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.

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

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.

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.

On the final day of another thrilling season in the Palisades Pony Baseball Association, the Dodgers won the World Series in both the Pinto and Bronco Divisions last week at the Palisades Recreation Center’s Field of Dreams diamonds. Both Dodgers teams had to win back-to-back games to take the title. In the Pinto Division, the Dodgers defeated the Yankees 16-5 on Wednesday and 14-6 on Thursday. In the Bronco Division, the boys in blue had to advance through the loser’s bracket but by the time they reached Thursday’s finale they were clicking on all cylinders, blanking the Cardinals 11-0 in the last game for Coach Bob Lutz. “I’ve had three boys go through the program and this was definitely my last game so it’s a good way to go out,” said Lutz, who praised assistant coaches John Garacochea, Craig Ehlers, Mark Strome and Doug Snyder for their efforts. “This was such a special season because we had to win six games in a row–coming from five runs down in one of them–to pull it off. I’ll always cherish the memories.” The Bronco Dodgers consisted of Harrison Hart, one of the league’s most valuable players, an all-around hitter, pitcher and shortstop; pitcher Adam Snyder, who finished most of the playoff games in pressure situations; catcher Jeffrey Ehlers, who provided clutch defense, pitching and hitting; Zach Lynch, Jack Garacochea, Tommy Lutz, Jack Strome, and Henry Abrams, all of whom had key hits in the team’s playoff run; Louie Nadeau, who had the highest postseason batting average; and Lucas Bellamy, who made several shoe string catches in the outfield, along with Connor Listen and Charlie Dillon. Assistant coaches provided guidance. After losing their playoff opener, the Dodgers won two games but found themselves facing elimination, down by four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Tigers. They came back to score five runs and keep their title hopes alive. On Thursday, Ehlers’ two-RBI hit in the first inning got the Dodgers on the scoreboard, then Hart blew the game open with a two-run homer a few innings later. The most exciting final, however was in the Mustang Division last Tuesday, when the Cardinals rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third inning to edge the Yankees, 7-6. Pitcher Ryan Pecsok worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth but had to be taken out with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth after throwing his allotment of 65 pitches. Xander Klein took the mound and threw one pitch’a grounder to first baseman Jason Freedland, who scooped it up and stepped on the bag to end the game and start the celebration. Behind starting pitcher Bryant Reese, the Yankees took control early and looked to force a decisive second game. The Cardinals broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the fifth on Grayson Hansen’s two-run double to center field. Russell Cohen, who pitched the first three innings, hit a ground-rule double to spark a four-run fourth inning and Billy Howenstein made a sliding catch in the outfield and ignited the two-run rally in the fifth that proved to be the difference. Cohen had two hits and scored two runs, Riley Byington hit an onside-the-park home run, Connor Bellitti went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and Alyssa Wallin pitched the final two innings for the save and added a single to start the Cardinals’ key fourth-inning comeback in a 12-9 winner’s bracket victory over the Dodgers. Rounding out the squad coached by Bruce Wallin and Chip Stuart were Chip O’Donnell, Jeff Stuart and Scott Stuart. It was an “historic” day of sorts for the Wallins. Thirty years ago, Carol Wallin, the first and only female head coach in the PPBA, guided the Mustang Cardinals (called the Expos) to the championship. Last Tuesday, Bruce, who was a pitcher and shortstop on that team, coached his own daughter Alyssa’s Cardinals to victory. Coached by Kevin Listen and Dan Brecher, the Pinto Dodgers used their powerful batting lineup and solid defense to win the championship. The team got contributions from every player on its roster–Lincoln Bellamy, Jack Berglas, Jared Brecher, Josh Citron, George Dennis, Brett Edwards, Demetrius Kallios, Brody Listen, Cooper Morrow, Griffin Pearce, Max Tenenbaum and Charlie Wang. “The Yankees beat us in Game 3 of the winners’ bracket, which pushed us into the losers’ bracket,” Coach Kevin Listen said. “We beat the Phillies in a tough game before facing the Yankees again in the championship series. It was quite a feat to get there for the Yankees, who were the No. 8 seed going into the playoffs.” Kallios hit a three-run homer in the first game and added a two-run shot the next day. In the field, the Dodgers turned several double plays and made numerous running catches in the outfield while rarely committing errors. The team as a whole batted .610 in the championship series, with Brody Listen going 7-for-7, including a lead-off ground rule double in Game 1. Kallios and Bellamy each went 6-for-7 and Brecher went 5-for-7 in the two games, including 3-for-3 in the clinching game.

If anyone meets the three criteria for the Mort Farberow Award–community, Chamber and children–it’s Bob Ryan, adjutant at American Legion Post 283. He became the eighth recipient of the honor on Thursday night at the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce installation dinner at Riviera Country Club. Ryan has been a dedicated member of the American Legion ever since being coaxed to join shortly after he first visited Post 283 to ask for donations to the Palisades High baseball program. “I was coaching the [junior varsity] team and we were trying to raise money and they said they would help–if I joined,” Ryan recalled. “I started getting more and more involved and eventually I became Commander.” Ryan’s first love is baseball–a sport he has coached since 1965 at many levels, from youth to Babe Ruth to Pony to high school. In 1992 he met Palisades Coach Russ Howard and an immediate friendship was formed. “I was coaching a Pony team in Malibu at the time when I asked Russ if we could use his batting cage and he asked me to coach with him,” Ryan said. “In fact, I was sitting next to him in the dugout at Dodger Stadium when the boys won the City Invitational Championship in 2003, which turned out to be his last game.” Ryan was Palisades’ JV coach for 12 seasons, stepping down in February of 2004 after leading the Dolphins to 11 Western League titles and one second-place finish. In November 2008 he was honored for his hard work at the high school’s first annual traditions dinner. An example of his willingness to step in when needed came in the summer of 2007, when Ryan offered to coach the American Legion’s ‘B’ team while Palisades’ program searched for a new varsity coach. In the Navy for four and a half years during the Korean conflict, Ryan was a petty officer in navigation on destroyers and served 18 months as skipper on a tugboat in Sasebo, Japan. In 1952, he got a job as an engineer and economist for General Telephone in 1952 and was eventually transferred from Huntington Beach to Santa Monica. He moved to Malibu in 1964 and has lived there ever since. “What I love about the [American Legion] Post here in the Palisades is that you can only serve one year at a time as Commander, whereas at other Posts the terms are a lot longer,” Ryan said. “We’ve had a different Commander every year since 1929, but yet we’ve only had 8 adjutants–that’s exceptional.” As Ryan notes, the American Legion is all about service to the community. Every year, Post 283 gives grants and scholarships to all of the public schools in the Palisades. It has donated money to such projects as the stadium renovation and swimming pool construction at Palisades High and Ryan himself is also Boys State Chairman for the District (sending graduating seniors to the University of Sacramento). Ryan was the District 24 Commander, consisting of 13 Posts, for 2009-10. Ryan is currently the Area 6 Commissioner for baseball, setting the schedules for 72 teams. “American Legion has no rank,” Ryan said. “Anyone can rise to any position if they so choose.” Ryan is quick to share with others the American Legion pillars: use in the community, service to the community, Americanism, rehabilitation for veterans and veterans serving veterans. Tonight, Ryan will join a distinguished group of Mort Farberow Award winners that consists of Bob Benton, Bob Sharka, Roberta Donohue, Cheryel Kanan, Sam Lagana, David Williams and Rich Wilken.

One week after an effort of 10 feet, six inches at the City Section finals, Palisades High sophomore pole vaulter Jamie Greenberg surprised even herself with a new personal record height of 11′ 3″ on her third attempt last Friday at the state meet in Clovis. By clearing the opening height, Greenberg tied for 11th in Division I and placed third among underclassmen. After finishing third in her heat at Friday’s preliminaries, Dolphins’ senior Erika Martin qualified for Saturday’s finals in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.40 seconds–34 hundreths of a second faster than her winning time at City finals. Freshman Jacklyn Bamberger was one of 29 qualifiers in the 3200 meters, running the eight-lap race at Buchanan High School in 11:57.64.

In one of the most dramatic finishes in club history, the Pali Blues scored in the waning seconds to win their W-League soccer opener, 1-0, over the Santa Clarita Blue Heat last Sunday night at Palisades High’s Stadium by the Sea. The Blues earned a corner kick on the left side and Tiana Brockway lofted it high into the penalty area. Teammate Ali Hawkins was waiting at the far post to head it home and thwart a gutsy effort by the expansion Blue Heat, who lost an exhibition match to the Blues 3-1 on the same field May 22. The Blues’ quest to become the first team in league history to win three titles in a row began with three quality chances from Belgium International Janice Cayman, and the back-to-back defending champions controlled the ball for most of the first 45 minutes. A left-footed shot by Blues defender Michelle Wenino curled just wide of the post just before halftime. The home cheering section was bolstered by a number of local Girl Scout troops who had arrived at the stadium early that afternoon to participate in the first annual Pali Blues Girl Scout Day. The home team generated more chances in the second half on long ball attempts by Dani Toney and Hikari Nakade, whose chip sailed over the crossbar. Missing Japanese midfielder Emi Yamamoto, who had impressed during the May 22 exhibition but was sidelined Sunday after fracturing her wrist in training, the Blues nearly got on the board when midfielder Ali Schaefer sent Brockway’s corner over the crossbar. The Blues return to action at the Stadium-by-the-Sea on Thursday, June 17 at 7pm when the Seattle Sounders come to town. Fans can secure their tickets today at www.bluessoccerclub.com/tickets

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.