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DECISIONS, DECISIONS... Today is a day of some momentous choices for those of us in Rossmoor. Do I attend the Rossmoor Incorporation workshop with the LAFCO commissioners which takes place at 6pm (6pm?), or do I attend my son's high school volleyball game, or the Los Al HS boys soccer banquet? As much as I'm sure they might be talking some good smack at the Rossmoor LAFCO hearing, I think I'll have to go with my son's volleyball game tonight. I'd also like to attend the soccer banquet as well, but while my head is often all over the place, I haven't yet mastered the art of my body being in two places at once. I'm assuming the Rossmoor meeting will drone on for umpteen hours, so I might have a chance to catch that on the back end. In any case, check out our community page and we'll try to have all the latest info (or links to the info) up there for all to see. Trust me, what affects Rossmoor, can have a fairly big affect on sports in the community.
LOS AL HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME: I was talking with Los Al football coach John Barnes and Barry Sher (asst. FB coach, and LAHS '74) about potential members of the Los Al High School Hall of Fame - and by the end
of it we were all scratching our heads.
There are so many qualified former Griffins, where do you set the bar for
the first inductees?
The only thing we all agreed on was that whoever's on the list,
someone will be upset because their favorite candidate
will be left off.
The criteria for inclusion in the Los Al HS Hall of Fame is
simple.
- Out of high school at least five years.
- Attended Los Al at least two years
- Good character.
- Outstanding achievement at one or more of the above levels:
- High school, college, post college.
Just making the pros in sports is certainly an
achievement, but do you put an athlete who made the pros but was never really
outstanding at any level ahead of someone who had a super outstanding career in
high school and/or college, but never played pros?
And these are just questions on the sports side of the equation. How do you compare the apples of post-high school professional/business achievements versus the oranges of getting a role in a TV show or a Broadway play.
The main thing about this is it gets people talking about
their school and the amazing number of Los
Al alums who have made their mark in the world.
Anyway, after listening to the nominations so far, and based
on what I know, I have put together my first list of names, including the 20 Los Al alums I
think would be consensus Los Al High School Hall of Famers. Mind you, this is not yet an official list, just my two cents worth. So for whatever those two cents are worth nowadays, here goes (in chronological order):
1.
Craig
Nickoloff ('70) - played football at LAHS,
but best known as founder in 1977 of the Claim
Jumper Restaurants, one of the most successful
restaurant chains on the west coast and country.
2. Cathy Rigby ('71)
- Olympic bronze medal gymnast, Tony-nominated actress.
3. Rick Quinn ('72) -
still probably best basketball player in school history
4. Greg Harris ('73) -
baseball -- 15 year career in major leagues. Only person in baseball history to pitch both left-handed and right-handed in same game.
For the rest of the list, visit our new Local Forums page. And if you disagree with my list, feel
free to put down your suggestions... as a message in the forum or if you're shy, via an email to us.
COVERAGE...
YOU DON'T NEED NO STINKING COVERAGE: For
those who already think our little corner of the
world gets little coverage from the major area
newspapers, it will probably get even less, as
the Press-Telegram underwent some more cutbacks
in newsroom personnel. (Read
about it here.) The print journalism business
is changing big time, and our guess is it's not
going to get better anytime soon.
IN THE SAD NEWS DEPARTMENT: Sonny Delos Santos, a familiar face at many local youth sporting events over the past 10-15 years, passed away unexpectedly last Friday night, leaving his wife Marie and their five children, Pedro, Santos, Michael, Nina and Samuel. The children had been involved in water polo, NJB, martial arts and scouts over the years. The funeral will be held Friday at 11am at St. Hedwig Church in Los Al, and the vigil is Thursday night at Luyben's Mortuary at 7pm. Viewings will be held tonight and tomorrow at Luybens (562) 425-6401. A memorial fund has been establish to help the family. Donations can be made to the Sonny Delos Santos Memorial Fund, c/o Washington Mutual, P.O. Box 30810, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0810.
LOS AL SPRING SPORTS: As you will note below the first days of spring sports have been good for the boys baseball and volleyball teams. Girls softball got off to a tough start at the Tournament of Champions in Bullhead City, Arizona, but had some real positives (especially in the hitting of twins Channelle and Brittany Spaulding) and looks to improve even more in a double header versus Sonora tomorrow. For the latest on those teams and all Los Al High teams, check out our GoLosAl.com site.
Okay, on to the good stuff.
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Quest · 10712
Reagan Street
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Alamitos, CA
90720 |
LAHS BASEBALL: Griffins win Loara Tourney, stay atop county rankings
 Los Al baseball team, which opened the season ranked No. 1 in Orange County, showed why as it won all five games to take the championship of the Loara Baseball Tournament, downing No. 2 ranked Vista Murrietta 7-0 in Saturday's title game.
Matt
Avery (shown left) who had eight hits throughout
the week, was named the Tournament's Co-Most
Valuable Player, and Travis Garrett (right) who also had eight hits during the week and the winning pitcher in the championship game, was the game MVP.
Los Al, which split a pair of games with LB Poly on Monday, stayed atop the OC register's coaches' poll, and even got coach Mark Clabough excited
by his team's performance.
Los Al is now 6-1 on the season.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Los Al reaches Best of West semi-finals, seeded No. 1 at OC Championships
The Griffin Boys volleyball, unranked in the preseason polls, got some attention with their 11-2 record and for reaching the semi-finals at the Best of the West Tournament in San Diego last weekend. , moved up to No. 5 in the Register rankings, right behind Santa Margarita, which Los Al has already beaten twice this season. Los Al senior Kyle McElderry was also named the Register's player of the week.
Los Al was given the No. 1 seed at this weekend's 16 team OC Championships . The tournament, hosted by Edison, again features a top field of competition. Los Al opens play with pool play games at Fountain Valley on Friday.
GIRLS WATER POLO: Los Al girl poloists match boys, win CIF Masters Tournament
 Los Al likes this masters tournament thing.
Matching what the Boys did in the fall season, the Griffins girls water polo squad, which came up short in the CIF-Southern Section Division I tournament, took advantage of a second chance offered by the CIF Masters Tournament, and came away with a championship trophy.
The Griffins downed Foothill 5-3 in the championship match, with sophomore Kaley Dodson leading the way with three goals. Goalie Allie Taylor had six saves for Los Al.
Earlier in the day, Los Al qualified for the championship match by edging Corona Del Mar 5-4. Jessica Dunn had two goals for Los Al, while Taylor again had six saves.
Los Al players Kaley Dodson, Kaylee Miller and Jessica Dunn were named to the All-Masters Tournament team, with Kaley Dodson receiving the MVP nod.
Click here to see a version of the above championship picture (and if someone has IDs of the players, could you please send those to us.)
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LAHS WINTER SPORTS WRAP-UP: Moore , Suits earn Player of Year honors; Feighner earns all-CIF, all-star MVP honors;
 As one would expect from championship teams, the post-season awards lists have been kind to Los Al athletes. BOYS BASKETBALL- Griffin Corbin Moore was the Sunset League's Co-Player of the Year, and was joined on the first team by senior guard Dillon Ratleff and soph guard Paul Richardson. Clark Evans earned second team honors. GIRLS BASKETBALL- Jenna Okimoto was named to the all-Sunset League first team.
GIRLS SOCCER-Katie Suits was the league's Player of the Year and was joined on the first team by five teammates, junior Katie Peterson, senior keeper Jordan Santos, freshman Shannelle Simien, Annie Wethe, Greer Wilk. Ari Carillo, Melanie Greene and Jessa Yukihiro made the second team.
Five Griffins were named to the the LA84 Foundation All-CIF teams: Suits (first team), Wethe and Santos (second team) and Simien and Wilk (third team).
BOYS SOCCER-Senior Tim Seo was the Sunset League Offensive Player of the Year and junior defender Bryan Hudson was the
Defensive Player of the Year, leading a contingent of seven Griffins
who earned first team all-league honors. Other Griffins making the first team were seniors
Wes Feighner, Kevin Venegas, and Victor Bravo and juniors Kyle Oyama
and Josh Coppinger. Earning second team honors were senior Bill Hoffman,
Nick DiMatteo, and freshman Tim Harty.
Feighner and Seo were named to the first team LA84 Foundation/All-CIF team, joined by Venegas and Hudson on the second team.
Both Wes
Feighner and Katie
Suits, had good showings at the the Southern
California Showcase high school all-star game played at Bell
Gardens High School on Sunday.
Feighner scored a goal and assist and was selected
as the Boys MVP after his South team defeated the North team in
pk's after a 2-2 score after regulation.
Suits also scored a goal and assist to help her
South squad romp over the North all-stars 6-1 in their contest.
Suits was joined on the team by fellow Griffin Annie
Wethe, who had an assist in the match. If someone knows the all-league water polo lists, please forward them and we will post them as well.
Complete All-Sunset League teams
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LAHS WRESTLING: Cullen Fitzgibbon is honored with state's 1st Most Inspirational Award
 Los Al senior, Cullen Fitzgibbon, a high school wrestler who never won a match, drew thunderous applause
from an arena full of his peers and parents when he was named "Inspirational Wrestler of the Year" at the CIF state
high school wrestling finals in Bakersfield.
While Fitzgibbons never won a match, he also never missed a practice, never missed a tournament, and never missed a chance to high-five his
teammates. And in the process he won his over his teammates, fans and the California wrestling community.
Here's another great story in the OC register about the moment.
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ALUMNI BASKETBALL: Fields and Stanford fall to UCLA; Mallari helps Chabot into JC playoffs
Landry Fields got 11 minutes of playing time off the bench but his Stanford teammates fell in overtime to UCLA last Thursday in a key Pac-10 showdown. Fields, finished the game shooting 1-for-5 and three points and also got some "love" and then some in this photo showing the Bruins Kevin Love knocking the ball and a patch of arm away from Fields in last Thursday's game. Charles Hinkle is red-shirting at Venderbilt this season, as is Clint Amberry at San Jose State. Alex Mallari scored 21 points to help Chabot College in the Bay Area defeat Las Positas and qualify for the State JC Playoffs.
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 10554
Humbolt St (off Cerritos bet. Los Al Blvd &
Bloomfield) · (562)
598-CAGE (2243) |
ALUMNI SOFTBALL:
Florida reaches 27-1, ranked No. 5 in nation; Nelson is 16-1 on mound
Stacey Nelson (LAHS '05, Rossmoor) and the University of Florida softball team are continuing to rise in the national polls and awareness on their nomally basketball and football crazy campus.
 Nelson and her teammates got got fired up when the softball team was
introduced to an O'Connell Center crowd of more than 12,000 during a timeout at last week's Florida-Tennessee men's basketball game
against Tennessee.
"They said, 'Here's the
softball team,' and people were excited about us," said Nelson,
Florida's All-American junior pitcher. "That gets us excited as well."
The Gators are 27-1 and ranked fifth in the nation, but face a stiff test in a Wednesday doubleheader against Alabama. Florida started conference play last weekend by sweeping Ole Miss
at home last weekend. Alabama (20-2, 2-1 SEC) started conference play
by taking two of three from nationally ranked Tennessee.
Nelson is 16-1 on the year with a 1.03 earned
run average.
Jordan Wheeler (LAHS '07, Garden Grove), a freshman at Northwestern, started a sixth-inning threat with a solid single to center last Sunday, but her No. 8 Northwestern Wildcats fell to No. 6 UCLA, 2-0 in the final day of the Long Beach State Invitational held at Mayfair Park in Lakewood. Northwestern lost to No. 24 Virginia Tech 1-0, and to Long Beach State 8-0 on Saturday.
Wheeler's ex-Griffin teammate Meghan Mawn
(LAHS '07, Long Beach) had a productive day at the plate for Miami University last Saturday, reaching base five times,
including a single, double, and three walks, in the first day of the 49er Invitational, hosted by UNC Charlotte. Unfortunately, the Redhawks lost to host Charlotte, 10-8.
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YOUTH BASKETBALL: 'Heels, Lakers, Wolverines win NJB championships
 The
2007-08 Los Alamitos-Seal Beach-Rossmoor National Junior Basketball
season came to a big finish Sunday, March 5, with semi-final
and championships matches being held at Los Al
High.
In the Division 1 (Grades 7-8) championships,
the North Carolina Tarheels capped an undefeated season by beating
the Clemson Tigers 44-29. The win gave the 'Heels a 12-0 on the
season. The Tarheels members are Marshaun Daniel, Kian Farjami,
Alonzo Hall, Ryan Judge, Darren Krishna, Jack Morrow, Jason Perdue,
Spenser Sayre.
 The
Lakers won the Division 2 title, beating the Celtics in a 32-31 thriller.
Members of the Lakers are Austin Marriott, Joe Wysocki, Matthew
Zembal, Nick Wendell, Paul Zambrano, Caid Fernandez, Ryan Jenkins,
and Ben Marriott. The team is coached by Greg Zembel and Jim Zambrano.
The
Wolverines had to hold off a late comeback by the Spartans to claim
the Division III championship by a 31-29 score. The win capped a
perfect 13-0 season for the Wolverines, who team consists of Brady
Crotwell, Jonathon Sarquiz, Will Laws, Domnick Goldschmidt, Mason
Broersma, Grant Prussel, and Monty Petersen. The Wolverines were coached by Mark Broersma and Jon Prussel. The Rookie League winners were unavaialable at press time.
More Youth sports
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ALUMNI VOLLEYBALL: Grgas dives into the middle
for Hawaii; Carroll scores career high 18 kills in UC Irvine loss The Honolulu Star-Bulletin ran a long feature
article on former Griffin Steven Grgas (LAHS '05) -- an outside
hitter forced by circumstances to play middle blocker for the University
of Hawaii and who is currently ranked third in the conference in
blocks. complete
article
Kevin Carroll (LAHS '07) had a career best 18
kills for UC Irvine but it was enough as the Anteaters fell
to Ohio State in five games last weekend. More Griffin alumni news
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YOUTH TENNIS: Rossmoor 6th grader wins Under 12 USTA National Open event at Upland
Rossmoor sixth
grader Tanner Smith was part of a team which won a USTA National Tennis Open doubles championship at Upland Tennis Club on February 165-20.
Smith, a sixth grader at Oak School, teamed with Collin Altamirano of Santa Barbara and won five
matches to capture the Boys 12s doubles title.
Smith, the son of USC tennis coach Peter Smith, also won four matches on the singles side, before being
falling.
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YOUTH LACROSSE: Beach middle schoolers take 3rd in OC association
 The
Beach Cities Youth Lacrosse middle school girls team captured 3rd
place out of 17 teams in the Orange County Lacrosse Association
league. On March 1, Beach rallied to vanquish St. Mary's Middle School "A"
team with Julie Crowell and Shira Hirsch scoring in the final minute to lead Beach to a one-goal win.
In the 3rd place game, Beach got strong play in
goal from Molly Wheeler and great defensive work from Emily Goldenberg
and Sophia Aragon. Aragon, Crowell and Hirsch were named to the
OCLA all-league team.
Even though
the program is only in its second season, coach Vicki Gradman has built one of the top teams in Orange County. and had to beat several
veteran programs to get to its playoff game. The victory was even
more impressive because the Beach team is made up equally of 6th,
7th and 8th graders while St. Mary's "A" and several other
teams were mostly 8th graders.
Beach Cities Youth Lacrosse also has a 3-5th
grade girls team and a boys 7-8th grade team that are looking for
players. No prior experience is needed. Interested players should
contact Randy A. Platt, (raplatt@socal.rr.com),
for the girls youth team and Glenn Styron (lblaxdaddy@yahoo.com),
for the boys team. Registration for the middle school girls team
will open in August. Interested players should contact
jerry.hirsch@gmail.com |
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ALUMNI: Cason invited to Cowboys camp; Grimaldi honored with post-grad scholarship
Antoine Cason, the former
Griffin football and track star, and last year's winner of college
football's Jim Thorpe award for best defensive back, has been invited by the Dallas Cowboys to meet with them in mid-April prior to the NFL draft. Cason is also being courted by the Arizona Cardinals
 Former Griffin girls soccer player Niccole Grimaldi (LAHS '04), who just completed her collegiate career at Oklahoma State, was awarded one of 29 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships for female student-athletes who compete in fall sports. The one-time grants of $7,500 are given student-athletes who excel academically
and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate
athletics competition. This is the second post-season academic scholarship forn the former all-OC player, as she had previously received a $2500 scholarship from the Big 12 Conference and Mrs. Bairds Breads. Grimaldi, a Rossmoor native, is a marketing major with a minor in
nutritional sciences, and carries a 3.94 overall grade point average.
Two other former Griffin athletes, (both LAHS '06) earned ACC Academic Honor Roll merit for last year -- Rachael Moss (Duke volleyball) and Megan Strawther (Virginia Tech soccer).
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Shameless sales pitch for advertisers
 Call Local Sports (562) 431-7001 or click ad for rates |
LOCAL PEOPLE: Rossmoor PE teacher earns state HS Teacher of Year honor
State's
top PE teacher always smiling and wearing lipstick - OCRegister (Mar 7, 2008)
Former 'fat girl' Ruth Mohr-Silofau of Rossmoor teaches at Wilson High
in Long Beach
where she seeks to make fitness fun.
No Bar to involvement -
LB Press-Telegram (Mar. 3, 2008) - Ethan
Miller-Bazemore, who used to work out of his mother's Seal Beach office, has
become the youngest ever President of the Long Beach Bar Association.
Former El Segundo exec
settles SEC case -- TorrAnce Daily Breeze - March 6, 2008 Torrance,CA,USA
Without admitting he had done any wrong, a Los Alamitos man agreed to
pay $275, 000 to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that he
looted software company assets.
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ROSSMOOR: LAFCO to hold Rossmoor incorporation workshop tonight
The Orange CountyLocal Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will hold a workshop regarding potential cityhood issues at 6 p.m.
tonight (Wednesday) at Rush Park Auditorium (3021 Blume
Drive). Commissioners will be on hand to
answer questions and listen to concerns from Rossmoor residents -- a significant number of whom will unfortunately, either still be traveling home on the freeways, or attending the many youth sporting events happening tonight -- so hopefully, officials in attendance (be the from LAFCO or the Rossmoor Cityhood organization) will take that into account when trying to get a sense of the community.
LAFCO, a state-mandated agency, had earlier determined that Rossmoor
could become a city and survive long-term fiscally if residents are
willing to pay a 7 percent utility tax -- or roughly $192 per year for gas, water and electricity.
To see the commission's report on Rossmoor's fiscal analysis, go to www.oclafco.org, scroll to "Meeting," then click on "2008 Agendas," and click on "March." LAFCO has scheduled an Incorporation Workshop in Rossmoor on Wednesday,
March 12, 2008, starting at 6:00 PM at Rush Park .
To read more about Rossmoor's incorporation, go HERE.
·Rossmoor Woman's Club anniversary:The
Rossmoor Woman's Club will be celebrate it 50 year Anniversary with a luncheon
for members on Thursday at the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach.
The
club, which expanded to 130 members
representing local cities and communities, is part of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, a nonprofit.
Money from fundraisers supports local groups including We Care, Youth
Center, Rossmoor Library, and Laurel High School.
The lunch will feature prizes, gifts and champagne. More information: 562-431-8134 or dclark1@socal.rr.com.
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LOS ALAMITOS
Linking
city centers to Metrolink
OCRegister - Mar. 11, 2008 - Orange County
Transportation Authority board members awarded on Monday $100000 grants to six
cities - among them Los Alamitos and Seal Beach.
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SEAL BEACH
 Seal Beach councilman submits letter of resignation
OCRegister - Mar. 3, 2008 - Seal Beach City Councilman Ray Ybaben,
who served as a mediator in the three-story ban debate and represented College
Park East, submitted his resignation, citing work and travel demands.
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EDUCATION: LAUSD explores feasibility of bond vote in November election
 Los
Alamitos Unified explores bond to upgrade its oldest schools
OCRegister - Mar. 6, 2008 - Los Alamitos Unified School District
officials say it's time to fix and upgrade their oldest schools - some more than
50 years old - and hope voters agree
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OBITUARIES
Santos (Sonny) Delos Santos, of Los Alamitos, a familiar
face at many local youth sporting events over the past 10-15 years,
passed away unexpectedly last Friday night, from congestive heart failure, leaving his wife Marie and
their five children, Pedro, Santos Jr., Michael, Nina and Samuel. Sonny, who was a technical director and western sales manager for Rockwood Pigments, had gone dancing with his wife on Friday night. After a short time, he fell to the floor and was taken to Hoag Hospital where he later passed away. The
Delos Santos children had been involved in water polo, NJB, martial arts and
scouts over the years. The funeral will be held Friday at 11am at St.
Hedwig Church in Los Al, and the vigil is Thursday night at Luyben's
Mortuary at 7pm. Viewings will be held tonight and tomorrow at Luybens
(562) 425-6401. A memorial fund has been establish to help the
family. Donations can be made to the Sonny Delos Santos Memorial Fund,
c/o Washington Mutual, P.O. Box 30810, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0810.
 Tom
Hennessy: Whitey did it his way
LB Press-Telegram - March 7, 2008 - Bryan "Whitey" Littlefield,
mover, shaker, arts patron and businessman friend of Frank Sinatra's, an
abrasive figure, to some, but a warm-hearted, soft touch of a guy to many
others, died early Friday at his beachfront home in Seal Beach. He was 75.
Tom Hennessey of the PT looks back at the well-known Long Beach figure.
John
Buttera, 68; builder of hot rods
LA Times - March 11, 2008 CA,USA - John Butteram
who built numerous high-level racing cars cars in his Los Alamitos garage, died
March 2 of complications from brain cancer at Los Alamitos Medical
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See you on the fields (or the courts, the pitch, etc.)
Sincerely,
Larry & Nancy Strawther
Big Kahuna & Boss Kahuna, Local Sports
Phone: (562) 431-7001
Fax: (562) 431-7001
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