2009 TOP 10 TEAMS OF THE YEAR:
Spartans fourth is gold
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No. 1: La Cañada boys’ swimming — Could there have been a better way for their final season to end for the Spartan seniors?
Cinching up their fourth consecutive CIF Division II championship in May, the La Cañada boys’ swim team was an absolute force in the water, dominating in the relays and individuals.
“This win is retribution,” said senior Josh Renfro, referring to the boys’ water polo team’s loss in the CIF playoffs only months before (see No. 5). “I feel fulfilled. ... It makes a statement about our program in general. The strength of our players; our collective will.”
After last year’s surprising win over Loyola, it looked like the Spartans were going to have a tough road back to the championship with the loss of star Ian Mirasola.
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The Spartans also returned a number of their stronger seniors: Chris Myers, Renfro, Conner Rothe, Spencer Borisoff and Paul Miernicki—not to mention the diving of John Geyer.
Sweeping the Rio Hondo league, La Cañada headed into the Division II prelims and got 15 different qualifying times—more than any other team.
From there, it was easy. A fifth place finish in the boys’ 200 yard medley paced the squad. Chris Myers’ top-five finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle racked up some points—and earned the senior All-Area swimmer of the year honors.
The brilliant diving performance of John Geyer—who won the boys’ one-meter diving competition—put the Spartans over the top in the CIF-SS Division II finals.
With a 20-point lead heading into the final event, the boys’ 400 yard freestyle relay, Renfro, Rothe, Alex Campbell and Myers took first place, nearly breaking the Division II meet record that they had set only the day before.
La Cañada won their fourth Division II championship in as many years with 234.5 points, outscoring Oaks Christian (205) by nearly 30 points.
No. 2: La Cañada girls’ volleyball — This should be 1A. A season that started out with a lot of hope ended with a magical CIF Southern Section Division II championship culminating in a 21-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12 win for the Spartans (27-6) over La Reina, their first championship in 32 years.
“There are no words to explain this [feeling],” Anderson said after the win. “This was my goal and we fulfilled it and I’m so proud of my team. I love them all.”
Spartans Coach Brock Turner could barely contain himself.
“I always ask the girls,” Coach Turner said, “‘Why are you playing the game? Why were you playing in seventh grade? Go have fun.’ If you can’t have fun, it’s not worth it. All the other stuff is minor.”
The road to the championship wasn’t easy—the Spartans had to fight through a tough schedule toward the end of it and boredom, for lack of a better word, when facing Rio Hondo competition.
They ran through Rio Hondo easily, going undefeated (8-0), and then nearly faltered in the second round of the Division II playoffs, edging Oak Park (at Oak Park) in five games.
The girls found themselves in the semifinals, beating Troy with ease (3-0) to face La Reina in the finals.
No. 3: St. Francis soccer — For most of the regular season, the Golden Knights found themselves in the hunt to reel in the Mission League championship. Entering the last several league matches, things didn’t go as planned. The Golden Knights finished fourth in league. Then, things starting going St. Francis’ way throughout the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs and, surprisingly, beyond.
St. Francis didn’t waste much time getting back to its winning ways. It picked up a 2-0 win against Tesoro before recording a 1-0 victory against Newbury Park. A goal by Amir Moore in overtime gave St. Francis a 3-2 win against Long Beach Jordan. St. Francis then suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to Long Beach Millikan, appearing to have ended its season in the semifinals.
But, the disappointment of falling just short of the championship match didn’t last long. St. Francis was invited to participate in the CIF Southern California Regional Division II Championships for the first time.
“We were given a new chance, and we didn’t want a third disaster,” said St. Francis Coach Glen Appels, who led the Golden Knights to three CIF championships between 1996-2003. “We were finished with that.
“We were going to finish on a positive note.”
St. Francis marched through the tournament with victories against Canoga Park and Valhalla to reach the championship match. The Golden Knights completed their season in style with a 4-2 win against top-seeded San Diego Cathedral Catholic.
St. Francis (18-6-5, 7-3-2 in league) received more than its share of contributions from the likes of Eric Verso, Jordan Bell, Nick Rihn, Max Cadena, David Rios, Brett McCreary and Christian Swart. Verso was named the All-Area Player of the Year after finishing with a team-high 26 goals and 10 assists. Eight of Verso’s goals came in the postseason, earning him All-CIF first-team honors. Rihn, Rios and Cadena also received All-CIF accolades.
No. 4: Crescenta Valley boys’ water polo — One of the best stories of the year. With plenty of Pacific League championships in the program’s 40-year history, the Falcons for years fell short in their ultimate goal of winning a CIF crown. That changed dramatically.
Piloted by Coach Jan Sakonju, Crescenta Valley used a talented core and much-needed depth to finally bring the elusive title to La Crescenta with a 10-9 victory against top-seeded Rio Mesa in the CIF Southern Section Division VI final at William J. Woolett Aquatics Center in Irvine on Nov. 22, 2008.
“We played like a team and we knew we could pull it out,” said Alan Dearman, who scored the winning goal late in the fourth quarter, after the game.
Crescenta Valley, which earlier won the league championship, got impressive seasons from Chris Veselich, Matt Peters, Nelson White, Rane Colvin, Danny Mock and Division VI co-Player of the Year Tristan Winterhalter. Winterhalter was named the All-Area Boys’ Water Polo Player of the Year after posting a team-best 107 goals and 163 steals. He scored 18 postseason goals. The Falcons finished 26-6 and went undefeated in league.
“The personal growth and the maturity they’ve gone through to put themselves in a position to hold a one-goal lead late in the game, that all goes back to their hard work and staying together,” said Sakonju, who was named the All-Area Boys’ Water Polo Coach of the Year, after his team’s triumph.
No. 5: La Cañada boys’ water polo — The best team on this list to not win a championship, the La Cañada boys’ water polo team was incredible: a heap of seniors, an amazing talent in Derek Borisoff (who’s going to USC this fall on water polo scholarship) and an excellent goalkeeper in Taylor Roszkos to boot. They played one of the toughest schedules in any sport and passed with flying colors.
The stars seemed to be aligned for another CIF-SS championship, until a tough opponent in JSerra challenged the Spartans in the quarterfinals.
With five seconds left in overtime and the Spartans leading 11-10, JSerra stole the ball and scored to tie the game to force sudden death overtime. The Lions scored immediately on their first possession and that was how David slew Goliath.
Players, parents, coaches and fans were all heart-broken.
“I’m not pleased with how it ended,” Coach German Lopez said shortly after the loss, “but I think these kids played well throughout the season. Hopefully, they learned something and this helps them at the next level.”
No. 6: La Cañada girls’ swimming — In the biggest surprise this season, the La Cañada girls’ swim team went into the CIF Division II finals hoping for a top-10 finish and came out in second place. Everyone from the swimmers to their coach, Steve Silversparre, was shocked.
“We did well in relays and that was a lot of points,” said Silversparre after the win, trying to explain it. “Considering I have one senior here and the rest are freshman and sophomores, this team is going to be good for a while. They’ll be able to contend next year, too.”
Some of the swimmers said they pushed themselves a little harder in efforts to do something incredible for the lone senior, Berit Kaesler. “For Berit,” became the team’s motto.
And boy howdy, did it work. All of the girls exceeded expectations, no greater than freshman Katy Campbell, who came up huge with a first place finish in the girls’ 500 yard freestyle (4 minutes, 53.04 seconds).
In the final event, the 400 yard freestyle relay, the girls finished fourth, which jumped them into second place with 132 points, one point ahead of third place Walnut.
No. 7: Crescenta Valley girls’ cross-country — The Falcons, piloted by Coach Mark Evans, lost four-year standouts Claire Collison and Rachel Lange to graduation.
That meant beginning a new chapter. Crescenta Valley did exactly that, as a talented group that featured Michelle Callister, Carlotta Pham, Claudia Pham, Megan Doeding and Anneke Kakebeen wound up placing third in the CIF Southern Section Division I final at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut.
Crescenta Valley then finished a respectable sixth (195 points) at the CIF-State Cross-Country Meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park. Callister clocked 18 minutes 27 seconds to place 25th overall. Carlotta Pam was 35th (18:40). Each Falcon improved their times from prior times at the state meet.
It marked the fourth time since 2005 that the Falcons competed in the state meet.
No. 8 Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer — The Tologs showed why they were one of the top teams locally and in the region. Flintridge Sacred Heart, which captured its first Mission League championship, finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division II.
The Tologs, under co-Coaches Frank Pace and Kathy Desmond, went 16-5-4 and 7-1-2 in league and won their first playoff match since 1997 before suffering a 1-0 second-round loss to eventual champion Saugus. Flintridge Sacred Heart established a school record for most shutouts in a season with 14. Nine players received all-league honors, including Sinead Fleming, Breeana Koemans, Pip Harragin, Isabelle Johnson, Katie Johnson, Natalie Zeeni and Dominique Oro.
Flintridge Sacred Heart played one of the toughest schedules among area programs, picking up victories against league rivals Harvard-Westlake and Chaminade, which were both ranked in the division’s top three during the season.
Said Pace shortly after his team’s loss to Saugus: “They will always be the first team at Sacred Heart that won a Mission League championship.”
No. 9: Flintridge Prep boys’ volleyball — With practically a new cast on board, Flintridge Prep wasn’t expected to necessarily challenge for a Prep League championship or make a deep postseason run. The Rebels more than surprised themselves, placing second in league and then marching all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division V semifinals for the second time in three seasons.
Flintridge Prep (20-6, 5-2 in league) got hot just before the playoffs began, earning the No. 4 seed in the postseason. It picked up playoff victories against California Academy of Math and Science, Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian and Arrowhead Christian Academy before succumbing in three games to top-seeded St. Margaret’s on the road.
No. 10: La Cañada girls’ water polo — Another great team fielded in the water polo pool, the La Cañada girls’ water polo team (24-7) was fantastic all year, with senior Berit Kaesler, later named All-Area girls’ water polo player of the year, leading the way on offense and junior Riley Kessler on defense.
The girls reached the semifinals in the CIF-SS Division IV playoffs and lost to No. 1 seed Arroyo Grande, 7-6 in overtime, another heart-breaker.