High School Roundup: Laguna boys’ tennis reaches second round

A season that included another Orange Coast League championship has come to an end in the second round of the CIF Southern Section boys’ tennis playoffs for the Laguna Beach Breakers.

Laguna’s Division 4 postseason run ended May 16 on its home courts. The Breakers were edged, 10-8, by Garden Grove League champion Garden Grove.

The Argonauts had their season ended Monday following an 11-7 loss to No. 2-seeded Cate.

In singles play, both No. 2 Zack Washer (0-6, 6-3, 6-3) and No. 3 Stuart Webb (0-6, 6-3, 6-4), won two of three sets for Laguna. The Breakers’ doubles teams of No. 1 Ryan Gee/Sterling Dudley-Bowen (1-6, 6-4, 7-5) and No. 2 Alex Duong/Ethan Gee (1-6, 6-3, 6-2), also picked up two points each.

Five of the six Breakers to pick up points in the match where either freshmen or sophomores.

“It was a great match, with several close sets,” Laguna Coach Don Davis said. “Unfortunately, we lost some close sets that we needed to win. Nonetheless, the boys fought hard for all three rounds, and the coaches were very proud of their performance.”

Laguna, which went undefeated in winning the OCL title, finished the season 12-8.

The Breakers had defeated San Dimas, 13-5, in a first-round playoff game May 14.

“We were a young team, and everyone ‘grew as a whole,’ so I am quite confident that we will only be stronger next year,” Davis said.

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Swimming

The Laguna boys’ and girls’ teams earned runner-up finishes to the Division 3 team titles last week at the CIF-SS Swimming and Diving Championships at the Riverside Aquatics Complex at Riverside Community College.

The Laguna boys were edged in points by Riverside JW North for the title, 271-255.50. The Laguna girls were second (188 points) to Crean Lutheran (409).

The Breakers’ Erik Juliusson won two individual CIF event titles, winning the boys’ 200-yard individual medley and 100 backstroke. Juliusson also was part of two Laguna teams that claimed CIF relay titles in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay with Cameron Karkosa, Max Morgan and Cade Baldridge.

Below are the finals event finishes for Laguna Beach teams and athletes:

Boys

200 Medley Relay: Champion: Laguna Beach (Erik Juliusson, Cameron Karkosa, Max Morgan, Cade Baldridge), 1:36.30; 200 Free: 13. Benjamin Greenwood, 1:50.47; 200 IM: Champion: Erik Juliusson, 1:50.52, 10. Max Morgan, 1:58.06 (consolation title); 50 Free: 12. Cade Baldridge, 22.36, 17. Nolan Del Toro, 22.76; 100 Free: 5. Cameron Karkosa, 47.70, 8. Max Morgan, 48.83, 9. Cade Baldridge, 49.82; 16. Trent Sadler, 50.61; 500 Free: 11. Benjamin Greenwood, 4:54.73; 200 Free Relay: 7. Laguna Beach (Nolan Del Toro, Jack Dodson, Greyson Benson, Trent Sadler), 1:31.94; 100 Backstroke: Champion: Erik Juliusson, 50.28; 100 Breaststroke: 2. Cameron Karkosa, 59.22; 400 Free Relay: Champion: Laguna Beach (Max Morgan, Cade Baldridge, Cameron Karkosa, Erik Juliusson), 3:09.05.

Girls

200 Medley Relay: 9. Laguna Beach (Olivia Vera, Jenna Knott, Faith Hale, Aria Fischer), 1:57.40; 200 Free: 10. Aria Fischer, 1.57.89 (PR time, consolation championship); 50 Free: 2. Cara Borkovec, 24.13; 100 Butterfly: 5. Lila Vera, 58.69; 100 Free: 2. Cara Borkovec, 52.69; 500 Free: 10. Aria Fischer, 5:17.42 (PR time, consolation championship); 20 Free Relay: 2. Laguna Beach (Lila Vera, Bella Baldridge, Abby Cohn, Cara Borkovec), 1:40.17; 100 Backstroke: 10. Lila Vera, 1:0.07 (consolation championship); 100 Breaststroke: 15. Abby Cohn, 1:12.00; 400 Free Relay: 2. Laguna Beach (Lila Vera, Aria Fischer, Bella Baldridge, Cara Borkovec), 3:39.20.

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Track & Field

Several Laguna Beach athletes will compete Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

The Breakers advanced from last week’s CIF-SS Division 4 prelims at Carpinteria High to Saturday’s Southern Section finals. The top nine competitors in each event qualified for finals.

For the Laguna girls’ team, six athletes qualified for finals in five events: Coco Putnam (300 hurdles), Brenna Merchant (3,200), Janie Crawford (800), Brielle Budroe (800), Jackie Cenan (shot put), and the 4 x 400 relay team of Crawford, Putnam, Budroe and Natalie Kimball.

“I thought the girls were very competitive,” girls’ Coach Steve Lalim said of his team’s prelims performance. “They ran aggressive, and put themselves in a position to qualify.

“I’m very proud of their efforts and am excited for CIF finals.”

Two members of the Laguna boys’ team, Nate Lancaster (400) and Kilar Pike (high jump) also qualified for finals.

Saturday’s CIF-SS Track and Field Championships starts at 11:30 a.m. Gates at Falcon Stadium open at 9:30 a.m.

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Boys’ Golf

Laguna’s John Grayden will compete Monday in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament at Mission Hills Golf Course in Palm Desert. Grayden qualified for the tournament by tying for seventh-place in the opening round of the tournament May 12 at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach.

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Girls’ Sand Volleyball

Laguna’s inaugural season in the Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League came to an end Saturday with the IBVL South Pacific Pairs Championships at Dockweiler State Beach in Playa del Rey.

Briana Boyd and Sabrina Stillwell represented Laguna Beach in the tournament. The pair advanced form pool play by posting wins over Rachel Perez/Kelsey Knudsen of Valencia, and Liana Smale/Sophie Taylor of Winward. Boyd and Stillwell went on to defeat the Palos Verdes team of Lorna Brandt/Bryce Bark, 21-18, in a first-round playing to advance to the quarterfinals. In the final eight, they fell to defending tournament champions Skylar Caputo and Lan Nguyen of Mira Costa who won the quarterfinal match, 21-15.

Caputo and Nguyen went on to repeat as tourney champs by defeating Mira Costa teammates Katrina Kernochan/Emma Smith, in Saturday’s final.

Laguna’s first sand volleyball team won a share of the South Coast Division league championship, sharing the title with Saddleback Valley Christian.