Fall Signing Day in Laguna
Laguna Beach High School held a fall college sports commitment day ceremony last Wednesday morning, Nov. 14, in the plaza outside the school library.
Water polo: Bryn Gioffredi – Brown , Claire Kelly – UCSB, Evie Laptin – UCSB, Quinn Winter – UCLA
Baseball: Cutter Clawson – BYU, Kolton Freeman – Dartmouth
Sand Volleyball: Kylee Matheson – Stanford
Equestrian: Cori Cansdale – Texas A&M
Cross Country Boys Take Section Title
Ryan Smither won the 3-mile D4 race and six Breakers earned All-CIF honors as Laguna breezed to the title by a wide margin over second place JSerra. Smithers won with a 14:46.1 time followed by Sebastian Fisher (7th) at 15:27.0, Logan Brooks (9th) at 15:28.9, Cal Nielson (10th) at 15:29.3, Zachary Falkowski (12th) at 15:33.9, and Mateo Bianchi (13th) at 15:33.9. The team time of 1:16.45 was clearly faster than the 1:19.14 posted by the 2009 Laguna squad that earned both Section and State titles. That squad had only one runner as fast as this year’s group of six with only the placement of your top five runners counting towards your team totals. The State meet is held at Fresno’s Woodward Park, which has hosted the State finals since the meet started in 1987. D4 was added in 1990 and divisions are based on each section’s own rules. Breakers hold the D4 5,000-meter course record set earlier this year and hope to set the State Meet D4 record on Saturday, Nov. 24.
Breakers won State titles in 1989, 2004 and 2009, with the last crown a 69-122 advantage over legendary McFarland in 2009. All-State honors are awarded to the top 10 runners in each division, an accolade earned by Smithers last season.
On the girls side, Hannah Konkel earned All-CIF honors with a 18:13.3 finishing 11th overall, but the Breaker squad came in sixth in a crowded field fighting for a top seven spot and a state meet bid. Jesse Rose was 19th with a 18:33.4 followed by Sierra Reed (62) 19:27.0. Morgan Falkowski (67) 19:32.4 and Kaitlin Ryan (68) 19:33.1. Laguna advances to State for the 13th time. The squad was 11th last season with their best finishes coming in 2013 (2nd) and 1992 (3rd).
You can check the results at www.prepcaltrack.com. Girls run at 11 a.m., and boys race at 12:30 p.m.
Ryan Smithers is Laguna’s first division champion since Eric Hulst in 1975, who was not only the 2A champion, but the entire section meet overall champion.
Winter Sports Opening Events:
Boys Basketball
Breakers edged Segerstrom 44-41 last Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Jaguar’s gym. Nolan Naess, the lone returning starter for Laguna, scored 27 points and hit some key free throws in the losing minutes to secure the win. Also scoring for Laguna were Lucas Kravitz, Willie Rounaghi and Chase Hall. Breakers will be playing in three in-season tournaments and will also face very tough non-league opponents from the Sunset Surf league. Joining Laguna this season in the Sunset Wave League will be Huntington Beach, Marina, and Fountain Valley.
Girls Basketball (6-0)
Breakers are a 5AAA team this season and hope to earn an at-large playoff bid with a .500 record after the grueling Sunset League season concludes. Laguna defeated Santa Rosa Academy 26-23 in overtime, Calvary Baptist 45-8, Desert Chapel in a forfeit, and Public Safety Academy 60-22. Freshman Anna Cheng is the leading scorer so far this year, averaging 13.8 points per game just ahead of Miss Pitz at 10.2 per game. Cheng is a skilled three-point shooter. Breakers will compete in the Sunset Wave league with Fountain Valley (D4AA), Marina (D3A) and Newport Harbor (D4AA).
Boys Soccer season starts Fri Nov 30 Dana Hills
Girls Soccer season opened Tue Nov 20 at Woodbridge
Girls Water Polo season opens Tue Nov 27 vs Murrieta Valley at Laguna
