4. SC rolled to its fourth SCCAL win and no losses defeated Aptos 7-0. SC which is 9-2 overall has lost only one individual match in its four league matches. Sean Kilpatrick won the number one singles 6-1, 6-1.

April 8. SC 7, SLV 0. SC is now 6-0 in league. SLV won just seven games the entire match. Number one singles player Sean Kilpatrick won 6-0, 6-0 as did Jo Jakobson at number two and Josh Sheridan at number five.

April 11. The SC juggernaut rolled on Friday. The Cards string of SCCAL championships was temporarily disconnected last year by Aptos, knocked off Soquel 7-0, to improve their league record to 6-0. Sean Kilpatrick led the Cards with a 6-1, 6-0 win in number one singles. At number two, Gabe Murphy won 6-2, 6-2. At number five, David Sanford won 6-0, 6-0.

Sentinel. April 22. SC 7, Watsonville 0. SC rolled to its seventh SCCAL win without a loss. SC has won six of its matches by a score of 7-0 and one by a 6-1 count. SC won each of its seven matches in two sets. Sean Kilpatrick won the number one singles 6-0, 6-0.

April 25. Santa Cruz Returns To Top In SCCAL Tennis. After winning 14 league titles in 16 seasons, it’s got to get boring for the SC tennis team. Doesn’t it? “No, they’re all excited,” said Coach Dennis Mullen, who has coached the Cards since 1970. “It still means a lot. I like to see the kids work together all season and win it. We got a good effort by everyone.”
SC clinched at least a tie in league with a 5-2 win over Harbor. SC move to 8-0 in league and Harbor is 6-2. SC defeated Harbor 6-1 on March 31. Every other team has been blanked 7-0 by SC. Since 1977, the first season of the SCCAL, SC has only lost six league matches. Aptos is the only team to ever dethrone SC, including last year.
Senior Sean Kilpatrick won the number one singles in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Kilpatrick said, “my overhead and consistence helped me win.” The SCCAL title had been wrapped up minutes earlier then the finish of the number one singles match. Senior Tao Stadler and sophomore Tyler Brunnemer did the honors, notching the fifth victory at number two doubles 6-1, 6-0. SC got its first victory at number one doubles, where sophomores Josh Sheridan and Sergio Torchio won 6-0, 6-3. Junior Max Swanger and freshman Gabe Murphy closed out victories at number 4 and 5 singles to set up the doubles clincher. Swanger won 6-4, 6-3 and Murphy won 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. Card Joe Jacobsen lost in three sets, 6-0, 4-6, 4-6.

April 29. SC clinched the league title outright, easily knocking off defending champion Aptos 7-0. At number one singles, Sean Kilpatrick won 6-2, 6-3 as SC reeled off straight set wins in six matches. Number one doubles went three sets as Josh Sheridan and Sergio Torchio won 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. SC is 9-0 with one match to play.

Trident. April 30. Hard Working Tennis Players Continue to Dominate League. SC defeated their toughest opponent, Harbor 5-2 to up their league record to 8-0. The Cards are on their way to winning their seventeenth league title in nineteen years. Coach Mullen believes his teams success is attributed to, “the hard working players. Our team works harder than any other team in the league.”
Number one singles player Sean Kilpatrick won his match in three sets. The number one doubles team of sophomores Josh Sheridan and Sergio Torchio won 6-3, 6-0. But all the credit shouldn’t just go to the number one players. Coach Mullen said, “While other teams have only three good players, we have eleven or twelve.”

May 1. Sean Kilpatrick concluded a perfect run through the league winning his tenth match at number one singles undefeated as SC defeated SLV 6-1. SC swept all five singles matches in straight sets and remained unbeaten in league. The Cards only loss came in number one doubles.

May 5. SC’s Kilpatrick and Harbor’s Carey Play For League Title. Because they have played in different slots all through the SCCAL season, Sean Kilpatrick and Byron Carey have not met each other this year. Kilpatrick won his two matches in the first round 6-1, 6-2 and 6-3, 6-0 in the semifinals. In doubles, David Sanford and Tao Stadler lost 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 0-6. Second seeded Jo Jakobsen and Max Swanger will play in the finals.

May 6. Cards Sweep Finals. SC Win SCCAL Singles and Doubles Titles. At Imperial Courts Racquet Club, Sean Kilpatrick after a grueling second set, featuring many long rallies with few aggressive shots by either player, Kilpatrick won 6-3, 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) to cap a 15-0 season against league opponents. “In the tiebreaker,” Kilpatrick said, “I thought if I don’t win this, his endurance might mean the end for me. I got behind and was thinking I’d rather win my four points and leave.” “In the tie breaker, I almost had a heart attack. When he was up 6-5 (in games) I felt like I couldn’t come back. He’s real quick. I thought if I could just keep them in, he’d eventually hit them out. But he kept working for it.” Kilpatrick advances to the CCS Individual Championship, which begins May 19 at Imperial Courts.
The doubles title went to Joe Jakobsen and Max Swanger in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. Jakobsen, an exchange student from Norway, played number two singles and Swanger played number three or four. They will be participating at the CCS Championships as a doubles team along with Kilpatrick in singles. “We were really fired up because we won the second set. It was all emotions after that,” Jakobsen said. Junior Swanger served well to help SC breeze through the third set. “I’ve never seen him serve so well,” Jakobsen said.

ALL SCCAL Sean Kilpatrick, singles and Joe Jakobsen and Max Swanger, doubles competed at the CCS individual championships.

GOLF
SCCAL record of 4-8. Beat Watsonville twice, 222-228 and 332-341, Soquel 218-228 and Harbor for their four wins.

Yearbook. Three new comers to the team this year, Luke Maura, Desi Anderson and Kris Reyes mixed in with captain Dov Rothman and Micah Breeden and after getting a taste of what it is like to play as a team, the rookies learned and picked up quickly to give the Cards the lift needed to conquer Soquel, Harbor, Aptos and Monte Vista. Rest of squad: Justin Thoma, Angelo Gouskous, Travis, and Fritz.

Sentinel. March 18. Santa Cruz Scores Its First Victory. With both teams search for their first SCCAL victory, SC managed to get past host Watsonville 222-228 at the Pajaro Valley Golf Course. Dov Rothman led the Cards with a 40, 4 over par, on the front nine with Micah Breeden at 42 and Desi Anderson at 44 to round out the top scorers. SC is 1-2 in league dual matches.

April 10. Santa Cruz 332, Watsonville 341. SC with only five players, got a big lift from number five Chris Reyes in a 12 hole match at Pasatiempo. SC, because it didn’t have six golfers couldn’t throw out the highest score, in the best of five of six golfers, in the league scoring format. SC trailed Watsonville by three strokes after its first four golfers finished. But Reyes beat his opponent by 12 strokes, shooting a 14 over par 62 to win the match. SC improved to 2-7. The two SC wins came against Watsonville.

Trident. April 30. After a disappointing winless preseason, the Card strive to turn things around for league. In the first round of league play, SC defeated both Harbor and Watsonville for a 2-4 record. In the second half, SC defeated Watsonville again. “We started out slow, but are finally turning things around. The team is getting play from some of the lower members,” said Coach Pappas.
Dov Rothman is still the strongest member of the team. He has lost only two matches in league, but the rest of the team can’t get their scores down enough to pick up wins. The other four scoring members are senior Kris Reyes, junior Micah Breeden and sophomores Rainer Ball and Desi Anderson. The top five scorers on the team are added up to get the team score

May 7. SC posted a 218-228 win over Soquel in a make up match at Pastiempo. Dov Rothman had the best score for SC with a 40. SC closed with a SCCAL record of 4-8. Trident. May 28. SC ended the season with a victory over Soquel by ten strokes, to end on a high note.

ALL SCCAL Dov Rothman. Rothman has qualified for CCS both his freshman and sophomore years.

SAILING TEAM Yearbook: Cruises Around State. A new sport at SC started by Jeff Regan, Ben Gersick, Greg Bruland and Team Captain Scott Lechner. Katie Scharmann joined the team this year. They sail around the state to compete. The team can only have five members, with two people per boat. The extra person is considered an alternate and can be substituted in case of an emergency.

Last year the team traveled to Redwood City to compete in the Pacific Coast High School Championships. Nine schools entered with two boats each. The SC team of Scott Lechner and Jeff Regan finished in third place. SC was able to use two boats loaned by UCSC for practice and competition. Next year the team hopes to compete in Southern California as well.

Sentinel. April 10. The SC surf team last weekend clinched the County high school league championship with a 5-0 record and will represent the area in the state championships in Huntington Beach. The June contest will be a grand opportunity for the Cards to show their stuff and show they come from the real Surf City.