Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
1. Pali Tennis Teams Reclaim City Titles After a brief hiatus, Palisades High’s boys and girls tennis teams found themselves where they have customarily been at the end of the season–champions of the City Section. Palisades beat defending champion El Camino Real 16 1/2-13, putting an end to the Conquistadores’ 80-match winning streak and reclaiming the trophy that once was the Dolphins’ private property. Then, in November, it was the girls’ turn to regain what was once theirs. Pali beat Carson, 6-1, for its 18th team crown and first since 1998. 2. Pinto Indians Win PPBA World Series The Indians faced a daunting task heading into the Pinto Division World Series, having to win back-to-back games against a Braves squad that had gone undefeated in the playoffs. But after a 5-0 shutout in the first game, the Indians won Thursday’s decisive finale, 2-1, on Jack McGeagh’s one-out triple that scored Daniel Riva with the winning run in the top of the sixth inning. Trying to duplicate the feat of their Pinto organization, the Mustang Indians had upset in mind. But the heavily-favored Dodgers also showed up ready to play and won, 5-2. There were no losers in the Bronco Division championship game. The Dodgers beat the Braves, 5-4, on a bases-loaded walk to Tommy Sanford that scored Scott McRoskey in the bottom of the eighth inning. 3. Cohen, Grubb Win Post Cup Awards While many of his peers celebrated their waning days at Palisades High with parties and field trips, Dylan Cohen spent three hours a day in the weight room, preparing himself for the next game. That hard work earned him the Palisadian-Post Cup Award as the school’s outstanding senior athlete. He was the starting quarterback, punter and placekicker on the varsity football team and played shortstop on the baseball team. Also joining Pali’s sports pantheon was Diana Grubb, whose value to the teams she played on was not always reflected in the stats. She earned All-City honors in volleyball and soccer, following in the footsteps of her sister, Charlotte, who won in 2003. 4. Misfits Softball Squad Gives Back The assist of the year has to go to the Misfits, a group of Palisadian dads who formed a softball team several years ago. In their first two seasons, they were overmatched by much younger teams in the Santa Monica League. But the Misfits began to improve and two weeks ago they won their second consecutive league championship. When one of the Misfit players, Bruce Springstead, was injured and treated by a UCLA plastic surgeon, the rest of the team contributed over $1,000 to a not-for-profit organization called the Facing Forward Foundation, which helps UCLA surgeons provide corrective surgery to underprivileged children born with facial deformities. 5. Pali Swimmers Keep Dynasty Afloat Winning a City Section championship is something members of the Palisades High boys varsity swim team expected to do when the season began. And that goal was accomplished at the Los Angeles Memorial pool. In winning their fourth consecutive City team title and 11th overall, the Dolphins established themselves as one of the best teams in Section history. Trying to make it a Dolphin double, the Pali girls fell just short, finishing second with 223 points, only 18 behind the frontrunning Cavaliers. 6. Scott Wins Rain-Soaked Nissan Open After two rounds, it appeared to be anyone’s tournament to win. But when continued thunder showers saturated the course beyond playability, the event was cancelled early Monday morning. Adam Scott beat Chad Campbell on the first playoff hole, but because only 36 holes were completed, he was not credited with an official victory. 7. Fresh Faces Win Will Rogers 5/10Ks Eric Emilsson, a 23-year-old from Malmo, Sweden, won the 5K race of the 28th annual Palisades-Will Rogers Fourht of July race on his first try, completing the 3.1-mile course in 15:06. Emilsson is a fifth-year senior on the UCLA track team and signed up for the race at the advice of his coach. The women’s 5K was won by Therese Fricke in 18:39, a Pilates instructor from Santa Monica who has many clients from the Palisades. A trio of Nike Team runners swept the top three places in the men’s 10K, led by 27-year-old Kevin Koeper of Arcadia. Lucy Fitzgerald was the women’s 10K winner. 8. Pali Boys Golfers Win City Title Despite a slim seven-stroke lead heading into the final round of the City Section Golf Championships in May, Palisades High players were confident they would win. Sure enough, the Dolphins did play better on Griffith Park’s longer Wilson Course and a final round 398 secured the Dolphins’ 13th team title and first since 2002. The two-day total of 789 was 23 strokes better than second-place San Pedro. Three Dolphins shot in the 70s on Wilson, including junior Ben Seelig, who narrowly missed becoming the first Pali golfer to win the individual tournament since Ed Turner in 1999. 9. Lewis, Naidoo, Kirkpatrick Honored Life is fulfilling when you’re doing something you love. No one knows that better than Palisadian Herb Lewis, who was chosen “Player of the Century” for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Adult Baseball Camp in Vero Beach, Florida. Lewis turned 90 on June 1. Vassie Naidoo, chief instructor of Goju-Ryu Karate-Do in Santa Monica and longtime owner of the Palisades Garden Cafe was inducted into South Africa’s Martial Arts Hall of Fame for, among other achievements, spearheading that country’s first multi-racial martial arts tournament in 1975. Vassie is the highest ranked Goju-Ryu blackbelt in the United States. Gayle Goettman Kirkpatrick was honored during homecoming ceremonies at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, by being inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Honor in October. Kirkpatrick was inducted as the most accomplished women’s tennis player in Wittenberg history. She played No. 1 singles and doubles as team captain in 1982 and 1983. 10. Williams ‘Cooked Up’ Klitschko Win David Williams sat six rows from ringside for the Wladimir Klitschko-Samuel Peter heavyweight elimination fight in Atlantic City on October 1 and confessed he was living and dying with every punch. That’s because Williams served as Klitschko’s roommate and cook during the boxer’s six-week training camp in the Poconos, so he had a hard time watching Klitschko suffer three knockdowns. However, the Ukrainian fighter got up off the canvas each time and went on to win a 12-round unanimous decision–the biggest win of his career so far. Conditioning and Williams’ nutrition plan won Klitschko the fight.
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