May 2008 Archives
Fresno City College topped all other junior college athletic programs and has been named winner of the National Alliance of Two-Year Colleges Athletic Administrator's Cup for the 2007-2008 school year.
Fresno totaled 164 points as the top four schools were within seven points. It was followed by Cerritos (160), Sierra (159) and Mt. SAC (157).
Riverside Community College was sixth (139.5).
Other local schools finished in the middle portion of the 103 school rankings.
Chaffey was 41st with 40 points, getting all its points in the pool. The Panthers got 15.5 points in women's water polo, 14.5 in men's swimming and 10 in women's swimming.
San Bernardino Valley College was 47th (28.5), with 20 coming for its state championship in men's cross country and the other 8.5 coming in women's soccer which finished as the Foothill Conference runner-up.
Freshman Carlos Perez (Barstow H.S.) finished 4th in the 1500 meters, with a time of 3:57.95.
Sophomore Matt Prentice (Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World) finished 5th in the 10,000 meters, with a time of 33:25.95.
Sophomore Antoine Gibbs (Great Basin, Utah) finished 7th in the decathlon, with a point total of 5519.
The men's team finished 21st in total points with 11.
And the only woman to qualify for the Southern California Finals and the state finals from San Bernardino, Freshman Michelle Burley (Rialto Eisenhower), finished 9th in the 400 meters, with a time of 1:00.14.
straight state title. Now the 5-foot-11 forward is on to bigger
things, signing with Division I Long Beach State, Mounties coach
Laura Beeman confirmed.
Brown, a graduate of Etiwanda High School, averaged 8.4 points and
6.8 rebounds in helping the Mounties to a 37-1 record the past
season, that lone loss coming in the season opener.
Her season high of 19 points came against Los Angeles City. She also
reached double figures in 13 other games and had a season best of 18
rebounds against Taft.
Brown, who earned first-team All-South Coast Conference honors, is
the third Mt. SAC player to declare for a Division I school following
Jazlyn Davis (Arizona State) and Kendra Calvin (Cal).
Beeman added that guard Zsa Zsa Lawson will attend Division II
Brigham Young-Hawaii.
The Chaffey College baseball team waited a little too long to make its move Friday. By the time it did, it was a little too late.
The Panthers fell to host Riverside Community College 7-6 in the opening game of a best-of-three Southern California Regional at Chaffey. The teams will play again at 11 a.m. today, with the deciding game to follow if Chaffey wins.
"We didn't cash in early when we had some chances and that was the difference," Panthers coach Jeff Harlow said. "We always play well at home and we feel we can come back at any time, but we dug ourselves too big a hole."
The Tigers (28-17), the fifth place team out of the Orange Empire Conference, surged out to a 7-1 lead, scoring six of those runs with two outs.
Cody Madison was the main contributor to RCC's early rallies, stroking a two-run home run in the third off Chaffey starter Andrew Schile to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
He added a three-run double off reliever Julian Ramirez in the sixth that extended the Tigers' lead to 7-1.
Foothill Conference champion Chaffey (30-10) began its comeback in the bottom of the inning, aided by the control touble of Riverside starter Erick Carrillo.
Jonathan Peters singled and James Koerner and Josh Manzano worked walks to load the bases with none out. Carrillo came close to working out of the jam, enticing strikeouts from Mychal Johnson and Jonathan Costantino, both of whom swung at pitches in the dirt.
Gerry Hernandez showed a little more patience by working the count to 3-2 before walking, forcing home a run to cut the deficit to 7-2.
It became a game again seconds later when Ryan Delgado blasted a first-pitch slider from Carrillo over the right-center fence, a grand slam that cut the deficit to 7-6.
The Panthers were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position before the blast and were just 2-for-14 in the game in that department.
"I was just looking for a pitch I could drive," said Delgado, who now has 11 home runs this season. "That felt could because it gave us some momentum."
Willie Holmes just missed tying the game seconds later, blasting an offering from reliever Sean Greer off the top of the center-field fence for a triple.
Anthony Delgado then walked and stole second, but the rally ended there when Madison chased down a deep fly ball off the bat of Peters.
The bullpens of the respective teams then restored order: Neither team had a 1-2-3 innings through the first seven, but both did in the eighth and ninth.
Schile (9-3), the conference pitcher of the year, took the loss. He gave up four runs and eight hits and struck out five while walking two, and exited with the Panthers down 4-1.
Ramirez pitched 4 and a third innings and held the Tigers scoreless over the three, retiring the final nine hitters he faced.
Carrillo (3-1) earned the win. He scattered seven hits, five walks and six strikeouts.
Right-hander Kyle Morgan, a freshman out of Redlands East Valley, retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced over three innings to notch his second save for RCC.
"We're coming in here tomorrow with the thought of winning two," Harlow said. "This team battles and never gives up. We showed that today."
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- One can forgive the Chaffey College baseball team for heading into the playoffs with a bit of a chip on its shoulder.
The Panthers (30-9) come out of a weaker conference. They haven't had great success in the playoffs lately and they usually face a tough draw. Maybe they don't get enough respect.
They have a chance to gain some as they square off against defending state champion Riverside (27-17) in the best of three Southern California Regional the first game getting under way at 3 p.m. Friday.
Game two is slated for 11 a.m. Saturday, with the deciding game following if necessary.
It will also be a chance to strike a blow against a team that they go head-to-head with in recruiting.
"We have guys that tried out over there and got cut. So yes I would hope there is a little bit of incentive," Chaffey coach Jeff Harlow said. "They're from that dominant conference so it is a chance for us to make a statement."
Sophomore right-hander Andrew Schile (8-2, 2.94), the pitcher of the year in the Foothill Conference, will be on the mound for the Panthers, seeded seventh in the 18-team draw.
He doesn't think there is any extra pressure because of the opponent or the situation.
"It's the playoffs so you always want to win. We don't want to win more because it's RCC," he said. "But it will make it more rewarding if we do beat them."
The No. 10 Tigers were the fifth-place team out of the Orange Empire Conference, regarded as the toughest in the state. Last year's state championship series featured two schools from the conference, with Riverside downing Cypress for the title.
None in the Panther camp are surprised with the first-round matchup.
"We thought all long we would get them," sophomore catcher Mike Surina said. "We have been looking at it all season so we're not surprised. It will be fun because we all have played with and against a lot of their players."
It has been four years since the Panthers advanced past the first round. They cruised through conference play this season which probably isn't a good thing. They won the conference by three games and were so dominant they swept runner-up Rio Hondo - 15-0, 11-6 and 11-1.
This was the third straight conference title for the Panthers. Harlow, whose teams have made the playoffs five straight years, admits that Orange Empire teams are better prepared for the postseason because of the competition they see year-round.
Of Chaffey's 24 conference games, only six were decided by less than three runs.
"There's not a lot we can do about it," Harlow said. "We try and play the toughest preseason schedule we can get but facing that much competition is an advantage for them."
The Panthers had nine players earn all-conference honors. Joining Schile on the first team are freshman Willie Holmes (.408, 42 RBI), sophomore outfielder Mychal Johnson (.336, 42 runs), sophomore catcher Anthony Delgado (.384, 26 runs), sophomore third baseman Ryan Delgado (.329, 43 RBI) and sophomore first baseman Josh Manzano (.349 26 runs).
Second-team selections included sophomore left-hander Andrew Steinmeyer (5-1, 3.86), who will likely start one of the other games, freshman outfielder Jonathan Costantino (.359, 44 runs) and sophomore shortstop James Koerner (.336, 44 RBI).
Steinmeyer and Schile both pitched gems in their last outings. Harlow has also been pleased with the emergence of his relief crew, particularly sophomores Tim Redmon and Bret wolf and freshman Erik Bastio.
Top players for the Tigers are freshman second baseman Daniel Duran, sophomore outfielder Michael Hur and freshman third baseman Billy Hamilton (Carter HS).
Kaiser High grad Erick Carrillo (2-1, 4.03) and sophomore Peter Birdwell (2-1, 4.67) have drawn the majority of the starts. Redlands East Valley product Kyle Morgan (6-2, 2.27) has a team-high 22 appearances, all out of the bullpen.
The Chaffey baseball team has drawn a first-round playoff date with Riverside Community College.
Pairings for the best-of-three Southern California regionals were unveiled Sunday and the Foothill Conference champion Panthers (30-9) drew the No. 7 seed. Defending state champion Riverside (27-17) is No. 10, finishing fifth in the tough Orange Empire Conference.
Chaffey will host the series opener at 3 p.m. Friday with the second game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Coach Jeff Harlow wasn't surprised with that but was miffed that Cerritos (29-14) was one spot ahead of his team because his team beat the Falcons twice.
Swapping places with Cerritos would have meant getting Bakersfield (28-16), a more preferrable draw because it is a second-place team out of a considerably weaker conference.
"They didn't follow the criteria they should have," Harlow said. "We played that team and beat them twice. Why play them if it isn't going to matter? It's all political."
Tuesday's game's
Single-elimination games
No. 18 Santa Barbara at No. 15 Palomar
No. 17 Rio Hondo at No. 16 Ventura
Friday games
First game, best-of-three
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Santa Ana
No. 13 East Los Angeles at No. 4 Irvine Valley
No. 12 El Camino at No. 5 Southwestern
No. 11 Cypress at No. 8 College of the Canyons
No. 10 Riverside at No. 7 Chaffey
No. 11 Bakersfield at No. 6 Cerritos
No. 14 Long Beach City at No. 3 Orange Coast
Second-lowest seed at No. 2 Cuesta
Staff Writer
Akbar Nasution admits being a little in awe. There he was on the pool
deck at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, an up-and-coming
swimmer from the little known county of Indonesia.
He posed for pictures and talked with Australian legends Ian Thorpe
and Grant Hackett, as well as Americans Tom Dolan, Lenny Krayzelburg
and Gary Hall Jr. - all gold medalists.
He went to the festive opening ceremonies but admits he skipped the
closing ceremonies to do some sightseeing. It was a memorable
experience for a 16-year-old whose competitive career was just taking
off.
Nasution has traveled the world in the eight years since then and now
represents Chaffey College which will compete in the California
Junior College State Meet that starts today and runs through Saturday
at Saddleback College in Mission Viego.
Nasution, now 24, will swim the 500-yard freestyle, the 400-yard
individual medley, the 200-yard breastroke and compete on four of the
Panthers five relays.
He won all those events at last week's South Coast Conference meet
and hopes to improve on his finish at last year's state meet in which
he earned All-American and state swimmer of the year honors with wins
in the 500 and 1,650 free and a second in the 200 breast.
"I feel like I am ready to go," he said. "Swimming is one of those
sports you can go out and do your best and if you have a great time
and someone beats you, then they deserve it."
His family's involvement in the sport and a pipeline from his native
country to the local college have enabled him to train in Southern
California.
Chaffey Coach Mike Dickson, the Panthers coach the last three
decades, says the connection started in 1985 when the Indonesian
national team had four swimmers it wanted to place in college in the
United States. The quartet started out at another school but that
partnership didn't last.
Dickson was asked to take them in. Officials in that country were so
pleased with their progress over the next two years, more followed.
The veteran coach estimates he has had between 12 and 15 Indonesian
athletes on the college team, including sophomore Benny Respati who
will also compete in the meet this week and shares an off-campus
apartment with Nasution.
Dickson also has worked with another 60-70 younger swimmers who have
trained with Hillside Aquatics, a club team he runs at Chaffey during
the summer months.
He added that it has gotten increasingly difficult to bring athletes
over from that country since the terrorists attack on Sept. 11, 2001
since Indonesia is a Muslem Country.
"The paper work now is unbelievable. It takes many months," he said.
"Sometimes as long a a year."
Among those who relocated for their college years were three of
Akbar's four older sisters - Elfina, Maya and Elsa, all of whom were
All-Americans. Dickson said Elsa still holds a national record and
two state records while Elfina was a state champion.
Their father Radja is a prominent coach in Indonesia.
"We hit it off from the first time we talked," Dickson said of the
siblings father. "We have a lot of the same ideas and philosophies
and we have developed a good trust over the years."
Nasution said one of things he has enjoyed most about the sport is
the opportunity he has had to travel. He competed in the Southeast
Asian Games in December in Thailand, winning a silver and a bronze
medal. He also has been to Russia, Germany, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong
and practically every Asian Country.
He lived and trained in Australia for two years with famed coach
Denis Cotterell before arriving at Chaffey. He admits his experience
in that country at the Olympics made him want to go back.
"When I was competing I didn't really get out so it was good to go
back," he said. "They have good facilities, the weather is good and
it's near the beach."
The Indonesian Federation already has asked him to represent the
country in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in August. But he said it
would be tough to do that so soon after the collegiate season has
ended.
"We have been training hard for this meet," he said. "You really need
six months where you're doing nothing but working toward the Olympics
if that is what you're focused on."
As much as he loves the sport, Nasution admits he is looking forward
to developing his other interests. He isn't that interested in
transferring to a four-year school either.
Instead he is looking into going to a culinary arts school, either in
Pasadena or Orange County and will probably satisfy his craving for
athletic competition by participating in triathlons.
"I really like to focus on one thing at a time," he said. "I like
swimming but I want to do something else. I can always come back to
it."
