The Westside Tennis League held its annual awards luncheon last Tuesday at Riviera Country Club and the Pacific Palisades B1 (Flight A) Division team was presented the first-place trophy for the 2009-10 season. Coached by Chris Schoop and captained by Roberta Turkell, the B1 Division squad included Janelle Bridges, Laurie Drake, Elisabeth Leitz, Becky Prange, Laurie Rosenthal, Tami Swartz, Grazyna Tawil, and Sunny Zionts. The latest honor reprised the team’s first-place B2 Division finish in 2008. Six of the eight players are Palisadians. The Westside Tennis League is composed of a group of West Los Angeles tennis clubs. The adult women’s doubles league provides an opportunity for competitive, challenging team tennis in a cordial and sportsmanlike setting. The League is divided into five divisions, based on ability level: A+, A1, A2, B1, and B2.

Coaching perhaps his final AYSO soccer game, Steve Morris went out a winner on Memorial Day, leading Pal Real, a local boys’ U12 team, to victory at the Top Gun Tournament near San Diego. Morris has not only been actively involved in coaching AYSO regular season and All-Star teams for over 10 years, he has worn and will continue to wear many hats for Region 69, including overseeing all things related to coaching. In the late 1990s his three children began playing AYSO, starting with his oldest son, who is off to college next year; followed by his daughter, a freshman in high school next year; and now coaching his youngest son Griffie and the rest of the Pal Real squad. Top Gun features teams from all over California, Arizona and Hawaii, and is historically one of the most competitive tournaments of the season. Despite the stiff competition, Pal Real scored 20 goals and allowed only six in pool play against teams from Avondale (Arizona), Riverside, Mira Mesa and Hacienda Heights. Then it was on to the medal round and a semifinal game against Murrieta. Led by Matt Thomas, Chris King, Griffie Morris and Ethan Blaser, Pal Real’s defense, combined with solid midfield play by Cooper Lee, Cole Stanton and Alex Lee and potent attacks by forwards Will Holbrow, Jesse Wilkenfeld, Spencer Howard, Matthew Nyman and Karosh Hadavi, produced a 6-0 rout. The championship game that afternoon was against cross-town rival Beverly Hills and although it proved much closer than previous games, Pal Real prevailed 2-1 to clinch the championship and send Coach Morris home with a victory. He was quick to credit fellow coaches Bryan King and Sergio Vasquez and his wife Marcy for their roles in Pal Real’s success.

Roscoe Bellamy won his first designated USTA tennis event last weekend at the Santa Barbara Summer Junior Tournament, winning all four of his matches in straight sets to win the boys’ 10-and-under division. As the top seed in the 32-player draw, he beat Andrew Goldberg of Tarzana, 6-2, 6-0; Neil Tengbumroong of West Covina, 6-3, 6-3; seventh-seeded Brett Brinkman of Bell Canyon, 6-2, 6-2; and Andy Reddy of Newbury Park, 6-0, 6-2. The victory vaulted Bellamy back to the No. 1 singles ranking in Southern California. He is already the top-ranked doubles player in his age group. Danielle Greenberg was named Female Scholar Athlete of the Year at Windward School’s varsity sports banquet last Friday. The 16-year-old had a junior year to remember. She played on the Wildcats’ varsity volleyball team as a libero and defensive specialist and on the soccer team as a midfielder and stopper, earning second-team All-League honors. The former Marquez Elementary and St. Matthew’s student also maintains a 4.4 GPA and is a member of the National Spanish Honor Society. The wins just keep piling up for Palisades High tennis coach Bud Kling. He has already won the most section championships (32) in L.A. City history and now he is closing in on another milestone: 1,000 career victories. Kling led the Dolphins to their second consecutive boys’ team title last month, upping his own record to 907 wins and just 94 losses. Since he took over Palisades’ program in 1979, Kling has guided the Dolphins to 18 boys crowns and 14 girls crowns. ‘I don’t think I’ll coach long enough to get to a thousand, but 950 would be nice,’ he said. Cyclist David Cranston won the gold medal in his age division (men’s masters 50-54) in the 40-kilometer road race last Tuesday during the California State Senior Olympics at El Dorado Park in Long Beach. Cranston qualified to compete in the 2011 National Senior Olympics in Houston, Texas. 10B Danielle Greenberg 10C Roscoe Bellamy

Paul Revere Middle School’s physical education department held its annual cross country race last Thursday and once again the students impressed their teachers with their speed and endurance on the mile and a half course. The race route remained the same, starting on the grass field, circling down the west driveway, in front of the school, up the east driveway, circling the grass field again and finishing back on the west driveway. Organizers Paul Foxson and Marty Lafolette were once again ecstatic with the times posted by their sixth, seventh and eighth-graders. Seventh-grader Marissa Williams had the top time for the girls, completing the course in 8 minutes, 37 seconds. Another seventh-grader, Elizabeth Goodman, posted the second-fastest time, clocking 9:10. She was followed by seventh-grader Hannah De Silva (9:24) in third. Seventh-grader Kendall Brooks and eighth-grader Mackenzie Gray each finished in 9:26. Rounding out the top 10 were sixth-grader Emma Ulfvengren (9:34), eighth-grader Evelina Van Norden (9:40), eighth-grader Emily Hardwick (9:41), seventh-grader Ava Giglio (9:46) and sixth-grader Sydney Brecher (9:49). Eighth-grader Daniel Lawson recorded the fastest time for the boys, blazing the distance in 7:57. Fellow eighth-grader Wes Gallie was next in 8:07. The next three fastest times were separated by mere hundredths of a second. Seventh-grader Souren Ohanian (8:22.01) came in third at 8:22.01, just ahead of fellow seventh-graders Anthony Teitelbaum (8:22.75) and Zach Teiger (8:22.99). Rounding out the top 10 were eighth-graders Tristan Marsh (8:27), Angelo Sink (8:40) and Brandon Ayala (8:41). Connor Loveless broke the boys’ sixth-grade record (also 8:41) and seventh-grader Sebastian Villalobos clocked 8:49.

When John Wooden passed away June 4 at the age of 99, the sports world not only lost one of its greatest coaches, but the human race lost one of its greatest teachers. A simple man of very simple words, Wooden inspired so many people with his voice, his books, his faith and his goodness. His legacy reaches way beyond the unprecedented 10 national championships he won as the men’s basketball coach at UCLA. It far eclipses the Bruins’ 88-game winning streak from 1971-74, still an NCAA record. No, his longest lasting achievements came off the hardcourt, little and often unnoticed acts of kindness towards everyone, whether they were strangers or old friends. Just like so many others, I feel blessed and thankful to have met him, and I’ll never forget it. One time is enough with Coach Wooden. My special day came in April 2004 when Palisadian Jeff Fellenzer invited me to attend a class he was teaching at USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism. Wooden was the guest speaker that night, and he proceeded to captivate the students packed in the giant lecture hall with words of wisdom, entertaining his attentive audience with stories about players and teams he coached and lessons he learned along the way. When he left the stage some two hours later, every student had a question. He answered patiently, one at a time, greeting each of them with a pleasant hello and saying goodbye with a heartfelt thank you. I waited patiently for my turn to introduce myself and tell him how much I had appreciated meeting him and listening to him talk. I finally got my chance when everyone else had left. He was 93 years young at the time, but his mind was sharp as ever, and the impression he made on me was indelible. I knew this was one of the finest human beings I would ever cross paths with, so I asked if he would mind if our photographer took our picture. Of course he agreed, so we did, but the story doesn’t end there. A few days later, I saw Jeff and showed him the picture I’d had taken with Coach Wooden. He asked if he could have one for Wooden and so I gladly handed it to him. Less than a week passed when Jeff called to say he was dropping something off for me. When he arrived he had brought with him the photo, signed and dated by Wooden himself, with the words: “Dear Steve, thanks for your interest.” –John Wooden Though I hadn’t requested that he “personalize” the photo, he did so anyway, and I subsequently hung it proudly on the wall above my desk. He no doubt did the same thing for thousands upon thousands of others, yet somehow he had made ME feel special. Almost as if I knew him well, despite our one, all too short meeting. Then again, one time is enough with Coach Wooden. One of his favorite quotes is attributed to Mother Theresa: “A life not lived for others is not a life.” It suffices to say Coach Wooden is someone who lived his life to the fullest. In his own eloquent words, “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” As good as he was, Coach Wooden was a man who never stopped evolving, never stopped giving and never stopped trying to be better. Many of us would need a hundred lifetimes to accomplish what he did in one. Yet, he is a shining example of how precious life really is and how one life is indeed enough… if we make the most of it.

Pali Blue blazed through the regular season and playoffs like a runaway freight train. It seemed nothing could stop Head Coach David Kahn’s team from winning the championship’ except a scheduling conflict. Blue players showed up at the Field of Dreams complex on Tuesday and began warming up as usual. The only problem was that their opponents, the Metro Toros, never showed up, apparently thinking the game was on a different day. At press time, no make-up date had been determined. Pali Blue (18-4) reached the finals by routing the Mira Costa Dodgers 16-3 last Saturday and beating Pali White 5-1 on Sunday. Preston Clifford and Julian Hart both legged out triples against Mira Costa in a game that was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. Hudson Ling went 3-for-3 with a home run, Brett Elder also went 3-for-3, Alex Kahn went 2-for-4 and Hart and George Mitchel each went 2-for-3. Anthony Poulos, Nicky Baron and Elder took care of the pitching. Ling then pitched four scoreless innings against Coach Robert Flutie’s gritty Pali White squad. Brett Elder came in to close out the game, a combined four-hitter. Kahn had two walks and scored two runs for Blue, while Tyler McMorrow was the star at the plate, with a hit off the center field wall in the third inning and a two-run home run in the fifth. Pali White (13-8) had edged the Cheviot Storm 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs and the Cheviot Hills Sea Dogs 8-7 in the quarterfinals. Flutie started a game-ending double play at catcher when he tagged out a runner trying to score on a failed squeeze bunt, then threw a strike to third base, where Tyler Newman tagged out another Cheviot Hills runner advancing from second. Rounding out the Blue squad were Clay Davis, Joseph Fasano, Truman Hanks and Connor Page. Pali White’s roster consisted of Flutie, Newman, Alec Dodson, Aidan Fite, Jacob Goodman, Tyler Goodman, Jackson Kogan, Brandon Kupfer, Kevin McNamee, Reece Pascoe, Dawson Rosenberg, Matthew Stockman and Joey Velez. Meanwhile, Coach Rick McGeagh’s Pali Red (13-7) had finished third in the regular season and advanced to the semifinals by beating the Cheviot Claws. Led by Wylie Beatley, Wiley Gibbens, Louie Greenwald, Cade Hulse, Dylan Joyce, Kevin Lombardo, Matt and Jack McGeagh, Nick Rivera, Joe Rosenbaum, Jasper Shorr, Jonathan Sington and Michael Vastano, Red fell to the second-seeded Metro Toros one game short of the finals.

The Pali Storm, a local AYSO girls’ U12 All-Star team, ended its remarkable season by capturing its third and fourth consecutive championships at the Orange County Spring Classic in Irvine May 22-23 and the Santa Barbara Splash last weekend at UC Santa Barbara, two of the largest tournaments in Southern California. In Irvine, the Storm easily won their pool by beating North Irvine 5-1, Tustin 5-0 and South Ontario 6-1. In the finals, Palisades met Costa Mesa, which jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Still trailing 5-2 after three quarters, the Storm went on the attack and scored three goals, the last one tying the score with two minutes remaining in regulation. In overtime, the Storm continued to attack and scored twice more for a hard-earned 7-5 victory. In Santa Barbara, Palisades once again dominated its pool with shutout victories over Camarillo (7-0), Malibu (2-0) and Lompoc (4-0). In the finals, the Storm faced Diamond Bar and again found themselves trailing late. Pali continued the pressure, scoring to tie it with less than 10 minutes left, then tallying the winner with 90 seconds remaining. The win marked the Storm’s 18th straight to end the season. “They faced tremendous adversity these two past tournaments and handled it like true champions,” Coach Scot Vorse said. “You could see by the girls’ attitude and body language in both finals that they were not going to give up. I was most proud of their maturity, calmness and confidence in each other. It was great to see the pride the girls had in themselves after both these championship games, knowing they had faced tough challenges and conquered them as a team.” Racking up more than 50 wins this season, the Storm stamped themselves as one of the area’s best teams ever, equipped with an explosive offense that averaged better than five goals per game. The offense was led by Jayne Baumgarten, Caity Buerge, Ashley Conte, Caitlin Keefe, Danika Masi, Caitlin Neapole, Kaitlyn Parcell, Georgia Raber and Emma Ulfvengren. Not to be overlooked was the stellar defense of Delaney Arth, Grayson Houge, Michaela Keefe, Annie Polson, Charlie Robinson and Lili Vorse, which had nearly 40 shutouts and did not allow a shot on goal in numerous games. Pali Powers to PK Wins Pali Power, a local U10 girls’ AYSO All-Star team, certainly has a flare for the dramatic. Dan Forman’s squad won its second consecutive shootout tournament over Memorial Day weekend. First, at the Quartz Hill Shootout, Pali Power dominated its entire age division, finishing first out of 15 teams from Southern California and Nevada by converting 8 out of 10 penalty kicks. Not satisfied with one shootout championship, Pali Power hit 13 of 15 penalty shots at the Cypress Memorial Day Classic, defeating Rowland Heights in a sudden death shoot out to defeat another 15 Southern California U10 teams to again top its age division. The team roster for both tournaments consisted of Alexandra Angeledes, Chloe Beardmore, KK Bishop, Josie Bleakley, Ava Button, Caroline Douglas, Caroline Flintoft, Elyse Forman, Maddy Glick, Kate Holt, Izzy Levi, and Cameron Stokes.

Palisadian Jack Lombardi, a junior on the Loyola High varsity baseball team, was named to the All-Mission League squad after batting .350 with 23 runs, 28 hits, 5 doubles, a triple and compiling a .928 fielding percentage at second base this spring. Lombardi also received Loyola’s “Cub Award” after posting a .438 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage. Loyola went 18-12 on its way to fourth place in the Mission League and lost to El Toro, 5-3, in the second round of the Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Michaels Honored by USTA The United States Tennis Association has named Palisadian Brandon Michaels the recipient of Southern California’s Junior Sportsmanship Award in the boys’ U12 division. Top executives and the USTA Player Development Team will hold a formal awards ceremony later this month. Michaels, who attends Brentwood School and plays tennis for the Eagles, was also recently named to the Junior Delphic League team, He will be attending 8th grade at Brentwood in the fall.

Perhaps it was because they were both seniors and new every match could be the last of their high school careers. Maybe it was a chemistry that produced flawless tennis. Whatever the reason was, Palisades’ Kramer Waltke and Kyung Choi captured the City Section Individual doubles championship last Thursday at Balboa Sports Center in Encino–icing on the cake after leading the Dolphins to the team title three weeks earlier. Seeded second, Palisades’ pair knocked off eighth-seeded Anthony La and Joseph Cho of Narbonne, 6-3, 6-1, in the finals. “It took us a few games to get warmed up,” said Waltke, who will attend Santa Monica College in the fall. “Then we began playing more steady and shot the alleys a little bit more.” It had taken Waltke and Choi three tough sets to get past third-seeded Steven Chow and Vincent Zhao of Franklin in the semifinals two days earlier. “I’m better at the baseline and he’s a better volleyer, so it makes for a good combination,” Choi added. Chow and Zhao rebounded to beat Eagle Rock’s William Thi and James Wong in the third-place match, 6-2, 7-5. In singles, Max Licona was supposed to play teammate Oliver Thornton for third place, but Thornton was hobbled by an ankle injury in his semifinal loss to Richard Catabona of Van Nuys and defaulted Thursday’s match. “I didn’t even have to break a sweat,” Licona joked. Ace Matias, a junior from Carson, won the singles title with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Catabona.