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CIF playoff action is underway big time with three Los Alamitos High Griffin games on tap today. Starting things off is a boys soccer match up at Laurel High -- pitting the Griffins against Newbury Park in a rematch of last year's Division I semi-final. Then at 6pm the No. 4 seed LAHS girls water polo team takes on Foothill in a match the OC Register calls the game of the day. At 7:30 the No. 4 seed Los Al Boys basketball team travels to Lynwood for their second round match-up.
Wrestling resumes with individual action at Los Osos High tomorrow. Nine Griffin matmen have qualified for this round.
Hopefully, its an omen for Griffin fortunes as the Los Al Girls soccer
team won its coin flip with Temecula Valley this morning and thus won't have to travel to the Inland Empire during rush hour for Tuesday's second round game. The No. 2 seed Griffins narrowly averted disaster by defeating Huntington Beach in a shootout Thursday afternoon.
No community news this week -- we'll get to it next time as lots has been happening. Some of it actually means stuff.
Griffins on Facebook. Almost 700 former Los Al Griffins became "friends" of our new Los Al Griffin facebook account in just the first week. It's a work in progress, but a great way to catch up with former Griffin friends -- be they students, faculty, or parents. More details below.
FREE PLUGS DEPARTMENT:
RACE AT THE BASE: The 28th annual Los Alamitos 5K-10 takes place weekend at the Joint Forces Base -- hence why it's been called the Race at the Base the past 5-6 years. (It used to start in Los Al and finish at Rossmoor Park). New this year is a Reverse Triathlon. Interested runners can still sign up. More Details.
POLAR BEAR PLUNGE: For those into freezin' for a reason, the Seal Beach Police Department will again host the Polar Bear Plunge at the Seal Beach Pier next Saturday, February 28. Proceeds benefit Special Olympics. Overall details at www.socalplunge.com.
The Los Al HS Drumline Corps hosts a cowchip bingo fundraiser on Feb. 28, 2009. Their blog (www.lahscowchipbingo.blogspot.com) has the details...
SEAL BEACH 5K-10K: The 35th annual Seal Beach 5K-10K Run/Walk takes place April 9th. Over 4,000 runners participated last year and the proceeds have benefited many local causes, including Los Al HS Track and Field, and the new scoreboard in the Griffin gymnasium.
The Los Alamitos Jazz Band Class Notes fundraising concert wil be held March 7. Two shows at 6 pm and 8pm. Ticket info can be seen here. The event, usually a sell-out, features Wayne Bergeron's big band. Bergeron, a highly sought studio trumpet player, earned a 2004 Grammy nomination for his solo work on "You
Call This A Living?" .The Local Relay for Life is hosting a kickoff rally at Old Ranch on Thursday, February 26. Proceeds for the event benefit the American Cancer Society. More details at their website.
HISTORY BUFF ALERT! We're involved with putting together a History of Los Alamitos and Rossmoor. If you have any old photos showing Los Al or Rossmoor history (real, cultural or sports), please contact us.
HOLD THE DATE: Two golf tournaments are on the fundraising calendar. The Los Al Boys football boosters annual tournament and silent auction at Old Ranch in late March this year. Details should be available on their web site fairly soon.
Also, the Los Al Chamber of Commerce is holding their 27th Annual Silver Cup Challenge Golf Tournament on April 20th -- also at Old Ranch. The Chamber is letting the Los Al track boosters host the silent auction and all monies from that will go to the team's all-weather track fund. (If the above link doesn't work, go to www.losalchamber.org and click the golf tournament banner on the right. On to the good stuff...
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LAHS BOYS BASKETBALL: Griffins struggle past Millikan in CIF first round; Lynwood tonight.
They made it far closer than coach Russ May would prefer, but thanks to their seniors the Los Al Griffins survived the always treacherous (for a favorite) CIF first round match-up by downing Millikan 71-60.
Los Al, the divisions's No. 4 seed with a 27-1 record overall, will play at Lynwood tonight in their second round match.
Against Millikan, the Griffins didn't play terribly but it certainly wasn't their best. A couple dropped passes, and some poor passes prevented them from putting some distance between them and the Rams early in the game. Then the Rams impressive outside shooting, led by by guard Kierre Beverly who hit five three-pointers (out of six attempts), allowed Millikan to take a a 32-30 halftime lead. Jacob Cheek kept Los Alamitos in the game, scoring 10 first half points, including a turn-around buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter.
The Millikan hot shooting eventually cooled off and the quick inspired play of senior guard Tony Ramirez and the inside game of Clark Evans and Nathan Berger eventually wore down the Rams. Berger made six of six free throws down the stretch. Another senior, Ahntwan Harris, added 13 points for Los Al.
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LAHS GIRLS SOCCER: Girls survive shootout win over Huntington Beach in CIF 1st round
 Senior goalkeeper Amanda McDonough (shown left) knocked down Huntington Beach's fifth shootout kick to give the Griffins a nerve-racking win over the Oilers in the first round of CIF Division I Playoff action on Thursday at Laurel.
Los Al won a coin toss on Friday morning and will now host Temecula Valley on Tuesday afternoon at Laurel School. Complete updated brackets are available here.
Huntington Beach, which downed Tesoro on Tuesday, played to not lose on
Thursday, dropping back many defenders to negate the Griffins attack.
After the two teams played two regulation halves and two
overtimes of scoreless play, the game went to a shootout, in which Los Al was 0-3 this year.
For the Griffins the best news (besides the win) was probably the return of sophomore Shannelle Simien. Simien, an all-county player as a freshman last year, has missed the entire season while rehabilitating from an ACL replacement surgery. In her very first outing, she played over 40 minutes, and while her touch was understandably not up to par, her presence resulted in some of Los Al's best scoring opportunities.
Simien took Los Al's first kick in the shootout, and converted for her first goal of the season -- and for her exuberant celebration she was rewarded with a yellow card. Huntington Beach responded with a goal of their own. Lauren Ingram, Jessa Yukihiro, Natalie Ohishi all followed with well-placed shots to the corners, but the Oilers answered in kind. Then after Kelsey Salcido made Los Al's fifth straight goal, McDonough dove to her right and knocked down a well-placed shot to save the Griffins season for at least one more game.
Los Al scored a goal a few minutes into the first overtime when Katie Peterson headed in a Lauren Ingram corner kick, but it was rightly ruled that Ingram's kick had crossed the end line and was out of play before curving back into play, right in front of the goal
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LAHS GIRLS WATER POLO: Griffins down San Marcos, face Foothill in CIF 2nd round match
No. 4 seed Los Alamitos girls water polo team faces No. 5 seed Foothill in a tough CIF Division I water polo playoffs second round showdown Friday eveing at Beckman High School. The match is slated to start at 6pm.
Los Alamitos beat Foothill, 8-5, at the Irvine Southern California
Championships but this one figures to be closer. Los Al is the No. 4
seed.
The Griffins advanced to the match by downing San Marcos 13-4 on Wednesday at the JFTB pool. Kaley Dodson and Jessica Dunn combined to score 11 goals to lead Los Alamitos in the first round matchup. The Griffins are 24-5 on the season.
In our recap of Griffins who will be playing college sports next year we left off Jessica Dunn who will be making waves at UC Davis next season.
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LAHS ALUMNI: Join the Griffins on Facebook
As we mentioned we have set up a Facebook account for former Griffins and its a good way to keep up on former classmates.
Former Griffin ladies soccer standout - Sommer Hammoud,(right) a member of the 1976 and 1997 CIF championship teams, and the SoCal Defensive player of the Year in her senior year, recently got married in New York to Emad Abdelnaby, and her wedding photos can be seen here. Sommer, who attended college at UCLA and Johns Hopkins where she studied microbiology, currently works at the Hospital for Special Surgery in the Big Apple.
 Other former Griffins we've caught up with via Facebook -- Helen (Deneff) Dolas (left, in red; LAHS Class of '76, and mother of two Griffins alums, Nicolette '02 and James '04) is doing good work with her Arts and Services for the Disabled Foundation in Long Beach.
Speaking of alumni, the Los Al HS Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for the 2009 Hall of Fame ceremony. 10 Griffins will be inducted this year -- six alums, three faculty/staff and one community member. The criteria is the same -- For alums: 10 years out of high school, must have attended Los Al at least 2 years, outstanding accomplishment; for staff/faculty - must have worked at LAHS for at least 10 years. Once all the nominations are in, the current members of the hall of Fame will hone the list down to 25 alumni finalists and 12 faculty finalists, which will then be decided by a vote of alumni and faculty.
To make your nominations contact us, and please list qualifications and contact information for the nominee.
Facebook account: Los Al Griffin
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ALUMNI FOOTBALL: Childs tries to impress at combine
 Former Griffin Jeremy Childs (LAHS '05), is in the middle of it at the NFL Combine workouts in Indianapolis. Quarterbacks and wide receivers will be measured, interviewed, scrutinized and evaluated, today, through Sunday. For football junkies, the combine is available on the NFL net or can also be viewed at the NFL Net's website.
Childs is the all-time leading Los Al receiver for number of receptions (203) and most touchdowns (39). Both are also Orange County records.
ALUMNI GOLF: Cole helps Occidental to best golf start in decade
 Former Griffin Miles Cole (LAHS '08) shot a three-over par 75 - tying for the team best -- to help Occidental College to a third place finish at the SCIAC Mens Golf Spring Tournament, held at Brookside Country Club (by the Rose Bowl) on Feb. 17. It was Oxy's best finish at a SCIAC match in the past ten years.
Occidental returns to the links on Feb. 23, again at Brookside, when they hpost Chapman.
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YOUTH SOCCER: Beach Soccer continues open tryout schedule - this weekend
Beach Futbol Club will be holding open tryouts for its younger soccer teams (U14 and below) the next coming weeks, beginning this weekend, February 14 and 15. Times, locations and more details are available at the club's website at www.beachfutbolclub.com.
Five Beach teams won league championships last season - the GU10 team (Bronze West), GU12 (Silver Elite North), BU14 (Bronze Omega) and the GU19 team which won Silver Elite South. |
LOS ALAMITOS REC DEPARTMENT
Online Scores & Results
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Shameless sales pitch for advertisers
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That's all for this issue.
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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