Dolphins Duo Third in City

Whether or not riding roller coasters instead of practicing the day before the semifinals had anything to do with the result, Palisades High seniors Sepehr Safii and Michael Light were out of sync during a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Carson’s Andrew Sarawasi and Jeffrey Yun at the City Individuals last Wednesday in Encino. Dolphins Coach Bud Kling blamed the ‘Curse of Magic Mountain.’ ‘It kept the tradition alive that every time my kids go on that field trip [for an AP Physics project], they always play poorly the next day,’ Kling said. ‘I’m sure part of it is equilibrium, going upside down and spinning around. It breaks their rhythm for some reason.’ Having lost to Taft in the team finals May 11, Pali was hoping to make amends at the Individuals, but neither Justin Atlan nor Kyung Choi advanced past the third round in singles and Safii-Light was the Dolphins’ only doubles tandem to reach the semifinals. Seeded second out of 32 teams, the Pali pair rebounded to beat third-seeded Zach Katz and Dom Plata of Granada Hills, 6-2, 7-6 (5), in Monday’s third-place match, reinforcing Kling’s theory that their day at Magic Mountain might have affected the Dolphin duo’s play. Goldberg Cards 84 at Regionals Palisades High sophomore Sean Goldberg shot a 84 at last week’s Southern California Regional Golf Championships in Murrieta. Three-time section champion Daniel Park of LACES was the lowest City scorer with a one-under-par 71, five strokes behind medalist Rickie Fowler of Murrieta Valley. Goldberg was the Dolphins only qualifier.