Sports Shorts Sports Shorts (December 31, 2004)

WATER POLO NOTES . . . Menlo School and Stanford graduate Julie Gardner is currently playing water polo in Athens, Greece. Gardner, who around Thanksgiving had offers from three club teams in Greece, signed to play with Ethnikos. Within a week of signing, Gardner was off to Europe . . . A good number of Stanford Water Polo Club members earned All-American honors at the 2004 Junior Olympics this past summer. In 18-under girls, Molly Hayes was a first-team selection while Remy Champion was honorable mention. In 16-under girls, Kelly Eaton was a first-teamer, Phoebe Champion was second team and Camy Sullivan was honorable mention. In 14-under girls, Elise Ponce was first team, Cayley Bowles was second team and Brittany Westerman was honorable mention, along with Sacred Heart Prep's Hannah Stephens of the NorCal squad. In Under-18 boys, Brandon Child was second team and former SHP teammate Carter Brutschy was honorable mention. In Under-16 boys, Ben Hohl was first team, Menlo teammate Matt Hudnall was second team and Michael Orton was honorable mention. In Under-14 boys, Tim Norton was first team and Tom Cole was honorable mention.

OF LOCAL NOTE . . . Longtime local baseball coach Ron Fried will be honored in January by the American Baseball Coaches Association for his 25 years of coaching. The 25-year coaches will be honored at a luncheon at the ABCA national convention in Nashville, Tenn. Fried also has been selected as the national chairman for the Maccabi USA baseball team, which is a national 18-under squad of Jewish players. They will compete in the 17th Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2005 . . . Dennis Davis of Palo Alto, coach of the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club, has been named as USOC Developmental Coach of the Year in table tennis. Davis also is heading up the bid for the 2007 Junior World Championships in table tennis, which BASOC, Stanford Athletics and local table tennis clubs are bidding on. The 2007 site will be announced in May. Should Stanford get the championships, the venue will be Maples and Burnham pavilions.

SOFTBALL SIGNUPS . . . Registration is now open for the Palo Alto Girls' Softball spring season and is open to all girls, ages 5-14, in Palo Alto and surrounding communities. Practices begin in March and will be followed by an active schedule of games through May. After the spring season, travel teams will be formed for girls who wish to play at a more competitive level. The focus of Palo Alto Girls' Softball is on teamwork sportsmanship, positive values and fun, while developing fundamental softball skills. The youngest players begin with T-ball. All practices are in Palo Alto, as all games for players 10-under. The older divisions (12-under and 14-under) will do some traveling during interleague games. Registration ends Jan. 31. Players can register online at www.paloaltogirlssoftball.org or pick up registration forms at their local schools. For more information: 361-0743.

GENTRY ADVANCES . . . Stanford senior wrestler Matt Gentry won twice during the first day of competition at the Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Ill. on Wednesday. He was scheduled to wrestle in the semifinals on Thursday. Gentry, the defending NCAA champion at 157 pounds, defeated Purdue's Dan Bedoy, 8-2, and then beat Jaime Alvarez of San Francisco State by technical fall, 16-0. Four other Stanford wrestlers lost in the first round.

OAKS' CORNER . . . The Menlo College women's basketball team upset 24th-ranked Doane College, 74-59, in the opening round of the Peninsula Hoops Classic on Wednesday night. The Oaks (4-4) shot a season-high 54 percent from the field, led by freshman Kepua Lee, who scored a career-high 26 points. Senior Maria Gomez added a season-high 21. "We played with tremendous fire for 40 solid minutes," Menlo coach Caitlin Collier said. "It was big to beat a nationally ranked team and I think it is something that we can build on." Menlo was scheduled to play Madonna University on Thursday. Madonna beat Notre Dame de Namur, 56-51, in the other first round game . . . The Menlo College men's basketball team is in action this weekend at the Fresno Pacific Holiday Classic, meeting the host Sunbirds at 5 p.m. today before playing Lewis and Clark on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Oaks (2-4) are ranked fifth nationally in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 38 percent from the field. James Gilkey is Menlo's leading scorer (17.2 points) and rebounder (5.7).

COACHING CORNER . . . Palo Alto Babe Ruth is looking for a manager for the upcoming season. Those interested should contact Neil McGregor at nmcgregor@pacbell.net . . . Palo Alto High is searching for a new girls' water polo head coach for the 2005 season. Interested persons should contact Earl Hansen, Palo Alto Athletic Director, at 329-3886 or ehansen@pausd.org . . . Basketball and soccer coaches (for boys and girls) are needed at St. Elizabeth Seton School in Palo Alto. Interested coaches should contact Pat Foy at 326-9004 . . . Menlo School has openings for girls' softball coaches: a varsity assistant, head frosh-soph and frosh-soph assistant. The season runs from February to May. For more information: 593-3895 . . . Sacred Heart Prep is looking for the following coaches: Varsity softball, varsity baseball and varsity girls' lacrosse. Those interested should contact Anthony Thomas, Athletic Director at 473-4031 . . . Castilleja School is looking for coaches for the upcoming season in varsity track and field in addition to an assistant coach for swimming. Interested persons should contact Athletic Director Jez McIntosh at jez_mcIntosh@castilleja.org . . . Menlo-Atherton High is looking for a number of coaches for the 2004-05 season: frosh-soph softball, girls' varsity lacrosse and girls' JV lacrosse. Interested persons should contact M-A Athletic Director Pam Wimberly at 322-5311 (ext. 5706).

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