Artists qualify for track prelims

-- Mike Sciacca

Four members of the Laguna Beach High track & field program have

qualified for Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Prelims.

The foursome earned their way into the prelims following outstanding

showings at last week’s Pacific Coast League finals at Irvine High.

Senior Anil Adam won the league crown in the 100 meters with a time of

11.46.2, and qualified to run at Saturday’s CIF Prelims at Veterans

Stadium in Long Beach.

Senior Ryan Simpson has qualified in two events. At the PCL finals, he

finished second in both the 800 meters and 1600 meters, with times of

2:00.29 and 4:31.74, respectively.

His time in of 2:00.29 is the fastest time a Laguna Beach athlete has

run the 800 meters in 16 years.

Marc Todd, a junior, came up with a 40-feet, 5-inch effort to finish

in second place in the league triple jump final. He also will compete in

Saturday’s prelims.

The Artists’ Addison Doud also will compete in Long Beach. The

freshman sensation has qualified in the 300 low hurdles.

Saturday’s CIF Prelims will begin at noon.

In boys’ volleyball, Laguna Beach finished runner-up in the PCL

standings following a 15-12, 15-7, 12-15, 16-14 victory over visiting

Costa Mesa last Thursday.

Nick Glavas and Matt Anderson led the way with 14 kills apiece

followed by Trey Chapel and Spencer Samuelian each with 11. Other kill

leaders included Mike Chiaverini with 10 and Brandon Rothe with eight.

Nick Aronoff and Ben Dwyer shared setting duties and finished with 25

and 24 set assists, respectively.

The Artists ended the regular season 11-7 overall, 8-2 in the PCL, and

advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs. Tonight, they

will host Olympic League runner-up Orange Lutheran (5-11) in a 7 p.m.

start.

Laguna Beach’s junior varsity team defeated Costa Mesa, 15-11, 15-2,

to finish 6-2 in league.

In baseball, the Artists await an announcement this weekend out of the

CIF Southern Section office to see if they will be included in the

postseason Division IV playoffs. They are hoping to land an at-large

playoff berth following Wednesday’s 10-1 loss at Corona del Mar.

Errors and pitching woes doomed Laguna Beach, which lost to CdM for

the second time in five days. The teams are tied for third place in the

PCL standings, but the Sea Kings (12-13, 7-8) earn the league’s No. 3

playoff berth by virtue of sweeping their three-game league series with

the Artists (13-10, 7-8).

In a PCL contest played Monday, Gabe Stansbury continued his hot

hitting streak with a pair of two-run home runs, but his effort couldn’t

rescue the Artists who lost to the visiting Sea Kings, 21-7. It was the

second time in 10 days that the senior had a two home run game. He belted

a pair of homers in a April 26 win over Costa Mesa.

Despite waiting for word of a possible playoff berth, the 2002 Artists

have tied a school record for wins (13) and posted their first winning

season since 1963.

In boys’ tennis, Andrew Ghenender, the Artists’ No. 2 singles player,

did not give up a game, winning his matches by identical 6-0 scores, to

highlight a 15-3 win over Costa Mesa.

The victory on the final day of the regular season puts Laguna Beach

at 6-12 overall and 4-6 in PCL play, heading into this week’s league

finals.

In PCL softball played Wednesday, Laguna Beach fell to visiting Costa

Mesa, 4-2.