High School Roundup: Laguna boys’ tennis begins with easy win
It’s postseason time for Laguna Beach High athletes, and several teams and individuals came up with stellar performances in both Orange Coast League and CIF Southern Section competition.
The Laguna boys’ tennis team, top-ranked in CIF Southern Section Division 4, started its postseason campaign Wednesday. The Orange Coast League champion Breakers easily advanced by taking care of visiting Segerstrom, 17-1, in a first-round match.
“Everyone played well,” Laguna Coach Don Davis said. “The team was very focused and excited to play.
“Segerstrom had a strong No. 1 singles player [Douglas Nguyen], who we swept against, as our three singles players [Stuart Webb, Charles Keller, Tristan Krogius] competed well although being done for part of the match.”
In singles, Webb (7-5, 6-0, 6-0) and Krogius (6-2, 6-2, 6-0) swept, and Keller (6-4, 6-1) won two sets at the No. 2 line. It was a clean sweep in doubles play for Laguna with Ryan Gee/Hayden Seitz (6-0, 6-2, 6-0), Zack Washer/Sterling Dudley-Bowen (6-0, 6-3, 6-0) and Ethan Gee/Clayton Haines (6-1, 6-3, 6-1) posting wins.
The division’s No. 1 seed, 16-3 overall, is scheduled to host Golden League champ Quartz Hill in a 3 p.m. second-round match Friday. The Rebels defeated Whittier California (Del Rio League No. 2), 12-6 Wednesday. Davis said if Friday’s match is rained out, it will be rescheduled for noon Saturday.
The Quartz Hill-Laguna winner advances to take on either ninth-ranked and defending division champion Santa Ynez (Los Padres League champ) or Garden Grove (Garden Grove League champ) in a quarterfinal match at 3 p.m. Monday.
Laguna was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by Garden Grove last year.
The division semifinals are 3 p.m. Wednesday, and the division’s championship match is at 2:30 p.m. May 22 at Claremont Club in Claremont.
Prior to opening CIF postseason play, the Breakers turned in another dominating run at the Orange Coast League tournament which featured an all-Laguna final in both singles and doubles. Ryan Gee defeated Keller (retire, ankle injury), 2-0, to take the singles title, and Washer/Krogius defeated Ethan Gee/Seitz, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to win the doubles crown.
The Laguna team of Jake Robbins/Blake Hawkins took fourth place in doubles.
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Swimming
Laguna divers Liv Mitchell and Mackenzie Peasley competed Monday at the CIF Southern Section Swimming and Diving Championships (Division 2), and both Breakers turned in outstanding performances at Riverside City College.
Mitchell placed second, overall, with a score of 469.00, Peasley took 17th with a 339.15 score, adding valuable points to the Breakers’ overall team score.
Sixteen (eight boys, eight girls) Breakers will compete Friday a the CIF-SS Division 2 swimming prelims. The division finals are Saturday.
“We have some really strong relays on both the boys and girls teams, and our relay teams will be strong contenders in the championship finals (top nine) on Saturday,” Laguna co-head Coach Beth Weber said.
“Our team has moved up to Division 2 from Division 3 last year, and so making it back to finals will be a greater challenge, but our top boys and girls are seeded high in their events and should do really well. It will all come down to who is swimming their best on Friday. I’m excited to see what they can do.”
At last week’s Orange Coast League finals, the Breakers set nine, new OCL Championship Meet varsity record times: girls’ 200 free relay (1:40.78 (Harper Dix, Kyla Whitelock, Aria Fischer, Kasey Karkoska, 1:40.78); girls’ 100 freestyle (Karkoska, 52.72); girls’ 400 free relay (Dix, Fischer, Sophia Lucas, Karkoska; 3:38.78); boys’ 200 medley relay 1:36.45 (Erik Juliusson, Cameron Karkoska, Max Morgan, Nolan Del Toro, 1:36.45); boys’ 200 free (Juliusson, 1:40.63); boys’ 100 butterfly (Juliusson, 49.72); boys’ 200 free relay (Del Toro, Billy Renner, Jack Dodson, Cade Baldridge, 1:29.23); boys’ 100 breaststroke (Karkoska, 58.31); boys’ 400 free relay - 3:10.80 (Karkoska, Morgan, Baldridge, Juliusson, 3:10.80, new school record).
Other highlights from the OCL finals meet: Olivia Vera won the girls’ 100 breaststroke in a personal-best time of 1:10.23; Aria Fischer won the girls’ 500 free swimming a personal best time of 5:10.22 (CIF Division 2 automatic qualifying time); Cade Baldridge swam his personal best in both the boys’ 50 free (21.79) and the 100 free (48.26), achieving CIF automatic times in both events; Max Morgan took the league title in the boys’ 200 individual medley with a personal-best time of 1:56.68, and setting a CIF qualifying time were Harper Dix in the girls’ 100 free (54.97), Jack Dodson in the boys’ 50 free (22.69), and Natalie Selin in the girls’ 100 butterfly (1:03.80).
“OCL finals was a great day for my team and I couldn’t be prouder of all of my swimmers,” Weber staid. “They put in the hard work this season and it paid off with all levels (varsity, junior varsity) winning league. It is always really fun to see my swimmers accomplishing their goals and swimming fast. Winning league on both the JV and varsity levels was the perfect end to a fantastic season with this great group of athletes.
“I also had amazing coaches working with me this year and this successful season would not have been possible without my co-head coach Kari Damato, assistant Coach Nathan McConnell, and JV Coach Albie Beeler.”
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Boys’ Volleyball
The Breakers on Tuesday took on Corona Santiago (Big VIII League No. 2) in a first-round Division 2 match, and swept the visiting Sharks, 25-17, 25-15, 25-15. Sophomore outside hitter Pete Obradovich had a team-high 13 kills, sophomore middle blocker Barry Greenough 10 kills, and senior outside hitter Dane Olson nine kills and eight digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Cole Paxson had 10 digs and junior setter Isaac Wulff 41 assists.
Laguna (17-8), the tournament’s No. 4 seed, played a second-round match Thursday at Moore League champ Lakewood. The score wasn’t available at press time. The winner moves on to a division quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. Saturday and will face either fifth-ranked Aliso Niguel (Sea View League champ) or La Canada (Rio Hondo League No. 2).
The division semifinals are Wednesday and the championship match is May 23 at Cerritos College in Norwalk.
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Boys’ Golf
The Breakers turned in strong performances May 7 at the Orange Coast League tournament at Skylinks Golf Course (par 72) in Long Beach.
John Grayden finished runner-up to the individual league title. Drake Dvorak placed seventh, Max Brown ninth, Kyle Sharp 11th, Ben Sharp 12th, and Will Uzelac was 14th.
Laguna scores on the opening day scores of the two-day tournament (83 cut): Grayden (69, tied for lead); Brown (80); Kyle Sharp (80); Dvorak (81); Ben Sharp (83); Uzelac (83); Gavin Blow (85); Adam Mundy (89).
Grayden advanced to the first round of the CIF Individuals tournament held Monday at Skylinks. Grayden shot 74 and missed making the cut (73) to the next round by a single stroke.
“He played amazing golf and hit great shots all day, unfortunately, he was one shot short of the cut,” Laguna Coach Scott Finn said.
The Breakers will compete at 8 a.m. next Monday in the first round of the CIF Southern Team Divisional at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley.
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Track & Field
The Breakers’ varsity girls’ team won the Orange Coast League championship and the varsity boys’ team took the runner-up spot at the league finals meet May 7 at Laguna Beach High.
Laguna varsity teams and athletes who won a league title at the finals meet were: girls’ 4x100 meter relay team (51.76); girls’ 1,600 meter run (Pearl Shoemaker, 5:19.82); girls’ 100 meter hurdles (Carmen Nichols, 18.37); boys’ 110 hurdles (Charles Warner, 16.34); girls’ 400 meter run (Coco Putnam, 59.90); boys’ 400 meter run (Cale Airey, 52.00); boys’ 100 meter dash (Callan Cochran, 11.54); girls’ 800 meter run (Janie Crawford, 2:22.97); girls’ 300 meter hurdles (Coco Putnam, 45.17); boys’ 300 meter hurdles (Andrew Humphries, 42.87); girls’ 3,200 meter run (Pearl Shoemaker, 11:49.89); girls’ 4x400 meter relay (Laguna Beach, 4:11.95); boys’ 4x400 meter relay (Laguna Beach, 3:35.87); bys’ high jump (Charles Warner, 5-feet-8); girls’ shot put (Jackie Cenan, 36-feet); girls’ discus throw (Jackie Cenan, 94-11).
The Breakers will compete Saturday (11 a.m.) at the CIF-SS Track and Field Championships Division 4 prelims meet at Carpinteria High.
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Softball
The Breakers, who dropped a 20-0 Orange Coast League game Tuesday to Calvary Chapel, closed out their season Thursday against Godinez. The score wasn’t available at press time.
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Girls’ Sand Volleyball
The Breakers got off to a strong start at the AAU Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League playoffs.
Last Saturday at Dockweiler State Beach in Playa del Rey, the top-seeded team of juniors Cammie Dorn and Katelyn Carballo represented Laguna at the Pairs Championship. The duo finished runner-up to the tourney title after falling in a close final, 21-19, to the Mira Costa tandem of Skylar Caputo/Katrina Kernochan.
In a first-round match last Monday in Huntington Beach, Laguna, coached by Raul Papaleo, defeated Newport Harbor. All three Breakers teams swept, winning the first two games (best of three). Dorn/Carballo won, 21-16, 21-18, the team of sophomore Kendyl Brennan and freshman Lexi McKeown won, 21-16, 21-12, and the teams of sophomores Olivia Hockaday and Lauren LaMontagne won, 21-9, 21-13.
The Breakers are scheduled to take on Santa Margarita in a second-round playoff match Friday at Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica.
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CIF Weekly Rankings
(final regular season)
Boys’ tennis: Laguna Beach (No. 1, Division 4).
Boys’ volleyball: Laguna Beach (No. 4, Division 2).