By Pete Borello
 Photo by Bob Keys, Special to the Town Crier |
Prep Sports Roundup
he Mountain View High girls tennis team last year suffered through one of the worst seasons in school history, finishing at the bottom of the SCVAL El Camino Division with a 1-11 record.
New coach Frank Smyth doesn’t expect recent history to repeat itself this season.
“I think we’ll be much improved from last year,” said Smyth, who coaches the boys team in the spring. “We’ll at least be .500 or even better.”
It took the Spartans just one match to equal last year’s win total, as they beat host Milpitas 4-3 in their Sept. 11 opener. Two days later, Mountain View fell 7-0 at Homestead, which Smyth considers one of the division’s top teams.
Mountain View has a “good developing group” of players, the coach said, and features only one senior in its lineup.
Junior Anhthu Vu plays No. 1 singles for the Spartans, a spot she also occupied last year.
“She really has good strokes,” Smyth said. “She hits the ball with authority and generally dictates the pace of play.”
The coach calls No. 2 player Katie Dowling “a good player” and predicts No. 3 player Laura Moniz, a sophomore, “should have a good season.”
Smyth has Marajke Gebauer penciled in at the No. 4 spot, but the German exchange student is still awaiting clearance from the Central Coast Section.
While Smyth described his singles lineup as “solid,” he has some concerns about the doubles’ side.
“The doubles need to still work in tandem as a team,” he said. “Doubles is important - it can make or break you in a match.”
Mountain View’s top doubles team is its most experienced duo, featuring senior Ali Fernbach and junior Susana Bardina.
“They’re a good team, but they need to work a little harder,” Smyth said. “I expect them to do well, at least .500.”
Mountain View hosted district rival Los Altos Tuesday and travel to Cupertino Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. match.
Field hockey
Led by Stephanie Costa’s two goals and an assist in the first half, Los Altos thumped host University 5-0 Sept. 12 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
The Eagles, who held a 3-0 advantage at halftime, also received goals from Erin Reddy, Jeanette Hayman and Jennifer Herrera.
Two days later, Los Altos routed visiting Saratoga 4-1. Reddy scored twice for the Eagles, while Costa and Katherine Wantzelius scored one goal apiece.
Los Altos (2-1) hosts St. Ignatius at 3 p.m., Friday.
Cross country
The Los Altos cross country team opened its season by participating in the Firebird Invitational last Thursday at Fremont High, where both the boys and girls finished among the top five.
The Los Altos boys placed third out of 13 schools and the girls took fourth out of 14 schools in the 2.05-mile race.
The boys were led by Ramsey Ackad (seventh place, 10 minutes, 42 seconds), Taff Dirks (ninth, 10:48), Andrew Buysse (18th, 11:11), Fletcher Adam (29th, 11:33) and Miles Prowse (30th, 11:36).
The girls’ top finishers were Vivian Chiu (18th, 13:51), Lindsey Fish (20th, 13:57), Laura Perry (22nd, 14:07), Amy Tong (32nd, 14:27) and Amanda Kellar (33rd, 14:28).
Mountain View also took part in the event, with the boys placing seventh and the girls ninth.
Jeff Audett (27th 11:31) led the Spartan boys and Emilie Doolittle (29th, 14:24) led the girls.
On Saturday Mountain View competed in the Lowell Invitational in San Francisco, where many of its runners posted personal bests on the course, according to coach Samantha Read. Runners competed in races corresponding to their school grade.
Chris Blood took fifth in the 2-mile sophomore boys race (11:43) and Matt Ronconi was 11th in the 2.8 mile junior boys race (17:07).
On the girls’ side, Doolittle finished sixth in the 2.8-mile junior race (21:11).
Next up for Mountain View and Los Altos is the SCVAL Central Park Invitational, scheduled for Tuesday at Central Park in Santa Clara.
Girls water polo
Los Altos finished eighth in its Los Altos Tournament, played Friday and Saturday at Los Altos and Mountain View highs. Sixteen teams competed in the event.
Los Altos fell 9-6 to Leland in the game for seventh place. Soquel won the tournament with a 9-2 win over St. Ignatius.
Los Altos senior Tricia Clark, a field player, made the all-tournament team.
Boys soccer
Pinewood lost both of its games last week, dropping the team’s record to 0-2 in the Private Schools Athletic League and 2-3 overall.
The Panthers fell 3-2 in overtime to host Sacred Heart Prep on Thursday, then lost 4-3 to visiting Liberty Baptist on Friday.
