Sports Shorts Sports Shorts (February 13, 2004)

AT THE NET . . . You had to look quickly as all three professional tennis players with local ties were eliminated from singles action at the Siebel Open in San Jose by Wednesday night. Stanford grad K.J. Hippensteel made the biggest splash as he won in his ATP Tour debut, beating former Menlo School star Dmitry Tursunov, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Monday night. Hippensteel, a four-time All-American at Stanford, came in ranked No. 377 and had to win in qualifying to reach the main draw. He lost to 65th-ranked Jan-Michael Gambill in Wednesday's second-round action. "I think you just have to get adjusted to the fact you are probably going to lose every week," said Hippensteel. "In college we could go 25 matches and we could win every one." Tursunov, who has played in three Grand Slam events and is ranked 85th, never strayed far after leaving Menlo during his sophomore year to pursue his tennis career. He moved to Napa and currently resides in Roseville. "Social life is difficult," said Tursunov, CCS singles champion in 1998. "You have to make certain sacrifices and hope it pays off. I still run into people from Menlo and keep in touch with one or two. I'd be interested in attending a high school reunion." Stanford grad Paul Goldstein lost to Taylor Dent in the first round on Monday, 6-4, 6-4. Goldstein, also a four-time All-American while at Stanford, is ranked 102nd.

OAKS CORNER . . . Despite a game-high 36 points from Mike Watters, the Menlo College men's basketball team dropped a 107-87 decision to California Pacific Conference leader Holy Names College on Tuesday in Oakland. Watters, the conference's leading scorer, was 12-of-17 from the field and 9-of-9 from the foul line. IV Patterson was 6-of-7 from the field in scoring 12 points for the Oaks (4-10, 4-17) . . . The Menlo College women's basketball team suffered another heart-breaking loss, dropping a 66-65 decision to Cal Pac leader Holy Names on Tuesday. Ki'i Spencer-Vasconcellos gave the Oaks (6-6, 10-11) a 65-64 in the final minute but the Hawks rallied with five seconds left. Menlo dropped a last second decision to Dominican College last week. Spencer-Vasconcellos scored a game-high 18 points while Maria Gomez added 12 points.

NOTEWORTHY . . . The 12th annual Stanford Open Gymnastics Meet will be held today through Sunday at Stanford's Burnham Pavilion. The meet is the premier men's gymnastics meet on the West Coast, and will draw more than 600 competitors, ages 6-25 from clubs from as far away as Ohio and Mexico. The meet gets under way tonight at 5:45 p.m., with high school athletes, and continues Saturday from 8:20 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 8:20 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Saturday night session will feature elite level gymnasts and top collegians from Stanford, Cal and other top schools. Daily admission is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 4-12. For more information, go to www.stanfordopen.com.

SOCCER NEWS . . . The Union Football Club is a recently formed CYSA club located in Palo Alto and will be holding tryouts. For information, visit the website at www.unionfootballclub.com or call 387-4128 . . . The Stanford Vortex Under-14 boys' team is holding tryouts for the spring and fall seasons. Information: 321-5944 or www.stanfordsoccerclub.org . . . The MVLA CyberRays, a CYSA Under-12 girls' Class 3 (born after 7/31/91) is looking for several fast, skilled and dedicated players to help the team move up to the next level. Players can be from Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills. Information: 996-0505 or by email at almartin@stanford.edu . . . The Stanford Wildfire, an Under-12 girls' Class 3 team moving to Class 1, is holding tryouts for the upcoming spring season. Contact Barbara Zimmer at 424-0736 or kev-barb@pacbell.net.

COACHES NEEDED . . . Sacred Heart Prep is looking for assistant swim coaches for the spring, to work with the boys' and girls' teams. Interested coaches should contact SHP athletic director Mike Ciardella at 473-4031.

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