Sports Shorts Sports Shorts (May 28, 2004)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT . . . Menlo-Atherton grad and former Peninsula Athletic League golf champion Josh Wachtel helped University of Redlands to a national second-place finish in the NCAA Division III championships at the PGA of Southern California course. Wachtel finished 10th to earn All-American status . . . The Palo Alto Rowing Club earned two bronze medals at the Southwest Junior Rowing Championships in Sacramento earlier this month. Palo Alto finished 10th (out of 26) as a team. The Junior Varsity A4 race and he Novice 4 Quad race earned the bronze medals for Palo Alto. The JV boat consisted of Nicki Platner, Tashina Vavuris, Mariel Matze, Kim Segall and Jocelyn Recht. The Novice boat consisted of Meredith Herman, Sarah VanZanten, Mary Heydron, Martha Bass \and Leah Resneck. The club is coached by Lynn Gardner and Olivia Gardner, and are seeking new rowers (boys and girls) who are in high school or will be freshmen in the fall. A rowing camp will be held in June. For more information, contact Lynn Gardner at loragrion@aol.com or visit www.paloaltorowingclub.com . . . The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual golf tournament at the Palo Alto Hills course on Monday, June 21, to benefit the Palo Alto Foundation for Education. Registration begins at 10 a.m., with a shotgun start at noon. Cost is $250 per person and includes the golf, lunch, dinner and other activities. Dinner only is $50. For more information, contact the Programs Department at the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce at (650) 324-3121 or vist their web site at www.paloaltochamber.com . . . Stanford senior punter Eric Johnson signed a free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans, becoming the fourth Stanford football player to sign a free agent contract in the past month. In 2003, Johnson set single-season records for punts in a season with 86, and for punting yards with 3,687.

SIGNUPS . . . The Mountain View Los Altos Avalanche, an under-11 girls soccer team, will have tryouts on Sunday, June 6 between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. at Hillview. The team, for girls born between Aug. 1, 1992 and July 31, 1993, is currently ranked third in the state and the coaches have professional experience. For more information, contact Brian NeSmith at (408) 220-2301 or brian.nesmith@bluecoat.com . . . The Mountain View Los Altos Storm, an under-12 girls soccer team, will have tryouts on Sunday, June 6 between 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. at Hillview. The team, for girls born between Aug. 1, 1991 and July 31, 1992, is coached by people with professional experience. For more information, contact Brian NeSmith at (408) 220-2301 or brian.nesmith@bluecoat.com . . . The Union Football Club, a Palo Alto-based CYSA soccer program for girls U10-19, Class 1 and Class 3 levels, will hold tryouts in June. For more information and tryout dates e-mail admin@unionfootballclub.com, or call (650) 799-7984.

BANK OF THE WEST . . . Individual tickets for the Bank of the West Classic are now on sale. The Classic, a WTA Tour Tier II event, will be held July 12-18 at the Taube Tennis Stadium on Stanford's campus. Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport have all committed early to compete at Stanford. The trio represent the past six championships in event, with Clijsters the defending champion. She also won in 2001, while Williams won the title in 2000 and 2002 and Davenport won in 1998 and 1999. Williams missed last year's tournament with a strained abdominal muscle. Tickets are priced between $10-$80 per session and are available through City Box Office at 1-415-392-4400 or through Tickets.com at (650) 478-2277. Day sessions Monday through Thursday begin at 10 a.m. and Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. Evening sessions begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Sunday's final is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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