Max Fields and Zoey Morris Win the 3200 Meters to Pace Palisades High at City Track & Field Championships

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Distance runners Max Fields and Zoey Morris are at the opposite ends of their Palisades High careers, but both had satisfying victories in the 3200 meters last Friday in the City Section Track & Field Championships at El Camino College.

Fields ran alongside teammates Blake Sigworth and Axel Mammen for the first four laps as the Palisades threesome took turns in the lead, but Fields took command with three laps left and won the race for the second time in 9:21.09.  He also won it his sophomore year. Sigworth and Mammen finished second and third, and their combined points vaulted the Dolphins into second in the team standings over Carson.

“I ran 9:13 flat at Azusa Pacific so it’s pretty humbling,”  said Fields, a senior committed to the Air Force Academy. “I’d been out since Arcadia with a respiratory illness, then two weeks after that I got meningitis but since then I’ve had four weeks of training and it’s been the best  training of my life. I’m glad I won because it’s been awhile since I got an individual title.”

Fields fell ill the night before last year’s City finals and finished second to Owen Lewicky in the 3200. In the fall he was poised to win his third City cross country title but finished second to Joseph Vargas of Cleveland. So Friday, it was about redemption.

Morris, on the other hand, is only a freshman and has a long prep journey still ahead of her, but after winning the City cross country title in the fall she added another feat to her already impressive resume with a comfortable win in the girls’ race Friday, clocking 11:19.93 to beat Granada Hills sophomore Samantha Pacheco by nearly seven seconds in a rematch of their head-to-head duel in the cross country finals at Pierce College.

“I’m more of a cross country runner but it feels good to know I can do both,” said Morris, whose achieved her PR of 11:11 in the 3200 at Azusa Pacific. “I ran at my own pace and threw in a few surges here and there if I felt challenged.”

Morris showed resiliency after leading most of the race before settling for third in the 1600 meters earlier in the meet. Her older sister Kyra was fourth in the 3200 in 11:46.95, sophomore Louisa Mammaen (12:02.82) was sixth and freshman Gabriella Gilyard was seventh in 12:04.89.

Carson dominated the sprint events to win its ninth straight girls team title with 103 points. Granada Hills was second with 77 and Palisades was third with 63.

Mikayla Murphy was fourth in the 100 meters in 12.08 seconds and Skyla Jones was sixth in the 400 in 60.51. Sophomore Annabelle Refnes was second in the 800 meters in 2:20.73, ran the anchor leg on the Dolphins’ fourth-place 4×400 relay and cleared 4-10 to take third in the high jump. Palisades’ Rumya Elashoff, Kyra Morris, Daila Harinck and Refnes were first in the 4×800 relay in 9:55.28.

Granada Hills won the boys team title with 98 points, 44 more than the runner-up Dolphins.

Ricardo Martin was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 20-11.50, the Dolphins’ 4×800 foursome of Andrew Razo, Odino Spadavecchia,  Jackson Taylor and Axel Mammen was third in 8:30.53 and the 4×400 relay of Jayden Joch, Harrison Carter, Zachary Amster and Ronin Sherertz was third in 3:23.63.

Granada Hills’ Jordan Coleman completed a sprint “double” by winning the 100 and 200 and also ran in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

Palisades’ 4×200 relay was fourth  and the 4×100 relay team was fifth. Andrew Razo was ninth in the 800 in 2:02.38 and Sherertz was third in the 400-meter dash in 49.76 and  ninth in the 200 in 23.86 seconds.

Doesey owns the record for most boys team titles (20), followed by Jefferson (17). Palisades captured  its only boys title in 2019. The Dolphins have also won three girls titles, in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

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Winning the City Section team title was priority No. 1 for Palisades High tennis player Lorenzo Brunkow. Having accomplished that May 1 he set out to achieve his second goal—to win the individual singles title—and he accomplished that with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Gabriel Welsh of Marshall in the finals last Wednesday in Lake Balboa.     

Seeded No. 1 in the 32-player draw, the Dolphins junior dropped only one game in five matches en route to the title.

In the doubles final, Palisades’ Neel Joshi and Caleb Scott, seeded No. 1, were uspet by Granada Hills’ Christian Camarillo and Aydan Fatu,  7-6(8), 6-3. The Dolphins’ duo of Max May and Zach Cohen won the third-place match.

Two students at Gerry Blanck’s Martial Arts Center showed off their martial arts skills last weekend at the Elite Karate Cup Tournament in Santa Ana.

First, 16-year-old Black Belt Kayley McPherson won a bronze medal in Weapons and a silver medal in Katas (forms) and Sparring.

Then, Blue Belt Gracy Llana age 35+ older, affectionately known at the dojo as the Karate Mom, earned a silver medal in Weapons and a gold medal in Katas (forms) and Sparring.

Luke Schultz Wins Playoff, Leads Dolphins to Team Title    

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It was a battle of attrition at last Wednesday’s City Section finals in Griffith Park and the one standing tallest in the end was Palisades High junior Luke Schultz, who carved up Harding Golf Course for a four under par 68 and eventually prevailed on the sixth extra hole to capture the individual title.

“It feels great because I’ve worked all year, since first semester, and the work definitely pays off—the more work the better the outcome,” a euphoric Schultz said with the first-place medal around his neck.

“This is like a dream because my personal best is a 74 here in league  from the white [tees] so there’s no rhyme or reason to why I shot this score… putts were falling, drives were going far and straight and it just so happened to be 68 at the end of it all.”   

Schultz arrived at the 18th green neededing an eagle to force a sudden death playoff with clubhouse leader Isaiah Kim of Van Nuys and that’s just what he produced, calmly rolling in a 15-footer to pull even.

Half of the foursomes were still finishing their rounds when Kim and Schultz returned to the 18th tee box to begin a sudden death playoff. Both made short birdie putts and headed to the 17th, where Schultz had to blast out of a bad lie on his second shot with his opponent safely on the green. He eventually saved par while Kim’s title-clinching putt rolled dead an inch short of the cup.

The pair returned to No. 18 for the third playoff hole, where Schultz again scrambled after an errant drive landed right of the cart path. The fourth and fifth playoff holes were at No. 17 and on the fourth, Kim extended the match with a clutch birdie putt from 12 feet after Schultz had rolled in a 17-footer of his own moments before. On the fifth, Schultz could not bear to watch as

Kim missed a potential winner from inside six feet. They returned to No. 18 for the sixth extra hole and this time, Kim hooked his tee shot into the weeds next to the fairway. He chipped back onto the green but it gave Schultz a slight advantage and that is all he needed to win the title.

“My home course [at MountainGate Country Club] has a driveable par 4 just like 17 here and we have a par 5 that’s reachable in two so to be honest it didn’t fell like I was at Harding, it felt like I was at my home course to make it more comfortable and I was playing the same shots I play there,” Schultz stated.   

The winning putt was an eight-footer without much break and Schultz    looked skyward in relief when it dropped into the cup.

“As far as the last one, I’ve hit that same putt from that exact distance a thousand times,” Schultz said. “Same old putt and the same result.”

“I’ve hit that same putt from that exact distance a thousand times,” Schultz said. “Same old putt and the same result. My personal best was a 74 here and today I shoot 68. Can’t explain. There’s no rhyme or reason to why I shot what I did today. Putts were just falling.”

Playing in the first group alongside Granada Hills’ Joseph Wong, New West Charter’s Miles Tauzin-Fox and Palisades’ Liam Husain, Kim pulled off the shot off the day after driving the green on the 17th hole. He drained a 75-foot eagle putt to take a two-stroke lead after Wong had pulled even with a birdie at one-under with a birdie at 16. Kim then birdied the 18th to give himself a seemingly safe cushion.

“It was a double breaker from the back of the green that started to the right, came back left, then came back right,” Kim said. “ I had zero intention of making that putt. It was 100 percent about speed. I hit it a little harder than I wanted. so when it dropped I just froze and was like ‘did that really just happen?’”    

After bogeying the first hole, Kim parred the next five before back-to-back-to-back birdies at seven, eight and nine. Kim bogeyed No. 13 but shooting three under on the last two holes left him waiting nervously to see what Schultz did, several groups behind.

Schultz’ marathon effort also helped Palisades secure its 23rd team crown and third in the last four years with a 10-stroke triumph over defending champion Granada Hills, who beat the Dolphins by the same number of shots last year.

Jake Norr finished alone in fourth place with a one-under 71, Husain was fifth with a one-over 73, Michael Conner shot a 73 to finish 11, Mason Gellar was 17th at 10 over and Levi Salzman also shot an 82. Only the top five scores counted in the team scoring.

Palisades and Granada Hills both advanced to the Southern California Regionals, which were held yesterday on the South Course at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills.

The state finals are May 29 at San Gabriel Country Club.

Winning the team title was especially gratifying for Palisades coach Dave Suarez. Since taking over the program the guided the Dolphins to three girls titles and three boys titles, none more satisfying than the latest one.

“We had a very deep team this year which was great because the kids really pushed each other in practice rounds and there was healthy competition for playing spots,” Suarez said. “I’m proud of Luke for pulling it out. The other kid was outdriving him by 40 yards but he made some clutch putts in the playoff. Luke would’ve won the card-off because he was four-under on the back nine, but I’m happy they settled it on the course. It’s better that way.”

Momentum was with Palisades  heading into the City Section playoffs and the Dolphins felt good about their chances of reaching the finals at Dodger Stadium.   

For the first time since the Open Division debuted in 2018, Palisades was not among the 12 teams selected for the top division. Instead, the Dolphins settled for the No. 6 seed in Division I and after winning six of their final seven regular season contests to clinch second place in the Western League they were sure they could make noise in a bracket featuring several opponents they had already played and beaten.

However, first up was No. 11 South East last Thursday and the Jaguars  tagged starter John Iacono for three runs in the top of the first inning to show they were not awed by the home crowd at George Robert Field.

Palisades threatened to cut into the visitors’ lead in the bottom half but stranded runners at second and third.

Neither side scored in the second, but in the third a double by Logan Bailey scored Jack Kurland to pull the Dolphins within two runs. South East added two runs in the fourth on an RBI single and a wild pitch but Iacono singled to score Reece Frankel to make it a three-run game with three innings left. South East restored its four-run margin in the fifth on a suicide squeeze and besides Roman Hawk’s two-out double in the fifth Palisades was unable to generate any offense the rest of the way, falling 6-2 and ending up 14-15—its second losing record in 17 seasons under Mike Voelkel. The only other time the Dolphins were below .500 in his tenure was in 2013 when they finished 11-17.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The winning tradition continues strong in the Bell household. Jaxon and Jensen Bell, sons of Palisades residents Townsend and Heather Bell, made their parents proud with championship efforts one week part.

On April 10, Jensen Bell scored the winning goal in overtime to lift the Oaks Christian High boys lacrosse team to a 6-5 triumph over Notre Dame in the Southern Section Division 3 championship game at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.

It was the programs’s first-ever CIF title and Jensen, a senior attacker and captain, played the decisive role in the outcome. The Lions were seemingly in control, up 3-0 at halftime, before Notre Dame rallied to take a 5-4 lead with 1:20 to go in the fourth quarter. Oaks Christian (14-6) leveled it in the final minute to force sudden death and Bell’s tally was a fitting way to cap a brilliant run for Oaks Christian, which had edged Notre Dame 12-11 in its second game of the season, thanks to Jensen’s three goals and one assist.

Jensen led the Lions with 54 goals and 31 assists on the season and will head to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall to play lacrosse there.

Meanwhile, older brother Jaxon continued his rise

as one of auto racing’s up-and-coming stars with a third place finish and first place finish in rounds six and seven of the 2024 Toyota GR Cup Championship last weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Jaxon, a 2021 graduate of Palisades High, qualified second and finished third in Race 1, then qualified second again and took the checkered flag in Race 2 on Sunday, also clocking the fastest lap.

“Man, it feels so good to get that first win,” Jaxon said. “I feel a bit of weight off my shoulders. Race 1 started out pretty well but then my cool suit wasn’t working which ended up making me even hotter in the cockpit.   The ambient temperature was 95 degrees and way hotter in the cockpit—I was hanging on. I worked hard Saturday night with my team to study data and video, made some adjustments, and Sunday was just perfect. I feel like we took another good performance step and I’m hungry for more.”

Jaxon had six wins and 11 podiums in 16 races as a rookie in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series last year to the delight of his dad Townsend, a three-time Top-10 finisher at the Indianapolis 500.

The Paul Revere Middle School golf program continues to climb the leaderboard under the direction of Coach Jeremy Alpert. On May 11, a coed squad consisting of 8th-graders Cole Gailys and Cole Christopher;

7th-graders Lauren Song, Grace Lee, Hudson Menzel, Gabriel Svenblad, Noah Williams, Gabriel Williams and  Max Konecke; and 6th-graders Chase Zucker, Jack Zucker and Will Kurland won the Delphic League boys  championship at Sinaloa Golf Course in Simi Valley.

Chase Zucker earned medalist honors with a one under par 26 on the nine-hole layout as Revere’s ‘A’ team finished with a score of 174 to beat runner-ups Brentwood and Oaks Christian Cardinal by by seven strokes.

Gailys and Menzel were two of four golfers tied for second overall with even par 27s while Jack Zucker tied for 11th at +3, Svenblad tied for 15th at +4 and Noah Williams and Christopher tied for 19th at +5. Lee carded a 30, tied for the third-lowest score for the girls, while Song was fifth at +4. Song’s older sister Anna is a junior at Palisades High, played on the Junior Solhiem Cup team in September and has won back-to-back City Section individual championships.      

Revere went 9-1 in Delphic League regular season matches led by the consistently low scores of Gailys, Chase Zucker and Song.

Last year, the boys finished in second place with a team score of 194 over nine holes, 10 shots more than first-place Oaks Christian Cardinal, while the girls placed fourth behind Oaks Christian, Marlborough and Harvard-Westlake with a team total of 198. In capturing the 2024 title, Revere improved its score by 20 shots from last year.

Alpert started the program right before the coronavirus pandemic hit so what would have been its first season got canceled. The first official season was in 2022 and the young and talented squad made monumental strides in its second campaign in 2023 as the ony public school competing in a league of private schools.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Incredible! Unbelievable! Unreal! Awesome! Those were just some of the adjectives being used to describe the performance of Pali Blue pitcher Lars Refnes after last Wednesday night’s Westside Interlock Pony Division championship game at the Field of Dreams.   

Pali Blue entered as the underdog against Pali Black, but Refnes had opposing batters feeling black and blue all over, fanning 16 of them and allowing only three hits in seven innings in Blue’s 4-0 shutout win.

Combined with his 13-strikeout effort in a 10-0 five-inning semifinal victory over Pali Red in which he did not allow a hit, Refnes’ total of 29 strikeouts in 12 postseason innings will be rememebered as one of the most impressive pitching performances in league history.

After the last out Wednesday, Blue players poured from the dugout to hug their pitcher and rejoiced in knowing they will get to ride a float in the Fourth of July Parade.       

“I’ve always been a pitcher since T-ball,” said the 14-year-old Refnes, an 8th-grader at Paul Revere Middle School who will take his rocket arm to Palisades High next fall. “I was kind of hyped for this game. It was all about taking care of business.”

Becker Ludwig had three hits, including an RBI single to scor Wyatt Wolsefer in the top of the first inning, Wolsefer had two singles and Griffin Cosman hit a two-run double down the right field line to  bring home crucial insurance runs in the seventh. May Eyerly doubled and Chasen Long also had a hit for Blue (13-5), which also got a run on a bases-loaded walk.

Also contributing to the cause were outfielders Nick Stepanian, Matthew Ennis, Judah Roberts, Jack Gilligan and Liam Kamdar along with shortstop Wyatt Foster. Piloting the victors were head coach Eric Foster and assistants Todd Refnes and Kambiz Kamdar.

It was fitting that the four playoff teams in the Westside Pony League (consisting of teams from Cheviot Hills, Palisades and Santa Monica were all from the PPBA. Pali Black entered the final with a gaudy 15-1-1 record after beating Pali Green in the semifinals three days earlier.

Making up Pali Black’s talented roster were Max Conchuratt, Sean Gihooly, Sebastian DeRosa, Thomas Geraty, Chase Harding, Tate Jennison, Finn Konner, Zealand Law, Noah Le Chang, Colton Nassour, Wes Neumann, Wyatt Schinto and Walter Sibson and Laith Thierry.