Madison Wojciechowski, a senior libero on the Penn women’s volleyball team, was honored as a second-team selection to the ESPN Academic All-District team. She was named to the All-Ivy League Academic team last season. The former Marymount High and Sports Shack club standout is enjoying the finest season in her collegiate career. She is ranked second in the nation in digs per set with an average of 5.84. On Senior Night last Saturday she broke the Ivy League record for digs in the Quakers’ 25-20, 25-10, 25-17 victory over Cornell. Wojciechowski already owns the school record for career, single-season and single-match dig marks. Penn senior setter Megan Tryon was also Wojciechowski’s teammate at Marymount. Penn has won nine of its last 10 matches and closes Ivy League play with road matches at Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton. Former Brentwood School All-CIF selection Drew Hargrave, now a sophomore outside hitter at Washington University in St. Louis, was named 2010 All-University Athletic Association honorable mention. Hargrave, a first-time all-UAA honoree, has dominated on the outside all season for the Bears. She ranks second on the team with a .322 hitting percentage and third with 334 kills, an average of 3.15 per set, the eighth-best mark in the UAA. She has reached double-digit kills on 16 occasions this year, and notched a career-best 18 kills October 30 against Hanover College. Hayley Lemoine, a freshman on the Vassar College women’s swimming and diving team, won Liberty League Rookie of the Week honors last Saturday, earning points in every event she competed in and leading the Brewers to a 162-120 victory over Skidmore College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lemoine, a 2010 graduate of she finished first in the 100 yard freestyle, second in the 200 yard freestyle, and fourth in the 50 freestyle. She also contributed to the fastest 400 freestyle relay team that finished in 3:53.24. This is her first such award. As a four year letter winner for Palisades Charter High School (CA), Lemoine helped her team to four LA City Championships. She was named MVP and finished second in the league in the 200 yard IM and third in the 100 yard freestyle. Senior Kai Forbath was named the Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week after booting a 51-yard field goal as time expired to lift UCLA to a 17-14 victory over Oregon State at the Rose Bowl. After missing two field goals earlier in the game, Forbath kicked his game-winner right down the middle–his 10th career field goal from 50 or more yards. Forbath was instrumental in Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High’s run to three CIF championships and a 35-1 record in his four years. Born in Santa Monica and raised in Pacific Palisades, he was college football’s Lou Groza Award last season. Tamar Springer, a student at Gerry Blanck’s Martial Arts Center, kicked her way to three trophies two weeks ago at the 31st annual Yoshukai Karate National Championships in Dothan, Alabama. Springer, who has been practicing karate for one and a half years, has won numerous awards at local tournaments and was encouraged by Sensei Blanck to compete at the National Championships. She did, and she took second place in musical forms, where she competed against men and women of all ages, brown belt and under. Then, Springer took first place in her favorite event, forms, in the green belt adult division (men and women). Even though Springer had never sparred in a tournament, Blanck insisted that she compete in sparring (fighting) since she had traveled so far. Once again, her Sensei’s faith was rewarded as she ended up taking first place in the adult women green belt division. Finishing second in the adult green belt men’s sparring division was Palisadian Michael Hoff.

Third-Quarter Turnovers Propel Dolphins to 44-34 Victory

By JAYANT SUBRAHMANYAM Special to the Palisadian-Post Seniors on Palisades High’s varsity football team, perhaps realizing last Friday’s game against Fairfax could be their last at home in a Dolphins’ uniform, gave a little something extra and the result was a rousing 44-34 victory that moved the team into sole possession of second place in the Western League and all but assured Palisades’ first playoff berth since 2006. Full of confidence after blowout victories over University and Hamilton, the Dolphins played with desperation and intensity for 48 minutes and avenged last year’s embarrassing 55-7 loss in their season finale. “We knew it would be a tough game and it was,” Palisades head coach Perry Jones said. “However, we had an answer for everything that they did. They really couldn’t stop our running game.” Joe Floyd threw for 211 yards and five touchdowns for Fairfax (5-3-1 overall, 2-2 in league), the first to Kevin Golden that gave the Lions a 7-0 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter. However, the Dolphins answered on Malcolm Creer’s 60-yard scoring run to tie the game. After Alex Anastasi kicked a 24-yard field goal to give Palisades (5-4, 3-1) its first lead, Fairfax regained the lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Floyd to Terrance Hall, but the extra-point attempt failed. As time wound down in the first half, senior quarterback Kemonte Reed scampered 32 yards to send Palisades to the locker room with a 17-13 lead. As has been the case numerous times this season, the third quarter proved decisive for the Dolphins. After Hakeem Jawanza ran for a 53-yard touchdown on Palisades’ first series, Floyd connected with Eric Pugh to pull the Lions back within three, 23-20. Two big defensive plays late in the quarter broke the game open for the home team. The first came with 3:08 left when senior safety Brian Brewer returned an interception 53 yards for a score. Then, on the Lions’ next offensive play, senior cornerback Paul Logan stripped the ball from Golden, recovered the fumble and returned it 12 yards for another touchdown that suddenly increased the Dolphins’ lead to 37-20. Jawanza scored his second touchdown early in the fourth quarter before Floyd tossed two more touchdown passes to make the final margin more respectable. Palisades, however, proved it is a force to be reckoned with. The Dolphins attempted just two passes, but it didn’t matter. Reed and Nathan Dodson, who had an 11-yard completion to Arte Miura, piloted the wishbone efficiently, allowing Creer to amass 123 yards in just 10 carries. Jawanza added a game-high 136 yards in 15 carries. On defense, Elmer Garcia made seven solo tackles, senior end Giorgi Chachbazov had a sack and senior cornerback Lawrence Villasenor had three solo and four assisted tackles. Now all that stands in the way of a winning record is Westchester (5-4, 2-2), which hosts the Dolphins at 7 p.m. Friday. A win will mean a high playoff seed and at least one home playoff game for Palisades, but Jones is not looking too far ahead. “We want to end the regular season on a positive note,” Jones said. “It’s important to finish strong, so all we’re concerned about right now is Westchester.” Frosh/Soph The Dolphins improved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in league with a 34-8 victory at Stadium by the Sea. Palisades has outscored its last three opponents 126-14 and looks to end its season with a fourth consecutive victory at 4 p.m. Friday at Westchester. Jack Jordan had a big game against Fairfax, adding to his league-best 12 touchdowns with two more on the Dolphins’ first two offensive plays, one rushing and one receiving. He also kicked two field goals over 30 yards. Spencer Sawaii caused two fumbles, Edwin Avila had two sacks and Ethan Monesa had his first career interception. Ja’uan Tate made several tackles, returned a punt 60 yards and threw for 100 yards and two touchdowns–one of them a 50-yarder to Chris Groel. Justin Sinclair returned an interception 70 yards to the Lions’ one-yard line, then powered over the goal line on the next play. “This was the most physical team we’ve played all year and we were still able to run our complete offense at will against them,” Palisades head coach Ray Marsden said. “Special teams was huge with two field goals, great kick and punt returns all game and excellent kickoff coverage. We have only punted once in our last three games and everyone has played so it’s been fun.” Western League Standings Team League Overall PF PA Venice 4-0 5-4 253 215 Palisades 3-1 5-4 286 230 Fairfax 2-2 5-3-1 311 201 Westchester 2-2 5-4 227 113 Hamilton 1-3 2-6 127 224 University 0-4 0-8 123 399 Friday’s Schedule: Palisades at Westchester, 7 p.m. Fairfax at Hamilton, 2 p.m. Venice at University, 2 p.m.

It was business as usual for the Palisades High girls’ varsity volleyball team on Monday night as the host Dolphins cruised into the quarterfinals of the City Division II playoffs with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 second-round victory over King-Drew. Palisades, which finished second behind Venice in the Western League, was seeded third in the 24-team draw and had a first-round bye last Thursday. The Dolphins dominated from the start on Monday against the 14th-seeded Golden Eagles, who were coming off a sweep of 19th-seeded Contreras. Palisades hosts sixth-seeded Eagle Rock, the Northern League champion, in the quarterfinals Wednesday. If victorious, the Dolphins will likely travel to second-seeded Venice in the semifinals next Tuesday. Cross Country Palisades’ boys dominated the Western League Finals last Wednesday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Junior Grant Stromberg easily won the varsity race in 16:12 and sophomore Drake Johnston was third in 16:37. Senior Danny Escalante was ninth in 17:34, sophomore Liam Palladino was 13th in 18:05, freshman Jonathan Tewadros was 15th in 18:12, junior Nick Wong was 16th in 18:17 and junior Austin Gelber was 17th in 18:18. Palisades won the team competition with 41 points, followed by University (54) and Venice (73). The Dolphins also won the junior varsity race, with Paulis Ramos, Daniel Hernandez and Alex Hernandez sweeping the top three spots. Henry Dorfman was fifth, Evan Shaner was 12th, Oscar Ruiz was 16th and Kendrick Allen was 32nd. Sophomore Jack Palladino was second, Matt Kato was third and Ben Fuligni was fifth in the boys’ frosh/soph race. Sophomore Jacklyn Bamberger won the girls’ varsity race in 19:01, over 27 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sarah Dobbs of Venice. Rounding out the Dolphins were Tyler Williams in sixth place, Amber Greer in eighth, Wendy Gomez in 18th, Mikaela Panza in 21st, Sydney Jacques in 23rd and Lucy Yu in 28th. In the team standings, Palisades finished second behind University with 54 points. In the girls’ junior varsity, senior Amy Moulthrop was second in 25:56. City prelims are Wednesday and the finals are next Saturday, November 20, at Pierce. Girls’ Tennis Despite being the higher seed, Palisades traveled to Eagle Rock for its City championship division quarterfinal match on Tuesday because not enough courts were available to host the match at the Palisades Recreation Center. No matter, the home court advantage did little to help the seventh-seeded Eagles, as Palisades dominated, 6-1, despite some tense moments early. Senior Samantha Kogan needed two and a half hours to win her match at No. 1 singles, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Jessie Corneli won easily at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2, Perri Zaret won easily at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-0 and Katie Vincent did the same at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-1. All three doubles teams swept for the second-seeded Dolphins, who travel to Woodland Hills to play third-seeded El Camino Real in the semifinals Friday. A victory would put Palisades in the City final next Wednesday, November 17, at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.

Paul Revere Middle School’s equestrian team participated in its first competition on Sunday, October 31, at Hansen Dam. Revere’s seventh- and eighth-grade riders may now compete with other schools in the Los Angeles Interscholastic Equestrian League. All riders must be in at least 7th grade, either own or have access to a horse, and have a recognized professional trainer accompany them at shows. Riders compete in Hunter, Jumper, Hunt Seat Equitation or Dressage. Each division is broken down into four skill levels: novice, freshman, junior varsity and varsity. Although a school may have riders that train under a variety of different trainers, they represent their school as a team and points individuals earn are accumulated to determine the highest-scoring school. Riders also compete against each other for individual points. Paul Revere’s IEL team members are Carly Wood, Elizabeth Anastasi, Grace Salmon, Katherine Hall, Laura Sussman, Mary Anastasi, Shaina Rheingold and Micaelin Hasenauer (who rides with the Orange County I.E.L). The team’s next competition is Sunday, December 5, also at Hansen Dam.

The Corpus Christi School girls’ blue varsity volleyball team finished its Catholic Youth Organization season undefeated in conference, winning all nine of its matches, and advanced to the Elite 8 of the CYO playoffs. Coached by Lindsay Frasor, the mix of seventh- and eighth-graders consists of Delaney Arth, Grayson Houge, Caitlin Keefe, Michaela Keefe, Kelly Kirch, Elisabeth Lomis, Kelley McGinnis, Sarah McRoskey, Claire Meylan, Kaitlyn Parcell, Charlie Robinson, Annie Wendelin and Claire Whitesell. Corpus made it to the Elite 8 out of 64 teams. It was defeated by St. Jerome, who went on to play in the championship.

Dolphins Score Third Most Points Ever, Stay in Hunt for League Title

Ahead by eight points at halftime of last Friday afternoon’s game at Hamilton, Palisades High Coach Perry Jones told his team the score was zero-zero and to finish the game strong. The visiting Dolphins played as if their lives depended on it and buried the Yankees under an avalanche of points–33 to be exact–in finishing off a 63-36 victory that kept Palisades in the hunt for the Western League title. The single-game point total was the third highest in program history, behind only the 64 points put up against Hamilton in 1977 and a school-record 69-point barrage against Kilpatrick in 1999. So efficient was the Dolphins’ offense on Friday that they averaged over 1.3 points per minute–scoring at a torrid pace the Yankees simply could not match. “Coach reminded us at halftime that we have the whole second half to play, so let’s go out and make it ours,” said senior running back Hakeem Jawanza, who broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown to give the Dolphins a 15-7 lead late in the first quarter. “We knew we could play a whole lot better than we did in the first half if we just executed like we can.” Malcolm Creer and Arte Miura set the tone with dazzling kickoff returns in the third quarter as Palisades assumed tighter command with each successive score. Lawrence Villasenor batted a pass out of the air and intercepted it, then quarterback Nathan Dodson connected with wide receiver Kevin Mann along the sideline for a 32-yard gain that set up Miura’s touchdown run. Creer scored on Palisades’ next possession to increase the Dolphins’ lead to 56-36. After another turnover, Palisades needed just four plays to score again when Miura burst through the line, cut to the outside and ran 38 yards for a touchdown. Creer opened the scoring with an 11-yard run on Palisades’ first drive of the game and Alex Anastasi caught the trick two-point conversion pass for the quick 8-0 lead. Tailback Aaron Rogers answered less than 30 seconds later with a 65-yard run and the extra point brought Hamilton (2-4 overall 1-2 in league) to within one point. Then, it was Jawanza’s turn to show what he could do. Taking a handoff deep in the backfield, he eluded several would-be tacklers, burst through the line of scrimmage and sprinted to the end zone. Anastasi tacked on the extra point and Palisades led, 15-7. “I knew that I was going to get the ball just by the way they were lined up,” Jawanza said. “My main thing was not to go down from arm tackles and to just read my blocks well.” Rogers responded again with a 20-yard touchdown catch from Vasili Gardner that pulled Hamilton back to within a point, 15-14. That was as close as the Yankees would get the rest of the way. Miura scored on an 80-yard kickoff return in the second quarter and on a three-yard plunge that extended Palisades’ lead to 30-14 and the Dolphins carried a 30-22 advantage into intermission. “It was our first day game, which can be tricky, but I thought the team did a great job of handling it,” Jones said. “I was happy with how we were playing on offense, but I knew there were some things we needed to clean up defensively and some adjustments to make.” For the second time this season, the Dolphins (4-4, 2-1) evened up their record and now they will have to shift gears in a hurry to prepare for Friday’s home finale against Fairfax with sole possession of second place on the line. “It’s a huge game for us–the biggest one we’ve had so far,” Jawanza said. “And it’s our last home game so we just have to practice hard and be ready.” Palisades has scored 107 points in its last two games and 242 through eight games–an astonishing turnaround from last year when the Dolphins only scored 99 points all season. Jones is just happy that he rarely has to play anyone both ways anymore. “We’re almost all the way with two separate units now, which is much different than when we started,” he said. “We’re finding our stride but we’re not done improving by any stretch. This next game could decide if we make the playoffs so it’s huge.” Frosh/Soph Palisades routed host Hamilton 50-0 last Thursday and the Dolphins wasted little time taking command, driving 80 yards in 12 plays on their opening drive and scoring on a touchdown by Jack Jordan. Josh Yoo scored his very first touchdown of the season on an eight-yard run, Ernesto Ruiz scored his first on a four-yard dive, the defense intercepted three passes (including the first of the season by Yani Pakravan) and the special teams blocked four punts. Perhaps even more impressive is that Palisades scored touchdowns on all seven of its drives. Coach Ray Marsden was most pleased that everyone got to play. The Dolphins (5-3, 2-1) host Fairfax Friday at 4 p.m. at Stadium by the Sea.

Former Los Angeles Lakers Hall-of-Fame guard Jerry West will be the special guest speaker at the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce’s annual General Membership Breakfast next Friday, November 12, at Riviera Country Club. West, known as “Mr. Clutch,” was a 14-time All-Star and played on the Lakers’ 1971-72 team that won a record 33 games in a row en route to the NBA championship. He holds the all-time record for most points averaged in a playoff series (46.3) and his silhouette was incorporated into the NBA logo. After retiring as a player in 1974, West remained an integral part of the Lakers’ organization. He coached the team for three years, then served as a scout for three more years before being named general manager before the 1982-83 season. Under West’s guidance, the Lakers won seven NBA titles (four during the 1980s “Showtime” era of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy and three straight from 2000-02 with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal). He finished his career as the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-07. Besides talking basketball, West will speak in support of Palisades High’s participation in the Tickets Fore Charity Program. West is currently the Executive Director and spokesperson of the Northern Trust Open, the PGA Tour’s Los Angeles event, held every February at Riviera. Breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and the cost is $40. Palisades resident Sam Lagana will M.C. the event. Call the Chamber at (310) 459-7963 to reserve a seat. Reservations must be made by tomorrow, November 5.

If the Palisades High girls’ tennis team is to avenge last year’s semifinal playoff loss to Granada Hills, it will have to wait until the championship match. That’s just fine for Coach Passan and the Dolphins, who were awarded the No. 2 seed in the City Section’s upper division draw. In fact, if Palisades advances to the final, Passan hopes the Highlanders are the team on the other side of the net. “You always want to measure yourself against the best,” Passan said before the seedings came out Monday. “Granada’s been the team to beat and I’m sure they’re going to be the favorites again. However, we’re stronger than we were last year so I hope we get another crack at them.” Granada Hills, the defending champion, was seeded No. 1 in the 12-team bracket and could potentially face fourth-seeded Marshall, the Northern League champion, in the semifinals. Barring an upset, Western League champion Palisades, on the other hand, would meet third-seeded El Camino Real, which finished runner-up to Granada Hills in the West Valley League, in the semifinals. The top four seeds get byes in the first round, so Palisades will first play the winner of today’s match between No. 7 Eagle Rock and No. 10 Taft at 1 p.m. next Tuesday. Passan said the Dolphins might have to travel because there too few courts available to host a playoff match at the Palisades Tennis Center. If victorious, the Dolphins would host the semifinals next Friday at noon. The City finals are November 17 at Balboa Sports Center in Encino. Volleyball The Palisades High girls’ varsity volleyball team was seeded third out of 24 teams in the City Section Division II playoffs and received a bye in today’s first round. The Dolphins, who finished second in the Western League behind Venice, will host either No. 19 Contreras or No. 14 King-Drew in the second round next Monday, November 8, at 7 p.m. If victorious, Palisades would host a quarterfinal match next Wednesday at 7 p.m., possibly against sixth-seeded Eagle Rock. The semifinals are Tuesday, November 16, and the City Division II final is at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 20, at Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles. Despite finishing second in the West Valley League to Granada Hills, defending champion Woodland Hills Taft was awarded the No. 1 seed over Venice. Should seedings hold, Venice and Palisades would meet for a third time in the semifinals. Sun Valley Poly was seeded fourth and would travel to Taft in the semifinals. “I fought hard to get us the No. 1 seed, which would’ve meant that us and Palisades would be on opposite sides of the draw,” said Venice Coach Allen Hunt, who represented the Western League at Tuesday night’s seeding meeting. “You never want to play the same team three times. Plus, I know how good Palisades can be when at full strength.” Just as Palisades Coach Chris Forrest predicted, Granada Hills was the consensus No. 1 out of 16 teams in the Division I draw. The Highlanders went unbeaten and unchallenged against City opponents this fall. Marine League winner Carson was given the No. 2 seed, followed by Valley Mission League champion Sylmar and Marine League runner-up Harbor City Narbonne. The Division I championship will follow the Division II final on November 20 at Roybal Learning Center.