Palisades Pacesetters

Sophomore opposite hitter C.J. Schellenberg had 23 kills and three aces to lead the 14th-ranked University of Southern California men?s volleyball team to a 24-30, 30-19, 30-27, 30-24 upset of No. 9 Long Beach State last Wednesday in its inaugural match at the Galen Center, USC?s new on-campus arena. Named the All-CIF Division I Player of the Year at Loyola High in 2005, Schellenberg had 271 kills, 14 aces, 83 blocks and 103 digs in 29 matches as a freshman for the Trojans last season. Corinne O’Brien continued where she left off last year in artistic gymnastics by winning a silver medal in the Level 9 all-around competition at last weekend?s Whitlow Sanddollar Invitational, held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida. The 13-year-old Palisadian, competing against gymnasts from 132 gyms across 30 states, placed second in floor exercise with a 9.45 score, second in the uneven bars with a score of 9.0 and third in the vault with a score of 8.925. O?Brien trains at All Olympia Gymnastics Center and attends Windward School in Santa Monica. Fresh off of her fourth consecutive state championship last year as a level 8 gymnast, she was a Palisadian-Post athlete of the year in 2006. Jon Sebastian is among 104 of the best high school basketball players in Southern California to be nominated for the 2007 McDonald?s All-American team. A 6-4, 195-pound senior forward, Sebastian has 49 points, 31 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals in 18 games this season. He was also a wide receiver on the Wolverines? football team in the fall, catching 32 passes for 489 yards and 10 touchdowns in 13 games. Palisades High senior Bryan Greenberg, the reigning City Section champion in the pole vault, began the track and field season by reaching a personal best height duying last week?s USTA All Comers Meet at Cal State Los Angeles. Greenberg vaulted 14-6, shattering his previous mark of 13-0 set last year while winning the Rotary International Meet and duplicated at the Western League finals. On January 6, Jamie Greenberg, Bryan?s younger sister, won the pole vault in the junior high age group at the USTA All Comers Meet at Cal State Northridge. A seventh-grader at Paul Revere, Jamie?s winning vault was a personal-best 7-0. She went on to take first place in her age group in the long jump with a personal best of 11 feet, nine inches.