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The San Bernardino Valley College men's cross country team is the state champion -- again.
The Wolverines captured their third straight community college state title Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Wolverines had three runners in the top 10 and five in the top 25.
SBVC had a total of 50 points, 27 more than runner-up San Diego Mesa. Rounding out the top five were Orange Coast (147), Rio Hondo (172) and Mt. SAC (210).
"It feels great," coach Wes Ashford said. "Every year is a new year so it's different. I'm just happy for the kids because they worked hard to get here."
Sophomore Carlos Perez led the effort, finishing third over the four-mile course in 20:19.05. He also placed third individually last year. It is his fourth straight state title, dating back to his CIF championship teams his last two years at Barstow High School.
Sophomore Matt Sartori, another holdover from last year's team, was fifth (20:23.85). Also scoring for the Wolverines were Jared Bain (10th in 20:36.58), Art Parra (18th 20:56.06) and Manuel Bueno (21st in 20:5926).
The non-scoring runners were Ankur Joshi (25th in 21:02.01) and Ronell El-Amin (35th in 21:09.72).
"We felt good warming up but you never know what the other teams are going to do so I told them just to focus on ourselves and running our own race," Ashford said.
The Wolverines, who won the Foothill Conference and Southern California Regionals earlier this season, both by wide margins, celebrated by racing go-karts and playing laser tag at a nearby gaming facility before heading home.
"I promised them if they won they could mess around and have a little fun," Ashford said.
Freshman A.J. Pulice of Victor Valley qualified as an individual. He placed 69th (21:34.87) out of 199 runners.
Orange Coast won the women's title with 84 points, just edging out second-place Glendale (86).
Victor Valley qualified two girls, as Melissa Hernandez was 64th (19:64.06) and Monique Hoover was 71st (20:07.64) out of 191 athletes.
The San Bernardino Valley College women's soccer team isn't going to have long to celebrate its first-ever Foothill Conference title.
The Wolverines (15-6-3) are busily preparing for their first-round playoff game against Cerritos (17-0-4), which isn't just the top seed but the top-ranked team in the country.
Coach Kristin Hauge was informed of the playoff draw on Tuesday and is excited about the first-round matchup at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cerritos.
The teams played a nonconference game three weeks ago and the Falcons emerged with a 3-2 win. SBVC felt good about that game because it has been the only team this season to score on Cerritos more than once.
"We felt good about the way we played and we're looking forward to getting another chance," Hauge said. "Yes it is going to be tough, but we like the challenge."
The Wolverines will be making their second tournament appearance in school history. The first came last year when they advanced as conference runner-up but defeated Victor Valley 1-0 in a first-round game. They were eliminated in the second round by Cuyamaca 3-1 in overtime.
The Wolverines are led by freshman forward Sylvia Fuentes, the conference's most valuable player. She has scored 12 goals and nine assists and is second on the team in points to Sarahi Bransford (17 goals, 11 assists).
SBVC also has a solid goalkeeping duo in sophomore Jackie Jaime and freshman Maria Magana.
``We have nothing to lose, so we're up for the challenge," Hauge said.San Bernardino Valley College men's basketball team had a successful debut under new coach Quincy Brewer, going 3-0 at a tournament hosted by Los Angeles City College.
The Wolverines defeated Los Angeles Pierce 91-81, host Los Angeles City 94-86 and conference rival College of the Desert 104-88 in the championship game.
Sophomore guard Warren Fuselier earned Most Valuable Player honors, tossing in 20 points with five assists in the championship game. Also making the all-tournament team were freshman guard Alex Jacobs and freshman forward Maurice McGee.
Brewer isn't overexcited though.
"I'm never to up or too down. I'm always in the middle," he said. "We got big leads, like 18, 20 points. But then we didn't put teams away. We have to learn to do that."
The Wolverines will make their only home appearance until January Saturday when they host L.A. City at 3 p.m.
Most soccer coaches don't have the luxury of more than one good keeper. So San Bernardino Valley College women's coach Kristin Hauge considers herself blessed. She has four. It's one of the reasons the Wolverines (15-5-3) were able to clinch the first Foothill Conference title in school history and notch a school-record number of wins.
The SBVC quartet is led by sophomore Jackie Jaime (Kaiser HS) and also includes freshmen Natalie Guevara (Rialto), Maria Magana (Arroyo Valley) and Vanessa Vasquez (Moreno Valley Canyon Springs).
Hauge said she watches all four warm up before a game before making the decision on who will start.
"It's a bummer because it's hard to get them all playing time," she said. "They good thing is that they all work well together and they push each other every day in practice."
Magana got most of the playing time early and has a 1.35 goals against average in 1,197 minutes. Jaime, the starter last year, has seen more playing time of late because of her experience working with backfield defenders Serina Stephens, Tiffany Jones and Brianna Jones. Jaime has an 0.57 average in 636 minutes.
The Wolverines have totaled 11 shutouts with just one game left in the regular season, a 3 p.m. game at Chaffey on Wednesday.
San Bernardino Valley College sophomore quarterback Mike Stadler did not play in Saturday's 28-10 American Division Mountain Conference loss to Compton.
He has played through a sore shoulder much of the season and head coach Pat Meech said the problem was likely worsened by a hit he took against San Diego Mesa two weeks ago. He will have an MRI Monday.
Freshman Danny Laugen, a graduate of Colony High School, got the start and fared admirably, completing 13 of 23 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked four times.
He has seen some playing time because of Stadler's nagging injury but got the majority of the reps in practice last week.
"He showed great improvement," Meech said. "He hung on to the ball too long a couple of times but nothing major. That comes with experience."
Next week the Wolverines (0-6, 0-3) play at Mt. San Jacinto (0-6, 0-3) which has struggled as well.
"It's going to be a test of character," he said. "We're both struggling and hungry for a win. It will be a matter of who keeps it together and is able to perservere."
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Jimmy Paulson, a fixture in the athletic department at San Bernardino Valley College for nearly 50 years, died last week at the age of 69. Paulson graduated from Pacific High School in 1956 and SBVC in 1959.
While at SBVC he was a student manager for the baseball and wrestling teams. After a brief stint in private business, Paulson was offered the position of athletic equipment manager by Sylvester Heinberg, the chair of the physical education division and coordinator of athletics. He served in that position from 1962 until retiring in 1997, when he was inducted into the SBVC Hall of Fame.
During 35 years as athletic equipment manager, Paulson worked with 45 head coaches, six athletic trainers, five athletic directors, five physical education division chairs and more than 10,000 athletes, 134 of whom played professionally and 12 who qualified for the Olympics.
A moment of silence was held before Saturday's football game against Compton. Trainer Mike Sola is looking into a more permanent tribute to the mainstay.
The San Bernardino Valley College and Victor Valley College football teams were beat up and abused by foes from the stronger National Division for the last three weeks.
Now they get to take on opponents in the same boat. The two open American Division Mountain Conference play against each other at 1 p.m. in Victorville Saturday.
That means one team will stop the bleeding while the other will continue its freefall.
Both SBVC coach Pat Meech and Victor Valley coach Dave Hoover have been critical of the new scheduling and conference alignments that have the perceived weaker teams playing the power teams first in nonconference.
Overall the weaker teams went a cumulative of 6-42 against the big boys. The Rams are coming off a 73-13 shellacking by Mt. SAC while the Wolverines were thumped by Saddleback 69-14.
"It's like going out and playing USC every week when you're San Jose," Meech said. "You don't stand much of a chance."
"I don't see what good it does anyone," adds Hoover. "We didn't benefit by playing those teams and they certainly didn't get better by playing us."
Victor Valley started its season by playing Riverside, Palomar and Mt. SAC - teams ranked 25th, 11th and first in the state respectively.
SBVC also played Riverside but also faced No. 14 Desert and No. 17 Saddleback.
The Rams were more competitive, at least staying close for a half in their first two games.
SBVC has been manhandled by a cumulative score of 154-41 with most of its points coming at garbage time. It also has a losing streak of eight games that includes the last five games of 2007.
"We're definitely in need of something positive to build on," Meech said. "But I can't fault the effort. Our guys are showing up every single day and working hard. They just haven't had much to show for it."
The plight of the teams shows up in the statistics columns. In scoring offense Victor ranks 27th (14.7 ppg) while SBVC is 28th (13.7) of 37 teams. In scoring defense the Rams are 34th (47 ppg) while SBVC is 36th (51.3 ppg).
The Rams are a lofty sixth in passing offense (254.9 ypg) thanks to the effort of freshman quarterback O'Ryan Bradley but are just 29th in rushing (72.3 ypg).
SBVC is 27th in passing (158.7) and 35th in rushing (20.7).
The two teams are close defensively with the Rams 29th against the run (217.7) and 17th against the pass (195.3) while the Wolverines are 35th against the run (268.7) and 18th against the pass (198.3)
"In the past to win our conference you had to go undefeated so losing the first game really puts you behind the eight-ball," Hoover said. "It's a little different now. No one knows how this is going to play out but both of us really need a win."
It is a relatively light schedule for the local colleges. Chaffey (3-0) heads to Grossmont (1-2) for a 1 p.m. contest against the former Foothill Conference juggernaut.
But the University of Redlands, which is ranked in three national polls, is idle along with Pomona-Pitzer (1-1) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-1).
La Verne (0-1) will host Willamette (Ore.) at 1 p.m.
concern to San Bernardino Valley College football coach Pat Meech.
The Wolverines dropped their season opener 34-17 Saturday at College
of the Desert. The new conference alignment and playoff structure has
teams in the lesser division like SBVC playing teams in the so-called
power division before their own conference play starts so the chances
of a 0-3 start are definitely there.
But Meech isn't looking at it that way.
``We haven't put much emphasis on it so I don't think our kids are
that aware of who is in what division. We're just trying to go out
there and get better each day,'' he said. ``In the past you played
like teams in non-conference. Then it got tougher when you played
conference. This is really the other way around but you still hope to
win or two.''
The Wolverines got off to a slow start and it was all uphill after
that. They had turnovers on their first three possessions - an
interception off a tip and two fumbles. The Roadrunners turned all
three into touchdowns to go up 21-0 and led 26-0 before the
Wolverines scored.
The rushing game only managed 22 yards, 11 of that coming on a
touchdown run by Dewayne Booker. Meech said the lack of productivity
was the result of a combination of things. The offensive line didn't
play up to par but the backs also didn't find some of the holes that
were there. The deficit also forced the Wolverines to abandon the run
early.
The air attack, directed by sophomore quarterback Mike Stadler,
did tally 219 yards. Booker caught four passes for 20 yards while
Robert Anderson snagged three for 50. The biggest play was a
54-yarder to Aaron Barlow. Meech was most pleased with his line in
that regard.
``We did a pretty good job of protecting the passer,'' he said.
``That was good to see because we were hurried quite a bit last
season.''
The defense performed adequately enough, given the poor field
position most of the night. Top tacklers were strong safety freshman
Ricky Pesquera, sophomore defensive back Justin Solis and freshman
defensive end Jim O'Brien.
A couple of injuries in Thursday's practice forced a change in
personnel. Center Hugo Garcia (ankle) and defensive lineman Bobby
Martinez (knee) actually got hurt on the same play. Both missed
Saturday's game but are expected back for next week's rivalry game
against Riverside which opened its season with a 52-31 win over
Victor Valley.
Meech said he would likely make some personnel changes when the team
takes to the practice field today. The coaching staff spent much of
Sunday breaking down the game film, as well as going over the RCC
game.
RCC leads the series 35-28 but the teams last played in 2002. SBVC's
last win in the series was in 1996 - 32-20.
Meech, who lives in Riverside and assisted Tigers coach Bill Brown
for two years before taking the head job at SBVC, is looking forward
to the contest dubbed ``The Bell Game.''
``It will be a lot of fun,'' he said. ``Most of these kids had a real
rivalry game in high school so I hope this takes them back. It will
be good to re-establish this rivalry. We're neighboring communities
where there are a lot of ties.''
Dress rehearsals are over. The curtain on the new football season comes up for real Saturday with all area junior college teams in action.
The most notable game will take place in the neighboring county as Victor Valley travels to Riverside Community College's Wheelock Field for a 6 p.m. showdown for the first ever meeting between the schools.
Two other games that would have been Foothill Conference contests in the past are now just nonconference tuneups after a complete retooling of the playoff structure. Chaffey will host Mt. San Jacinto while San Bernardino Valley College travels to College of the Desert, both kick off at 6 p.m.
Riverside and Chaffey are both part of the tougher Central Conference of the National Division while SBVC and Victor Valley are both in the weaker Mountain Conference of the American Division.
The nonconference games loom large for SBVC and Victor Valley because just two of the eight playoff berths will come from the American Division so this gives them a chance to show they belong.
The team in the stronger conference need to win against what are considered lesser foes because of the competition they will see in conference later in the season. The National Division will have six teams in the playoffs, including a handful of wildcards.
But coaches are focusing on the task right in front of them.
"Every game is as important as the next," said Riverside coach Bill Brown, starting his seventh year. "We haven't talked about any other team but Victor Valley."
Riverside was 4-5 a year ago. Sophomore quarterback Coy Glass, a Redlands High School product, leads the offense after sharing duty there last season. Brown indicated he would probably use several running backs and receivers to see who emerges.
The Rams, coming off a 3-7 season, scrimmaged Antelope Valley and Pomona-Pitzer last week and coach Dave Hoover was pleased, especially with his offense. He went through four quarterbacks last year and the offense never did click.
"We churned out some big plays and that's something we were lacking last year. We couldn't move the ball to save our life," he said. "Defensively we're quite young so I'm not quite sure what we have there. But that's something most coaches are probably saying this time of year."
Riverside will be the first of three tough nonconference games for the Rams. Next up is Palomar, then juggernaut Mt. SAC. Hoover is hoping his team survives the tough nonconference grind.
"Health is my biggest concern, playing the teams we're playing to start out," he said. Do I think we can win all three? No. But we're going to compete and I think we can play with anyone in our conference. But one or two injuries and we become very average very fast."
Both SBVC coach Pat Meech and Chaffey coach Carl Beach said right now there is not much of a different feel to the season since they are playing familiar foes, although in a different situation.
"I don't think it's much different for us as coaches because we're still playing teams we know and have played in the past," Meech said. "You're getting player turnover every couple of years so there isn't much familiary with any opponent."
SATURDAY GAMES
MT. SAN JACINTO at CHAFFEY
Time: 6 p.m.
About MSJ: The Eagles are looking to erase the memory of a 1-8 season in which the lone win came over San Diego Mesa. Second-year coach Casey Mazzotta returns QB Colin Wigley and inherited a transfer from SBVC in RB DeShaun Smith. The offensive line they have to work should be much improved led by Jose Acuna and center Sol Sagaio. Top defenders are OLB Ezra Latu, DE Zack Van Deusen and MLB Cole Moseley.
About Chaffey: The Panthers defeated the Eagles 28-10 last season in what was then a conferfence game. It is now a non-conference showdown. Greg Sprowls will run the offense called by new coordinator Matt Bechtel. Leading rusher Jahmel Rover (knee) is out so the Panthers will rely on backfield-by-committee with Tyler Thompson, John Alejandro and Matt Chase sharing the workload. Top cover man Mike Fields (knee) is also out but the Panthers should create pressure up front which is where their experience should be a factor. The biggest question mark will be Chaffey's kicking teams.
VICTOR VALLEY at RIVERSIDE
Time: 6 p.m.
About Victor: Coach Dave Hoover is excited about the potential of his offense led by quarterbacks Elisah Filipili and O'Ryan Bradley, both of whom should see playing time. Bradley is a transfer from UNLV where he tried to walk on. Hoover likes also likes the progress of his offensive line which consists of Alex Mitchell, Beau Humphrey, Louis Morales, Ramon Sandoval and Andrew Gomez - all High Desrt natives. WR Jarrett Partman will be out this week. Eric Brinkley, who has moved from linebacker to safety, and Aaron Mosley key the defense.
About Riverside: Redlands product Coy Glass directs the Tigers offense. Coach Bill Brown will use a stable of running backs in the early going with Cedric Foster, Ben Irwin, Ivan Lopez and Tanner Paes among those seeing action. Travis Carter, Corey Ham (Redlands) and Tommy Curry will be the key receivers. T.J. Tuigamala is the most experienced lineman. Jamell Murry and Andrew Smith (Redlands) lead the defense.
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY at DESERT
Time: 6 p.m.
About Valley: Sophomore QB Mike Stadler returns but he will be surrounded by mostly newcomers - the most notable being San Bernardino High School alumn Dewayne Booker. He will backed up Devan Libran. Thad Quist and Terrance Humes anchor the offensive line with Humes coming back from a knee injury that sidelined him most of last season. Leaders on defense are S James Hutchins and LB Cordelle Nugent.
About Desert: The Roadrunners were conference champion last year in what was the Foothill Conference. They defeated the Wolverines 27-14 in that run. QB Brent Rausch (Hawaii) has departed but Desert inherited its usual boatload of out-of-state transfers with almost 50 from outside California.
- Compiled by Michelle Gardner
San Bernardino Valley College football coach Pat Meech knows his school lacks the resources to compete weekly against the more traditional powers in Southern California. Now he doesn't have to do so.
The junior college season will kick off this week and the entire conference structure and playoff format has been reworked. The Foothill Conference no longer exists. Adios Mission Conference. Sayonara Western State Conference.
The sport will now be governed under the umbrella of the Southern California Football Association.
Teams are separated into two divisions - the National and American. The National is subdivided into three seven-team conferences (Northern, Central, Southern) while the American has two eight-team conferences (Mountain, Pacific).
The National Division, the power conference, includes perennial title contenders such as Mt. SAC, Bakersfield and former Foothill Conference juggernaut Grossmont. Chaffey, Riverside and Citrus are among the other entrants.
SBVC and Victor Valley factor into the weaker American Divsion. But Meech doesn't mind being lumped into the also-ran category.
"Am I afraid of those schools? No. I would like to play them," he said. "But it would be crazy to think we can go head-to-head with those teams week after week after week."
Veteran Chaffey coach Carl Beach, who was on the committee that developed the new alignment, isn't quite sure his team is ready to battle the big boys, citing resources and enrollment but admits past success is the reason his school has been put in with the stronger teams.
"It's more about what we have done in the past. I'm not so sure we belong there but we'll see," he said.
The alignments will be reviewed every two years with some teams moving up or down depending on competitive balance.
A similar format has been used in the Northern part of the state for several years and received a favorable review.
When it comes to picking a field for the playoffs, eight teams will be chosen. Each of the three National Division conference will be given two spots for a total of six teams.
The American Division would qualify the winner of each conference for the final two spots, provided those teams finish with winning records. If a conference winner is not above .500, a wild-card would be chosen based on state power ranking.
There will be three additional bowl games for teams not making the playoffs to be awarded based on state ranking.
The original plan called for four teams to make the playoffs with all of those coming from the power division. The lesser schools balked at that idea so the current format was a compromise.
Beach said the committee wanted to get the new system in place. This one primarily divided teams based on their competitive history.
When the alignment is addressed again in two years he said more emphasis will be placed on enrollment, particularly a school's ability to draw out-of-state athletes. Resources and facilities will also be issues.
"I think it's fair," Meech added. "It will be good for us to play teams more like us."
Teams in the American Division will have seven conference games, then fill out their schedule with three games against the National Division, giving them a chance to boost their power ranking and see if they are competitive against those teams.
SBVC's nonconference foes will be Riverside, College of the Desert and Saddleback. The Wolverines have played Riverside 68 times, the first coming in 1926 but haven't faced the Tigers since 2002.
Victor Valley's opponents will be Riverside, Palomar and Mt. SAC.
Rams coach Dave Hoover was alright with the division of the teams but isn't happy with his brutal nonconference schedule.
"Not only are we probably playing the three best teams, we're playing the three most physical teams," he said. "It was a nice idea having the big dogs play the big dogs. It all makes sense. But their nonconference games should be against the teams in their divison in the other conferences."
Chaffey and the other teams in the National Division have six conference games and four non-conference contests.
The Panthers will square off against Mt. San Jacinto, Southwestern, Antelope Valley and Grossmont - all significantly longer trips than treking 20 minutes to SBVC.
While SBVC is excited about renewing its rivalry with Riverside, it is mystified why Chaffey wasn't included on the non-conference schedule since rivalries were also supposed to be kept in tact. That also baffles Beach.
Coaches were allowed to submit a list of three teams they wanted to keep games with and both SBVC and Chaffey listed the other as their top choice.
"It doesn't make sense. We have to pass them by to go to all out other games," Beach said.
Hoover asked to keep Antelope Valley, Desert and Chaffey and got none of those.
NATIONAL DIVISION
Northern Conference: Allan Hancock, Bakersfield, College of the Canyons, Glendale, Moopark, Pasadena City, Ventura
Central Conference: Cerritos,Chaffey, Citrus, College of the Desert, El Camino, Mt. SAC, Riverside
Southern Conference: Fullerton, Grossmont, Long Beach City, Orange Coast, Palomar, Saddleback, Santa Ana
AMERICAN DIVISION
Mountain Conference: Compton, Golden West, L.A. Harbor, Mt. San Jacinto, San Bernardino Valley,San Diego Mesa, Southwestern, Victor Valley
Pacific Conference: Antelope Valley, East Los Angeles, L.A. Pierce, L.A. Southwest, L.A. Valley,Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles
