High school notebook: Faith Lutheran boys tennis stuns Coronado
Coronado’s boys tennis team cruised through the regular season and appeared to be on the way to a league championship.
But that was before the Cougars ran into Faith Lutheran.
The Crusaders (10-0) stunned Coronado (9-1) on Monday with an 11-7 victory to claim the top seed for the 5A South state tournament, which begins Monday with quarterfinal matches at the sites of the higher seeds. The Cougars will enter as the No. 2 seed.
“I knew we had the ability to win this match,” Faith Lutheran coach Keith Fridrich said. “But we respect Coronado and I knew we’d have to play our best. We just maintained focus so well.”
Seniors Sam Fouse and Nolan Dubay each swept their singles matches for Faith Lutheran.
In 4A Desert play, Centennial will enter the postseason as the top seed. Doral will hold the No. 2 spot. In 4A Mountain action, The Meadows and Foothill will enter as the first and second seeds, respectively. The region tournament begins Saturday with matches hosted by the higher seeds.
Boulder City and Pahrump Valley opened the week in a battle for the top two spots. Both are guaranteed a postseason berth. The regional quarterfinals will be held Monday at the sites of the higher seeds.
Girls tennis
Palo Verde entered this week with the No. 1 seed in 5A. Coronado will be the second seed.
The 5A state quarterfinals begin Thursday and will be hosted by the higher seeds.
Doral, Centennial and Desert Oasis will enter as the top three 4A Desert seeds, while The Meadows, Foothill and Silverado will be the top seeds from the 4A Mountain. Which school is the first, second and third seed in both leagues has yet to be determined. Region action begins Saturday at the higher seeds.
In 3A play, Boulder City and Cimarron-Memorial opened the week in a battle for the top two spots. Pahrump Valley will enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed and Virgin Valley will be seeded fourth. The regional tournament begins Saturday at the higher seeds.
Boys cross country
Desert Oasis’ Kenan Dagge had another strong performance Friday in the Desert Twilight 5-kilometer sweepstakes race at Mesa, Arizona.
Dagge finished in 15 minutes, 12 seconds to place 13th in the 300-runner field. The Diamondbacks were 31st in team scoring, while Shadow Ridge placed ninth in the 37-team field.
At Foothill on Saturday, Sky Pointe senior Jack Medina won the Falcon Invitational 5K in 15:25. The Eagles also won the team competition.
At Fairview, Oregon, Alekzandr Polensky placed 13th in 16:59 in the Nike Portland Division 2 5K race Saturday to lead Arbor View to victory in the team competition.
In Wednesday’s events, Western’s Colby Sulliban won the 5K race at Western in 18:47 to lead the Warriors to a team victory. Rancho’s Emmanuel Salinas won the 2-mile race at Liberty in 10:26 to help the Rams place second in team scoring behind Tech. Losee’s Semaj Hall won the 4K event at Cimarron-Memorial in 15:24 to help his team edge Eldorado for the win.
Girls cross country
Ryen Hughes placed 30th in the Desert Twilight on Friday to help Shadow Ridge finish eighth in team scoring.
At the Falcon Invitational on Saturday, Faith Lutheran’s Scarlett Cotrone ran away from the field to win the 5K race in 18:55. Coronado took the team championship and the Crusaders finished second.
At Fairview, Oregon, Arbor View won the Nike Portland Division 2 5K race Saturday. Sophomore Leah Groppenbacher placed fifth overall in 19:35.
In Wednesday’s competitions, Yalitzi Muro won the 5K race at Western in 23:09 to help the Warriors also claim the team victory. At Liberty, the Patriots’ Sienna Maisano won the 2-mile race in 13:56 to help her team place second behind Tech. At Cimarron-Memorial, Losee’s Ziva Alejandra Cruz Ramirez won the 4K race in 18:33. Eldorado claimed the team victory.
Girls golf
Palo Verde teammates Haram Lee and Rivers Common both shot 2-under 66s Wednesday to win the 5A Desert match at Anthem Country Club. Coronado’s Berlin Biddinger finished two strokes back to take third.
Palo Verde shot 287 as a team to win the event. Coronado (295) was second and Faith Lutheran (298) was third.
Tuesday’s match at Canyon Gate Country Club will conclude the regular season.
At Bear’s Best on Wednesday, Clark’s Alliah Jordan shot 4-under 68 to win the 5A Mountain match. Bishop Gorman’s Samantha Harris (69) finished second and teammate Amelia Chen (73) was third.
Gorman shot 300 as a team to win the event. Clark (305) was second and Shadow Ridge (375) took third.
The regular season wraps up with Tuesday’s match at Siena. The 5A state match is scheduled for Oct. 9-10 at Boulder City.
At Durango Hills, Basic’s Klara Kulova fired a 4-over 62 to win the 4A Mountain match Thursday. Rancho’s Raegan Williams finished second at 68 and Tech’s Kara Tien and Bonanza’s Sydney Hawley tied for third at 70.
Basic shot 345 to win the event.
The 4A regular season concludes with a match at Desert Pines on Oct. 9. The state match begins Oct. 14 at Genoa Lakes.
All 3A teams had last week off, but both divisions will be in action Tuesday at Boulder City. The 3A Region tournament is scheduled for Oct. 9-10 at Boulder City.
Jeff Wollard can be reached at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.