However, the Mustangs couldn't do what many other teams did do--beat Monta Vista.

"We beat Santa Clara two out of three," Homestead coach Chuck Camuso said, "but Monta Vista really took it to us."

The Matadors, who started off their season with five losses in a row, proved to be quite a streaky squad in 2005. And they dumped Camuso's club in all three of their meetings.

"They killed us," Camuso said, noting that the inability to beat the Matadors kept Homestead from being a serious contender in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's El Camino Division title chase.

Monta Vista, after closing with five straight wins, finished division play 10-8 and shared third place with the Mustangs. Gunn and Santa Clara tied for first at 12-5 and were the division's lone representatives in the recent Central Coast Section playoffs.

Homestead's future looks bright, though, as four of the five Mustangs selected by the division's coaches to the all-El Camino team are underclassmen. Freshman Evan Marshall, who alternated between pitcher and shortstop, and sophomore outfielder Eric Taubman were first-team selections. Mustang senior Craig Moberg, who started the season with a broken thumb sustained during soccer season, and junior pitcher Kyle Dukes were tabbed to the second team. Junior catcher Nacho Bermudez was named to the honorable mention list.

Fremont, which placed fifth in league play with a 9-9 record, placed two standouts on the first team--senior slugger Lance Turner and junior Kevin Brahney.

Santa Clara pitching ace, senior left-hander Carlos Hernandez, was named Most Valuable Player. Other first team selections included seniors Matt Delgado and Jason Dias of Monta Vista, senior Mike Thurman of Lynbrook, seniors Tim Mort and Dave Berner and junior Nick Chavez of Santa Clara, senior Colin Felch, junior Brent Garner and sophomore Tucker Lawrence of Gunn, and senior Peter Rutti of Saratoga.

Joining Moberg and Dukes on the second team were a pair of Fremont juniors--catcher Justin Cecil and center fielder Nathan Cathcart--and four Monta Vista players--seniors Shane Barclay, Nick Bertolucci and Matt Wright and junior Nick Burrow. Rounding out the second team were Lynbrook junior Adam Kahn and Santa Clara sophomores Jessie Driscoll and Bret Hall.

The honorable mention list included Homestead's Bermudez, senior pitcher Dan Bergeron and junior infielder Jimmy Murray of Fremont, juniors Aaron Teagle and Geoff Parrish of Lynbrook, Joe Alvarez and Tom Caravelho of Santa Clara, junior Scott Newberry and senior Adam Sato of Saratoga, senior Andrew Pan and junior Jason Plank of Monta Vista, and Gunn's Nate Urbassik and Sam Zipperstein.

Bushnell, Tsai qualify

The high school track and field season came to an end for most Santa Clara Valley athletes last Friday night at the Central Coast Section finals held at Los Gatos High School--but not for Kelly Bushnell of Fremont and Will Tsai of Homestead.

Bushnell and Tsai each finished second to qualify for the CIF State Track and Field Championships to be held June 3-4 at Sacramento City College's Hughes Stadium. The top three placers in each event at CCS qualified for state.

Bushnell, a senior, was second in the girls discus with a toss of 121-5 and Tsai, a junior, was second in the boys discus with a throw of 157-6. Tsai was also fifth in the shot put at 49-1, and Bushnell was eighth in the shot at 34-2.

In other action, senior Andrew Babany of The King's Academy finished eighth in the high jump at 6-0.

Mendoza wins honor

Although Ricardo Mendoza has played soccer since he was a small boy in Peru, "it wasn't easy getting on the team at Homestead," he recalled. "In the beginning, I was rejected and told to give up, but after all of my insistence, I was given a chance to stay."

Mendoza, a Homestead soccer and volleyball player, was one of four student-athletes honored recently with the Spirit of Sport Award by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). He received a plaque and a "Spirit of Sport" medal during a recognition dinner May 6 in Irvine.

The award honors student-athletes who demonstrate sportsmanship during competition, are active in school and community service, and exhibit leadership qualities. Award recipients "represent the humaneness that should exist throughout sports," said Marie Ishida, the executive director of the CIF. "The same spirit they show in athletics carries over into all aspects of their life."

Mendoza, whose family moved to the U.S. from his native Peru two years ago, is preparing to be the first member of his family to attend college. He has received awards in both speech and chemistry.

Assistant Principal Kara Butler was one who noticed Mendoza's drive and determination to succeed. "Ricardo is a young man who long ago could have fallen through the cracks," Butler said.

Instead, he is a crack filler. As a member of Homestead's Latino Club, he helps other Latino students with their studies and helps them speak to teachers when there are language barriers. Active in his church, he assists in handing out Bibles in shopping malls.

"Ricardo never makes excuses," Butler observed. "He sees what he needs to do and he does it."