SURFING TIME PLACE

Longboard Union Invitational 8 a.m. Steamer Lane

Conference rival Washington decided to pitch to the Pac-12 Player of the Year in the NCAA super regionals on Saturday night, and Arioto blasted a two-run homer in the first inning that propeled the Bears to a 5-0 victory before a capacity crowd of 1,117 at Levine-Fricke Field.

"I'm glad they pitched to her," Cal coach Diane Ninemire said. "If you're going to pitch to her and she gets the pitch, you'll get what you saw tonight."

The top-seeded Bears 55-5 are now one victory away from their 12th trip to the College World series. Cal and UW 39-18 meet today at 4 p.m., with a third game, if necessary, at 6:30 p.m. The Huskies must win twice to earn the bid to the CWS, May 31 through June 6 in Oklahoma City.

The Huskies battled Cal in three tight ballgames here early in the Pac-12 season, losing by a combined margin of five runs. This one wasn't close.

Senior Jolene Henderson 35-2 struck out 11 and allowed just four hits while posting her 16th shutout of the season. She escaped her only real jam by starting an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Arioto, who has set a Cal single-season record for home runs, had not gone deep in seven previous games, including five Berkeley regional contests last weekend. The drought is mostly the result of pitchers avoiding her. Over the previous 14 games, she had just two homers, but 27 walks.

The 16th-seeded Huskies, who won three times via shutout at the Seattle regional, got brave in the first inning and paid for it.

"I was just hoping they'd pitch to me so I could produce for my team," said Arioto, who walked 13 times in the Berkeley regional.

Britt Vonk reached first on a perfectly placed bunt with one out and the Huskies decided to have Kaitlin Inglesby pitch to Arioto.

"We don't worry about what other teams do," UW coach Heather Tarr said.

Big mistake. The senior from Pleasanton launched a high home run beyond the centerfield bleachers, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead. It was her 23rd homer of the season, the 54th of her career -- one shy of Veronica Nelson's nine-year-old school record.

Actually, Tarr called Inglesby's delivery a mistake. "She capitalized on a pitch we hung," the coach said.

"She did what she's supposed to do on that pitch," Inglesby confirmed.

Two batters later, senior Jace Williams made it 3-0 with another home run to center, her seventh of the season.

Henderson had the lead she needed and the Huskies rarely pressed her. "I thought we really came out ready to play," Ninemire said. "Jolene threw a tremendous game, really kept the hitters off balance."

The Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Henderson said she felt "awesome" throwing the ball. "The team came out so strong," she said.

The Bears nearly registered their third homer of the game in the second inning, but UW centerfielder Jerrin Fa'asua reached above the fence the pull back Danielle Henderson's drive. In the sixth, Victoria Jones missed a home run by inches, doubling off the top of the fence in center.

Cal scored twice without a hit in the fourth, pushing its lead to 5-0.--©

"I'd like to think we finally got the bad-luck monkey off our back" Pettit said. "Ever since our first win in early April, we've found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time or our chassis adjustments didn't quite fit track conditions, leaving us short of vying for a win."

Marsh passed Hollister's Anthony Copeland on the second lap for his short stint at the lead.

Brian Cass, 2011 modified track champion, started seventh and rolled into his second-place finish on Lap 9.

Cody Burke of Salinas survived two crashes to finish third over pole position starter Todd Hermosillo. Martinez's Nick DeCarlo completed the top five by passing Michael Dalton of San Martin at the flag to finish fifth.

Hermosillo and Marsh were heat race winners.

SPORT MODIFIED

Watsonville's Matt Sotomayor extended his win streak to four in a row in IMCA's sport modified division. He has five consecutive wins in the last six weeks and a total of six wins in the last 10 starts. He currently leads both the championship and rookie standings.

"Patience was the most important ingredient," Sotomayor said. "Each of the front runners was experiencing handling problems. Being patient and timing my moves to avoid contact made the difference."

For the second consecutive time, Loren DeArmond and Jim DiGiovanni followed Sotomayor to earn second- and third-place finishes.

four BANGER

Watsonville's Alex Harper won his first career main event in Ocean's Four Banger division. Harper pulled off a clean sweep of the division by also winning the first heat race. Harper passed Al Sotomayor for the lead on Lap 13 of 20.

A skirmish with slower cars in the final two laps took Sotomayor, Sara Leslie, Richard and Derrick Dragonetti out of contention. That moved Dan McCabe and Charles Irwin into second and third place. Leslie and Sotomayor recovered finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Leslie and Robert Huckaby were also heat race winners.

LATE MODEL

Watsonville's Clay Daly started from pole position and led the entire 20-lap Ocean late model main event. Mike Meazel of Gilroy and Salinas' Phil Priddy finished second and third.

DWARF CAR

Bay Area Dwarf car point leader John Wear of Los Gatos raced from fourth to first place by Lap 4 and led the final 16 laps of the 20-lap feature. Early race leader Shawn Jones, the 2011 champion, finished second. Santa Cruz's Terry Rothweiler earned the club's hard-charger award by starting 16th and finishing third. Camron and Ryan Diatte completed the top five.

Camron, trying for second consecutive win, raced from 10th place to challenge Jones and Wear for the lead. A change in track conditions in the closing laps halted his charge on the front-runners. Jones and Marty Weisler were heat race winners.

AMERICAN STOCK

American stock feature winner Norm Ayers of Corralitos started from pole position and never looked back, winning his first feature of the season. Along with Morgan Hill's Mike Kofnovec Sr., he outdistanced division point leader Matt Kile of San Jose. Turlock's Chris Falkenberg and Kyle Wilson rounded out the top five. Tony Oliveira was fourth but failed to make post-race tech inspection, giving Falkenberg fifth place. Kile and Alex Wilson were American stock heat race winners.

MICRO 600

Tyson Davis won his third micro 600 mini sprint feature. Alexander Mead finished second. Mead, 12, holds a nine-point lead in the division.

Early that morning, Santa Cruz County had lost one of its warmest and brightest young coaches. Trevor Krieg died at 4:10 a.m. at Mercy Medical Hospital in Redding after he hit his head and fell into the water while jumping between houseboats at Lake Shasta on Friday night.

At the tournament five hours later, the news spread from court to court -- and so did the tears. Young girls and seasoned women huddled together under the gray skies, their puffy eyes lowered while their sobs rose above the sounds of the surf. Gangly boys and strapping men retreated to the wall below the sidewalk or far regions of the beach to process the information on their own.

All ages, all abilities, lifelong beach rats and indoor players wobbly in their sand tournament debuts mourned the loss. Krieg was just 22 years old and had only been living in Santa Cruz since 2008, yet his legacy in the county ran deeper than the sand on which they stood.

The local volleyball community won't be the same without Krieg. But it will be better thanks to him.

Simply put, Krieg was Santa Cruz County volleyball. Every spare moment he had he spent playing or coaching or attending matches.

In the fall, he split his time between working as the head coach of the Mount Madonna School girls program and the assistant coach to Gabby Houston at Cabrillo College. With both, he found success -- he helped the Hawks extend their winning tradition by guiding them to the Central Coast Section Division V semifinals in 2010 and 2011, while the Seahawks reached the state championship both seasons.

Last spring, Krieg took over the varsity boys program at Scotts Valley. The Falcons' team had never really gotten off the ground, but Krieg was sure he could help.

"We don't want to wait until next season to be good. I think that's an important factor. Why not start now and try to get good this year rather than waiting for next year and the year afterward?" he told me in an interview for the Sentinel's boys volleyball preview this spring. In the next breath, he noted he'd never worked with a team so young and so raw.

But that was Krieg, ever the optimist. Even on the rare occurrence that one of his teams lost, he would greet me for a post-game interview with a smile and a we'll-get'em-next-time attitude.

That carried over to the sand at Main Beach. Krieg played there several days a week, sometimes joining organized groups, but more often jumping in wherever he could find a game. He wasn't the tallest player on the court by a mile, but he showed he could play with the best and the worst and keep a smile on his face the entire time.

Krieg perhaps affected the most lives through the Main Beach Volleyball Club, where he coached for the past three years. There, he shared his knowledge, strategy and joy for the game with hundreds of young girls and boys.

Many of them were among those inconsolable figures huddled together at Main Beach on Saturday. After they'd gotten out the first wave of grief, most pulled themselves together, bundled up against the grey and the cold and did what would have made Krieg the happiest.

They played.

Julie Jag is the Sentinel's Sports Editor. Contact her at jjag@santacruzsentinel.com or follow her on Twitter @julie_jag.

But St. Ignatius of San Francisco changed that in a hurry after the Wildcats rediscovered their hitting stroke late in the section's Division II title game at San Jose Muni.

Coincidentally, the Wildcats' swing in confidence started on defense.

Star pitcher Collin Monsour came on in relief in the bottom of the fifth and escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a pair of strikeouts.

It started as a ripple of momentum for the Wildcats, but they turned it into a tidal wave, rallying to a 5-3 win over the Mariners to claim their first title.

"We came back to the dugout and we knew we had to score," said Monsour, who is committed to Cal. "We definitely had momentum after that. We played in the championship game for our league and lost. We wanted to come out and prove we could get t done when it mattered."

St. Ignatius [23-8-1] had just one hit off Koenig entering the sixth, but it scored four times and held on for the win -- Monsour's second in as many games. He tossed four shutout innings in a 10-0 mercy-rule shortened semifinal win over Leland on Thursday night.

"I felt good," Koenig said, who entered the sixth sitting at 70 pitches. "They just started hitting it really well. They started seeing the ball real well. ...We're all bummed, quiet and tired."

It was the third time that Aptos and St. Ignatius had reached the title game.

It also turned out to be the third time the Mariners had to endure watching the opponent form of a dogpile in front of the pitcher's mound.

"Jared threw a great game," said Mariners shortstop Orey Wafford, who made a pair of dazzling plays on defense early.

The No. 2 seed Mariners [20-9] -- who went undefeated in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play to repeat as its champion -- graduate all but one starter, junior catcher Bryan Bucher.

Wafford said that, despite the heavy turnover, fans will continue to hear Aptos roar.

"I'm sure the coaches will do the same thing they did with us," Wafford said of keeping the team hungry and focused. "The JV team went undefeated this year and I have no doubt they'll be able to find success their senior year and return to the championship."

Mariners coach Dave Heinevetter, whose son Michael is a third baseman for the Aptos, said he plans to return to coaching next season.

Despite warming up junior right-hander Steven Eichhorn in the bullpen in the fifth, Heinevetter stayed with Koenig in the sixth.

The game unfolded in slow motion. The Wildcats' Charlie Goldensohn reached on an infield single that first baseman Jordan Talbot and second baseman Jacob Connery pursued. Connery's throw to Koenig covering first was unable to beat the runner.

Matt Krook and Jack Klein singled to load the bases, which drew a visit to the mound from Heinevetter. The coach, still owning a 3-1 lead, stayed with his senior lefty.

"The way we've gotten here and our success is because I give to my seniors and rely on my seniors," Heinevetter said of not making the pitching change. "I had some thought about it, that's why Steven went to the bullpen. [I gave it some thought] the inning before, too. But I thought, I don't know if I can make that decision.' I've got to live with the senior."

Pinch hitter Jack Stinn drove in Johnson with a groundout to second base and Koenig was called for a balk to score Krook and tie the game. Kyle Tillinghast followed with a one-out RBI single and pinch hitter Jason Lock smacked an RBI double with two outs.

St. Ignatius loaded the bases in the seventh too. Eichhorn entered with one out and escaped the jam unscathed, drawing a standing ovation from the Mariner faithful.

Aptos' Gunnar Glaum singled off Monsour to open the sixth and Orey Wafford opened the seventh with a leadoff single too, but Monsour got the big outs to defuse any rally attempts.

After Wafford reached base in the seventh, Heinevetter lined out to Monsour with a double-play ball. Talbot flew out to center to end the game.

"When he got those two strikeouts in the fifth with the bases loaded," said Tillinghast, "that was huge. They had an opportunity to put the game out of reach."

Aptos scored twice in the second and once in the third to chase Wildcats starter Connor Cucalon. Nicco Bailey doubled in the second and scored on a groundball by Glaum to shortstop that was fumbled. Glaum scored on John Evans' two-out single.

The inning ended abruptly when Koenig was tagged out trying to score from third on a wild pitch.

Wafford reached on an error in the third and scored on a delayed double steal after Bailey drew a two-out walk.

While the loss was heartbreaking to the Mariners, Wafford gave kudos to the Wildcats -- who have five players committed to four-year schools for baseball, including juniors Krook [University of Oregon] and Klein [Stanford].

"They're a great team," Wafford said. "We felt like we had the situation under control and they started putting [the ball] in places we weren't."

"It's hard to realize that it's my last year," Soquel center fielder Annalise Bryant said while holding back tears. "But I couldn't imagine a better way for it to end. I'm really proud of my teammates this year."

Playing in the program's first Central Coast Section Championship game Saturday, the No. 3 Knights fell short, losing to top-seeded Santa Catalina 5-3 at PAL Stadium.

Just the sixth Santa Cruz County team to advance to the CCS title game, Soquel [21-9] was looking to become the first to walk away with the first-place hardware. But while Bryant clutched the runner-up trophy Saturday, reflecting back on the season was instead bittersweet.

"Obviously, we would have liked to win. But I couldn't have asked anything more from my teammates," Bryant said of the Knights, who were tri-champions in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League this season. "Soquel has never been in this position before."

The Cougars [24-1-1], winners of the Mission Trail Athletic League and now 15 straight games, were in Soquel's position last year. But they avenged last season's title-game loss to Capuchino to earn their first Division III championship, and celebrated by surrounding senior pitcher Alex Pingree on the final out.

Moments later, Santa Catalina was scurrying to leave and head back to Monterey for graduation. "Pomp and Circumstance" was less than two hours from starting.

"This feels great," said Pingree, who earned the victory after tossing a complete game. She allowed three runs on three hits while striking out nine. "We won, and we're really just happy with ourselves."

A slow start by the UC Santa Barbara-bound pitcher, in which she surrendered two runs in the opening frame, was eventually erased in the game-changing fourth, when Santa Catalina scored five runs on five hits.

And, really, that was the difference. Soquel starting pitcher Anna Gurr surrendered just two hits otherwise, and there were no costly errors or sloppy base-running mistakes that would have left Soquel coach Shawn Gallardo scratching his head afterward.

"It didn't feel like we lost," Gallardo said. "Most times when you're walking away, you feel like you did something wrong. I felt like we gave it our all. The players played as hard as they could.

"You've got to give credit to them. That's a really good team. But I felt both teams were evenly matched and I'm real proud of the way our players played. They were ready. They just came out on the losing end."

The sophomore Gurr pitched an outstanding game, Gallardo said, retiring the first nine batters she faced in order. But a momentum shift in the top half of the fourth occurred when Pingree struck out consecutive batters and stranded a pair of Soquel base runners in scoring position.

"That was huge," Pingree said. "We needed that more than anything, especially early in the game."

In the bottom half of the inning, Fatima Larios led off with a single for Santa Catalina's first hit of the game and Vanessa Furman followed with an infield single. After a walk to Pingree loaded the bases with one out, Chase LeeHong knotted the game with a two-RBI single to right field.

Inez Borromeo and Brenda Melano followed with RBI singles, plating another three runs for Santa Catalina.

"I was nervous, so I let that get the best of me," Pingree said of her two-run first inning. "But my team picked me up."

Soquel jumped on Pingree early when Bryant drew a lead-off walk to start the game. A sacrifice bunt by Valerie Silva one batter later set up Faith Apolskis, who ripped the first pitch she saw off Pingree for an RBI triple to deep left.

Apolskis later scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, she helped Soquel respond to its deficit with an RBI single, scoring Bryant from third base.

But the Knights only reached based twice more and couldn't crack a settled Pingree, who had 17 shutouts this season.

Furman went 2-for-3 for the Cougars, while Annie Aldrete, who batted more than .700 during MTAL play this season, was 0-for-3 with a run scored.

Soquel's Jamie Corder finished 1-for-2 with a walk, while Apolskis went 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base.

Afterward, Apolskis agreed with Gallardo's sentiments.

"It doesn't feel like we lost, to be honest. We played awesome. We came out swinging. I don't feel like we lost at all," she said. "They're a great team to lose to. I'm excited about next year, but I am sad about this loss."

Tears flowed and players exchanged parting hugs after the game. But there was also a look toward Soquel's past, as well as its future.

A year ago, the Knights lost to Santa Catalina in the CCS semifinals 4-3 -- a game in which Soquel committed five errors. Apolskis said Saturday's contest was better, even though the margin of defeat was greater.

"We had solid defense. Anna pitched great. They just had one more half-inning than we did," said Apolskis, who sung the national anthem with teammate Paolina Valdez before the game.

Gurr finished the game, allowing five runs on seven hits, striking out two. She'll be back next year, as will the bulk of Soquel's roster. Only Bryant, third baseman Brianna Sugimoto and the catcher Silva will graduate.

"It's kind of hard. It didn't really set in until we were in the circle afterward and coach said, It's been a good year, seniors. Good job,'" Silva said. "That's when it hit me.

"It's weird that it's over. It doesn't feel like it should be."

Mariners third baseman Michael Heinevetter is visibly upset after he was called for interference, allowing the fourth inning to continue. With new life, Mount Pleasant produces the go-ahead run.

After the inning, dad had a few choice words for his son -- really choice.

"Barking?" the coach said, essentially repeating my question after the Mariners rallied for a 7-5 win.

The third-year Mariners coach gives me a look that lets me know my eyes betrayed me.

"I told him, 'Don't let that ruin the rest of the day.'"

It didn't. In the bottom half of the fourth, Michael drove in the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly.

Choice words. Heinevetter has had plenty of them in recent weeks. He's been working with the Mariners on the mental aspect of the game, specifically staying positive in situations that bring out the worst of emotions.

Those negative emotions can snowball, Heinevetter said, and cause irreparable damage,

Clearly his players have bought into his speeches. They've ripped victory from the jaws of defeat the past two games.

Since the Mariners routed No. 15 Soledad 16-4 in the first round last week, they've been tested in a pair of come-from-behind wins the next two games, topping No. 10 Gunn 4-3 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Mount Pleasant in the semifinals. Jared Koenig, atoning for a throwing error, hit a walk-off double in the seventh to sink Gunn.

Koenig credits his coach's mental-game instruction for helping the Mariners [20-8] persevere.

Now the unbeaten Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champions sit at the doorstep of history as they seek the school's first title in the sport.

They'll need to stick with their game plan -- positive thoughts and all -- in today's final, when they take on West Catholic Athletic League runner-up St. Ignatius, the No. 5 seed, at 1 p.m. at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

The Wildcats trounced Leland 10-0 Thursday in the other semifinal, which was called after five innings on the mercy rule.

Both teams are seeking their first title after two previous title-game appearances.

The Wildcats finished runner-up in 1993 and 2000.

The Mariners took second in 1984 and 2007. The team five years ago featured a heralded bunch that included five players who eventually committed to NCAA Division I schools.

This group may lack the star power of that 2007 team, but it doesn't lack the talent.

Perhaps the mental-game coaching takes them into uncharted territory today.

Heinevetter said he feels fortunate over a pair of come-from-behind wins, but more so for the team buying into his instruction.

"I do feel fortunate," he said. "I feel fortunate for the things I've been practicing and fortunate for the way they've been listening to me on those things."

Heinevetter said he's been preaching two things lately: Composure -- defining it and describing how to fend off frustration -- and determination.

"And having fun," he added. "We've done work over the past few weeks to get our minds in the right place."

Not all the Mariners' wins are pretty. But the victories keep piling up.

Aptos would be more than happy to chalk up an ugly win today.

"That's our game," the coach said. "Sacrifice flies and moving runners over. You've seen us bunt," he added, alluding to his team's precision ball placement and success rate.

The Mariners do a lot of small-ball work each week. They work on bunting and suicide squeezes.

They also do a lot of mental work, behind-the-scenes stuff that Heinevetter and his players don't want to fully divulge. That said, everyone involved said the mental work has been a big key to the team's success.

"I'm not going to give away all of my secrets, but the players have been very well trained in how to control their minds the last few weeks," Heinevetter said.

"Like using the Force?" I blurt, envisioning Luke Skywalker lifting his X-Wing from a swamp.

Heinevetter ignores my joke.

"You play better when you feel good about yourself," Heinevetter said. "The key is, when times are tough, how do you keep yourself in that positive mental state? We've been working on getting there."

At the outset of practice, the team listens to their coach's preachings and buys in.

Wanting to know specifics, I get no more details. This team is a tight-lipped bunch.

Is it like a séance? Are you guys holding hands, singing Kumbaya?

"I don't want to give it away, but it gets us in a good spot," Michael Heinevetter said. "It's helpful."

Added teammate Nicco Bailey: "It gets us in the right state of mind. It's something we just want to keep within our team."

Coach Heinevetter gave one example: Making sure his players leave the field with their heads held high.

He said when players are often struggling in the batting cage, he'll often talk to players individually, and work an extra session with them.

"I want the kids leaving batting practice feeling like kings," Heinevetter said. "So I'll put them back in the cage and they're raking it before they go home."

Michael Heinevetter's swing on his flyout in the fourth inning Thursday might have warranted extra time in the cage. On the field and given the situation, however, it was a job well done.

And sweet redemption.

Heinevetter screamed in joy as he returned to the dugout after his teammate scored the go-ahead run.

Aptos finished with 10 hits against Mount Pleasant. But it was the flyout that left the coach smiling.

"Being a dad, I was proud of the sac fly," he said.

The coach in Heinevetter was happy, too. In a seesaw contest, the Mariners emerged victorious in the mental game as well.

Contact Assistant Sports Editor Jim Seimas at 706-3256 or jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com.

No matter what they thought going into the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships on Friday night, those three and the San Lorenzo Valley High boys 4x400-meter relay team walked out with tickets to next week's CIF State Championships. The top three finishers in each CCS final at Gilroy High earned berths to the state championships next Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis.

SLV junior Johnson qualified in two events, as did Santa Cruz sophomore Shattuck.

Shattuck isn't boastful, but he admitted he knew he could do it all along.

"Before, I was saying it is possible," he said. "It didn't blow my mind, but 6-7 is great."

Shattuck jumped a personal-record 6 feet, 7 inches in the high jump to take second on misses behind Monterey's Stephen Dorsey. In the triple jump, he placed third with a leap of 44-8.5.

Now, he's headed to state, a thing he's only heard of in legends and whispers.

"When people talk about state, they say people are seven feet tall," he said. "But it's just so great to be there."

Johnson will be one of those towering athletes at state. The 6-foot-5 runner won the 800 meters and later anchored the second-place 4x400 relay team that included Jonny Cooper, Lucas Sinnott and Billy Mullins.

Johnson said that though he took the top qualifying time in the 800 at last Saturday's trials, he felt like an underdog.

"No one thought I was going to win, everyone thought I was going to get second," Johnson said. "That wasn't good enough for me."

So, Johnson led wire to wire. His time of 1 minute, 53.49 seconds beat runner- up -- and purported race favorite -- Sean Davis of Valley Christian by nearly a second.

There was less difference than that between Palo Alto and SLV in the 4x400 relay. In fact, the Cougars had to settle for second by less than three-tenths of a second [3:21.16 to 3:21.41]. Cooper, the team's lone senior, didn't seem too disappointed.

"All the guys were running their hearts out, it was pretty beautiful," he said. "I just wish we could have held on at the end."

Of the six county boys who qualified for state, five hail from SLV.

One, Hicks, said he had to give "everything" to seal his trip to state. He climbed out of fourth place in the last lap of the 3,200 and held off a challenger to take third in a personal record time of 9:24.28.

"I really didn't think I would get to state. I had some hope, but I'm glad I did," Hicks said. "I really wanted it, and when you really want something, you go for it."

_____

Team Rankings

1. Palo Alto, 53

6. SLV, 24

13t. Santa Cruz, 14

State Qualifiers
800 - 1. Cody Johnson, SLV, 1:43.49
3,200 - 3. Nick Hicks, SLV, 9:24.28
4x400 - 2. SLV (Jonny Cooper, Lucas Sinnott, Billy Mullins, Cody Johnson) 3:21.41
High Jump - 2. Dion Shattuck, Santa Cruz, 6-7
Triple Jump - 3. Dion Shattuck, Santa Cruz, 44-8.5

Yet, when she stepped into the discus ring during the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships on Friday night, the Watsonville High senior showed no weakness.

"There's pain, but it's tolerable," said Cueva, who hyperextended her knee while running on a track a day after qualifying for the finals. "The little pain of eight seconds is definitely worth making it another week."

It's not always the best athletes who qualify for state. Sometimes, it's simply the ones with the highest threshold for pain.

Cueva finished second in discus with a throw of 128 feet, 5 inches to become one of six girls from Santa Cruz County who qualified in five events for next week's state meet in Clovis by finishing among the top three. A few did it effortlessly. The others, like Cueva, had to test their mettle.

The girls' 1,600-meter run was a study in both.

Nikki Hiltz of Aptos -- the national leader in the event -- cruised to the victory in 4 minutes, 51.89 seconds. She also won the 800 in 2:10:10, notching back-to-back CCS titles in both.

"It definitely feels good going back to back for the second year," said Hiltz, a junior. "It was a lot of pressure being the defending champion, but I feel good."

Her teammate Clare Peabody, on the other hand, took a much pricklier route in the 1,600.

As she turned down the final stretch, Peabody, the No. 8 qualifier, could she was firmly in fourth -- one spot away from automatically qualifying for state, which had been her goal all season. Her legs were numb and she was using Steve Prefontaine quotes to will herself forward.

"Giving anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift," she said, quoting Prefontaine. "I was thinking of the gift I wanted to open."

And then she got one. Suddenly, the girl ahead of her -- Burlingame's Catherine Lowdon -- tripped, her outstretched hand just inches from the finish line. Peabody swooped past her for the final qualifying spot an instant before the girl recovered and stumbled across the finish line. Soquel freshman Kaila Gibson [5:11.02] reached the podium in fifth place and San Lorenzo Valley's Claire MacMillan led for a couple laps before fading to ninth [5:13.86].

"I feel bad," said Peabody, who finished in 5:09.24, "but I realized it's not my fault."

Aptos finished fourth in the team standings with 37 points. Piedmont Hills won with 61.

The two Aptos girls will be joined in Clovis by Nikki Miyashita, who made the remarkable accomplishment of going 4-for-4 in qualifying for state in the high jump. She reached in third place with a leap of 5 feet, 3 inches.

Anna Maxwell, an SLV sophomore, seemed to be running on air when she broke away from a three-girl leader's pack in the 3,200 and flew to the win in a personal-record 10:21.04.

For the first time all season she had just one race to run -- instead of also tackling the 1,600 -- and her legs were pulsing with energy.

"I felt really great the whole time," she said. "I'm really excited for state now."

Scotts Valley's Vanessa Fraser, who led that three-girl gang for much of the race, is also excited for state, but for a different reason. She wants to figure out what went wrong late in the game after she finished third in 10:43.73, behind runner-up Vanessa Estrada of San Benito [10:35.67].

"I'm not in the place I want to be, not placewise but timewise. I'm pretty disappointed," she said. "I hope it was an off night and hopefully I feel good next Saturday."

The state meet will be held Friday and Saturday, but because of its length, the 3,200 is only raced on Saturday.

Fraser isn't the only one who left feeling a little down after the meet. The Soquel 4x100 relay team of Natalie and Maddie Diaz, Diana Chobanian and Kendra Bonsall missed out on the county record, but seemed pleased with placing fifth in 49.82.Pole vaulters Hailey Fish of Soquel and Thresa Vinson of Aptos finished fifth and sixth, respectively, and failed to advance and hurdlers Ranae Maloney of Scotts Valley and Jenny Delucchi of Santa Cruz also ended their season at the CCS finals.

Vinson, who qualified for state as a sophomore, said she still has plenty to look forward to.

"At least it's not the end of my season," said the San Diego State-bound vaulter. "At least I have college."

_____

Team Rankings

1. Piedmont Hills, 61

4. Aptos, 37

16t. Soquel, 12

18t. SLV, 11

20t. Scotts Valley, 10

State Qualifiers
1,600 - 1. Nikki Hiltz, Aptos 4:51.89; 3. Clare Peabody, Aptos, 5:09.24
800 - 1. Nikki Hiltz, Aptos, 2:10.10
3,200 - 1. Anna Maxwell, SLV, 10:21.04; 3. Vanessa Fraser, Scotts Valley, 10:43.73
High jump - 3. Nikki Miyashita, Aptos, 5-foot-3
Discus - 2. Brianna Cueva, Watsonville, 128-5

"I'm not wearing a wig all year long, that's for sure," laughed Gallardo, as he pulled off the fake locks during a break in drills on Thursday -- the wig perhaps best described as a long, auburn ponytail with silver, glittery sparkles peppered throughout.

"The kids are playing loose," he later added, "and that's how we want them to be."

This isn't business as usual for Soquel, of course. The Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League tri-champion was instead celebrating Senior Day, when, for a portion of the two-hour practice, the Knights' three seniors ran the show and the coaches acted as players.

Hence, the wig.

But while Senior Day was a little more offbeat than usual, the coaching staff has introduced less pressure-filled practices since the start of the postseason, and it has no doubt turned the Knights into a positive bunch.

A game of ultimate frisbee, for instance -- instead with a glove and softball -- broke out during one recent practice.

"It's building positive energy," senior catcher/second baseman Valerie Silva said. "We've brought that to the game and it's definitely showed."

Although they will play for the Central Coast Section Division III championship today at 10 a.m. at San Jose's PAL Stadium, against a top-seeded team in Santa Catalina that has eliminated them from the postseason two years in a row, the No. 3 Knights [21-8] hardly exhibited the pressures of a team about to compete in the program's first-ever title game.

They were loose, confident and enjoying the last few days to their 2012 campaign -- anything but burnt out from a season that began in January for some.

"They've put in so much hard work this season, we just want them to be in a good mindset -- happy and positive," Gallardo said. "We've had a tough schedule and it was planned that way. But I think the grind of playing in so many tough games takes a lot out of you.

"They've done the hard work, and we don't want to get away from that. But we also want to keep them happy, keep them positive, keep them in a good mood."

What effect Soquel's approach to practice has had on the Knights isn't exactly quantifiable, although Gallardo believes Wednesday's 4-1 semifinal victory over No. 7 Capuchino was one of the best games his team has played all season.

It wasn't perfect. Soquel made a pair of errors in the field and Capuchino had runners on base in each inning except the sixth. But behind a solid pitching performance by sophomore Anna Gurr and a strong defensive showing otherwise, Soquel was seemingly in control all game.

"We had super solid defense and I think that will cross over to this game," said Silva, who connected on the game-winning hit last Saturday during Soquel's 7-6 victory over San Lorenzo Valley.

"I think our defense has been solid and everyone is hitting on the team," she added. "Everyone is working as a team, and I love it."

The Knights have managed to alter their fortunes in the postseason, after dropping four of their last eight games to close out the regular season. Winning the rubber match with league rival SLV in the CCS quarterfinals, then dispatching the defending Division III champs in Capuchino, Soquel is just the sixth team from Santa Cruz County to advance to the CCS title game -- the first since Watsonville in 2006.

No county softball team has won a CCS title, however.

But if Wednesday's semifinal victory translated into unfinished business for the Knights -- they lost in that round last year -- the CCS title game remains an unfinished goal for Santa Catalina [23-1-1]. The Mission Trail Athletic League champions lost to Capuchino in last year's final.

The Cougars haven't lost this season since March 24, winning 14 of their last 15 games, including a pair of 10-run postseason victories over No. 8 Half Moon Bay and No. 4 Notre Dame-Salinas to reach the CCS title game.

"They're a top-notch team," said Gallardo, quickly noting catcher Annie Aldrete and pitcher Alex Pingree.

Aldrete blasted nine homers and batted more than .700 in MTAL play this season, according to the Monterey Herald. The senior Pingree, who will be attending UC Santa Barbara in the fall, has tossed 17 shutouts this season for the Cougars, who have allowed just 14 runs all season.

"But we had pretty good success last year against her, so that should boost our confidence knowing that we can go out there and put pressure on them," said senior center fielder Annalise Bryant. "And that's what we need to do to, is to start out strong."

Last season's semifinal game saw Soquel jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. But Santa Catalina nevertheless scored four runs on just one hit off Gurr, taking advantage of five errors en route to a 4-3 victory.

Admittedly, Soquel played nervous in that game, although those same nerves have seemingly been absent this postseason. The returning players are competing off of experience, freshman Jamie Sugimoto is just competing.

The hard-hitting utility player is 4-for-7 in the postseason with a triple, a double and two RBIs. She hasn't let the weight of the moment have much effect.

"I've just been really excited and enjoying the energy everyone has had. We've all worked hard to come out and play like this," said Sugimoto, whose older sister, Brianna, is Soquel's starting third baseman. "I haven't really been nervous, not since the first game [of the season] I played."

Credit the coaches. Credit the players. Credit the practices.

Sure, credit the wig, too.

"There's always nerves in any game. But the pressure makes it that much more desirable to win," said Bryant, who helped Soquel win its first-ever CCS basketball title in March. "As long as we keep calm and collected and know that we can beat them, then there's no pressure in the situation."

Bryant paused, then added, "Well, there is pressure, but nothing we can't handle."

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL TIME PLACE

CCS D-III Championship: No. 3 Soquel vs. No. 1 Santa Catalina 10 a.m. PAL Stadium, San Jose

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

CCS D-II Championship: No. 2 Aptos vs. No. 5 St. Ignatius 1 p.m. San Jose Muni

POSITION: Right field

Q: Do you play any other sports?

A: No. Baseball is my bread and butter.

Q: What is it about baseball that gets you going?

A: It's slow-moving action, explosive action, as opposed to non-stop action like in football. It's a relaxing game and one sport you know you'll get your chance to do something. If you play wide receiver, you may not get a ball thrown your way an entire game.

Q: What do you do in your free time?

A: I go to the gym and hang out with friends. Don't list that I go to the gym. It sounds toolish.

Q: So you work out? For what?

A: To better myself for baseball.

Q: What's your baseball future?

A: I'm going to Cabrillo. I'm very excited. Coach [Bob] Kittle has a good group of people coming in.

Q: And when you're not on the baseball field or the gym?

A: I'm a big beach guy. I recently got into beach volleyball and Boogie board. I like rummaging around Aptos, too.

Q: Do you do any traveling?

A: Not recently. Years ago, I went to Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. That was a culture shock. It was so laid back. The people there aren't [materialistic]. They have only what they need and they're happy. I like their overlook on life.

Q: I thought Santa Cruz and Californians in general were laid back?

A: Well, where I went it was also beach people and a more carefree environment. Imagine Santa Cruz times 10. It was relaxed and no worries. I love it. I want to go back. I just have to save up the money.

Q: You dress up a lot for school activities, don't you? Are you spirited?

A: I'm up there. I'm pretty spirited, but there's some guys at our school who are crazy.

Q: The field is your stage. Do you battle nerves on other public platforms?

A: I don't have any social fears, I don't think.

Q: Any fears in general?

A: I'm deathly afraid of sharks. That's why I don't go in the water that much, because I hate sharks. I thought I was afraid of heights, but then I went skydiving a couple times. You land on the beach in Seascape. You gotta try it.

Q: Wow, that's crazy. Any other extreme things?

A: I want to bungee jump. In New Zealand there was a 3,000-foot gorge. That's on my bucket list.

Q: Do you really have a bucket list?

A: Yeah, it's written down. Me and my buddy Emelio Cantu-Gil watched the movie. We figured we're all going to die someday, so we wrote our stuff down. Mine is five pages.

Q: What else is on the list that you want to get done in the near future?

A: Well, most of it is post-college since it involves travel. I want to run with the bulls, and the tomato fights they do in Spain seem pretty awesome.

Q: Do you know what your major is in college?

A: I'm undecided. That's why I'm going to Cabrillo, to get my general education done and figure it out. Then transfer to UC Berkeley or UC Santa Barbara.

Q: You have a memorable moment from baseball?

A: I wish you asked me that after Saturday. That's a hopefully.'

Q: You think you guys have a shot against St. Ignatius in the CCS title game?

A: We have a good shot against anybody. We're on a roll. And if everybody does their role "¦

-- JIM SEIMAS

The No. 2 Mariners rallied with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and held on to oust No. 3 Mount Pleasant 7-5 in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals Thursday at San Jose Muni, home of the San Francisco Giants' Single-A affiliate.

Unlike Aptos' 4-3, come-from-behind win over No. 10 Gunn on Saturday --" sealed by Jared Koenig's walk-off double --" there wasn't an elaborate celebration.

There is still unfinished business, said Mariners pitcher Jordan Talbot, who tossed a complete-game three-hitter.

"It's what we wanted all year," Talbot said of reaching the title game. "This is what we've been striving for. Now we're here. We just need to keep doing what coach [Dave Heinevetter] is telling us, go out and take it one pitch at a time."

With the win, the unbeaten Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League-champion Mariners [20-8] sit at the doorstep of history. They play Saturday at 1 p.m. at San Jose Muni with the intention of claiming the program's first section crown.

It will be the Mariners' first title game appearance since 2007 and third overall. Aptos also reached the final in 1984.

Standing in the Mariners' way is No. 5 St. Ignatius, a 10-0 winner over No. 8 Leland in Thursday night's semifinal. The game was called in the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule.

St. Ignatius [22-8-1], which finished runner-up in the West Catholic Athletic League this season, is also seeking its first section title.

Aptos jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Mount Pleasant [25-3], which entered the game with a 0.87 team ERA after going 21-0 to claim the Mount Hamilton Athletic League's Santa Teresa Division.

After Talbot sailed through the first inning on nine pitches, the Mariners quickly loaded the bases against pitcher Gabe Katich.

Nicco Bailey delivered a one-out single to drive in Orey Wafford and Michael Heinevetter. Talbot, who was intentionally walked, scored on a single that deflected off third base and Bailey stole home after Gunnar Glaum reached on an infield single and drew a pickoff throw on a steal attempt.

"It really has been a team effort," Bailey said of the offense, which has scored 27 runs in three playoff games.

Aptos' four-run lead would evaporate two innings later.

After Mount Pleasant's Omar Gonzales walked, DJ Santellano reached on a fielding error and Peter Perez was hit-by-pitch to load the bases, Arturo Ahedo smacked a bases-clearing triple to give his team new life.

"It was a fastball low and in," Ahedo said. "I turned on it and started flying. We were all pumped up for that one."

Ahedo scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

Mount Pleasant took a 5-4 lead in the fourth after Santellano reached on an infield single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and stole home on a delayed double steal. Perez was thrown out trying to steal second, but Santellano touched home before his teammate was tagged out.

"We kept our composure throughout the whole game," Bailey said.

Aptos responded in the bottom half of the inning by loading the bases with no outs. Wafford hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Jared Koenig from third and allowed Ben Hudson to tag up at second and advance 90 feet. Heinevetter followed with a sacrifice fly to drive home Hudson and put the Mariners up for good.

John Evans scored an insurance run in the sixth after reaching on a leadoff single. He scored on a wild pitch from Santellano, who replaced Katich in the fifth.

Talbot finished the fifth sitting at 94 pitches, but he needed only 21 more to get through the final two frames.

"His stuff in the zone was his best stuff," Dave Heinevetter said. "Yeah, he was missing a bit. But the quality of his stuff in the zone was nasty. They were very disciplined."

Despite Mount Pleasant's quality at-bats, it couldn't compensate for shoddy defense. The Cardinals finished with three errors.

"We hardly make any errors," Ahedo said. "We got a little anxious, nervous because it was the semifinals. We just dropped the ball."

It wasn't just hard-hit balls that gave the Cardinals fits. Aptos excelled at bunting, too.

Said Michael Heinevetter: "We've been hitting the ball well, putting more pressure on the defense. I don't think they were ready for us. They bobbled some balls and we just hustled down the line and beat some balls out."

Large sections of tree trunks line the rough dirt drive leading to the Santa Cruz Archery Range. It leads between large trees and through small streams, poison oak and little blue Forget-Me-Nots. Within minutes, the sounds of industry give way to the buzzing of bees and the chirping of birds and insects.

The range near DeLaveaga Golf Course could easily double for the forest outside District 12, where Katniss Everdeen secretly roamed before being thrust into a reality show-like battle to the death in the popular book and movie "The Hunger Games." Everdeen's skills lay with a bow and arrow, and that's what I'd come here to master -- well, at least attempt. Not because of Suzanne Collins' book, but because archery is one of the Summer Olympic sports with the longest history and the smallest audience.

Archery made its Olympic debut in 1900, but it dropped off in 1912 and only appeared one more time before being reinstated in 1972. At that time, the competition was drawn out over several days, with the winner -- usually someone from the United States -- tallying the highest combined score at the end of the week. Then, in 1992, the format was switched to pit archers head-to-head, with the best -- now usually from South Korea -- working their way up the bracket by posting a better score than that day's opponent. The switch happened to make the sport more audience friendly. According to Larry Yien, a semipro archer from Santa Cruz [and, in full disclosure, my dentist], though, the sport is still in danger of following the same path as softball and losing its place in the Games. At least that was the case before Everdeen's sharp shooting in "Hunger Games" gave the sport new life.

Yien is a regular fixture at the range and a winner of multiple world championships in field archery. Shot with a longbow in a backwoods course, usually at 2-D and 3-D animal targets, field archery resembles the rudimentary style adopted by Everdeen.

In contrast, Olympic archery would be perfect for Hawkeye of "The Avengers," another blockbuster movie. Using a metal recurve bow bedecked with high-tech gizmos and gadgets like scopes and stabilizers, competitors take aim at circular targets positioned on an open field 80 yards [70 meters] away.

"The Olympics is kind of like the Americas Cup in sailing," Yien said, noting Olympic carbon-fiber arrows alone can cost as much as $1,000 apiece. "A lot of testing goes into making everything the best it can be."

So, what was the first weapon Yien handed me in my Olympic experiment? Not a recurve or even a basic longbow, but a primitive grey strip of elastic Thera-Band. He said he wanted me to be able to practice my form without worrying about the string or an arrow. In reality, he must have sensed that even though the range charges students $4 per lost arrow instead of $1,000, I had the potential to quickly break the bank.

Following basic form, I held the "bow" end of the band straight out from the side of my body with one arm, then curled the middle three fingers of my other hand around the "string" portion of the band. As instructed, I lifted my elbow high and pulled the "string" to the hinge of my jaw using the strength of my shoulder blade and back muscles. Yien called this "back tension."

"All the great archers have good back tension," he assured me.

Once I was in position, he suggested mentally relaxing the muscles running over the top of my wrist rather than concentrating on releasing the string from the fingers. I nailed the bull's-eye with my imaginary arrows a few times -- I swear, I didn't miss once -- before we moved on to the real deal.

Yien handed me a green, metal recurve bow that weighed about 15 pounds, or less than half that of a typical Olympic bow. Though it served as a basic student instrument, it seemed futuristic compared to the band. He showed me how to "nock" the arrow by snapping a notch in the feathered end onto the string [believe it or not, this is where the phrase "Don't nock it until you've tried it" comes from]. Then, he positioned me about 15 yards from a gigantic target with black-rimmed rings wider than my forearms and gave me permission to fire.

I pulled the string taught, took aim at the bull's-eye and sent the arrow soaring... straight over the target and into the woods beyond.

Yien graciously shrugged it off and handed me another arrow from the quiver. This one took the opposite path, landing in the dirt below. On my fifth try, I finally found the backing, but still went wide right of the target's multi-colored circles. This, Yien told me, would be my sight arrow ­-- the one from which I would gauge all other shots.

"Just enjoy the bow and the string in your fingers," Yien advised. "Don't worry about hitting the target."

I locked my eyes on the distant arrow, took aim, pulled, released and ...

Bull's-eye!

The next two shots followed suit and I felt a future as a sniper might be in the cards for me. I had only to step back 65 more yards to get the true Olympic experience.

After gathering up the arrows -- it took a little scavenging, but I found them all -- we stepped back across a stream to try from a greater distance. I estimated we must have been 50 to 60 yards from the target. Yien grinned. Try 30, maybe.

Yikes.

Yet even at that distance, I could pop some of the arrows into the board, and occasionally the bull's-eye. It was time to go big.

We hiked into the woods to the range's farthest target. At 80 yards -- almost the length of a football field -- I couldn't see the lines separating the pipe-cleaner thin circles. Even when I squinted, they were just rings of blue, red and gold that kind of blurred together. If I hit this, I decided, I might actually try out for the Olympic team, because in addition to going the distance, my arrow was going to have to dodge overhanging trees and overgrown bushes.

None of the arrows even made it to the target.

The first fell short and to the right, smack into a thick patch of poison oak. The second, short and to the left where a gully engulfed it. The third was on target but didn't quite make it, sinking into shrubbery just short of the target. And the fourth? Well, the fourth hit a high tree limb and spiraled to the ground only a few yards from where I stood.

Yien and I surveyed the damage and spent several minutes searching for the lost arrows, but the forest had decided to keep them for itself, perhaps as punishment for my bad aim.

OK, so maybe I wouldn't survive in the Hunger Games, nor in the Olympics. In fact, I left owing Yien at least $16 in lost arrows.

On the bright side, and to quote the Hunger Games catchphrase, the odds of me improving next time around are ever in my favor.

Looking for more zany Olympics coverage? Read Julie Jag's "Across the Pond" blog.

Nerenberg, the top-ranked player from the West Region, claimed the first set his second-round match against Kenyon's Michael Razumovsky, 6-3, only to see the freshman sweep the final two, 6-2, 6-0 to advance to today's quarterfinals against Washington-Louis's Adam Putterman, the No. 3 player in the nation

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

The Monterey Bay Alternative League soccer championship will kick off at 11:20 a.m. today at the Aptos Polo Grounds main field.

FC Renaissaince of Pajaro Valley will defend 2011 title in the co-ed league against Santa Cruz's Coastanoa.

MOTOR SPORTS TIME PLACE

Multiple class races 6 p.m. Ocean Speedway

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

CCS FinalsField events begin 4 p.m. Gilroy HighRunning events begin 6 p.m. Gilroy High

HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER

Monterey Bay Alternative League championship: Renaissance PV vs. Coastanoa SC 11:30 a.m. Aptos Polo Fields

SATURDAY'S LOCAL EVENTS

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL TIME PLACE

CCS D-III Championship: No. 3 Soquel vs. No. 1 Santa Catalina 10 a.m. PAL Stadium, San Jose

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

CCS D-II Championship: No. 2 Aptos vs. No. 5 St. Ignatius 1 p.m. San Jose Muni, SJ

Delucchi's brother Derrick, for example, dedicated his springs to playing baseball for Santa Cruz. Yet a couple of times each season, he would wander down after practice to track meets and usually beat the cleats off the competition in the short sprints. He was runner-up in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes the past two years and even qualified for the Central Coast Section finals in 2011 as part of the Cardinals' 4x100 relay team.

Delucchi's mother Lisa also took advantage of her raw talent. As a sprinter for Santa Cruz, she dominated the 100 and set the school record in the 200. Yet, by her own admission, she didn't labor much over her races.

"When I ran, it was more casual," or at least that's how she remembers it. "We didn't practice very hard."

Sure, Delucchi has speed in her genes. But she didn't become the second-fastest qualifier in the 100 hurdles at tonight's Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships at Gilroy High without putting that talent to work.

"I think it's just maturity and focus," said longtime Cardinals hurdles coach Don Roberts. "She just went from a recreational, having-fun-doing-it [hurdler] to one who could see she could do something in it."

That something could start tonight.

Delucchi's Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title-winning time of 14.97 seconds in the 100 hurdles has nestled in as the second-fastest time in CCS this season behind the 13.99 of junior Micha Auzenne of St. Francis of Mountain View. Fittingly, she qualified second in the 100 hurdles at the CCS Trials on Saturday with a time of 15.06, behind Auzenne's 14.43.

Delucchi also qualified seventh in the 300 hurdles [47.19], just behind Scotts Valley's Ranae Maloney [sixth, 46.63].

The top three in each event at tonight's finals qualify for the CIF State Championships on June 1-2 in Clovis.

As eager as she is to qualify for state for the first time, Delucchi's even more intent on whittling down her times. Last year, when she won her first SCCAL title in the 100 hurdles, she did it in 16.35. Coming into this season, she knew that she could go faster -- she just didn't know how much.

"My main goal was to try to get in the 15s. I thought that was a crazy deal," Delucchi said. "Now I'm just short of getting into the 14s, that's even crazier. I just thought that was impossible."

The key to her turnaround lies in a three-step program. As in, she literally takes just three steps between hurdles, instead of five as she had previously done. She started learning the three-step approach last season, but it has taken daily practice and work to make a smooth approach.

"She's down there, doesn't miss a practice," her mother said. "Last year she was learning to three-step all the way through. When she could three-step, that's when her times dropped. This year, she has really been able to drop her times."

Delucchi said bringing the times down hasn't been easy.

"I'm naturally fast, but hurdles, I have to work at it a lot. It's all about mechanics," she said.

As the times plummeted, Delucchi started to realize that her best times compare with those times run by collegiate athletes. That got her thinking she might be able to compete at the next level as well.

So now she has even more to work toward. And according to Roberts, combining that work and her genetic gifts could lead to some really amazing results.

"She's a really great athlete. I can say something to her once and she does it. Tell her she needs to work on her lead leg or her hand, and she does it," said Roberts, who started at Santa Cruz in the late 1970s and was coaching there when Delucchi's mother was burning up the track.

"Her mom was just extremely talented -- really, really fast, and we were still running on a dirt track back then," he said.

Tonight though, with all the work of the season behind her, Roberts hopes the younger Delucchi takes one more trait from her mom.

"When it came time for her to run," he said, "she did it."

Summer is here early -- the waves are small and the water is warm. Don't expect anything above waist high surf this weekend, delivered by a mix of west-northwest/northwest mid-period swell and a small southwest swell.

Today brings less than ideal conditions, with continuous onshore winds ranging from 10 to 18 knots and waves barely topping 3 feet. Surf height will range from knee to waist high, but watch out for an afternoon high tide to slow things down. Low tide is 0.30 feet at 7:45 a.m. High tide is a 3.83-foot high at 3:30 p.m. Low tide is 3.07 feet at 7:48 p.m.

Saturday delivers surf in the knee- to waist-high range, courtesy of a fading northwest swell and an upswing from today's southwest swell. Wind will pick up in the afternoon to slightly above 10 knots. Low tide is 0.17 feet at 8:27 a.m. High tide is 3.97 feet at 4:09 p.m. Low tide is 2.9 feet at 9:09 p.m.

On Sunday, expect wave height to decrease slightly. Waves will vary from ankle to waist high, or 1 to 3 feet. A small northwest wind swell combines with an equally small southwest swell. Onshore winds will range from 5-12 knots, increasing in the afternoon. Expect scattered showers. High tide is 4.09 feet at 2:23 a.m. Low tide is 0.09 feet at 9:14 a.m. High tide is 4.18 feet at 4:49 p.m. Low tide is 2.04 feet at 10:34 p.m.

The water temperature is 59 degrees. Sunrise is at 5:52 a.m. Sunset is at 8:17 p.m.

-- GRETCHEN WEGRICH

Fish Rap

Despite some nasty afternoon sea conditions, fishing near Santa Cruz was good and getting better for the most part. Salmon slowed down last week but it has been limit-style rockfishing with plenty of lings in the mix and halibut are moving toward the shallows en masse.

Anglers searching for king salmon found a slow and steady pick last week, with the emphasis on slow. Ken Stagnaro on the Velocity managed to find a decent school of kings by the Soquel Hole Friday morning. The retention rate could have been better, according to Stagnaro.

"There is still lots of action," he said. "The fish were shallow and hot, causing us to miss opportunities."

On the Velocity's twilight trip Saturday, 14 anglers brought home limits of rockfish after working the area near the Mile Buoy.

"The fish were biting til sunset," Stagnaro said. "We saw lots of browns, blacks, vermillion and a few ling cod."

As a bonus, Stagnaro is seeing quite a few whales on his fishing and sanctuary tours, less than a mile from the beach.

Captain Jimmy Rubin on the Becky Ann reported similar action on the rockfish. His clients bagged limits every trip this week, noting the same mix of reds, browns, vermillion and lingcod. Like Rubin, Gerry Brookes from Reel Sportfishing fished a little farther up the line near Natural Bridges for a wider variety. Beside the blacks and reds, Brookes noted big blues, coppers and China rockfish in the mixed limits.

Private boaters are hunting halibut with increasing success. The flatfish have moved into shallower water now. The sandy areas from Lighthouse Point to New Brighton are producing flatties, caught mostly on whole squid or swimbaits. Tom Odell and Allen Sansano paddled kayaks from the Santa Cruz Small Crafts Harbor Sunday morning and returned with three flatties ranging from 15 to 22 pounds. They were fishing 40 to 50 feet of water from the Mile Buoy to Black's Point. Ashley Rominger checked in at the Capitola Wharf with another nice halibut caught using whole squid. Other reports indicate halibut are biting closer to Lighthouse Point as deep as 70 feet and a few have been reported near Mitchell's Cove as well.

The coming weekend looks fishable, with an increasing swell through Saturday. Afternoon winds will remain strong and gusty, so keep the weather in mind and check the forecasts prior to launch.

Allen Bushnell can also be heard on The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show Thursday nights at 8pm on KSCO radio 1080 AM. Send your photos, comments or questions to scruzfishing@yahoo.com

Newport Beach's John Mel, a native Santa Cruzan and son of big wave world champ Peter Mel, was a double winner. He dominated the open boys division, scoring 16.17 points based on his top two wave scores in the final heat.

Two 18-year-olds -- Matt Becker and Jack Bark -- won their respective divisions in the third annual Santa Cruz Down Wind Ryder Cup, a paddleboard race from Davenport to Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz last weekend.

Becker was victorious in the stand-up paddleboard division, finishing the 14.5-mile trek in 2 hours, 15 seconds on a 14-foot board. The event, which had prime conditions including 16- to 20-knot winds, saw 70 elite and novice paddlers from Hawaii and California come out.

Bark won the prone division on a 12-footer in 2:09:49.

running

Capitola resident Aracelly Clouse broke into the top 20 of the Wildcat Half Marathon, placing 16th overall and third among women at Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in El Sobrante on Saturday.

Clouse finished in 1:58:57, just under six minutes behind female winner Julie Neumann [1:53:13].

Santa Cruz's Sean Lang was the top local finisher during Sunday's Ohlone 50km race. Lang was 16th overall with a time of 5:56:02.

triathlon

Santa Cruz resident Johan Schimmel finished 24th in the Auburn International Triathlon half Ironman on Sunday, braving wind and temperatures that hit the high 80s en route to also taking second in his age group.

Adventure racer and triathlete Terri Schneider clocked the 10th fastest finish among women at the 21st annual Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon on Sunday.

Schneider, 51, crossed the finish line in 1:50:14.

biking

Marin Catholic's Taylor Smith held off defending champion Tobin Ortenblad, a Santa Cruz resident and Pacific Collegiate School student, by one second in the boys varsity race at the state high school mountain bike championships in Los Olivos on Sunday.

Smith, who placed third in the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League this season, crossed the finish line of the 24-mile race in 1:06:54. Ortenblad, who was fourth in NorCal, followed in second [1:06:55] and the Drake Pirates' Lucas Newcomb was third [1:06:56].

Kiran MacKinnon, a Soquel High alum, flew through his race at the 21st annual Spring Thaw Downhill Mountain Bike Race in Ashland, Ore., on Sunday to be one of two riders to break the course record.

Scotts Valley's Jack Fogelquist finised ninth at the Upside Down and Under Ground in Bend, Ore., in April and was sixth at an event in Grand Junction, Colo., earlier this month.

No county team has ever won the Central Coast Section championship.

It was on the mind of Soquel High sophomore Anna Gurr on Wednesday night.

"Oh, I really want to win that," Gurr said. "I'm so pumped."

Gurr and the No. 3 Knights will have their chance at the Division III title on Saturday after dispatching a streaking No. 7 Capuchino team 4-1 at PAL Stadium in San Jose. It will be just the sixth time a county team has advanced to the CCS title game, and the first time ever for Soquel.

"This means a lot," added Gurr, who tossed seven innings and surrendered just one run on four hits. "It's great to know that we have a really good chance."

Especially after the Knights [21-8] connected on seven hits Wednesday, five of which went for extra bases. Gurr was 2-for-3 with a two-run triple, freshman Jamie Sugimoto was 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI double and a run, while Brianna Sugimoto added a triple and Valerie Silva contributed a double.

"We're all feeling good," Gurr said. "We have positive energy everywhere and everyone is happy."

Look no further than the choreographed photos after the game, where the Knights all simultaneously leapt into the air in celebration. Or center fielder Annalise Bryant leaping into the arms of Gurr after she induced a line out to end the game.

Gurr and Bryant talked about doing that earlier. They thought it'd be cool.

"We were confident in ourselves," Gurr said.

It's a far cry from last season's CCS semifinal, which saw Soquel fall a game short of reaching the title game -- a run short, even. The Knights lost to Santa Catalina 4-3.

Just like last year, though, Soquel is getting a second chance. They'll play No. 1 Santa Catalina, champions of the Mission Trail Athletic League and 10-0 winners over No. 4 Notre Dame-Salinas in the semifinals, in Saturday's D-III championship.

Game time is to be determined at PAL Stadium.

"I feel like, for our returning players, I definitely feel like they were more comfortable being here," said Soquel coach Shawn Gallardo, referring to last season's semifinal game. "We've been here before."

Gurr has pitched here before. As a freshman one year ago, she allowed one hit and struck out 10 against Santa Catalina, which capitalized on five Knights errors en route to its semifinal win.

On Wednesday, though, Gurr not only kept Capuchino [17-13] from scoring until the final frame, she also officially snapped from her hitting slump. Gurr went opposite field to the left-centerfield gap in the third for a two-run triple, knocking in courtesy runner Lela Bombaci and Faith Apolskis. Bombaci was running for Silva -- Saturday's hero -- who lined a one-out double down the left-field line earlier in the inning.

It was all Soquel really needed.

"She did good. I think they have a great chance to win on Saturday," said Capuchino coach Todd Grammatico, whose Mustangs won the Division III title last year. "She wasn't overpowering. But she got outs.

"We didn't hit the ball hard, and when we did hit it hard it was right at someone."

Capuchino, which finished third in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division this season, stranded seven runners on base in the game, four of whom were in scoring position.

They had bases loaded in the first inning with two outs. But Gurr induced a ground ball to second base, where Jamie Corder made a diving stop and throw to first to end the threat.

"If she doesn't get that, I bet they score two runs," Gallardo said. "It's a completely different game, then."

Instead, Gurr settled. So too did her defense, which converted a 6-4-3 double play in the third, while the catcher Silva picked off a runner at first base in the fourth.

Soquel tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when Jamie Sugimoto went opposite field for a run-scoring double. Her sister Brianna Sugimoto later followed with an RBI triple.

The insurance was perhaps needed, too, as Capuchino's Eleni Katout lined an inside-the-park homer in the top of the seventh for the Mustangs' only run.

Ariana Wassmer, Kaitlin Chang and Lili Luevano each added singles for the Mustangs.

"We haven't had a problem hitting. But today we did," Grammatico said.

What the nerves will be like on Saturday for Soquel is anyone's guess. But Gallardo feels last year's run should only help.

It did on Wednesday.

"We definitely prepared differently," Gallardo said. "We learned from it."

Sally Krueger of San Francisco took second with a 236 and Castro Valley's Tina Barker took third at 239.

Woodruff has finished runner-up three times, including second to Barker last season, since she last won the event in 2003.

Woodruff has won the senior crown three times. She also took first in 2001.

Pebble Beach's Suzie Fisher took 26th overall and won the Super Senior Amateur Championship with a 278 total.

Santa Cruz's Susan Elliott shot 294 for 31st and Aptos' Barbara Poirier shot 301 for 37th.

Jeremy Sanchez of Foster City shot 2-over-par 72 to win the 16-17 division at the Trusted Choice Big "I" state qualifier at DeLaveaga Golf Course. Santa Cruz's Sam Jackson shot 79.

Both advance to the Big "I" state tournament July 12 and 13 at DeLaveaga G.C.

Boys who shot 80 or better and girls who shot 83 or better advanced.

Salinas' Caleb Cater shot 76 to win the 14-15 division. He finished one stroke ahead of five players: Scotts Valley's Jake Haselden, Pebble Beach's Grayson Stapleton, Santa Cruz's Ryker Barnes and Deane Rinaldi, and Carmel's Nick Simmons.

Also in that division, Santa Cruz's Ian Loustalot shot 97.

Pleasanton's Ahmed Ali and Dublin's Saransh Saxena shot 80 finished tied atop the 12-13 division.

Fremont's Emily Rotter shot 90 to finish atop the girls 12-14 division.

Fremont's Madison Hirsch shot 9-over-par 79 to win the girls 15-17 division. San Jose's Cristina Glebova took second with an 81. Also in the division, Santa Cruz's Neddi Gleitsmann shot 89, Ellie Loustalot shot 91 and Chelsea Ficklinshot 94.

PRO BASEBALL

Aptos High alum and Oakland A's prospect Bobby Crocker extended his hit streak to eight games. He went 1-for-4, hitting a solo home run in the Burlington Bees' 4-3 loss to Kane County in the teams' Single-A Midwest League game.

In the past eight games, Crocker is batting .333 [11-for-33] with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and six runs scored.

He's batting .255 on the season after returning from a hand injury May 13.

CLUB SOCCER

Soquel sophomore Lynden Gooch, 16, joined the Premier League's Sunderland A.F.C. U18 team for three games last week in the Bay Area and recorded two goals and three assists in limited action.

Gooch, who signed a contract with Sunderland in January and leaves for England on June 30, joined the team while it was on a nine-day tour. Gooch has played with the team twice a year since he was 10.

"It was nice to see all those guys again," Gooch said. "It was just like it has been. But this was difficult. It was a new challenge that I've never had to do -- go up against stronger guys."

Sunderland's U18 team beat Pacific Soccer Academy 5-1 in Los Gatos last Wednesday, lost to Stanford University 4-2 on Friday and lost 3-2 to Santa Clara University 3-2 on Monday.

Gooch had two goals and an assist versus PSA. He recorded an assist against both Stanford and SCU.

SETTING IT STRAIGHT

The placing for several finishers in a pair of distance races was incorrect on B8 Tuesday.

San Francisco's Hannah Jaycox won the Surfer's Path Marathon on Sunday in 3 hours, 28 minutes and 58 seconds.

Scotts Valley's Suzy Necoechea [3:43:32] took second, leading a pack of locals. Santa Cruz's Alta Anzalone [3:44:49] took third, Hillary Hanson [3:46:30] took fourth, Kelly Reber [3:52:48] took seventh and Mount Hermon's Charis Herzon [3:52:48] finished eighth.

In the Capitola Half Marathon, Palo Alto's Riya Young [1:29:34] took first among the women, Sacramento's Angela Matthews [1:33:00] took second and Santa Cruz's Julia Blanton [1:35:00] took third.

Kirby ultimate player Daniel Garcia-Estuesta's name was misspelled and teammate Dexter Gardner was misidentified in a photo in Monday's Sentinel.

Biancardi, a senior out of Aptos High, ran his hitting streak to seven games. His best performance of the week came Saturday in a 14-10 win over host Brigham Young, when he went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a walk, three RBIs and a run scored.

The Broncos dropped the other two games in the series against BYU 7-3 and 8-6, but Biancardi chipped in with a hit and an RBI in each contest. He also went 2-for-5 with an RBI in a 10-5 loss to No. 14 Stanford.

Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Santa Clara opens up a three-game set against Loyola Marymount. The season finale Sunday -- Broncos Senior Day -- will be Biancardi's final collegiate game. The first baseman slugger is hitting .262 with five home runs, 33 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

Here's how other former Santa Cruz County high school athletes fared last week at the collegiate level:

BASEBALL

Spencer Frazier, UC San Diego sophomore infielder [Soquel]: Reached base safely in all three games of the Tritons' NCAA Regional slate. Went 2-for-4 with a double and a run in a 7-3 loss to Dixie State. Went 1-for-3 with two runs in an 11-1 win over Western Oregon. Went 3-for-3 with a double and a run in a 6-4 loss to Dixie State. The latter loss eliminated UCSD from the postseason.

Frazier finishes the season batting .274 with 14 RBIs and 28 runs.

Brett Levy, UC San Diego freshman catcher [Scotts Valley]: Another Tritons player, Levy wrapped up his season hitting .246 with 13 RBIs and 20 runs.

Justin Burns, UC San Diego senior pitcher [MVC]: Concluded his final season with a record of 2-2, an ERA of 3.74 and 25 strikeouts.

SOFTBALL

Breana Kostreba, Cal freshman outfielder [Aptos]: Hit a two-run homer in the first inning of an 8-0 rout of Iona during NCAA Regional play. She finished with two hits, three RBIs and a run scored. Cal went 5-1 in the tournament to advance to the Super Regionals held this week.

Samantha Lipperd, Sonoma State junior pitcher [SLV]: Was named an NCAA Division II All-American for the second straight year. She made the second team this year after earning an honorable mention her sophomore year.

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

Dayne Gradone, Chico State sophomore [Aptos]: Earned All-West Region honors for his performances in the 5,000-meter run this season.

Nick Howe, UC San Diego senior [Aptos native]: Was named to the All-West Region team in the javelin.

Stephen Cooper: Whitworth sophomore [SLV]: Took third in the decathlon with 5,340 points at the Whitworth Invitational.

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

Amy Schnittger, Chico State junior [Aptos]: Earned All-West Regional honors for her breakout season in the 3,000 steeplechase.

WOMEN'S WATER POLO

Morgan Rollo, Cal Poly junior goalkeeper [Scotts Valley]: Was named to the CWPA Pacific Division All-Conference first team.

Sophie Calhoun, Cal Poly sophomore [Scotts Valley]: Was named to the CWPA Pacific Division All-Conference first team.

County Connections appears Thursdays in the Sentinel. Contact sports@santacruzsentinel.com if you know of a former Santa Cruz County athlete playing at the collegiate level.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL TIME PLACE

CCS D-II semifinalsNo. 2 Aptos vs. No. 3 Mt. Pleasant 3 p.m. San Jose Muni

FRIDAY'S LOCAL EVENTS

MOTOR SPORTS TIME PLACE

Multiple class races 6 p.m. Ocean Speedway

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

CCS FinalsField events begin 4 p.m. Gilroy HighRunning events begin 6 p.m. Gilroy High

Bringing a minor league professional basketball team to Santa Cruz marks another shift in the city's posture toward commercial enterprise. ... From the moment the Warriors organization proposed the move, it was greeted with enthusiasm, along with the due diligence we're glad to see from local government.

Read Don Miller's blog]]> SAN JOSE -- Monte Vista Christian School's baseball team saw its nine-game win streak come to a crashing halt against Menlo in the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals Tuesday night. It happened not at the hands of star pitcher Freddy Avis, a Stanford commit, but the man who replaced him.

Avis, battling an intestinal virus that has hampered him much of the past week, lasted just two innings on the mound. Jake Batchelder, a lanky, senior left-hander, came in and threw five shutout innings as the No. 2 Knights beat No. 3 MVC 8-2 at San Jose Muni, home of the San Francisco Giants' Single-A affiliate.

"They didn't miss a beat," Mustangs coach Don Keathley said of Menlo's pitching change. "That's a good ball club over there. I don't know why they don't opt up to Division I. They have a bunch of big, physical kids who can swing it."

Menlo [22-7] -- seeking its third-straight D-III section title -- takes on No. 9 Pacific Grove [19-10] in Saturday's championship. Game time is to be determined at SJ Muni.

The Breakers -- runner-up to rival Carmel in the Mission Trail Athletic League -- edged the Padres 3-2 behind pitcher Conyal Cody's nine strikeouts and big, tw-run double in the third inning.

Pacific Grove, a five-time section finalist and two-time champion, is seeking its first CCS crown since 1999.

No. 5 Carmel [20-10] is an eight-time CCS champion.

MVC was seeking to reach the title game for the first time since 2009. Now, Menlo is the heavy favorite to win the crown.

The Monterey Bay League-champion Mustangs [25-5] lose five senior starters from this year's team. Players, many in tears, exchanged hugs after the defeat.

"Our guys gave so much this year and all four years," Sam Thorne, a pitcher and catcher for the Mustangs, said of his fellow seniors. "It's crazy it's over and that we're not playing together anymore. It's amazing what we accomplished with this group."

Asked if he felt the better team won, Thorne said "The better team today won."

MVC prepared all week to face Avis -- who has committed to play at Stanford next season and is projected to be a first-round selection in MLB's First-Year Player Draft on June 4.

The Mustangs moved the pitching machine up four feet at practice and tuned it to 88 mph. Avis' fastest pitch was clocked at 96 Tuesday, Keathley said.

Still, Avis, battling his ailment, didn't last long.

MVC jumped on Avis in the first inning. Danny Saporito and Andy Muller hit back-to-back singles and Sam Thorne reached on a fielding error on an infield popup. Saporito scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded, but Avis escaped the jam by striking out the side.

Jake Batchelder replaced Avis on the mound in the top of the third inning. Avis stayed in the game, moving to first base.

The Mustangs added another run in the third on Thorne's RBI single that drove in Saporito, but Menlo tied the score in the bottom of the third on RBI hits from Mikey Diekroeger and Chris Zeisler.

"We know we can hit good pitching," said Saporito, who finished with two of his team's five hits. "The breaks just didn't go our way today."

Thorne started on the mound for MVC but exited with the teams tied 2-all entering the fourth. He replaced Bob Guerrero as catcher.

"He was leaving the ball up and laboring a bit," Keathley said of his decision. "And because they run so well, we wanted [Thorne] behind the plate."

Thorne threw out one baserunner attempting to steal.

Menlo jumped on Thorne's replacement Zander Fischer-Tellez, putting up four runs in the fifth and adding two in the sixth off Saporito.

Batchelder smacked a two-run single in the fifth with the bases loaded and Zeisler hit a two-run single in the sixth, also with the bases full.

The offense combined with Batchelder on the mound was too much for MVC to overcome.

"I was ready," said Batchelder, who will play for Davidson next season. "This feels great. This is a bit of a different season that the past two. Injuries have decimated our roster. We've had a lot of guys step up. It feels great being a senior. Helping lead this group has been really rewarding."

Batchelder worked with a fastball, curve and changeup. He said he threw the curve when he was ahead in the count and the changeup when he was behind, when batters might think he'd go with his fastball.

"His changeup was really on," Keathley said.

It was an extra special affair for Santa Cruz, which saw the return of former league mate Pigeon, who now plays for Long Beach.

In the first half, Santa Cruz earned lead jammer status 15 out of 19 jams. The Bombshells' blockers appeared to be using Long Beach's jammers as pinballs, knocking them across the track with brutal force. The Gals also found themselves battling strong Santa Cruz walls, though they remained both relentless and agile in their effort.

All three jammers on Santa Cruz's main rotation -- The Kid, Queen Litigious, and Candy Hooligan -- earned multiple grand slams, meaning they were able to lap the opposing jammer.

Pigeon was the only Long Beach jammer able to earn points in the first half.

At halftime, Santa Cruz led 108-7.

Long Beach stepped up both their jamming and blocking in the second half. Gal's jammer Buster Chassis earned a grand slam in the third jam, picking up nine points. Pigeon and Nacho Sancha also earned Long Beach some big points, softening Santa Cruz's blow.

Long Beach additionally started to build strong fourwalls with standout blockers Blanche Deathereaux and Rosie Roller throwing big hits and executing solid positional blocking against Santa Cruz's jammers.

Ultimately, Long Beach was no match for the more experienced Bombshells, who dominated in both jamming and controlling the pack.

MVP was awarded to Santa Cruz blocker Foxee Firestorm and Long Beach jammer Pigeon, whose homecoming happened to fall on her birthday.

"It was a dream come true to play here," Pigeon -- Shayna Meikle -- said. "It was the best birthday present to be able to share the track with both my former and current teammates, knowing and loving everyone on the track."

The next home bout for Santa Cruz Derby Girls will be a "Battle for the Bay" on June 9 in celebration of Derby Girl Month in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz's Harbor Hellcats will play Monterey's Beasts of Eden at the Civic Auditorium. Tickets and more information can be found at SantaCruzDerbyGirls.org.

A total of 17 local players were recognized.

Watsonville High junior pitcher Crystal Guzman, senior third baseman Teresa Medrano and sophomore center fielder Kristina Mio each garnered first-team honors, along with Monte Vista Christian senior catcher Olivia Potter and Pajaro Valley senior pitcher Christina Cawaling.

Although Monterey split the MBL title with Christopher this season, the Toreadores were nevertheless awarded a league-high five first-team selections, including Pitcher of the Year Clarisa Cortez.

Watsonville had another three players named second team, including senior shortstop Felicia Balli, freshman catcher Malena Cueva and sophomore second baseman Miranda Valdez, while Pajaro Valley senior middle infielder Vanessa Soto was named second team as well.

MVC had four second-team selections, including sophomore catcher/third baseman Mara Arroyo, sophomore pitcher/first baseman Whitney Cisneros, senior second baseman Kayli Cooper and freshman shortstop Hillary Guerrero.

Sportsmanship award recipients included MVC junior Jessi Sternat and senior Ashley Tracy, Watsonville junior Lynnea Perez and the sophomore Mio, and Pajaro Valley’s Cawaling and sophomore Mayela Guzman.

.WOMEN'S GOLF

Santa Cruz's Sandy Woodruff shot a 77 during Tuesday's second round and increased her lead in the California Senior Women's Amateur Championship at Corral de Tierra Country Club.

Coupled with her 75 on Monday, Woodruff's two-round score of 152 is six strokes better than San Diego's Mitsue Lewis [158].

Barbara Poirier of Aptos shot a 98 and sits with a two-day score of 197, while Santa Cruz's Susan Elliott is at 190 after a second-round 97.

The 54-hole event continues today at 8:30 a.m.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

Quinn Mulhern, a 2002 graduate of Harbor High, defeated Yuri Villefort by split decision at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier in San Jose on Saturday night.

Mulhern, 27, who was born in Santa Cruz and trains in Santa Fe, N.M., improved to 18-2 with the win while also handing Villefort [6-1-0] the first loss of his professional career.

The welterweight MMA fighter has won three straight bouts since losing to Jason High last year in his Strikeforce debut.

MEN'S GOLF

Santa Cruz High and San Jose State alum Isaac Weintraub finished in a three-way tie for third place at the Cedar Hill Open in Victoria, British Columbia, on Sunday.

Weintraub, who previously played on the Canadian Tour, tied with Norm Jarvis and Paul Devenport after finishing with a 5-under 129 over 36 holes at the Cedar Hill Golf Course.

Cory Renfrew took first with a 12-under 122.

boys basketball

Watsonville is searching for a new boys basketball coach.

The position may be tied to a teacher's job at the school, which is also hoping to hire for vacancies in physical education, foreign language and half-time health.

If interested in coaching and teaching, apply at edjoin.com.

To pursue the coaching vacancy exclusively, contact Watsonville athletic director Brad Hubbard at 728-6390x6463 or brad_hubbard@pvusd.net.

JUNIOR GOLF TIME PLACEBig "I" Local qualifier 1 p.m. DeLaveaga G.C.

WOMEN'S GOLFCWAC State Senior Women's Championship TBA Corral de Tierra C.C.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

CCS D-III semifinalsNo. 3 Soquel vs. No. 7 Capuchino 6 p.m. PAL Stadium, S.J.

THURSDAY'S LOCAL EVENTS May 24

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL TIME PLACE

CCS D-II semifinalsNo. 2 Aptos vs. No. 3 Mt. Pleasant 3 p.m. San Jose Muni

MEN'S TENNIS

NCAA D-III ChampionshipsUCSC at TBA TBA Cary, North Carolina

WOMEN'S TENNIS

NCAA D-III ChampionshipsUCSC at TBA TBA TBA

FRIDAY'S LOCAL EVENTS May 25

MOTOR SPORTS TIME PLACE

Multiple class races 6 p.m. Ocean Speedway

MEN'S TENNIS

NCAA D-III ChampionshipsUCSC at TBA TBA Cary, North Carolina

WOMEN'S TENNIS

NCAA D-III ChampionshipsUCSC at TBA TBA TBA

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

CCS FinalsField events begin 4 p.m. Gilroy HighRunning events begin 6 p.m. Gilroy High