Stoneridge Water Polo completes Junior Olympic try
Stoneridge Water Polo Club recently competed in the National Junior Olympic Water Polo Tournament in Irvine, Calif., July 26-29, finishing 22nd out of 48 teams who qualified.
This is the first time a Stoneridge team has qualified for this event since the club was established in 2002. Stoneridge qualified for the tournament by placing fifth in their Pacific Zone “NJO Qualifying Tournament” back in May. The Stoneridge 14 under Boy’s Team made it into the prestigious “Platinum Division” after the first day of competition, competing with the best 14 under age group boy’s teams in the nation.
Coach Randy Usedom said he is proud of how far the boys have come in such a short time. Over half of the team consisted of athletes who only started playing the sport back in the fall of 2007, he said.
“These young athletes come mostly from sports like baseball, softball, soccer, football and swimming,” Usedom said. “Both boy and girl members come from various elementary, middle and high schools in the Tri-Valley area to learn one of the fastest growing team sports in the country.”
A number of these young athletes tryout for their local high school teams that compete in the fall. The Stoneridge fall water polo program will begin in September for all eighth and sixth grade and under athletes. Practices are held at the Dolores Bengtson Aquatic Center in Pleasanton. For more information about the Stoneridge Water Polo Club, go to www.stoneridgewaterpolo.
Rage start season off strong
The Rage U12 D3 got a great start to the soccer season, by making it to the consolation game of the Magic Cup III Tournament, held Aug. 2 and 3 in San Jose.
The Rage started by tying the host team 0-0 in a game in which they dominated possession but just couldn’t put one in the net. In their second game the Rage beat Castro Valley United 3-0, with Kalyn Epps, Liz Unpingco, and Nicole Lindke each tallying a goal. In the third game, Rage went up against a spirited and talented Fair Oaks Storm team, and they were able to battle to a 1-1 tie behind superb goaltending by Maddie Aston and Mo Baker. Kalyn Epps put Rage on the board first with a goal in the fifth minute of the first half. The back line of Sarah Pease, Julia Amos, Natalie Reichenbach, and Jordan Niermeyer were under pressure the whole game, but they stayed focused, and helped deliver the tie.
If Rage had won this game, they would have gone onto the championship game, however, with the tie, they played River City Spirit in the consolation game, where they would lose. Top offensive players were: Kalyn Epps, Nicole Lindke, Kamryn Brown, Liz Unpingco, Julia Amos, Devon Buteau, Jessica Amos and Anna Copenhagen. Top defensive players were: Maddie Aston, Mo Baker, Allie Nickel, Lauren Epps, Jordan Niermeyer, Natalie Reichenbach, Taz Rad and Sarah Pease.
PFLL 10 year-old All Stars take 2nd in Danville
Pleasanton Foothill Little League’s 10-year-old All Star team played some great baseball in the Danville Invitational Tournament, coming away with a second place finish. The team went 4-0 over the weekend with wins over Dublin, Danville District, Tassajara American and San Ramon American, before finally losing to Albany in the Championship game on July 28.
Lady Hustle Fastpitch tryouts
Lady Hustle Fastpitch of Pleasanton will be holding tryouts for the A travel program starting in the fall. Tournaments will start Sept. 6th. Try-Outs Ages 14, 16 AND 18: Session 1, Aug. 10, 9:30-10 a.m.–pitchers and catchers at Robertson Field, 10 a.m.-noon–fielding/running at Robertson Park, 1-3 p.m.–hitting at Double Diamond; Session 2, Aug. 16, 9:30-10 a.m.–pitchers and catchers at Robertson Field, 10 a.m. to noon–fielding/running at Robertson Park, 1-3 p.m.–hitting at Double Diamond; Session 3, Aug. 17, 9:30-10 am Pitchers and catchers at Robertson Field, 10 a.m.-noon–fielding/running at Robertson Park, 1-3 p.m.–hitting at Double Diamond.
Go to www.ladyhustlefastpitch.com for more information.
Tigers Baseball taking registration
Tigers Baseball is now taking player registrations for their third annual fall ball program. Players from all leagues, ages 10-14, are invited to attend this annual event.
Players will spend 10 weekends on the field training including two special weekends with Coach Robert “Skip” Claprood. Claprood is one of Southern California’s most celebrated hall of fame collegiate coaches. The fall program will be held weekends starting Sept. 13. Space is limited this year, so players interested in participating should go to the Tigers website to download a player registration form, www.livermorepony.com. Forms should be filled out and either faxed or mailed to the address on the form. Additional details are provided on the Tigers website. Registered players will be notified via email with additional schedule information. Tigers Baseball is a nonprofit baseball program that works in cooperation with well known collegiate coaches and professional players to teach dedicated young players who wish to play baseball at a higher level.
Tigers Baseball is also sponsoring a Back to School 2008 high school mini camp to be held Sept. 6 and 7 at the Foothill High School varsity baseball field. All high school players and their parents are invited to the two-day event. Players will train with Claprood. The first 40 players and parents who sign up will be invited to a special private session with Claprood that Saturday morning. Visit www.livermorepony.com to download the camp registration form. All forms should be filled out and mailed with a check payable to Tigers Baseball. Mail check and registration form to Tigers Baseball, 6306 Carson Pass Way, Livermore, CA 94551.
Swim team member heads to championships
Brenda Shanahan, a member of the Tri-Valley Aquatics, a newly formed year-round swim team, has been selected to be a part of the 2008 Pacific Swimming Western Zone Championships team for 10 and unders. Only five others in her age group from Pacific Swimming were selected to compete in Gresham, Ore. this past week. To qualify, Shanahan, 10, had to earn the qualifying times from meets she participated in during the spring.
Tri-Valley Aquatics was created in May by Daniel Ridosko. The swimmers on the team are also members of Pacific Swimming, and swim year-round. For more information about Tri-Valley Aquatics, visit www.trivalleyaquatics.com.
Sharks come away with two club records
The Pleasanton Meadows Sharks may not have won a championship last Saturday, but they did come away with two club records in the Tri-Valley Swim League Championship meet. The club finished seventh in the league, but Jack Geasa finished first in the 9-10 IM breaking his own record by 1.27 seconds in the process. His finishing time was 1:22:84. The other club record was set by Cody Vaeth in the Under 6 butterfly. Vaeth also broke the record by more than a second, posting a 26.92 time. The old record was 28.21.
Geasa was particularly impressive, winning the IM and the breast and taking fourth in the free. Nick Tucker was similarly impressive, capturing the Sharks other first place finish taking 9-10 fly, taking second in the 9-10 free and finishing third behind Geasa in the IM. Vaeth, who finished third in the fly, also finished second in the free. Jessica Rhoads also garnered a pair of top five finishes with a fourth in the 6U 25 breast and a fifth in the free. Grabbing a pair of fifths was Alyson Isaacs (free, IM). Elsa Schwaninger got a fifth (13-14 fly) and a sixth (IM) and Curtis Wong took a pair of sixths (15-18 free, breast). Kaala Cheney finished just behind Schwaninger in the fly and placed ninth in the back. Joe Geasa also had a pair of top 10 finishes, going ninth in the 7-8 breast and 10th in the fly.
Other top 10 finishes for Pleasanton Meadows included Joey Silva (10th 15-18 free), Kevin Driver (10th 15-18 fly), Aaron Zheng (6th 6U breast), Brady Scanlon (10th 6U Breast), Blake Tucker (5th 7-8 free), Haley Isaacs (4th 9-10 breast), Annie Geasa (4th 11-12 back), Colin Burke (9th 11-12 back), Kyra Schwaninger (10th 11-12 breast), Chris Bush (5th 11-12 breast), Connor Greene (10th 11-12 fly), and Perry Cheney (4th 11-12 free).
Final scores for the recreational swim league teams are: Club Sport Pleasanton: 2,993; Del Prado Stingrays: 2,382; DBAC Swim Team: 1,952; Dublin Green Gators: 1,744; Briarhill Swim Team: 1,476; Ruby Hill Swim Team: 1,423; Pleasanton Meadows: 1,287; FAST Dolphins: 694. New records at the championship meet include: Haley Lukas from Briar Hill for the Girls 11-12 50 Yard Breaststroke (35.95), Brent Reed from Briar Hill for the Mens 15-18 50 Yard Butterfly (24.36), Kyle Surber from ClubSport for the Mens 15-18 50 Yard Freestyle (22.41), and the 15-18 100 Yard IM (55.57). The ClubSport Mens 15-18 Medley Relay team of Stephen Jacobe, Kyle Schempp, Kyle Surber, and Joseph Cheney, also bettered their own record (1:47:47). In addition to the league records, many swimmers had personal best times and broke some of the team records. Also having an outstanding day, were Iris Chang (14) and Katie Tsui (10), from DBAC, Claire Suen (6) and Maya Cipriano (12), from Dublin, Megan Doi (10) and Taylor Peterson(18), from Del Prado, Alyse Bateman (17) and Elle Surber (13), from Clubsport, Brittney Achziger (11) and Kristin Horrillo (12), from Briar Hill, Laura Belichak (8) and Farnaaz Khoyloo (6), from FAST, Hannah McGillivary (10) and Brianna Nicholas (12), from Ruby Hill, and Jessica Rhoads (6) and Alyson Isaacs (10), from Pleasanton Meadows, for the Girls. Some top performers for the boys include, Daniel Huang (12) and Jax Pedersen (9), from DBAC, Christopher Jhong (8) and TJ Meagher (5), from Clubsport, Jack Geasa (10) and Nick Tucker (10), from Pleasanton Meadows, Scott Drummond (6) and Jeff Liebman (12), from FAST, Joey Grywczynski (7) and Brandon Lind (16), from Briar Hill, Nick Johnston (13) and Tom Sornsen (9), from Ruby Hill, Matthew Sun (14) and Eric Gates (15), from Del Prado, and Reece Toney (8) and Matthew Zamudio (13), from Dublin.
