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1993
Sentinel Top Athletes of the year were both SC athletes. For the girls it was Kenna Karst and boys Reggie Stephens.
SANTA CRUZ DUO SHINES:
Aggressive Attitude Has Karst At The Top. Kenna Karst has never been afraid to mix it up.
As a fifth grader she played basketball with seventh graders, and this summer she plans to trade elbows and jump shots with the boys down at Meder Street Park.
It’s that kind of aggressive attitude that helped the Santa Cruz High senior become one of the top basketball and softball players in the area and earn recognition as the Sentinel’s Santa Cruz County Female Athlete of the Year.
Karst took a recruiting trip to Chico and felt an immediate affinity for the Northern California Athletic Conference champion’s basketball program, which plays at the NCAA Division II level.
Karst is no stranger to taking on big challenges. In fifth grade at Holy Cross School she joined the seventh grade basketball team when it was short of players.
In high school against girls her own age, Karst quickly developed as one of the top players in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League. As a senior, she averaged 11.7 points a game. But that only tells part of the story.
Karst was generally regarded as the top point guard in the league. On offense she guided the Cardinals to a 25-4 record and the semifinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Defensively, the 5-foot-8 Karst wreaked havoc in the opposition’s backcourt, averaging a whopping nine steals a game.
One of the quickest players in the league, Karst has an intuitive sense of the game. “She was a great anticipator,” said Wilson. “I sometimes felt she knew what the other team’s offense would do before they did it.”
Karst’s harassment of opposing guards helped Santa Cruz hold opponents to 40.4 points a game. But Karst, like a good team player, only cared about the final score. “I don’t care if I don’t score a point as long as we win,” she said.
Given the chance, Karst could have been a bigger scorer. “The majority of her points didn’t come out of half court offense,” Wilson said. “Her main job was getting ball to other players. When she had a shot on the perimeter, she’d take it and she scored leading the fast break.”
Although basketball was, and remains, her favorite sport, Karst was also a star in softball.
She was the prototype leadoff hitter because of her speed and batting eye. Karst finished the season with a .369 batting average (sixth in the SCCAL) 21 runs (third), 31 hits (tied for third), and led the league with 21 steals. She earned first team all-league and all-county awards.
She just has a lot of talent said Karst’s softball coach, Vic Miguel. “She has great base speed and a terrific arm from the shortstop position. She has some skills you just don’t coach.”
Miguel things that if Karst was not intent on following basketball, she could play softball for a big-time program.
“There’s a lot of softball players around, but very few have that kind of speed that would be equal to Kenna’s” Miguel said. “I think she could very well be recognized and play softball for a major college team.”
“I have fun in softball,” Karst said, “but it’s too slow.” It’s not the sport for a high energy mix-it-up type of person such as Karst.

Previous SC winners were Evonne Sandas in 1977, when the award was first given; Tami King in 1988; Diane Gergen in 1991.

Stephens A Standout In Every Field Of Play. The coaches at SC were close to losing Reggie Stephens. Twice. No football. No basketball. No track.
First, there was the earthquake. Not the 1989 Loma Prieta disaster, but a somewhat insignificant rumble a couple years ago that most locals hardly noticed. But it was significant to Stephens, who had just moved to Santa Cruz from Louisiana, and hadn’t experienced a quake.
After he hit the floor at home, he looked up at his mother, Rose, when the shaking had finished and said, ”Mama, it’s time for us to go back home.”
But Stephens stayed, and Santa Cruz kept a three-sport star. And this year, the Cardinal junior did enough to shake up things on the football field, the basketball court and in track and field to be selected the Sentinel’s Santa Cruz County Male Athlete of the Year.
Still, a year that included being a two-way standout in football, an all-county guard in basketball, and the dominant sprinter-long jumper in track almost didn’t happen–because Stephens was nearly lost after football season with torn cartilage in his knee.
“I had to just learn to deal with pain,” said Stephens, who under went an MRI exam.
“He played in serious discomfort ,” said Card basketball coach Pete Newell, Jr. “But Reggie’s character is the foundation of his athletic success. He possesses the speed, quickness, jumping ability and shooting touch, and has the instincts to be as good as anybody in the area at his position. But he has a mental toughness that never surrenders to fatigue and pain.”
“I just didn’t think abut it,” Stephens said of the knee.
Newell thought about it and sent Stephens to Watsonville orthopedic surgeon Joseph Fogel, who allowed Stephens to play with a brace, and warned that if the knee didn’t get better, Stephens would have to stop.
So Stephens played with the brace for a coupe weeks, didn’t like it, and stopped using it. Somehow, the knee held up, apparently without getting worse.
“It would hurt after (competition), and it would be stiff in the morning,” Stephens said. “But I had to keep on going.”
Last fall, Stephens got going with an average of 8.3 carry as a running back, and became one of the top three cornerbacks in the area. Then, colliding with a teammate the first week of basketball practice, Stephens’ knee was injured and he played hurt the next seven months. In that time, he managed to score 11.5 points a game in the winter, then this spring finished the track season by winning the 100 meters, 200 and long jump at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Championships, and anchored the winning 400 relay to qualify for the Central Coast Section meet in each event.
“He’s an amazing kid,” says Cardinal track coach Bryan Wall. “He was still hurting (in the spring), but he didn’t complain. I would pull him out of things when I could tell he hurt, because he wouldn’t say anything.
Stephens won the SCCAL long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 4 inches–despite never practicing the long jump all season because it put too much strain on the knee. “I had to save it for meets,” Stephens said. But Stephens was not a loafer in practice, in any sport. To the contrary, his coaches say he has the type of unyielding work ethic they wish all their athletes had.
“He made his way through it with a lot of bumps and bruises said football coach Ron Mehuron, who forced Stephens to rest with a banged-up elbow late in the season. “But he was always out there, and he made it to all the practices, and never was one to sit out. Some others will (sit out) when they have little bruises/ But Reggie pushed himself.”
Stephens, whose first year living in Santa Cruz was his freshmen year, has pushed himself through three sports each of the past three years, and is looking to doing it again next year. “Track is the most fun thing I do,” he says. “Then, I like football. But whatever sports come around I work hard on it. If you don’t do that, you are only cheating yourself. If my teammates see me slacking off, they will slack off. But if they see me, they realize they will have to work hard.”
The 5-foot-10 Stephens, who weighed only 165 for football, is up to 172 now, and said he would like to be up 185 next fall–and be up to challenging Johnny Johnson’s single-season record of 1,729 yards.
That may be tough, if only because Santa Cruz also will have Jermaine Robinson–one of Stephens’ closest friends–returning as the All-County Offensive Player of the Year. “Jermaine wants the (Johnson record, too,” Stephens said. So Mehuron must find a way to keep both happy.
Stephens wasn’t happy at the end of football. “I felt like it was a waste,” he said of having only 45 carries. I got angry I didn’t get the ball. But I understand he (Mehuron) had seniors, too. And he couldn’t get us all the ball.”
When I talk with (college) scouts,” Mehuron said, “I often mention that in hindsight, I wish I would have played Reggie a lot more. And he’s getting some good response from the scouts, because he has a very good work ethic, and he’s willing to go to summer school to improve his grades. I think he can really make something happen.”
Stephens has made plenty happen already.
The only previous SC award winner was Johnny Johnson in 1987.

Sentinel Top Athletes Among Girls were Jessica Lang. An all around athlete, who competed on the swim team, as a starting guard in basketball and came on in softball, her main sport as the SCCAL Most Valuable player, hitting .366.
Christina Thompson. A tough competitor in basketball and smooth performer in track. Averaged 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds on the court, the won the SCCSL 400 and 200 meters in track.

Sentinel Top Athletes Among Boys. Neil Churchill. Was number two in county in rushing with 716 yards a 7.0 average per carry, SCCAL soccer honorable mention, then hit .389 with 17 RBI’s, while also competing as a sprinter in track in spring.
K.C. Kaiser. Three sport starter, a senior quarterback, who passed for 617 yards on a running team, clutch player as point guard in basketball, then hit .320 as the Cardinal second baseman.
Jermaine Robinson. Offensive Player of the Year in football, with 19 TD’s, starting forward who averaged 13.4 points, had areas best long jump at 21-7, high jump at 6-5.
Aaron Woliczko. One of top three sport athletes around, a 6-6 senior who was All County as a strong safety, the as a forward with 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds and infielder .366 average.

1993
FOOTBALL Practice games: RLS 30-14. Carmel 30-0, Gonzales 42-21. Practice record 3-0. League: Watsonville 7-3, Harbor 14-10, SLV 14-24, North Monterey 12-24, Aptos 13-31, Soquel 41-13, Monte Vista Christian 43-19. League record 4-3, tied for fourth place. Season record 7-3.

Sentinel stories
September 6. SCCAL Teams Open Season with Jamboree at Cabrillo College before over 2,000 fans. The most impressive team was SC with 57 points against Monte Vista Christian, Harbor and Soquel in 12 minute games against each opponent. The Cards showed numerous offensive sets, playing from various spread formations, sending out as many as five receivers out on pass patterns and kicking the only field goal of the night. Neil Churchill scored on a 55 yard pass from quarterback K.C. Kaiser against Harbor and also on a TD run against Harbor, which was set up by a 45 yard run by Reggie Stephens. Stephens had a TD, set up by a long run by Jermaine Robinson. Adrian Corcoran intercepted a pass against Harbor and returned it 60 yards for a TD.

Less Is More In Cardinal Win over Robert Louis Stevenson 30-14. Junior running back Jermaine Robinson didn’t have many opportunities in his varsity debut, but oh, what he made of the few chances he had. Consider Robinson’s set of less- is-more statistics. Two punt returns for 122 yards. One went for 34 yards to set up a SC TD and the other after a devastating block by lineman Josh Sutton, he went an electrifying 88 yards up the left side for a TD. Four rushes of 65 yards. Among the carries was a 54 yard fourth quarter jaunt for his second TD. One pass completion. Robinson, who before the season started toyed with the idea of playing quarterback until Coach Ron Mehuron nixed the plan, hooked up with Jason Niven on a nifty 19 yard pass off a fake punt on the Cards first possession to keep a SC drive alive. Not bad for someone, whose primary role this season could be as a . . . lure. “Jermaine made some terrific runs today. It’s nice to have someone like that on your team to draw the attention, because as much as anything, he’s going to serves as a good decoy,” Coach Mehuron said. While RLS was taking Robinson’s bait, the rest of the Cards were quietly at work. Running back Neil Churchill rushed 11 times for 57 yards and teammate Reggie Stephen had 30 yards on seven carries. Quarterback K.C. Kaiser completed five of ten passes, including a 15 yard scoring toss to receiver Aaron Woliczko. SC made three interceptions and forced two fumbles. But SC fumbled five times with two recovered by RLS.

Cardinal Run Over Carmel 36-0. Jermaine Robinson showed his triple threat ability by scoring touchdowns three different ways, while Neil Churchill rushed for 100 yards. Robinson a 5-11, 165 pound junior, who starts on offense and defense, scored all three touchdowns in the first half. In order, on an 11 yard run, a 17 yard pass reception and a 47 yard interception return. This third score, on the first play from scrimmage after his second score, gave SC a 28-0 lead at halftime, as the Cards were easily on their way to a 2-0 record.
Churchill, a 5-8, 165 pound senior, led Coach Ron Mehuron’s shuttle back offense, which rushed for 325 yards on 32 attempts, for better than ten yards a carry. Churchill had the most carries with eight, for his game high 100 yards, while Robinson had six runs for 87 yards, but had more than 50 yards that were nullified by penalties. Reggie Stephens ran five times for 75 yards and also showed his multi-threat talent with an interception.
For the game SC piled up 413 total yards on offense and would have made the game more of a rout had they not lost three of their four fumbles and been penalized for 82 yards. Defensively, the Cards posted their first shut out by holding Carmel to 69 yards rushing and would have been more dominant had they been able to cover the Carmel short passing attack. Carmel didn’t get inside the SC 20 yard line until the second half and had only one serious threat. A big third down tackle by linebacker Gabe Blanchette contributed to stopping the drive.

Cards Explode To Win. Four Second Half TD’s Stop Gonzales 42-21. SC was held without a first down for the first 20 minutes, but overcame a 14-0 deficit with six touchdowns in their final seven possessions. SC got the hang of the Spartans veer offense and held them to just one TD in their last six possessions. In the second quarter, the Cards started to blow the Spartan line off the line of scrimmage for Neil Churchill and Gabe Blanchette to run for huge gains up the middle. SC mixed it up be sending Jermaine Robinson and Reggie Stephens on sweeps. Then quarterback K.C. Kaiser would hit receivers Aaron Woliczko and Jason Nee for long gains. With the ball on their own 22, SC scored with 53 seconds left on the clock. Kaiser hit Woliczko for 44 yards, then Nee on a post corner route on the other side of the field for 31 more yards to the three. With twelve seconds left Robinson sweep to the right for the final three yards to get the Cards back in the game down only one point 14-13. Churchill scored on a 28 yard screen pass with three pulling blockers in front of him. Robinson scored on a 25 yard sweep and Blanchette scored on a 12 yard run up the middle wrapped up the second half. (the article left out some of the Card scoring)

Passing Cards Secret Weapon. Kaiser Delivers When It’s Time To Throw. Pre-game write up before the first league game against Watsonville. An endless supply of talented running backs, including the top two rushers in the SCCAL, Jermaine Robinson and Neil Churchill. An option offense that can score from anywhere on the field and run the other team right out of the stadium. A quick offensive line that, though not massive, has the stamina to wear down the defense that tries to run from side to side with them.
Little is known about the passing game. Most people think of quarterback Kaiser as the guy whose job it is to deftly execute the fakes and make sure the right guy gets the ball. Few are aware he is one of the most successful quarterbacks in the league. The 5-10, 150 pound Kaiser has averaged 20.4 yards per completion and is 14 for 22 attempts for a 64 percent completion average for a total of 285 yards for a league leading 12.9 yard average per pass. “Actually it’s the running that sets up the passing,” said Kaiser. “My passing catches the defense off guard, Usually, end Aaron Woliczko and Jason Nee get open easily and it’s not hard to hit a wide open receiver.” Usually, there is at least eight defensive player stacked up on the line trying to stop the run. The team is averaging 347 yards a game in the first three games.
Kaiser, who started last year received praise from Coach Mehuron, “He has put in so much work in preparation for this season. He is so much more precise in the things he does. Kaiser said “ I feel confident in what I’m doing out there, even though my passes don’t look too pretty sometimes. Since baseball’s mainly my sport, I just have that quick release. I’m not a pure quarterback. (this season he was the starting point guard on the basketball team.)

Late Game Heroics Lift Cards Over Cats 7-3. Game breaker, junior running back Jermaine Robinson made an electrifying 66 yard touchdown catch with 1:34 left in the league opening game against Watsonville. With first down on the Card 34, Robinson streaked down the middle seam of the Cat defense, got behind the defense and took Kaiser’s strike in full stride near mid field. A defender made a diving grab, but Robinson ran away from the tackle and switched onto breakaway speed to go all the way. It was the play the Cards had been waiting for all night and the one the Cats had been fearing. “We knew we were going to get something going,” running back Neil Churchill said of SC have one last chance with 2:02 to play, starting from its own 20 yard line. “We have guys who are all big play makers.” An incompletion, a sack of Kaiser and another incompletion to Robinson left the Cards facing fourth and 12 from their own 18.
Coach Mehuron called time with :51 to play. Churchill saw the Cats all go to Robinson on the incomplete pass and recommended red-gun reverse left. Kaiser handed off to Robinson going to the right, who handed off to Churchill, who swept left and picked up the biggest 16 yards of the game for a first down on the 34. On the next play Robinson shocked the Cats. Robinson had been held in check to only 29 yards rushing in eight carries and one other pass reception for 18 yards. He also had two interceptions the first half.

Trident. Oct 15. Boys Athlete of the Month of September, by the Trident was Jermaine Robinson, who averaged 12.3 yards per carry, 259 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, he is no surprise as the choice. His explosive running style, lightning quickness and his ability to exploit the best of defenses makes Robinson the most exciting running back in the SCCAL.

Cardinals Escape Pirate Mutiny. Robinson Ejected From 14-10 SC Win over Harbor. For the second week in a row the Cards trailed late in the game. Reggie Stephens changed the complexion and momentum of the game with an 85 yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage after Harbor had taken a 3-0 lead. On a simple dive play, Stephens followed a Neil Churchill block, broke a tackle at the 25 yard line and turned on the jets to put the Cards ahead with 10 minutes and 35 seconds to play. This one play changed the emotional tone of what had been a very intense and hard fought game.
In the second quarter, Jermaine Robinson was ejected from the game for allegedly fighting with a Harbor player. Stephens had made a hard tackle and there was a scuffle. (There were difference of opinion of what happened and which player was at fault. The films of the game will be reviewed and a decision made on what player will be suspended from next weeks game.)
Harbor controlled the action for the first 37 minutes of the game. After taking the lead, SC held Harbor on downs and they punted to the SC 39. Stephens broke free for a 42 yard run. After a penalty was added, the Cards had the ball on the Harbor 11. Churchill swept right on the next play to score with 6:33 left to play to put the game away. Churchill carried 13 times for 107 yards.

SLV Knocks Off Cardinals 24-14. Shocked first by an electrifying, opening game kickoff return that went 97 yards for a touchdown, then surprised by a fake punt that led to another touchdown, SLV found themselves down 14-0 to SC. Led by a defense that didn’t allow another point after the first period and did not allow SC inside its 46 yard line in the second half, SLV roared for four TD’s and the win. SLV is now 6-0 for the season and SC 5-1. The halftime score was 14-14. Churchill was held to 29 yards in nine carries and Robinson to 45 yards in 10 carries. SC was only able to gain 88 yards rushing for the whole game. Reggie Stephens was suspended for the game as he was charged with the problem in the previous game against Harbor rather then Robinson.

Wake Of The Week. Cardinal Serves His Suspension. The atmosphere at the SLV vs SC game was typically intense as it had a big impact on the SCCAL championship race as both teams had 5-0 records going in. It was easy to forget about a week old game film, a commissioners ruling, a civil rights advocate’s inquiry and a public protest. The stands were full, the parking lot was jammed. It was time to play football. Nothing else. But along the sidelines there was two way starter Reggie Stephens, in street clothes, after being suspended for this game for his involvement in a fight in the Cards last game. A video of the game was reviewed by the league commissioner. Stephens plays in the defensive secondary and at running back. He is the number four rusher in the league, second on the team with 271 yards on 25 carries, for a 10.8 average and three touchdowns.

Condors Continue to Roll. Undefeated NMC Punishes Santa Cruz 24-12. North Monterey and SLV are now tied for the league lead with 4-0 records. The Condors first had to deal with SC, the most explosive offensive team in the league. SC came into the game with a 2-1 record in league, which included a victory over title contender Watsonville. Except for a pair of electrifying runs in the fourth quarter, SC was held in check, while the Condor offense ground up the clock and yardage with almost machine like perfection.
After NMC had built a 17-0 lead, quarterback Kaiser and running back Churchill teamed up on an lateral play for the Cards first TD of 57 yards. Robinson sprinted down the sidelines for 76 yards for the second TD to make the score 17-12 with six minutes left in the game. NMC scored with 23 second left in the game. SC was held to four first downs in the first half and got no closer to pay dirt then the Condors 40.
In the third quarter, starting on their own 40, SC marched to the Condor 17 yard line in ten plays. On a third and two from the 17, Kaiser scrambled inside the ten, but SC was called for holding. That basically killed the drive. The holding penalty play resulted in a 14 point turnaround. NMC drove the length of the field for the deciding score with 12 minutes remaining.
SC needed all of three plays and 77 seconds to respond. SC started the drive with a 12 yard pass and a 12 yard run by Stephens. On first down from the Condor 43, Kaiser ran an option. As he was being tackled at the 30, he pitched to Churchill, who sprinted into the end zone. The Condors appeared to be on their way for another score, when Adrian Corcoran recovered a fumble. On third and four at the Card 24, Robinson took a pitch, shook off a couple of tackles near the sideling and darted 76 yards for a TD with six minutes to play. On a possible big play at the end of the game. NMC fumbled at the 11 yard line as they drove to score their last TD. The ball bounced around untouched for a couple of moments. Robinson sprinted to the ball and would have had clear sailing to score at the opposite end zone, but NMC got there first. If Robinson would have scored, SC could have won the game.

Santa Cruz Offense Derails On Muddy Aptos Field 13-33. For whatever reason the Card offense couldn’t get on track, losing three of its seven fumbles and gave up one interception. Neither team amassed any passing yards. After opening the season 5-0, SC has now lost three straight games. Aptos scored first. SC came right back with a nine play drive that ended on Gabe Blanchette’s 8 yard TD run to tie the score 7-7. Aptos led 20-7 at halftime. The leagues second leading rusher Neil Churchill was held to 45 yards on 13 carries.
The muddy field became a major factor at the start of the second half. Aptos fumble the ball to SC, the Cards fumbled it back and Aptos scored for a 27-7 lead. The final flash in the SC offense came with 7:48 left in the game. Jermaine Robinson was cut off on a sweep around right end at the Aptos 5. He reversed his field and outran a host of slipping and sliding Aptos defenders into the end zone to score the Cards thirteenth point.

Cards Bounce Knights 41-13. Jermaine Robinson donned his lucky socks for the first time in weeks was a one man wrecking drew as he rushed for 94 yards, caught two touchdown passes, returned the second half kickoff 77 yards for a score and ran the Cards opening play from scrimmage 48 yards to the end zone, to give him four touchdowns for the night. The Cards stopped the Soquel opening series with a minus 5 yards forcing a punt. On the Cards first down, Robinson ran a slant to the left, reversed field to the right and simply outran the defense for the score. SC finally reacquainted themselves with the instant offense that was a hallmark of the early season. SC scoring drives in the first half consisted of one play for 48 yards, three plays for 56 yards, one play for 26 yards and three plays for 50 yards. The Cards are now 3-3 in league and 6-3 for the season.

Cards Win Game But Miss Playoffs. Santa Cruz’ 42-19 Victory Over MVC Not Enough. Watsonville’s 28-0 victory over North Monterey crushed any hopes SC had of making the CCS playoffs. North Monterey and SLV clinched CCS playoff spots. Watsonville is on the bubble to qualify. On their first series, Monte Vista took control of the ball on the SC 39 and went in for a score within three minutes of the opening kickoff. At the 1:39 mark, SC took advantage of a short Mustang punt to their 26 yard line to put SC in excellent field position. Jermaine Robinson scored on a two yard run. The extra point was good for a SC 7-6 lead.
Late in the second quarter Aaron Woliczko recovered a punt on the Mustang 16. Neil Churchill rambled 13 yards to the 3. On the next play, Robinson danced into the end zone to make the lead 14-6 at intermission. In the second half Robinson and Churchill combined for four more touchdowns to put the game pretty much out of reach. The Card scoring was highlighted by Robinson’s 81 yard kickoff return up the right sideline after he appeared to be stopped.

Yearbook. Roster: J. Sutton, Aaron Woliczko, B. Jensen, J. Cortez, C. Croghan, A Corcoran, P. Kutsch, A. Robinson, C. Murray, B. Ayanbadejo, R. Miller, P. Quilici, B. Barbera, N. Whiting, R. Stephens, J. Dalbesio, J. Nee, A Guoskos, J. Robinson, J. Perez, A. Torres, G. Blanchette, J. Mueller, B. Criswell, D. Cooper, J. Pillsbury, N. Churchill, K. Kaiser, J. Nevin, E. Gliessman, R. Rodoni, J. Avalos, D. Esellus, S. Kemp, T. Lunsford, M. Rivas and R. Vaughn.
Head coach Ron Mehuron and assistants Tex Ronning and Vic Miguel.

Fiery Kaiser lights up the house of pain. K. C. Kaiser as the quarterback was protected by linemen Ron Miller, Josh Sutton, Jason Dalbesio, Jesus Cortez and Aaron Gilesman. Kaiser said, his favorite play of the year was “stay left 83, which sends Jermaine Robinson on a deep route and Jason Nee on an out pattern which allows me to either hit Jermaine for the score or Nee for a first down.”

The Cards defense has shown a lot of hot excitement on the field. Three talented athletes Gabe Blanchet, Chris Croghan and Josh Sutton led the hard hitting crew. The three commented, “all our players were excellent, but as a team effort we were the best out there.”

Sentinel. December 17. The Brightest Of Stars. Robinson’s Magic Touch Proved Lethal.
Jermaine Robinson, a junior, 5-11, 165 pounds played running back, receiver, kickoff and punt returner and defensive back was named the Sentinels ALL COUNTY OFFENSIVE PLAYER of the YEAR and also made the All County defensive team as a free safety. He rushed for 600 yards on 70 carries for an 8.6 average. He had 212 receiving yards and had a overall average of 10.2 yards per play and scored 19 touchdowns in ten games, to lead the area in scoring with 116 points. Robinson rushed for a touchdown once for every seven times he carried the ball. He had only 11 pass receptions, but four went for touchdowns. He return kickoffs and punt returns for four touchdowns.
For example the first time he returned a punt, he took it 88 yards for a TD. Robinson said, “I thought, ‘OK, I can do this.” Robinson, had the special quality that on any given play he could break loose. “I would get that feeling as a coach and his teammates would sense it also. That’s why even if it was a third down and long situation and people were looking for a pass, we would call his number. We knew he could make it a long gainer or touchdown,” Coach Ron Mehuron said.
Robinson said, “Along with that came some pressure to produce. The whole SLV game, people expected me to do a whole lot. SLV was a good team. I was getting stopped. But people kept saying, ’Come on Jermaine,’ I wanted to tell them it’s not that easy,” said Robinson. He did return the opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD, but could not prevent a 21-14 loss. It was unlike earlier in the SCCAL season, when he pulled victory out of defeat against Watsonville on what he calls his most memorable play of a memorable season. SC was trailing 3-0 with 1:34 to play when Robinson got open over the middle, caught a K.C. Kaiser pass and shocked the Cats, who had controlled the game, with a 66 yard TD that gave SC a 7-3 victory. “I think he stands well in the face of the expectations others have of him, whether it’s fans, teammates or coaches. He understands he is a good football player. He’s not the type to lord it over anyone, or rest on that alone. He’ll just go out and prove it, week in and week out. He’s got a great sense of balance and he’s a competitor. He’s not going to give up,” Coach Mehuron said. “Returns are my favorite of all. I feel like once I have an opening, I see that and I’m in full sprint, like I’m running the 100 yard dash. I’m off,” Robinson said.
Robinson wasn’t the only star of the Cards show. He shared the ball with senior Neil Churchill, who led the team in rushing with 716 yards and receiving 12 catches and also helped Robinson fit into the offense. “Every time I would run, Neil would be patting me on the back and saying ’good run’. That helped me out a lot. “Coach gave the ball more to Churchill as he was the number one back in the fly offense, but coach still knew what I can do, what was needed to be done. Neil is a good running back and as long as he was helping the team, it didn’t affect me,” said Robinson.
Mehuron said his biggest problem was getting the ball to both, as well as Reggie Stephens, who ran for 375 yards and four touchdowns. “Jermaine had no problem with it. He’s very comfortable in his talents. He’s going to prove it when the time comes. He realizes he will get his opportunities. He did not feel like he had to push to get the opportunity. I don’t know if we’ll ever have that again in terms of talent in the backfield all together,” said Mehuron, who coached Johnny Johnson, now with the Phoenix Cardinals, “that was pretty unique this year.”
Robinson, who is playing basketball now, but doesn’t expect to return to track next spring, says football has become his top priority. Mehuron believes Robinson, with work on the field and in the classroom can be a Division I prospect.”

All County team: Offensive player of the Year, Jermaine Robinson, who was also first team offensive running back at 5-11, 165 as a junior, a first team special teams as a kickoff and punt returner and also first team defense as a free safety.
Offensive first team: Josh Sutton, a 6-2, 200 pound, senior tackle and Neil Churchill a 5-8, 165 pound, senior running back.
First string defense: Gabe Blanchette at 5-11, 200 pounds, senior defensive lineman. Aaron Woliczko, 6-5, 190 pound, senior strong safety.
Reggie Stephens received Sentinel All County honorable mention, while playing running back and cornerback. He was named All County Athlete of the year after the basketball and track seasons.

JUNIOR VARSITY FOOTBALL Won 9 and lost only one game.
Practice games: RLS, won; Carmel, won; Gonzales, won. Practice record 3-0. League: Watsonville, 14-6; Harbor, won; SLV, lost; North Monterey, won; Aptos, won; Soquel, won and Monte Vista, won. League record 6-1.

Yearbook. Roster: B. Stinson; Nick Dunn; T. Dultra, J. Nelson, R. Truhitte, G. Arnott, E. Eaton, G. Marini, G. Lopez, J. Hansen, H. Brown, N. Christen, B. Keller, S. Chiv, M Abbotmore, M. Schofield, J. Villanueva, C. Hintz, R. Doan, H. Paris, J. Brown, R. Barnaco, N Blanchette, M. Gillingham. Head Coach John Hopping and assistants Randy Quilici and Dopau.

Sophomore quarterback George Arnott was a leader on this exceptional team. One of Arnott’s best memories of the season was the game against SLV. “It was the end of the game with only a few minutes left. We drove the ball down the field for a touchdown and almost won the game.” A win here would have given the team an undefeated record.

Trident. Oct. 15. Head coach John Hopping and assistant Randy Quilici have high hopes for this years team as they are already 4-0. Filled with a number of unselfish players with the leadership and personality of three sophomores: running back Justin Hansen, offensive linemen Herb Brown and Nick Dunn. In the first league game, SC defeated Watsonville 14-6.

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL
Yearbook. Roster: C. Morgan; B. Kosh; N. Thompson, C. Pryor, M. McDuffie, L. Brooks, L. Carter, .J. Zils, C. Webber, J. Andrade, B. White, K. Williams, D. Belgard, G. Holmes, J. Kemp, B. Canepa, N. Gibbons, J. Cote, L. Keyser-Allen, A. Torchio, D. Whiting, T. Bodewitz, J. Dawson, E. Alvarez, B. Cramer, R. Bush, N. Kent, J. Sparacino, I. Haywood, J. Lundberg, M. Smith and D. Williams. Coaches Booth Wainscoat and Hawley.

CROSS COUNTRY BOYS
Yearbook. League: Harbor, won 26-33; Soquel, won 25-36; SLV, won 19-36; Aptos, won 25-32; Watsonville, lost 15-18 and North Monterey lost 21-36. League record 4-2 for second place in dual meets and was third at the SCCAL meet.

Sentinel November 6. Watsonville won its fourth straight league title and fifth in six years. The Cats took the third, fifth, sixth, eighth and tenth places. Soquel took the first two places. Team scoring at the SCCAL meet: Watsonville 22, North Monterey 51, SC 78 and Soquel ran incomplete.

At the SCCAL meet Mike Liberatore placed ninth in a time of 17:53 over the 2.98 mile course. Ben Henry was seventeenth, Justin Robinson nineteenth and Javier Lainez twentieth.

SC Junior Varsity boys won the SCCAL Title. Individual results for SC are listed by place, name and time. 1.Chris Apra, 18:35. 4. Jesus Juarez, 18:45. 6. Jesus Quintilla, 20:28. 7. Jimmy Meyers, 20:37. 10. Darth Osborne, 22:11.

Team members: David Kessler, Mike Liberatore, Amerigo Rossi, J. Street, Ben Henry, S. Oldfield, M. Torres, J. Carillo, Justin Robinson and P. Isbister. Coach Scott.

Sentinel. September 18. Cards Run To first SCCAL Win. SC produced three of the first four finishers to defeat Harbor 26-33, at the 2.2 mile course at UCSC. Mike Liberatore, Amerigo Rossi and Ben Henry went 1-3-4 with respective times of 12:40, 12:45 and 12:54. SC’s top six runners finished within 30 seconds of each other, the other three came in just more than 13 minutes. SC’s sixth runner David Kessler was ninth overall in 13:14. “I’ve got 10 strong varsity runners. I’m psyched with that. It’s going to be a good year,” Coach Jim Scott.

October 2. Santa Cruz made a clean sweep of Soquel, winning the boys race 25-36 and the girls 23-35. Soquel took the first two places and SC took third through sixteenth. Mike Libertore was the top SC finisher with a time of 12:15. Ben Henry and Justin Robinson were fourth and fifth respectively. Coach Mike Scott said, “Watsonville was no question the best boys team in the league.”

Trident. Oct 15. Cross Country Has Depth. With a strong squad returning, the boys were 5-1 in league last year, the team is looking for a powerful season. There are almost 30 runners out. “It is great to have so many team members, it gives us a lot of depth and strength,” said second year coach Jim Scott. (the numbers include the girls team) This year the squad got off to a good start, winning their first two league dual meets over Soquel and Harbor.

Sentinel October 16. In a three way meet, including SLV, SC and Aptos, SC beat Aptos 25-32 and SC won over SLV 19-36 at the 2.1 mile UCSC course. Mike Liberatore ran the best time of the year on the UCSC course to lead the Cards to the double victory. As impressive as Libertore’s time was, it was Justine Robinson, Ben Henry and Javier Lainez, who all finished within ten seconds of one another for third to fifth places. Coach Scott said, “the entire race was a good one, with 14 runners finishing within a minute of the winner.”

October 23. Watsonville routed SC 15-48. SC’s top finisher was Mike Liberatore the sixth place finisher with a time of 12:12.

October 25. At the twenty-second Soquel High Invitational meet which drew nearly 700 runners from 45 schools, Mike Lieratore took fifteenth place in 14:25.

Sentinel October 30. Despite cold, blustery conditions and a sloppy track, North Monterey rolled to a 21-36 victory. On the 2.98 mile course, Mike Liberatore took second in 16:51 and Ben Henry took fifth in 17:12.

CROSS COUNTRY GIRLS
Yearbook. SCCAL second in the dual meet season, second at the league finals and third place at CCS.
League dual meets: Harbor, won 18-incomplete; Soquel, won 23-35; SLV, 23-34; Aptos, lost 15-40; Watsonville won 16-47 and North Monterey, won 21-41. League record 5-1 for second to undefeated Aptos.

Sentinel November 6. At the SCCAL cross country championship meet at Mount Madonna Park’s 2.98 mile course, Aptos won the first four spots and six of the top eight to go on to win the meet with 16 points to capture a second straight title. SC, which would be a title contender in any other year was a distant second with 53 points, followed by SLV with 83.
Melanie Café, broke the Aptos hammerlock, taking fifth place. The junior track star ran a controlled race for the first two miles, then made a run for fourth place. “I was just hoping to be in the top seven. I was totally surprised of my 21:41 time. I was aiming for seventh, but when I found out how close I was, I just thought I’d try,” Café said.
Coach Scott said, ”Café and the entire SC team ran a perfect tactical race. They tried to stay under control and within themselves for the first two miles. When Melanie hit the two mile mark, I told her to get off the running fast mode and into the racing mode. Outside of the fastest runner out there, Melanie has the fastest sprint.” Café finished fifth, Julie Oldfield ninth and Serra Oldfield fourteenth.

Senior Margaret Fahl a second year runner helped her team finish third at CCS.

Team members: R. Jones, Melanie Café, M. Connerly, J. Oldfield, A. Powers, R. Edwards and K. Herman. Coach Jim Scott.

Sentinel. September 18. A trio of juniors paced SC to a win over Harbor at the UCSC 2.2 mile course. SC scored only 18 points, while Harbor was incomplete. Melanie Café won the race in 15:25 and twins Julie and Serra Oldfield were second and third, respectively in 15:25 and 15:42. SC had 13 runners to Harbor’s 3. “I’m just psyched to have that many girls out running. This is the first race for a lot of my girls and I’m real pleased with the way they’re doing,” said Coach Jim Scott.

September 27. At the Eleventh Wildcat Invitational at Mt. Madonna Park against 70 other runners, Melaine Café came in fifteenth in 22:47.

For the Month of September, Melanie Café was the Trident Girl Athlete of the Month. In the month if September Cafe led her team to victories over Soquel and Harbor.

Sentinel October 2. Santa Cruz made a clean sweep of Soquel, winning the boys race 25-36 and the girls 23-35. Julie Oldfield was second in 15:45 and sister Serra Oldfield was third in 15:44. SC was without its top runner Melanie Café, who was ill. SC won the fourth through six places to secure the race.

Trident. Oct 15. Last year the girls were third in league at 4-2, but sent seven girls to CCS, including junior, twins Serra and Julie Oldfield and Melanie Café. At Harbor, Café recorded her first victory of the season and was named Female Athlete of the Week.

Sentinel October 16. In a three way meet, including SLV, SC and Aptos, Aptos beat SC 15-40 and SC won over SLV 23-34 at the 2.1 mile UCSC course. Aptos’ first five runners crossed the finish line en masse. The next four runners were from SC led by Melaine Café in 14:55 followed by sisters Julie and Serra Oldfield and Robin Garon. Aptos is ranked second in the state in Division III. SC moved to a 3-1 record in league. Coach Jim Scott said, “I think we have a team that could have won league in year’s past, but Aptos is something else.”

October 23. SC topped Watsonville 16-47. Melanie Café and Julie Oldfield tied for first with times of 15:44. Robin Garon was fourth in 16:08.

October 25. At the twenty-second Soquel High Invitational meet which drew nearly 700 runners from 45 schools, Melanie Café was the top local runner with a 17:03 time.

Sentinel October 30. Despite cold, blustery conditions and a sloppy track, SC rolled to a decisive 21-41 victory over North Monterey. On the 2.98 mile course, Card runners came in first, Melanie Café in 20:59; third, Julie Oldfield in 21:34, fourth, Sara Oldfield in 22:03. The Cards also took the sixth and seventh places, (but no names were mentioned). Coach Scott said, “The win gave his girls a measure of redemption. Last year North Monterey just walked all over my girls, so it was nice for them to win. The whole North Monterey team went out fast and I was scared. But our team ran a real mature, intelligent race and just reeled them in.”

Trident. Nov. 12. In one of their best seasons ever, SC posted a 5-1 league record for second place, There only loss was to Aptos, the league champion. The Cards leading runners were juniors, Melanie Café, twins Julie and Serra Oldfield.

JV GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY won the SCCAL Title. Individual results for SC are listed by place, name and time. 2. Lisa Williams, 24:01. 3. Elizabeth Conerly, 24:45. 4. Janeen Aldrich, 24:58. 5. Melissa Conerly, 24:59. 6. Emily Allison, 25:18. 7, Namaste Chism, 25:36. 9. Emily Street, 26:56. 10. Robin Garon, 27.11.

GIRLS TENNIS
Practice matches: Monterey 6-1, Pacific Grove 4-3. League: Aptos 3-4, 3-4; SLV 6-1, 7-0; Soquel 7-0, 7-0; Watsonville 7-0, 6-1; Harbor 6-1, 6-1. League record 8-2. Overall record 10-2

Yearbook. Roster: N. Gillette; T. Barthell; N. Bridgeman; Alyson Tom; Christina Perry; Cindy Padilla; Racheal Freitas; A. Harris and K. Scargill.

Sentinel. September 18. SC opened its season with a 6-1 non league win over Monterey. SC won all four singles matches in straight sets, including the number 2 and 3 doubles matches. Number one player, Megan Fleming won 6-3, 6-3. At number two, Christina Perry won 6-1, 6-0. “This was a good win, because we lost to them last season,” said coach Scott Buss.

September 22. A pair of three set victories led SC to a 4-3 win over Pacific Grove. SC is now 2-1 in non-league matches. Nicole Gillette won her number four singles match 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to tie the match at 3-3. In the last match, Rachel Freitas and Alison Tom scored a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win in number two doubles.

September 25. Aptos 4, SC 3. In a league opening showdown between the two main contenders for the SCCAL championship, Aptos swept all three doubles matches and the number one singles match. Megan Fleming in the number one singles match, led 4-1 in the first set, but her opponent rallied to win in two sets 7-5, 6-3. The same thing happened in the two doubles as Aptos came back and won 6-4, 6-4. In three doubles Erin Plauche and Andra Tom led in the first set, but lost 7-5, 5-7, 5-7. SC’s three wins were all in singles and all in three sets. At number two, Christina Perry won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. At three, Cindy Padilla won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, (7-4). At four, Tiffany Barthel won 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

September 30. SC 6, SLV 1. Megan Fleming took the on singles, 6-1, 7-5. At two singles, Christina Perry lost 2-6, 5-7.

October 7. SC beat the Wildcats 7-0, to improve their league record to 2-1 and 5-2 overall. “I was really impressed with the way we played. I don’t know if I was surprised that we won, but I was pleased with the way we won,” said Coach Buss. The number one singles match was well played with Megan Fleming winning 6-3, 6-4. The closest match was at number one doubles where Rachel Freitas and Alyson Tom won.

Sentinel October 13. SC improved its league record to 4-1 with a 6-1 win over Harbor. In number one singles, Megan Fleming lost 2-6, 2-6. Number three, Christian Perry picked up a key victory at number three singles winning 7-6 (7-7), 6-2.

October 14. Darkness Halts Cards, Aptos. The two teams didn’t settle anything, except that they are pretty evenly matched. The two teams finished the afternoon tied 2-2, with three singles matches suspended by darkness. SC was sparked by number one singles player, Megan Fleming’s, who won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Gloria Padilla and Andra Tom won the two doubles, 7-5, 7-5.
October 17. Aptos completed its match with SC and won two of the three singles matches suspended on October 14. The two wins gave Aptos a 4-3 win and an unbeaten record in league 7-0. SC is in second place with a 5-2 league record. Christina Perry lost the three singles, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(4-7). Talk about tension, Christina was up 5-2 and then 6-5, when her opponent came back to win the set. It was the turning point for Aptos. Nicole Gillette lost her match 3-6, 6-4, 1-6. Cindy Padilla won her match 6-4, 6-3.

October 16. SC 7, SLV 0. SC improved to 4-1 in league and 7-2 overall. Cindy Padilla played a fine match, winning 6-4, 6-0. “She played a real good second set. It was one of her best sets all year,” said coach Buss. Andra Tom and Gloria Padilla move up to the number one doubles and won 6-0, 6-0.

October 21. SC 7, Soquel 0. Improved doubles play was the most noticeable aspect of the win, according to coach Buss. Especially strong was the number two team of Rachel Freitas and Alyson Tom, 6-0, 6-1 winners. It wasn’t so much the score was lopsided, but they played well and played tactically well. The whole team has played much better tennis. They’re learning how to pooch the ball. Knowing where to stand and how to move makes a difference,” said Buss. SC is 6-2 in league.

October 23. SC 6, Watsonville 1. Watsonville coach, “I have to pick SC to win the league next year. They are basically all sophomores.” For the present, SC won all its matches in straight sets, although at two singles Cindy Padilla had to battle to win 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). At three singles, Christina Perry lost 6-3, 0-6, 2-6.

October 27. SC 7, Soquel 0. Soquel was unable to win a set. SC is now 7-2. One of the match highlights was Christina Perry’s win at three singles, 6-2, 7-5, were both girls played well in a close and exciting match. At one doubles, Gillette and Valeries won 6-1, 6-4.

October 28. SC 6, Harbor 1. Harbor’s only win came at number one singles as SC’s Megan Fleming lost 3-6, 4-6.. At two singles, Cindy Padilla won 6-2, 6-3. SC breezed past Harbor winning each of their six match wins in straight sets to end their league season 8-2

November 3. At the SCCAL Championships a The Tennis Club of Rio Del Mar, Megan Fleming surprised the second seeded player 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. Valerie Lee and Nicole Gillette after going 2-6, 6-4, in the first two sets in doubles play, were ahead 4-2 in the third set before losing 7-6 (7-3 in a tiebreaker)

November 4. In the finals of the SCCAL Championship singles match, sophomore Megan Fleming, lost to the defending champion in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6. The match was finished under the lights. In the second set, Fleming was down 4-2 and then came back for 4-4 and hung in for a while. Her opponent said, “ Megan has improved so much. Before, she had good strokes, but was inconsistent. Today she played a lot more aggressively.”

Trident. Nov 12. Aptos scraped by the Cards twice by the same 4-3 score to take first place in the SCCAL. Number two singles player senior Cindy Padilla won all her matches. Sophomore singles player Megan Fleming advanced to the finals of the SCCAL singles championships, but lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-6 for second place.

BOYS WATER POLO
Second place in league with a 5-3 record. Record overall 11-7.
Practice matches: Monterey Bay Tournament: Salinas loss, Aptos won, RLS won and Gunderson won. Gunderson Tournament record 3-3. Practice record 6-4.
League matches: Soquel 11-7, 14-2; Aptos 9-12, 9-6; Harbor, 5-20 loss; Watsonville, 18-6.11-4; League record 5-3. This years water polo team was only the second water polo squad ever to make CCS playoffs from SC.

Yearbook. Roster: The two goalies were Joel Acherknecki and Chris Nur, Kevin Murphy, Chris Apra, Danny Smith, Zack Thompson, N. Alvarado; R. White; J. Haje, K. Bernstein, N. Bianchini, M. Bonnell, J. Brito. S. Clew, P. Dixon-Moses, C. Dunlap. S. Gargano, B. Gersick, J. Golder, R. Stumph, Z Thompson and K. Watson.

Trident. Oct. 15. Card H2O Polo Drives For First Title. With nine players returning, SC is stacked with players and experience. SC finishing last year with a 3-5 record and the Cards hopes for a first ever CCS berth was dashed by a SCCAL play off loss to Watsonville. The team is expecting more this year. Two senior goalies Chris Nur and Joel Ackerknecht are back. Leading the offense will be senior Zack Thompson, who was named second team All SCCAL last year. SC lost their first game of the season at the Monterey Bay tournament to Salinas, but rebounded the next day and with three straight victories over Aptos, RLS and Gunderson took the consolation title.
In the first league match against Soquel, the Cards fell behind early and were down 5-3 at halftime, but came back in a hurry and scored four straight points to win 11-7. Thompson scored six goals.
In the second league match SC was tied with Aptos 4-4 at halftime. Aptos exploded for six goals in the third quarter to go on and win 12-9. “It was really disappointing. We really didn’t play up to our ability,” said first year coach Vern Martin.

Sentinel Oct 16. Harbor had little trouble staying undefeated knocked off SC 20-5. Zack Thompson scored two goals.

Sentinel. October 23. SC dominated Soquel 14-2 at Cabrillo College. Zack Thompson led the Cards with six goals, while John Golder added three and Jeff Smith and Scott Reed two apiece. Goalie Chris Nur also scored a goal, when he connected on a full court shot at the first half buzzer.

Trident. Nov 12. Against Watsonville for the first time, SC exploded for a 18-6 victory with Zack Thompson scoring 11 goals, which is the most ever for a SC player in SCCAL competition. Thompson said, “I couldn’t miss, everything I threw went in. It was great.” Thompson used his speed and fast-break ability to get free of the Cat defense. Scott Reed scored three goals, while John Golder, Ramie White and Damien Corte each added two goals.
Thompson was the Sentinel Player of the Week.

Trident. One of the best games of the season, came in the second meeting with Soquel in which SC erupted for a 14-2 victory, showing superb defense and unstoppable offense. Thompson had a total of 42 goals for the season.
After SC beat Aptos 9-6 with the help of five goals by Thompson. SC stretched a 4-3 halftime lead to 8-4 by the end of the third quarter. The Cards took sole possession of second place and put them in good position to make the CCS playoffs. The victory made SC’s record 4-2.
At the Gunderson two day Tournament, the Cards went 3-3.
In a 17-3 loss to Harbor, Thompson scored two goals.

In the final game of the league season against Watsonville, the Cards were sluggish in the first half and were down 3-2. When the second half started the Cards burst out for seven straight goals, ending up winning 11-4. Thompson scored five second half goals to secure SC’s second place in league.

Sentinel. December 12. The ALL SCCAL water polo squad, picked by the league coaches selected Zak Thompson, a senior field player to the first team. Damien Forte was picked for the second team and Scott Reed was named honorable mention.

JV BOYS WATER POLO
Trident. Oct. 15. Team leaders are sophomores Bonnell, and Paul Kele and freshman Kim Bernstein. Coach Chuck Reed, “the team narrowly missed a victory at the Bellarmine Invitational. In the league opener, SC lost to Soquel 9-7 in a hard fought game. In triple overtime, SC lost to Aptos 12-11 as Bonnell scored five goals.

GIRLS VARSITY SWIMMING AND DIVING
League: Watsonville 128-58; Harbor 88-100, Soquel 121-64; Aptos 67-115. League record 2-2. League meet third. Aptos wins sixth straight SCCAL Swim Championship with 423 points followed by Harbor 308, SC 220, Soquel 144 and Watsonville 94.
Yearbook. Jessica Lang swam for SC all four years and a total of seven years competitively. “This years team was more competitive than it has been the last three years.” Lang’s best times this year were 1:01 in the 100 meter freestyle and 2:35 in the individual medley. Six members of the team qualified to compete at CCS.

Roster: A. Bonnell, K. Riemann, M. Sutkus, T. Gilbert, T. Land, E. Urban, M. Palochak, O. Laich, A. Belcher, S. Mooney, C. McNamara, S. Porter, J. Land, A. Aspesi, O. Hildreth, C. Shumate, S. Olsen, E, Gentry, K. McGuiness, H. Tyler and T. Nagy. Coach Carol Kreppel.

Sentinel. September 5. SC 128, Watsonville 58. Jessica Lang and Kim Reimann each had victories in four events. Lang won the 200 individual medley, in 2:39.37, 100 freestyle in 1:03.41. And took part in the winning 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay. Reimann, a freshman, won the 100 butterfly in 1:12.15, which would have been a CCS qualifying time a season ago. Reimann was also on the winning 400 free relay and 200 free relay.

Sentinel. September 20. Aptos dominated the SCCAL sprint meet at Cabrillo College winning ten of the 11 events in a non-scoring meet. (no mention of SC)

Sentinel. Oct. 9. Aptos 115, SC 67. In what was the best showing yet by a league team against Aptos. Aptos won every event, to move its record in dual meets to 5-0. SC is 2-1. Ocean Laich the lone Cards winner, won the diving event with 125.75 points. The only other SC winner was Kim McGuinness in the 50 free in 28.97.

Trident. October 15. Swim Team Splashes Into Season. An amazing number of girls came out for the team on the first day, but due to pool space, the team had to be paired down to 19 swimmers and six divers. Repeat champion Aptos, provide to be to much for SC winning 115-67. The only Card winner was Kim McGuinness in the 50 freestyle in 28.97. Junior Ocean Leich won the diving with a score of 129.75

Oct. 16. Harbor 100, SC 88. Harbor won the 200 yard medley relay, but SC with a 2:10.23 time also qualified for the CCS meet standard. Double winner was Kim Reimann, who won the 200 freestyle in 2:12.52 and 100 backstroke in 1:07.34, also a CCS qualifying time.

October 23. Santa Cruz swamped Soquel 121-64. SC is 2-2 in league meets. Kim McGuiness was a double winner, taking the 200 individual medley in 2:41 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:22.19. Coach Carol Kreppel said Shannon Mooney was the star of the meet, trimming seconds off her previous best times in four events.

November 8. Aptos wins sixth straight SCCAL Swim Championship with 423 points followed by Harbor 308, SC 220, Soquel 144 and Watsonville 94. Kim McGuinness took second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.64.

Sentinel stats for girls swimming on November 19 listed by place in rankings, name and best time.

50 FREESTYLE: 6. Reimann, 27.50
100 FREESTYLE: 6. Reimann, 1:01.60
100 BACKSTROKE: 2. Reimann, 1:06.65
100 BREASTSTROKE: 2. McGuinness, 1:18.64
200 MEDLEY RELAY: 3. SC team of Reimann, McGuinness, Lang, Palochak, 2:08.29
200 FREE RELAY:: 4. SC team of Palochak, Porter, McGuinness and Mooney, 1:56.32
400 FREE RELAY: 2. SC team of Lang, Palochak, Mooney and Reimann, 4:08.83

Trident. Nov. 12. Senior Meghan Palochaki has been on the team for four years. Her events are the 50 and 100 yard freestyle sprints and she is going to CCS with her medley relay teams.
At the SCCAL meet SC took third place. No Card swimmer won an event, but there were numerous top five finishes, including second place by Kim McGuinness in the 100 backstroke.

Six Cardinals go to CCS. Individuals, who also swim the relays: Kim Reimann, Meghan Palochak and Kim Guinness. Relay members: Jessica Lang, Shannon Mooney and S. Porter.

GIRLS JV SWIMMING AND DIVING
Yearbook. Roster: A. Ochoa; B. Sutkus, J Abood, M. Vermy, L. Bartlett, S. Bolton, J. Smith, S. Reeves, V. Gamble, E. Wiens, E. Hardin, J. Duncan, C. Lake, S. Easterby, S. Hedgpeth, N. Kunnanz, M. Perry, B. Allen, K. Strickland, H. Lavaly, S. Coroell, B. Deworken, S. O’meara, A. Montalvo and R. Ivison. Coach Cathy Santos.

Trident. Oct. 15. In the first meet SC blew out Watsonville 125-55, then lost to Aptos 115-70, as Aptos won seven out of the nine events. Coach Cathy Santos commented, “The team has a ton of potential.”

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL League games: Harbor, 0-3, 1-3; Watsonville, 3-0, 3-0; Soquel, 1-3, loss; Monte Vista, 3-0, 2-3; Aptos, 1-3, 0-3; SLV, 3-2, 2-3; and North Monterey, 3-1, 1-3; League record: 5-7.

Roster: A. Kipps; Y. Kramer; C, Gardner; N. Maddox; N. Walker; J. Hudson; A. Mantell; V. Mantell; S. Abrams. Coach Duffus.

Sentinel preseason write up. Coach: Reed Duffus, first year. Last years record 5-7, fifth place. Key players” senior: Faith Hasty, 5-11, middle blocker. Junior, Yvonne Kramer, 5-5, outside hitter. Sophomores: Elaina Kipps, 6-0, middle blocker and Joanne Hutson, setter. Strengths: middle blockers and defense. Weaknesses: Inexperience at playing together, young team, rebuilding. First match, September 22 at Harbor.

Sentinel September 22. No Free Passes In SCCAL. Coaches See Close Race In Battle For Volleyball Title. Reed Duffus, who inherited a young team at SC this year, believes the season will be more interesting than in years past. “There’s a lot more parity in the league. Even Watsonville and North Monterey aren’t going to be a sure win. It’s going to be interesting. There will be no clear winner for every match like it has been in the past.”

September 23. Harbor blanked SC 15-4, 15-11, 15-2 in the SCCAL opener. (no information on SC. All Harbor)

September 25. With Eyes Now Open, Cards Beat Wildcats. SC won 15-6, 15-6, 15-11. “Tuesday night against Harbor was an eye opener for us. They woke us up, gave us a slap in the face.” said first year SC coach Reed Duffus. Faith Hasty paced SC’s attack with six kills in 14 attempts. Duffus said, it was the Cards passing game, though, which really contributed to the victory. Also playing well were Joanne Hutson, Yvonne Kramer and Audrey Mantell, who had 11 assists. Gina Wardrop came off the bench with six assists. “The girls played really well. We need to pick up the steam a little bit and we’ll do very well,” said Duffus.

Sentinel. October 2. SC defeated Monte Vista. SC rolled over Mustangs 15-11, 15-10, 15-9. SC record in league play 2-2. Audrey Mantel had eight of Santa Cruz’s 21 aces in the match and Alaina Kipps had six kills in 12 attempts.

October 7. Aptos defeated SC 15-7, 15-8, 12-15, 15-7. (no SC information. The home team must only report their side)

October 9. SC defeats SLV. SC after going up 2-0 in games was nearly beaten. SC won the first two games 15-11, 15-10, then SLV took the next two 15-6, 15-13, before SC recovered to win the fifth game 17-15. The final game was tied 15-15, when Yvonne Kramer came trough with a clutch kill for a side out. SC then served out the game. I’ve got to hand it to SLV. We bombed them out in the first game and they came right back and took control,” said coach Duffus. Joanne Hutson had six kills and Carol Gardner 10 service aces. Duffus praised the strong passing of senior Sasha Abrams.

October 14. SC moved into fourth place with a 15-4, 15-12, 10-15, 15-4 win over North Monterey. SC is now 4-3 in league. Setter Audrey Mantell had 5 kills in 12 attempts and outside hitter Carol Gardner was 8 for 15. Gardner was also the teams serving leader for the second week in a row with six of SC’s 20 aces. SC’s passing game was very consistent and what led them to the win.

Trident. Oct. 15. Intensity Key For Girl’s VB. “At the beginning of the season we made it our goal to be the most intense team in the league,” said first year coach Reed Duffus. “We’ve shown signs of intensity, but still need to push ourselves even more.
In their first league match, the Cards were given a wake up call by Harbor in a SC loss.
SC rebounded against Watsonville 15-6, 15-6, 15-11. Solid defensive performances by juniors Carol Gardner and Vera Mantell set the foundation for the Card attack. Their accurate passing created good sets, which helped outside hitters JoAnne Huston and Yvonne Kramer, who ripped spikes through the Cat defense. Up the middle the Cards are anchored by hitting and blocking of Faith Hasty and Alena Kipps.
In a match with SLV, SC won in five games: 15-11, 15-10, 6-15, 13-15, 17-15. SC is 3-3 in league, tied with SLV for fourth place. Rest of places Harbor first, Aptos and Soquel.

October 16. Santa Cruz Gives Harbor All It Can Handle. Harbor got an October surprise, having to rally from behind for a 13-15, 15-7, 15-4, 15-6 win over feisty SC. Coach Duffus said his team got off the mark quickly. “They served first, we passed it perfectly and sided out and we just took it from there.” The 5-11 middle blocker Alaina Kipps gave Harbor fits with seven blocks and opposite hitter Joanne Hutson played well on offense and defense. The game three loss was Harbors only third of its eight league matches. “We came barnstorming out. It was sort of a roller coaster after that. I was real pleased with that first game,” said Duffus.

October 20 team by team overall record, won-loss in league as of this date.
TEAM OVER LEAGUE
Harbor 10-2 8-0
Soquel 16-2 7-1
Aptos 17-4 6-2
SC 4-4 4-4
SLV 6-4 4-4
North M 12-8 2-6
Monte V 7-7 1-7
Watsonville 3-10 0-8.

October 21. SC moved above the .500 mark in league by defeating Watsonville 15-5, 15-8, 15-7. Opposite hitter Joanne Hutson had three kills in six attempts and had eight aces. Middle blocker Alaina Kipps recorded three solo blocks and had seven kills. SC improved to 5-4.

October 23. Coming off its biggest win of the season against Harbor, which tied the teams for the league lead, there was no letdown by Soquel as the hung on for a 15-11, 15-12, 11-15, 15-2 victory over SC. “We played really strong defense. But we couldn’t get our transition game going and that was the difference,” said Duffus, who also said that Sasha Abrams, Vera Mantell, Carol Gardner and Yvonne Kramer were stalwarts defensively.

October 28. Monte Vista Rallies For Improbable Win Over Cards. After two games SC led 15-11, 15-9. It looked like another win for SC and another loss for the Mustangs who were 2-6. Another 20 minutes of so, the match would be history, as Monte Vista pulled its starters and replaced them with six players off the bench. In the third game Monte Vista won 15-9 and the bench players stayed in the game and won the fourth game 16-14 to tie the match. Two starters returned for the fifth game. Monte Vista had the momentum and 20 minutes later had the win. Three weeks ago SC had won 15-11, 15-10, 15-9. Duffus said, “This was the best we’ve played all season, too, defensively and offensively.” SC’s starting setter Audrey Mantelli was not able to play and Duffus didn’t know until 30 minutes before the start of the game. He quickly switch from a 5-1 offense to 4-2 alignment around a freshman and a sophomore setter. “The team did very well for not knowing it until the showed up at the gym. People were in different positions than they’re normally accustomed to. They didn’t do anything wrong skill-wise. Both teams played very well tonight, but I’ve got to hand it to Monte Vista. They proved no one is a sure winner anymore, like in the past.”

November 4. SLV defeated SC in four games 7-15, 15-10, 15-7, 15-13 to clinch fourth place in league for the fourth year in a row. The loss knocks SC out of the CCS playoffs. Sophomore Alaina Kipps had ten kills. On defense Yvonne Kramer had seven digs and Sasha Abrams had nine digs to keep SC in the match. SLV won the first and fourth quarters despite making 20 errors in each game.

North Monterey defeated SC 15-12, 15-11, 7-15, 15-11. Had SC won, the Cards would have earned a tie with SLV for fourth place. (No other SC information)

November 6. Wild End To SCCAL Volleyball. 3-Way Tie Forces Playoff. After Aptos’ electrifying five game victory over Harbor started a postseason scramble and confusion. Harbor, which has won the undisputed SCCAL championship for seven straight seasons is learning first hand what lesser teams have known for a long time, playoff decision making can be a mess. Aptos caused the confusion by rising from third place by defeating Soquel and Harbor last week to create what is believed to be the first tri-championship in SCCAL history. Since CCS only insures the top two teams in a league make the playoffs, the three teams will have a playoff beginning tonight to see which teams will be automatically in the playoffs and which one will have to try for an at-large berth. All three team will be league champs and the playoffs are only for seeding for CCS.

November 10. Aptos Receives Top Seed. Soquel, SLV, Harbor Also Ranked High For Volleyball Playoffs. The secret is out. They play a mean brand of girls volleyball in the SCCAL. The power of the league was reflected in the seedings for the CCS playoffs. Aptos and Soquel were given the top two seeds in Division III. Harbor is fourth in Division II. SLV,which tied for fourth place is the second seed in Division IV.

Trident. Nov.12. First year coach Reed Duffus has already pushed his team further then expected, but the Cards lost their final three matches and fell to a disappointing sixth place in league. The team is made up of two seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and one freshman, who were known for their defense, but their goal this year was to work on their offense. Some of the key players were junior Audrey Mantell, sophomores Joanne Hutson and Alena Kipps. SC won the first game of numerous matches against higher ranking teams, but then lost the momentum and the match. “The best game of the year had to be against SLV. It took two and a half hours to play five games and we won the last game 17-15,” said Yvonne Kramer. The team will not advance to CCS.

Sentinel. ALL SCCAL volleyball team picked by the coaches. First team for the Cards was Alaina Kipps, sophomore, middle blocker. Second team, Joanne Hutson, sophomore setter.

JV GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Yearbook. Roster: E. Smith; N. Sudduth; S. Sauer; A. Beach; A. Thiermann; M. Abrams; K. David; T. Lee; B. Ferrante; K. Kaiser; K. McGraw; M. McGuire and A. Hamilton. Coach Houston.

Trident. Oct. 15. At this point, the team has a 5-1 league record. Top players are sophomores Evie Smith, Nikki Sudduth and Alicia Beach.

BASKETBALL BOYS
Practice games: RLS 67-58, Dads Club Tournament: Aptos 61-58, Paso Robles 47-77, Soquel 66-77. Santa Clara Tournament: Del Mar 70-66, Christian Brothers of Sacramento 52-54 and Wilcox 46-45 for third place; Jefferson 74-61.
League: North Monterey 56-54, 53-56; Monte Vista Christian 68-62, 55-45; Watsonville 59-46, won; SLV 69-38, 69-37; Soquel 50-39, won; Aptos 42-32, lost; Harbor 37-49, 30-57. League record 10-4. Tied with Aptos for second place. Finals of SCCAL tournament Harbor 39-40. First round of CCS Division III beat Mt. View 50-48 in OT. Lost to Palo Alto in second round.

League standings from Sentinel by school, league record and overall record.
SCH LE OV
Harbor 14-0 31-2
SC 10-4 19-13
Aptos 10-4 16-12
Soquel 6-8 13-15
SLV 3-11 5-24
MVC 3-11 6-20
Watsonville 1-13 2-23

Yearbook. Roster: Reggie Stephens, Chris Crawford, K. C. Kaiser, Will Delgado, Jermaine Robinson, Paul Quilici, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Brooks Allen, Aaron Woliczko, Brian Jones, Kam Watson, Larry Gross, Will Bouterse, Cody Dumont and Dan Hecht. Coach Pete Newell.

Sentinel preseason write up: November 27. Last years team had a 24-7 season record and a 10-2 league record for second place in the round robin regular SCCAL season, then the Cards won the league championship tournament to gain a SCCAL championship last season. Four starters from this team return this year. They are K.C. Kaiser a senior guard at 5-11, Reggie Stephens a junior guard at 5-11, Jermaine Robinson a junior forward at 5-11 and Aaron Woliczko a senior forward at 6-6. From Coach Pete Newell in his eighteenth year as coach, “I’ve been very surprised and quite happy to see just how much better each of them are. All four have shown significant improvement from last season and they are the leaders of our team, in terms of setting an example of competitiveness.
The success they had with the football team which went 7-3 has given each more confidence in their athletic ability. They brought an aggressiveness to practice that was not there until they showed up. Until they showed up, I was a pretty mediocre coach and then suddenly when they showed up I became a pretty good coach.” Woliczko averaged 10.7 points a game last year. Robinson averaged 9.1 and Stephens contributed 8.0.
Three players will be rotated in the post. They are 6-6 senior Brian Jones, who has fundamentally good inside post moves. 6-3 junior Brendan Ayanbadejo, who can play out to 18 feet from the basket and is good at putting the ball on the floor. 6-2 freshman Kam Watson has the best shooting touch of all three from the perimeter. \
ewell, as he has done in past years, plans to carry 17 players, push the ball up the court on offense and play man defense. Our goal every year is to be competitive with every team in the league and we expect by January that we will be. Newell plans to play a lot of kids in December to get them ready for the league season that begins in January.

November 27. Sentinel preseason evaluations: Harbor, SC Favorites For SCCAL Title. Here’s A News flash: It looks like Harbor and SC are going to be the top two teams in the SCCAL. Now why doesn’t that sound surprising? Both teams are returning four starters from last year, when Harbor won the regular season and SC won the league championship tournament. If any other of the league teams can crack the top two it would be SLV, which lost it’s top two players, but looks to inherited a plethora of talent from the football team. It’s conceivable the all five starters will come from football.

Sentinel. November 29. SC opened their season with a 67-58 win over RLS. Aaron Woliczko led the Cards with 23 points, J.C. Kaiser added 15 and Jermaine Robinson had nine. Coach Newell said, “They key to the game was at the end of the second quarter, when Chris Crawford hit a buzzer shot, which gave us great momentum going into the second half.

Trident. Dec. 9. After defeating RLS 67-58 in the season opener, things seemed to fall apart at the Dads Club, as the Cards won the first game and lost the next two. In the second game of the Dads Club Aaron Woliczko scored 14 points and 26 points in the last game . But Jermaine Robinson was named to the All Tourney team. We have four returning starters, Kaiser, Woliczko, Stephens and Robinson with the center position in competition between Brian Jones, Brendan Ayandejo and Kam Watson. “We continue to be blessed with talent and depth at every position. Our four returning starters all have all league caliber talent,” coach Newell said.

Dec-10. SC 70, Del Mar 66. In the opening round of the Santa Clara High tournament, Aaron Woliczko scored 21 points and Jermaine Robinson added 13 as the Cards improved to a 3-2 record.. Woliczko scored 15 in the first half behind three 3-pointers. Chris Crawford, starting in place of injured guard Reggie Stephen, scored 10 points. Robinson and Woliczko each scored six points in the fourth quarters as SC erased a 53-52 Del Mar lead. Coach Newell credited backup point guard Strider Kemp, with five points, for sparking the team down the stretch.

Dec-11 Cardinals Beaten In Tourney By Former Santa Cruz Coach. Tom Loden, who coached the Cards to the SCCAL championship in 1988-89 in Pete Newell’s sabbatical year from coaching, led his Christian Brothers of Sacramento team to a 54-52 win over the Cards at the Santa Clara High Tourney.

Dec-12. SC 46, Wilcox 45. SC took third place in the Santa Clara High Tournament. SC is now 4-3, led most of the way when Wilcox came back in the second half. Wilcox closed to 46-45 with one second left and SC just ran out the clock to preserve the win. Woliczko led the Cards with 16 points and Brian Jones chipped in 10. Woliczko and Jermaine Robinson both made all tournament. Christian Brothers, who beat the Cards the previous night won the tournament.

Dec 30. Cards Ready For All Challengers. Robinson scored 22 points and Stephens added 20 to help defeat Jefferson 74-61. “We got off to a slow start this season. We were just coming off football and we had a lot of new faces to get used to, but the week of vacation gave us rest and we came back ready to play,” Stephens said of the Cards, who were 5-5 going into the game. SC led 29-23 after two quarters. Stephens opened the third quarter with a steal and an easy layin and then Robinson stole a pass and scored on a dunk for a 33-25 lead. Midway through the quarter SC went on a eight point scoring run and with three minutes left in the period stretched the lead to 46-32. Jefferson then came back to close the score to 46-40, but they would get no closer the rest of the way.
“I was pleased with our effort and with the multiple contributions tonight. We had several players who played different positions and it didn’t affect their level of play. That allows me more flexibility as a coach,” said coach Newell. SC traded baskets with Jefferson throughout the first quarter, before going ahead for good with 1:28 left in the half, on Robinson’s basket for a 24-23 lead.
Aaron Woliczko, who scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds, said the team’s preseason record doesn’t reflect its ability. “It’s tough coming off such a good season last year,” Woliczko said of SC’s SCCAL championship season, “and although our preseason hasn’t shown it, we can beat anyone.” Newell agreed. “We should get stronger and stronger. And if we continue to improve on the defensive end, we can beat anyone in league.”

Jan 6. Santa Cruz Struggles To Victory over North Monterey 56-54 in the league opener. Down three at halftime, SC watched North Monterey sink its first three shots in the second half to open a nine point lead. Led by its defense, SC regrouped and survived a two point shot by the Condors that clanged off the rim with six seconds left on the clock, to squeak out a victory. SC evened their overall record to 7-7. North Monterey led 36-29 with just under 4 minutes to go in the third quarter. But SC’s defense began to create easy scoring opportunities by forcing three straight turnovers and eventually taking a 40-39 lead on a lay up by Reggie Stephens with 40 seconds left in the third period. North Monterey never regained the lead. Robinson led SC with 21 points as Woliczko poured in 18.

Jan-9. Santa Cruz Hold Off Upset Minded Mustangs 68-62 at their own gym. Aaron Woliczko scored 27 points, 18 points on 3 pointers and Jermaine Robinson added 25 to lead the Cards. The game had it all. A close score, tight defense, power under the basket, accurate shooting from the 3 point line and a gym complete with a band and a huge crowd of rowdy spectators. SC played a control game much of the night, stalling and forcing the Mustangs to come out from the basket in pursuit of the ball. Monte Vista led 22-18 in the second quarter. SC went ahead 43-38 with 5:07 left in the third quarter. Then SC went on an 11-2 scoring run to take a 54-40 lead with 1:50 remaining in the quarter. “Overall our defense played pretty well. We came in and played with a lot of poise tonight,” said coach Newell.

Jan 13. SC 59, Watsonville 46. The games only surprise was the score at the end of the first quarter SC 17, Watsonville 17. SC gradually pulled away behind Robinson’s 17 points, but Woliczko, who normally scores around 15 points was held to five. Sophomore Larry Gross had a game high 11 rebounds for SC, which is 3-0 in league and 9-7 overall.

Jan 16. SC 67, SLV 38. Junior guard Reggie Stephens exploded for 34 points. SC is 4-0 in league and 10-7 overall. “I just got in a zone and it felt so good that I wish it came every game, I scored mostly on lay ups, bit it didn’t seem like I shot a lot,” said Stephens, whose previous high was 20 points. SC led 26-18 at the half and then poured in 42 second half points. “This was our best team performance in league play and Reggie was the catalyst. One of the things that pleases me about our start in league is that we’ve had a game plan and for most part we’ve executed the game plan,“ said Newell.

Jan-20. Card Express Stays On Track. Santa Cruz A Bit Too Much For Soquel racing to a 50-39 victory behind the Reggie & Jermaine Express as they combined for 40 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and too many steals to count, as they were just too quick and too good for the host Knights. SC is now 5-0 in SCCAL and 11-7 overall. Aaron Woliczko the starting center and leading score and rebounder was too sick to play. Larry Gross a sophomore and Kam Watson a freshman took turns taking Woliczko‘s place. The duo combined for just two points, but hauled down seven rebound and played tough defense on the Knights second leading scorer.

Jan 20. Santa Cruz Defense Puts Lock On Aptos with a 42-32 win. SC suffered through a 9 for 25 night at the anything but charitable stripe, allowing Aptos to stay closer than it belonged. Luckily for the Cards, they had Jermaine Robinson, who accomplished his job on offense and defense to keep SC perfect in league play. Despite scoring only two points in the final 5 minutes, SC was able to hold the Mariners to five points over the same stretch. A 9-4 run early in the fourth quarter gave SC room to withstand the Aptos anemic offense. Robinson was a two way force for SC, putting up 15 points and holding Aptos’s leading scorer to four points. As for the lack of offense, there were players who did not suit up and some were sick, but still played only below par. Overall SC was 6-7 in non league play. But they have seen nothing in league that would make them miss a beat. The four football players are finally getting their basketball legs under them.

Jan-24. Buc Boys Notch nineteenth Win 49-37. For their first 18 games Harbor has rarely been challenged, but SC was up to the challenge and if not for a dismal third quarter, when they scored only 4 points on 1 for 14 shooting, Harbor may have been looking at its first loss. SC is now 6-1 in league and 12-8 overall. Harbor was ranked third in the state Division III poll last week and number seven in Northern California. In the first few minutes of the game it looked like a Cardinal run away. SC opened with a flurry, jumping out to a 8-1 lead on the strength of two Aaron Woliczko 3-pointers. The lead was cut to 15-13 at the end of the quarter. The Cards held a 25-23 lead at halftime. Entering the fourth quarter the Cards were down only five points even with the bad shooting in the third quarter. In all, the Cards scored just 12 points in the second half, converting only five of 32 attempts for 16 percent. Woliczko scored 15 points and Stephens 11 to lead the Cards.

Jan-24. Frosh Holds Own. Watson Not Fazed by 7 Foot Young. It was the first time Kam Watson a 6-3 freshman has faced Harbors 7 foot junior, Tim Young, one of the nations most sought after prop players. The kid held his own. “He was not intimidated at all. He stood up to the challenge,” said coach Newell.

Jan-27. Condors Shock Cardinals 56-53. Loss Drops Santa Cruz Two Behind League Leading Harbor. A week ago Coach Newell lamented about his teams 9 for 25 woes at the free throw line in a 49-32 win at Aptos. Against North Monterey they made 7 of 13 from the line for their second loss in a row. SC led 20-17 at the end of the first quarter, but North Monterey took a 34-30 lead at halftime. SC trailed throughout the second half. It was the Condors first win over SC in four years. They are now only one game behind SC. K.C, Kaiser led the Cards in scoring with 16 points followed by Jermaine Robinson with 12 and Aaron Woliczko 11.

Jan-30. Cardinals Get Back On Track With 55-45 Win over Monte Vista Christian. The Cards script for the game was play tough defense and don’t turn the ball over which they followed in the first half. But the Cards forgot to read the chapter that explained how to take a 20 point lead and run with it. K.C. Kaiser gave SC a 44-24 lead with 6:47 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs then went on a 21-5 run in the next 12 minutes to cut the lead to 49-45 with 3:12 left to play. But the Cards held the Mustangs with out a score the rest of the game. A key steal by Kaiser, who passed to Jemaine Robinson for a score with 1:25 to play put the Cards up 51-45. “We put on a clinic in the first half and lost our notes at halftime,” said Coach Newell, whose team is now 7-2 in league and 13-9 overall. Robinson finished with 16 points, five steals and four rebounds. The Cards free throw shooting improved to 12 of 16.

Robinson Fires Up Santa Cruz Victory In rout of SLV 69-37. Jermaine Robinson, outside of Tim Young, there may not be a more exciting basketball player in the county. Certainly none are more flamboyant. Robinson scored 23 points and hauled down 6 rebounds in an electrifying and stunning performance. The Cards are now 9-2 in league and 15-9 overall. Leading 31-22 at halftime, SC went on a 28-6 run over the third quarter as the Card fast break was devastating. Robinson played just three quarters and score 13 in the third quarter on a variety of layups and acrobatic forays to the basket.
Robinson who scored 19 touchdowns in football and was named the Sentinels All County Offensive Player of the Year, is simply “Mr. Electricity.” Coach Newell said, “The third quarter was the best we have played this year. We are very unselfish in transition, because they know the next time down the court they might be ahead on the play. Transition is keyed by good defense and that’s what we had in the third quarter.” Gary Grellmann, former SC player and now SLV coach said, we just can not compete with their speed.”

Feb-13. Pirate Boys (26-0) Make It Look Easy as they demolish SC 57-30. SC shot 11 for 39, while Harbor hit 32 of 46 shots. SC was down only 21-14 at the end of the first period. In the second quarter Harbor out scored SC 21-5. SC had a 9:13 scoreless streak in the second half. SC score 8 points in the third period and three in the fourth. The Cards played tough defense in the second half holding Harbor to seven in the third and eight in the fourth. SC tied with Aptos for second place in league, but lost the coin flip to see who would get the first round bye in the SCCAL tournament and will play Monte Vista on Tuesday.

Feb-20. Thriller: Harbor 40, SC 39 in SCCAL finals. That it ended at the free throw line doesn’t matter. That both teams struggled for large portions of the game is almost forgotten. SC came within a scintilla of pulling off one of the most amazing upsets in area history. Almost. It was miraculous, thrilling, unbelievable, bewildering ending. K.C. Kaiser’s driving lay up as time was running out gave SC a seemingly unbelievable 39-38 upset of Harbor, who came into the game 27-0, number two in the state Division III poll. The clock ticked to 0:00 and Kaiser was buried by a mob of red and black. Coach Newell sprinted across court and did an impromptu jig with a fan.
But the referees determined that Harbor called time out with one second remaining. Unknowingly six SC players went on the court to finish out the one second. When the ball was handed to Harbor, the Cards were given a technical foul for have an extra player on the court. Harbor made the two free throws to win the game.
SC trailed 32-38 with 1:01 to play and had not scored since the 3:53 mark. With 41 seconds left forward Jermaine Robinson scored to make it 34-38. With 24 seconds to play guard Reggie Stephens hit a three point to make it 37-38. A Harbor violation gave the ball to SC and Kaiser made his drive to the basket. Turnovers, lousy shooting and highly questionable refereeing dominated the overwhelming portion of the game.
Coach Newell thought that if the game was close, his team had the advantage. Harbor hadn’t been forced to play in a close game all year, while his team was accustomed to the gut checks that come with down to the wire affairs. If his team could stay close, anything could happen. And it did.
Harbor missed the front ends of three straight 1 and 1 free throw opportunities to blow possible six points that would have iced the game. All game long any drive down the lane by SC ended up with blocked shots. But this final time the 5-10 Kaiser made it to the basket for what could have been the winning basket. Newell said, “I feel bad for K.C. because this takes away the credit he deserves.”

Jan 24. Frosh Holds Own. Watson Not Fazed by 7 Foot Young. Saturday night’s game against Harbor was a first in a way for SC freshman Kam Watson. It was the first time the 6-3 freshman center has gone against seven foot junior Tim Young. And the kid held his own against Young, one of the nations most sought after prep players. “He was not intimidated at all. He stood up to the challenge of playing Young,” said a obviously pleased coach Newell. Watson only scored two points, but he didn’t back down. Newell checked him out at a junior high game last year and said to himself, “This kid is going to play against Young next year. ”That was the furthest thing from Watson’s mind, but I was making he connection.

Harbor Boys Seeded Second in CCS Division III. Possibility Exists For Rematch With Ninth Seeded Santa Cruz. The two teams will meet in the finals if they both reach that far as they are in opposite brackets. Last year Harbor seeded second lost in the finals of Division III to number one seeded Seaside. Then made it all the way to Northern California semifinals. SC lost its it’s second CCS game.

February 26. Santa Crux Boys Win In OT 50-48. Cards Top Mt, View: Number one Palo Alto next. The question of which SC team would show up for this first round game of CCS would show up? The team that almost upset Harbor? Or the team that was emotionally crushed after having a titanic upset snatched away form them? Fortunately the tough and quick Card team came to play as SC outlasted Mt. View, which had a 16-8 overall record, 50-48 in overtime in the first round of CCS Division III playoffs.
SC 19-12, know plays Palo Alto 24-0, the top ranked team in Division III. With the game tied 48-48 in overtime, Robinson drove the lane and hit a 10 footer for a 50-48 lead with 25 seconds to play. Mt. View called time out with 12 seconds to play, which gave SC time to devise a strategy to deny the Spartans a chance to tie the game. SC with two fouls to give, before Mt. View would go to the foul line, to disrupt any chance of Mt. View running a play to get a good shot. With ten seconds to play, guard K.C. Kaiser committed the first foul, Then Woliczko stopped the clock with a foul with 4 seconds left. Just to heighten the tension, Stephen’s quick hands knocked the ball out of bounds with 3 seconds left. Finally with one second to play Stephens inadvertently fouled to give Mt. View a one and one opportunity. The first shot hit the back iron and bounced into madly scrambling hands as the clock ran out to end the game.
SC held a 46-44 lead with 1:50 left in regulation and worked to run down the clock, but turned the ball over two consecutive times. With ten seconds to play, Mt. View hit a five foot runner in the lane to tie the score 46-46 and send the game into overtime.
Robinson, who played the entire game, was happy to break SC’s three year streak of losses in the first round of CCS. “We thought we were going to come out strong, because in the last three years SC has not won a CCS first round game, even though the games were at home.. We know we had to come out strong to not make four year history.”
SC’s last CCS victory came in 1989 against Woodside, in another overtime victory. Robinson, believes SC has the strength to overcome Palo Alto. “We’ve got it. We’re going to come out and play our best game we’ve got.” “I’m just so proud of our team to respond tonight with a close win over a quality team on their court. The win allows us the opportunity to play the best team in the section. “We’d like to run, but when you play an unknown opponent, it’s like a boxing match. You feel each other out to see what the other team is made of,” Newell said.

Sentinel final area stats on March 16. Listed by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average points a game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
5 Wolizcko 31 418 27 13.5
6 Robinson 31 415 25 13.4
10 Stephens 31 358 34 11.5
4 SC team 31 1769 79 55.3

Rebounding TR
9 tie Robinso 31 198 13 6.4
9 tie Wolizcko 31 197 11 6.4

SC was third on team defense allowing 1673 points, with the lowest score of 32 points and an average of 52.3 per game.

March 19. Sentinel ALL COUNTY team. Heart and History All Part Of Package. Aaron Woliczko a 6-6 senior forward was selected for the first team along with Reggie Stephens a 5-11 junior guard. Jermaine Robinson a 5-11 junior forward was selected on the second team. On The Boys. A capsule look at the Sentinels All County players:
“Aaron’s shooting ability, rebounding and leadership were important parts of our success this season. He took it upon himself to be our vocal leader and his teammates responded to that. He is a tough competitor, who looks forward to playing in big games,” said Coach Newell. Leading the area in 3 pointers, with 72 in 31 games, Woliczko was number five in the SCCAL scoring, with a team high 13.5 a game and added 6.4 rebounds a game as well.
“Reggie played hurt all year. His knee gave him problems, particularly early. But he was able to play through his pain. He just elevated his game from last year and has not only a promising senior season ahead, but a college career in basketball.” Coach Newell said. The only guard picked on the first team, Stephens was stronger down the stretch and finished averaging 11.5 points a game.
Second team player, “Jermaine Robinson has extraordinary athletic ability. He is an intense competitor and above all else, he is a team player. One of the most exciting coast-to-coast players that I have seen in years,” Coach Newell said. Robinson was number six in the area scoring 13.4 points a game and despite his height, 5-11, led the team in rebounds 198 in 31 games.

The ALL SCCAL team selected by the coaches, who had the same players on the same units. Reggie Stephens and Aaron Woliczko on the first team and Jermaine Robinson on the second team. K.C. Kaiser was honorable mention.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL League Champions.
Yearbook. League games: North Monterey, two wins; Monte Vista, two wins; Watsonville, two wins; SLV, won, lost; Soquel, two wins; Aptos, won, lost and Harbor, two wins. League record 12-2 for first place..

Roster: Marcus Williams, Michael McDuffie, Gino Marini, J. Hansen, N. Christianson, S. Payne, N. Dunn, E. Crawford, W. Nowak, J. Camat, S. Chiv and N. Gallis. Coach Charles Burks.

FROSH BASKETBALL
Yearbook. Roster: J. Gelwick, J. Hunter, J. Jones, J. Cahill, N. Thompson, J. Zils, D. LaFoeteza, K. Rauf, M. Marlowe, B. Begandy, A Torchil, J. Mann, J. Dawson and D. Sanchez. Coach B. Kosh.

GIRLS BASKETBALL SCCAL CO-CHAMPIONS, WINNERS OF TWO TOURNAMENTS, THE WILDCAT AND PIONEER
league record 13-1. Overall record 25-3.
Practice games: Salinas 81-44, RLS 61-43, Hollister 54-23, Gilroy 43-50. Wildcat Tournament: Salinas 72-57, Harbor semifinals 62-55 and Watsonville 54-39 for championship
Pioneer Tournament: Defeated Piedmont Hills, Pioneer and Monta Vista of Cupertino 49-47 for the championship. Practice record 9-1.
League: North Monterey, 67-53, 77-44; Monte Vista, 49-37, 52-39; Watsonville, 49-32, 60-53; SLV, 67-35, 56-29; Soquel, 60-29, 64-22; Aptos, 71-38, 57-50; Harbor, lost, 47-41. League record 13-1 tied for first place with Harbor. In the league playoffs defeated North Monterey 61-52 in the semi-finals. Lost to Harbor 41-47 in the finals of the playoffs to tie for the league championship.
CCS playoffs: Seaside 48-28. St. Ignatius 45-44 in quarterfinal. Lost to Harbor in semifinal.
Overall record 25-3.

Yearbook Roster: Evie Smith, Kenna Karst, Jamie Vlassis, Faith Hasty, Tam Perez, Christina Thompson, Jessica Smith, Niki Sudduth, Tessa Hasty, Jessica Lang and Joanna Hutson. Coach John Wilson.

Sentinel preseason write up on November 27. Coach: John Wilson, first year, Last seasons record: 22-8 overall and 9-3 in league for second place. Key senior players are Faith Hasty a 5-10 forward; Kenna Karst a 5-6 point guard; Christina Thompson a 5-8 forward and junior center at 5-1 Tam Perez. Scouting report: John Wilson, the Cards junior varsity coach for the last three seasons takes over from his brother in law Pete Pappas, but don’t expect any changes in the way things are done. As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
The JV’s tied Watsonville for first place in the league and went 19-2 for the season. SC came within one game of dethroning champion Harbor, which has won league every year, since SC last won in 1984. SC has four starters back from last year: Hasty the All County Player of the Year with a 15.3 scoring average and 8.0 rebounding average. Karst a 9.6 scoring average. Thompson 7.7 shooting average and 5.6 rebounding.
Lang, who played only a few games, because of a season long injury, may be the best multi-sport athlete in the county. “She’ll be an asset to our team,” said Wilson. Perez will be taking over the post. “She’s going to be Prime Tam,” Wilson said. On the bench the team is going to be young. “There is not much experience on the bench with six sophomores, but we have a lot of talent on the bench,” said Wilson. Coaches Outlook: “Harbor is the team to beat. I just hope to perform and have a record as good as last year. Pete set the precedent of doing well the last three years. He had great records and was successful and I hope to keep it up.”

Sentinel. Nov. 29. In the season opener, SC defeated Salinas 81-44. SC got a couple of strong games from its stalwarts. Kenna Karst had 22 points and Faith Hasty had 22 points and eight rebounds. Christina Thompson chipped in 14 points.

Dec. 5. SC 49, Monta Vista of Cupertino 47 to win the Pioneer Tournament against one of the few teams that beat them last year. Faith Hasty made three foul shots in the final 25 seconds to help hold off Monta Vista. Hasty, who finished with nine points was select the Tournament MVP as the Cards improved to 4-0. Kenna Karst led the scoring with 11 points and Christina Thompson added nine.

Trident. Dec 9. Senior Faith Hasty, last years All County Player of the Year will lead the crew of returning seniors Kenna Karst, Jessica Lang and Christina Thompson. The fifth starter this year will be junior center Tam Perez. The season opener was a 81-44 win over Salinas. The bench is young with six sophomores. At the Pioneer Tournament, SC defeated Piedmont Hills and Pioneer and defeated last years champion Monta Vista 49-47 for the championship this year. Hasty scored 9 points and was selected the tournament MVP. Former JV coach John Wilson has taken over the varsity this season. His JV team was 19-2 last year and won the league title.

Sentinel. December 8. Sentinel Athlete of the Week Faith Hasty a senior forward averaged 11.5 points and nine rebounds in an MVP performance at the Pioneer Tournament. SC beat Monta Vista of Cupertino 49-47 for the championship. Hasty made five of six foul shots in the fourth quarter against Monta Vista. Her two free throws with 11 seconds remaining gave the Cards a 48-44 lead to secure the victory. “She was really focused and consistent. Monta Vista put her on the line and she came through for us. Her added strength and post play is a big part of our team. Her offensive and defensive play is equally as good. She worked hard last summer and in camps and right now is helping us fill the role of graduated Heather Singer,” Coach Wilson said. Christina Thompson and Kenna Karst were honorable mention for the award.

Dec. 10. SC 72, Salinas 57. In the first round of the Watsonville Invitational, Kenna Karst and Faith Hasty each scored 15 points to put SC into the semi-finals. Salinas closed to 36-30 at halftime, but SC exploded in the third quarter for 21 points to take a 57-38 lead into the fourth quarter. Christina Thompson scored 12 points and Jessica Lang had 10. Hasty grabbed a game high 12 rebounds.

December 12. Santa Cruz Turns Back Harbor In Girls Basketball Showdown. SC proved they are going to be a legitimate contender for the SCCAL title this season with a 62-55 win over the eight time defending league champions Harbor in the semi-finals of the Watsonville Invitational Tournament. SC led by Faith Hasty’s game high 24 points, had three starters foul out of the hard fought game. But SC was hungry for a win against the team that beat them in the SCCAL championship game last year and until last year’s league tournament had won 20 games in a row against the Cards dating back to SC’s last championship in 1984.
“We went in with a lot of confidence. This time we were playing to win, instead of playing not to lose. I think this will set the tone for the season,” said Hasty. With 1:07 left in the game, SC led 53-51, but two starters, Jessica Lang and Tam Perez, where on the bench with their fifth personal foul and had Kenny Karst playing with four. Karst, who finished with 15 points sneaked in for a steal and converted it for a layup to give SC a 55-51 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Eight seconds later she was fouled and sank both free throws to widen the margin to 57-51.She fouled out with five seconds left, but the damage had already been done. SC coach John Wilson, whose team was charged with 31 fouls compared with Harbor’s 16, said, “I don’t know if it was our aggressive defense or we were just reaching a lot. But our subs played well to keep us in it. I think we’re still the underdogs against them going into the season, but I knew if we played hard we had a chance.” Harbor never led in the game. Hasty scored off the opening tip and SC closed the quarter on top 13-10. It was 27-23 at halftime. SC extended its lead to 42-33 at the end of the third quarter, before Lang fouled out with 19 seconds left in the period. Eight seconds into the final quarter, Perez joined her on the bench after committing her fifth personal foul. The fourth quarter began with SC running up a 52-38 lead with 5:10 remaining. Harbor took advantage of the Cards foul situation and came charging back, outscoring SC 13-1 over the next 3 minutes to make it a two point game with just over a minute to play. But the Pirates could get no closer.

Cardinals Make Hasty Work Of Hosts For Wildcat Title. It was center Faith Hasty busy inside and outside that was the key to the tournament. It translated to two victories. Hasty had 24 points in the semifinal win over Harbor and 21 points in today’s championship game victory over Watsonville 54-39. Watsonville ran out to a 11-2 lead just four minutes into the game. SC then took advantage of the fast break, when Kenna Karst, who scored 15 points completed a three point play to make the score 11-5. Using the fast break the Cards tied the score 11-11. After that Hasty took off and earned distinction as the tournaments Most Valuable Player. She hit from the right corner and the left before the Cats could blink. Hasty scored seven points giving SC a 20-15 lead. She hit another bucket just before halftime to put SC up 32-19. “I was real mad about the way we were playing the first quarter. After that we started running the ball like we usually do and started making our shots. In the third quarter Hasty scored 10 points to help the team take a 48-29 lead and by that time the game was academic. The All Tournament team included Hasty, Kenna Karst and Jessica Lang.

December 16. Cards Top RLS To Stay Unbeaten. SC ran their record to 8-0 for the season by rolling over Stevenson 61-43. And with the wins piling up, it seems that the only players who might beat SC are the Cards themselves. “We’re going to have to work hard and keep our attitude adjusted and be real careful not to get too cocky,” said Faith Hasty, who led all scorers with 20 points. “Going into this game, we were a little overconfident, so coach Wilson had to talk to us and calm us down,”
Stevenson, which was 7-1 going into the game, fell behind early and far. SC built a 34-14 halftime lead. Stevenson’s biggest push was nine unanswered points with 2:30 left in the game to come within 55-37. “We didn’t play as well on defense, but everyone got involved on offense,” Wilson said of his balanced attack. “The subs are playing really well. There isn’t a drop off when the six to eighth players come in.”
SC put the game away in the second quarter, when they went on a 14-1 scoring spree to run up a 29-8 lead with four minutes left in the first half. Six of those points were scored off consecutive steals by Jessica Lang. “We’re having a lot of fun this year,” said Jessica Lang, who scored 12 points. “We need to keep playing the way we’ve been playing and keep improving, working to be more patient and not getting caught up in things.” Wilson said the main part of his job now is keeping the team motivated for upcoming league play, which begins in January.
“As a coach, you try to focus everyone toward league,” he said, “We need to concentrate on every game and work hard I practice. We don’t want to get too overconfident. Hasty said she is aiming for a league scoring title and Lang, who has been sidelined three previous varsity season with injuries, said she just wants to make it through the entire season healthy and play good defense. They both said the team goal is to stay together, not ahead of themselves and with the SCCAL crown.
“We’re incredibly close this year,” Hasty add. “We all get along and we really jelled early. “We want to take the league. We’re going to have to keep our intensity up, then we want to go on and do well in CCS,” said Lang.

December 23. Santa Cruz Girls Nab Another Win. Cardinals 9-0 After Squashing Hollister 54-23. At the end of the first quarter SC led 15-2. “offensively we didn’t shoot as well as we have been. But we played a lot better defense. Ten kids scored and everyone played well,” said coach Wilson. Several SC players have shared the spotlight in recent weeks and it was point guard Kenna Karst this week, who stepped into the forefront with 16 points and nine rebounds. Our seniors, Jessica Lang, Faith and Kenna are emerging as the leaders. Its exciting about the teams winning streak. We’re staying on an even keel and we have good chemistry going,” Wilson said.

January 3. Gilroy 50, SC 43. Gilroy’s front line proved to be too powerful and gave SC its first loss of the season. Gilroy broke open a close game in the final minute by making a pair of free throws, when SC was forced to foul. Christina Thompson was the only Card in double figures with 18 points and eight rebounds. “Our shooting wasn’t that great tonight. They had some tall girls and we had to alter our shots. We shot about 25 percent,” Coach John Wilson said.

January 6. SC 67, North Monterey 53. Led by Kenna Karst’s triple-double and Faith Hasty’s 16 point first half, SC shot down NMC in the first game of league. Karst scored 16 points, with ten assists and 11 steals as the Cards improved to 10-1 overall. “They understood the circumstances. It was the first league game and the Condors play well at home. “We picked up a little bit in the third quarter. The offense worked, “ Coach Wilson said of SC outscoring the Condors 20-10 in the quarter. Hasty led SC with 18 points and 11 rebounds. NMC coach said, ‘They’ve got a lot of weapons. It’s not like you can throw a box-and-one or diamond and two defense against them. If they don’t win the league, I’d be very surprised.”

January 9. Hasty Leads Cards To Second League Win defeating Monte Vista Christian 49-37. Faith Hasty scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the scoring and rebounding for the game. SC outscored MVC 12-2 in the first quarter as SC got itself jump started with a full court press and didn’t look back. SC substituted frequently throughout the game. ”I want to play the subs, because they work as hard as the starters,” Coach Wilson said. SC received balance scoring as Christina Thompson had 7 points and 7 rebounds..

January 13. Wildcats Can’t Stop Cardinals. SC’s Experience Too Much For Young Watsonville Team. Experience, confidence and the ability to adapt its game plan to different situations has earned SC a 12-1 overall record. SC won 49-32. Coach John Wilson said, “The team was surprised at first by the Wildcat defense. We came out ready to play, but they were playing a zone, which we didn’t expect and we had to make adjustments. After that, we got into it and played very well tonight.” Forward Faith Hasty, one of four seniors in the starting lineup, dominated the game with 19 points and 15 rebounds. “I’d definitely have to put a star next to Faith’s performance tonight,” Wilson said. At the end of the third quarter, SC was ahead 42-16. The reserves played the final quarter.

January 16. SC 67, SLV 35. SC reserves saw plenty of action. Evie Smith, a sophomore, got a rare start and scored a season high nine points to help SC 4-0, 13-1 overall bolt to a 26-3 lead after one quarter. Hasty scored 20 points, including eight in the first quarter and ten rebounds. Smith and Kenna Karst with six steals, nine points in limited action sparked the defense.

January 20. SC 60, Soquel 29. SC scored 17 unanswered points midway through the first half to take command of a close game as SC won for the thirteenth time this season in fourteen games. SC’s pressure defense got the team’s running game going in the second quarter, by repeatedly forcing Soquel into turnovers. SC guards Kenna Karst and Jessica Lang had seven and five steals respectively. Karst led SC with 17 points and Christina Thompson scored 10. Hasty was held to eight, but she still led in rebounds with eight. Tam Perez grabbed five.

January 22. Some Sad Faces After Cards Win over Aptos 71-38, but the Cards weren’t an entirely happy group. “A couple of people weren’t satisfied with the game tonight. So as part of the team, when someone’s disappointed, they’re all disappointed,” Coach Wilson said. Hasty, the Cards leading scorer was held to nine points and was visibly frustrated during the game. “I’m in a slump. I’m not playing as well as I should be. But people have to realize I’m going to have off nights. It’s not that I don’t like pressure, but I just have to work out of it myself,” Hasty said.
Teammate Jessica Lang added, “I think a lot of people expect to much from Faith. She doesn’t have to do it all herself all the time.” Especially when she is part of a talented team that has players who can pick up for each other. Guard Kenna Karst scored 19 points. Lang added 11 and Christina Thompson scored 10. “Maybe tonight the girls were thinking ahead to Saturdays game against league co-leader Harbor. You don’t always play well when you do that, although I thought everyone played well tonight. We know we have to come out and play our best Saturday, so we can beat Harbor,” said Coach Wilson.

Jan. 27. Cards Able To Rebound In 33 Point League Win over North Monterey 77-44, as SC bounced back after suffering its only SCCAL loss of the season, Saturday against Harbor. “Sometimes it’s tough to come back from a tough loss and get your momentum going,” said Coach John Wilson, whose team is 7-1. “But we did not let down and I’m really pleased, especially with the play of our subs.” Those subs had to step up their play to take the place of starting guard Jessica Lang, who limped off the court with two minutes gone in the first quarter with a twisted ankle. Lang missed all of last season with ankle problems.
SC rolled up a 22-6 lead in the first quarter. Evie Smith came off the bench to score eight points, three coming with a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter. “We were trying to be more aggressive. We wanted to push the ball down court and fast break more, which we didn’t do against Harbor,” said Smith. Kenna Karst led the Cards with 20 points, Faith Hasty added 18 and pulled down 12 rebounds. Christina Thompson scored 11 and had four steals.

Jan. 30.. SC 52, Monte Vista 39. SC 8-1 in the SCCAL, broke open a close game by blitzing the Mustangs 17-6 in the third quarter. It was during a time when the Cards two best players Hasty and Karst were on the bench in foul trouble. Tammy Perez picked up the slack scoring eight of her game high 23 points in the quarter. Subs Evie Smith, Jamie Vlassis and Joanne Hutson also played well in extended roles. Coach Wilson said his team played a more deliberate game with his starters on the bench. We were more patient on offense and looking for more different opportunities.

February 3. Wildcats Throw Scare Into Cards. Santa Cruz Come Back From Early 19-7 Deficit to win 60-53. Faith Hasty hit three free throws in the last 21 seconds to seal the win for the Cards, who are ranked number 7 in the state in Division III by Cal-Hi Sports. Watsonville jumped ahead 19-7 in the first period, but cooled off in the second quarter as SC settled down to chip away at the lead. Utilizing its fast break at every opportunity, SC outscored Watsonville 21-6 in the second quarter to take a 28-25 lead at halftime.
SC mixed up its zone and man-to-man defense in the third quarter and extended its lead to 41-29 with three minutes left in the period before Watsonville came back. Watsonville closed to 57-53 with 1:11 to play, but SC milked the 30 second shot clock and Watsonville was forced to foul, sending Hasty to the line twice in the final minute. Christina Thompson scored a game high 18 points, including eight in the second quarter, when SC overtook the Cats. Kenna Karst scored 15 points. SC improves to 9-1 in league and Watsonville drops to 6-4.

February 5. Cards Win, But Not Like Cards Of Old. SC defeats SLV 56-27. Center Tam Perez caught fire in the third quarter to help SC take control of the game. She scored all nine of her points in an 18 point quarter as SC stretched a 22-15 halftime lead to 40-20 entering the fourth quarter. Faith Hasty scored 14 points and Christina Thompson added 11.

February 7. SC 64, Soquel 22. SC jumped to a 20-2 lead after one quarter and went about its business. Thompson led the balanced Card attack with 14 points and Hasty added 12.

February 10. SC 57, Aptos 50. SC stayed one game behind Harbor at 12-1 in league. Aptos outscored SC 19-8 in the fourth quarter. SC which had its lead cut to five points in the final minute, was 9 for 10 from the foul line . Aptos was 12 for 30. SC which led by as many as 22 points, got 19 points from Karst.

February 13. Classic Cardinals. Santa Cruz Beats Harbor At Its Own Game. In a picture in the Sentinel above this article says Moments after SC beat Harbor 47-41, the Cardinals mobbed each other in celebration on the Pirates home floor. The sign on the wall in the Harbor high gym reads Defense, Discipline, Determination. SC took the Pirate motto and made it their own Friday night. The win earned the Cards a SCCAL co-championship along with Harbor. Each team finished 13-1. With a piece of their first championship since 1984 within reach, SC rose to the challenge of containing the SCCAL’s top two scorers and kept their composure in a rematch of their January loss to the Pirates.
We had to stop the people who are going to score. We tried a couple of different defenses, including a triangle-and-two,” Wilson said. It was the defensive scheme that threw Harbor out of its rhythm, slowing down the two scorers by playing them man to man and covering the rest of the players in a three man zone. When SC first used the defense, Harbor turned the ball over three straight times. Faith Hasty hit a mid-season slump that may keep her from the scoring title, but as with all good players, she picked up her level of play when it mattered most and tossed in 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and disrupted Harbor’s shooting with aggressive play toward the ball. In general she made life miserable for the Pirates. “She had to guard the player who was CO-MVP in the league last year with Faith and she rose to the occasion. “Faith had some big blocks and she put he ball in the basket for them when they needed it,“ said Harbor Coach Nick Adams.
In a game that both coaches said could have gone either way, Hasty scored 17 of the Cards 30 second half points and grabbed seven of her rebounds in the fourth quarter as the Cards inched away from the Pirates. SC was up only 29-26 shortly into the fourth quarter, but Hasty made sure the Cards didn’t fall behind, scoring her team’s next eight points for a 37-31 lead with four minutes and 26 seconds to go.
Kenna Karst, stole the ball on the nest possession and turned it into a transition basket to make it 39-31. Harbor stayed close and with 1:15 to play trailed 46-41. But the Pirates never scored again as the SC defense didn’t give Harbor an uncontested shot. “It was like we played together in a way like we never played together before. I had so much support out there and I really wanted to put my whole heart into this one,” said Hasty.
Christina Thompson, who scored 14 points and spent most of the night harassing the leagues top scorer on defense, said, “We knew what we had to do and we did it. I played my hardest. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.” “Harbor is a great team and this means a lot to our girls. But we know if were to play again tomorrow night, it could be a whole different story.
This was a great game,” Wilson said. The SCCAL tournament will start next week. In this case, the purpose of the tournament is to determine the league’s top seeds for the CCS playoffs, which begin February 23. If a team other than Harbor or SC wins the SCCAL tournament, the three teams will go down in the books as tri-champions.

February 16. Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Christina Thompson, senior forward, who scored 14 points with seven rebounds in SC’s important 47-41 win over Harbor to tie for the SCCAL round robin league championship. If the two teams meet in the final of the league tournament, the winner will be outright league champion. Besides her points, her best work may have been on the defensive end, where she contained the leagues leading scorer for much of the game. “She bothers you when she covers you. And scoring 14 points against Harbor is a feat, too. Harbor was concentrating on Hasty and Christina scored down low, outside and leading the fast break. Thompson, who also runs track, is regarded as the fastest Card, which proved to be a benefit against Harbor. Even the Harbor assistant coach said Christina was the difference in the game,” coach Wilson said.

February 19. Cards Survive NMC’s Bombs in the second round of the SCCAL Tournament at Cabrillo College. For the Cards, who held off a late Condor run it was just a matter of playing hard, getting ahead and holding on for a 61-52 win. “North Monterey had a couple of girls bury three pointers that allowed them to come back at the end. We didn’t come up with anything new this time. We just wanted to win this game,” said coach Wilson.
With 5:17 left in the game, Karst grabbed one of her nine steals and went in for a layup to give SC a comfortable 55-37 lead. But with some scrappy play by the Condors, they came back to make it 58-52 with 13 seconds left. Although the teams played almost even through three quarters, SC outscored the Condors 27-15 in the second quarter to give themselves the breathing room that would make the difference at the end. SC moved the ball through the Condor press and scored seven times in transition in the quarter.
“We picked up our intensity in the second quarter to get the game flowing. That’s when we started playing our game. We didn’t do anything different, we just played the way we wanted to play,” said guard Jessica Lang, who has missed much of the season with an ankle injury. Lang had eight of her 12 points in the second quarter. Faith Hasty scored all of her 14 points in the period and Karst had two steals to give SC a 39-26 halftime lead. SC plays Harbor tonight in the finals.

February 26. Patient Cardinals Run By Spartans. Patience. John Wilson, the Cardinals coach has expounded upon the merits of patience all season, patience on offense, running plays and waiting for the open shot. So against Seaside, the Cards took their time and controlled the first half of their CCS Division III quarterfinal game at Fehliman gym, on the strength of their first half effort came away with a 48-28 win.
Especially in the first half, we were very patient on offense. Kenna Karst really ran the half court offense well,” Wilson said. But after racking up a 32-12 first half lead, SC scored only four points in the third quarter and shot just 25 percent in the second half. ”In the second half our shot selection wasn’t as it should have been. They played a two-three zone defense and we rushed our shots. We started taking the ball too far down and then we got trapped underneath,” Karst said.
Luckily for the Cards, who alternated between man and zone defenses, they denied Seaside the opportunity to make up any lost ground. While SC was scoring only 16 second half points, the Spartans couldn’t do better then 15 and never threatened. “This game wasn’t as physical as our last game against Harbor,” said center Tam Perez, who pulled down ten rebounds and dominated inside. “This team came out more aggressive than most of the teams in our league, but we were ready to play.”
Karst led all scorers with 17 points and was the one bright spot for the Cards in the second half. She scored all four of the Cards third quarter points, five of their 12 in the final period and had nine steals. Normally a strong transition scorer, Karst was also successful in the half court offense. “She has always had quick hands. She’s got to have the quickest hands of any girl basketball player I’ve seen. She ran the offense and she really made things happen on both sides of the ball.” Wilson said. Karst said she has been working on using her feet more in an effort not to reach for the ball on steal attempts, could have given her teammates a few pointers in the grim third quarter.
“I don’t know what exactly happened in the third quarter. I was discouraged by all the fouls. We were reaching, playing a little over aggressively and it got us into foul trouble and kept the ball away from us, with them at the line time after time,” said Wilson. Faith Hasty and Christina Thompson each scored ten points. SC facer St. Ignatius of San Francisco at Cabrillo College in the quarterfinals at 2:45 Saturday. “All of a sudden the season has started over here in the playoffs. You still want to keep learning and improving, but every game is do or die,” Wilson said.

February 28. Card Girls Hang On To Win Thriller 45-44 over St. Ignatius. An effective zone defense employed in the second half held the Wildcats scoreless for the final 3:40 and to only five points in the entire fourth quarter. With the win, the Cards advance o the CCS Division III semifinals against Harbor. Faith Hasty led all scorers with 18 points, provided the spark on offense and defense. She scored the games winning points, when she popped loose behind a screen and hit a jump shot from just outside the free throw line with 1:20 remaining. After that it was a case of neither team taking control. While SC was missing possible game clinching free throws, St. Ignatius couldn’t escape the funk it fell into after SC switched to a man to man defense.
SC outscored 31-24 in the first half, was still trailing 35-28, when coach Wilson had his team go into a 2-3 zone with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It immediately paid dividends as forward Christina Thompson “cheated” her way to three steal in two minutes against the befuddled Wildcats. “In our zone, I’m playing it wrong. Our center, Tam Perez, drops back and I move up and cheat a little,” Thompson said.
“St. Ignatius was getting too many good shots, when we were in the man to man defense. The zone kind of slowed up the tempo,” said Wilson. Karst, one of the best free throw shooters, for the Cards, had a chance to ice the game with a minute to play, but this time she was unable to connect.
Thankfully for SC, their defense saved the day. With the Wildcats leading 39-34, one of their players had an apparent break away layup. But Hasty chased her the entire way and deftly blocked the shot, then grabbed the rebound. A pass to Lang, resulted in a titanic 3 pointer to tie the score 39-39 as the clock ran out to end the third quarter. Hasty was the only Card in double figures, while Karst scored eight, Thompson and Perez had six each.

Sentinel. Senior Faith Hasty, who transferred from Harbor to Santa Cruz to begin her sophomore year has won a number of awards during her high school career. In her first two years playing, she was named freshman and sophomore of the year for the league and county All League teams. During her junior year she was named County player of the year by the Sentinel. She was named most valuable player for the Pioneer Classic and Watsonville Invitational. Numerous times, Faith was named Athlete of The Week by the Sentinel. She also helps coach youth teams. “Beating Harbor was my personal highlight of this year.”

Sentinel final area stats on March 16. Listed by place, name, games played, total points, high game and average points a game.
PL NAME GP TP HI AV
6 Hasty 28 404 24 14.4
11 Karst 28 328 24 11.7
13 Thompson 28 291 18 10.4

On offense SC was second in total points scored at 1367 with a high game of 81 points and averaged 57.3 points a game.

Rebounds TR
6 Hasty 28 270 15 9.6
10 Thompson 28 202 12 7.2
15 Perez 27 171 11 6.1
17 Sudduth 25 131 15 6.0

On defense SC was tops allowing only 1131 points with the lowest score against of 22 and an average of points against of 40.4.

March 19. Sentinel ALL COUNTY girls team first stringers included SC’s Faith Hasty a 5-10, senior, forward and Kenna Karst a 5-6, senior, guard. On the second team was Christina Thompson a 5-8, senior, forward. Faith Hasty was selected SENIOR of the YEAR. “She was our go to person. She played well in big games,” coach John Wilson said. The main reason SC when 25-3, was SCCAL co-champions and made it to the CCS semifinals. Hasty led the Cards in points with 14.4 per game and in rebounds at 9.6. “Faith worked very hard in practice and in games. She was very focused. At times she was hard on herself. She always wanted to be outstanding and she was,” said coach Wilson.
Kenna Karst ran the offense and ran the team. She wasn’t really an outspoken leader, but when she said something, it did mean a lot and people listened. She was a doer, she wasn’t a talker,” Wilson said. Reason number 1A for SC’s success, Karst was the top point guard in the area and averaged 11.7 points per game.
Christina Thompson really came on strong at the end of the season. With her speed and defense, she improved so much. She gave our team a lot of flexibly, playing inside or outside. She would be in the post one quarter, then out to wing the next quarter. She and Faith would switch, depending on the match ups,” Wilson said. Reason number 1B for the SC’s big season, Thompson averaged 10.4 points a game and 7.2 rebounds.

Local Coaches Have Faith In SC’s Hasty. The league coaches selected Faith Hasty as the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER and John Wilson as COACH OF THE YEAR in his first season as the varsity coach at SC. First team members were Hasty and Kenna Karst. Second team member was Christina Thompson. Honorable mention was Jessica Lang. Even if Faith Hasty wasn’t altogether happy with her performance this season, the basketball coaches were. “I felt Faith was very deserving of the award and so did the other coaches,” said Coach John Wilson. Hasty was fifth in the league in scoring with a 14.7 average and sixth in rebounding with 6.6 a game. But her overall game, which includes tough defense and good court sense, made her the choice over Harbor’s star center, who was CO-MVP with Hasty last year. “I think with Faith, other coaches must have felt, if they put her on their team, she would be the hardest person to stop. If they looked at it that way, I know she would be the MVP of our team. Hasty’s value goes beyond her shooting ability. It’s leadership. She has played varsity for four years. I guess with that, it’s a matter of her getting the younger kids to play up to another level and work together. Her work habits, her ability to shoot, competitiveness and self drive have made her a force this season. And off the court, she is someone with a great sense of humor and a great personality,” Coach Wilson said. Karst, who runs the Cards offense is scoring 11.7 points per game.

GIRLS JV BASKETBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Yearbook. League games: North Monterey, two wins; Monte Vista, two wins; Watsonville, lost, won; SLV, two wins; Soquel, two wins; Aptos, two wins and Harbor, two wins. League record 13-1

Freshman Kelly Kaiser was a leader on the championship team and commented, “This years team worked together and put out a lot of effort.” Kelly plays volleyball in the Fall and softball in the spring.

Roster: Tara Hill, Heather Tyler, Katie David, Maria Willis, Janeen Aldrich, Erick Lombard, Alicia Beach, Jessica Brown, Hanife Esengil, Natalie Gibbons, Brooke Connor and Aimee Ghio. Coach Sudduth.

WRESTLING
Yearbook. Junior Nathan Atkinson a third year varsity wrestler said, “It was tough being the only freshman on the team my first year, Wrestling is the hardest sport you can do in high school, but it is the most rewarding.” Coach Lavoto said, “Nathan has great technique and he is someone his teammates can look up to. He is always at practice and ready to go all out at practice”

Roster: A. J. Drexel, Jered Van Kirk, Mike Walters, Javier Andrade, Jamilah Haje, Scott Randle, Nathan Atkinson, Ben Curry, Chance Pryor, Chris Keyser-Allen, Mike Caltrette, Tuan Nguyen, Danny Whiting, Kyle Perez, Jason Villanueva, David Kessler and Chris Morgan.
Head coach Lavoto and assistant Taylor.

Trident. Dec. 9. Wrestlers Fall To Inexperience. The season opened with a loss to SLV. In the lighter weights, SC had the upper hand, but as the matches went on the Cards youth and inexperience showed in a 42-36 loss. Junior David Kessler at 112 pounds won his match in three periods. In the most exciting match of the night, freshman Danny Whiting came back from a successfully executed body slam by his opponent to pin him in the third period.
Other winners were junior Nathan Atkinson at 140 pounds with a first period pin; A.J. Drexel at 189 also by pin in the first period; sophomore Jason Villanueva at 119 with a pin in the second period. To decide what team would win, with the score tied 36-36 going into the last and heaviest class, a first year wrestler junior David Graff wasn’t able to pull off a win. He did show he will have what it takes to be competitive for the next two years.
“Were a real young team with a majority of freshmen and sophomores. If these kids stick with it, watch out,” said coach Chris Lovato. Freshman Bart White, Chance Pryor and Mike Catrette are mentioned as wrestlers to keep an eye on in coming years.

Trident. Feb. 4. Will Wrestling Become A Sport of the Past? Not only is the support and attendance of wrestling declining, but so is the turnout of participants. The past years at SC, the team has had trouble filling almost a third of all the weight classes. The workouts are harder then any sport. The camaraderie of the team is better than most team sports and one is guaranteed a lean body. Things are looking up. The team this year is the biggest in many a year and the majority of the team is underclassmen.

Trident. March 9. The season was more or less one of learning with a team of primarily underclassmen. One of the focuses of the season was hoping girl wrestler sophomore Jamilah Jaje would win a match. It never happened, but like many of the wrestlers, she will be back next year trying to bring back wrestling to the place it has been at SC.

BOYS VARSITY SOCCER
Practice games: Lincoln 0-0. Gilroy 0-1, Alisal win, Overfelt loss. Practice record 1-2-1.
League games: Aptos, won, lost; Soquel, 6-0, won; Watsonville, 1-2, loss; SLV, 2-1, 3-1; Harbor, 4-1, 3-0; North Monterey, 3-1, 5-0; Monte Vista, 1-0, 5-0. League record 11-3 tied for second with SLV. CCS first round lost to Half Moon Bay on kick off of a 0-0 tie. Overall record 12-6-1.

Yearbook. The team was very competitive and made it to the CCS playoffs. One of the top players center halfback Mike Ferrante said, “Compared to last years team, we are better all around, plus we have a lot of talent”

Roster: Josh Porter, Kevin Murphy, Mike Ferrante, O. Torres, C. Ruiz, G, Bruland, A. Brown, R. Torres, S. Barberra, D. Bianchi, A. Perez, T. Garcia, O. Figueroa, Ben Henry, Chris Apra and K. Rauf. Coach Sergio Sierra and assistant Reyes.

Trident. Dec. 9. With six returning starters led by three seniors, goalie Joshelo Monragon, sweeper “Ocho” Torres and center halfback Mike Ferrante are needed to control the defense and the midfield and the offense can capitalize on the scoring opportunities created by Ferrante and junior Tony Garcia and senior Sean Barbera at halfbacks, the Cards will be contenders for the title. So far this season the Cards are 1-1-2. The first two games were a 0-0 tie with Lincoln and a 1-0 loss to Gilroy. In both games “the defense was tough, but offensively we were weak said,” said Torres.
SC out shot their opponents 36-7. Things changed in the next two games. In a convincing win over strong Alisal, the Cards played over their level,” said Coach Sierra. After their impressive first win, the Cards faced Overfelt with a 5-0 record. Only an unlucky goal kept SC from their second win. The team on offense is looking to senior forwards Omar Figeroa, Felipe Cruz and Neil Churchill to score. On defense look for Torres and senior Kevin Murphy to shut down the opposition.

Sentinel preseason write up. December 10. Senior goalie Josuelo Maldrogon, honorable mention all league last year, had the fewest goals allowed by any SCCAL keeper in 1991-92. He may be the strongest returnee the Cards have according to Coach Sierra. The Cards offensive front has the potential to be an explosive unit, but this is its first season together and it will take some time before they regularly succeed.

Sentinel. January 9. Cruz Uses His Head to Help Cards Top SLV 2-1. The question Coach Sergio Sierra was asked after watching Felipe Cruz head in a goal was, where were the TV cameras? “That was the best looking goal of the season. It also was the best executed,” said Coach Sierra. Cruz’s goal his first of two in the game, began with Tony Garcia sprinting with the ball down the left sideline. Garcia began to run out of room as he got within 10 yards of the end line, so he kicked a crossing pass toward the goal. Cruz was running at full speed, when he leaped and headed the ball over the goalkeepers head to the far corner of the net. “Felipe is probably the most skilled and most experience player I have, so it’s not all that surprising. It was just beautiful,” Sierra said. Cruz scored again ten minutes later on an unassisted 15 yard shot. Sierra said Mike Ferrante controlled the middle of the field from his center halfback position. Goalkeeper Josuelo Maldrogon was well positioned and well prepared for the limited action he saw,” said Sierra, who also credited freshman Romi Torres for outstanding play at fullback.

January 15. SC 3, Harbor 0. In the muck and mire of Harbors soccer field, the Torrez brothers of SC had a big day. Ambrosio ‘Ocho’ Torrez and Romy Torrez each scored goals as the Cards improved their record in league to 4-1. Shawn Barbera also scored for SC. Coach Sierra said the win puts the Cards in good position at this point in the season. “It separates us from the crowd. It puts pressure on Watsonville. It’s a big win. Mike Ferrante had an ‘outstanding game.’ He controlled the ball and the tempo.”

January 16. SC 3, North Monterey 1. SC remained hard on the heels of first place Watsonville, winning their fifth straight after losing the league opener to Watsonville. Felipe Cruz, the teams leading scorer, scored a pair of first half goals and assisted on another as the Cards took a 3-0 lead and coasted from there. Cruz opened the scoring with a great individual effort, according to Coach Sierra. He juked his way through four players and knocked the ball in. Four minutes later, Shawn Barbera ended the Cards assault with a score off a loose ball.

January 21. SC 1, Monte Vista 0. “Their keeper is awesome,” said coach Sergio Sierra, whose team move to 6-1 in league. “We had six or seven sure goals, but he was getting them with the tips of his fingers. Junior Carlos Ruiz scored the games only goal in the second half. He got the ball about 40 yards from the goal, dribbled it past two defenders and cracked a shot past the goalie. “It was all out self-effort. That time the keeper couldn’t react fast enough because it was such a powerful shot,” coach Sierra.
“I wasn’t afraid we were going to get scored on, I was worried about scoring one goal before the ref called the game. It was sloppy, but we played well. It was 0-0 at halftime, so we were under pressure to get something going.”
Sierra said, “Felipe Cruz played well at striker and Greg Bruland had a strong outing at stopper. Goal keeper Joshuelo Maldrogon, only touched the ball two or three times and was more concerned about staying warm than anything else. Tony Garcia, a halfback was lost for two weeks, because of a gash on his knee that required stitches. Left fullback Dave Bianchi is already out with a broken ankle. They were replaced with Romy Torres and Ben Henry.

February 4. Cards Secure Second Place. The team almost missed the bus. Because of a scheduling mix up, the bus left and hour early before the team was ready. Fortunately the offense made it to Felton as SC defeated SLV 3-1. SC improved to 7-3 in league and retained sole possession of second place. SLV is 6-3. SC opened up the scoring as Carlos Ruiz received a crossing pass from Sean Barbera and slipped a shot past the SLV goalie for a 1-0 lead with 5:42 into the game. “Carlos controlled the ball quite well and got a good shot off instead of hurrying the play. That was a good play, but the effort was from Sean. He made the play happen,” Coach Sergio Sierra said.
SC struck again when the SLV goalie charged out to control a loose ball, but the ball bounced off a teammate right to Felipe Cruz. Cruz controlled the bal in front of the Cougar goal and shot it past a SLV fullback, vainly trying to play goalie, for a 2-0 lead 13:43 into the first half. SC’s third goal came almost as a fluke, prompting Sierra to say, “let’s get a real one.” Neil Churchill, nearly parallel with the SLV goal, slice the ball toward the goal, but the goalie apparently thinking the ball would go out of bounds, watched the ball softly roll into the net to make the score 3-0 with 8:58 into the second half.

Trident. Feb. 4. Boys Soccer Pounds Through Muddy Season. Junior Carlos Ruiz had his best game of the season, January sixth against Soquel. He scored three goals in the wet and wild game as the Cards had a total of six goals all together. Coach Sergio Sierra explained that Ruiz, “has been close to breaking it open all season.” Besides Ruiz’s hat trick, senior Felipe Cruz, junior Tony Garcia and sophomore David Bianchi also scored.
The first victory came against a solid Aptos team that beat the Cards twice last year. The only loss came in the first league game against rival Watsonville 2-1. SC is now 2-1 in league.
Just as the offense has been effective, the midfield and defense have raised their play to another level. Center halfback Mike Ferrante has left opponents behind with tangled legs, wondering what happened.
Against SLV, Ferrante shut down the Cougars top scorer and controlled the midfield. On defense, sweeper “Ocho” Torres and goalie Josuelo Mondragon have allowed only four goals They are helped by the play of Kevin Murphy and Bianchi. With both of these players absent against SLV, freshman Romi Torris and senior Sean Barbera stepped into the outside defenders positions without missing a beat.

February 11. Santa Cruz Clinches Berth In Next Weeks CCS Playoffs. With a quick burst of scoring, SC set itself up to clinch second place in league and clinch a berth in the CCS playoffs. “The most important thing is we take an automatic berth into CCS,” said Coach Sierra, whose team beat Monte Vista Christian 5-0 to improve to 11-3 in the SCCAL and wrap up a spot in the CCS Division II tournament. Felipe Cruz scored a hat trick for SC, which got solo scores from Sean Barbera and Kevin Murphy, a senior fullback who scored the first goal of his career. Senior goalkeeper Josh Porter got his first shut out as a replacement for Maldrogon. SC has lost in the first round of the playoffs the past two years, after winning a co-championship with Gilroy in 1990.

In the opening round of CCS against Half Moon Bay, the regulation game ended in a tie. After two overtimes, the game came down to penalty shots. Half Moon Bay made three of their penalty shots and SC missed their first three and were eliminated from the playoffs.

Trident. March 4. SC finished the season 12-6-1 overall and was second in league to powerhouse Watsonville.

ALL SCCAL soccer team selected by the coaches had three Cards on the first team. They were Felipe Cruz, senior forward; Mike Ferrante, senior middle and Greg Bruland senior defender. Honorable Mention were seniors Neil Churchill, Sean Barbera, Ocho Torres, Carlos Ruiz and Tony Garcia and junior Josh Porter. COACH OF THE YEAR was Sergio Sierra, whose team finished second with a 11-3 record, despite the midseason loss of all league goalkeeper Joshuelo Maldrogon and a couple of key injuries.

JV BOYS SOCCER Yearbook. League games: Watsonville, two losses; Aptos, lost, won; Soquel, two wins; SLV, two wins; Harbor, two wins; North Monterey, two wins and Monte Vista, two wins. League record 11-4.

Roster: Danny Marquez, Gabe Cutuli, Darrin Cummings, K. Hirayama, T. Seeger, A. J. Marquez, D. Alvarado, R. Montesinos, O. Diaz, J. Grunstra, P. Luna, R. Barranco, M. Santos, J. Corcoles, S. Perez, E. Perez and E,, Quintanilla. Coach Reyes.

GIRLS SOCCER
Practice games: Cupertino 0-0. Jamboree: Harbor 1-0, went to the championship round against Aptos to 0-0 tie and SC won on penalty kicks for the championship.
League games: Watsonville, 4-1, 2-0; Aptos, 1-2, loss; Soquel, 0-1, tie; SLV, two losses; Harbor, two losses; North Monterey 2-0, won and Monte Vista, 1-0, won. League record 6-7-1.

Yearbook. One of SC’s hottest fullbacks Meghan Palochak has all the qualities that a good soccer play should have, endurance, strength, good ball control and enjoy playing.

Roster: Amber Yale, Monica Silver, Meghen Palochak, Rita Dunderdale, Rachel Moeller, Naomi Rothman, Andrea Seeger, Harriet Norteye, Bernadette Ferrante, Lilah Walsh, Blanca Sierra, Megan McGuire, Casey Coonerty, Shoshona Olsen and Katerina Strand. Coach Sierra

Trident. Dec. 9. Starting out the year with a new coach Jose Sierra, a brother of varsity coach Sergio, new strategies and a lot of new players, the future looks bright. During the preseason Jamboree, SC beat Harbor 1-0 and went to the championship round against Aptos. The regulation game finished 0-0, then the game went to penalty kicks and SC won 4-3 for the title. The next challenge was Cupertino in a 0-0 game. “I thought we had a solid performance. We kept a fast pace and everyone had an all around good attitude,” said Coach Sierra. With a solid defense led by keeper Marietta O’Francia and a fast attack offense, the team looks strong.

Sentinel. January 15. SC 2, North Monterey 0. Two quick goals gave SC all they needed as both team struggled in the mud. SC’s sophomore, left forward Bernadette Ferrante opened the scoring nine minutes into the game, dribbling through defenders for an unassisted goal. Andrea Seeger, a senior right forward, followed at 26 minutes, avoiding a big puddle on her way to score. SC improved to 2-2 in league and 3-3–1 overall.

Sentinel. January 20. SC 1, MVC 0. Reduced to playing what Sierra described as “kickball” because of the muddy conditions, SC was able to survive and post a win over MVC. “We barely got that one. “Poor field conditions just takes away the style of what we’re trying to do, control the ball. That mud has taken that away. It’s frustrating to see that,” said Sierra. Bernadette Ferrante scored the only goal as SC improves to 3-2 in league.

January 22. Second Half Burst Boosts SC. SC won their third straight game as Shoshona Olson and Rita Dunderdale scored second half goals to boost the team to a 2-0 win over Watsonville. SC league record is now 4-2. Goalie Marietta O”Francia recorded her third straight shutout. Watsonville was limited to two shots on goal, while SC took 39. “The ball was definitely on their half of the field throughout the game. The field is so muddy we knew we had to be the aggressive team and keep the ball on the other side,” Coach Jose Sierra. Right halfback Casey Coonerty was a driving force for the Card offense, which repeatedly attacked the goal. “She’s been a big asset to our midfield, That’s why we’ve been playing so well. Olsen’s goal came 18 minutes into the second half and Dunderdale’s goal came two minutes later. “The girl’s just put it together today. It was very nice, a good win. Next week we play tougher teams like Aptos and Soquel, so this is good preparation for us,” Sierra said. SC is 4-3-1 for the season.

Trident. Feb. 4. Girls Soccer Keeps Afloat. The season so far has resembled a bumpy roller coaster ride. Starting league play, the young but experienced team beat Watsonville 4-1. “I felt we played well. We moved the ball around, passing was good, everyone was supporting one another and we played like a team,” said Coach Jose Sierra. “It was a good victory for us, because it’s a good way to start the new year.” With the rain and winter vacation, the Cards intensity went down.
Soquel beat the Cards 1-0 as the Cards were slow and coach Sierra felt the team could not play any worse. The team also lost, for the season, senior star sweeper, Sandra Marquez with a broken ankle.
Last years champion Aptos scored two quick goals. SC came back and scored, but lost 2-1.
Against North Monterey the Cards scored two goals in the first half and glided to victory. SC then defeated Monte Vista 1-0.
Under muddy conditions, SC played their best game of the season defeating Watsonville for the second time 2-0. Now with a 4-2 record the team is looking forward for the rest of the season.

Trident. March 4. SC went through the first couple of weeks of the league season with great standings, but due to many rain outs. But SC did not play the league leading SLV and Aptos until late in the season. After the good start, the Cards slipped to a 6-7-1 league record. The Cards will lose only one starter to graduation.

Youth Served In Soccer. Awards Go To Frosh, Soph and a junior. The youth movement has hit the SCCAL. Of the three players voted number one at their positions, none are seniors.
The Outstanding Forward is a sophomore Bernadette Ferrante of SC. Ferrante is an offensive threat, scoring 12 goals in league games. “I put a lot of pressure on her to perform this year, but she exceeded all expectations,” said coach Jose Sierra. “She was definitely the dominant offensive player for us. Sierra said Ferrante’s ability to run at full speed while dribbling is a rare talent in the SCCAL. Last spring, Ferrante clocked the second fastest time in the 100 meters at 13.0 during the track season. “that’s when she was most impressive. A lot of girls lose their speed while dribbling, That’s why she stood out. Other teams could see that, so every game She’d be double teamed. Every time she had the ball, she was a real threat,” Sierra said.
ALL SCCAL soccer team selected by the coaches included two Cardinals on the first team. They were Casey Coonerty a senior mid-fielder and Bernadette Ferrante a sophomore forward, who also was selected as the OUTSTANDING FORWARD. Honorable mentions were Rachel Moeller, Monica Silver and Rita Dunderdale.

GIRLS JV SOCCER Yearbook. League games: Watsonville, two wins; Aptos, win, lost; Soquel two losses; SLV, two losses; Harbor, two losses and North Monterey two wins. League record 5-7.

Yearbook. Goalie Cathy Shumate considers soccer her favorite sport, but plays softball and competes on the swim team.

Roster: Lisa Howell, Cathy Shumate, M. Abrams, M. Lomeli, M. Miller, M. Cole, B. DeWorken, S. Hoffman, G. Wardrope, M. Tasso, E. Blitzer, K. Holt, C. Johnson, M. Delpeloso, K. McGraw, J. Marler and L. Kelly. Coach Krutsinger.

BASEBALL
Practice games: Carmel 19-6, Gonzales 4-3, 3-0, North Monterey 2-4, Santa Theresa, Palma, Overfelt, Del Mar, Colfax, Soquel Tournament: Harbor 11-4, Skyline won. (games listed without scores are from the schedule. Other games missing also)
League: Harbor 6-3, 11-1; North Monterey 2-4, : Soquel 11-4, 7-8; Watsonville 8-2, 4-3; Monte Vista 8-1, 9-4; Aptos 7-3, 6-3; SLV 11-4, loss. Tied for second place with SLV with 10-4 records. CCS playoffs: Terra Nova 5-3. (Quarterfinal game missing) Final overall record 21-6.

From the yearbook of 1994. One of the best seasons in the last ten years. Qualified for the CCS playoffs.

Seniors were Chris Crawford, Ben Gersick, Joel Ackernecht, Dov Rothman and Will Bitzer. Other players: Jorge Perez, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Mike Ferrante, Albert Cuellar, George Arnott, Aaron Woliczko, B. Pearson, Jason Nee, K. C. Kaiser, Jonathan Pillsbury and Neil Churchill. Head Coach John Wilson and assistants Rudy Escalante and Geoff Dunn.

Sentinel preseason write up on March 7. Coach John Wilson’s second year. Last years record 18-9 overall and 8-4 for second place in league. Key senior players: Chris Crawford, P; K.C. Kaiser, 2B; Aaron Woliczko, Shortstop/Pitcher; Jason Nee, CF; Neil Churchill, OF and Joel Ackernaecht. 3B/P. Crawford is a saving grace as the leagues top returning pitcher with his 12-1 record and 1.81 ERA. Nee the number one base stealer in the league last season could be a playmaker at the leadoff spot in the order. While Kaiser brings much needed leadership to the middle infield. Dov Rothman is a natural athlete, who will spend time on the mound and at first base. Rothman, Ben Gersick and Ben Pearson are all left-handers, who will share pitching duties with Crawford, Woliczko and Ackernecht. Junior Jorge Perez and sophomore George Arnott are solid hitters, who are vying for the catchers spot.
Coaches outlook: “We have a lot of talent coming back at key positions, but seven starters are new and not really tested. We’ve got to be solid up the middle. I wouldn’t say we are right now. But with some time, we’ve got the athletic ability to be competitive there. We made it to the CCS finals last year, but this year, I’d say our expectations and priorities are to do well in league and we’ll see what happens after that.

Sentinel March 7. Chris Crawford write up in the Sentinel.
Cards Lay Their Trust in Crawford’s Arm Anybody who knows baseball will confirm that a successful pitcher needs a steady head just as much as a strong arm. Hence, the success of Santa Cruz High right-hander Chris Crawford. Crawford, the top returning pitcher in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League this season, confesses that he doesn’t have the most powerful arm in the world. But he uses other intangibles to baffle hitters, as Cardinals assistant coach Rudy Escalante attests. “He’s a very smart pitcher,” Escalante said. “He really understands the game, much more that other kids at his age do. He has an outstanding work ethic and mechanics.” A senior, Crawford is beginning his fourth season on the varsity squad. His junior season boasted numbers such as a 12-1 record, 82 strikeouts in 93 innings and an impressive earned run average of 1.81.
But Crawford is quick to spread the praise for his fine “92 showing. “Having a good defense behind me helped me an awful lot,” Crawford said. “I’d get a groundball and I’d have the confidence in the infielders that they were going to make the play.” And with the way Crawford pitches, his infielders can expect to see a lot of groundballs. “The biggest thing that Chris does is that he keeps the ball down,” said Escalante, a former star catcher at Santa Cruz and San Jose State. “He’s really tough and he gets tougher when he’s behind in the count. He’s got a good changeup which he uses to set people up and then gets them with a curve.” “I think my curve is by best pitch,” Crawford said. “I have a fastball in the low 80s and I really just added the changeup over the winter.”
Crawford’s pitch selection reminds Escalante of another Santa Cruz pitcher, John Wilson, currently the head coach of the Cardinals. “I was John’s catcher for a couple of years and I see some similarities,” Escalante said. “Neither has or had overpowering stuff, but they’re very consistent and competitive. Chris has very good composure. Even when things are getting rough, he doesn’t really get rattled.” With Crawford’s fine junior season come the expectations of doing better this year. Which is something that he hears often. “There is some pressure (to repeat last year’s success),” he said. “It’s something that I have to deal with. But I think this pressure will only push me to do better.”
Escalante believes that one of the keys to Crawford having another fine year is his relationship with his catcher–whomever that may be. “I think he will follow up that success, but a lot depends on which catcher we’re able to develop,” said Escalante, who is grooming junior Jorge Perez and sophomore George Arnott to handle duties behind the plate. “Pitchers rely so much on catchers and much of their success is based on that relationship. It has to come to the point of where it’s at if it’s just the two of them on the field. “We need a catcher who can really push Chris. I believe he’s capable of at least eight or nine wins. If he gets good defense behind him, maybe another 10 win season.”
Crawford says that control will be a major factor to his success this year. He walked 41 batters last year. “I’ve got to have better control this year,” said Crawford, who’s fresh off of playing basketball and just beginning to scrape off rust from his pitching arm. “I think that will come with time.” Whether or not this season is as prosperous as last, Crawford doesn’t want to end his career just yet. “I’d like to play at a four-year college,” he said, “But my velocity isn’t where it should be. I’d like to get my fastball into the low 90s.”
He could pitch in college if he continues those work ethics,” Escalante said. “But he’ll have to go into college and forget about hitting and fielding and concentrate solely on pitching.” But for right now, Crawford likes Santa Cruz’s chances in league play. “We don’t have a lot of returners, but we’re solid at every position,” he said. “Our goal as a team is to do as well as last year and reach the CCS (Central Coast Section) playoffs.” And Crawford’s personal goals for this season? “I don’t want to make any predictions and then not be able to follow them up,” he said. “I realize that last year was an extraordinary year and it will be difficult to follow it up.”

Sentinel. March 16. Cardinal Bats Pound Carmel. In a match up of final four teams from last years CCS playoffs, SC pounded out 18 hits to beat Carmel 19-6. SC scored eight runs in the third inning. The big hit was Aaron Woliczko’s three run home run. Four Cards each had three hits. Woliczko was 3 for 4 with four runs and three RBI’s; Neil Churchill went 3 for 3 with three runs and three RBI’s; K..C. Kaiser went 3 for 5 with three RBI’s; Dov Rothman went 3 for 4 with four runs scored. Ben Pearson pitched the first 3 2/3 innings to improved SC’s record to 2-3.

Sentinel April 13. In the second game of the season picked up their second win in a nail biter 4-3 win over Gonzales. Jon Pillsbury capped a three run fifth inning with a two run single.
Chris Crawford pitched three scoreless innings in the win.

March 31. SC 6, Harbor 3. Down 3-0 after two innings, SC tied the game with a three run fifth inning and then won with a three runs in the eighth, the first extra inning With one out in the eighth, walks to KC Kaiser and Jon Pillsbury, an error on George Arnott’s ground ball to load the bases. A walk to Jorge Perez forced in the first run, Mike Ferrante plated the second run with a squeeze bunt and a balk brought home the final run.
SC tied the game in the fifth inning on Jason Nee’s two run triple and Neil Churchill ensuing infield single. Harbor took a 1-0 lead on a triple and single. Harbor got to Chris Crawford with two more runs in the second inning to go ahead 3-0. Crawford pitching for the first time in ten days, made 58 pitches in the first three innings, but needed just 38 more to finish the game. “He threw better at the end,” said assistant coach Geoff Dunn. “He was effective and he was sharp.” “In the middle of the game, I made and adjustment in my windup,” said Crawford.

April 3. Condor Shuts Down Cards On 1-Hitter. North Monterey’s 6-4 junior pitcher had a no-hitter going with one out in the seventh inning, until KC Kaiser singled. The pitcher had a 6.91 ERA coming into the game. SC scored both of its runs in the seventh with the help of three walks in a 4-2 loss.

April 4. Cardinal Bats Come To Life. Santa Cruz Racks Up 12 Hits In Win. After managing only one hit in a 4-2 loss to North Monterey Friday, SC uncorked its offense on Saturday and racked up 12 hits on the way to an 11-4 win over Harbor in the Capitola Lions/Soquel High Invitational Baseball Tournament at Harvey West. “We have the potential to really hit the ball. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t,” said coach Wilson.
This time they did and the game was decided early. Harbor managed a run in the first, but SC spent the next two innings feasting at bat. Aaron Woliczko had two RBI doubles in each of the first two innings. Jonathon Pillsbury drove in a run with a first inning single and Dov Rothman added an RBI single in the second to put SC ahead 7-1. Jason Nee added a RBl single in the third, Brendan Ayanbadejo doubled home a run in the fifth and Woliczko smocked his third double of the game in the sixth to score another run.
SC pitchers Joel Ackerknecht and Ben Gersick combined to strike out six and allowed only four hits. “They were trying some different pitchers and we had some guys in different positions too. This is the type of situation, when you can do that. This is the time of the season when we can relax before the league really gets started,” said Coach Wilson.
Rothman finished with a triple and two singles, Nee had two singles and Kaiser had two RBI’s on a single and triple. “I’m happy with where we are at this point in the season. The coaching staff is happy with the guys’ attitudes and I think we’re right where we want to be,” Coach Wilson.

April 6. At the Soquel High/Capitola Lions tournament, SC beat Monterey 16-8. SC pounded out 13 hits and capitalized on three Monterey errors, putting the game away with a five run rally in the seventh inning. Dov Rothman was 3 for 4 with four RBI’s. Joel Ackernacht was 3 for 5 with three RBI’s. George Arnott had a two run single in the five run first inning. Jason Nee and KC Kaiser each scored three runs. Pitcher Chris Crawford left after four innings with a 11-3 lead.

April 13 Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Aaron Woliczko, a senior shortstop, who went 8 for 14, a .571 average with eight RBI’s and seven runs scored as SC went 3-1 to finish second in the Soquel tournament. “He has a good eye and he hits with runners in scoring position,” said Coach John Wilson. Woliczko is hitting .472 this season, 17 for 36, went 4 for 4 with three RBI in a win over Skyline and 3 for 4 with three doubles against Harbor. “He hits the ball everywhere,” said Wilson, of the 6-6 Woliczko, who bends his knees and gets down low at the plate to get his line of vision closer to the strike zone making him about 5-11 in his stance.”
Woliczko played third base and designated hitter last year, but moved to shortstop this year, a position he played as a sophomore. “He brings leadership and a lot of enthusiasm to the team,” Wilson said.

April 17. Santa Cruz Roughs Up Soquel Pitching Staff. Raking four Soquel pitchers for 13 hits, SC handed Soquel is first loss in SCCAL play 11-4. The Cards scored four runs in the top of the second to take the lead, then added two key runs in the top of the fifth on triples by Jason Nee and Dov Rothman, with an infield errors in between. That put SC up 7-3, with Soquel not threatening much by then against SC starter Ben Gersick, who gave up three runs in the first two innings, then shut out Soquel for two innings. He gave way to ace Chris Crawford , who kept the win intact. Nee led the hitters going 3 for5. Defensively, SC got a big effort from third baseman Joel Ackernecht. Soquel still leads the league with a 4-1 record.

April 21. Santa Cruz Rocks Watsonville. SC had six hits and five runs in the second inning in its 8-2 win. Jason Nee hit a bases loaded single good for two RBI’s, KC Kaiser knocked in two more and Joel Ackerknecht’s single added another run. Chris Crawford did the job on the mound, allowing only four hits and no runs in five innings. SC scored on a Ackerknecht’s third inning single and two more unearned runs in the sixth inning. Reliever Ben Gersick ended the game with three strikeouts. Neil Churchill went 2 for 3 and Ackerknecht was 2 for 3 with two RBI’s. Kaiser was 2 for 4 with two RBI’s SC improved to 3-2 in league.

April 23. Card Runs Into Trouble In One Hit Victory. Pitcher Ben Pearson pitched five innings of no-hit ball to help SC past Monte Vista Christian 8-1in SCCAL play in a night game at Harvey West. MVC garnered its only hit on an infield single in the seventh inning. The victory kept SC at 4-2, a half a game behind league leading SLV at 4-1-1. More importantly for SC, they got a good pitching performance from somebody not named Chris Crawford. “I think it’s real important to get good pitching, because we’ve got a lot of games in a few days. We have four pitchers and we’re all throwing well right now,” Pearson said.
Coach Wilson was happy with the win, but now has to administer a little punishment to Pearson. “Ben pitched a good game, except for his walks. We have a new thing now. A walk-to-inning ratio and he’s going to owe us some laps.” Pearson allowed four walks. “It looks like I’m running 20 laps. If I lose anymore weight, I might blow away in the wind,” Pearson said through a half smile.

April 25. SC 9, MVC 4. KC Kaiser’s RBI double in the fifth inning broke a 4-4 tie and the Cards gradually pulled a way in a make up game. MVC led 4-2 at one point, but couldn’t hold back SC, who scored two runs each in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

April 27. SC continued its winning ways, earning its fourth consecutive game, defeating Aptos 7-3. SC has scored 35 runs in the last four wins and has set a pattern of taking control by scoring early and then slacking off. That happened again as Aptos. “We’re playing to win, but we’re having a good time and enjoying it. We probably come out too loose sometimes, which allows things to happen toward the end of the game, but we’re coming up through with key hits when we need them to help us out,” said Coach John Wilson. Aptos took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning, but SC shook the icicles off their bats and scored three runs on Dov Rothman’s two run triple and a pass ball to claim the lead 3-2. Jason Nee went 3 for 3 and added two RBI’s in the fourth and another in the six. Rothman finished with a triple and two RBI’s. Joel Ackerknecht went 2 for 3. SC improves to 6-2, tied with Soquel for first.

April 28. SC 6, Aptos 3. SC scored four times in the first inning and hung on to keep pace with Soquel for the SCCAL lead with 7-2 records. Chris Crawford worked a complete game six hitter, to pick up the win. SC scored four runs in the first inning on an infield hit and seeing-eye ground balls that Aptos was unable to convert into outs. Aptos rallied for two runs in the seventh, but SC plated unearned runs in the fourth and seventh innings. John Pillsbury had two hits.

May 1. Gersick, Cards On A Roll. Looking every bit like a legitimate threat for the CCS playoff, SC continued its late season roll by defeating Harbor 11-1 in a night game at Harvey West. “We started the season kind of slow, But the same thing happened last year. We just seem to take off after Easter break,” said Coach John Wilson. Gersick picked up the complete game victory, allowing only one run on three hits. “I had no fastball. I was trying to keep the ball down and let my defense do the work. The team deserves the win as much as I do,” said Gersick.

Trident. May 6. After a slow start, the Cards vaulted to a first place tie 8-2 record with Soquel with four games remaining. In the past two weeks SC has claimed six victories, two apiece over Aptos and Monte Vista and victories over Watsonville and Harbor. SC defeated Monte Vista on back to back days by an average of six runs. On consecutive days SC beat Aptos 7-3 and 6-2. In what was supposed to be a big test against Harbor the Cards scored seven runs in the first inning on their way to a 11-1 win.
Ben Gersick pitched a complete game win. SC beat Soquel 11-4 in their first encounter, so the game coming up will probable determine the league winner. The pitching staff has vastly improved over the course of the season and has established themselves as the premiere pitchers in the league. Seniors Chris Crawford and Ben Gersick and junior Ben Pearson are forces to be reckoned with in the SCCAL. The Cards pitching and hitting has been unstoppable as of late and are working their way to the league title.

May 12. Knights Clinch League Baseball Title for the second year in a row, defeating SC 8-7. Soquel scored five runs in the first inning, but SC fought back and didn’t stop until the last out. SC made a game out of it with a rally in the seventh inning. KC Kaiser and Aaron Woliczko each reached base on back to back singles with two outs. They advanced on a wild pitch and Kaiser scored on a balk. Dov Rothman, who had singled each of his three at bats, hit a sharp grounder into the hole at shortstop and the defender threw the ball to first off balance to barely beat Rothman to the bag or the game would have been tied. Getting the first out of the game was a challenge for pitcher Chris Crawford, as the first four batters scored, two of them on home runs.
SC, had a five game win steak snapped by SLV in the previous game, withstood the ten count and regained their feet. In the third inning, SC closed the score to 6-5 with George Arnott’s two run homer to right center. Rothman had singled with two outs and stole second to set up the dramatic shot. SLV and SC are tied for second with 9-4 records going into the last game of the season.

May 15. Cards In Limbo Despite Victory. Its playoff destiny in question, SC was forced to pull out all stops in its regular season finale against Watsonville to win 4-3. SC and SLV each finished the season 10-4 in league, but the Cougars defeated SC twice in the regular season to cinch the second playoff spot, leaving SC seeking an CCS at large birth.
Dov Rothman drove in all four SC runs. In the first inning he hit a three run homer and in the third inning he singled in the fourth run. “He threw me a high fast ball that I was able to turn on,” Rothman said of his first homer this season. “We came out knowing we needed to win. And now that we have it, we think we have a good chance to make the CCS playoffs.” SC had its number two starter on the mound, while his teammates were running wild on the base paths.
SC swiped nine bases, but had trouble driving them home. Staked to an early 3-0 lead, Gersick cruised through the first five innings. But he tired in the sixth, allowing two runs and walked two, before being replaced by Chris Crawford, who allowed a run to score. Crawford settled down and retired the final four men he faced to wrap up the win.

May 16. Soquel, Santa Cruz, SLV Make Playoffs. League champion Soquel with a 11-3 league record will be playing in Division I this year as their enrollment puts them in the top half of the 32 schools in the playoffs. SC and SLV, who tied for second with 10-4 records will play in Division II. SC was seeded thirteenth and will play Terra Nova at Buck Shaw stadium at the University of Santa Clara on Thursday.

May 20. Rothman Tees Off On Pitchers. Santa Cruz Cardinal Makes Successful Return To Baseball From Golf. Dov Rothman, a senior came into this spring as one of the top golfers in the area gave up basketball this winter to concentrate on his goals of winning section and Northern California golf titles, but he bagged it. He gave up what was expected to be certain success in golf to try playing baseball for the first time in four years. He had given up baseball because of and injured throwing shoulder. “It was totally unexpected,” said Rothman. He stepped right into the first base position and has become one of the top players in the SCCAL. Going into the CCS playoffs at Santa Clara University, he is batting .381 with 22 RBI’s, and seven triples.

May 21. Santa Cruz Emerges With Win. In The Clutch, Nee Gives Cards 5-3 Win over Terra Nova. With the bases loaded and the game on the line, SC just happened to have Jason Nee stepping into the batters box. How convenient. If he had to scan his roster and hand picked a name, coach Wilson would choose Nee. Fortunately, Nee was already at the plate, digging in with his spikes like a crazed bull ready to charge. “He’s left handed, he’s the fastest player on the team and he’s our team captain. That’s about all I can ask for,” said Wilson. With one out in the top of the seventh inning, Nee slapped a line drive to left field to score George Arnott and Joel Ackernecht, giving the Cards a 5-3 win over Terra Nova of South San Francisco.
SC at 17-8 moved into Saturdays quarterfinals at San Jose Municipal Stadium against Carlmont. “I looked up at the scoreboard and it said it was the seventh inning. I said, I’m not letting my senior year go out like that. I just wanted to hit the ball somewhere,” said Nee, who carried a .413 average into the playoffs. “I can’t say I didn’t feel any pressure. It was pretty clutch, I guess.”
Relief pitcher Ben Gersick also came through in the clutch. Gersick a left-hander held the Tigers hitless over the final three innings, walking one and striking out five. “I came in at the same time, I came in all year, when the team needed me. Fortunately, I threw strikes today. Our offense and defense were good,” Gersick said.
Last year the Cards advanced to the CCS championship as the SCCAL runner up. This year as the thirteenth seed, they slithered past their first round opponent with a late rally, just like the 3-1 win over Palo Alto a year ago. Fourth seeded Terra Nova, champion of the North Peninsula league brought in a 14-5-1 record.
Jonathan Pillsbury walked to start the seventh inning rally. Arnott, who powered a two run homer a 395 footer, his second of the year, in the fifth, singled sharply to right. Ackernecht then hit a short fly ball to left the bounced off the glove of the diving outfielder. That loaded the bases for Jorge Perez. A soft ground ball was booted by the shortstop and Pillsbury scored to tie the score 3-3. Then Nee took care of the rest.
Gersick took over for starter Chris Crawford, who gave up six hits and three runs over four innings, with one walk and four strike outs. “Only a couple of those balls were hit hard,” said assistant Geoff Dunn.

Batting averages for players down to an average of .260 as of June 1, which included CCS games played after the All League selections came out: Nee .395, Churchill .389, Rothman 374, Woliczko 366, Pillsbury .329, Kaiser .320, Arnott .310, Perez .295 and Ackerknecht .265.
SC had the most at bats with 802, and the third highest batting average of .286, just behind SLV at .293. SC was second in runs scored at 150, hits with 229 and runs batted in at 111.

Season ending pitching stats by name, won-loss record, innings pitched, earned runs, walks, strike outs and earned runs per seven innings. Listed in order of lowest ERA.
First place was Pearon, 3-1, 25 innings, 5 earned runs, 14 walks, 17 strike outs and 1.40 ERA.
Second place was Gersick, 6-3, 56 innings, 12 earned runs, 36 walks, 52 strike outs and ERA 1.50.
Seventh place: Crawford, 7-4, 75 innings, 23 earned runs, 31 walks, 80 strike outs and 2.15 ERA.
SC was first in the league with the best pitching ERA at 1.82, followed by SLV at 2.66. SC gave up 46 earned runs in 27 games, struck out 161 and walked 93.

The Sentinel ALL COUNTY BASEBALL team included two Cardinals on the first team: Jason Nee, senior, outfield with a .390 batting average and Dov Rothman, senior, first baseman with a .373 average.
The second team had four Cardinals, they were Neil Churchill, senior, outfielder, average .388; Chris Crawford, senior, pitcher with a 7-4 record; Ben Gersick, senior, pitcher with a 6-3 record and Aaron Woliczko, senior, shortstop, average .366.
First team players at a glance. Jason Nee was the prototypical leadoff hitter. Nee was the area leader in runs scored 28, tied for the lead in steals 18 and batted .390. Coach John Wilson, “Believed Nee was the top leadoff hitter in the area, just because he has all the tools, being left handed, making contact, being able to hit the ball to left field and being able to run. He would have had a higher average if he had bunted more. Nee was a talented center fielder. He could cover a lot of ground.
Dov Rothman was one of the best high school golfers in the area. But after four years away form baseball, Rothman picked up the sport again and had a stunning season. Rusty? Hardly, Rothman hit .373 with 22 RBI’s and a mind boggling eight triples. Long time youth league baseball coach Angelo Ross called Rothman the best player to ever come out of the local Pony League. Still Wilson didn’t know what to expect until he saw Rothman play. “From day one, when he came out, he was hitting the ball harder with that compact swing he had, than anyone around. The ball just jumped off his bat. It was incredible,” said Wilson.

Sentinel, Baseball Dream Team Lineup Card. Mythical lineup from the All County team, by position each played this season in the projected batting order,
Lead off, centerfielder, Jason Nee with .390 average, 29 runs and 18 steals. The perfect igniter for an offense. Led area in runs and tied for the lead in steals.
Fifth spot was first baseman, Dov Rothman with .373 average, 8 triples and 22 RBI’s. Traded golf woods for a big stick in the Cards offense. Great natural swing.
Ninth spot was second baseman K.C, Kaiser with .320 average, 21 runs and 15 RBI’s. Solid all round player and stand out three sport starter.

Coaches ALL SCCAL team with averages and wins and losses for pitchers for league games only. Eighteen man first team: Chris Crawford, senior, pitcher, 5-2 was a repeat first team selection; Dove Rothman, IF, .354; KC Kaiser, IF, .289. Sixteen man second team: Ben Gersick, senior, pitcher, 3-1; Aaron Woliczko, IF, .275; Jason Nee, OF, .400 and Neil Churchill, senior, utility, .400. Honorable mention were Joel Ackernecht and George Arnott.

JV BASEBALL
Yearbook. The team had a lot of well rounded players, many with a long baseball history, which brought with them talent and experience. Top sophomores were Gino Marini, Arnold Vasquez, Dylan Harley, Marcus Williams, George Arnott and Rob Truhitte. Rest of squad: Ryan Doan, catcher Jeff Sevolgaurd, S. Adams, J. Joens, J. Cahill, J. Hunter, A. Stumpf, E. Crawford, B. Canepa and J. Dawson, T. Quartararo. Head Coach Barry Bariteau and assistants Trowbridge, Strong and Erwin.

GIRLS SOFTBALL Practice games: Live Oak 0-7, Pacific Grove 3-2, Gonzales 22-0, Gilroy 2-4, Hollister loss, Monterey l3-8. Los Altos tournament: Capuchino 0-4, Half Moon Bay 0-1, Westmont 3-5. Miguel Tournament: Santa Teresa 1-10, Santa Clara 0-5, Presentation 2-3 in ten innings. (one loss not listed.) Practice record 3-10.
League: Harbor 5-0, 5-2; North Monterey 2-5, 2-7; SLV 5-6, 1-0; Monte Vista Christian 5-1, 6-2; Aptos 5-2, 7-0; Soquel 3-2. 10-1; Watsonville 3-2, loss. League record 10-4 for third place.
League leaders were Watsonville 13-1, North Monterey 11-3 and SC 10-4 for third place.
Overall record 13-14.

Yearbook. At the beginning of the season the weather was bad and the basketball team was good, which delayed some of the players getting out to softball. Both of which created a slow start for the team. Junior first baseman Leah Croghan said, “Practices were long and hard, but the longer, harder and more together we worked made the games much more fun.”

Roster: Leah Croghan, pitcher Brenna Williams, Kenna Karst, Naomi Rothman, Jessica Lang, A. Ghio, K. Perry, M. Sudduth, R. Dunerdale, E. Espinosa, A. Tom and S. Easterby. Head coach Vic Miguel and assistant Dina Avila.

Sentinel preseason write up. March 7. Coach Vic Miguel, eighteenth season. Last years record 6-20 and league 2-10 tied for last place. Senior key players: Jessica Lang, 3B; Kenna Karst, SS. Juniors; Leah Croghan first base; Tam Perez outfield. Sophomores: Liz Espinoza second base and Nikki Sudduth outfield. This years team is considerable faster than a year ago, which should go a long way in running the bases and on defense. Last years team ERA was 5.84, which must be improved this year. Brenna Williams a freshman and Rita Dunderdale are first year varsity pitchers. Lang, a standout athlete hit .514 in league last year is the team’s only returning all league player, Much is expected of Karst a second team all county player a season ago has excellent speed. Newcomers Williams, Dunderdale, Naomi Rothman and Kim Perry should all play major roles for the Cards.

Sentinel. March 3. Live Oak 7, SC 0. In their season opener the Cards were no-hit. Junior Rita Dunderdale started on the mound for SC, but lasted less than an inning, after experiencing elbow soreness. Freshman Brenna Williams took over and finished the game for the Cards. “She did a pretty good job. Especially going against a Division one team like Live Oak,” said coach Miguel.

March 5. Last Inning Single Gives Cards Win over Pacific Grove 3-2. Leah Croghan singled home Naomi Rothman from third base for the winning run in the top of the seventh inning. Rothman reached base on an error, stole second, was bunted to third by Liz Espinoza. Brenna Williams went a complete game for the win, giving up four hits and no walks. PG took advantage of two SC errors to score twice in the fifth to tie the game 2-2.

Newcomers Not Enough For Cards. Even the first appearance of basketball players Jessica Lang, Kenna Karst and Nikki Sudduth couldn’t prevent SC from dropping a 4-2 game to Gilroy. Lang, a returning all league third baseman, was a bright spot for SC. She found her 1992 groove and was 2 for 3 with an RBI triple, that made the score 4-1. She later scored on Leah Croghan’s groundout. Another basketball player Andra Tom is expected to play in the next game against Hollister.

Sentinel. March 10. Monterey 8, SC 3. A four run rally in the fifth inning broke open a close game. Monterey led 3-2 before the fifth before moving to a 7-2 lead and control of the game. “We made a gang of errors in the fifth, but Monterey had four of its six hits in the inning,” said coach Miguel. SC had five hits. Leah Croghan gave SC a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a RBI groundout. After Monterey went ahead 2-1, Jessica Lang tied it 2-2, when she circled the bases when her single rolled through the legs of the leftfielder. Brenna Williams pitched he first four innings, allowing two runs. Rita Dunderdale pitched the fifth and Land threw the sixth. They combined for eight strikeouts and three walks. SC is 2-4 for the season.

March 21. At the Los Altos tournament, the Cards lost two games. Capuchino 4, SC 0. Half Moon Bay 1, SC 0. SC got strong pitching from Brenna Williams and Rita Dunderdale, but the offense was shut down. Williams held Capuchino scoreless through three inning and then gave up four runs to pick up the loss. Dunderdale held Half Moon Bay scoreless through seven innings, setting up the California tiebreaker, where each team starts the extra inning with a runner on second base and no outs. Half Moon Bay scored in the eighth. SC got a runner to third base with one out, but failed to bring her home.

March 31. Santa Cruz Shows Improvement, Beats Harbor 5-0. Beating Harbor last years league co-champions started the SCCAL season off right for the Cards. “We were flawless. I saw good hustle all the way around. I’m glad to see the girls have this confidence and can play like that. It’s a great shot in the arm. Any time you shut out a team like Harbor, you hope your doing things right,” Miguel said. Harbor had not lost a league game to SC since April 21, 1989, when the Cards won 8-1. In the six straight losses since, SC has been outscored 85-19. Freshman pitcher Brenna Williams didn’t strike out a batter, but scattered seven hits and got help from an errorless defense. Sophomore left fielder Andra Tom drove in two runs with a pair of RBI singles, leading the Cards eight hit attack. SC jumped ahead with a two run rally in the fourth inning. Clean up hitter Leah Croghan led off with a double over the center fielders head and pinch runner Kelly Kaiser made it 1-0 thanks to a pass ball and an obstruction call on the third baseman in a run down. Tom drove in Kim Perry, who had singled and stole second. Miguel said one of the biggest plays of the day was by Nikki Sudduth as she was playing center field. With two outs in the seventh and runners on second and third, she tracked down a deep fly ball into the right centerfield gap and made a running catch while fully stretched out. “When she gets a good jump on the ball, she can cover a lot of area. If she doesn’t catch it, it’s extra bases and a new ball game,” Miguel said.

April 3. North Monterey Pitcher Keeps SC Off Balance. The Condor pitcher scattered five hits and drove in two runs in a 5-2 win. Coach Miguel said Brenna Williams had one of her best efforts on the mound, too. The freshman struck out five and walked one. But North Monterey last years co-champions scored three runs in the first inning. Junior pitcher Rita Dunderdale may miss the rest of the season with a broken rib and chronic elbow problems. In the fifth, Kenna Karst tagged up and scored on an infield pop up and Leah Croghan had an RBI single.

April 4. Westmont 5, SC 3. In the first round of the Los Altos tournament, Westmont rallied from a 3-0 deficit, capitalized on a few costly SC errors. SC fell to 3-8 overall. Jessica Lang, Naomi Rothman and Andra Tom each had RBI singles to give SC a 3-0 lead. Two SC errors helped Westmont take the lead. Lang making her first appearance on the mound this season, suffered the loss, but three of the runs were unearned. She walked three and struck out three. Kenna Karst went 2 for 3.

April 10. Santa Teresa 10, SC 1. SC dropped to 3-9 for the season when Santa Teresa erupted for four runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. SC committed two errors in each of the rallies. SC was held to three hits. Lang had all three of the hits and is hitting over .400 for the season. Brenna Williams pitched a five hitter, striking out two and walking two.

April 11. At the Miguel tournament the Cards lost two. Santa Clara 5, SC 0. Presentation 3, SC 2. SC concluded a short stay at the tournament, by losing two games in the first day. Against Santa Clara, SC was held to one hit. The Cards extended the Presentation game to ten innings and the use of the California rule, where the inning starts with a runner on second base after seven innings. The regulation game ended 1-1. SC went up 2-1 in the top of the eighth inning on Jessica Lang’s RBI single. But Presentation came right back and scored to tie the game at 2-2 and then won in the tenth. SC falls to 3-14.

Trident. April 13. The seasons start was extremely rocky, as the team won three of their first eight games. Pitching was a question to start the season, but the slack has been picked up by freshman Brenna Williams. The Cards defeated Pacific Grove and blew out Gonzales 22-0. In the other five games they have lost to Gilroy, Monterey, Hollister, as well as two other teams in a tournament. In the first league game a 5-0 win over Harbor, Williams had a strong performance. This team is talented and has a shot at the league title.

April 14. Cougars Rally To Beat Cards 6-5. SC jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, but SLV clawed back with single runs in the third and fourth innings and then plated three in the fifth to pull ahead. SC was able to tie it with two runs in the seventh. Kenna Karst, Leah Croghan and Nikki Sudduth led the Cards with two hits each.

SC Pitcher Not Perfect, But Good Enough. Brenna Williams carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, but had to hang on to beat Soquel 3-2 in eight innings. SC plated two runs in the third inning to support Williams, who was cruising. Kenna Karst and Andra Tom each scored on ground balls. In the bottom of the eighth, Karst starting from second base, scored on a sharp single up the middle by Leah Croghan to win the game.

Sentinel. April 21. SC 3, Watsonville 2. The Wildcats were handed their first loss of the SCCAL season, made six errors, but SC didn’t need much help as they ripped 11 hits. Watsonville 5-1 is tied with SLV for first, while SC improves to 3-2. Brenna Williams was ready. She gave up two runs in the first inning, then shut out the Cats on one hit the rest of the way. Williams finished with only one walk in the four hit win. Tied 2-2 SC scored the go ahead run, when Naomi Rothman singled in Jessica Lang, who had led off the inning with a single. Kenna Karst, Kelly Kaiser, Lang and Rothman each had two hits.

April 23. SC 5, Monte Vista 1. Two runs in the fourth and three more in the seventh by the Cards kept the Mustangs winless in their maiden season in the SCCAL. SC improved to 4-2 in league. SC took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, when Jessica Lang scored on a pass ball and Naomi Rothman singled to score Leah Croghan. The three runs in the seventh were on RBI singles by Croghan, Rothman and Andra Tom. Williams finished with a four hitter. She walked four and struck out none.

April 24. SC 6, Monte Vista 2. Jessica Lang had three hits and three RBI’s, including a solo home run in the third inning. Brenna Williams pitched a four hitter. SC improved to 5-2.

April 27. SC 5, Aptos 2. A four run second inning kept SC 6-2 tied with North Monterey for second place one game back of Watsonville 7-1. The Cards second inning began quietly with two outs, but a single, walk and Kenna Karst RBI single produced the first run. Another single loaded the bases and a walk to Jessica Lang forced in the second run. Leah Croghan drove in the final two runs with a single.

April 28. Cards Sneaking Toward The Top. Almost without anyone noticing, SC has climbed into contention for the SCCAL softball championship. SC has won six in a row to go from 1-2 to 7-2 to tie North Monterey for second place and is one game behind Watsonville.
SC beat Aptos for the second day in a row 7-0 as freshman Brenna Williams scattered four hits and three walks, while the SC offense banged the ball around for 11 hits. “It’s hard to believe we’re where we are at this point, because we started so slowly. It took time for us to get with all the basketball people coming out late, but it’s nice to see them coming around at this time,” said Miguel.
Kim Perry tripled in a run in the third to give SC a 5-0 lead and she drove in two more with a single in the fifth that closed out the scoring. Jessica Lang went 2 for 4 with a RBI single in the first, Kenna Karst went 2 for 4 with a RBI single in the second and Nikki Suduth and Kelly Kaiser each went 2 for 3.
The shut out for Williams was her second of the SCCAL season and first in almost a month. “Brenna pitched a real steady game for us. She has been doing just a very admirable job for us,” said Miguel, who noted that Williams inherited the starting job when Rita Dunderdale was lost to a season ending injury last month. Williams reliability has allowed Miguel to keep Lang, the only other Card with pitching experience at third base, where she is valuable to the defense. “She anchors the corner. Very few balls get by her, It just makes our defense work and click a lot better when you have people in their productive positions,” said Miguel.

May 1. SC 5, Harbor 2. Andra Tom scored in the first inning on Nikki Sudduth’s fielders choice and the Cards 8-2 went on to stretch their win streak to seven league games. SC had taken sole possession for second place behind league leading Watsonville at 9-1.

May 5. SC Win Streak Comes To Halt. SC’s seven game win streak came to and end against North Monterey 7-2. The Cards were struck out 14 times. SC didn’t help itself by committing four errors. All four were made in the middle of the Condor rallies in the fifth and sixth innings. SC now 8-3 dropped into a second place tie with North Monterey and SLV.

May 8. SC 1, SLV 0. A three way tie for second place was cut down to two teams, when Kim Perry scored the only run of the game on a pass ball. SC and North Monterey are tied for second with 9-3 records and SLV slipped to 8-4, despite out hitting SC 6 to 3. Perry singled in the fifth inning, was sacrificed to second by Kelly Kaiser and scored on two consecutive pass balls. Brenna Williams got the win in a two walk, six strikeout performance. SC on a fine relay throw, from centerfielder Nikki Sudduth to shortstop Kenna Karst to the plate, cut down a runner at home plate in the fourth inning.

May 12. SC 10, Soquel 1. SC accomplished their half of the deal, staying in second place with a 10-3 record, but North County won their game also. SC beat Soquel with a six run first inning. All the runs came with two outs. Nikki Sudduth started the rally with RBI single and Kenna Karst ended it with a two run double.

SC lost to Watsonville in the final league game.

May 16. Santa Cruz Left Out Of Softball Playoffs. SC had a league record of 10-4 for third place in league was beat out by SLV, which finished fourth with a 9-5 league record. One of the reason was SLV had a .500 overall record of 14-14 to SC’s 13-14 record. SLV coach, “We had a tough schedule and we ended up playing a lot of league champions, which gave us extra points.” “I was a bit disappointed, but we just needed a few more wins,” said coach Miguel. “We though we had a chance. “We had a better league record than a number of schools that made it into the tournament.”

May 25. Sentinel SCCAL teams final softball stats, by place, name, at bats, runs, hits, run driven in and average. The lowest average show was .255.
PL NAME AB R H RBI AV
2 Lang 69 17 28 12 .406
6 Karst 84 21 31 8 .369
15 Croghan 81 7 26 23 .321
19 Tom 75 13 23 5 .307
20 Sudduth 63 6 19 4 .302
3 SC team 680 101 178 79 .262

Karst was tops in the league in stolen bases with 21 and Lang was sixth with 10.
In pitching Brenna Williams pitched 153 innings of the Cards 180 innings total for the season. She was the only SC player who pitched at least 26 innings. Williams won 11 and lost 10. She gave up 131 hits, walked 33 and struck out 56 for a 1.88 ERA. Very good stats for a freshman. The season ERA for SC was 1.87, for the third best in the league.

Sentinel. May 27. SC’s Lang Tops Picks In SCCAL. Jessica Lang was chosen PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Vic Miguel has been the softball coach at SC since 1977. In all that time he has never had a better third baseman than the one he had this season, Jessica Lang. “She’s got to be the best player this year,” he said of the coaches choice for this years Player of the Year award. She’s one of those few players who comes around every so often, not every year. I don’t think we’re going to get another Jessica next year.
She compares to other MVP’s I’ve had: Tami King, first base in 1988; Ellen Newberry, shortstop in 1982 and Sue Dodge, shortstop in 1977. Land a senior is bound for the University of Michigan on a softball scholarship, hit .366 with 11 runs, 10 RBI’s and six stolen bases as the Cards went 10-4 to finish third in the league.
ALL SCCAL team, picked by the coaches, included two Cards on the first team, they were Jessica Lang, for the second year in a row, is a senior, third baseman with a .366 average and Kenna Karst, senior shortstop with a .429 average. Second team players were Brenna Williams, freshman, pitcher with a 10-4 record. Leah Croghan, junior, first baseman, with a .383 average. Honorable Mention were Nikki Sudduth, Andrea Tom and Naomi Rothman.

JV GIRLS SOFTBALL
Yearbook. Commitment Drives Improvement. “I had a lot of fun this year and after all the work it was worth it all,” said sophomore Cheree Crescione.

Roster: Cheree Crescione, Heather Tyler, Grace Holmes, Gloria Padilla, Erika Lombard, S. Hoffman, A. George, A. Beach, M. Lang, C. Ponce, S. Witman, E. Wiens, C. Cruz, A. Hecht, I. Ramos, S. Rueda, N. Kunnanz, F. Perez, M. Alvarez, C. Sargill and G. Holmes. Coach McCormick.

BOYS WIN SCCAL MEET. GIRLS CAME IN THIRD
BOYS win SCCAL meet with 158 points, followed by Soquel and North Monterey tied for second with 101 points.
BOYS dual meets: Aptos 111-23, North Monterey 78-58 for first time ever, Watsonville 100-35, SLV 86-42, Soquel 86-50, Harbor 91-34 for a 6-0 league record.

GIRLS took third at the SCCAL meet with 91 points
GIRLS dual meets: Aptos 62-68, North Monterey 54-77, Watsonville 80-46, SLV 75-46, Soquel 78-49, Harbor 87-40 for a 4-2 league record.

May 9. Card Boys Prevail At SCCAL Meet. SC took first place with 158 points to Soquel and North Monterey, who tied for second with 101 points.

Sprint Corps Key To First Santa Cruz Title. As if shot from a cannon, SC blasted to victory in the SCCAL championships Saturday at Soquel. SC buoyed by an amazing sprint not only broke NMC stranglehold on the league title, they obliterated it. Dominating the meet at the outset, when the 400 meter relay team simply ran away from the competition in a time of 43.2. For years SC has been a perpetual runner up, always close but never quite able to overcome the Condors.
Last year, NMC’ top runner almost single-handedly negated the SC sprint crew. “They were definitely up. It was the history thing and they knew what it was all about,” said head coach Bryan Wall. “It’s still unbelievable. I’m still waiting for NMC to pull something out of its hat,” said sprint coach Don Roberts. Reggie Stephens led the way with four victories, taking the 100 in a blistering, but wind aided 10.6, the long jump in 21-4 and ran on victorious 400 and 1,600 relay teams. Stephens, himself was mystified by his success, especially the 10.6 in the 100, which shaved off .3 off his qualifying time. “I don’t know where it’s coming from. All year I’ve been running 11.1 and I’ve been tired, so I knew it would come down,” Stephens said. In two of the events, Stephens edged out best friend Jermaine Robinson. Robinson long jumped 21-4 and took second in the 100 in 10.9. About beating his pal, Stephens said, “As long as one of us wins, we don’t care. We don’t go out trying to battle one another.”
Robinson, the top seeded long jumper and high jumper, coming into the meet, was a bit unhappy about his performances. He was third in the high jump at 6-2. “I some ways I’m disappointed, but I know I have the strength to do better in subsection. SC took first, second and fourth in the 100; first third and fifth in the 100 and 200. “Don Roberts did an excellent job and peaked the guys at just the right time. To have three quality guys in every sprint really helped us,” said Wall.
SC was also helped by a couple of pleasant surprises. Jimmy Meyer, seeded third in both the 110 high and 300 intermediate hurdles, took second places in both. Chris Croghan won the shot put and Nik Whiting’s 13-6 in the pole vault was good for second. But the day belonged to the SC sprinters. It was only fitting that in the meet’s final event, Ben Henry anchored the 1.600 relay team and barreled down the stretch with SLV’s runner right on his heels. However, Henry refused to give in to the speedier Cougar and held him off to give SC the win.

GIRLS: At the SCCAL championship meet at Soquel, SC came in third place with 91 points, thanks in large part to Christina Thompson, who won four events: the 200, 400 and both relays. “I wanted to be the only girls to win four events,” said Thompson after accomplishing the feat. She won the 200 in a wind-aided 25.8 and the 400 in 59.0. In the 1,600 relay, she spotted the Aptos runner a ten yard lead, but caught her in the homestretch. “It was nowhere near easy, in all my races there was always someone right there. Aptos’ runner pushes me, because we run the same, All my times were personal records, so I’m happy about that.”

May 11. Sentinel Athlete of the Week for girls was senior Christina Thompson, who set two league records and won four events, the only girl to do so, in career bests at the SCCAL track championships. Thompson is one of the top 400 meter runners in the section and the only SCCAL girls athlete to run a sub-minute 400 this season. Coach Wall thinks her best is yet to come. Her times don’t reflect the best of her ability. She’s definitely capable of more.”

Thompson won the 200 meters in a league record 25.8 seconds and her anchor leg on the 1,600 relay helped SC post a league record at 4:04.5. She also won the 400 in 59.0 and anchored the 400 relay team in a first place time of 50.2. “She’s a phenomenal runner,” said coach Jim Scott, noting that Thompson has never lost a relay at a league championship meet. She won both relays in each of the three years she has competed. Thompson did not run track last season.
“We’ve got some super, super runners on our relays,” said Scott, “But I don’t know if we could win without Christina. I believe we could put her in anything, the 100, 200, 400 and 800, and she would excel. She could make it to the state championship in the 200 400, and both relays.”
BOYS: May 11. Sentinel boys Athlete of the Week was junior Reggie Stephens, who set a league record an won four events as SC won its first SCCAL track championship. Stephens was the only four event winner. He set a league record in the 100 meters in a time of 10.6. He also won the 200 in a league season best 22.1 and won the long jump at 21-4 and anchored the 400 relay team to a league season best of 43.2.
His time in the 200 equaled his career best, while the other events were career bests. “He still isn’t even racing as fast as he can. He has a couple more tenths in both sprints to go, too. I think he can make the CCS final in all four events,” coach Jim Scott said. “This year he’s really turned into a complete sprinter. Last year he’d have a phenomenal start and hang on as long as he could. This year, Don Roberts the sprint coach has worked with him and he’s turned into a really smart, strong, steady sprinter.”

May 27. NOW STATE IS AT STAKE.
At the CCS finals, the top three places move on to the state meet at Cerritos College of Norwalk. For SC a number of athletes are capable of top three finishes.
Heading the list of GIRLS is Christina Thompson in the 400 and 1,600 relay. She enters the meet with the third fastest qualifying time in the 400. “She stands an excellent chance of going to State,” said coach Wall. The relays has always been a SC staple, both the girls 1,600 relay and the boys 400 relay could earn a trip to state.
Melanie Café, in addition to running the third leg of the 1,600 relay is also hoping to advance in the 300 hurdles. She’s been coming on strong toward the end of the season. “Her confidence has really gone up. She knows she can beat some of those girls and she’s really been running well,” Wall.
High jumper Evie Smith also has a chance. “Two girls are pretty much definite. But after that its anybody’s guess,” Wall. Smith has gone 5-2 this year and that might do it.

BOYS; Now that Reggie Stephens, who has been competing in four events until last week, has only the 400 relay left, he can limit his focus to that event. Along with Jermaine Robinson, Jason Nevin and Ben Henry, the Cards will be fresh and going for the state berth. “So many things can happen in that race. A lot of it at this point is mental and our kids are really focus,” Coach Wall.
Jimmy Meyer in the 300 hurdles is also a possibility for a place.

Sentinel. May 15. (only a partial article) Junior Reggie Stephens is carrying the tradition of top flight sprinters the school seems to produce with regularity. Before Stephens, there was Nate Bell, Mike Jones, Kurt Hodges and before Hodges . . .well the list goes on and on. “We’ve always had good sprinters here, going back to when I went to SC,“ said sprint coach Don Roberts, class of 1969. “It’s a tradition.” Stephens was welcomed to the club after winning the 100 meters in a leagues best time of 10.6 seconds at last Saturdays SCCAL Championships. He also won the 200 meters, in a league best 22.1, the long jump at 21-4 and ran the anchor leg of the SC’s winning 400 relay, which came home in a time of 43.2.
Reggie has just been dropping incredibly in his sprint times,” said Santa Cruz head coach Bryan Wall. “He has so much natural ability and he really worked hard this season. He focused this year. He finally saw he could be the big sprinter.” And by his own admission, he’s worked harder this year. “Last year I kind of went through the motions,” Reggie said. “I was tired from the other sports. I looked up to Nate Bell and I always wanted him to do well. I just decided this year I might as well start working hard.”
He’s just a great kid,” said Wall. “He’s a pleasure to have on the team. He’s a real team-oriented guy. Even though he’s having a lot of success, he’s always interested in how everyone else is doing. He’ll check with the shot putters to see how they’re doing. He’s really a team guy, not focusing on himself.”
While Stephens has the section’s third-best time in the 100 (10.6), it’s going to be tough today. One advantage Stephens has is his fast starts. “Last year he could beat almost anyone out of the blocks, without a problem,” said Roberts. “It was the second half of the race that was a weak point.” This year, Stephens maintains speed after his fast starts and goes all the way.
Actually, it’s been quite a season for Stephens. He was all-league in football and basketball and is at the head of the class in track and field. “It’s too much for me,” said Rose Stephens, with a hint of admiration in her voice.

May 15. SCCAL Does Well At CCS South Trials. Soquel To Show Off Its New Track.
Cardinals Stephen Qualifies In Four Events. There were five leagues with 42 schools involved for the largest track meet at Soquel. The concept of Saturdays CCS South Trials was quite simple. Either you finished among the top eight and advance to the section semifinals or your season ends. So with the object simply to advance to the section semifinals next Saturday at San Jose City College, some athletes ran, jumped or threw just fast enough or high enough to achieve that goal.
Five leagues will participate in this meet with more schools in this meet than ever. Leagues are the SCCAL, Mission Trail league, MBL, Mt. Hamilton and Santa Teresa league. The last two from San Jose.
SC sprinter Reggie Stephens advanced in four events. The 100 in 11.5, 200 in 22.93, long jump at 21-7 and the 400 relay in 43.77, but did not turn in his best performances of the season. He’s hoping to save those for upcoming meets. “I didn’t have nay kick today. But as long as I make it, that’s all that counts.”
Jimmy Meyer failed to qualify in the 110 hurdles and was visibly upset after the heat race, which was won by a Soquel runner. But after the 300 hurdles, Meyer was resting a bit more comfortably. He qualified in the semis in a time of 39.6, a personal best. “I/m still peaking. Don Roberts is a good coach and he’s getting our best times, when it counts. I think I can go sub-39 at CCS,” he said.

May 16. The Cardinals were a tired bunch entering the South trials. They have been through one intense meet after the other in the past few weeks. First there was the emotional boys dual meet victory over North Monterey to break the Condors streak, then the top 8 meet the following day. Then they had to prepare for league and this weeks trials. “We’re tired no doubt about it,” said Coach Bryan Wall. Added assistant Don Roberts: “It’s been really intense the last few meets. But we’re doing OK. Everybody either advances in a relay or an individual event. I’m really happy. These kids are something.” The Cards can rest for much of this week and prepare for the CCS semifinals at San Jose City College.

Sentinel. May 15. (only a partial article) Junior Reggie Stephens is carrying the tradition of top flight sprinters the school seems to produce with regularity. Before Stephens, there was Nate Bell, Mike Jones, Kurt Hodges and before Hodges . . .well the list goes on and on. “We’ve always had good sprinters here, going back to when I went to SC,“ said sprint coach Don Roberts, class of 1969. “It’s a tradition.” Stephens was welcomed to the club after winning the 100 meters in a leagues best time of 10.6 seconds at last Saturdays SCCAL Championships. He also won the 200 meters, in a league best 22.1, the long jump at 21-4 and ran the anchor leg of the SC’s winning 400 relay, which came home in a time of 43.2.
Reggie has just been dropping incredibly in his sprint times,” said Santa Cruz head coach Bryan Wall. “He has so much natural ability and he really worked hard this season. He focused this year. He finally saw he could be the big sprinter.” And by his own admission, he’s worked harder this year. “Last year I kind of went through the motions,” Reggie said. “I was tired from the other sports. I looked up to Nate Bell and I always wanted him to do well. I just decided this year I might as well start working hard.”
He’s just a great kid,” said Wall. “He’s a pleasure to have on the team. He’s a real team-oriented guy. Even though he’s having a lot of success, he’s always interested in how everyone else is doing. He’ll check with the shot putters to see how they’re doing. He’s really a team guy, not focusing on himself.”
While Stephens has the section’s third-best time in the 100 (10.6), it’s going to be tough today. One advantage Stephens has is his fast starts. “Last year he could beat almost anyone out of the blocks, without a problem,” said Roberts. “It was the second half of the race that was a weak point.” This year, Stephens maintains speed after his fast starts and goes all the way.
Actually, it’s been quite a season for Stephens. He was all-league in football and basketball and is at the head of the class in track and field. “It’s too much for me,” said Rose Stephens, with a hint of admiration in her voice.

San Jose Mercury on May 19. Top four marks in CCS by a SC track and field athlete listed by event, place, name and time or distance.
100 meters: 3. Reggie Stephens, 10.6

May 22. IT’S BACK TO THE GRIND. 62 SCCAL Athletes At CCS Semifinals. The girls relay should be particularly interesting. Aptos and SC enter with similar time and could be dueling for on of the three spots available to the state championships next week. SC won the league title and have beaten Aptos three times this year until last week, when Aptos won. Among the SCCAL girls to watch are Christina Thompson in ths 400 and Melanie Café in the 300 hurdles. For the boys: Reggie Stephens in the 100, and both relays.

May 23. Triumphs And Troubles In CCS Track Semis. It was a rough day for Reggie Stephens. In other words, it was a fairly typical day at the CCS semifinals, where berths for the CCS finals are up for grabs. Stephens, a sprinter attempted to qualify for the finals in four events and ended up making it in just one, the 400 meter relay. While Stephens ran a fine race in the 100, clocked in at 10.88, but he was simply outrun by an incredibly fast field of sprinters. “I ran well, but everyone else ran better,” said Stephens.
In the 200, Stephens didn’t stand much of a chance from his position in lane 8, perhaps the toughest place to start the race and finished in 22.9, out of the top eight qualifying spots. “I just died. Forget about it,” Stephens said. In the long jump, Stephens “couldn’t get it going,” and failed to qualify.
But in the sprint relay, Stephens, Jermaine Robinson, Ben Henry and Jason Nevin managed to survive the two heats and advance to the finals. The group ran the 400 relay in 43.3, the fifth fastest time, despite a stumbling start by Henry and an awkward baton exchange between Nevin and Stephen. “If that didn’t happen I think we could have gone 42,” said Nevin. In addition to the relay, Henry also qualified for the finals in the 400 in 50.3. Jimmy Meyers was the third qualifier in the 300 hurdles in 39.43.

GIRLS: At the CCS semifinals, the 1,600 relay rivalry between SC and Aptos was renewed for the fifth time this season with SC qualifying ahead of Aptos, thanks largely to Melanie Café, who ran the third leg and anchor Christina Thompson. SC qualified fifth in 4:02.2. ”I didn’t get off on Aptos beating us last week,” said Thompson. SC has taken four of the five meetings between the teams. Thompson is headed to Grambling State on a track scholarship, also advance in the 4oo with the third best time of the day in 58.32.
In addition to helping the relay team, Café also qualified for the finals in the hurdle races. She was the third qualifier in the 300 hurdles in 45.46 and eighth in the 100 hurdles in 15.90. “Melanie had a very good race,” said assistant coach Jim Scott of the 300 hurdles. She lowered her own school record. More importantly, she realized Odom, the sections top hurdler is beatable.”

START OF DUAL MEETS AND INVITATIONAL MEETS
Sentinel. March 12. SC 111, Aptos 23. SC swept all 16 events in the league dual meet on a slow Aptos track. Three Cards were double winners. Jimmy Meyers took both hurdles, winning the 110 highs in 16.4 and the 300 intermediates in 41.7. He also ran on the winning 1,600 relay team that clocked a 3:36. Reggie Stephens posted a sprint double winning the 100 in 11.4 and 200 in 23.6. Stephens also ran the first leg on the winning 400 meter relay team in 44.5. Chris Groghan added a weight double, taking first in the shot put at 43-6 an discus in 120-6.
GIRLS: Individual Effort Can’t Overtake Aptos Team. Melanie Café won three individual events and ran on the winning relay team, but it was not enough to beat Aptos, who won 68-62. Café won the 100 meter hurdles in 17.3, the 300 low hurdles in 50.1, 400 meters in 1:02.6. Plus she ran the third leg of the 1,600 relay, which won in 4:13.7. Christina Thompson won the 200 in 27.9 and out kicked the Aptos’ top runner in the anchor leg of the 1,600. Evie Smith won both the long jump at 14-9 and the high jump at 4-8.

March 19. SC 86, Soquel 50. Jermaine Robinson, Reggie Stephens and Danny Meyer each won three events for SC who is 2-0 in league. Robinson won high jump in a personal best 6-5, the long jump at 20-2 and the 400 relay in 44.3. “That’s an impressive jump for this early in the season,: said coach Don Roberts. Stephens won the 100 in 11.3, 200 in 23.3 and was on the 400 relay team. Meyers won the triple jump at 40.7, tied for first in the 300 hurdles in 40.6 and was on the 1,600 relay team that won 3:39.3. Nick Whiting won the pole vault at 13-6.
GIRLS: SC 78, Soquel 49. A balanced effort led SC as four girls, who won two events apiece. Christina Thompson won the 400 in 1:00.8 and anchored the 1,600 relay team that won in 4:19. Julie Oldfield won 1,600 in 5:52.4 and 3,200 in 13:06.3. Evie Smith won high jump at 4-10 and triple jump in 32-8. Jessica Weaver won shot put at 27-1 and discus at 85-7. SC is 1-1 in league dual meets.

March 26. Sunny Results For SC. Despite inclement conditions, SC rolled to a 86-42 win over SLV. Reggie Stephens, Jermaine Robinson and Jimmy Meyers were triple winners. Stephens won the 100 in 11.6, the 200 in 23.3 and anchored the winning 400 relay team. Robinson won the long jump and high jump and run the 400 relay. Meyer took the 110 high hurdles, the 300 low hurdles and the triple jump.
GIRLS: SC 75, SLV 46. Double winners were Linda Alvarez, Melanie Café and Julie Oldfield. Alvarez won the long jump at 15-0 and high jump. Oldfield won the 1,600 in 6:04 and 3,200 in 13:44. Café won both hurdles. Melanie Café took third in the 100 intermediate hurdles in 16.4. She also had a strong race in the 300 hurdles in 46.4. The 1,600 relay team of Café, Christina Thompson, Cheryl Lin and Joanne Hutson set a personal best in 4:09.

March 28. Stanford Invitational Track and Field Meet. Jimmy Meyer was third in the 400 hurdles in 60.4. The 400 relay team of Jermaine Robinson, Reggie Stephens, Jason Nevin and Ben Henry was sixth in 44:52.
GIRLS: Stanford Invitational Track and Field Meet. Melanie Café established herself as one of the top hurdlers in the CCS by winning the 400 meter hurdles. While the 400 is uncommon for high school meets, 300 meter hurdles are the norm, Café had a nice showing. “She was in third place coming off the last hurdle and her eyes kind of bugged out and she reeled in the last two girls. She was pretty phenomenal. This definitely establishes Melanie in the hurdles,” said assistant coach Jim Scott. It also established is the SC mile relay team of Bernadette Ferrante, Cheryl Lin, Café and Christina Thompson. The team won in the time of 4:14.1. Also placing for SC was Linda Alvarez, who was fifth in the high jump at 5-0.

March 30. Sentinel Athlete of the Week was Melanie Café a junior for the SC track team, won the 400 meter hurdles at the Stanford Invitational, establishing herself as one of the top hurdlers in CCS. Café was part of a winning mile relay team, which finished with a time of 4:14.1. “In a dual meet at SLV in the rain and on a wet track, she still ran the 300 hurdles in 49.8. Running a sub 50 on that dirt track is just incredible,” said Coach Wall. In addition to being a fine athlete, Café is also a champ in the classroom, carrying a 4.0 average. She hates to miss any class time at all, She’s really something, and incredible student and athlete,” Wall said.

April 16. Pair Looks Good For Cards. SC 100, Watsonville 35. Reggie Stephens and Jimmy Meyers were quadruple winners. Stephens a junior, the leagues top sprinter, shaved two-tenths of a second off his previous league best time in the 200 to 23.1. He was just one-tenth of a second off his best 100 time winning in 11.3. He also set a personal best long jump of 21-2 to win. It was seven inches better than his previous season best, but 5 inches shy of Jermaine Robinson’s league best mark. Nick Whiting, Ben Henry and Jason Nevin worked with Stephens to win the 400 relay. Meyers another junior, set a personal season best mark in the triple jump at 41-1 good for third best in the SCCAL. His previous best was a 40-10. Meyer ran the leadoff leg of the winning 1,600 relay in 3:43.3. Rest of relay team; Brooks Allen, Josh Porter and Henry. Meyers tried to block out the windy conditions during his winning jaunts in the 100 high hurdles in 15.7 and 300 hurdles in 41.3.
GIRLS; SC 80, Watsonville 46. The 400 relay team of Melanie Café, Bernadette Ferrante, Katie David and Christina Thompson, cut half a second off its best time of the season in 52.6. Café had two individual wins. She below away the field in the 300 hurdles in 48.3 to win by 3 seconds and clocked 17.6 in the 100 hurdles. She teamed up with David, Ferrante and JoAnn Hutson to win the 1,600 relay in 4:28. Thompson was a triple winner, in the 400 in 1:02.2, 200 in 27.5 and the relay.

April 23. 10 Year Track Win Streak Ends. SC 78, North Monterey 58. SC had a going away present ready for North Monterey on Thursday, a dual meet loss. SC boys team snapped North Monterey’s dual meet winning streak at 80 and handed the Condors their first ever SCCAL dual meet defeat, after 71 straight wins dating back to 1982, the Condors first year in the SCCAL. “We definitely had a sense of urgency today,” said Coach Bryan Wall, referring to North Monterey’s move to the MBL, beginning next year.
“Our kids were incredible. They didn’t let up. came down to the final three events: the mile relay, high jump and pole vault. After SC won the mile relay in 3:33.5, Jermaine Robinson came through with a win in the high jump at 6-2 and Jimmy Meyer won the triple jump at 42-2. Not to be forgotten was the second place performance in the high jump by freshman Mike McDuffie, who cleared 6 feet, “a personal best by far,” said Wall. Also, Meyer’s win in the triple jump came at the expense of the holder of league’s best mark this year.
“SC did a good job of getting its kids ready. They had them in the right events and their kids did a fine job.” said the NMC coach. Reggie Stephens was in on four wins as was Meyer. Stephens won the 100 meter in 11.3, the 200 in 23.3, the long jump at 19-8 and took part in the winning 400 relay. Meyer won the 110 hurdles in 15.3, the 300 hurdles in 40.5, the triple jump and the mile relay team victory. Chris Croghan won both the shot put at 45-7 and the discus at 124-5. Robinson, in addition to winning the long jump, finished second in the 100 and 200. Wall kept him out of the 400 relay to save his strength for the other sprints. It proved to be a wise move.
“We’ve been talking about this,” said Wall, whose team lost by just 15 points to the Condors a year ago. “In times like this, when schools are struggling financially, we’re looking for something good for the kids. They should be getting the best programs, but we’re having to pull the rabbit out of the hat, financially. This is a pretty big deal for our kids. That’s why I’m so happy. After the meet, it was pretty emotional. There was a lot of smiling and hugging,” Said Wall. “I have a great deal of respect for all those guys. We’ve had some great battles and today was one of them,” said the Condor coach. There is still the SCCAL meet that determines the league champion.
GIRLS: North Monterey 77, SC 54. North Monterey remained undefeated. Melanie Café won four events. Café won the 100 hurdles in 17.2, the 300 hurdles in 48.2 and was a member of both winning relay teams.

April 24. Cardinals Come On Strong At Top Eight Meet. Although emotionally drained from the North Monterey win just the day before, the Cards had some strong performances despite the cold and rainy conditions at Los Gatos. Jimmy Meyers took first in the 400 meter hurdles in a personal best of 57.84, which re-established him as one of the best in the CCS. “He won by a good 6-7 yards,’ said assistant Jim Scott. “He has come on strong lately. He is really focused on the longer hurdle races. He’s been running almost as fast as running a flat 400.” Ben Henry was the next best Card with a seventh place in the 200 in 22.9, the best in the SCCAL this season.
Chris Croghan threw the shot put 46-8 for a league best and eighth place. Reggie Stephen’s 100 time of 11.36 was good for sixth place. Nik Whiting pole vaulted 13-0 took third. The 400 relay team of Henry, Stephens, Jermaine Robinson and Jason Nevin was seventh in 44.34.
GIRLS: Melanie Café took second in the 400 hurdles in 1:06.94 and fourth in the 100 hurdles in 16.78. Café teamed with Bernadette Ferrante, Katie David and Christina Thompson to register the fastest 400 relay for the season in the SCCAL at 50.76, although only good for fourth at this meet. Evie Smith was third in the high jump at 5-2.

April 30. SC 91, Harbor 34. SC ended its dual meet season with a 6-0 record. Jermaine Robinson led the way picking up four victories. The junior ran the second leg of the winning 400 relay team in 45.4, won the 200 in 23.5, long jump 19-7 and high jump at 6-0. Hurdler Jimmy Meyer doubled with wins in his specialties, taking the 100 hurdles in 16.1 and 300 in 40.8. Jake Lackey won the discus in 131-7 and Chris Croghan put the shot 45-3. “It’s nice to finish 6-0,” said assistant coach Jim Scott. “Now, we’re just focusing on league and CCS. Lots of kids are still recovering from last week’s meet.”
GIRLS: SC 87, Harbor 40. In sort of a US Postal Service kind of a race, neither fatigue, nor headwind, nor sandy track could keep Christina Thompson from her appointed run around the track. The senior won an impressive 200 in 26.9, despite battling the conditions at SCHS. Linda Alvarez was a triple winner, taking the long jump at 15 feet, the triple jump at 31-5 and the high jump at 4-6. In the hurdles, Joanne Hutson won the 300 in 49.8 and the 100 in 17-7.

San Jose Mercury on May 19. Top four marks in CCS by a SC track and field athlete. listed by event, place, name and time or distance.
400 meters: 4. Thompson, 58.8
300 meter hurdles: 3. Café, 46.4
On April 14 in the San Jose Mercury, Jermaine Robinson in third place in the long jump at 21-7, was the only Cardinal who made the CCS Track and Field leaders, which listed only the top three competitors.

Yearbook. (There were just a few athletes listed in the yearbook. There was a picture of the combined boys and girls teams, but no names.) Names listed were pole vaulted/hurdler senior Nik Whiting, Josh Sutton in discus, Ben Henry, Joe Street, Natalie Gibbons and Maria Willis.

Sentinel May 20 Area Prep Best times for Boys track and field. Listed by event, place, name and time.
100 meters
1 Stephens 10.6
2 Robinson 10.9
4 Churchill 11.2

200 meters
1 Stephens 22.1
3 Henry 22.7
4 Churchill 22.9
9 Nevin 23.5

400 meters
1 Henry 51.0
3 Nevin 52.4
6 Porter 63.2

800 meters
6 Lainez 2:05.0
7 Street 2:05.7
8 Liberatore 2:06.0
9 Allen 2:06.7

1,600 relay
1 SC 3:27.0

400 meter relay
1 SC 43.2

1,600 meters
8 Liberatore 4:39.3

3,200 meters
8 Liberatore 10:49.0

110 meter high hurdles
2 Meyers 14.8
5 Whiting 15.9

300 meter intermediate hurdles
2 Meyer 39.9
4 Porter 40.9
7 Dalbesio 42.8

Long jump
1 Robinson 21-7
2 Stephens 21-4
8 McDuffie 19-7
9 Benitez 19-5

Triple jump
2 Meyer 43.0
7 Delgado 40-2
10 Abraham 38-0

High jump
1 Robinson 6-5
4 McDuffie 6-0

Shot Put
1 Croghan 47-2
8 Dunn 43-7

Discus
3 Croghan 134-2
10 Sutton 126-8

Pole Vault
2 Whiting 13-6
7tied Dalbesio 11-0

Sentinel May 13 Area Prep Best times for Girls track and field. Listed by event, place, name and time.
100 meters
3 Ferrante 12.8
8 David 13.1

200 meters
1 Thompson 25.8
8 Ferrante 27.6
9 David 27.8
10 Norteye 27.9

400 meters
1 Thompson 59.0
3 Lin 1:01.6
5 Café 1:02.5

800 meters
9 Bridgeman 2:34.0

400 meter relay
1 SC 50.2

Mile relay
1 SC 4:04.5

100 meter low hurdles
3 Café 16.4
5 Hutson 16.7
10 Fleming 17.8

300 meter low hurdles
1 Café 46.4
6 Hutson 50.2
7 Fleming 50.6

Long jump
7 tie Alvarez 15-7
7 tie Smith 15-7

High jump
1 Smith 5-2
2 tie Alvarez 5-0

Triple jump
4 Smith 32-8
5 tie Alvarez 31-9
5 tie Café 31-9

Discus
7 Weaver 98-4

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING
Second place finishes in the following team events: SCCAL Championship meet, Santa Cruz County Swim Relays, Santa Cruz Sprint Invitational and the Gunderson Relays.
At the SCCAL meet Harbor took first with 429 points, followed by SC 238, Aptos 105, Watsonville 145 and Soquel 131.
Practice meets: Carmel 101-84 and North Salinas 120-42. Practice record 2-0.

League: Watsonville 121-66, Aptos 105-78, Harbor 69-114 and Soquel 113-72. League record 3-1. Overall record 5-1.

Yearbook. Senior Zack Thompson, “after spending everyday at school together, the swimmers become best friends. This year the swim and diving team were exceptional and showed a lot of growth during the season.

Roster: J. Smith, S. Reed, M. Porter, T. Dutra, L. Pope, P. Dixon-Moses, R. Trum, C. Nur, Z. Thompson, G. Burland, D. Korte, R. White, D. Smith. J. Brito, M. Bonnell, C. Warner, S. Gargano, C. Reefe, C. Apra, N. Alvarado, C. Weber, Dunlap and J. Andrade.

Sentinel. March 2. Santa Cruz Sprint Invitational. Harbor won with 112 points. SC was second with 45, Carmel 32, Aptos 31 and Soquel 18. Zack Thompson set the only meet record with a 29.98 in the 50 breaststroke and was the third highest point winner.

Sentinel. March 3. SC 101, Carmel 84. Zack Thompson won the 200 freestyle in 1:54.1 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.47, which qualified him for the CCS championship meet in the event. Corey Warner won the diving with 174.45 points.

March 10. SC 122, North Salinas 42. Senior Zack Thompson qualified for the CCS championships in a second event, clocking a time of 2:08.89 in the 200 individual medley. He also swam the 100 backstroke for the first time in a couple of years and win in 1:05.79

March 19. For the sixteenth time in 17 years, Harbor coasted to a victory in the Santa Cruz County Swim Relays at Harbor. Harbor won seven of the nine events for 116 points, followed by SC 74, Watsonville, Soquel and Aptos.

March 21. SC took second place at the Gunderson Relays, finishing second behind a powerful Leland squad, who had 120 points to SC’s 71. SC’s only winner came in diving as Rob Holmberg and Corey Warner teamed on the one meter board. The most impressive event for SC was the 200 freestyle relay in which Ramey White, Chris Dunlap, Ryan Trumm and Damien Korte swam to a time of 1:39.8.

April 8. SC 121, Watsonville 66 in the first SCCAL meet. Zack Thompson won the 200 individual relay in 2:08.87 and the 500 freestyle in 5:08.90. Damien Korte won the 50 free in 240.4 and the 100 backstroke in 1:04.45.

April 14. SC 105, Aptos 78. Zack Thompson won two events, the 200 individual medley in 2:04.56 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.07, which was the best in the league this year. “The difference in the meet may have been the diving,” said coach Bennett. SC’s three divers recorded 15 points as Aptos had no diver.

April 24. Harbor 114, SC 69. With the win Harbor is 3-0 in the league and SC drops to 2-1. (no info on SC)

April 30. SC 113, Soquel 72. SC closed the league season 3-1. Zack Thompson was a double winner, taking the 200 free in 1:52.30 and the 500 free in 5:41.54. Corey Warner won the diving with a score of 152.30.

Trident. May 6. Swim Team Nearly Perfect. SC was 2-0 before meeting Harbor, but the Pirates were too much for the Cards. Seniors Damien Korte and Zack Thompson both won two events. A four year member of the team, Korte is the most underrated swimmer for SC. Korte has two of the five best times in the SCCAL, Korte won the 200 and 500 meter freestyles. In the 200 free Korte was behind Harbors swimmer going into the last lap, when Korte kicked in the turbo boosters and came from behind to win by .1 seconds. Korte’s 1:53.43 was the third best in the SCCAL this year. With Korte busy ripping up the field in the distance races, Thompson controlled the shorter distances. Thompson has the top time in the 100 breaststroke, 1:04.07 and has the top times in four other events. He also won the individual medley.
SC also has two of the top divers in the league. Junior Corey Warner and senior Robbie Holmberg have so far dominated all of their current diving opponents. Currently Warner is the leagues top diver with a league leading 176 points. Holmberg, who led the league for a time last year is currently in second place with a score of 154 points. With four more meets ahead the Cards look to improve their records.

Both Damien Korte and Zack Thompson were selected as Sentinel Athletes of the Week for their outstanding showing against the premiere team in the league.

May 8. Good Choice: Diver Wins SCCAL. Cory Warner, who nearly chose not to dive this season, won the SCCAL championship at Harbor high. The Card junior scored 365.00 points on 11 dives for and average score of 33.2. Rob Holmberg was third in 297.90. “Cory considered not diving, because he was interested in volleyball, said Coach Mike Bennett, who credited diving coach Maureen Dwyer with aiding in Warner’s success. I told him that since he’s a junior, he has the chance to go far next year, if he is willing to take some time this summer and learn some tougher dives. He may end up following in Matt Reyes’ footsteps.” Reyes was an All American diver for Cabrillo College as a freshman this season.

May 9. Harbor won its thirteenth straight SCCAL Swim Championship with 429 points, followed by SC 238, Aptos 105, Watsonville 145 and Soquel 131. In the swimming portion Zack Thompson won the 100 breaststroke in his season best time of 1:02.96.

May 23. Swimmers Close Out CCS Effort. Zack Thompson finished his SC career with a seventh place in the consolation 100 breaststroke. He dropped his season best time by ten seconds, clocking a 1:02.87. Diving, Rob Holmberg finished fifth in the consolation and thirteenth overall with 260.10 points.

Sentinel stats for boys swimming on May 28 listed by place in rankings, name and best time up to five places.

200 medley relay: Fifth. Nur, Bruland, Smith and Trumm in 1:56.0
200 freestyle: Second. Korte in 1:50.22
400 freestyle: Sixth. Thompson in 1:54.10
200 individual medley: Second. Thompson in 2:01.64
500 freestyle: Second, Thompson in 4:57.27 and fifth Korte in 5:03.58
200 freestyle relay: Second, White, Thompson, Dunlap, Korte in 1:36.48
100 backstroke: none
100 breaststroke: First, Thompson in 1:1:0287
400 freestyle relay: Third, White, Korte, Dunlap, Thompson in 3:34.05
Diving: First, Warner, 365.00 points and third, Holmberg 297.90 points and fifth Dutra 174.05

These times applied at the beginning of May, but in the last list didn’t make the top five.
50 freestyle: Fifth., Korte in 24.04
100 butterfly: Fifth. Korte in 1:0115
100 freestyle: Third, Thompson, 51.85

BOYS TENNIS
Practice matches: Salinas 6-1, St. Francis of Mt. View 4-3, Overfelt 6-1, Monta Vista of Cupertino 4-3, Leland 3-4, Carmel 5-2. Practice record 5-1.
League: Watsonville 7-0, 7-0; Monte Vista 7-0, 7-0; Harbor 7-0, 7-0; SLV 6-1, 6-1; Aptos 5-1, 6-1; Soquel 5-2, 7-0. League record 12-0 for championship. CCS 0-1. Overall record 17-1.

Yearbook. Since coach Dennis Mullen started coaching the team they have a 154-6 record and 16 championships in the last 18 years. It puts a lot of pressure on this years team to succeed.
Five returnees are senior Max Swanger; juniors Chris Hiromura, Tyler Brunnemer and Josh Sheridan. Fresh new faces are sophomores Rick Godnick, Dave Avary, Sander Nauenberg, Jacob Meyberg and Eric Knox. Freshman Mike Marlowe is a comer. Rest of squad: J. Moore, Karl Williams, N. Minnis and George Murphy. Coach Dennis Mullen.

Sentinel March 4. SC 6, Salinas 1. Number one singles player Max Swanger won 6-2, 6-2. All Card victories were in straight sets.

Sentinel March 7. SC 4, St. Francis of Mt. View 3. SC won three singles matches and one doubles match. The number two doubles team of Sander Nauenberg and Eric Knox won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3 tiebreaker) to clinch the victory for SC. “They were just very persistent. They were down early, but they didn’t give up. They just played great,” Coach Dennis Mullen. SC improved to 2-0 on the season.

March 11. SC 6, Overfelt 1. Number one, Max Swanger won 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. SC improved to 3-0.

March 13. SC 4, Monta Vista of Cupertino 3. David Avary and Rick Godnick came back from a 6-5 deficit in the third set of their number one doubles match to win, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3). It was the last match of the day and finished almost in compete darkness. In another key match, Eric Knox won 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to tie the match at 3-3 going into the number one doubles match. Tyler Brunnemer and Chris Hiromura both won singles matches.

Sentinel. March 17. SC 7, Watsonville 0. SC won every match in straight sets in the first SCCAL match of the season for both teams. SC improved to 5-0 overall, got singles victories from Max Swanger, Josh Sheridan, Tyler Brunnemer, Chris Hiromura and Sander Nauenberg.

March 18. Leland Hands SC First Tennis Loss. SC’s first loss came against one of the toughest teams from over the hill, so coach Mullen wasn’t upset that his team fell to 5-1. Mullen said, “It was a fun match to play,” after the 4-3 loss to a traditional powerhouse. We didn’t play our number one player, so we moved everyone up a spot. We could have defaulted the number one and kept everybody in position, but I wanted all the kids to play.” Chris Hiromura, playing number three singles won 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7). Eric Knox won at number five, 7-6, 6-1. At number one doubles, David Avary and Rick Godnick won 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. At two singles, Tyler Brunnemer was edged 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. Of the four three set matches, each team won two.

March 20. SC 7, Monte Vista Christian 0. SC improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league. In singles the winners were Max Swanger, Josh Sheridan, Tyler Brunnemer, Chris Hiromura and Sander Nauenberg. Doubles winners were David Avary and Rick Godnick at number one and Jacob Meyberg and Eric Knox at number two.

Sentinel March 27. SC 7, Harbor 0. At number one singles, Max Swanger won 6-1, 6-1. (end of story)

March 31. Cardinals’ Experience Too Much For Cougars. SC 6, SLV 1. SC league record now 4-0. Max Swanger won at number one singles, 6-2, 6-1. Other SC singles winners in order were 3. Gabe Murphy, 4. Tyler Brnnnemer, 5, Chris Hiromura. Number one doubles of David Avary and Rick Godnick and number two Sander Nauenberg and Eric Knox.

April 2. SC 5, Aptos 1. The Mariners only win was a significant one, beating SC’s number one player Max Swanger 6-3, 6-2. It was Swanger’s first league loss. Number two Josh Sheridan won 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. SC’s 2, 3, 4 singles players: Gabe Murphy, Tyler Brunnemer and Chris Hiromura and the number one doubles team of David Avary and Rick Godnick each won in straight sets. The number two doubles match was split on set each, when the teams decided to halt play.

April 3. SC 5, Soquel 2. Number one singles player Max Swanger lost in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 3-6. Josh Sheridan won number two singles 7-6, 6-1. Number one doubles of David Avary and Sander Nauenber lost 6-1, 3-6, 3-6.

April 24. SC 7, Harbor 0. SC is 9-0 in league and 13-1 overall. In his first varsity match, freshman Mike Marlowe won 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 at number five singles. No. 1 singles, Max Swanger won 6-2, 6-0.

April 17 SC 7, Monte Vista 0. Number one Max Swanger had to work for his win, 6-3, 6-3. In the four other singles matches, SC dropped only one game in eight sets, improving to 8-0 in league.

Trident. April 13. Tennis Consistently Wins. After playing a host of teams, the Cards are 2-0 in league and have lost only one match this year. After defeating Salinas, St. Francis of Mt. View, Watsonville and Monte Vista, their only loss has been to Leland of San Jose. The Cards record is 6-1. The team has been hurt by the loss of sophomore Gabe Murphy for a majority of the season. Why does SC consistently win league? Murphy and Josh Sheridan believes, “It’s a combination of good coaching, the dedication of the players and we’re SC.”

April 14. SC 7, Watsonville 0. SC didn’t lose so much as a set in cruising to their seventh win without a loss in league. Singles players Max Swanger, Josh Sheridan, Gabe Murphy, Tyler Brunnemer and Chris Hiromura and the number one doubles team of David Avary and Rick Godnick won 6-2, 6-0; number two, Mike Marlowe and Jacob Meyberg all were easy winners.

April 21. Santa Cruz 5, Carmel 2. SC improved to 12-1 for the season with the non league win. They are 8-0 in league. SC lost the number one and two singles matches, but won all the rest. “We played really well. The better matches were in one and two. We won the rest really easily,” Coach Dennis Mullen said. Number one, Swanger lost 5-7, 4-6 and at two, Sheridan lost 3-6, 6-4.

April 28. Santa Cruz Wraps Up Boys Team Tennis Title. This will be the fifteenth in the seventeenth the SCCAL has existed and the seventeenth in the 19 years since Coach Dennis Mullen has led the Cards to its first MBL championship season in 1975. Although the Cards defeated SLV 6-1, Mullen, who has coached the team since 1970 didn’t go out of his way to trumpet another league crown in front of his troops. SC improved to 10-0 in league, dropped only the number two match as Josh Sheridan lost 4-6, 0-6. Max Swanger won the number one match 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. SLV has cinched at least a tie for second in the league at 8-3.

April 30. SC 6, Aptos 1. In only Max Swangers third loss in league, he went down for the second time to his Aptos opponent.

May 1. SC 7, Soquel 0. It’s not only the three earrings that make Max Swanger a cool guy. He understands that image is not necessarily everything. For most tennis players, patience and positive attitude mean a lot more than any fashion statement. Rather than spewing at the mouth about his mistakes, he stayed cool in his number one singles match, against a player he lost to in the first round. By taking the pace off the ball and keeping the ball within the lines, Swanger won, 6-2. 7-5. “I got upset at myself the first time, “said Swanger, “who said his opponent played better Friday then he did when he beat Swanger.”

May 4. At the SCCAL Championship meet, top seed in the doubles, Josh Sheridan and Chris Hiromura will play in the finals tomorrow at Imperial Courts. Max Swanger lost in the singles semifinals 1-6, 3-6. In the first round of singles play, Gabe Murphy lost to the second seed, 1-6, 0-6.

May 6. In doubles, Chris Hiomura and Josh Sheridan came from behind in the second set to claim the championship, 6-2, 6-4. With the championship they will represent the SCCAL at the CCS tourney. A combination of Sheridan’s serve, he was never broken and Hiromura’s net and overhead play was too much for the Aptos pair. “I held my serve when we were down 3-0 and we were mentally better after that,” said Sheridan, who spent the season playing number two singles. “I have a lot of confidence in my serves. When we won the game, we were back into it.” Hiromura held serve in the final game, clinching the win when the opponents return sailed wide. “I’ve been waiting for this all year,” said Hiromura, who played numbers 3, 4 and 5 singles during the regular season. They will be the fourth seed at CCS.

May 6. At the CCS team championship tournament, SC lost to fourth seeded Los Gatos 7-0 in the first round. SC ended the season 17-3 and SCCAL unbeaten champions 12-0. Los Gatos won every match in straight sets. “We really got pushed around,” said Mullen, who often schedules the toughest opponents possible for non-league matches. “I didn’t see anybody like this all year. These guys were all club players. It was a buzz saw.” Chris Hiromura suffered his first loss of the season at number five singles. He was 18-1 overall and teamed with number two Josh Sheridan to win the SCCAL doubles title. Number four,Tyler Brunnemer completed a 17-3 campaign.

GOLF
Yearbook. The team was composed of seniors Dov Rothman and Micah Breeden; junior Desi Anderson; sophomore Jeremy Breeden and freshmen Jared Bogaard, Matt Walton and Adeline Ochoa. Head coach Pete Pappas and assistant Josh Breedon.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Yearbook. In the fifth year of official high school volleyball, the roster averaged about eleven players. The top returning players were seniors Jay Gardner and Kevin Silbaugh, juniors Hawkins Haas, Deva Mercado and Scott Reed. Other members: S. Barbera, B. Vernor, P. Dixon-Moses, K. Peine, A. Lathers, L. McDuffie, A. Werner, M. Smith, T. Bodiwitz, J. Cate and J. Longberg.

Trident. April 13. Boys Volleyball Led By Experience. The team is off to a great start, winning three preseason games and taking third at SC Tournament. They beat Soquel, Aptos and Harbor soundly. In their first league game against Mt. Madonna, the team played well, yet lost 15-17, 10-15, 8-15. SC met Mt. Madonna in a tournament and beat the highly ranked team 11-0, 11-3. Some of the credit for the win includes Hakuin Haas, who served 11 in a row to win the game. Some of the key returning players include junior Haas and seniors Jay Gardner, Kevin Silbaugh and Justin Robinson. The vast improvement of the team from last year is credited to three factors. They gained experience playing for Team Santa Cruz, there are better senior players and many last years dominant JV players have move up to varsity. The team is coached by Mark Tedson again and is expected to take first or second in league.

Yearbook
SURF TEAM has been declared a sporting activity by SCHS, because of the work and determination they have made. The varsity team is made up of eight surfers, JV’s have twelve and an estimated ten alternates.

Big Companies like O’Neil and Billabong sponsored the regular season competitions that were held at Steamer Lane, Pleasure Point and Manresa Beach.

Contest between local schools were set up by a committee, who chose team winners and individual winners at the end of the season. The team winners went to a competition in Oceanside, where they competed against schools from all over Southern California.

Top surfers were Aaron LeBlanc, Randy Bonds, Jonathan Golder and Jordan Brownlee. Rest of roster: R. Comperaore, S. Nonburg, A. Angel. M. Golder, A. LeBlanc, J. Brownlee, J. Boyd, J. Meyberg, J. Haje, T. Smith, D. Deworken, P. Fitzsimmons, T. Walsh, J. Thoma, S. Kassemder, S. Reed, P. Groen, B. Windt, R. Bonds, A. Bossinger, I. Shepard and M. Collins.