Spring Sports Preview - Softball, Baseball, and Tennis.

Time to get out the bats, racquets, clubs and other ball striking devices - spring sports are upon us. Today we preview baseball & softball and catch up on the boys tennis season already underway. Swimming, track & field, and boys golf follow on Saturday. Remember all rosters and schedules are subject to change. First up ---

Softball
2006 Los Padres League
Templeton 19-6-1 (9-2-1)
St. Joseph 11-13-2 (8-3-1)
Lompoc 16-10 (8-4)
Morro Bay 18-10 (8-4)
Cabrillo 10-14-1 (6-6)
Santa Ynez 5-20 (1-11)
Santa Maria 4-23 (1-11)

Because the Braves return 11 players from a good team, some people believe that they could challenge for the title this year, even though most regard Templeton as the favorite.

Cabrillo
Roster [var-jv]
Schedule [var - jv]

The Cabrillo softball team played two scrimmages last Saturday (the 29th)
versus Nipomo and AG with some success, and open formal play by hosting their own tournament this Saturday (1 March). Second year head coach Doug Meeder is having to deal with the loss to injury of co-captain Levena Linderholm, one of the most experienced returning players on a young team. They hope to have her back before the start of league play. Projected starters for the tournament are: P-Aldridge, C-Radabaugh, 1B-Pino, 2B-Abayari, SS-Kuhlman, 3B-Goodchild, LF-Brown, CF-Pacyna, RF-McCarty.

Lompoc
Roster [var-jv]
Schedule [var-jv]

Despite the numbers coming back, there are only two seniors (Leanna Corral & Courtney Dosa), 6 juniors, 4 sophomores, and two freshmen on the currently 14-player squad.

Head coach Al DeMaria has decided that he will use the entire pre-season to determine his line-up and plans to rotate players at virtually every position until league play starts.

Following two scrimmages at Dos Pueblos, the Braves travel to SLO on friday and then head south to the Simi Valley Tourney on Saturday.

Baseball
2006 Los Padres League
Lompoc 18-9 (9-3)
Cabrillo 14-12-1 (8-3-1)
St. Joseph 17-9 (8-4)
Santa Ynez 15-10-1 (5-6-1)
Morro Bay 9-13 (5-7)
Templeton 8-14 (5-7)
Santa Maria 1-22 (1-11)

Lompoc, as two time defending LPL champs, and with a load of folks back is expected to repeat. St. Joseph (always tough), Santa Ynez (several key players return), and Cabrillo are expected to challenge.

Cabrillo
Roster [var- jv-frosh]
Schedule [var- jv- frosh]

Cabrillo begins the post Danny Duffy era with an alumni game on Saturday, but they also begin the post 'nine other guys' era as well. They only return seven players from last years group - four of whom were sophomores, so experience is at a premium. Pitching is looks to be by committee early on, but head coach Jonathan Osbourne is confident that valley legend pitching coach has the situation under control. The projected infield starters are: 1B- Harmon, 2B- Pecyna, SS- McGinty, 3B- Somers, C- Sullivan. The outfield line-up will change frequently since many of the leading candidates for those spots also will be pitching. Generally it will be Naputi (CF), Galvan (RF), and Fraats (LF), with Buttler and Elliot filling in. Naputi will start on the mound Saturday.

Lompoc
Roster [var-jv-frosh]
Schedule [var-jv-frosh]

Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Jim Allen's Lompoc squad. After all, six of his 16 varsity players were sophomores. So what happens - six players made the All-LPL 1st team (two seniors, two juniors, and two of those pesky soph's) en route to a league title. So this year the youth movement is over, right ? Wrong. This season he has three freshmen and another sophomore on his 14 member unit. One of the most difficult elements to replace, they did lose six seniors, will be the consistant and reliable pitching of Matt Nunes - especially in relief.

Lompoc starts the regular season on Friday @ Santa Barbara, then continues south for a double-header @ Rialto on Saturday. Fridays starters are P- Bower, C- D. Mallory, 1B- Aguailar, 2B- Berryman, SS- Rouleau, 3B- Alonzo, LF- Erickson, CF- Whitaker, RF- Samaniego. Expect some more established players to start on Saturday.

Tennis (boys)

The boys tennis season is already underway - with mixed results for the two schools. Lompoc scrimmaged against Nipomo last Saturday, and eked out a 10-8 win at home against Righetti on Wednesday. Cabrillo scrimmaged Righetti last Saturday, then faced two of the better teams in the area (SLO, AG) on Tuesday and Thursday.

Lompoc [1-0]
Roster (as listed)
Schedule

The Braves are led by head coach Loretta Jensen's son Alex. The junior swept all his sets at #1 singles on Wednesday (6-2,6-0,6-1) for three of Lompoc's ten points. The other singles players for the Braves - sophomore Robert Rodriguez (#2) and junior Marco Pasallo (#3), each won a set 6-4.

The action in that first match, however, was in doubles. The #2 duo of Anthony Yang, the teams only senior, and junior Carlos Esparza won two uneventful sets (6-3,6-1). The #3 doubles - juniors Cooper Barrick (up from JV) and Jesus Abrego, won their first set 6-2 and were in a very competitive second set when Abrego tweaked a soccer injury. He was barely able to finish the set, a 6-7 (7-9) tiebreaker loss. But he was unable to compete in the third set - resulting in a Lompoc forfeit.

Those two losses put the match squarely on the shoulders of the #1 doubles team. Lompoc led 9-8 in sets, but was only up 68-67 in games, the deciding factor if sets are even, with one set to play. Since sets have to be won by two games unless they go to a tie-breaker, the Braves had to win at least six games in the set to win salvage a tie.

Juniors Kyle Thumm and Joel Martin, the #1 doubles, raced out to a quick 4-1 lead, but lost three of the next four games to make the score 5-4. The next game was a see-saw battle. Lompoc missed on several chances to break serve an win the match, but the game went to deuce, and then was won by the visitors to even the set at 5-5. The Braves then kicked things into high gear and surrendered only a single point in each of the next two games, winning the set 7-5 and the match 10-8.

One of coach Jensen's sayings is "gotta beat the threes", and Lompoc did just that against the Warriors. They were 1-6 versus Righetti's #1's, 3-3 against the #2's, but 6-0 against the # 3's.


JV
Coach Jim Steffey's JV squad won 14-4 over a short-handed Warrior team.
In singles Oscar Rodriguez won two sets (3-6,6-1,6-0), Wyatt Peterson won three (6-2,6-0,6-0), and Chris Aldama one (1-6,1-6,6-0).

Since Righetti only had one JV doubles unit the Braves received six forfeit wins. Two other sets wer won on the court by #1 doubles Carlos Diaz/ Devin Day (6-3) & #3 Ritchie Alvarez/ Robert Yang (6-4). The lone loss, by Edgar Solis/ Gabriel Hernandez, was a competitive 6-3.


Cabrillo [0-2]
Roster
Schedule [var - jv]

The Conquistadores faced a brutal week of tennis against two of the premiere units on the central coast. They lost at home to SLO 18-0 [story, story] and 16-2 on the road at Arroyo Grande [story]. The two points were scored by freshman Eric Wong against subtitutes.

The varsity has so far been represented by Ryan Anderson, Andrew Shewell, & Eric Wong at singles, and doubles units Arjun Ayyer / Jordan Daniel, Casey Owen / Alex Hurd (or David Terrones), and Peter Rapoza / Tanner Stark. Shewell, Owen, & Stark are seniors, Terrones a sophomore, and Wong a freshman - all the others are juniors.

JV

The JV lost to SLO 16-2, with the wins coming from Frankie Caldera (6-0) and David Terrones / Calvin Hoffeld (6-3). Against AG they came close in two sets but were unable to break into the win column.

Playing singles thus far have been Ray Moreno (11), Frankie Caldera (9), and Conner Galvan (9). Doubles were Ricky Ruiz (or Terrones) / Calvin Hoffield, Gary Laugen / Ricky Cummings, Ryan Anderson / Roy Moran, & Daniel Garmendia / Manual Contreras.

--- el stato

Winter All- Los Padres League Teams

Local representatives on the All-Los Padres League Teams for Winter Sports 2007-2008

Boys Basketball

Defensive player of the year
Paul Carter (Cabrillo) Guard 12
1st team
Joe Alerta (Lompoc) Guard 12
Kenneth Taylor (Cabrillo) Forward 12
2nd team
Wesley Hain (Cabrillo) Center 12
Trae Vernon (Lompoc) Center 10
Josh Villa (Lompoc) Guard 12
Honorable Mention
Steven Morehart (Lompoc) Forward 12
David Terrones (Cabrillo) Guard 12

Girls Basketball

1st team
Jozza Ray (Lompoc) Guard 12
Roxanne Rentschler (Cabrillo) Guard 12
Chelsea Cassulo (Lompoc) Forward 12
2nd team
Ashley Bonenfont (Cabrillo) Guard 11
Denee Lane (Lompoc) Guard 11
Honorable Mention
Tiara Phillips (Cabrillo) Forward 12
Courtney Stumpo (Lompoc) Forward 12


Boys Soccer

Defensive player of the year
Massimo Beeson (Cabrillo) 12
1st team
Oscar Torres (Cabrillo) Forward 12
Jairo Magana(Lompoc) Defender 12
2nd team
Armando Torres(Cabrillo) Midfielder 11
Sean Greathead(Cabrillo) Forward 9
Marco Vargas(Lompoc) Defender 12
Honorable Mention
Alex Zavala (Cabrillo) Goalkeeper 12
Endi Maldanado(Lompoc) Midfielder 12


Girls Soccer

1st team
Brittany Gregory (Cabrillo) Midfielder 12
Samantha Marquez (Cabrillo) Midfielder 11
Diamonne Mitchell(Cabrillo) Forward 11
Elicity Fabing (Lompoc) Midfielder 11
Veronica Villareal (Lompoc) Forward 12
2nd team
Kanani Davis (Cabrillo) Defender 11
Amanda De Temple (Cabrillo) Midfielder 12
Lindsey Eckersley(Lompoc) Defender 11
Rosangela Perez (Lompoc) Midfielder 10
Honorable Mention
Sarah Marshall (Cabrillo) Goalkeeper 11
Lupita Estrada (Lompoc) Forward 9

Girls Water Polo

Most Valuable Player
Rachel Nelson (Cabrillo) 11
1st team
Daniela Alvarado (Cabrillo) Field 12
Ashlea Coski (Cabrillo) Field 10
Jessica Denton (Cabrillo) Field 12
2nd team
Michelle Buss (Cabrillo) Goalie 12
Phoebe Huggins (Cabrillo) Field 10
Brooke Crouse (Lompoc) Field 11
Honorable Mention
Leesha Taylor (Cabrillo) Field 11
Erica Elenes (Lompoc) Goalie 10

Complete Lists

Church Steals First Bag; Gregory Rips

From the Grapefruit League

RYAN CHURCH went 0-for-2 Wednesday in the New York Mets' first spring training game against major leaguers. Batting cleanup Ryan put the ball in play against Jeremy Bonderman and Jason Grilli of the Tigers before being excused for the day.

But Tuesday against the University of Michigan a promising event took place which was forecast by General Manager Omar Minaya on the day the Mets traded for Church.

Back then the Bloggers were all over Minaya for giving up "future superstar" Lastings Milledge for Ryan and catcher Brian Schneider.

Minaya said that Church gave the team just as much offense at the plate and better defense and a third element-- stolen bases.

Minaya wants the Mets to run, not just play station-to-station, and he knew Church can motor. He did not know that from counting Ryan's steals with the Nationals; the Nats played station-to-station, but Minaya remembers Church from his arrival in the majors when both were with Montreal.

Sure enough, on Tuesday, Churchie worked a base-on-balls then stole second base. And Lastings Milledge? He stole three times all last season.

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JC baseball

Gregory Rips

Finally given a chance after 11 games to see his name in the starting lineup BRIAN GREGORY ripped a base hit and two RBI Tuesday as Santa Barbara City College dumped Cerro Coso College in Ridgecrest 11-6.

Coach Teddy Warrecker called attention to Gregory's defense noting that he gave up no wild pitches nor passed balls. And on offense he is suddenly, at 1-for-3 (.333), the third top hitter for average on the team.

It was Gregory's first start of the season after red-shirting in 2007. The Vaqueros (9-3) open Western State Conference play Thursday at Cuesta.

Cabrillo Konked, Lompoc Log-jammed

Second year Cabrillo head softball coach Doug Meeder (left) has already suffered a big loss this year - without playing any official games. Levena Linderholm, is out indefinitely due to an injury sustained in practice. The senior co-captain was one of the leading offensive forces returning from a team that struggled to score last year, and was expected to be a major force on a young Conquistador squad this spring.

Check back on Thursday for previews of LHS/CHS softball, baseball, & boys tennis. Swimming, and track & field, and boys golf will be previewed on Saturday.

Cabrillo Boys Tennis

The Conquistadores started the spring sports season off by hosting a really good, veteran squad from SLO on Tuesday afternoon - they did not particularly enjoy the experience. The Tigers, who were 19-3 and CIF Div II semi-finalists last year, rolled over Cabrillo 18-0 (108-13 games). The experience level differential of the two teams was substantial - SLO lost only one player from last springs' unit and Cabrillo only had four lettermen returning.

Cabrillo head coach Dan Troup was not surprised by the result, but believes that the Conq's will benefit from the high level of competition they will face in their non-league schedule. They travel to Arroyo Grande on Thursday.

Cabrillo singles won 11 games: junior Ryan Anderson (#1) won 5, senior Andrew Shewell (#2) & freshman Eric Wong (#3) each won three.

Lompoc Swimming

The Braves travelled to Atascadero for a meet on Tuesday and found out that the Greyhound girls can apparently swim fast as well as run fast. Lompoc's girls were outpaced 133-38. The top performances by Lompoc were by Shelby Carpenter (3rd in the 200 & 500 Freestyle), Kimly Hoang (3rd in the 200 IM & 100 Back), and Andrea Caballero (3rd in the 100 Free). Lompoc also finished 3rd in the various relays. The boys fared only somewhat better, with three 2nds,and three 3rds in individual events, and 3rds in three relays.

Lompoc Golf

The boys golf match against Atascadero on Monday was cancelled by the Greyhounds so that they could participate in the Oak Park Tournament.

Lompoc Renaissance Program

Lompoc High School celebrated academic excellence Monday night, when the Renaissance Program awarded Scholar Letters to 84 deserving recipients. Not surprisingly, many of the Letter winners are also LHS athletic leaders - including volleyball co-captain Souania Moua, and CIF Champion Masson Blow (seen with his father Mike). For the complete list click here. - el stato

Schmidt Sets Two National Swim Marks

Not Deterred by Rainstorm

JURGEN SCHMIDT, Lompoc’s relentlessly modest 85-year-old swim master, made his first splash in the pool since his birthday a memorable one Saturday.

At the Janet Evans Aquatic Complex in Fullerton, amidst a driving wind and rain storm, Schmidt shattered two national age-group records. It was his first swim in his new 85-89 age group.

Illustrating his versatility for all to see, one record was in a distance event distance and one was in a sprint.

“It was raining. It was cold. It was terrible,” Schmidt laughed Monday. “They had tents sent up with propane heaters for the fans. If I had any sense I would not swim, but I was psyched up. I thought, ‘Well, I’m just going to go for it’”

Schmidt was in the next-to-last lap of the 1650 freestyle when he heard the PA announcer tell the fans his age and the fact he was on track for a new record. “The fans got into it. I could hear them rooting for me,” Schmidt recalls with a chuckle.

He got his record by clocking 29:12.63. The old record for 85-9 year-olds was 30:29.58. It had stood since 2001. “I think I can do better,” Schmidt thought after taking his bows.

After a break and a recreational 50 breast with no new record, Schmidt went after the 100 Individual Medley record… and got it too.

“My butterfly felt great and I hit the wall well,” Schmidt observed as he hit his marks.

His time, 1:45.51, was a full second faster than the previous mark for the age group which had stood since 1999--1:46.51.

“I think I can do better in that one too. Last year I had a 1:38.42.” But last year he was not yet 85 and his time was not a record in the 80-4 age group.

Schmidt is in uncharted waters with Saturday’s times. No one in the nation has ever achieved such marks at his age, but he refuses to be swept away by fame. “Frank (Piemme) will probably break them in two years,” he chuckled about his workout partner who is two years younger. “But I’m going to enjoy them for now.”

Seizing the moment, Schmidt will try to better the 100 IM time quickly—in two weeks at the Cal Tech Pentathlon.

Masson Qualifies for State; Aztecs Rebound

Masson Blow Qualifies for State Meet

MASSON BLOW qualified for the state wrestling meet Saturday. He is pictured above in action in a photo by Armando Robles.

At the CIF-Southern Section Masters Tournament in Rialto the Lompoc High star finished fourth among 30 wrestlers wrestling at 152 pounds.

Seeded #2 Blow drew a first round bye, then pinned Timmy Garnica of North Torrance at 2:31. In the quarterfinal round he won 5-0 over Stephen Mills of Laguna Hills, but in the semifinal he was pinned by eventual winner Jacob Rodriguez of Canyon Springs at 4:47.

Relegated to the third-place bracket he stopped Trevor Gray of San Clemente 10-4, but then lost to Mills by a 7-4 score and had to settle for fourth. Mills had a big advantage in the fatigue category. He had been able to rest instead of wrestle when his qualifying match was won by injury default.

Though Blow had been seeded second by CIF, Rodriguez was no surprise. California Wrestler ranked him #2 and Blow #3. Vinny Maraj of Yucca Valley had been seeded and ranked #1 but he fell to sixth due to injury.

The state meet will take place in Bakersfield next weekend.

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College Women's Water Polo

The San Diego State unbeaten streak was snapped Saturday but the Aztecs battled back for three straight victories to give themselves a 13-1 record by nightfall Sunday.

Upstart UC Davis nipped #6-ranked SDSU on Saturday 8-7 but the team weathered a final flurry to down Michigan 11-9, edged UC Irvine 9-8, and then came from behind with four unanswered goals to top Arizona State 7-5 all at the UC-Irvine Tournament.

Goalie HEATHER FENSKE posted save totals of 8, 12, 5, and 9 with three of her 12 against Michigan coming in the final four minutes. Captain BECCA UR scored against Davis and netted another against Michigan to give the Aztecs their 11-8 advantage to provide a cushion before the Wolverines’ final push.

Becca now has 12 goals for the season, while Heather has 114 blocks.

The #6-ranked Aztecs open conference play at Stanford on Saturday and at San Jose State on Sunday.

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College hoops

SEATTLE— A ragged University of Washington team fell 77-63 to Arizona State Saturday night. The Sun Devils lifted themselves to 7-7 in the Pac-10 while UW fell to 6-9.

JOEL SMITH went 0-for-4 from the field in 15 minutes of play. He snagged three rebounds, dished an assist and blocked a shot. The Huskies visit Palo Alto to play Stanford on Thursday, and Berkeley to face Cal on Saturday.

Bismarck, ND – Fourth-ranked Northern State blacked out the University of Mary Marauders on the boards Saturday and took home a 72-50 victory. The Wolves outrebounded U-M 58-20.

GEOFF WEST led the Marauders with 14 points. He also had two assists and two steals.
The Marauders conclude the regular season at 8-19 and finish eighth in the NSIC at 5-13. The Marauders open the NSIC men’s basketball tournament at regular-season champ Winona State on Saturday,

Spring Preview-Black/Blue Battles

The CHS 200 meter freestyle relay team beat Lompoc and everyone else by winning a CIF Championship in 2007 - can they repeat? Spring Previews coming soon !!!



Fun & Fundraisers
Lompoc
The Third Annual Braves Classic Golf Tournament will be held at Villiage Country Club on Friday, 28 March 2008 to benefit all athletic programs at Lompoc High School. The $125 cost of the four-player shotgun scramble includes golf round (with cart), lunch, dinner,tee prizes, and a door prize ticket.

Registration forms are availible at the LHS athletic office, Aceco Equipment Company, Lompoc Community Bank, Rabobank (Lompoc branch), RE/MAX Mission Realty, Tom's Hamburgers, & Sunset Auto Center.

Call the athletic office at 742-3073 for more information.

Cabrillo
Cabrillo HS has announced that the Patrick Otsini Memorial Alumni Baseball Game is scheduled for Saturday, 1 March 2008 at McIntyre Field.
Batting Practice will start at 10 a.m. for the varsity and 10:45 for the alumni squad, with gametime at noon.

An alumni softball game has also been scheduled for Saturday, 19 April 2008 at 11 a.m. . Contact the CHS athletic office (742-2905) for more information about either event.

LOMPOC vs. CABRILLO Contests

As we move from the Winter to Spring sports seasons I thought we should note the dates of the most important contests on the schedule, so here are the Lompoc/Cabrillo match-ups for the spring sports - as always subject to adjustment.

Key:
Lompoc Home Game
Cabrillo Home Game
Neutral Site

Softball (4:00pm):
Varsity & JV- 11 April @ LHS, 6 May @ CHS
JV also in Cabrillo Trny 29 Mar & 5 Apl

Baseball (4:00 pm unless noted):
Varsity - 11April @ LHS, 6 May @ CHS
JV - 11 April @ CHS, 6 May @ LHS
Both in ERHS Trny 15/22/29 March
FR- 8 March (2-11:00 am & ff) @ LHS,
5 Apl (11:00) @ CHS, 11 Apl @ CHS,
19 Apl (11:00) @ CHS, 30 Apl @LHS,
6 May @ LHS, 8 May @ CHS.

Boys Tennis (3:30 PM):
Varsity - 18 March @ CHS, 17 Apl @ LHS
JV - 18 March @ LHS, 17 Apl @ CHS

Boys/Girls Track & Field:
Varsity & JV - 1 March Paso Robles Invit.
19 April SB County Meet (Carpenteria)
22 April LPL Dual meet (CHS host 3:30)
26/29 April LPL Prelims & Finals

Boys/Girls Swimming:
Varsity & JV - 29 Feb. LPL Pentathalon @ COLAC
7 March LPL Dual @ COLAC (3:00)
26 & 29 Apl. LPL Prelims & Finals (Nelson Pool)

Boys Golf :
Varsity & JV- 10 March @ La Purisima GC,
the Lompoc Invit. Trny on 24 March,
plus 7 LPAL Trnys (SY 13 Mar/StJ 20 Mar/Tpltn 10 Apl/SM 17 Apl/MB 1 May)
including -3 Apl @ VCC, 24 Apl @ LPGC.

Boo's a Happy Bobcat; News on Blow, Church

BOO JACKSON THRILLED WITH OHIO

In an interview to appear on Lompoc Locker Room Monday at 5:30 (Comcast cable Channel 25) BOO JACKSON expressed flat-out joy Friday at his signing with the Division I Mid-America Conference Ohio University Bobcats.

“I feel great. It feels real good. It’s been a dream since youth football with the Rebels. I think it’s every kid’s dream.”
Jackson’s dream however, even with a CIF title under his belt, looked kaput even before he started college.

“In high school I didn’t get it done in the classroom. That’s what everybody preaches about and I ignored it. You’ve got to get it done in the classroom. I found it out the hard way. That’s the first thing you have to do, like it or not.

“I thought everything was done. Plus I had to get knee surgery so I definitely thought everything was done. I couldn’t play football.

“But I did some rehab on my own and got invited to the all-star game. Then I went to El Camino and gave it a chance. The rest is history.”

Jackson chose El Camino in Torrance because his uncle, who lives nearby, walked into coach John Featherstone’s office with tape of his nephew. “At first they saw my defensive skills and they had me at free safety,” Jackson remembers.

But the EC offensive coordinator spotted him throwing on the sideline and suggested he take a year off, “gray-shirting” it’s called, and return as a quarterback. Jackson won the starting job four games into the 2006 season and took the team to two Mission Conference titles. Of course he had some help-- El Camino pumped 23 players into Division I schools this year.

Meanwhile the Ohio Bobcats did not win the MAC last season. They went 6-6 with a revolving door of no fewer than four quarterbacks. Coach Frank Solich, the onetime Nebraska coach, was in his second year as head man.

Solich never passed the football at Nebraska but he has turned a new leaf at Ohio, according to Jackson .

“They had Kalvin McRae who was an outstanding running back. They gave him the ball a lot. Toward the end of the season they started throwing to their tight ends so they’re going more to passing this year.” Jackson said both he and his principal competitor are dual threat operators.

Solich has announced he’ll tailor the offense to the most impressive quarterback performer in spring drills.

“He just wants me to perform how I always perform,” Jackson said. “He’ll base it off what I do in spring ball if I become the starter.” Jackson is the only OU newcomer at quarterback.

Since signing Jackson has held a phone meeting with OU quarterbacks coach Gerry Gdowski at 8 a.m. every day to go over the play book... or books. “I’ve got six or seven different books. There are hundreds of plays.”

Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Miami of Ohio, Akron, Kent State, Temple, Ball State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan are also in the MAC. Eastern Michigan is the defending champion but MAC Report Online, an e-mail scouting service, rates OU’s 2008 recruiting class the best in the conference.

“Boo Jackson brings with him the promise of a new day for Ohio's passing attack, which has been the biggest thing crippling its offense for the last two years of the Solich reign,” writes Brian Golden. “I'll be surprised if Jackson isn't starting very soon.”

Jackson leaves California for Ohio March 30. School and spring ball start March 31.

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BLOW TITLE FIRST IN A GENERATION

Al Hunt tells us that the CIF wrestling title achieved last weekend by MASSON BLOW was the first at Lompoc High in 24 years!

MIKE VILLALOBOS won at 119 pounds in 1984. Anybody know how to contact Villalobos? Lompoc Locker Room will put Villalobos and Blow on the same stage if we can find him.

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CHURCH FACES SANTANA

Friday RYAN CHURCH took his first batting practice against Johan Santana. He was impressed. "I don't need to see those pitches anymore," Church said shaking his head.

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COLLEGE HOOPS

In Seattle Washington stuffed Arizona 75-66 Thursday night as JOEL SMITH was perfect from the three-point line. In 13 minutes he went 1-for-1 with a rebound. The Huskies are now 6-8 in the Pac-10, 15-12 overall.

-0-

In Bismarck, North Dakota the University of Mary Marauders were idle as they await their final regular season game on Saturday opposite the Wolves of Northern State University in a Northern Sun Conference clash. The Wolves are ranked No. 4 in NCAA’s Division II. The University of Mary is 8-18 overall and eighth in the 10-team Northern Sun with a 5-12 record. Northern State, ranked fourth in the nation, is 15-2 and 24-2 overall.

Update on C.J.

C.J. Simmons Key Player at Santa Rosa JC

Having heard little, OK-- nothing, about C.J. SIMMONS, Mr. En Fuego took action and e-mailed SRJC hoops coach Craig McMillan. Here's the scoop directly from the coach.

"C.J. has been an integral part of our team this season. He has been in our eight or nine-man rotation the entire year and has improved in all aspects of the game.

"He is currently our first perimeter sub and often plays 25 to 30 minutes a game. He brings a lot of energy and defensive hustle and has been shooting well from 3-point range.

"C.J. is averaging 5 ppg and shooting 42% from the 3-point line. He is getting two assists and is averaging one turnover per game.

"Our team is currently tied for third place in the big 8 conference which is recognized as one of the top, if not the top, conference in the state. We have two league games left and hopefully the playoffs."

CIF Wrestling Roundup

CIF INLAND DIVISION
152 POUND CHAMP !!!


The Masson Blow led contingent of five Braves in the Inland Division CIF Finals Saturday racked up enough points to finish 21st out of 41 schools. Morro Bay was 13th, Santa Ynez 31st, and Cabrillo 32nd. The competition was won by powerhouse Temecula Valley, with Royal [Simi Valley] 2nd. - Full brackets and results.

Blow was the #1 seed at 152 lbs. and lived up to his billing by winning the the Championship in that weight class. Seven Cabrillo grapplers participated in the event, with Matt Zahuta posting the best result - 6th place @ 130 pounds. Masson and Jerome Long (2nd @ 276/hwt.) of Morro Bay will represent the LPL at the CIF Master's Meet.


The future looks bright, since Masson Blow is the only senior of the twelve individuals competing for valley schools at the meet.


Individual Results

LOMPOC [5 comps] 10-8 2 BYE's
Rory Slikker, 9 [103] 0-2
1-L Eric Reyes (fall o:31)#1 Seed
2-BYE
3-L Jordan Vega (fall 2:59)

Kyle Pickles, 11 [112] 2-2
1-W Anthony Neverez (fall 3:50)
2-L Matt Aguilera (8-3)
3-W Daniel Gomez (8-1)
4-L Kevin Hoang (12-6)

Marcel Blow, 9 [119] 3-2
1-W Garrett Hacker (fall 3:56)
2-L Marcus Orona (18-3) #2 Seed/Champ
3-W Bobby McKenna (10-8)
4-W John Toro (fall 2:00)
5-L James Anderson(10-3)

Ed Pelkey, 10 [126] 1-2
1-W Rene Ttopete (fall 1:47)
2-L Jared Estrada (fall 3:33)
3-L Hector Barajas (10-1)

Masson Blow, 12 [152] 4-0 CHAMP
1-BYE
2-W Raymon Guzman (fall 1:55)
3-W Jack Hoskinson (fall 1:30)
4-W Garrett Titou (18-3) 5th Seed/4th
5-W Jonathon Garay (2-0) 2nd Seed/2nd

CABRILLO [7 comps] 7-14 3BYE's
Kevin Tannous, 10[103] 0-2
1-L Shawn Williams (fall 1:15)
2-L Ramiro Sanchez (fall 4:09)

Matt Zahuta, 12 [130] 4-3
1-W Justin Whitaker (fall 3;04)
2-W Joe Cooper (fall 3:00)
3-L Dan Lindquist (2-1) 2nd
4-W Joseph Behjat (fall 1:33)
5-W Jay Montano (fall 2:09)
6-L Luis Morales (10-7) 3rd
7-L Nigel Villalobos (9-5) 5th

Paul Rhen, 11 [146] 1-2
1-L Kyle Walker (fall 1:00)
2-W Corey Ferns (N/A)
3-L Matt Orona (fall 0:57)

Jacob Schlosser, 11 [180] 1-2
1 -L Matthew Couts (fall 1:13)
2-BYE
3-W Daniel Guzman (12-6)
4-L Randy Horowitz (fall 0:28)

Joe Segura, 11 [189] 1-2
1-BYE
2-L Matt Rulon (fall 2:24)
3-W Nicholas Shaw (fall 2:36)
4-L Sam Hong (fall 0:58)

Jesus Mondrano, 9 [216] 0-2
1-L Marcus Pillares (fall 2:42)
2-BYE
3-L John Herzig (10-7)

Reme Lara, 11 [276] 0-2
1-L Robert Contreras (fall 1:58)
2-L Ben Hadden (N/A)

Tsunami Three at the JO-C

SIX TIME JUNIOR OLYMPIC CHAMPION

Three members of Lompoc Tsunami Aquatics participated in the Central California Junior Olympics meet in Bakersfield, CA [16-18 Feb 2008]. Complete Meet Results .

The leader of the group was again Paola Hernandez - who is still looking for effective competition. The twelve year old swam in the maximum seven events (14 races- 7 prelim's & 7 finals), with six wins and one second place finish, while establishing ten new personal records [PR's] during the meet. She had six firsts and a third in the preliminaries. She was the Girls 11-12 Year-Old Division High Point Winner (137) over Emily Swindle (120) & Madison Faulkner (116.5), both from the Santa Barbara Swim Club.

Tiffany Hubbard
Lompoc also received fine efforts from 12 year-old Tiffany Hubbard (5 PR's in 7 events) and 11 year-old Rebecca Riley (2 PR'S in 1 event). The three combined for enough points for LTA to finish in 20th place out of the 32 teams with over 700 swimmers at the meet.
Their results in the 11-12 year old girls division (in order of competition) were:
Event (# of competitors) [1st or 2nd place time]
[swimmer/pers. record/prelim time/finals]
Bold= a new Personal Record (PR)



100 Yard FLY (29) [2nd 1:03.10]:

Hernandez [1:03.81] 1:02.16 (1) 1:02.16 (1)
Hubbard [1:10.32] 1:10.50 (12) 1:09.62 (12)

Hernandez set PR in prelims, equaled in final

50 Yard BACK (38) [1st 29.69]:

Hernandez [30.48] 30.08 (1) 29.92 (2)

Hernandez set PR's in both races,
but was nipped at the wire in the final.


200 Yard IM (41) [2nd 2:22.40]:

Hernandez [2.21.85] 2.23.40 ( 1) 2.19.07 ( 1)
Hubbard [2.33.58] 2.33.05 (16) 2.33.59 (14)

200 FREE (43) [1st 2:03.77]:


Hubbard [2.13.83] 2.15.79 (22) ------

100 BACK (45) [2nd 1:04.97]:

Hernandez [1.04.67] 1.04.83 ( 1) 1.03.71 ( 1)
Hubbard [1.11.27] 1.11.10 (12) 1.12.00 (13)

50 FREE (60) [2nd 26.64]:

Hernandez [26.14] 25.97 ( 1) 25.65 ( 1)
Hubbard [27.99] 27.72 (11) 28.08 (14)

100 FREE (38) [2nd 57.10]:


Hernandez [58.30] 57.54 ( 1) 56.84 ( 1)
Hubbard [1.00.43] 1.00.49 ( 9) 1.00.67 (10)

100 BREAST (31) [1st 1:10.82]

Riley [1.25.79] 1.23.91 (21) --------

Rebecca Riley

Riley set a new PR for the 50 yd Breaststroke in the first 50 of her 100 yard swim [40.34 to 39.64]. The new time would have been good enough for 28th in the event at the meet.

50 FLY (35) [2nd 28.85]


Paola Hernandez [28.52] 27.80 ( 1) 28.04 ( 1)
Tiffany Hubbard [30.52] 30.01 ( 5) 30.20 ( 7)

Aztecs Blazing; Becca and Heather Play Key Roles

Women's water polo

AZTECS 10-0

PRINCETON, N.J. - The sixth-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team remained perfect and extended its best start in the program's 13-year history to 10-0 with two wins on Sunday morning on the final day of the Princeton Invitational.

For the five-game tournament co-captain BECCA UR (pictured here) totaled seven goals and goalie HEATHER FENSKE amassed 34 saves and 70% of the goalie minutes.

The Aztecs began their doubleheader sweep with a 12-6 triumph over Indiana before downing George Washington 11-3. In the next-to-last contest Ur and junior Anna Gonzales each recorded a hat trick to lead the Aztecs to a 12-6 victory over 18th-ranked Indiana. Fenske played the entire game in goal, recording nine saves.

In the final match Ur scored again while Fenske received her first breather in the five weekend contests.

On Saturday the Aztecs took three games with Ur scoring twice against Michigan and once opposite Bucknell. SDS won 10-9 over No. 15 Michigan, 13-8 over Bucknell, and 11-6 over host (19th-ranked) Princeton.

Against Michigan Fenske played the entire game, turning away 11 shots. She then split time in goal against Bucknell and blocked six shots. In the Princeton contest she played the entire game and stopped eight attempts.

The team’s leading scorers were the junior trio of Erinn Greenwood, Anna Gonzales and Jenna Schuster.

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For the UCSB Gauchos KATHRYN NELSON scored her second college goal Saturday at Long Beach State but the Gauchos lost 10-6.

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JC baseball

SBCC

JOHNATHAN TERRONES got his third outfield start of the season for the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros over the weekend. He went 0-for-2 to slip his average to .182. He has seen action in eight of the 10 SBCC contests. Catcher BRIAN GREGORY made his second appearance and kept his on-base percentage perfect at 1.000—one plate appearance, one base on balls.

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College baseball

Shut out

With outfielder/third baseman BEN ORNELAS not yet on the Lewis-Clark State roster, infielder ISAAC SIMMONS retired, third-baseman NATE MENDOZA and pitcher JAKE KOUGL graduated (despite a mistaken report here recently—our mistake), Lompoc currently appears to have no baseball players performing at four-year schools. This is the first time this has happened in at least eight years. [Somebody please write and tell us we're wrong!]

CIF Champion & CIF Review

CIF CHAMP

CIF Inland Division Champion Masson Blow on the Lompoc Locker Room TV Show

CIF Wrestling

Masson Blow led a contingent of five Braves to the Inland Division CIF Finals Saturday. He was the #1 seed at 152 lbs. and lived up to his billing by winning the the Championship in that weight class. Seven Cabrillo grapplers participated in the event, with Matt Zahuta posting the best result - 6th place @ 130 pounds. Masson and Jerome Long (2nd @ 276/hwt.) of Morro Bay will represent the LPL at the CIF Master's Meet.


Lompoc placed 21st out of 41 schools, Morro Bay 13th, Santa Ynez 31st, and Cabrillo 32nd. The competition was won by powerhouse Temecula Valley, with Royal [Simi Valley] 2nd. - Full brackets and results .

CIF Roundup

Unfortunately, the other locals in CIF competition Saturday did not fare so well. The Lompoc girls basketball team put forth a real gustsy effort against Keppel at home, but couldn't hold on to the lead.. They went up 40-39 with 4:26 left in the game, but couldn't score down the stretch and lost 47-40. See game story .St. Joseph defeated Chaparral 50 - 44.


The Cabrillo girls soccer squad was on the road in Whittier to play the California Condors. They continued the recent spate by area teams of one-point losses in CIF play, falling 2-1. Rebekah Rogers had the goal for the Conquistadores.


Valley CIF Recap
-only Masson Blow remains in contention.

Soccer:
Cabrillo boys lost 3-2 (ot) in the wild card round.
Lompoc girls lost 3-2 (4-3 pen) in the wild card round.
Cabrillo girls lost 2-1 @ California [Whittier] in the first round on Sat.

Water Polo:
Cabrillo girls lost (9-8 ) to Louisville in the second round on Thursday.
[ All the SB County teams have now been eliminated from Div. 4 .
Santa Ynez lost to Cate (6-2) on Tuesday, but Cate was knocked (12-0) off by 4th-seeded Arroyo Grande in the second round. While St. Joseph was crushed 17-2 by 3rd seed Rio Mesa.]
Basketball:
Cabrillo girls lost 62-43 @ Valencia in the wild card round.
Lompoc girls won their wild card game at Palmdale 59-58 on Thursday, then lost to Keppel 47- 40 at home in the first round on Sat.
Cabrillo boys lost 55-33 @ Santa Clara in the first round on Fri.
Lompoc boys lost 55-54 to Bell Gardens at home on Fri.

Bring on Spring: Softball, Baseball, Tennis [boys], Track/Field, Swimming, Golf [boys]
-el stato

Geoff Busts Slump; Church Signs and Reports Early

Bismarck, ND – GEOFF WEST and the University of Mary exploded offensively in the second half as the Marauders defeated Bemidji State University 79-68 Friday night.



West scored 15 points after intermission and the Marauders snapped an eight-game losing streak.



Tied early in the second half, the Marauders took control on a 9-1 run behind treys by West and Zach Dosch that built a double-digit lead for U-Mary at 48-38. The Marauders would build the lead to as many as 16 points late in the game.



After scoring in double digits in 10 straight games, West had slipped into a slump recently by scoring just 23 points in his last six games.



West broke out at just the right time, leading U-Mary with 18 points, 15 coming after the break. The junior guard from Lompoc, CA, made 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 beyond the arc. He also made all five of his free throw attempts and added three assists.

Saturday Geoff followed up by leading the team with four steals and four assists plus nine points as the Marauders won again, this time 75-64 over Minnesota-Crookston.

The victories push the Marauders past the Bemidji for the final slot in the NSIC tournament with one game left for U-Mary and two for BSU. The Marauders are now 8-18 overall and 5-12 in the NSIC.

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JOEL


The Washington Huskies startled the world last Saturday when they upset UCLA, but Thursday night they looked like a squad running 4-8 in the PAC-10. They lost 71-58 at Oregon 71-58. JOEL SMITH, playing his customary sixth man role, contributed five points and three steals in 11 minutes.

Saturday Joel did not score but brought down three rebounds, snagged two steals, and dished an assist in 19 minutes as the Huskies demolished Oregon State 97-59. Now UW is 5-8.

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Major League Baseball
CHURCH REPORTS EARLY


Though position players are not expected to report until next week, RYAN CHURCH reported to the New York Mets on Friday. MLB.com reported as follows--



Though Endy Chavez and Angel Pagan could push for at-bats, Mets manager Willie Randolph on Friday confirmed that the starting right-field job remains Church's to lose. If Church shows a propensity to hit lefties, Randolph said he could just play every day.



The knock on Church remains his career .254 average against left-handed pitching, which dipped to .229 last year. But now he'll be playing home games at Shea Stadium, where he hit .317 with four home runs. He doesn't consider those numbers to be minor.



"I hit well there," Church said. "I like hitting there. That's why I'm excited. I definitely think that the doubles can turn into home runs."



And he is excited -- thrilled, even. While many players have qualms about being traded to another team, Church said he was delighted from the start.



"I was pumped," he said. "When they told me I was traded, the first thing I said was, 'Who was it?' When they said New York, I was like, 'Thank God.'"



Last week Church avoided arbitration and signed a one-year $2 million contract with the Mets.

Lompoc Girls Basketball CIF Opener [Boys Update]

Chelsea Cassulo (#22) hit one of two free throws in the final seconds, and Jozza Ray (#15) scored 19 points, to lift the Lompoc girls basketball team to victory (59-58) on the road against the Palmdale Falcons. The Braves had a big 3rd period, outscoring the Falcons 26-14 to overcome a 29- 25 deficit at the half. The next game for the Braves will be Saturday night versus the Keppel Aztecs of Alhambra. Lompoc is now 14-10 with nine wins in their las ten games. Keppel (20-7) defeated Serrano 58-48 in their opener, and have now won 12 in a row. The game will be at Lompoc since Keppel was at home in the first round. Palmdale, the Golden League # 2,was seeded 9th; Keppel the Almont League champions are seeded 8th. The Antelope Valley Press account of the game is here http://www.avpress.com/n/15/0215_s24.hts

The Cabrillo girls team was not so fortunate. They lost 62-43 on the road at 11th-seeded Valencia [Placentia]. They finish the season with a record of 15-12. The #3 seeded St. Joseph Knights thumped Glendora 59-17.

Boys Basketball Update

Both local teams were in action on Friday (15 Feb) - neither fared well. Lompoc lost 55-54 at home to the Bell Gardens Lancers, Cabrillo lost 55-33 at Santa Clara. It was a case of pick your poison - the Braves were able to hold 6-10 center J. C. Lugo to 6 points, but Gilbert Hawkins hit 8 three-pointers including the final points of the game. Trae Vernon had 22 points and Joe Alerta 11 for the Braves. Lompoc finishes at 14-13, while the Lancers improve to 13-15. Cabrillo wraps up a 15-11 campaign, as the Saints continue a 20- 5 season in which 4 of their 5 losses were by a total of 13 points. St. Joseph beat the Alhambra Moors 61-59 & Morro Bay defeated Workman 57-44.

Valley CIF Recap
-only the Cabrillo girls soccer & Lompoc girls basketball teams remain in contention.

Soccer:
Cabrillo boys lost 3-2 (ot) in the wild card round.
Lompoc girls lost 3-2 (4-3 pen) in the wild card round.
Cabrillo girls play @ California [Whittier] on Sat.

Water Polo:
Cabrillo girls lost (9-8 ) to Louisville in the second round on Thursday.
[ All the SB County teams have now been eliminated from Div. 4 .

Santa Ynez lost to Cate (6-2) on Tuesday, but Cate was knocked (12-0) off by 4th-seeded Arroyo Grande in the second round. While St. Joseph was crushed 17-2 by 3rd seed Rio Mesa.]

Basketball:
Cabrillo girls lost 62-43 @ Valencia in the wild card round.
Lompoc girls play Keppel in the first round on Sat.
Cabrillo boys lost 55-33 @ Santa Clara in the first round on Fri.
Lompoc boys lost 55-54 to Bell Gardens at home on Fri.
-el stato

Heartbreak on the Hill, No Joy in the Valley [Water Polo Update]

Cabrillo's boys soccer team controlled the second half, they just couldn't score enough, planting the seeds of a 3-2 loss in sudden death overtime of their CIF Wild Card match Wednesday. Brighton Galvan scored both goals for the Conquistadors - one early in the first half, the other midway through the second. The Anaheim Colonists controlled the majority of the first period, answering Galvan's opener with two of their own.



In the second, the Conquistadores just missed goals on several occasions.
Just wide late in the 2nd half

Start of Overtime

In the overtime sessions Cabrillo continued to control the game, but as both teams were tiring, there were several defensive lapses by each side which could have lead to points.

Over the crossbar in overtime





After the game, first year coach Armando Torres told the team and supporters : "From now on, Cabrillo will be a team to reckon with".


End of the Season











Lompoc Girls Soccer

The Lompoc girls, meanwhile, were on the road against La Salle but with identical results - a 3-2 loss in overtime. Veronica Villareal scored in the first period, and Lupe Estrada in the first overtime session, but both goals were answered. This resulted in a shootout which Lompoc lost 4-3. Villareal, Estrada, and Lindsey Eckersley scored in the shootout. Brandy Machado, who played the entire game in goal, had 10 saves and stopped two penalty kicks.

UPDATE: Cabrillo Water Polo

The Cabrillo girls faced off at the COLAC against the squad from Louisville HS (Woodland Hills) in the second round of the CIF playoffs. Louisville, a private Catholic girls school, advanced to the game by beating Nipomo 11-3 in first round action on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the Conquistadores, the Royals improved to 19-11 with a 9-8 victory. It was a close affair throughout and either team could have won it (see games above). Reported [unconfirmed] scorers for Cabrillo were Rachel Nelson (5), Ashlea Coski (2), and Phoebe Huggins.


Cabrillo Head Coach Corey McIntyre talks with a player after the match.






Golf Gals




Julia Heath and friends went clubbing, but they didn't swing that much.
The Cal-Poly (SLO) womans golf team stormed through the Lady Braveheart Challenge at Oak Valley Golf Course in Beaumont (CA), drubbing runner-up San Diego St. and the rest of the 16 team field by 16 strokes. They followed up Monday's 313 (total scoring strokes, 4 players) with a 316 on Tuesday for an excellent 629 aggregate score on the 6,089 yard, 72 par course.

The ladies were led a career best tying effort by Stephanie Yocum (pictured), a sophomore from Pacific Palisades, who shot a (75/76) 151 to win individual honors by a stroke over two other players. Her 76 on Tuesday was the low score of the day.

Julia Heath, from Lompoc, was her usual consistent self with consecutive rounds of 78, posting a 156 score that was good enough for 5th place. Junior Hannah Brabb was 13th (76/85-161), while sophomore Maddy Fletcher shot (88/77) 165. Her 11 stroke improvement moved her from 71st place into a tie for 28th. Junior Elsie Walker carded a (84/89) 173 for 55th place as the fifth member of the squad.

The win was the Mustangs first tournament win of the season and the ninth since the program's establishment in 2000.

Coach Scott Cartwright's charges return to action on March 9th in a dual match versus CS Bakersfield at Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles.

Happy Conqs Celebrate League Polo Title

The team from which not a whole lot was expected in the aftermath of the last season's CIF title surprised us all with an undefeated league season. CIF begins this week!!

Photo's sent by Correspondent Deanne Nelson. Shot by Audrey Reinacher

'Ode to Evel' by The Sports Poet, Dave Ochs

Ode to Evel

By The Sports Poet, Dave Ochs

Evel Knevel

The original motorcycle daredevil

Died Recently

He jumped

Over trucks, fountains

And canyons

Sometimes he didn't

Make it

And broke every bone

In his body

Some twice

But he wasn't

Going to let

A few months

In a body cast

And major reconstructive surgery

Stop him

Today the daredevils

Have state of the art bikes

And having the whole thing

Down to a science

Their jumps are longer

Than old Evel's

But they're not nearly

As fun to watch

They always make it

Winter Sports CIF Pairings

CIF Pairings have been announced for the winter sports. LPL information is listed below, for complete bracket information click on the various links.

Basketball

Girls:

Div II-A [Los Padres League] 32 teams 1st Round: Thurs 14 Feb 2008 (7:30 pm)

# 4 St. Joseph (LPL #1) vs Glendora (Sierra # 3)
Unsd Lompoc (LPL #2) @ Palmdale (Golden # 2)
#13 Morro Bay (LPL #3) @ Schurr[Mtbl] (Almont #2)
Unsd Cabrillo (LPL # 4) @ Valencia (Empire #1)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I-A), Channel (I-AA), PAC-7 & Pacific View (III-A), Tri-Valley (II-AA), Coast Valley (IV-AA), Condor (IV-A), Frontier (V-AA)}

http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=4


Boys

Div III-AA [Los Padres League] 33 teams
1st Round: Friday, 15 Feb 2008 (7:30 pm)

# 8 St. Joseph (LPL #1) vs. Alhambra (Almont AL)
#10 Lompoc (LPL #2) vs Bell Gardens (Almont #3)
#13 Morro Bay (LPL #3) @ Workman (Montview #2)
Unsd Cabrillo (LPL #4) @ #5 Santa Clara (Tri-Valley #1)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I-AA), Channel (I-A), PAC-7 & Pacific View (II-A), Tri-Valley (III-AA), Coast Valley (V-AA), Condor & Frontier (V-A)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=20


Soccer

Boys

Div III:
Wild Card Round - Wed, 13 Feb 2008
1st Round - Friday, 15 Feb 2008

1st Rd Santa Ynez (LPL #1) vs. Pasedena (Pacific #2)
1st Rd Santa Maria (LPL #2) @ Burroughs [Brbnk] (Pacific #1)
WC Rd Cabrillo (LPL #3) vs. Anaheim (Orange #3)
WC Rd Templeton (LPL #4) @ Dominguez [Cmptn] (SGV #2)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Marmonte (I), Channel (II), PAC-7(IV),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (V), Condor(VI) ; Frontier (VI)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=22

Girls
Div IV:
Wild Card Round - Wed, 13 Feb 2008
1st Round - Saturday, 16 Feb 2008

1st Rd Santa Ynez (LPL #1) vs. WC 'E' (Magnolia/San Marino)
1st Rd Cabrillo (LPL #2) @ California (Del Rio #2) 2pm
1st Rd St. Joseph (LPL #3) @ Santa Ana Valley (Orange #1)
WC Rd Lompoc (LPL #4) @ La Salle (Del Rey #3)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Channel (I), Marmonte (II),PAC-7(III),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (V), Condor(VI) ; Frontier (VI)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=12

Water Polo [Girls]
Division IV (24 teams):
1st Round - Tuesday, 12 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)
2nd Round - Thursday, 14 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)
Quarterfinals - Saturday, 16 Feb 2008 (3:15 pm)

Cabrillo (LPL #1) BYE
St. Joseph (LPL #2) vs San Luis Obispo (PAC-7 #4) at Paul Nelson Pool
Santa Ynez (LPL #3) vs Cate (Tri-Valley #3) 2pm at Paul Nelson Pool

#2 Arroyo Grande (PAC-7 #1) BYE
Paso Robles (PAC-7 #2) vs Camarillo (Pac View #3)
Nipomo (PAC-7 #3) @ Louisville (Mission #2)

Malibu (Tri-Valley #1) BYE
Carpenteria (Tri-Valley #2) vs Glendale (Pacific #3)

{other SLO, SB, & Vent county leagues: Channel (II), Marmonte (II),PAC-7(IV),Pacific View (IV), Tri-Valley (IV)}
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=18

Wrestling
The Team wrestling playoffs for CIF Southern Section took place on February 9th, 2008. The PAC-7 and the LPL were each represented by two teams. Area leagues competed in the following Divisions: PAC-7 (I), Marmonte (II- both teams lost semifinals), Channel (III- went 1-2), Pacific View (IV, 2-2), Los Padres (V), and Tri-Valley (VI, 0-1).
In Division 1, PAC-7 #1 Atascadero went 1-1, defeating Dana Hills (48-31) before losing to Sultana. PAC-7 #2 Righetti lost in the first round 44-26 to Hesperia.
The LPL had slightly better results in Division V. League Champions Morro Bay beat Mira Costa (48-21), and Canyon Springs 38-30, before falling to Loara 47- 20. Santa Ynez lost their first match to Highland 46-27.
The Individual Competitions begin this weekend.
http://www.cifss.org/download_playoff_bracketts.php?sport_id=17
---- el stato

Weekender--Fenske Stars in SD's Roaring Start

Heather Fenske, Lompoc's "Rudy"

In the feel-good story of the winter San Diego State is 5-0 and won the weekend UC San Diego women’s water polo tournament. Better yet, a Lompocan was the star of the event…a most unexpected Lompocan at that

Senior goalie HEATHER FENSKE was a dominant force as she recorded a career-high 14 saves in the San Diego State Aztecs' season-opening 11-8 victory against Hartwick last week.

Then, just to show that performance was no fluke, Fenske turned in nine more in a 13-6 whipping of Maryland and eight later in the day in an 11-6 triumph over Cal State Northridge in the first two games of the UCSD Triton Invitational.

In the semifinal Sunday the Aztecs won 8-6 over UCSB, Fenske registering 10 saves, and in the title game the ‘Tecs won yet again, 10-9 over Loyola-Marymount. Fenske totaled five blocks. In 13 seasons SD State had never before won the UC San Diego early season tournament.

Fenske had scarcely played in it before. She played in just nine matches out of 30 each of the last two years and has won just one letter over three seasons, but she is a six-time scholar athlete at SDSU.

Aztec co-captain BECCA UR netted three goals in the five contests and against UCSB led the defense with four steals.

Earlier in the tournament KATHRYN NELSON of UCSB scored her first collegiate goal in a 16-15 victory over Hartwick.

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College Hoops

Joel
Thursday JOEL SMITH got 17 minutes and scored two points as the Washington Huskies lost their fourth straight Pac-10 basketball game, this to USC. On Saturday when the Huskies snapped the loss skein upsetting #5-ranked UCLA Joel got only four minutes.

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Geoff
Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota GEOFF WEST scored six but the University of Mary fell to the outside shooting of Concordia 86-59. On Saturday West scored eight but the Marauders lost 58-56 to Minnesota-Moorhead in the final three seconds. The Marauders slip to 6-18 with the loss and 3-12 in the Northern Sun.

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College baseball

JAKE KOUGL
JAKE KOUGL is on the South Dakota State baseball roster for his senior year after serving as the Jackrabbits’ closer in 2007. Kougs totaled nine saves to lead the team. He posted an ERA of 3.38

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JC baseball

Hancock
At Hancock COREY DOTZLER must like openers. He rapped two hits for two RBIs in a 6-4 victory over Taft in the Bulldogs’ season opener. Then in the home opener on February 5 he did the exact same thing—two rips, two RBIs. But he wasn’t done. On February 8 against West Hills he rapped two more, including a three-run homer. On Saturday against Rio Hondo he was good for two more including a double. En Fuego!

On February first at Reedley KIRK FRIDRICH notched his first win of the season in a 2 1/3 –inning outing against College of the Sequoias.

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SB City College
At SBCC JOHNATHON TERRONES is batting .222 after 2-for-9 in six of the Vaqueros’ first seven games. One of those raps was a triple. Catcher BRIAN GREGORY has gotten into two games and in one at-bat has an on-base percentage of 1.000. He drew a walk. Pitcher JAMES ROOT has taken the mound for one inning. He struck out one, walked one, and gave up one earned run.

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Boxing
ROY'S BOXING GYM MOVING AGAIN

Effectively immediately, Roy's Boxing Gym will be moving to 960 East Chestnut or next door to the Lompoc Food Pantry. Contact Coach Baca at 588-2901 for more information.

It's Official-- Boo to Ohio University

BOO HIGHLY-REGARDED AS HE MOVES EAST

BOO JACKSON's career at Ohio University began officially on Wednesday's NCAA Signing Day.

Andrew Gribble of the Athens, Ohio, Post filed this story.

The phone’s been ringing off the hook all week inside the football offices at El Camino Junior College in Torrance, Calif. That’s what happens when 23 of your 40 graduating sophomores are headed to Division I schools and media outlets across the country are clamoring for quotes.

So when a call came in from Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday concerning the gem of Ohio’s 20-man recruiting class, quarterback “Boo” Jackson, Warriors coach John Featherstone was ready to chat.

“You’ve got a darn good quarterback coming your way,” Featherstone interjected before I could finish introducing myself.

“He’s got, like, a sixth sense.”Now you’ve peaked my interest. Go on.

“He sees the whole field, in terms of a quarterback throwing the ball,” the 23-year El Camino coach said. “He’s a very accurate thrower. He’s usually on the mark or right around the mark every time. He’s got tremendous feet and he can get you out of trouble real fast.

“You got a steal in Boo Jackson.”

As Featherstone describes it, Jackson, like many junior college football players, slipped through the cracks. Sure, Jackson managed to garner a number of state honors, but he didn’t get much of a chance to show off his arm in high school, Featherstone said. Jackson was relegated as the hander-offer in a run-heavy Wing-T system at Lompoc High School in California.

That didn’t bother Featherstone, though. He noticed right away that Jackson had a knack for putting the ball right where it needed to be. He finished fifth among 72 California junior college teams’ quarterbacks in pass efficiency his first year on the job. Last year, he finished first, completing 134 of his 223 passes for 2,235 yards, 23 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Oh yeah, he led the team to a state title in that first year and another conference championship last season.

But is he cut out to lead a Division I offense?

“Boo doesn’t like sitting around,” Featherstone said. “He doesn’t like not playing. He’ll do everything in his power to win that job.”

Once I informed him that quarterback controversies in Athens are more common than bricks, Featherstone laughed.

“Well,” he said. “You’re in for another one.”

Yesterday, coach Frank Solich wasted little time confirming that.

“We do not, in this point in time, have an established quarterback,” Solich said. “We do not have a player that has stepped forward and just taken over the position.”

Last spring, when Theo Scott arrived with a similar “hot shot California JUCO stud quarterback” buzz, Ohio’s quarterback situation was only a tad murky. But a spirited competition between Josh and Scott Febus wasn’t enough to dethrone an experienced Brad Bower going into the fall.

This year no one, not even Scott, has an edge.

“We don’t have anyone with a great deal of experience,” Solich said. “We’re talking about guys that have to gather experience really, really quickly and show what they can do very, very quickly.”

Notice the stressing of “quickly.” Solich means it. Whoever wins the battle, Solich said, will be what the team bases its offensive schemes around going into fall camp.

Bottom line: Solich doesn’t want the flip-flopping that occurred between Bower and Scott last season.

Which makes Jackson just as viable a candidate as any.

“We’re going to give him an opportunity to show what he can do,” Solich said. “We’re excited about him coming in.”

— Andrew Gribble is a senior journalism major and The Post’s sports editor. Send him an e-mail at ag358604@ohiou.edu.