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Well, the
long campaign is almost over.
No, not the
world's longest presidential election -we're talking about the Los Al High
School 40th anniversary celebration. Not everything came off as well as we hoped,
but most of the stuff did.
The first
LAHS Hall of Fame banquet on October 15 was a big success. [For one thing, our elections had good
results no matter what side you are on.] Sure, there were problems, but most were
good problems. We figured for a first
time event, we would be happy if 20-25 inductees attended. We had almost 40. Because of last minute interest from alums
and teachers we were scrambling to get extra tables.
And
because everyone seemed so glad to see friends, students and teachers they hadn't
seen in a long time., they kept talking and visiting, and we almost couldn't get
the banquet started.
Anyway,
it came across great. We are finalizing
a video of the event, but the opening video can be viewed here and photos can be viewed here.
The next
day was the first Reunion Golf Tournament with Hall of Fame inductee ('74) Greg
Harris' foursome winning the day. Mark
Fieldson (LAHS '78) had the longest drive. Thanks to Jason Lunde and the staff
at Old Ranch Country Club for the great help in getting this first one under our belt.
Two nights
later we topped things off with the biggest and best Taste for Los Al ever. Final attendance was
3,053 (up from 2300 in 2007). Final count for tickets sold was 3,463 (up from
almost 2,800 in 2007). We still don't have
all the auction accounting numbers in from the booster groups, but with over 90
silent auction tables (and using past average dollars raised per table) we
should be around $275,000 - $300,000 raised for the evening.
The
auction tent was 210 feet long (50 feet longer than in 2007) and somehow still
seemed crowded. For the most part things
went well in there, (but we do hope that the person who walked off with the bid
sheet for the Caribbean getaway can
surreptitiously get the sheet to us so we'll give it to the right club. That's almost $2,000 that could have gone to that
club.
We have had almost unanimous approval for having the event
at The Shops at Rossmoor. Yes, there is still
room for improvement, and yes, some restaurants ran out of food early on
(although at least six were still serving at 9:15 and four - Fish Company,
Steve's BBQ, Kobe, and the Long Beach Firemen's Grill were serving almost right
up to the end. Anyway, with a growth of
over 25% in attendance and dollars raised - especially during these economic
circumstances - we must be doing something right.
Nancy and
I get a lot of credit, but as always this event cannot be put on without the
help of Diana Hill, Krystal, Paul and Amanda Cheek, Lisa Riphagen, and many
many others, including our sponsors, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Sunrise Senior Living, Champions Quest, F&M Bank, the Bickerstaff Family, Pacific Premier Bank, Old Ranch Golf Club and of course, the Shops at Rossmoor.
Obviously,
it's election day and many of you have probably already voted, but go here for
our unsolicited input on the local stuff,- including strong support for the Los Al School
District's measure K, wimpy lukewarm support for Rossmoor cityhood, and
amusement but concern for the Los Alamitos City Council race.
On to the
good stuff.
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 Champions
Quest · 10712
Reagan Street
· Los
Alamitos, CA
90720 |
LOS AL FOOTBALL: Griffins fall to Fountain Valley 21-14 in OT;
The Los
Al football team lost a tough one to Fountain valley, alling 21-14 in overtime last Friday night. After jumping out to a 14-0 lead and dominating the first half, Los Al was the dominee in the second half.
The loss comes just one week after a 23-19 win over No. 1 ranked Edison at the Homecoming Game.
Call me crazy, but I think there is an upside to this for the Griffins. They are a good
team with some great players but they are not a great team. If they had gone into the CIF playoffs with a
10-0 record, they were prime for a first round loss. This loss could drive home the point that they can't take anything for granted and they have to focus for a full sixty minutes.
Granted,
the loss to FV puts them into must-win situations for their next two games against
good Esperanza and Newport
Harbor teams. A single loss in either of those games would give Los Al an 8-2 overall record but a 3-2 league mark which amazingly might only be good enough for fourth place in the Sunset League and not good enough to gain the Pac-5 division's sole wild card/at large spot. Bottom line for Los Al -- stay focused.
Katie Peterson named Homecoming Queen
 Griffin senior Katie Peterson (shown left with sister Rachael and mom Gail) was announced as the 40th Los Al HS Homecoming Queen at a halftime ceremony during the Los Al-Edison game on October 16. Peterson was escorted by her sister Rachael and dad, Brent.
Other Homecoming nominees were Shannon Brodie, Carly Campbell, Kendra Kautz, and Akaila Sparks. The Mr. Irresistible winner was football linebacker Ryan Derry. Other nominees were Matt Cravens, A.J. Crook, Emilio Garcia and Clayton Peters.
Los Al Homecoming Queens (a work in progress)
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LAHS SPORTS: Prystalovski wins Sunset golf championship; Girls volleyball, boys water polo clinch league championships
Los Al
golfer Natalie Prystaloski won the Sunset League individual golf title after
shooting a 10-over 118 last Tuesday at El Prado Golf Course. With the win, Prystaloski qualifies for the
CIF Southern Section Southern Individual Regional which takes place today
(Monday) at Yuicapa Valley Golf Club.
The Los
Al girls volleyball team improved its Sunset League record to 9-0 (20-5
overall) with a pair of wins last week.
On Wednesday they downed Esperanza and on Friday Los Al defeated Fountain Valley 3-0 on Senior Day with the Griffin seniors (Kelly
Chiffer, Brianna Dixion, Kelly Holford, Meghan Horio, Brenna Malloy and Stephanie
Weingart) leading the way in the win. Los Al finishes up its regular season at Marina on Tuesday, then wait for the CIF
playoff brackets to come out this Sunday. Los Al is currently ranked No. 3 in CIF Division I, behnd Mira Costa and Long Beach Wilson.
The Los
Al boys water polo team continues to roll along in Sunset league play. Last
Wednesday, the Griffins thumped Fountain
Valley 21-9 with Austin Trinkle and Forrest Watkins
each scoring five goals.
The
Griffins, the No. 2 ranked team in the CIF Coaches rankings, are now 4-0 in
league play and 21-4 overall. Guaranteed
at least a tie for the league title, they close out their league season against
Esperanza (3-1) this Wednesday night, then play on Friday at No. 1 ranked El
Toro in a game that will no doubt have an impact on the seedings for the CIF
playoff brackets which will be announced this Sunday.
Los Al Took
third place at the North-South challenge in the Bay Area Oct. 25-26, falling to
the state's top team, Miramonte, 10-9 in the semi-finals.
For details on these stories and more go to GoLosAl.com
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ALUMNI SOCCER: Hearst scores four in one game for Evansville; Bolt gets hat trick for Beach -- which readies for Big West tourney
It was a good past couple weeks for soccer playing members of the Los Al Class of 2005. Former Griffins Rocky Hearst scored four goals in one game in Evansville's win over Creighton. Hearst, who had only scored four goals in her entire
collegiate career, didn't even enter the game until 25 minutes into the
match. Her efforts earned her a spot on the Soccer Buzz Elite team of the week. Hayley Bolt had a hat trick for Long Beach in its Oct. 26 win over Cal State Northridge. Bolt and Beach followed that up the next wek with pair of wins over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly SLO to clinch their second straight Big West Conference title. Beach now hosts No. 4 seed Pacific in the semi-final round of the Big West championship playoffs on Thursday. If Beach wins it will host the winner of Thursday's UC santa Barbara-Cal Poly SLO match. That game will take place on Sunday. Other former Griffins are readying for conference tournaments this week. Jamie Alvis (LAHS '05) has been starting for Illinois this season, which enters the Big 10 tourney as the No. 5 seed. Tori Rocke -- highlighted on the Northern Arizona website -- leads the Lumberjacks to the Big Sky tournament. Annie Wethe, Danny Suits, Jordan Rover also lead their teams into playoff action. More local alumni details at GoLosAl.com alumni soccer page. Former Rossmoor resident and current Cal State San Marcos soccer player Katelyn Krauss (granddaughter of Russ Conkle, of the 76 station at Bradbury and Los Al/Seal Beach Blvd.) was the Cal State San Marcos Athlete of the Month for September. |
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ALUMNI FOOTBALL: Childs, Boise State move up in BCS polls; Linehan Big Sky Player of Week
Jeremy
Childs (LAHS '05) has scored four touchdowns and averaged 5.5 catches a game
for Boise State
which has cracked the Top 10 in the three major football polls and the BCS rankings this week after a 49-0 win over New Mexico State
last week.
Brooks
Rossman (LAHS '04) has converted seven of ten field goals for Kansas State
which is 4-4 overall but 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference Play.
Defensive
lineman Kevin Linehan (LAHS '05) turned in another strong performance for Weber State
which downed Northern Arizona 42-14 to move into
sole possession of first place in the Big Sky Conference.
Weber State is now 7-2, and 5-0 in conference) while Northern Arizona is 6-2, 4-1. Linehan has had a very
strong year, including being named the Conference Defensive Player of the Week
in early October.
Brian Barnes (LAHS '97) and son of Grifin coach John Barnes is
having quite a year as the Coach of No. 1 ranked Tesoro High School. Barnes younger got the big write-up treatment in a recent OC Register.
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Players and parents of the United Water Polo Club's 14
& under Boys squad will leave this Thurs for Ann Arbor,
MI, to compete in next weekend's National
Speedo Cup at the University
of Michigan.
Only 12 teams from throughout
the nation qualify for the event, one of the Nation's most prestigious water
polo tournaments for this age group.
"All 15 boys are just so
honored to be able to represent the Southern Pacific Zone and excited to play
in the U of M's pool which was the training pool for Olympic star, Michael
Phelps" said Head Coach Trevor Wawrzynski, who together with Coach Takeshi
Inoue will accompany the team to Michigan.
Pictured above: Front row (l-r) Brett Gonzales, Luke Czaus, Kenneth Keller, Connor Lees, Michael Stone, Justin Cowan, Hutter Lott, Douglas Brown;
Back row: Wedge Molten, Nicholas Burns, Chandler Jarrels Rice, Sam De la Vega, Connor Kunihiro, Christian Searing, Kent Inoue (absent). |
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LOS ALAMITOS REC DEPARTMENT
Online Scores & Results
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COMMUNITY: Election stuff -- for those who can't get enough of it.
Obviously,
there's lots of election news and yes, we're late with this. But we don't like getting that political anyway. It's a lose-lose -- especially for those of you who have to listen to me. Nonetheless, to read our take on the local stuff, go here - hint: there's strong support for the Los Al School District's measure K,
wimpy, lukewarm support for Rossmoor cityhood, and amusement but concern for
the Los Alamitos City Council race.
And here are some recent articles on our little corner of the world.
Rossmoor
Los
Alamitos
SEAL BEACH
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Shameless sales pitch for advertisers
 Call Local Sports (562) 431-7001 or click ad for rates |
Okay, it's time for the Big Kahuna and Boss Kahuna to go vote and cancel each other out. Whatever happens today, remember the sun will still come out tomorrow and somebody will complain about the job you're doing, whatever it is.
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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