By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

All good things must come to an end and for Mike Voelkel that day was July 7 when he submitted his resignation as the head baseball coach at  Palisades High.

In his 18 seasons at the helm Voelkel built the Dolphins into one of the LA City Section’s most consistent programs, posting an impressive 316-196-3 overall record, 11 Western League titles and an Open Division championship appearance at Dodger Stadium in 2019. Even more than the on-field success, however, was the way he conducted himself and represented the school, culminating in his being selected a CIF State Model Coach of the Year for 2024-25.

“I understand you’re judged by won-loss record but the Model Coach Award means more to me than winning 300 games or making the Hall fo Fame,” he said. “It justifies I tried to meet those high standards, pursuing victory with honor and playing by the rules. I didn’t recruit. Our players always had high GPAs. I developed the talent we had and that’s what I’m most proud of.”   

Although he is stepping away from baseball, Voelkel continues his job in the athletic department  and will teach six P.E. classes for another two years until he retires. In the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in January the baseball field has been cemented over to create space for portable classrooms as part of campus rebuilding efforts.

“I do understand the situation created by the fire, I just wish they could’ve had another plan for the bungalows,” said Voelkel, who despite having to move his practices to Cheviot Hills Rec Center and rescheduling for all road games in the spring, guided the Dolphins to an 18-11 record and into the Division I quarterfinals.  “Given the forecast of running a program under the circumstances  I just don’t have the energy to see this team through years of renovation. It’s time for someone new.”

He leaves big shoes to fill. On his watch the Dolphins made the upper division playoffs 14 times, won 20 or more games six times and reeled off 72 consecutive league wins from 2017 to 2024.

The 63-year-old has coached every level starting in 1983 and cherishes relationships he has built in his 40+-year career: “Coaching and teaching are tough jobs and those are your priceless rewards. The only thing I regret is not winning an Open Division title. We got close, but it’s the one box I wasn’t able to check.”

Rounds seven and eight of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup Championship took place at Virginia International Raceway last weekend near Danville, Virginia and Palisadian Jaxon Bell qualified first to earn the pole position for both races, showing again that he is a rising star in the sport of auto racing.

Bell finished fourth in the first race and third in the second, although a post-race 30-second penalty for contact dropped him to 15th.

“That was a difficult weekend in Virginia,” Bell said. “Our BraunAbility #7 was fast and I had high expectations after starting on pole for both races. However, a few crucial mistakes I made put us in a bad spot. I learned a lot, will take those lessons going forward and can’t wait to bounce back at Road America.”

A 2021 graduate of Palisades High, Bell had six wins and 11 podiums in 16 races as a rookie in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in 2023 and placed fourth overall in the Toyota GR Cup standings last year with seven podium spots, including a win in Austin and a pole position in Virginia. Jaxon is the oldest son of Townsend Bell, a three-time Top-10 finisher at the Indianapolis 500 and a Verizon IndyCar Series pro.

Growing up near the top of Chautauqua, Jaxon attended Palisades Elementary, went to middle school at Calvary Christian and played flag football and PPBA at the Palisades Recreartion Center. After graduating from Pali High ee decided to move to Charlotte, North Carolina because it is the home of motorsports in North America. Every NASCAR team is based in one town in the USA, Mooresville. For 18 months he worked for Hattori Racing, sweeping floors, cleaning the bathrooms, delivering parts, servicing and cleaning race car parts—whatever they needed him to do. It was humbling but instilled a strong work ethic, all-around racing technical knowledge and valuable insight into how a professional racing team works. In March 2023 he moved to Miami to work as the simulator racing instructor at The Concours Club and a few weeks later he debuted in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series with two checkered flags at Michelin Raceway in Atlanta after placing second in both practice sessions. His career has continued to produce positive results ever since.

The next event of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup Championship will be on August 15-17 at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Speedy Transfer Demare Dezeurn will Try to Propel Palisades to Its First City Football Championship This Fall 

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

In the spring, Demare Dezeurn established himself as one of the fastest high school track athletes in the country. In the fall he hopes to establish himself as one of the nation’s best wide receivers—and in the process help  the Palisades High football team win its first-ever City Section title.

Coach Dylen Smith knows he is lucky to have a player as talented  and skilled as Dezeurn, who transferred to Palisades from Bishop Alemany in Mission Hills, where he turned heads by placing third in the 100-meter dash at the CIF state championships in Clovis on May 31, clocking 10.39 seconds. He blazed to a personal-best 10.35 to win the event one week before at the Masters Meet in Moorpark, where he also ran a personal-best 21.04 to take second in the 200 meters.

Now, as he enters his junior year, he has pass-catching on his mind and he figures to be targeted a lot by quarterback Jack Thomas, who won the Joe Spector Award as Team MVP after throwing for 46 touchdowns and running for 12 more last season.

“It’s a hard transition after only two or three weeks off from the end of track season, but I wanted to be here just to show my face… it’s all about football right now,” Dezeurn said after the first day of practice at Santa Monica College. “It’s not an easy decision switching schools but I believe this is the best opportunity for me and my future. It’s been nothing but love since I got here. We’ve all got the same goal—to win City. I love the team aspect of football and I’m studying all of the plays. I go to sleep with the playbook.”   

Dezeurn is happy to be joined at Palisades by his uncle Donte, who will be the Dolphins’ defensive backs coach and has been training his nephew since he was 8.

“We were thinking he was going to be an offensive lineman,” Donte said. “Then we saw how fast he was.”

Dezeurn already has more than 20 Division I offers and revealed his top five choices are USC, UCLA, Texas, Miami and Ohio State. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds on a recent recruiting trip to Texas Tech.     

“What impresses me most about Demare is his desire to fit in from Day One,” said Smith, who enters his third season determined to pilot his team to a second straight championship game­—only this time in the Open Division. “He’ll be a matchup nightmare for anyone we play.”   

Dezeurn was on his way to a record-breaking sophomore season, amassing nearly 500 yards through the Warriors’ first five games, until an ankle injury sidelined him for most of the last six. He still ended up with 20 receptions for 451 yards and five touchdowns and added three special teams touchdowns (two punt returns and a kickoff return). He played in nine varsity games as a freshman, making 42 grabs for 567 yards and five touchdowns and returning a kickoff 92 yards for a score.       

A talented squad of local players representing Santa Monica Beach Club won the AAU boys volleyball national championship  earlier this month in Orlando, FL.

SMBC’s Shack 16 Molten team finishes the tournament 11-0 (winning 22 of 26 sets) and edged #951 Elite Boys 16-1 of Murrieta, CA in an epic final, 26-24, 26-28, 29-27 on July 3 at the Orange County Convention Center.       

Coached by Ethan Marshall and assistants Bruno Gamboa and Margaret Wall, the roster consisted of Husam Arab, Alexander Bloom, Tristan Carpenter-Rihs, Johan Cortez, Hal Craig, Andrew Hom, Jackson Hubbard, Henry Levin, Parker Murphy, Zachary Patawaran, Sean Saunders, Sam Schwartz, Payton Song, Gunnar Strain and Parker Tooley.

Hom, a libero, was named the  tournament’s Most Valuable Player while outside hitters Levin and Saunderswere named to the All-American team.

Several players represent Palisades High and saw their school as well as their homes lost or damaged in the Palisades Fire.

“It brought everyone together,” Hom said. “We were able to bond and we all grew together as a team because of these fires despite all of the damage.Through this I’ve learned to trust my teammates, trust everyone around me. It was an awesome opportunity.”

On its way to the title match, Shack beat Torrimar 16-2 in three sets; Academy 16E Black in two sets; MVP Academy BOS 16 Black in two sets; Mamba 16-Purple in three sets; #951 Elite Boys 16-1in two sets; Atlanta Extreme 16 Gerald in two sets; Bay-to-Bay 16-National in two sets; Orlando Gold  16 in two sets; MOD B16 White in three sets; and RVA Boys 16B Navy in two sets.

“The third set’s only supposed to go to 15 and we went almost 30 points over [in the finals], which is insane,” said Schwartz, who is still displaced after his neighborhood burned down on January 7. “We just told each other we want it more. We can do it!”

Three teams representing the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association advanced to the Super Regionals of the PONY All-Star playoffs this summer, proving once again that the local youth program can compete with the best in Soutthern California.

Palisades’ Mustang 9U and 10U teams each came within one win of reaching the West Zone Tournament. The 9Us went 3-2 in the 16-team bracket in Camarillo, falling to Seal Beach in the semifinals while the 10Us also finished 3-2 and lost to Garden Grove in the semifinals of the 16-team field in Corona. Palisades’ 9Us reached the Zonal round last year and in 2022, the farthest any PPBA teams have gone in the PONY playoffs.

Palisades’ Bronco 12U squad also earned a spot as one of 16 teams in the Super Region round. After routing Murrieta 11-1 in its opener, Palisades dropped its next two in the double-elimination format.

In the Bronco 11U division, Palisades was one of 10 teams to reach the Region Tournament in Camarillo. After going 3-1 in pool play (losing only to Newbury Park), Palisades lost to Wilshire 7-6 in the consolation  final, falling one win short of advancing to Super Regionals.

In the Pinto 8U division, Palisades avenged a pool play loss to Wilshire with a 15-13 semifinal triumph to make the Section 4 final in Camarillo, but lost to Camarillo Red 10-9  in the championship game.