The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Mustangs step up with big performances

By Mike Barnhart

The good times were flowing through the Homestead High athletic program last week.

While the school was hosting the El Camino Division swimming trials on May 3, there was plenty of excitement out on the baseball and softball fields.

Later, in the gym, coach Matt Hoffman's boys volleyball team--the top-ranked unit in the Central Coast Section--put the finishing touches on its second consecutive undefeated Santa Clara Valley Athletic League season with a four-game win over second-place Mountain View.

A day earlier at Saratoga, varsity track and field athletes Jaraad Mamoon and Emily Evans became El Camino champions. The Homestead pair, along with several teammates and many other boys and girls from local schools, advanced to the SCVAL Qualifier Meet May 11 at Los Gatos.

Baseball

Led by Kevin Labadie's pitching and Evan Marshall's hitting, coach Chuck Camuso's baseball team was clinching the El Camino Division championship with a 13-0 win over second-place Saratoga.

After Labadie pitched a complete-game 3-hitter against Saratoga, with Marshall falling just a double shy of hitting for the cycle and Andrew Pardo also getting three hits, Homestead (12-1, 19-6) had a three-game lead with just two games to play, a home-and-home set with Santa Clara.

As El Camino champion, Homestead gained an automatic berth into the 40-team CCS playoffs, which begins on May 16. It will be the Mustangs' first appearance since 2003.

Earlier in the week, Marshall (8-3) suffered a rare pitching defeat, a 2-1 decision at Saratoga. Marshall struck out eight batters and walked none.

Softball

Junior Becca Gularte pitched a no-hit, no-run game and senior Lauren Gniadek clubbed three hits, including a grand slam, as Homestead jumped all over Cupertino 12-0 in a De Anza Division game.

Earlier in the week, Gniadek had the only hit for Homestead (5-6, 9-13-1) in a 3-0 loss to pitcher Kelley Martino and Monta Vista (7-3, 16-8-1).

Kendra Wood pitched a pair of 1-hit shutouts, helping Lynbrook (10-0, 17-2) win twice and clinch the De Anza crown. Wood struck out 14 in a 2-0 win over Mountain View, then whiffed 12 in a 7-0 romp past Los Gatos.

Sophomore shortstop Jamie Wallis, the Vikings leadoff hitter scored both runs against Mountain View. Kelsey Wood chased her home with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a third-inning single.

Christina Signoretti double-and knocked in two runs against Los Gatos.

Volleyball

By beating Saratoga and Mountain View last week, Homestead finished 16-0 in league play and is 34-3 overall.

As in 2006, the Mustangs received the top seed in the 16-team CCS play-offs that begin on May 10. They hope this year's result will be different, though. The Mustangs suffered a stunning four-game setback in last season's quarterfinals to No. 8 seed Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Their first-round opponent will be Harker (22-12 overall), the Private Schools Athletic League champion. Homestead will host the Eagles Thursday at 7 p.m. If the Mustangs move on, they will meet either No. 9 San Lorenzo Valley (15-11) or No. 8 Leigh (27-9).

Track

A day after Homestead's Mamoon won the boys discus (151-07) and shot put (46-4.5) events in the El Camino finals, Monta Vista distance runner Simon Bill and Lynbrook sprinter Sameer Thadani claimed crowns at the De Anza Division finals.

Bill ran 4:32.89 to win the boys 1,600, and he ran 1:57.59 to take second in the 800. Thadani dashed 23.03 to capture the 200 title, after earlier placing second in the 100 with 11.23.

Girls De Anza champions included Monta Vista's Marissa Minderler (12.34) in the 100 and Helena Montin (5-2) in the high jump and Lynbrook's Diana Lee (33-9) in the triple jump. Matadors Jean Feng (11:34) and Lisa Worsham (11:49) ran second and sixth in the 3,200, and freshman teammate Natasha Sakellar sprinted 57.8 for second in the 400. Minderler (fourth) and Sakellar (sixth) both placed in the 200.

Other Monta Vista girls who advanced to the SCVAL Qualifier from included Anita Crumlin (100), Angela Hsu (800, 1,600), Marla Spelick (100 hurdles) and Elise Leung (long jump, triple jump). Lynbrook's Jessica Tsai advanced in the triple jump and high jump.

Boys that qualified out of the De Anza Division included shot putter Matt Kemp, sprinter T.J. Olson (200, 400), Luca Signore (3,200), hurdlers Michael Nguyen and Michael Liu and long jumper Richard Lam of Lynbrook and Max Rickman (300 hurdles) and distance runner Dan Siebel-Cortopassi of Monta Vista.

Homestead's Evans ran 5:18.79 to win the girls 1,600 meters in the El Camino meet. Mustang Sarah Engle, the SCVAL's top female pole vaulter with a best of 11-6, placed second in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the high jump.

Cupertino's Sumika Shiokawa (11:46) placed second in the 3,200 and teammate Stephanie Glick was second in the long jump and third in the triple jump. Freshmen Katie Boyle (300 hurdles, 400), Kristin Wong (hurdles) and Michelle Chung (discus, shot put) also moved on to the qualifier for the Pioneers.

Boys that advanced from the El Camino meet to the qualifier included Roger Hu (400), Abiy Gebrekristos (3,200) and Mrinal Bedi (800) of Cupertino and triple jumper Kevin Quock (40-3.5), thrower

Austin Lopez (shot put, discus), hurdler Dale Ishizaki-Brown sprinter Stanley Szeto (100) of Homestead.

Other Homestead girls that moved on from the El Camino meet were Jennifer Garnett (400), Aubreanna Bobb (100, 200), Carolyn Newswanger (300 hurdles), Anisha Mazloom (300 hurdles) and Alissa Hayes (high jump).