October 13, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Gunn set for polo showdown

by Keith Peters

If there is a thorn in the side of the Gunn High boys' water polo team, it's Los Altos.

The Eagles defeated the Titans by one goal in last season's SCVAL De Anza Division tournament finale. It was Gunn's fourth loss to Los Altos by fewer than three goals.

For Gunn, the time has arrived for revenge. The teams will meet Wednesday in the Los Altos pool at 6 p.m., with first place in the division at stake.

"We're getting very excited about it," said Gunn coach Mark Hernandez.

The Eagles are considered among the contenders for the Central Coast Section Division II title this year along with Menlo, St. Francis and Sacred Heart Prep. If Gunn wants to be a member of that elite group, the Titans will need a victory Wednesday.

Gunn brings 4-0 division mark (15-6 overall) into the showdown, which features a matchup between two of the bigger hole men in CCS - 6-foot-4 Tyler Smith of Los Altos and 6-9 Arjan Ligtenberg of Gunn. Ligtenberg can be downright dominating at times, like he was last weekend at the Palo Alto Invitational. He tallied 14 goals in Gunn's first three matches - a 12-5 win over Palo Alto, a 21-1 rout of Marin Academy and a 17-5 thumping of Aragon. Brandon Johnson scored seven goals in the win over Aragon.

Ligtenberg also can get into foul trouble, like he did in the Titans' 12-3 championship-game loss to Live Oak on Saturday at Menlo-Atherton High.

"Arjan received his third ejection late in the first half, so was not much of a factor in the second half," Hernandez said. "Before that, though, our offense was sloopy; we had trouble working the ball around the perimeter, and never really got any rhythm. So, it was arguably our worst game of the year."

Still, Gunn has won nine of its past 11 matches and certainly will be ready for Los Altos on Wednesday. After the Eagles, the Titans have only Cupertino left on their division schedule.

While Gunn went 3-1 in the Palo Alto Invitational, Menlo-Atherton and Palo Alto both went 2-2 and met in the final round - with the Vikings posting a 6-4 victory.

Menlo got swamped early in a 7-3 loss to Monta Vista, but bounced back to beat PAL Bay Division rival Woodside (13-6) and Serra (9-5) before falling to Paly. Michael Borcich was steady throughout the tournament for M-A and led the Bears with nine goals.

In the West Catholic Athletic League last week, Sacred Heart Prep (3-0, 15-4) further solidified its claim as a CCS title contender by holding off visiting St. Francis, 10-9 in the second overtime period. Dylan Mobley tallied five goals and Doug Wigley added two for the Gators, who visit Bellarmine on Thursday (3:30 p.m.) with first place in the WCAL at stake.

In nonleague action, Menlo (16-3) had its five-game winning streak ended in a 7-6 loss at De La Salle in Concord. Andy Suiter led the Knights with three goals
Girls water polo

St. Francis may be the four-time defending CCS champion, but Sacred Heart Prep certainly isn't intimidated by the Lancers. The Gators, who lost to St. Francis in last season's championship game, already has beaten the Lancers twice this season in three meetings. The most recent victory came last week in a WCAL showdown in Mountain View. Sacred Heart (3-0, 8-2) rallied from a 4-0 deficit and pulled out a 7-6 triumph to take sole possession of first place. Lauren Jollymour, Melissa Mordell and Adriana Vogt all scored goals to cut the Gators' deficit to 4-3 just before halftime. Christie Clark then took over and scored the next three goals, including the go-ahead goal at 6-5.

St. Francis battled back to tie before SHP freshman Hannah Stephens scored with a minute left to secure the victory. Senior goalie Katie Murray had a career-high 13 saves for the Gators, who held St. Francis to just two goals in the second half.

Gunn (8-7) went 2-2 in the Valley Christian Tournament, registering a 9-4 win over San Mateo and a 9-2 triumph over Aptos. Di Eaton tallied six goals while Sera Garrison and Stephanie Hoffman added four each for the Titans.
Cross country

Palo Alto senior Herrel Siller Jr. had his best individual finish of the season as he clocked 16:13 over the 3.1-mile layout at Fresno's Woodward Park to finish second in the Boys' Medium School Division at the 26th annual Clovis Invitational on Saturday.

Siller Jr. and teammates Scott Himmelberger, Francis Reynolds, Daniel Vinson and Michael Nordlund scored 185 points to help the Vikings finish seventh in the team race. Siller Jr. had the same time as winner Mat Petrillo of Los Gatos.

In the Girls' Medium School Division, Palo Alto placed all five runners among the top 25 finishes and finished third with 131 points. Alicia Ivanhoe (10th), Renata Cummins (11th), Elle Burstein (20th), Katie Gosling (21st) and Sarah Flamm (25th) led the Vikings to their most impressive finish of the season.

In the Boys' Championship Division, Menlo-Atherton senior Evan Anderson produced the best time of any CCS runner as he clocked 16:06 while taking 11th overall.

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