By Pete Borello
Prep Sports Roundup
Girls water polo
St. Francis captured the Sacred Heart Prep Invitational last Saturday with a 6-1 victory over the host team. Rebecca Dreyfuss and Erin Inkster tallied two goals each for the Lancers.
Field hockey
Los Altos posted its first win over St. Francis, 1-0, last Friday at home.
The Eagles’ goal came in the initial half, courtesy of Sara Bird.
Both teams entered this week with identical records of 5-2-1 in the BVAL Mount Hamilton Division, 9-2-1 overall.
Girls tennis
Pinewood ran its overall record to 9-2 with a non-league win over Notre Dame-San Jose last Thursday.
The host Panthers prevailed 5-2, sweeping the singles and also winning at No. 1 doubles. Top player Lejla Hodzic cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory, while No. 2 Mele Pelea won 6-0, 6-1.
Cross country
The Los Altos High boys water polo team is on a mission to win back-to-back league titles for the first time in 40 years.
So far, so good.
The defending SCVAL De Anza Division champion Eagles are off to a 3-0 start in league, with Palo Alto next on the schedule (7 p.m. today at Los Altos).
The Eagles, ranked fourth in the Central Coast Section, last week clobbered Cupertino 20-5. Brian Whitlock led the way with seven goals. Chris Kelsch tallied six goals in the Oct. 16 road game, while Kyle Healy had three.
Los Altos then traveled south over the weekend to play in the San Diego Tournament, returning with a respectable 3-2 mark.
The Eagles have nine seniors on the roster, including all-leaguers Kelsch, Whitlock and goalie Jonathan Young.
Whitlock “anchors the team with better and better play at the two-meter position,” Los Altos coach Deke Rowell said.
While the Eagles (16-6 overall) certainly can score, they also have a knack for keeping opponents from finding the back of the net. Rowell said Los Altos is “getting great defensive play” from Doug Hansen and Kelsch.
The coach also said he’s pleased by the improvement he’s seen from Healy and Peter Zensius on both sides of the ball.
A tendon injury has sidelined starter Kent Healy (Kyle’s brother), but Los Altos is making up for his absence with strong play from what Rowell called his “growing players.” This includes freshman Tyler Smith, sophomores Ryan Stanley and Michael Orton, plus senior Howard Shin.
In other boys water polo action, St. Francis defeated Leland 13-7 to win the Live Oak Tournament last Saturday. Brian Winkler and Danny Soares paced the Lancers (18-3) with three goals each. Freshman goalie Scott Hvidt recorded 12 saves.
Led by senior Taff Dirks, the Los Altos boys won the Center Meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont last Thursday. Dirks ran the 2.95-mile race in a time of 16 minutes, 25 seconds. Four other Eagles finished among the top 10: Jeremy Taylor (third, 17:05), Andrew Buysse (fourth, 17:25), Enrique Mendoza (seventh, 17:39) and Matt Weiden (eighth, 17:42).
The Los Altos girls finished fifth. The Eagles were paced by Vivian Chiu (ninth, 21:06) and Marissa Koike (23rd, 22:32).
St. Francis High’s Kevin Chaves claimed the boys championship at last Saturday’s Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park in Salinas. Chaves’ Lancers finished second in the team competition.
Mountain View also took part in the event, with Emilie Doolittle (23rd, 21:28) and Mike Somoff (fourth, 17:36) setting school records for the girls and boys, respectively.
