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League titles are still to be won and division tournaments have yet to be held, but things already are shaping up for the 2006 Central Coast Section water polo tournaments.
For the boys, it looks like another Menlo-Sacred Heart Prep matchup is waiting in the Division II finals. For the girls, don’t be surprised if the same schools meet for that Division II crown — now that the section has been divided like the boys.
The Sacred Heart boys further strengthened their claim as one of the top programs in the section after capturing the annual St. Francis Invitational on Saturday with a 5-4 victory over North Coast Section power De La Salle.
The Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep girls didn’t come home with the big trophy, but still showed they are the class of the CCS after solid performances in the Northern California Championships last weekend at UC Davis.
The Menlo girls (15-3) finished third while the SHP girls (12-2-1) took fifth despite going 4-0-1 in the two-day event. No other CCS teams finished higher.
The SHP boys, meanwhile, went 3-0 in the St. Francis tourney. The Gators opened with an 8-5 win over Palo Alto, got by a much-improved Menlo-Atherton team in the semifinals, 8-6, then held off De La Salle in the finals. The Spartans, by the way, were ranked No. 1 in the nation in football this week.
Their water polo team is no slouch, either, with a No. 2 ranking in the NCS. It’s top player, Andrew Milcovich, a member of the USA National Youth Team who is considered one of the top five prep players in the country. Thus, one of the keys to SHP’s victory was limiting Milcovich’s effectiveness. That job fell on Tim Norton, who held Milcovich to one goal.
“That was the backbone of our defense,” said SHP coach Brian Kreutzkamp. That, and the play of SHP junior goalie Michael Wishart, who came up with his best game of the season with 14 saves in the finals.
“He had mono earlier in the year and this was the first week he was really 100 percent,” Kreutzkamp said.
The Gators trailed 3-0 in the second quarter before scoring four straight goals for a 4-3 halftime lead. The score remained that way until SHP sophomore Paul Rudolph tallied the winner in the final quarter. He and Michael Bausback each scored twice. Rudolph scored nine goals in the three victories.
Gunn (6-9) had a 2-1 finish after beating Lemoore (8-6) and Burlingame (13-10). Will Agramonte (12 goals) and Chris Preston (10) led the Titans.
Palo Alto (7-6) and Menlo-Atherton (8-6) both finished 1-2. The Vikings played three CCS contending teams in SHP, Serra and Mitty and came away with a 13-9 win over the Monarchs. Junior goalie Will Simon had 19 saves against Mitty and 41 for the tourney.
In the girls’ NorCal tourney, Menlo posted victories over College Park (13-5), Los Altos (12-5) and Rio Americano (15-9) while finishing behind champion Davis and runnerup St. Francis (Sacramento).
“I am proud of the team and how we played,” said Menlo coach Jenny Booth, whose losses came to St. Francis (Sac.) and Buchanan (Fresno). “The central valley teams bring great competition and I feel fortunate to have this experience so early in our season.”
Booth also liked her team’s offense, which generated 54 goals in five matches. Senior Megan Burmeister led the way with 13 goals while junior Cayley Bowles added 12. Junior goalie Elise Ponce had 42 saves.
SHP, meanwhile, technically had a better tournament with only a 4-4 tie with Rio Americano marring a perfect record. When Campolindo beat Miramonte in bracket play and all three teams had the same record, goal differential was used to decide which team advanced to the semifinals. SHP did not.
Aside from that, the Gators produced solid wins over quality competition with victories over Campolindo (9-3), Miramonte (9-2), St. Francis-Mountain View (10-3) and Johansen of Modesto (11-6). Caroline Clark had 12 goals and fellow junior Pallavi Menon added 10 in the five matches. Junior goalie Lindsay Dorst had 48 saves.
Palo Alto (6-7) went 2-3 in the tournament as Tanya Wilcox produced 12 goals.
Cross country
Local runners were busy on two fronts Saturday with Gunn competing in the Ram Invitational at Westmoor High while Palo Alto, Menlo-Atherton, Castilleja, Pinewood, Woodside Priory and Sacred Heart Prep were among the hundreds of competitors at the annual Stanford Invitational.
In Daly City, the Gunn girls finished third as Joanne Reid raced home over the 2.4-mile course in fourth place in 15:14. Teammate Irene Graham was ninth in 15:49. The Gunn boys were sixth with Jonathan Chu their top finisher in 14th (13:08).
At the Stanford Golf Course, Castilleja was third in the girls’ Division V race and Palo Alto was 12th in the girls’ Division II race over the 5,000-meter course. Alicia Ivanhoe of Paly was the top local finisher, taking ninth in 19:07.
The Sacred Heart Prep boys were seventh in Division V as Kramer Straube came home 27th (16:36) as the top local finisher.
Boys soccer
Sacred Heart Prep and Woodside Priory moved closer to their rematch on Oct. 10 with solid victories in Private Schools Athletic League action last week. The Gators (6-1-1) produced a 3-0 win over host Redwood Christian as Grant Gramaglia and Travis Benson each had a goal and an assist. The Panthers (6-2, 7-2-1) got back to winning with a 5-1 win over St. Lawrence. Charlie Reyes scored twice for Priory.
Girls tennis
Menlo (3-0, 8-2) and Menlo-Atherton (3-0, 7-0) remained atop the PAL Bay and Ocean divisions, respectively, but Sacred Heart Prep (4-2, 6-3) dropped back in the West Catholic Athletic League race following a 4-3 loss to St. Ignatius. The Gators played without No. 2 singles standout Sam Rosekrans, who was on a recruiting trip to Yale.
Girls volleyball
Ashley Acuff and Lindsey Spiegelman produced eight kills each to help Palo Alto defeat visiting Gunn, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17, in the teams’ first meeting in SCVAL De Anza Division action this season.
Menlo and Menlo-Atherton met in their first showdown in the PAL Bay Division, with the Knights emerging with a 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 triumph as sophomore Abby Whelan had a career-best 17 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Katherine Gorman produced a season-best 28 digs and senior Allie Zamaria added 39 assists for Menlo.
The Knights then took on some heavyweights in the annual Mitty Invitational, finishing 12th out of 16 teams. Menlo fell to defending Division III state champion St. Francis (Sacramento), Gross Catholic of Omaha, Neb., and Clovis. Gorman was named to the all-tournament team after contributing 72 digs in the four matches.
