By Pete Borello
Fall Sports Summary
St. Francis High finished first and sixth at the Northern California girls golf championships Nov. 5 at Salinas Golf & Country Club.
Confused?
Actually, St. Francis of Sacramento captured the team title with a score of 335, while St. Francis of Mountain View finished sixth with 378.
Although the local St. Francis team finished well behind the Sacramento school - which claimed its fifth consecutive NorCal title - it did place higher than the two other Central Coast Section teams participating in the 12-school competition.
“They did well,” Lancers coach Meredith Loosse said of her team. “Obviously, we could have done better, but I’m very proud of what the girls accomplished this season.”
St. Francis captured the CCS crown the week before, won the Peninsula Athletic League title and went undefeated in match play this year.
The team’s No. 1 player, junior Eloise Vicencio, finished tied for eighth individually at the NorCal event by shooting 82.
“Eloise struggled on a few holes, but she definitely played a solid round,” Loosse said.
Sophomore Tierney Powers posted the Lancers’ second-best score, tallying 89 to take 15th.
Loosse expects her team to be back in the hunt for the NorCal title in 2002, as four of her top six players will return.
“I think we’ll have a solid team next year, probably stronger than this year,” the first-year coach said. “We’ll have to go to another level to catch (St. Francis of Sacramento), but we’re definitely closing the gap.”
Field hockey
Fourth-seeded Los Altos was upset by unseeded Lynbrook last Saturday in a CCS quarterfinal match at Los Gatos High.
The Eagles (10-4-4) and Vikings (10-4-4) played to a scoreless tie in the first half.
Top-seeded St. Francis had better luck, clipping Cupertino 2-1 in its quarterfinal contest.
The Lancers (11-1-3) were slated to play Lynbrook in the semifinals Tuesday. The winner will face either Los Gatos or Mitty for the championship at 11 a.m., Saturday, at Los Gatos.
Boys water polo
No. 3 Los Altos pummeled No. 6 Valley Christian 18-9 Saturday in the quarterfinals of the CCS Division II playoffs at Sacred Heart Prep.
The Eagles (26-5) were scheduled to play No. 2 Soquel (25-8) in the semifinals Tuesday. The winner advances to Saturday’s 10 a.m. title game at Independence High to battle either Menlo or St. Francis.
No. 3 St. Francis reached the semis by routing No. 5 Robert Louis Stevenson 13-5 Saturday at Bellarmine.
The Lancers (21-10) were expected to have a much tougher time Tuesday against top-seeded Menlo (29-3).
Girls water polo
St. Francis on Saturday moved a step closer to defending its CCS title, beating Saratoga 7-4 in a quarterfinal match at Sacred Heart Prep.
The top-seeded Lancers (26-2) trailed the unseeded Falcons 2-1 after the initial quarter, then tied the game at 3 by halftime.
The second half was all St. Francis, which outscored Saratoga (10-7) 4-1.
Lindsey O’Farriell led the Lancers with four goals and Dana Saign added two.
St. Francis hosts No. 4 Palo Alto (22-8) today at 1:30 p.m. The winner faces either Mitty or Menlo in the title game at 11:45 a.m., Saturday, at Independence.
Cross country
The St. Francis girls came in second in its division at last Saturday’s CCS championships at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
By finishing among the top two in Division III, the Lancers have qualified for the Nov. 24 state meet in Fresno.
Freshman Tori Tyler led St. Francis at the CCS meet, placing seventh by running the 2.95-mile course in 19 minutes, 7 seconds. She was followed by Julia Gordon (10th, 19:17) and Katherine Brill (12th, 19:27).
For the boys, St. Francis’ Kevin Chaves qualified individually for the state meet by placing fifth in Div. III with a 16:08.
