Dolphins Top Granada Hills 42-28 to Reclaim Trophy

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

When Dylen Smith greeted opposing coach Bucky Brooks at midfield moments after Friday night’s game he got more than just a handshake. He also got the bronze Charter Bowl trophy that goes to the winner of the annual  grudge game between the City Section’s first two charter schools. The prize is back in Dolphins country thanks to a convincing 42-28 victory over Granada Hills and the first thing Smith did was hold it high for his players to see—the first time he has gotten to do so, but what he hopes will not be the last.

“Dymally was the the warm-up, Roosevelt was the setup and this was the appetizer, the main dish, the dessert… everything,” said Smith, who was dealt a painful 26-10 defeat in his first Charter Bowl experience last fall and wanted desperately to      erase the memory. The Venice game last year was for the league title so that was important and you always remember your very first win, but this one’s definitely going to be top three when it’s all said and done.”

The game was supposed to have been played at Granada Hills, but with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley the decision was made a day before  to move it to Stadium by the Sea.

“I didn’t care where we played, I wanted the trophy back,” Smith said. “I’d have played it on Venus!”

Palisades improved to 12-5 in a series that debuted in 2006 and the Dolphins notched their 10th victory in the last 11 Charter Bowl contests.

Two of Smith’s assistants were also euphoric and made sure to pose with the trophy: linebackers coach Kelly Loftus, who piloted the Dolphins to their first Charter Bowl win as head coach in 2008; and offensive line coach Syr Riley, who never lost the game as a player and now adds a “charter” triumph as a coach at his alma mater. “It’s way harder being a coach,” Riley said. “You’re stuck on the sideline and have no control over what happens on the field.”

Fortunately for Riley, quarterback Jack Thomas was in complete control of Palisades’ up-tempo offense from the outset, connecting with wideout King Demethris for a 67-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage and adding three more scoring throws before his night was done. The junior transfer from Loyola had his most efficient outing as a Dolphin, completing 14 of 23 passes for 309 yards rushing seven times for 61 more yards.

After Nasir Enilolobo’s seven-yard pulled the Highlanders within two points late in the first quarter, the home team answered with a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by Deveron Kearney’s one-yard run. On the eight play of its next drive Palisades made it 22-6 on Thomas’ 11-yard toss to Max Hejazi.

Back-to-back two-yard touchdown runs by quarterback Jonathan Hernandez cut Granada Hills’ deficit to two, but then receiver LeHenry Solomon turned a routine sideline catch into an electrifying 56-yard touchdown by using nifty moves to make two defenders miss and outrunning the safety to the end zone.

Solomon came up huge again in the third quarter after Thomas got sacked, lost his helmet and had to sit out a play. Solomon lined up in  the wildcat formation, took the snap and bolted to his right as if he were going to sweep to that side. Seeing there was no seam, he suddenly reversed field and outraced three defenders to the goal line and dove over the pylon for a 27-yard touchdown that restored Palisades’ two score lead. Demethris caught  his second touchdown pass—this one a 47-yard strike from Thomas—to close out the scoring with 1:43 left.

“If I’m being honest I think we have the best receiving corp in the City,” Solomon said. “I’m blessed to have great teammates. Credit to them for coming back. They never let up. I like dogfights. That’s what proves yourself as a player.”

Palisades will look for more revenge when it hosts Brentwood in the “Sunset Showdown” on Friday. The Eagles won 43-24 last year.

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Palisades High girls volleyball team got its first real test last weekend at the 13th annual Chatsworth Invitational and after two days of matches against strong competition, including several of the top City Section teams, Dolphins coach Carlos Gray saw his squad face adversity  that could help the Dolphins come playoff time.

After sweeping Royal, Hueneme and Sylmar to win its pool on Friday, Palisades opened the second round of pool play Saturday morning with two more sweeps of Eagle Rock and Cerritos. The Dolphins then took on Foothill of Nevada for first place in the pool and lost 115-9 in the decisive third set to settle for second. Still, the Dolphins qualified for the Gold Division, and in the opening round of brackey play they defeated  Chatsworth to move into the quarterfinal round against Thousand Oaks. The Lancers prevailed 25-19, 25-18 and went on to beat Taft in the semifinals and Notre Dame Academy in the finals. Taft had gone undefeated through pool play.

On Monday, Palisades was back in action in its own gym, taking on rival Venice in its Western League opener. Despite getting a little bit closer each set the Dolphins fell 25-15, 25-19, 25-21. The teams will meet again October 2 at Venice.   

Palisades beat Venice three times last season (twice in league and once in tournament play) on its way to the City Open Division semifinals, where it lost in four sets to El Camino Real. The Dolphins captured the last of their record 30 section titles in 2020. The next most titles for any City school is 10 by Elizabeth.

There will  be a lot of reminiscing Saturday, September 21 at  Palisades High’s  Maggie  Gilbert Aquatic Center during a 50-year reunion celebrating the school’s 1974 swimming and water polo teams.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature coaches Dave Anderson and John Apgar. Anderson will be inducted into the CIF LA City Section Hall of Fame in April. In his 22-year coaching career at Palisades he led the Dolphins to six consecutive boys water polo titles (1973-78), eight varsity boys swimming titles (1974, then seven straight from 1986-92) and 11 varsity girls swim titles in 12 years from 1982-93. He also taught biology until 1994 and in his final year at the school served as the magnet counselor.

He returned for the opening of Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center in October 2010.

The 1974 title, though shared with Chatsworth, was Palisades’ first in swimming and a sign of the dynasty to come. Apgar was not only Anderson’s assistant, he was also the Palisades-Malibu YMCA coach. The ‘74 squad included future All-Americans Les Wulk, Dennis and Eric Moore, Mark Hutson, Mike Newman, Franz Szymanski and Fred Kitchener.

The 1974 girls swim squad took second at City Finals and won the Western League title.

Current coach and program alum Maggie Nance, who has continued Palisades’ winning legacy during her tenure, swam under Anderson for three years and helped the team win two City crowns before graduating in 1990. Since taking the helm in 2004 she has piloted the girls to 15 team titles and the boys to nine.

Everyone in the Pacific Palisades aquatic commuity is welcome to attend, including fans, parents, YMCA swim members and those who competed before or after the 1973-74 teams. Attendees are encouraged to share their memories and photos at the casual gathering. Light snacks and refreshments will be served and there will be a minimal entry fee to pay for the pool deck rental, insurance and food. Any leftover funds will be donated to the Pali High swim and water polo programs.

RSVP to Dennis Moore via email: rd1.moore@gmail.com or call 858-243-8779. The aquatics reunion precedes the 50-year Class of 1974 party at 6 p.m. that evening at Killer Shrimp in Marina del Rey.    

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Palisades High boys and girls cross country teams are ready to make their runs at another City Section championship and depth could be the key to the Dolphins defending the titles they swept last fall at Pierce College.

Coach Robert Hockley, who was selected as the CIF-LA representative for the NFHS California State Coach of the Year in 2023-24, said the honor belongs to every runner in the program as well as the parents who support it along with Athletic Director Rocky Montz.

“It takes a village,” said Hockley, who has helped countless athletes achieve their fitness goals through his private training business (www.tricorecoaching.com). “We enjoyed great success last season with both boys and girls winning City and the boys placing fourth in Division I at the state meet, posting the fastest-ever team time by a City school.”

Despite the graduation of last spring’s Palisadian-Post Cup winner Max Fields, who was the backbone of the Dolphins’ cross country and track programs for four years (winning four individual section titles and leading his team to three straight cross country championships) as well as Axel Mammen (fifth at the City cross country finals last year), the boys return a solid group highlighted by senior Owen Lewicky and juniors Blake Sigworth, Zach Cohen and Andrew Razo. They will attempt to make it four titles in a row and break their own finals time standard of 1:17:21.11, which bettered a long-standing record set by Belmont in the late 1990s.

Sigworth was third behind Joseph Vargas of Cleveland High and Fields at last year’s cross country finals and was runner-up to Fields in the 3200 with a time of 9:37.24 last May at the City track finals, is anticipating a breakout year.

“I learned so much from Max… he was a great mentor and having someone to push me helped me to get better faster,” said Sigworth, who lives in Marquez Knolls and attended Marquez Elementary and Paul Revere Middle School, where he first took up competitive running. “It’s not merely about training, it’s sleep, it’s diet, it’s recovery… there’s so much that goes into it. Even though it’s somewhat of a rebuilding year I’m confident we can defend the title. One of my goals is to be individual City champion and also Max ran 14:35 at Woodbridge so I’d like to be around that.”           

In the Dolphins’ first meet of the season, the three-mile Great Cow Run on Aug.31 at John Glenn High in Norwalk, Sigworth was first in a field of 209 runners with a time of 15:09.4 and he paced Palisades to second in the team standings with 72 points—six more than first-place West Torrance.   

Sigworth has already clocked faster times than Fields in the 800 and 1600 meters and Lewicky has done the same in the 800. Cohen was fourth in 15:30.3 at the Great Cow Run and Lewicky was sixth in 15:32.7.

“It was pretty good for my first race, I was happy with that coming off a broken foot in March,” said Lewicky, who edged Fields to win the City 3200 as a sophomore in 2023 when his older teammate was weakened with the flu. “Next year we have the potential to be better than we’ve ever been.”

Cohen, who was seventh at City finals last fall in 15:31.4 (one spot ahead of Lewicky), thinks the boys will be even better than last year: “Our front of the pack will be way faster. I never ran cross country until I got here and I don’t run track, although I want to try it this year. I have a good aerobic engine. I just started my training but I’m hoping to be in the 14:30s at Woodbridge. Andrew [Razo] is going to be someone to watch!”

Contributing to the boys’ success  will be triplets Sebastian, Justin and

Ethan Funk, fellow freshman Theo Mayeda, sophomore Mako Holt and juniors Jackson Taylor and Lajus Collins and senior Basel Thierry.   

In coaching for more than 25 years across five different sports, Hockley has worked with every level and age of athlete from high school to a two-time Olympian, to an 80-year old Ironman World Championship qualifier. His experience has raised Palisades’ program to the top of the City ladder and he believes running is a vehicle for teaching many of life’s lessons.

“At Pali, we’re hoping to develop great young adults who just happen to become faster runners along the way,” he said. “As far as that first meet, nothing really surprised me. Both teams ran up to expectations.”

Hockley hopes for an even stronger girls team this year than the one that ended Granada Hills’ streak of five straight titles last fall. Led by sophomores Zoey Morris, Gabriella Gilyard and Vitalija Schafer, juniors Louisa “Lulu” Mammen and Daila Harinck, senior Cece Tierney and newcomers Maya Hively, Eleanor Mammen, Kendal Shaver, Amelia Halpin and others, the Dolphins should have enough to offset the graduation of Kyra Morris (Zoey’s older sister, who was fourth at City cross country finals and in the 3200 last spring) and Virginia O’Neill.

Zoey Morris, the individual cross country champion as a ninth-grader in 17:41 flat last November as well as the City 3200 champion on the track with a time of 11:19.93 in the eight-lap race, picked up where she left off with a second-place 18:14.1 effort at the Great Cow Run while  leading the Dolphins to the varsity girls team title with 63 points.     

“Mammoth was fun,” Morris said of the team’s annual summer training trip. “I enjoy running with Ella, Lulu and all of my teammates. We have some really good new girls. I had a solid first race and I’d like to run sub-18 by City finals.”   

Mammen will miss her brother Axel, who graduated in the spring, but was 10th at the Great Cow in 18:44.5, crossing the finish line side by side with Hively, a freshman who came from Revere and is poised to be an immediate contributor.

Hively’s main sport is soccer. She plays club for the LA Breakers and will play for Palisades in the winter but until then the Rustic Canyon resident is anxious to build stamina and camaraderie in cross country.

In her case, Hockley’s extensive background in the world of semipro soccer should prove quite helpful, since Hively wants to play soccer at a collegiate level, perhaps at one of her “dream” schools, UCLA or Stanford. Hockley knows how to juggle the two sports and has privately helped train numerous soccer players for colleges like Michigan, Occidental and Loyola Marymount.

“I’ve only been running for three years, since sixth grade, but this is my 11th year playing soccer,” said Hively, whose three-year younger siblings (twins Bennett and Parker) also play soccer and just started at Revere. “Running is helpful to improve endurance and it’s good to balance out my schedule. I don’t like track meets at all but cross country is fun because of the courses. Everyone on the team is super nice! It’s a positive environment. Lulu and I got the same time in the first race.”

Shaver clocked 20:37.8 at Great Cow and placed 42nd, three spots behind Schafer. Now a sophomore, she moved to the Via Bluffs from Carlsbad and she too used to play soccer. Her father John is the new Pastor at Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades and he first got Kendal and her sister into running.          

“I’ve been training and working  hard and it’s easier to do that with friends,” Shaver said. “Pali has a much stronger team than the one I came from, especially at state. Cross country keeps me in shape and the girls were all nice and welcoming. I’m enjoying it more than I thought. I like living close to the water, shopping in the Village and running down to the beach.”

Palisades is scheduled to run next in the 43rd Annual Woodbridge Classic on Sept. 21 at the Great Park in Irvine. The boys are entered in the night’s final race just before 10 p.m., the Doug Speck Sweepstakes, reserved for the elite teams. The girls will compete one hour earlier in the varsity rated race.

Last year, the boys finished 20th out of 34 teams in the Sweepstakes race and were the only City team to qualify. Fields was 49th out of 267 runners, Lewicky and Cohen were 147th and 148th, respectively, while Sigworth was 186th in 15:34.9.

The girls finished 11th in the Blue Division varsity B race a year ago at Woodbridge, with Louisa Mammen (18:32.5) and Kyra Morris (18:37.2) placing 17th and 18th, respectively, and Zoey Morris (18:52.5) coming in 27th out of 227 runners.

Granada Hills’ Samantha Pacheco won that race, but Zoey Morris rebounded to upset the Highlanders sophomore at the City finals in Woodland Hills.

Last year, Miles Partain partnered with Andy Benesh to take second at the Chicago Open. The beach volleyball duo returned to the AVP Tour event in 2024 and on Sept. 1 earned the $30,000 winners’ share after downing Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander 21-15, 21-15 in the final. It marked the fourth AVP win for the 22-year-old Partain, who captured his first at the 2022 Atlanta Open with Paul Lotman and paired with Benesh for titles in Huntington Beach and Atlanta last season.

Partain and Benesh advanced to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics. Partain led the Palisades High indoor team to three City titles and earned All-American accolades as a setter at UCLA before opting to play full-time on the beach circuit.

The annual Palisadian-Post Football Contest, giving readers a chance to predict upcoming game winners, continues to week two.

“Every week, the Palisadian-Post will have a selection of NFL and college football games,” according to the contest rules. “Check the team you predict will win each game. The person with the most correct picks wins. In the event there is a tie, the tie-breaker will be used to determine the winner.”

There is an online submission process: Contestants can download or copy their entry form, fill in their picks, take a photo, and email it back to footballcontest@palipost.com by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline. This week’s deadline is Friday, September 13, at 5 p.m.

One entry per person per contest will be accepted. Winners will receive a $10 gift card from our contest sponsor, The Yogurt Shoppe, via email. Last week’s winner was Richard Olsen.