Longtime Pacific Palisades resident and Santa Monica dentist Dr. Paul E. Trinkkeller passed away peacefully on March 26 in the patio of his home. Trinkkeller was born in Bakersfield on April 18, 1920, to Edward Paul Trinkkeller and Marie Augustine Paul. In 1938, he enrolled at UCLA for his pre-dental classes and lived with his grandparents, who had come to Los Angeles from Germany in the 1880s. While at UCLA, he met his future wife, Jane. He was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and Cal Men. Paul and Jane were married in Los Angeles on February 12, 1943, while Paul was in the USC School of Dentistry in the V-12 program. After graduation, as a lieutenant, he was stationed at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, where he moved with his wife and infant son. Later, after Paul opened his first practice in Santa Monica, he was recalled into the service during the Korean War and spent two more years in Georgia with his family before returning to California. They moved to Marquez Knolls in Pacific Palisades in 1957. Paul retired in 1980, and his son, Paul, Jr., succeeded him. During his working years, Paul was active in the Santa Monica Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Monica Optimist Club and was a lieutenant in the Santa Monica Mounted Police, with whom he participated in many area parades with his horse, Skeeter. Paul and his family loved sports, especially UCLA sports, and he enjoyed participating in waterskiing, dirt biking, tennis and golf. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jane; sons Paul, Jr. (wife Mercy) of Soledad Canyon and Bob (wife Inessa) of Culver City. He was predeceased by sons Tom (1991) and Jim (1994), as well as his brother, Eugene. He enjoyed his grandchildren James, Damien, Paul III, Tori, Janie and Tommy, and two great-grandchildren, Taylor and Aubrey. Entombment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, at the Palisades Lutheran Church, 15905 Sunset. A reception will follow at the church. Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to a philanthropy of one’s choice.
As a teen, filmmaker Stacy Peralta helped pioneer skateboarding’s evolution…in OUR empty swimming pools!
Filmmaker Stacy Peralta at Wilshire and 23rd – the neutral location in Santa Monica where rival gang members gathered to share their stories in his latest documentary, “Made in America.” Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
‘Pacific Palisades helped midwife the birth of skateboarding.’ ‘ Filmmaker and former professional skateboarder Stacy Peralta —————————————————— ‘We were a rowdy bunch, smoking pot, hopping fences. Peter Graves was constantly calling the police on us. Graves must’ve thought, ‘Where is this element coming from?” It’s amusing to picture the alabaster-haired ‘Mission: Impossible’ star trying to bust the skateboard legends Zephyr Boys from his Santa Monica Canyon home as they trespassed onto the neighboring Leo Carrillo estate to pioneer their sport in an empty swimming pool. And yet, in 1975, that’s what went down around Pacific Palisades, according to former Z-Boy Stacy Peralta, who has since created the critically acclaimed documentaries ‘Dogtown and Z-Boys’ and ‘Riding Giants.’ Peralta spoke with the Palisadian-Post right after taking his latest film, the upcoming meditation on L.A. gangs ‘Made in America,’ to the Sundance Film Festival. So forgive Peralta if he’s coughing his way through our interview, as he caught a bug while in Park City, where by his own account his lungs were not used to the bitter weather (that’s why the guy lives in Southern California, folks). You don’t need to be interested in skateboarding or big-wave surfing going into Peralta’s revered 2001 film ‘Z-Boys,’ and its spiritual sequel, 2004’s ‘Giants,’ respectively, to become absorbed in these documentaries. Peralta’s style”a post-MTV marriage of fast-moving visuals and hip music”is hard to resist. Although Peralta, 50, did not grow up in Pacific Palisades, our neighborhood figured prominently in his history and, by extension, the history of professional skateboarding. As he documented in “Z-Boys,” Peralta”along with Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Steve Cabellero, Peggy Oki and other Angelenos” was an early 1970’s teen prodigy, backed by the Dogtown (slang for ‘Venice’) skate shop Zephyr (hence, ‘Z-Boys’) which helped pioneer extreme skateboarding. The Z-Boys’ innovation of vert (vertical) skating became significantly advanced by the skateboard manufacturers’ switch from clay to polyurethane wheels that allowed the Z-Boys to develop all those ollies, kick flips and half-pipe techniques. Mar Vista native Peralta knew this town like the back of his skateboard. In fact, the Palisades was a de facto skate park for Dogtown’s best”before skate parks ever existed. ‘Two schools figured greatly in our development,’ Peralta tells the Post. ‘Paul Revere [Junior High] and Kenter Canyon [Charter Elementary]. Between the ages of 12 and 19, we’d be there after school, on weekends. We figured out what days the janitors were there and weren’t there.’ Peralta explains the external circumstances that made the Palisades a ground-zero point of origin in the evolution of his sport. ‘In the ’70s, there was a drought,’ he says. ‘So we were skating the empty pools. We probably knew those neighborhoods better than the residents who lived there. Palisades is built on hillsides. There were a lot of vantage points where you could see into backyards and find the empty pools. The first pool we found was on an estate. We called it ‘The Birdbath.’ It was a pool made in the ’40s, so it was not quite vertical. It was steeply banked and didn’t have that coping along the rim.’ Peralta sums things up this way: ‘Pacific Palisades helped midwife the birth of skateboarding.’ What makes ‘Z-Boys’ such an exhilarating film is that, in illuminating the birth of extreme skateboarding, Peralta’s narrative is as much an American story as it is a California one. Stereotypical blond, blue-eyed skaters come to mind, but the real back story of professional skateboarding is multicultural, with Asian- and Mexican-Americans having as much a role in the birth of vert skating as the blond Anglo variety. Call it ‘Underdog-town and Z-Boys.’ Half the fun of Peralta’s film is seeing footage of this ragtag crew storming competitions and stealing trophies”something akin to the Bad News Bears on wheels. Tracing the California-born, Hawaiian-bred world of professional surfing, ‘Giants’ spins great surf lore, even if it comes up a few chromosomes short of Peralta’s predecessor (as the moviemaker was not a direct part of this sport’s history). Nevertheless, ‘Giants’ combines rich oral history, on aquatic legends such as Buzzy Kerbox and Laird Hamilton, with fluid visuals. For ‘Made in America,’ Peralta returned to his personal history when he shot footage at his alma mater. Even at the time Peralta attended Venice High School (Class of 1975), ‘we had gang problems. A kid was killed on the first day we started shooting [‘Made’]. ‘All of the different neighborhoods are literally like independent states,’ he continues. ‘There’s an incredible sense of identity. Imagine each one of those being held down by a group of people like surfers and none of them mix. That’s the way it is in South L.A. Every area has its mythological figures, its folklore. We tried to get into this in as many neighborhoods as possible. We didn’t want to make this film Crip-centric or Bloods-centric.’ Peralta relishes his role as an American documentarian. ‘It’s an enriching experience. People will say, ‘My God, you connected so many dots that we never knew existed.’ What I like about this is, as a documentarian, I get paid to learn.’ Here’s what he learned about gang members while making his film: ‘They don’t grow up in the same America as we do, and yet they’re expected to behave as we have. And it just doesn’t work that way. There are generations of families that have people in penitentiaries and people killed by gangs. There are so few role models for people who are born into this. These kids are the canaries in a coal mine. We have to figure out what’s happening and why this is happening because, at some point, it’s going to come to a neighborhood near us.’ So, given the subject matter, was ‘Made’ a more stressful, dangerous shoot? ‘Without a doubt,’ Peralta says. ‘It was never depressing. It was actually very inspiring to talk to former gang members and see how they’ve turned their lives around. But there were some really unnerving moments where I thought to myself, ‘I’ve made a huge mistake!’ Thank goodness, I was na’ve enough to do it.’ As with ‘Giants,’ ‘Made’ had its genesis while Peralta made his first film. He thought about L.A.’s infamous riots in 1965 and 1992. ‘Two civil rebellions ‘ 20 years apart, 7 miles apart ‘ same half-century,’ Peralta observes. ‘A person we interviewed said, ‘Nobody could believe it would happen here”palm trees and movie stars.” When ‘Made’ is released in theaters later this year, it will prove to his detractors what Peralta has known all along”that he has something to say beyond beach culture. Peralta knew that following up a skateboarding documentary with a surfing doc would pigeonhole him, but he rode that wave anyway. ‘I needed to get [‘Giants’] out of my system,’ he says. ‘These are films that I wanted to see.’ The Zephyr team was not the only underdog in ‘Z-Boys”’so was the movie itself. ‘It started at the lowest point of my life,’ Peralta says. ‘I was in the middle of a divorce. My finances were being set to zero. I had spent seven years in television. I thought, ‘I can’t take any more disappointment.” Adding to his gloom: Hollywood was developing ‘Lords of Dogtown,’ a feature version of the Z-Boys story, thanks to a 1999 SPIN article under option. ‘We did not think our film would see the light of day,’ Peralta says. Cosmic things began happening. Peralta’s original photographer, Glenn Friedman, connected him with Sean Penn, whose Point Dume childhood as a surfer/skater had informed his breakthrough performance as Jeff Spicoli in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High.’ The actor signed on as narrator, and Vans Shoes backed ‘Z-Boys’ with nary a product placement. ‘They let us make the film we wanted to make,’ Peralta says. ‘We just wanted to try to beat the [‘Lords of Dogtown’] feature and say our piece.’ Ironically, he beat the feature and ‘the documentary helped get the film greenlighted and financed,’ with Peralta as screenwriter. But the 2005 ‘Lords of Dogtown’ theatrical film bombed. If you presupposed it tedious to write the ‘Lords’ screenplay after exhaustively exploring the same subject matter with ‘Z-Boys,’ you’d be correct. ‘But I wanted to try to see it get done properly,’ Peralta says. Even though he has written five other screenplays, the prospect of making features leaves Peralta cold. He feels most in control when crafting a documentary: ‘They’re privately financed, they’re not tested, studios are not breathing down my back. I can call my hours. But the drawback is, there’s a [budgetary] financial limit, unless you get into the rarefied air of where Michael Moore is.’ Which may happen soon for the filmmaker, for quality seems assured when a documentary arrives stamped ‘Made by Peralta.’ Not bad for the kid who used to grind at Paul Revere and half-pipe our empty pools. Thankfully, Mr. Graves didn’t dial the cops fast enough.
Director Michael Hackett and Olivier Award-winning British actor Henry Goodman collaborate to bring ‘Philoktetes’–Sophocles’ great meditation on war, honor, and the nature of truth–to the Getty Villa’s Theater Lab Series from April 11 through April 13. The Sophocles classic poses the question of whether it is ever justifiable to act against ethical codes in order to achieve a higher good. Performed in the 22nd year of the Peloponnesian War, ‘Philoktetes’ won first prize at the Festival of Dionysius way back in 409 B.C. In ‘Philoktetes,’ our story starts during the tenth year of the Trojan War. The Greeks are at standstill as the war drags on endlessly. Via a prophecy, they learn that, in order to win, they must have Philoktetes’ magical bow and arrows. However, nine years earlier, the Greeks had abandoned Philoktetes, leaving him wounded and stranded on a deserted island. Returning to the island, Odysseus sets out to trick Philoktetes with the assistance of idealistic soldier Neoptolemus, young son of the dead Achilles. The Theater Lab Series fosters new and experimental approaches to ancient drama and literature, serving as an incubator for the development of new works in the classical canon. Selected directors or companies are invited to present four public presentations of their adaptations of a classic work inside the Villa’s auditorium. Each director is given two weeks of preparation, which gives talent and crew time to freely incorporate staging, music, and sound elements, unlike the traditional play-reading format. Hackett, a Palisades resident, is a professor of theater in the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA. He has directed for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Royal Theatre at the Hague; the Centrum Sztuki Studio and Dramatyczny Theatre in Warsaw; and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Hackett was the artistic producer for Robert Wilson’s ‘King Lear’ and recently directed and composed ‘fragments’ from ‘Elektra’ by Euripides for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. Held at the Villa’s auditorium, the play runs Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 12 at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets ($7) are available online at www.getty.edu or by phone at (310) 440-7300.
If you accuse Tom Nuccio of ‘flowery talk,’ he’ll take it as a compliment. Nuccio, who owns the Altadena-based nursery, will lecture on a local favorite’azaleas’ at the Pacific Palisades Garden Club meeting on Monday, April 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave. Nuccio will bring samples of various azaleas, but forewarns ‘it’s a little early for the late spring azaleas.’ He promises to bring ‘one or two with unusual foliage.’ Nuccio knows his plant life. In 1972, he inherited the family business from his father and uncle, who opened Nuccio’s Nursery in 1935. If there is a common misstep many make in the caring of azaleas, it’s the following, according to Nuccio: ‘Most people keep them too wet.’ The man with the green thumb adds that Pacific Palisades is a perfect place to raise your garden-variety pentanthera. ‘You can do most of them: Redbirds, Kurume, fast ones, slow ones, sun ones, shade ones,’ Nuccio says. Refreshments will be served. Bring an item for the plant exchange and receive a ticket for the drawing. Contacts: Barbara Wold at (310) 476-1318 or Carolyn Gillespie at (310) 459-6713.
Kyle Hale won the 110 hurdles in a personal-best 16.0 seconds during Friday’s dual meet against Venice at Stadium by the Sea. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
The oval at Palisades High’s newly-renovated Stadium by the Sea is named the “Carl Lewis Track” after the nine-time Olympic gold medalist who ran the ceremonial first lap last fall. Alas, Lewis was not on hand Friday for the Dolphins’ first Western League track and field meet but had he been there he most certainly would have been proud of the host school’s performance. It was a clean sweep for the Dolphins’ varsity in their dual meet against beach rival Venice and Coach Ron Brumel could not contain his excitement regarding his talented squad and the all-weather track it can now train and compete on. “All around, I believe this is one of the best teams we’ve had in a long time,” he said. “We’ve got talent in every event and it’s a good group of kids. And it was truly a pleasure to prepare for this meet compared to what I’ve had to do in the past. I didn’t have to use the linemaker or set up hash marks. It’s like having a BMW when you’ve spent years driving a Toyota Corolla.” Not only is the blue eight-lane track more pleasing to the eye, it’s also faster than the old dirt track, which means better times for the athletes. “You can really feel the difference,” sophomore Erika Martin said of the smoother surface. “We’re so spoiled now.” Martin competed in three varsity events on Friday and set personal bests in all three. She won the 100-meter dash in 12.4 seconds, she won the 100 hurdles in 15.9 seconds and she won the long jump with a distance of 16 feet, four inches. On Saturday, Martin ran the hurdles in 16.13 seconds to win the Large Schools “A” Division at the Pasadena Games. “I like the hurdles best although I’ve only had three official races,” said Martin, who led the Dolphins’ varsity soccer team in assists this past winter. “I did the long jump and 100 when I was at Calvary Christian but I didn’t try the hurdles until I came to Pali.” A trio of Pali sophomores swept the girls’ varsity 400 race. Racquel Rachon was first in 62.9 followed by Lauren Gustafson (63.7) and Chyann Chatman (63.9). The girls’ 4 x 100 relay team won easily in 52.3. Senior Mohaned Elias won the varsity boys’ 1600-meter race and anchored the Dolphins’ winning 4 x 400 relay. “I ran the mile in 4:52 and I was pretty much cruising,” Elias said. “I used that race more as a workout, really. My goal is to get under 4:30 by City finals. We won the relay by a lot and by doubling up I can get tired while actually working harder than the times reflect.” Kyle Hale ran a personal-best 16 seconds flat to win the varsity 110 hurdles on Friday and he won the same event Saturday in Pasadena. Mike Fujimoto was second in the varsity mile in 4:53.4. Carlos Bustamante won the 800 in 2:07.4 and Courtney Alexander won the 400 in 52.3 seconds. Khalid Stevens won the 200 on a lean by one one-hundreth of a second, clipping the tape in 23.0 seconds, and jumped 21′ 2″ to take first in the long jump–a mark that Brumel said “is good enough to medal in City.” Loren Artis jumped 19′ 5″ to finish second and Jack Simmons jumped 18′ 3″ to take third. Simmons, a junior, cleared 5′ 10″ to win the varsity high jump–a personal record by four inches. Venice did not enter any of the field events, leaving Palisades’ athletes to compete only against each other. Brock Earnest took first place in the shot put with a throw of 39′ 10.” On the girls’ side, Tuekeha Huntley cleared 5′ 4″ to win the high jump (an effort she repeated the next day in Pasadena) and Brittney Merritt (4′ 6″) was second. Nicole Mahanian won the triple jump, finished second to Martin in the 100 meters, and ran the first leg of the Dolphins’ victorious 4 x 100 relay. Utopia Kates ran the second leg of the 4 x 100 and was runner-up in the long jump (15′ 7″). “We have a strong team with a lot of promising 10th graders and freshmen and so far we’ve done pretty well,” said Mahanian, one of the Dolphins’ five senior captains. “I went to City in the long jump my sophomore year and in the triple jump last year. Right now, I’m the only girl doing triple jump so I might focus on that.” Mahanian, whose older sister Michelle was also a track standout at Pali and now attends UCLA, credits Paul Revere P.E. teacher Paul Foxson with improving her triple jump technique. “I really need to practice more so he comes as often as he can to help,” she said. Brumel’s biggest concern now is keeping his runners satisfied at road meets where they won’t have the top-notch facilities they now enjoy at Palisades. “From now on we’re going to have a “group whine” on the bus on the way over,” he joked. “That way they’ll all get it out of their system beforehand. Hopefully, going other places will help our kids appreciate what we have here.” Palisades travels to Fairfax on Friday but likely won’t be challenged until its last home meet against Hamilton on April 18. “They have some good athletes,” Brumel said. “That should be a real competitive meet.”
In An Exclusive Interview, New Director Shares Plans for Palisades Tennis Center
New Director Andy McDonnell is full of fresh ideas for the Palisades Tennis Center this spring.
Andy McDonnell, the new Director of Tennis at the Palisades Tennis Center, has had a few months to get his feet wet and has already added a lot of energy to the public facility at Alma Real. The spring session started this week and McDonnell was eager to tell the Palisadian-Post about his experiences so far at the PTC… PP: You’ve been at the PTC for three months now. What’s it like to go from traveling around the world with Andy Roddick to coming to Pacific Palisades? AM: I won’t lie. Traveling around the world wasn’t terrible, but that was his career as opposed to mine. The PTC is one of the most renowned tennis centers in the world and it’s a blast coming to work everyday. The clients are amazing. Actually, it reminds me a lot of Atlanta where every restaurant is filled with league teams still in their tennis garb. I see so many people at restaurants who all met in the workouts. There are people who are now married who met in a workout at the tennis center. PP: What do like best about working in the Palisades? AM: Again, the people at the tennis center are just great. Everyone has an amazing career and an incredible story. Tennis is a magnet for those who excel or are accomplished at something. Also, I love kids and we have 500 of them at the tennis center. PP: What do you like least about the PTC? AM: I wish there was a pool, a weight room, a locker and more parking. PP: What has been the hardest part of your new job? AM: There hasn’t been any one thing that is hard, but the amount of workouts is unlike anywhere in the country. So managing the sheer volume is the hardest thing. There are over 100 workouts a week. Most places have one or two a day. Most pro shops have one type of men’s shoe and one ladies shoe. Our tennis center has over 50 different shoes from adidas, Nike, K Swiss and Wilson. Most pro shops have a black outfit and a white outfit. We have more clothes, especially for women and kids, than I’ve ever seen before. I’ll bet we have more kids clothing than any tennis shop in America. PP: What changes are you going to be making? AM: I’m going to ramp up activities outside of just workouts and do more stuff in-house. We’ve been in leagues with other clubs around town and there was never the level of commitment that we had. It stinks having our team of 13 travel to play another country club where four kids showed up. We’re going to have a lot more tournaments, ladders and leagues. A lot has gone unexploited. Liveball was invented right here at the PTC. It’s now played all over the country. We’re going to have a lot more liveball tournaments and a new dedicated liveball website is coming online shortly. Also, I want to focus on getting new players on the court, especially kids. Too often people think tennis is too hard to play. Granted, you have to hit a little ball going really fast a long way but under the right learning environment the game can be picked up easily. The PTC has proven that. PP: Do you have any goals for the junior program? AM: I want to get 100 Palisades kids nationally ranked. That sounds hard, but it really isn’t. It’s just a function of getting enough kids playing in the right events. Because Southern California is the top tennis market in America, it’s possible to get a great national ranking without leaving this area. PP: Why are you pushing for more girls to play tennis? AM: The opportunities for girls in tennis are really off the charts. Whereas there are 250 nationally ranked boys who are spectacular and only about 25-30 girls per age group. A girl could start playing tennis and in a couple of years be ranked in the top 200 in the country. The easiest way to get into a great high school is to be a tennis player. Basically, every spot on every women’s college team in America is a full scholarship. If you want to save a couple hundred grand and give one of the greatest life skills, put a racket in your daughter’s hand. Tennis is great for boys too, it’s just not nearly as easy to get a scholarship. For getting into the best high schools, tennis is the best way to get to the front of the line. In this market, every great high school wants to be the best in tennis. PP: Who are a few of the PTC juniors who are doing well? AM: We now have about 50 kids regularly playing tournaments. Walker Kehrer has a No. 1 national doubles ranking and is No. 15 in singles in the boys 18s. He still has another year left so he has a realistic shot at being No. 1 in the nation in singles. Clay Thompson is only 15 and is now playing professional tournaments. Last week, he beat a guy ranked in the top 500 in the world 6-1, 6-2. Daniel Moss will be playing for Pepperdine next year and Reece Milner will play for Virginia. Robbie Bellamy and Alex Giannini are playing doubles together now and have a legitimate shot at being No. 1 in the nation in the 14’s. They came within a few points of beating the No. 1 team a couple of months ago and it was one of their first times to play together. Robbie, Cristobal Rivera and Brandon Michaels have all held Top 10 section singles rankings and Josh Rosen has held the No. 1 spot. Eduardo Nava got to No. 2 in the world and had match point to get him to No. 1. On the girls’ side, Logan Hansen reached No. 1 in the nation and will be playing for Stanford. Elizabeth Profit has also held the No. 1 sectional ranking. I’m really excited about the group of 7- to 10- year-olds we have. There are about 30 of them who’ll tear up the junior circuit. When you go to a tournament now in Anaheim you see so many Palisadians in the draw. PP: How is the camp looking for this summer? AM: We’re trying to accomplish a few things with the camp this summer. First, it has to be the greatest experience the kids have ever had. We want to see them sprinting from their cars to get to the courts. Second, we want to build tennis players through our format of kids hitting tons of balls and having tons of fun. Third, we understand that summers are busy and we’re really trying to customize the camp so it works from a time of day perspective for parents. Thomas Dawson is the camp director and it’s going to be awesome.
Eric Rosen shields the ball from a Mira Costa defender during Palisades’ 5-2 victory Monday night at Stadium by the Sea. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
In a game it had to have, the Palisades High boys’ varsity lacrosse team played an inspired second half to defeat Mira Costa, 5-2, on Monday night at Stadium by the Sea. The hardfought victory was a much-needed shot in the arm for the Dolphins (3-4), who could be without leading scorer Wyatt Kaufman for the rest of the season. When the final horn blew the Dolphins mobbed goalie Turner Hanley, who saved the day with 10 stops, including several from point-blank range. “Turner probably had four saves from two-feet which is pretty amazing,” Pali Coach Scott Hylen said. “Goaltending is always important but it especially was tonight.” Eric Rosen and Riley Gitlin each scored two goals for the Dolphins and Chris Hanusun added one. The teams traded goals in a fast-paced first quarter. After Palisades intercepted a pass at midfield, Gitlin rushed in and scored to give the Dolphins a 3-1 late in the second quarter. Mira Costa (3-5) responded moments later on a man-advantage to pull within a goal at halftime. “In terms of the power rankings, we’re equal with them so it was important for us to win this because it shows we can beat teams that are as good as us,” Hylen said. “We don’t know about Wyatt yet (he had an MRI on Tuesday to determine if he has a torn ligament) but he’s scored about a third of our goals this season. If he misses the rest of the season the honus is on the other guys to pick up the slack.” In the preceding junior varsity game, Palisades rallied late but lost, 5-4.
Palisades’ bats came alive Monday in a 13-1 Western League victory over Westchester. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Winning by one run or 10 matters little to Palisades High varsity baseball coach Mike Voelkel. His primary concern is how his team is playing and even he had little to critique after Monday’s Western League game at Westchester. Swinging their bats early and connecting often, the Dolphins needed only five innings to mercy the host Comets, 13-1, to remain unbeaten and in first place after three league games. Several Dolphins contributed mightily at the plate. Lucas Berry had two hits and five RBIs, Garrett Champion had two hits and two RBIs, Jared Sklar had two hits and one RBI and Alex Meadow also had two hits for Palisades (6-7-1). Jonathan Moscot threw all five innings, allowing one run on two hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Pali hosted the Comets yesterday (result undetermined at press time). Meadow had four hits and one RBI, Moscot had two hits and two RBI, Lucas Berry hit a two-run home run and reliever Elliott Engelman was the winning pitcher in Palisades’ 9-5 victory over Venice last Wednesday. On Saturday, the Dolphins took on Granada Hills Kennedy in a pool play game of the Redondo tournament. Adair Robles struck out nine Pali batters and Brandon Soto drove in three runs in Kennedy’s 6-2 win. It was the Dolphins’ first setback since losing four in a row at the San Diego Lions Tournament over spring break.
Palisades Dominates Intersectional Match Against Depleted Brentwood
Oliver Thornton won both of his sets at No. 2 singles against Brentwood in Palisades’ 14-4 intersectional victory last Wednesday. Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Prior to last week it had been 10 years since Palisades and Brentwood had met in a high school tennis match–and the Dolphins made sure their hosts would remember this latest visit. Missing half of its lineup due to spring break’including top player and Palisadian Walker Kehrer–Brentwood was no match for perhaps the best team in the City Section. The Eagles, Southern Section Division III finalists last year, brought only eight players to the court and had to forfeit three sets at No. 3 singles. As a result, Palisades won 14-4, adding evidence to its case for the top seed when the City playoffs begin in May. “I’m disappointed Brentwood doesn’t have its best players today but this will still count as a quality win against a very highly-regarded opponent,” Pali Coach Bud Kling said. “We should be even better next year so that should be a great match if both teams are at full strength.” As the visiting team in the intersectional match Palisades had to adjust to a round robin instead of the City’s customary head-to-head format, but the Dolphins would have dominated no matter what scoring system was used. Once Palisades built an insurmountable lead Kling subbed out his starters for the third rotation. “Palisades is very good and I wish were were able to give them a little better competition,” Brentwood Coach Lee Herzog said. “Unfortunately, all of our best guys are off playing junior tournaments.” On Monday, the Dolphins returned to straight-up scoring and swept Fairfax, 7-0, at the Palisades Tennis Center. Brett Allchorn won, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1 singles, Oliver Thornton won, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2, Trinity Thornton won, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3 and Jeremy Shore won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. In doubles, Kyung Choi and Matt Goodman won, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1; Spencer Lewin and Ren Neilsen won, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 and Che Borja teamed with Ali Yazdi to win, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3. Spikers Reach Venice Semis Still flying high from its five-game victory over Western League rival Venice two weeks ago, the Palisades High varsity volleyball team came to last Saturday’s Venice Tournament determined to prove that victory was no fluke. Unfortunately, the Dolphins never got the chance. Palisades fell in the semifinals to Sylmar, 26-24, then watched the Spartans beat the host Gondoliers 25-19 in the championship game. The 21-team field comprised of all City teams but did not include three of the West Valley League’s strongest teams–Taft, Granada Hills and Chatsworth. The Dolphins went 3-0-1 in pool play, sweeping Westchester (25-6, 25-16), Marshall (25-22, 25-18) and Reseda (25-11, 25-16) before splitting games with Cleveland (26-27, 25-15). Palisades made easy work of Jordan in the quarterfinals to set up the best game of the tournament–the Dolphins’ gut-wrenching semifinal showdown with Sylmar. Dolphins’ senior Scott Vegas made the All-Tournament team. Softball Rebounding from their 8-0 home loss to Venice on March 24, the Dolphins took to the road and took it to Western League rivals Hamilton and Fairfax. Palisades exploded for four runs in the fifth inning and four more in the seventh to beat the Yankees, 11-3, last Wednesday. The hit parade continued Monday in a 15-4 rout of Fairfax.
Will Kehrer won the 12-and-under division of the Ventura County Junior Tennis Association tournament on Sunday in Westlake. Photo: Kaye Kittrell
Will Kehrer, a sixth-grader at Westside Waldorf School, took the boys’ 12-and-under crown last weekend at a Ventura County Junior Tennis Association tournament at the Westlake Tennis & Swim Club. Kehrer (known to many as Matthew, his middle name) trains at the Palisades Tennis Center and is coached by former Stanford University standout Amy Chiminelo-Carville of Santa Monica. The 12-year-old won Friday’s first round match convincingly, 6-0, 6-0, before meeting a strong player from nearby Thousand Oaks in the quarterfinals. Kehrer prevailed 7-3 in the third-set tiebreaker after dropping the first set, 6-3, and winning the second, 6-1. Kehrer easily won Saturday’s semifinal, 6-0, 6-1, to earn a spot in Sunday afternoon’s finals where he was matched against a player from nearby Camarillo. Kehrer took control early, winning the first set, 6-2, before saving the second to assure the winner’s trophy would be headed home with him to the Palisades. Will’s older brother, 17-year-old Walker Kehrer, plays No. 1 singles for Brentwood and is currently ranked 15th in the United States in the boys 18s.
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