Recently in Pacific High School Category

There were some great performances on Thursday at the San Andreas League track finals at San Gorgonio.
Pacific's Quincy Ross (100 and 200), San Gorgonio's Ryan Rittenhouse (1600 and 3200) and San Gorgonio's Ryan Hunter-Simms (shot and discus) each won multiple individual events on the boys side. My apologies to Quincy Ross, who was not mentioned in my story that is in Friday's paper. I think it was at least initially announced that Ross did not win one of those two races, but once I looked at the results (too late) I realized he's listed as winning both.
On the girls side, Cajon's Haley Sanner (100 hurdles and 300 hurdles) and Ayana Gales (long jump and triple jump) as well as Pacific's Gabriela Maldonado (800, 1600, and 3200) took home multiple events.
Hunter-Simms set a new

After three years at Pacific High School, Oscar Torres resigned in December from his position as Pirates head football coach. As has been the case with other Pirate coaches during the past decade, Torres wasn't able to win many games, compiling a 2-28 record, including an 0-10 mark this past season.

"I got burned out from all of the outside factors that came with being the coach," said Torres, who will remain at the school as a physical education teacher. "The fundraising, the grade checks, the raising money for equipment because the school couldn't afford it, it just took a toll and it burned me out."

Losing also burned out Torres, whose two victories came in 2008 against San Bernardino and 2009 against Citrus Valley. Establishing an infrastructure at a program that's starved for success was more than Torres could handle.

"I felt like I was banging my head against the wall, that I was in a dark tunnel with no light at the end," Torres said. "Changing the perception here was a full-time job and I gave as much as I was able to give and wasn't seeing the results."

Torres will take a break from coaching to spend time with his 5-year old son.

It didn't take long for the girls basketball season to get going, as two tournaments - Rialto's "Jam the Gym" and the Big Daddy Tournament, tipped off today.

Both tournaments will have their championship games Saturday, with the Jam the Gym title game being played at 6:30 p.m. at Rialto High School while the Big Daddy Gold Division championship game will be played at 6 p.m. at Notre Dame High School in Riverside. Joining Rialto in the Jam the Gym are Palm Springs, Upland, Ayala, Serrano, Fontana, Corona Centennial, Chino Hills, Victor Valley, Riverside North, Patriot and Ganesha High Schools.

The Big Daddy Tournament is a 18-team tournament with a Gold Division and a Green Division. The Gold will feature Cajon, Eisenhower, Lake Elsinore Lakeside, Moreno Valley, Temecula Valley, Vista Murrieta, Riverside Arlington, Redlands, Sultana and Riverside Poly. The Green Division will have Riverside Ramona, Banning, Corona, Mesa Grande Academy, Notre Dame, Norte Vista, Aquinas and Colton High Schools. Aquinas, Moreno Valley and Notre Dame will all host the tournament.

Also on the horizon is the Arroyo Valley Tournament, which will be held Dec. 6-10 at Arroyo Valley and Pacific High Schools. Teams involved in the tournament, which is straight bracket format, are Valley View, San Bernardino, Riverside Poly, Oak Hills, San Gorgonio, Rim of the World, Pacific, Patriot, Cajon, Kaiser, Fontana, Corona, Bloomington, Redlands, Arroyo Valley and Rubidoux. The title game will be held at Arroyo Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 10.

Now to a much simpler league than a Citrus Belt, as the SAL is basically figured out save for the fourth playoff spot.

1. Cajon (7-2, 6-0): Has clinched a playoff berth and the No. 1 spot out of the league no matter what it does against San Bernardino Friday thanks to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with San Gorgonio.

2. San Gorgonio (5-4, 5-1): Has clinched a playoff berth and the No. 2 spot out of the league no matter what it does against Pacific Friday thanks to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with Colton.

3. Colton (6-3, 4-2): Has clinched a playoff berth and the No. 3 spot out of the league no matter what it does against Rialto Friday thanks to owning the head-to-head tiebreakers with Carter and Arroyo Valley.

4. Carter (5-3-1, 3-3): Clinches the No. 4 playoff spot with a victory over Arroyo Valley Friday. Still could get in as the at-large with a loss.

5. Arroyo Valley (4-5, 3-3): Clinches the No. 4 playoff spot with a victory over Carter Friday. Probably wouldn't have much of an at-large shot with a loss and the resulting 4-6 record.

6. Rialto (5-4, 2-4): The Knights have no shot a one of the four playoff spots, but a win over Colton Friday and a Carter win over Arroyo Valley might get Rialto in the conversation for an at-large berth.

7. San Bernardino (3-6, 1-5): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

8. Pacific (0-9, 0-6): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

The 44th annual Riverside Poly Boys Water Polo tournament starts today and runs through Saturday at seven different venues -- Arroyo Valley, Corona Santiago, Corona Roosevelt, Jurupa Valley, Riverside Arlington and Riverside King High Schools as well as Sippy Woodhead Pool at Riverside Poly. The tournament, which features 60 teams throughout Southern California, will be played through Saturday, with pool play Thursday and Friday and the championship match to be held at 2 p.m. at Sippy Woodhead Pool.

County teams participating in the tournament and theare Los Osos (Woodhead), Redlands and Upland (Roosevelt), Yucaipa and Arroyo Valley (Arroyo Valley), Cajon, Alta Loma and San Gorgonio (Arlington) and Pacific, Rancho Cucamonga, Summit, Colony and Citrus Valley (Jurupa Valley).

The future looks decent for Pacific football, as they have 22 players in the sophomore and junior classes that they feel are capable of playing at the varsity level. Problem is that there aren't a ton of seniors ahead of them, as only 13 will be part of Oscar Torres' third season at Pacific.

"Our numbers are up in the younger grades and we have some guys that are really going to be good," Torres said. "I wish we had a few more seniors coming back to lead to way, but we'll have to depend on our younger guys to step in and play older than they are."

The Pirates aren't completely without veteran leadership, as quarterback Leo Davis (6-0, 180) returns for another year, as do offensive lineman/defensive lineman Luis Barcenas (5-10, 185) and multipurpose player Kevin Hardy (5-11, 185). Hardy will play receiver, safety, linebacker and running back for Pacific.

These were e-mailed to me last Thursday by Arroyo Valley athletic director Matt Howell, but I was in Las Vegas and out of e-mail access. Plus, my typing could have been ugly after spending afternoons at various sportsbooks watching my brackets spontaneously combust.

So I apologize for the delay and here they are.

An interesting twist in the Division 5 boys soccer playoffs presents itself today, as the Mojave River League and San Andreas League face off in three separate first-round games.

Two of the games, Pacific at D5 No. 2-seed Hesperia and San Gorgonio at Serrano, will take place in the High Desert while Apple Valley will travel down the hill to face SAL champion Cajon. Both Pacific and Apple Valley helped create this unusual triumvirate by winning their wild-card games Tuesday, as Pacific defeated visited Monrovia 2-1 while the Sun Devils went on the road to beat Salton City West Shores 3-1.

It's almost similar to college bowl season, as two of the more notable league in the area get to butt heads in postseason play - definitely providing a juicy little subplot to the boys soccer playoffs.

Pacific wrestler Samantha Cardoza won the 108-pound title at the CIF-State girls Southern Regional wrestling championships this past weekend at Covina Northview High School, heading a list of county athletes participating in the event.

Cardoza defeated Oceanside's Kalin Knight-Alvarez in the final, with Redlands East Valley's Alexis Rodriguez finishing third. Upland's Gabriella Gongora finished second in the 154-pound division to La Serna's Jackie Williams while Sultana's Sarah Bollinger took third at 132 pounds.

Redlands East Valley, buoyed by three placers in Rodriguez, Lauren Chavez (5th, 103) and Jase Osterblad (8th, 114), had the highest county team finish, taking 13th with 55 points.

San Gorgonio athletic director Matt Maeda released the bracket for the 2009 San Bernardino Kiwanis Club Tournament to be held December 26, 28-30 at Cajon and San Gorgonio High Schools.

This particular tournament is a bit unusual in that it has an out-of-state team, El Paso (Texas) Chapin, competing. And because of a UIL rule (Texas' equivalent to the CIF) prohibiting Texas teams from playing on the 26th, Chapin and its first-round opponent, Barstow, will have to play its first and second-round games on Dec. 28.

Matchups for the Kiwanis..

With several games going on tonight, I have to hustle some of this stuff out. So I'll give you the SAL, which is another easy one.

1) Colton (8-1, 4-0): The Yellowjackets have clinched the No. 1 seed out of the SAL regardless of what it does against Pacific tomorrow by virtue of owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with both Cajon and Arroyo Valley. A win likely wraps up the No. 1 seed in the Central Division for Colton though.

2) Arroyo Valley (7-2, 3-1): Wraps up the No. 2 seed with a win over Cajon tomorrow no matter what Colton does, as the Yellowjackets own the head-to-head tiebreaker. A loss to Cajon drops the Hawks to the No. 3 seed.

3) Cajon (6-3, 3-1): Wraps up the No. 2 seed with a win over Arroyo Valley tomorrow no matter what Colton does, as the Yellowjackets own the head-to-head tiebreaker. A loss to Arroyo Valley drops the Cowboys to the No. 3 seed.

4) San Gorgonio (2-7, 1-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

5) San Bernardino (2-7, 1-3): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

6) Pacific (1-8, 0-4): Eliminated from playoff consideration.

On the surface, Pacific High School's 24-19 victory over San Bernardino Oct. 24 doesn't look to be a big deal, as one struggling high school program defeated another. However, that victory was huge for the Pirates, as it broke a 26-game losing streak that dated back to 2005 and gave some legitimacy to first-year coach Oscar Torres' program.

As Pacific prepares for 2009, Torres is well aware of how important the victory over the Cardinals was to the landscape of his program.

Pacific sophomore wrestler Samantha Cardoza compete in the CIF-SS girls wrestling championships at Oxnard High School, finishing fifth in the 108-pound division.

Cardoza has competed in each edition of the two-year event, with this year being the first time she has placed. Now she has the option of either going to the girls' state event in two weeks in Sacramento or staying with the boys varsity team, where she competes in the 112-pound weight class.

The second in my series is the San Andreas League, which is simple up top but has the potential to be a complete mess on the bottom if some upsets happen.

1. Cajon (8-1, 4-0): Clinched the No. 1 seed out of the San Andreas League in the Central Division playoffs by virtue of its league-opening win over San Gorgonio. Looking to move up in seeding.

2. San Gorgonio (5-4, 3-1): Clinched the No. 2 seed out of the San Andreas League by virtue of holding the head-to-head tiebreakers over Colton, Arroyo Valley and San Bernardino.

3. Colton (5-3-1, 2-2): Can clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory Friday at Arroyo Valley. If the Yellowjackets lose, they can still qualify if San Bernardino upsets Cajon. In that case, there'd be a three-way tie for third where head-to-head cancels out, leaving a three-way coin flip for one spot. The Yellowjackets could conceiveably grab an at-large bid, but that is more likely to go to the Baseline League, namely the Los Osos-Etiwanda loser.

4. Arroyo Valley (4-5, 1-3): Would clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory over Colton Friday and a San Bernardino loss. If it wins and San Bernardino wins, the Hawks would be in a three-way flip with Colton and San Bernardino for the last spot. If Arroyo Valley, San Bernardino and Pacific win, the Hawks would get the playoff berth, as it would win a four-way tiebreaker with Colton, San Berdoo and Pacific. In that situation, Colton and Arroyo Valley would be 2-1 in head-to-head while the Cardinals and Pirates would be 1-2, with Arroyo advancing by virtue of beating Colton. I think I've just gone crosseyed writing that.

5. San Bernardino (2-7, 1-3): The Cardinals need a win over Cajon Friday and an Arroyo Valley win over Colton. In that case, the Cardinals, Yellowjackets and Hawks would have a three-way flip for the final playoff spot.

6. Pacific (1-8, 1-3): The Pirates have been eliminated from playoff contention, as there isn't a tiebreaker that favors them.