Carmona, Francis Named; Girls Hoops; Geoff West

JANI CARMONA and coach ADDIE FRANCIS

have been nominated for Lompoc Locker Room End of the Year recognition
Carmona, pictured left in action at LHS and right in a mug shot at Hawaii-Hilo, was the emotional leader and premier scorer for last winter’s Lompoc High girls soccer team, the first soccer team of either gender to ever win a league championship for LHS.

She won a scholarship to Hawaii-Hilo which had had a rocky introduction to women’s soccer the year before. Carmona teamed with Cabrillo grad KARISSA ROBERTSON to improve the Vulcans enough to reach second place and nearly qualify for an NCAA Div. II playoff berth.

Francis was the third year coach of the Braves.

Carmona joins Chico State soccer’s Katie McIntosh, Cal Poly golfer Julia Heath, Cabrillo water polo’s Sarah Ur and Kathryn Nelson, and Hancock College’s Elysha McLain, in tennis, and Ariana Fabing, in cross country, on the Lompoc Locker Room Female Athlete of the Year ballot. The entire list can be seen in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL UPDATE
By Mike (Statmeister) Loney

Varsity--- The 2nd Annual Bryan Ayer Classic was held at Lompoc High 29 Nov-1 Dec 2007 to commemorate the late LHS AD & coach. Three games were contested each day, and Dos Pueblos won the tourney with wins over Pinole Valley (55-52), Pioneer Valley (40-23), and Nipomo (42-36). Lompoc, Pinole Valley, & Santa Barbara all finished 2-1. In their first game Lompoc raced out to an early 17-4 lead late in the 1st quarter, but needed some clutch FT's late to ice it 57-51. Game two was a reversal of that pattern, as Lompoc fell behind Pinole Valley, rallied several times, got close late, but came up short 51-44. Game 3 repeated game one's pattern, as the Braves took a 6 pt. lead after the initial stanza and held off late charging Nipomo 53-44. The other games were: SB 51-47 over Pioneer Valley, SB 54-44 over Nipomo and losing to Pinole Valley 64-49. Lompoc was led by Jozza Ray & Denee Lane outside and Chelsea Casullo & Courtney Stumpo on the interior. Tournament MVP was Denesha Stallworth (Pinole) for her domination of the paint. The other team members are: Lauren Newsom (Pinole), Michelle Del Mese (DP), Brianna Williford (DP), Jozza Ray (Lompoc), Ashley Sandoval (Pioneer), and Jeanette DeWitt (Nipomo).

The Cabrillo Girls were at the VCA Tournament in Santa Maria, where they finished second, with a 3-1 record, to a tough Huntington Beach Oceanview team. The Conqs blew out Paso Robles 42-28, lost a heartbreaker to Oceanview 52-50, then defeated VCA (78-51) and Coast Union (44-41). Cabrillo used a 33-0 run to blow open a tied game with host VCA, with Roxanne Rentschler (26 pts), Megan Fierro (10), & Ashley Bonenfant (10) all playing well. The Conqs looked to do the same to Coast Union, but the Broncos cut a 36-23 3Q deficit to a single point with a minute to play before Cabrillo pulled away. Roxanne Rentschler was named to the all-tournament team.

Freshmen---Both local frosh squads participated in the Cabrillo Tournament, along with Righetti, St. Joseph, Atascadero, & Paso Robles. Cabrillo went 3-0 defeating Ats 26-16, PR 26-19, & Righetti 45-37. The Conqs used big third period runs the first two matches, outscoring Atascadero 11-2 after a 6-6 halftime tie, and outscoring Paso 10-4 to wipe out a 5-7 halftime deficit. Against Righetti they watched a 1Q lead dwindle to one point (27-26) after three quarters, before taking off. Lompoc went 2-1 with wins over Righetti (39-34) and PR (33-28) [this one is pictured here] sandwiched around a 40-25 loss to Atascadero. Against the Warriors the Braves were down five at the end of 1Q, then allowed only 7 total in the next two periods to put the game away. According to coach Nic Jansen, the ensuing loss to Atascadero had an easy explanation - 'we just didn't play very well'. They did however, he went on to say, learn how to play inside against taller players - a skill they used to good effect versus Paso Robles. In that game Lompoc saw a 9-point halftime lead wilt to only one with 1:40 to play. The Bearcats missed opportunities to take the lead, missing several shot from the field and two free throws before the Braves were able to finish them off.

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GEOFF

Here’s the way the Bismarck Tribune saw GEOFF WEST’s first conference victory Saturday night:

By CINDY PETERSON/Bismarck Tribune
The University of Mary men’s basketball team quickly licked its wounds after getting pummeled by Winona State on Friday night.The Marauders rebounded with a 92-82 victory over the Upper Iowa Peacocks Saturday evening at the McDowell Activity Center. It was the Marauders’ first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory of the season.“We always talk about defending our home court,” U-Mary point guard Geoff West said. “After a big loss we knew we would have to come back with more intensity.”West provided the Marauders with the big play. U-Mary led by as many as 17 points in the second half. But the Peacocks fired off a 14-2 run to shave the lead to 81-76 with 3:14 remaining.West caught the ball wide open on the top side of the left wing and swished a 3-pointer to stop Upper Iowa’s charge. The junior’s bucket put the Marauders up 84-76 at 2:55.“You can never second- guess yourself shooting,” West said. “It came to me, I was open, and I pulled the trigger.”It was a play U-Mary coach Juno Pintar expects from his veteran.“Those are the kind of shots Geoff West lives for,” Pintar said. “We weren’t getting anything going. That’s par for the course for Geoff. The shot clock was winding down and he caught it in rhythm.”Following an Upper Iowa turnover, U-Mary forward Eric Erdmann completed a conventional three-point play at 2:34 to put the Marauders up by double figures at 2:34.The Peacocks changed things up defensively to give the Marauders a scare before West and Erdmann’s big buckets.“They played a mix of zone and man-to-man,” Pintar said. “We haven’t gone against too many switching defenses this season. Each win in this conference is a quality win. It was good for our young guys to get a taste of success.”The Marauders closed out the contest by making 5 of 8 free throws in the final 1:14. Jordan Engelhardt went a perfect 4-for-4 during the stretch.Five U-Mary players scored in double digits. Erdmann led with 18. Jordan Wilhelm added 14 and West and Engelhardt chipped in with 12 apiece. Center Zach Dosch came off the bench and contributed with 14.

McLain Named; Fans Trash Omar; CIF; TV; Hoops

ELYSHA McLAIN has been nominated for consideration in the Lompoc Locker Room Female Athlete of the Year contest.
McLain, pictured, took her tennis skills which were honed at Cabrillo High, to Allan Hancock College. There last spring she won first team all-Western State Conference honors in singles and second team in doubles.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

Storie on TV

Lompoc Aquatic Center Supervisor JEFF STORIE appears on this week’s Lompoc Locker Room TV show beginning at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Interesting stuff, especially if you swim early or late.

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Kennedy to ref CIF

Lompoc football official BOBBY KENNEDY has been selected to ref one of the CIF finals next weekend. Unknown which one.

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Basketball
Joel

Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma JOEL SMITH showed once again that he is the Washington Huskies' man-beyond-the-arc. Joel came off the bench as the sixth man and played 31 minutes. He hit 2-of-3 from three point land, 1-for-1 inside it, and 2-for-2 from the line for 10 points. He also contributed three offensive rebounds, two assists and a steal in 31 minutes. For the season he is 11-for-16 from downtown for a blazing 69%. Unfortunately Oklahoma State won the contest easily 96-71. UW is now 4-3 with its next game on Saturday when they host Pittsburgh.

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Geoff

Saturday night in Bismarck, North Dakota GEOFF WEST dished the ball around to help the Marauders of the University of Mary rake in their first conference victory of the season.

Bismarck, ND – A balanced attack featuring five players in double figures carried the University of Mary to their first Northern Sun win of the year, a 92-82 victory over Upper Iowa.
Eric Erdmann, a sophomore forward, spearheaded the Marauders attack by scoring 18 points junior center Zach Dosch came off the bench to score 14 points. Freshman guard Jordan Wilhelm also added 14 points and had three assists. Fellow guards Geoff West and Jordan Engelhardt each added 12 points. West had five assists.

Unfortunately Friday night in the conference opener Winona State was just too tough.

Bismarck, ND – The University of Mary lead was brief, but appeared to be enough to really annoy the seventh-ranked Warriors of Winona State as the Marauders fell 93-71 in the Northern Sun men’s basketball opener for both teams.
Playing in front of a standing room only crowd at the McDowell Activity Center, Eric Erdmann hit the opening bucket of the game and, after a three pointer by WSU, Geoff West responded with a three-point basket to give U-Mary a 5-3 lead. Three straight treys, running their streak to four in a row for the Warriors, quickly pushed WSU to a 12-7 lead. That lead would soon expand to a 22-point differential in the first half as Winona State outscored U-Mary 37-13 in one stretch.

The final was 93-71. After five games West is 9-for-17 (53%) from beyond the arc to lead U-M both in attempts and successes. He leads the team in minutes and ranks #2 in scoring with 9.6 per game. The Marauders are now 2-3 with the University of North Dakota coming to visit Tuesday night.

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Baseball
Mets’ Bloggers Trashing Omar

The New York bloggers are having a field day blasting Omar Minaya for trading “future superstar” Lastings Milledge for RYAN CHURCH and Brian Schneider. However there are a few NY fans who get the picture. Here’s one.

Good trade. I wanted to believe that Lastings was as good as advertised 3 to 4 years ago as well. Simply put, his heart isn't and never will be in the game. He called my friends car dealership and demanded a new car bc he's Lastings Milledge. They laughed. He was a can-cer in the Mets locker room. Good luck to him. If he hits 40 HR, I'll not be upset he is gone. Now, for Brian Schneider, FINALLY , we have a catcher that can friggin THROW OUT runners. It's what the Mets needed. He's a HUGE character guy. He is also known to be great with a staff. Tough as nails. Church...what are you guys missing? He's a late bloomer that has played a mere 3 years for a poor team. Seventy RBI in 2/3 of a season? That translates to 110 RBI on the Mets. Check how many runners in scoring position he had in DC LOL. He was in line for 60 friggin doubles. How many times will he be knocking home D Wright this year? Oftentimes. Solid character and fielder. Addition by subtraction even if the two DON't work out, which they will. You guys feel that Alou will play more than 80 friggin games? Not. Church needed greatly. If Lastings had ANY value in terms of landing one of the two A's pitchers...Omar would have tied him to a foul pole and not let him go anywhere…. In the words of NY's Marv Albert: YES!!!!!!!!!!!GO METS! -Lawrence

The Nationals scored 528 runs last season, the Mets 818. You can’t drive in runs when the bags are empty. If Ryan Church can drive in 70 runs for that Washington team he should drive in 90-100 for the Mets. Keep in mind he didn’t play during August. – Mr. En Fuego

McIntosh; all-LPL; LHS Girls Polo; AHC Nine; Grid

NOMINATION

Chico State soccer fullback KATIE McINTOSH, a Cabrillo grad, has been nominated for Lompoc Female Athlete of the Year.
McIntosh, a junior, switched positions at her coach’s request from midfield to defense, then anchored a rock-ribbed Chico defensive line as the Wildcats took the California Collegiate Association championship and qualified for the NCAA Div. II playoffs. The complete list of nominees may be seen in the right-hand column below our sponsors.



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YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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LPL All-League Selections


Volleyball-----
First team
– MB Jessica Farley, Cabrillo 5-11 Jr., setter Sovania Moua, Lompoc 5-3 Sr.
Second team
--Hitter Jackie Townsend, Lompoc 5-7 Jr., Brittany Skinner, Cabrillo 5-7 Sr.
Honorable Mention
--OH Erika Slikker, Lompoc 5-7 Fr., Shabraya Hays, Cabrillo 5-9 Sr.

Girls Golf-----
First team
--Kellie George, Cabrillo Sr., Sarrah Jones, Lompoc Sr.

Girls Tennis-----
Second team doubles
--Lynsey McLain, Cabrillo Sr., Lanae Magers, Cabrillo Sr., Dana Campitelli, Lompoc Sr., Maria Morales, Lompoc Sr.

Boys Water Polo-----
MVP Wes Hain, Cabrillo Sr.
First team
--Goalie—Corey Rowell, Cabrillo Sr.
--Field—Casey Owen, Cabrillo Sr., Kody Ogan, Cabrillo Sr., Garrett Darling, Cabrillo Jr., Brad Deegan, Lompoc Sr.
Second team
--Field—Gregg Herrera, Cabrillo Sr., Patrick Densmore, Cabrillo Sr., Ryan Lynch, Lompoc Sr., Kyle Pickles, Lompoc Jr.
Honorable mention: goalie—Kyle Thumm, Lompoc Jr., field—Nathaniel Olivera, Cabrillo Sr.
Coach of the Year: Joel Jory, Cabrillo

Football -----
Offensive Back of the Year—Bennie Garrett, Cabrillo Sr.
Second team: offensive lineman Jacob Farley, Cabrillo 6-3 290 Sr., linebacker Matt Rotondi, Cabrillo 5-9 205 Jr., defensive back Greg Watson Cabrillo 5-9 160 Sr.
Honorable mention: defensive lineman Zach Holmes, Cabrillo 5-11 200 Jr., linebacker Pat Cook, Cabrillo 5-10, 175, Soph

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LHS Girls Water Polo


By Mike Loney



The Lompoc Girls kicked off the season in fine fashion on Wednesday, defeating the visiting Righetti Warriors 4-3 in a classic defensive battle at the LAC. The Warriors opened the scoring early (5:02) in the first quarter on a goal by Allyson Fargher, but the Braves responded with two in the second period, the first one early on (6:20) by Amanda King, the second at 1:58 by Ashley Branson. Fargher tied the game at 5:11 of the third, setting up a showdown in the fourth. Lompoc jumped out to a quick lead on goals by Branson (5:47) and Brooke Crouse (4:53), surrendered a goal to Melissa Best at 2:05, and then held on to win amid a flurry of shots in the last two minutes. The Braves’ defense was bolstered by excellent play during the entire game by goalie Erica Elenes. The Varsity will be playing in the the Mistletoe Tournament (Newbury Park) Fri, 30 Nov 07 to Sat, 1 Dec 07. The JV squad did not have similar results, losing 15-6. Although the very inexperienced group played well, they were stunned by a tremendous offensive performance by the Warriors’ Shawna Best. Best had 6 goals, several assists & steals, and was clearly the best player in the pool. She scored four of the first five goals of the game to give Righetti a lead which they never lost. Lompoc received goals from team captain Anna Clark (4), Stephanie Cardoza (1), and Sabrina Scheffler (1). The JV will be playing in the Cabrillo Frosh/Soph Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 1 2007.

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AHC Baseball


Tuesday the Hancock Bulldog World Series inter-squad baseball tournament began with a 6-4 Gold victory. The Gold scored the first run of the game in the first with an RBI single by COREY DOTZLER. Dotzler had another run batted in the third. On Wednesday the Blues evened the series with a 5-1 victory. Losing pitcher was KIRK FRIDRICH whose control was uncharacteristically shaky.


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Football Notes



LYDELL SARGEANT's Penn State Nittany Lions have accepted a berth in Dec. 29's Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Their opponent is expected to be Texas Tech or Texas A&M.
BOO JACKSON did indeed lead the state community colleges in several key quarterback categories this fall at El Camino.
In passing yardage/attempt he posted a 10.7-yard average. That shows he as not just dumping off short range passes. Second best was Ben Cozad of College of the Siskiyous.
Boo’s pass rating was 189.5 far above Cozad who was second at 171.1. Cozad did nip Boo in total offense/play which seems to indicate he ran more effectively. But the difference was tiny—9.3 yards to 9.0 yards.

Nationals Trade Church to Mets; He's "Tickled Pink"

“Hi, Mom, I’m a Met.”
“Is that good?” Karen Church asked her son this morning.
“Heck, yeah!” he replied.
RYAN CHURCH (pictured in a shot by Mike Collins) was traded today along with catcher Brian Schneider by the Washington Nationals to the New York Mets for right fielder Lastings Milledge.
“To go to a team that day in and day out is a contender, I’ve never been in that situation. I can’t wait,” Church told the media. "I'm tickled pink."
The Nationals finished 16 games behind the National League East champion Phillies, while the Mets lost out by a single game.
“Sellout crowds, that’s what you dream of,” Church said. “New York is the biggest stage in all sports. It’s an honor to be part of that. The sky is the limit.”
The Mets drew 3.8 million fans in 2007, 47,000 per game. The struggling Nationals by comparison attracted 1.9 million or 24, 200 per contest.
New York General Manager Omar Minaya, the same executive who brought Church to the majors with the old Montreal Expos, said Church would be the Mets’ starting rightfielder with all-stars Moises Alou in left and Carlos Beltran in center. Church has played mostly left field and center for the Nats but in the minor leagues he was almost exclusively a right fielder.

The trade comes after two years of rumors that Church, who did not live up to Washington General Manager Jim Bowden’s expectations, was on the block.
As MLB.com Washington correspondent Bill Ladson wrote: “Church was often criticized by the Nationals for not hitting for power, but the Mets loved the fact that he hit 15 home runs and 43 doubles while playing at spacious RFK Stadium.”
Minaya looked at the same numbers Bowden did and came to the opposite conclusion.
“He had a good season,” Minaya told a telephone press conference. “Forty-three doubles, .272, 70 RBI and 15 home runs in a big ballpark. He has a track record. We got an outfielder who had a very good year and can have an even better year. We think you have to take into consideration the ballpark. I think you will see Ryan hit for more power and you will see him steal some bases the way we play.” The Mets led the league in stolen bases this season.
Minaya said Church’s defense was important. “I’m big on defense,” he said several times in the press conference. He also mentioned Church being a lefthanded hitter. “It gives us balance,” he said.
Schneider will be the Mets’ starting catcher after the departure of Paul LoDuca. Milledge, 22, is seven years younger than Church, and is reputed to have superstar potential. He batted .272 this year, exactly the same as Church. He hit seven home runs and drove in 29 runs. He was a first round draft choice by the Mets in 2003.
“Ryan is as excited as the day he was drafted,” bubbled his mom. “I am so happy for him.”

Hain, Jory Nominated; Boise Likes Farley

WES HAIN SHOOTS, HE SCORES!! Hain surpassed the all-time Cabrillo boys water polo scoring record this fall.

And his team won a Los Padres League title.

In recognition he has been nominated for the Lompoc Locker Room Athlete of the Year race.

Coach JOEL JORY, coach not only of the CHS boys water polo team, but of the league champion boys swim team last spring, LPL co-title holder with Santa Ynez, has been nominated for LLR Coach of the Year.

Hain's new career CHS record for goals was set by Robby Boyer 20 years ago. The nominations are the third this week from a Cabrillo grad/teacher/student/administrator/aquatics fan. The complete list of nominees can be seen in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year.

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GRAPEVINE

Al Hunt reports that MATT SIMS’ medial collateral ligament, which kept him out of two late season Utah games, still hurts him, but won’t keep him out of whichever bowl game the Utes draw. Sims said the BYU-Utah crowd of 65,000 last weekend in Provo was the loudest game he’d ever played in. “Salt Lake City is only 30 minutes away. The teams absolutely hate each other,” he added....

Cabrillo tackle JAKE FARLEY is receiving interest from Boise State…. BRAD LILLEY, the music man of the Dodgers and Clippers, is off to Dubai this weekend to MC an international X-Games.

Statmeister on LHS Winter Sports; Tsunami; YFL

Braves Lose Grip on Bearcats

By Mike "The Statmeister" Loney

The winter sports season for LHS began Monday night before a small but enthusiastic crowd at Paisola Pavilion as the Brave wrestlers hosted the Paso Robles Bearcats in a non-league dual meet.

Unfortunately for the home team, they made several "rookie" mistakes resulting in the match slipping away. The final score, a lop-sided 52-21, did not reflect the close start to the match or the intensity of the Lompoc effort against a very good Paso squad.

After eight matches, Paso had a narrow 22-15 lead. And although they managed to stretch it to 28-15 with a pin, it seemed like Lompoc was coming back, when they suffered a stunning defeat at 130 lbs and the Bearcats never looked back. Head coach Patrick "Pat" Corbett, while noting that Paso Robles is traditionally very good and that the Braves were thin on numbers, summed up the evening by saying "We're young , inexperienced, and we made a lot of mistakes."

The evening started off with a perfunctory JV contest in which only three matches were held due to the shortage of available grapplers for Lompoc. The Braves will be sending a team to the Santa Maria Novice Tournament this weekend and any varsity or JV action disqualifies wrestlers from that tournament. The varsity will be in action at the Nipomo Tournament.

Here's how the varsity matches went: 160 lb: Lompoc's Adolpho Robles zipped out to a 9-4 lead in the 1st period, and then pinned Dylan Godwin with 1:28 gone in the 2nd.

171 lb: Double forfeit - neither team fielded a competitor.

189 lb: Lompoc's Favi Vargas was pinned by Dylan Sells at 1:14 of the first period.

215 lb: Pete Hernandez of Lompoc received a forfeit.

275 lb: The Braves’ Francisco Garcia gave up 35 lbs and a pin to Juslin Machaffrey, 1:09 into the first period. After the match Lompoc received a one point match score reduction penalty. 103 lb: 59 seconds into the match Rory Slikker got caught and pinned by Paso's Jovani Salazar.

112 lb: With PR on a roll Ed Pelkey tried to be the stopper. But he lost a three round war with Ryan Miller on a 7-5 decision, putting the Bearcats up 22-12.

119 lb: Kyle Pickles was able to cut the lead to 22-15 with a dominating performance over Coleman Stout, winning 7-1.

125 lb: The crowd was prepared for another all out war, but PR's Anthony Montgomery performed a truly superb mid-air reversal while being taken down, and was able to get a quick pin on Marcel Blow 1:27 into the first period. PR up 28-15.

130 lb: Joel Robles (Lompoc) was able to get a quick 4-1 lead in the 1st, which he stretched to a comfy 12-2 in the 2nd period. At the start of the 3rd, PR's Anthony Rivera had the choice of position and chose to be on top - much to his coach's very vocal displeasure. [Top puts one wrestler on top of the other allowing for easier control, but making it harder to score points quickly. Frequently the man on the bottom scores instead by 'escaping' that control for a point. Coach Montero had instructed him to take neutral position so that he would have the opportunity for higher-scoring takedowns.] In any event, a highly motivated Rivera managed to catch Robles in a mistake and get the pin only 19 seconds into the last period. This put PR up 34-15 and they cruised through the stunned Braves the rest of the night.

135 lb: Tyler Townsend (L) pinned by Brandon Ziltz (1:12 left 1st) 140 lb: Andrew Smith (L) pinned by Nick Holmes (1:33 left 1st) 145 lb: Forfeit to Eric Mrraz (PR) 152 lb: Masson Blow (L) managed to restore some Lompoc pride by pinning Eli Mina at 1:25 of the first period.

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In JV action Virgil Cortez (L) was pinned by Colby Cox in the 3rd at 112, and Steve Galvan (Cesar Delgado) & Dustin Green (Daniel Kock) were both pinned in the first period at 171 & 189 respectively. Paul Vasquez (103) received a forfeit for the Braves.

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Mixed Results in Soccer and Hoops
In the season openers for the 'dribbling' sports at LHS the results were highly varied. Boys’ Basketball opened on the road at Arroyo Grande, while the girls hosted the Eagles at Paisola Pavilion. In soccer, the boys hosted Righetti at Huyck. The girls, scheduled to play at Righetti, were grounded by a lack of available transportation and instead will play on Wednesday.

SOCCER--- The boys varsity soccer team won 1-0 on a goal by Jesus Aguiano. It was a tight game that they had mostly controlled, but had a hard time putting away. Although both teams had a number of scoring opportunities, many of Righetti's were foiled by good defense , but Lompoc had several shots hit the crossbar, uprights, etc. Coach Phil Galfano had particular praise for his defense (goalie Roberto De Luna and backs Diego Torres, Jairo Magana, Luis Castaneda, and Rudy Bueno), he also remarked that Righetti didn't seem able to match the Braves physical style of play.

While the JV team lost 2-0, Coach Omar Pimentel said that Pedro Hernandez who stepped in to replace the regular goalie played very well. He also was impressed with the effort level of the entire team. He played a lot of kids off the bench to evaluate various combinations in game situations, but that there had been no drop off in terms of effort.

BASKETBALL-- Basketball was not kind to the Braves Tuesday night. The boys varsity team was downed by four (45-41), and the freshmen were reputedly beaten by an unconfirmed score of 70-38 [Yikes! -hope its wrong]. Only the JV’s were able to squeak out a narrow 50- 45 win.

The girls’ side was even more frustrating. The frosh lost 66-35 and the JV lost 64-29. Coach Nic Jansen, while impressed with the Eagles’ size, speed , and shooting prowess, said the key was that, We didn't handle their pressure very well." He added, "We just need to improve". He did find one very bright silver lining however in the play of freshman Kaylin Barnes who had 21 points (or 25 points depending on which scorebook you read) for the frosh team.

The apex of uuuuggghhhh though was achieved by the girls varsity which played 46 minutes of smart, tough, hard-nosed ball - unfortunately the game lasted 48 minutes. After two quarters of see-saw action the Lady Braves managed to take a well-earned one point (25-24) lead into the locker room at half-time, largely due to the play of Jozza Ray. In the third, Lompoc pushed the lead to 40-34 with Denee Lane hitting several 3-pointers. But AG hit a bucket just before the buzzer to cut the score to 40-36 at the end of the period. Most of the fourth session was a back and forth exercise in intense defense. Numerous held balls, blocks, missed shots, steals, etc. meant that with 2:33 left the score was 43-38 in Lompoc's favor.

The Braves then began to falter and by 1:38 remaining the score was 43-42. The Eagles’ backcourt combination of Carly Ikeda (the coach's daughter) and Sara Caywood then took over the game. Ikeda, who had missed much of the third quarter with foul trouble, made several steals and Caywood drilled free throws (5-6 in the 4th) - including two at the 1:08 mark to give AG the 44-43 lead. In the last 2-3 minutes of the game the Braves had approximately half a dozen turnovers, 7-8 consecutive offensive trips that came up empty, and no points. Result: final 49-43 AG (AAAAGGGG) after being outscored in the fourth quarter 13-3.

THE REST OF THE WEEK @ LHS
Wednesday -girls soccer (GSC) team at Righetti -girls water polo (GWP) team hosts Righetti at the LAC

Thursday -girls basketball (GBB) varsity hosts Lompoc TRNY[to sat] & frosh @ Cabrillo TRNY [to sat] -boys basketball (BBB) varsity @ SLO TRNY [to sat] & frosh @ Righetti TRNY [to sat] -soccer vs. Pioneer Valley [boys away & girls home] -GWP varsity @ Mistletoe (Newbury Park) TRNY [to sat]

Friday - ==>Tournaments above continue <=== -boys soccer (BSC) @ Cat/Dog (PR/Atas) TRNY [to sat] -wrestling: varsity @ Nipomo TRNY [to sat] & others @ Santa Maria Novice TRNY [to sat]

Saturday -===>Tournaments above continue <=== -GWP frosh/soph @ Cabrillo f/s TRNY

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Tsunami Gobble Up Awards

The Tsunami Swim Club contingent at the SLO Gobbler Classic [16-18 November 2007] swim meet spent their time winning a bunch of races. The relatively small group (8 girls, 5 boys) won 12 races and placed in nine others at the competition which featured hundreds of swimmers from 6 to 22 years old.

Races at the event were held by gender in various age classes with an open class for the longer distances. Age class races are 'seeded' by previous times into three divisions - Blue (fastest), Red, & White.

The star of the meet for Lompoc was 12 year old Poala Hernandez. Competing in the 11-12 year old Girls class, she won all 8 Blue division races she swam while also beating her qualifying marks (some by incredible margins) in every single race. Her time reductions by race were: 50 yd Free [0.13 sec], 100 yd Free [0.69], 200 yd Free [4.04], 50 yd Back [3.24 in a 30 sec race], 100 yd Back [0.36], 50 yd Bfly [5.04 ], 100 yd Bfly [1.76], and 100 yd IM [5.70]. Her time in the 50 yd Butterfly (28.77, a 15% reduction from 33.81) was the 13th fastest swum by a 12 yo girl in California (243rd in the US) this year, and her 1:07.38 IM the 36th fastest this year.

Erin Gracyk (age 8) won three races (1 blue, 2 red), Erica Gracyk (9) won 1 white div race and swam well in 6 others, finishing 4th-9th in races with between 16 and 31 swimmers. Tiffany Hubbard (12) had five 2nds (all behind Hernandez), and an 3rd, 4th, & 5th in her 8 Blue Div. races.

Top 3 finishes were recorded by Abigail Carpenter [11] (3rd, White div) and Ryan Dang [8] (2nd & 3rd, White div), while Gavin Larson [16] swam in 5 Blue division & 2 Open division races. Other competitors were Rebecca Riley [11]- top 10 finishes in all 5 races, Emily Gracyk [11], Brittany Beidleman [11], Blake Espinosa [11], and Alex Hamner [11]. Congratulations to all !!

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YFL FINAL WRAP

Senior Level [13 teams/ 2 div]

Lompoc Braves 4-3 2nd-Div A 6th seed 1-1 lost SF to champs

VV Conquistadors 5-3 4th-Div B 5th seed 0-1 lost QF to 4 seed

Intermediate Level [25 teams/ 4 divisions]

VV Conquistadors 6-2 1st-Div B 3rd seed 0-1 BYE,lost QF - 6 seed

Lompoc Titans 3-5 5th-Div C None

Lompoc Scorpions 6-1 2nd-Div D 2nd seed 3-0 BYE,WON CHAMP

Junior Level [27 teams/ 4 Divisions]

Lompoc Panthers 5-3 3rd-B Div 8th seed 0-1 lost 1RD to 9 seed

Lompoc Pistons 8-0 1st-C Div 3nd?seed 1-1 BYE,lost SF-?10 sd

VV Conqs 5-3 3rd-C Div 11th?seed 1-1 lost QF to Pistons

VV Cabrillo 6-0 1st-D Div 2nd?seed 0-1 BYE,lost QF-?10 sd

Bantam Level [20 teams/ 4 Divisions]

VV Conqs 6-1 1st-B Div 3rd seed 1-1 BYE,lost SF to ? 2 sd

Lompoc Rebels 2-6 4th-B Div None

Lompoc Packers 8-0 1st-D Div 1st seed 0-1 BYE,lost QF to ?8 sd

VV Conquistadors 5-3 2nd-D Div 12th seed 0-1 lost 1RD- ?5th seed

Cabrillo Girls Swim Nominated; Smith Stars for UW

The Cabrillo boosters are busy! A nomination has come for another CHS aquatics team, this time the CHS girls swim team which went undefeated in the Los Padres League last spring and sent a 200-meter freestyle relay team off to win a CIF title. Pictured here are KATHERINE VEGA, BRIANNA MONTOYA, ASHLEY SMITH and KATHRYN NELSON of the champion relay team surrounding coach SCOTT ALVAREZ. Alvarez was also nominated for the Coach of the Year race.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. For the list of nominees to date just look in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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BASKETBALL

JOEL

In Seattle Monday night JOEL SMITH was on his game as he put up three consecutive three-point baskets to propel the Washington Huskies on a 23-7 run and a 32-16 lead.
Long Beach State rallied to within 41-33 at halftime but the Huskies hung on for an 84-69 victory.

Smith was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and totaled 13 points. He was Washington’s second high scorer even though he came off the bench and played just 18 minutes. He pulled down three rebounds.

Coach Lorenzo Romar had this to say about Smith: “If you've noticed in our games whenever Joel’s feet are set he is pretty accurate from three. Tonight he got a lot of open looks so he knocked those down. In preseason practices I remember specifically telling Joel, ‘Why would you turn that shot down, I think it is going in every time.’ It is just a matter of him getting open looks and tonight he got them.”

Duffy Nominated Male Athlete of the Year

Left handed pitcher DANNY DUFFY has been nominated Lompoc Male Athlete of the Year for 2007. Duffy signed with the Kansas City Royals as a third-round draft pick after a phenomenal season at Cabrillo High where he posted a microscopic 0.58 ERA with 127 strikeouts.

In the Arizona Rookie League Duffy pitched 37 innings giving up just 24 hits and six earned runs. His ERA was a blue-chip 1.45. His strikeouts totaled 63 contrasted to just 17 bases on balls. His strikeout total ranked No. 6 in the league even though many pitchers (including all five with higher totals) pitched many more innings.

Baseball America, the baseball fan’s Bible, named Duffy the top pitcher in the league. It wrote:

Danny Duffy had the best pro debut of any young pitcher in the league, striking out 15.2 batters per nine innings and going 37 innings without allowing a home run. He did it mostly by working off his fastball. The Royals precluded Duffy from throwing his two-seam sinker and his slider, preferring for him to focus on improving the command of his four-seamer and curveball and using his changeup.


The Royals also worked on making Duffy's mechanics more consistent and keeping him from rushing through his delivery. He made progress on all fronts. His fastball sits at 88-92 mph and touches 94, and his curveball at times is a plus pitch.


"He got better at repeating his mechanics and maintaining his stuff late in games as the year went on," Royals pitching coach Mark Davis said. "His fastball was firm and live, and he really located down and away well."

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YOU can nominate your favorite athlete of 2007 right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. The list of nominees to date is listed in the right-hand column below our sponsors. Do it now. We'll be voting soon.

Nelson, Ur, McIntyre of CHS Girls Polo Nominated

A reader, no doubt wearing black-and-gold, has nominated the Cabrillo water polo duo of KATHRYN NELSON and SARAH UR (pictured here from the all-world website of Dave Riley) and last March’s CIF title team, and coach COREY McINTYRE, for Lompoc Locker Room End-of-the-Year recognition.
The CIF title, won in a 13-10 nail-biter over Arroyo Grande, was the first in Lompoc in any sport since 2003. The Q’s finished 28-6 as they went undefeated in the Los Padres League and won the Oxnard and Newbury Park tournaments. Ur and Nelson were voted CIF-SS Div. IV co-players of the year and McIntyre was CIF Coach of the Year. Ashley Smith and Rachel Nelson were elected to the all-Div. IV first team while Kirsten Pinkerton and Brianna Montoya were named to the second team.

Sarah Ur aims and fires.

Kathryn Nelson looks to pass. Both Ur and Nelson are now in the running for LLR Lompoc Female Athlete of 2007.

Coach McIntyre, possible LLR Lompoc Coach of the Year for 2007, is pictured here.

YOU can nominate your own favorites of 2007 right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: male athlete of 2007, female athlete of 2007, coach of the year and team of the year.

The nominees so far are listed in the right column below our sponsors. Take a look.

Sims Starts in Regular Season Finale

Today in Provo, Utah before 64,000 fans MATT SIMS played his last regular season football game as the Utah Utes’ starting tight end. He got no receptions and BYU came back for a 17-10 victory, but Sims’ appearance in the starting lineup in his final game was a milestone for Sims and his roundabout college career.

Sims was a big part of the Lompoc High 2002 CIF championship team, playing both ways at tackle and winning all-CIF honors. He spent a season at Division II Humboldt State, then came home and sat out a year. Then he impressed at tight end at Allan Hancock, enough to win all-conference recognition and a scholarship to Utah.

Last year he played in all 13 games, with six starts. His four receptions for 62 yards led the Ute tight ends. He averaged 15.5 yards per reception. He had a catch for 23 yards at Utah State.
This year when the Utes went increasingly to a 4-wideout offense, he played in 10 of 12 games, starting in three. He caught one pass, for 10 yards, against Louisville.

Utah finishes at 8-4 with a bowl invitation likely. Last year the Utes were 7-5 at this point and received a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas where they downed Tulsa.

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VAI

At San Jose the Nevada Wolfpack fell to San Jose State 27-24 but VAI TAUA did not play. Nevada (5-6) completes its season on Dec. 1 hosting Louisiana Tech.

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BASKETBALL

JOEL
Friday night at Madison Square Garden in New York Washington outrebounded Syracuse but could not best the Orange on the scoreboard as the Huskies fell 91-85 in the consolation final of the NIT Season Tip Off. JOEL SMITH entered the contest as UW's sixth man. He played 15 minutes and contributed three points on a three-point shot, three rebounds and an assist but was bedeviled by five turnovers. The game marked the first contest this season in which Smith has not appeared in the starting lineup at guard. In earlier games coach Lorenzo Romar started three guards and two forwards. Friday he went with a standard two-guard set. Now 3-2, Washington hosts Long Beach State Monday night.

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NOMINATIONS

MATT SIMS, pictured above, has been nominated for the Lompoc Athlete of the Year contest. Also nominated are the the Los Padres League champion Lompoc High Braves basketball team and their coach JEFF JONES.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the year and Team of the Year.

Sims joins Ryan Church, Boo Jackson, and Miguel Ortiz in the male AOY sweepstakes while Jones joins Jim Allen, Roy Baca, Peter Anderson, and John Hernandez.
The LHS baseball team joins……. Oh, go look at the list in the right column below the sponsors.