Amador Valley High School seniors Laura Burton and Matt Carlucci have received the highest award of most valuable player for the East Bay Athletic League in soccer.
Burton, a goalkeeper for the Lady Dons, has put on two fundraisers for the varsity soccer team, raising money for the team to go to a Dallas tournament. The senior will be attending the University of Kentucky next year and currently holds a 3.8 grade-point average. She also plays for the Mustang Fury and was a member of the Olympic Development Team.
Carlucci, a mid-fielder who coincidentally wears No. 17 as does Burton, holds a 3.83 GPA and is a captain of the boy’s varsity soccer team.
The soccer team was selected by North Coast Section as a Scholastic Championship Team for the 2008 soccer season. The Dons finished the season with an unweighted GPA of 3.31.
PMS cheer squad gets 1st in Junior Nationals **run with photo in folder**
Last week, the Pleasanton Middle School cheerleading team performed their routine at a celebration rally that won them top honors in the Novice Show Cheer Junior High Division at USA’s Junior Nationals.
PMS competed at Disney’s California Adventure Park March 1 and 2 against 13 other teams from across the state. It is the first time that a middle school from Pleasanton placed first at the Junior Nationals. Hart Middle School, which also competed, came in fifth place.
There are 21 girls on the squad: eighth grade: Jerelyn Gentry, Malia Gondkoff, Hali Morgenroth, Julia Rosenberg, Caitlin Herb, Kaitlin Crawford, Jasmine Liew, Allison Plushkell, Taylor Antrim, Veronica Rodondi, Jessica Castronovo, Rachel Pann and Emily Alberts; seventh grade: Natalie Recupero, Claire Govea, Mikala Morgenroth, Katy Gibbons, Cassidy Bell, Tayor Herne, Stephanie Doi and Alakoka Kailahi
Seahawk swimmer Breed breaks coveted 500 free record
Pleasanton Seahawk swimmer Catherine Breed broke the 500 free record at a recent meet, one that had been upheld for the past 11 years.
Breed, 14, broke the record in the Pacific Swimming Short Course Junior Olympic in the San Ramon Valley Livermore Aquatics, held March 14-16, topping the previous record made by top international swimmer Natalie Coughlin.
Thirty-six Seahawks swimmers with Junior Olympic qualified time competed in the three-day event. The following swimmers had greatly improved their personal time: Brianna Neumayr, 17, cut 35 seconds off her 1650 free and 17 seconds off her 1000 free, Christopher Dourov, 13, lowered his 200 back by five seconds, Jason Chen, 12, improved his 50 breast by two seconds, Scott Robert, 10, improved his 50 back by almost two seconds, and Maxime Rooney, 9, cut his 100 back by more than three seconds. Three swimmers have achieved personal best time in numerous events including: Anthony Shen, 11, Rachel Knowles, 11, and Jonathan Ong, 10.
Pleasanton Lacrosse’s Vortex rallies to beat Scorpions
In a game that was tied 2-2 early in the first half, Vortex used a five-goal second half rally to seal a win over the Scorpions on March 16.
“I give a ton of credit to our goalie and the entire defensive unit,” said head coach Jeffrey Mills. “In the second half, our defense clamped down and controlled the game. Our goal was to play well following Saturday’s loss (5–7 to Lamorinda) and we wanted to make a statement about who’s going to dominate important moments of the game like ground balls, clears and face-offs, and we did that.”
The Vortex is now 2-2 on the season.
Four different players figured into the scoring column. Joseph Chacon tallied a hat trick, with Erik Gallagher, Colton Steiner and Andrew Totaro scoring one goal each. Vortex came out firing in the second half, and once again it was lead by Brian Kinnee’s continuing his face-off domination.
Goalie Conner McFarlane faced a barrage of shots and turned away 18. Throughout the game, the defense was clearly playing a physical, check-heavy game that kept the Scorpions attack off-balance and out of rhythm. Big hits from Kevan Knaggs, Ian Mills, Noah Geib, Sam Gorman and Will Drake set the tone for the Vortex physical style of play. The middies group showed improvement on rides and clears.
Wesley Bower, Nick Burnap, Brian Culy and David Zatorski, along with Joseph Chacon, Brian Kinnee and Andrew Totaro shined on the middie line on both sides of the field.
The team’s next test is a pair of road games. Vortex will face off against Livermore on April 5 and Napa Force on May 6.
–Yi Zhang
