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Citrus football players sign

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Sophomores Isaiah Kepley and Donnie Fields both signed NCAA DI scholarship offers earlier this week.

Citrus College football players Donnie Fields and Isaiah Kepley are the latest Owls to sign scholarship offers, with Fields headed to NCAA DI BCS Old Dominion and Kepley going to NCAA DI FCS school Southeastern Louisiana.

Fields (Arcadia HS) was a two-year starter for the Owls’ defensive line. He recorded 35 tackles, three sacks, 4.5 tackles for a loss, three fumble recoveries, three passes deflected and an interception.

Old Dominion begins its first season in BCS play in 2013, joining Conference USA.

Kepley (Victor Valley HS) was also a two year starter for the Owls, starting at wide receiver and serving as it’s primary place kicker. He hauled in 51 passes for a team-high 752 yards and eight touchdowns, just two away from the single-season record.

He has 73 career receptions (3rd all-time), 954 yards receiving (4th all-time), and 10 receiving touchdowns (2nd all-time). Kepley also has 142 career points which is the new program record for most points. Kepley also broke the record for longest field goal in a game against Long Beach City when he booted a 52-yarder.

Former UCR star back in SoCal

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Former UC Riverside baseball standout James Simmons is back in Southern California, for the moment.

Simmons, drafted by the Oakland A’s in the first round in 2007, arrived in San Bernardino on Monday. He is playing with the A’s California League affiliate – Stockton Ports, which was in town for a three-game series against the Inland Empire 66ers.

Simmons, 26, is 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five starts. He had struggled at Triple-A Sacramento with an 0-2 record and 7.16 ERA in 12 relief appearances. The organization preferred using him as a reliever but he wanted to start and the best opportunity for him to do that was in Stockton.

He is not scheduled to pitch in the series which wraps up Wednesday in San Bernardino.

Look who’s streaking, the top 10 win streaks by local college teams

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They always say its harder to stay at the top than get to the top. Well a bunch of area teams have learned to deal with the pressure that comes with repeating and have established nice traditions.

So today’s top 10 is top active streaks. The length of the win streak isn’t necessarily the most important factor. Quality of competition in that sports in that conference was an even bigger factor.

10. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s swimming 5 straight SCIAC titles

Much like on the women’s side, CMS has so much depth it’s hard for other teams to really challenge.

9. San Bernardino Valley men’s cross country 17 straight Foothill Conference titles

The Wolverines could easily be ranked higher than this but competition in the conference isn’t quite up to snuff. Of course the fact that SBVC is so good is one reason the rest of the conference looks so bad. More on this team later.

 8. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s swimming 10 straight SCIAC titles

The Athenas have maintained their stranglehold on the top spot with superior depth. Other teams may have more individual winners but CMS tends to have a couple of those, as well as place multiple swimmers in each event. That doesn’t look like it will change any
time soon.

6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s tennis 8 straight SCIACs The Stags  have repeatedly finished at the top of a conference that also has high-caliber programs in Redlands, Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran. This year the Stags (30-4) were national runner-up, and may well have won a title had it not been for the suspension of its No. 1 player before nationals.

5. Cal State San Bernardino volleyball 7 straight CCAAs.

The Coyotes have established a dynasty under head coach Kim Cherniss with seven straight and 10 in the last 12 years. This year’s might be the most unlikely because the team had graduated 7 players from the previous team and was relying primarily freshman. If another school didn’t wrestle the crown from the Coyotes this year, it might not happen for awhile. They went 24-9 overall, 19-3 in CCAA play to win by three matches. More on this team to come.

4. San Bernardino Valley men’s cross country 7 SoCals

The Wolverines are a dominant force, led by coach Wes Ashford. During this streak SBVC also went on to win five straight state championships from 2006 to 2010. SoCal is more competitive than NorCal, so win the region and you have a good shot to win it all.

3. University of La Verne men’s golf 7 straight SCIAC titles

The Leopards can change players and change coaches but have remained the best team in what is arguably the top conference in the country in Division III. How good is it? Well La  Verne may have gotten the AQ, but three others were given at-large berths to nationals. That’s three of seven given for the entire country.

2. University of Redlands softball 9 straight SCIACs

The Bulldogs (36-12, 22-6) retained their title again this year, despite losing All-American outfielder Amanda Lievanos to an injury before the season even started. Coach Laurie Nevarez also had a lineup, primarily of underclassmen and overcame a huge challenge from nationally ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps as well as SCIAC newcomer Chapman, which had been a national title contender even when competing as an independent.

1. Cal State San Bernardino volleyball 13 straight appearances in regional final

Winning a conference title is one thing, but doing better than that and making it all the way to the step before the Elite Eight is even more admirable, especially given the level of competition in the West region. This program is by far the premier program in the Inland Empire in any sport. A footnote here . . . The first win by the Coyotes next year will be the 500th in the tenure of Cherniss.

McIntosh_CSUSB_VB

 

Two locals get promotions

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Travis Taijeron

Two athletes that made their names with stellar college careers locally recently earned promotions to Double-A teams with their respective organizations.

Cal Poly Pomona graduate Travis Taijeron was promoted from the New York Mets High-A affiliate in Port St. Lucie (Fla.) of the Florida State League to Binghamton (N.Y.) of the Eastern League.

He hit .303 with 20 doubles, nine home runs and 27 RBI in 55 games and earned league Offensive Player of the Week honors twice to warrant the promotion.

In his second game with the Double-A team on Sunday, Taijeron, an 18th round pick in 2011, slugged a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to snap a 2-2 tie and give Binghamton a 5-2 win over Altoona (Penn.).

Meanwhile pitcher Aaron Brooks, out of Cajon High School and Cal State San Bernardino, climbed another rung on the Kansas City Royals organization ladder.

Brooks, an eighth round pick in 2011, started the season at High-A Wilmington (Del.) of the Carolina League where he went 2-3 with a 4.47 ERA but he was 2-0 with a 2.34 ERA in his last two starts.

He got his first start in Double A on Saturday, leading Northwest Arkansas (Texas League) to a 6-3 win over Arkansas. He went six innings, giving up eight hits and three runs while striking out two.

Aaron Brooks

Local college players await draft

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http://depts.valleycollege.edu/~/media/Images/SBCCD/SBVCDepts/Athletics/Baseball/Players/2013/Miller_Ryan2.JPG

The Major League baseball draft gets underway today so there will lots of excitement on the part of high school, community college and four-year college players throughout the country. It was a bit of a down year on the local college front so there likely won’t be many names called from those teams.

It looks like the first local college player to go will be catcher Ryan Miller (Tahquitz HS) of San Bernardino Valley Coillege.

The baseball draft is the most up-in-the-air of all the major sports so you never know. But Wolverines coach Bill Mierzwik said he has heard that his star player could go anywhere from the third to the 10th round. Good catchers are hard to find and he ranks highly in all the departments scouts covet, finishing with three errors and a fielding percentage of .990. He hit .301 with 33 RBI but whether he’ll hit enough at the next level seems to be the question.

Mierzwik also said the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox have been the teams with the most interest. But again, you never know.

Mierzwik also said outfielder-pitcher Brandon Kinser (Pacific HS) could also get called. He is leaning toward attending Brigham Young but likely would sign if he gets called early enough.

There are some locals at major four-year schools that will probably go first. Among those is junior right-handed pitcher Scott Frazier (Upland HS) who plays at Pepperdine. Among the others is catcher Jacob Romanski (Norco HS/Chaffey College) of San Diego State.

Frazier was 5-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 13 starts for the Waves. He had 83 strikeouts in 89 innings. Meanwhile Romanski his .303 and had a stellar fielding percentage of .989.

Citrus honors student-athletes

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From left to right: Kerry Carter, Coach Chris Victor, Coach Tim Tracey, Jasmine Williams, Coach Ron Ponciano, and Rodney Mathews at the 50th Annual Citrus College Achievement Awards Ceremony. Photo By: Andrew Vasquez

Sophomores Kerry Carter, Rodney Mathews, and Jasmine Williams have been named the 2012-2013 Citrus College Athletes of the Year. In addition six other Citrus College student-athletes were recognized for their work in the classroom.

Carter has spent three seasons with Citrus, red-shirting the 2010-2011 season, before stepping onto the floor for the first time during the 2011-2012 campaign. For his career, Carter averaged 16.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. He is the career leader in program history in points per game average. In the fall, Carter will be attending NCAA DI St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA where he will be attending and playing for the Gaels on an athletic scholarship.

Mathews  (Damien High School) was a two-year starter, totaling a career-high 94 solo tackles and 158 total tackles. Mathews is second in program history with nine career interceptions and third in program history with 14 pass break-ups in his two seasons on the gridiron for Citrus. He is headed to Fresno State.

In her two seasons on the pitch, Williams meanwhile left her mark all over for the Owls. Williams is the single season record holder for points, goals, and assists in a season and holds the career records in all three categories as well. She is heading to Cal State San Bernardino in the fall.

In addition to the three Athletes of the Year, six other current and/or former Owls were recognized for their academic accomplishments on campus. James Ayotte (golf), Audriana Arceneaux (soccer), Julie Gongwer (swimming), Blake James (baseball), Bre Lockett (softball), and Alyssa Lozano (soccer/softball) were all recognized as Distinguished Students for their job in the classroom.

 

Alexander, Smith take top athletic honors at Cal State San Bernardino

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2012_13_student athlete honors night

Senior basketball All-American Kwame Alexander and two-time senior volleyball All-American Camille Smith were named Male and Female Athletes of the Year, during the Coyotes’ annual student-athlete banquet Thursday night at the Santos Manuel Events Center.

Alexander led the California Collegiate Athletic Association in points (16.7) and rebounds (8.8) for the Coyotes, who reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons. The Moreno Valley native became the first player in seven seasons to lead the conference in both categories and was honored as just the fifth player in school history as an All-American.

Smith earned Honorable Mention All-America honors for the Coyotes, who reached the NCAA regional finals for the 13th consecutive season. The Norco native became the only player in Coyotes history to have more than 3,000 assists (3,121) and 1,000 digs (1,115) in a career and helped her team win four CCAA titles, four NCAA tourney berths, three NCAA regional titles and one NCAA runner-up finish. Individually, she was a three-time All-CCAA choice and two-time All-American.

Junior Lee Nishanian (soccer) and Chelsey Jones (soccer) were named Scholar-Athletes of the Year, while Brenna McIntosh (volleyball) and Ricardo Velasco (soccer) earned Pups of the Year honors, awarded to the top first-year Coyotes’ student-athletes.

Earning the CCAA Hal Charnofsky Awards were Johnny Bell (basketball) and Shayna Stuart (basketball).

On the season, 16 student-athletes earned All-CCAA honors with water polo’s Misty Vu receiving all-WWPA honors. Nine earned all-region honors with five teams (volleyball, cross country, men’s basketball, golf and water polo) represented in postseason play.

Jimenez a great choice to head Cal State women’s basketball program

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Head Coach Renee Jimenez

The vacancy directing the Cal State San Bernardino women’s basketball program has been filled with the appointment of Renee Jimenez, who had headed Cal State Monterey Bay the last five years.

She is the perfect choice. She took over an Otters program that was just transitioning to Division II and turned it into a contender pretty much over night. The team was 3-24 the year before she took over and won a conference title in her third year. Her record there was 97-46.

That was despite having the second-lowest budget of the 12 teams in the CCAA and one of the three of four worst facilities. It also isn’t an easy place in which to recruit players. Now put her in a place where she has a top-notch facility and a talent pool within a 30-40 mile radius  that is second to none. The rest of the CCAA should be afraid, very afraid!

Her teams play hard, play together and play unselfishly. Their trademark has always been defense. I saw them play when they were here to play the Coyotes and Cal Poly Pomona but also covered them for the Monterey paper when Cal Poly hosted the women’s regional a few years back. I was impressed. They got to the semifinal without a player on the team averaging double figures. That says a lot.

Better yet is her 100% graduation rate.

It seemingly took about five minutes to fill the position. Well, it’s probably three weeks from the time the resignation of the former coach was announced to the appointment. That’s moving the process along pretty quickly, Athletic Director Kevin Hatcher knew who he wanted.

The pool of candidates was strong, featuring many with Division I experience but this was the perfect choice.

 

 

 

Top 10 jobs by local college coaches

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As always it was a banner year for local college programs. None won a national title but there were many in the running. Today’s countdown, the top 10 coaching jobs of the school year. Heavy emphasis placed on teams that won conference titles or were close.

10. Kristin Dowling, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s basketball

Gets major props for how far her team came in the course of a season. She got the job so late admissions were closed so she was left with whatever players remained. She had to get a tennis player and another who had never played before just to round out a roster of eight. The Athenas lost a lot of games early but were competitive by the end of the season. Can’t imagine how well she will do given a full year and chance to recruit.

9. Kristen Hauge, San Bernardino Valley College women’s soccer

The Wolverines (14-3-5) regained their Foothill Conference title and did so with a freshmen-laden roster. Some of the sophomores she did have, were ones with limited experience. Some minor injuries along the way also proved problematic but the Wolverines made their usual run deep into the playoffs. She also plays a difficult schedule and does a wonderful job of moving players on to the next level.

8. Bill Mierzwik, San Bernardino Valley College baseball

The Wolverines won their first Foothill Conference title since 2004 and they did it without a Pitcher of the Year or Player of the Year as those went to athletes from other schools. He might have been higher on the list it weren’t for a quicker than expected departure from the playoffs.

7. Chris Krich, University of La Verne football

The Leopards went 4-5, which was a repeat of the previous season. But it was a much better looking and more competitive 4-5. Let’s not forget how bad this program was when he took over three years ago. Numbers were down, interest was down. This should be the year the Leopards really turn the corner and make a significant impact.

6. Ben Cooper, Chaffey College men’s soccer

The Panthers went 16-5-2 overall, won the Foothill Conference and won three playoff games before falling to favored Golden West 3-1. The Panthers did it without a what you would call a “dominant” player. This is definitely a program on the rise.

5. Greg Kamansky, Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball

Another one that is going to be on the list every year. The Broncos (28-3) won what is one of the toughest conferences in the country by a whopping four games and they advanced to the West Regional semifinal. Kamansky did it with two experienced players in Mitchel Anderson and Terrence Drisdom. After that, Kamansky had a bunch of unproven role players. Yet the beat goes on for the Broncos.

4. Frank Pericolosi, Pomona-Pitzer baseball

The Sagehens (29-16) finished second in the SCIAC to Cal Lutheran and were given at at-large berth in the NCAA Division III regional. We have come to expect good things from the Sagehens because they have always delivered. But this year’s team  exceeded expectations. Pericolosi lost three pitchers and a catcher for a good portion of the year with injuries. One of the pitchers also plays first so it was like losing two players. Let’s not forget the high academic standards which  can make it tough to contend. Bonus points for playing a strong schedule that included three games against No. 1 Linfield (Ore.)

3. Laurie Nevarez, University of Redlands softball

The Bulldogs lost their All-American and career home run leader Amanda Lievanos to a knee injury before the season started and they didn’t have an experienced pitcher after workhorse Kayla Uphold. Still the Bulldogs won a ninth straight SCIAC title and came within one game of playing for the regional final and their 36 wins equals a program record.

2. Kim Cherniss, Cal State San Bernardino volleyball

Yes, she could collect a Coach of the Year honor pretty much every year. But this year was one of her best jobs. Maybe the Coyotes didn’t make it to nationals like they had done the previous four seasons but they did make it to the West region final, despite having graduated seven seniors. So this year’s run came with a senior setter and a boatload of freshmen yet the still won the CCAA by three games. If someone else didn’t win this year, they may never win. An absolute travesty that a coach with a sub-.500 record got Coach of the Year honors this season in the CCAA

1. Jeff Klein, Chaffey College men’s basketball

The Panthers (27-7) had the best season in school history, making it all the way to the state title game before falling to Mt. SAC 102-88. Most impressive was an 87-85 win over previously unbeaten San Francisco in the state semifinal. The Panthers had a solid, united core of sophomores that were the foundation for that success. They played hard, they played together, played with poise and were not in awe of their surroundings no matter what the situation. That’s a reflection of the coach and his staff.

Jeff Klein

 

Chaffey athlete wins state title

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Freshman Khallifah Rosser of Chaffey posted a 52.08 and finished first in the 400-meter hurdles at the California Community College Athletic Association state meet at the College of San Mateo on Saturday.

He went into the meet ranked first with an “A” standard of 51.48 that qualified him for the U.S. Junior Championships next month in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I didn’t think of it as pressure,” said Rosser, a graduate of Summit High School, “I really just tried to focus on the race.”

Rosser had a minor distraction to overcome as his shoe came untied in the middle of the race.

“It was definitely a distraction,” he said. “I am happy to have won.”

Chaffey’s 4×100 relay of Rosser, Walter Ford, Derick Smith and Fabian Griffith placed fourth (40.88) with a school-record. Griffith also placed eighth in the 100- meter dash (10.67).

There was some disappointment for San Bernardino Valley as sophomore Shanice Stewart was unable to go in the heptathlon and 100 hurdles because of ankle injury sustained in practice Monday.

She repeated as champion in the long jump on Friday, which eased the disappointment of not getting to compete in the other events. She was second in state last year in the heptathlon.

“I was able to win another state title and that’s what I really wanted to do,” said Stewart, who is headed to Texas Tech in the fall.

Riverside dominated the meet with 151, far outdistancing runner-up Mt. SAC (60). It was the fifth state title in six years for the Tigers. Cerritos was the women’s champion (91).