2010 Monthly Sports Highlights
January
7 – Palos Verdes resident Chase Zukerman won his fourth consecutive Manhattan Beach 5K when he captured the annual Yuletide 5K in 16 minutes, 18 seconds.
14 – Members of Mira Costa’s CIF Western Division championship football team swept post-season honors with Don Morrow being named Coach of the Year, J.R. Tavai being selected as Defensive Player of the Year and Kyle Nunn earning Offensive Player of the Year honors.
21 – The South Bay lost a legend when Redondo Union High School Alumnus and longtime El Segundo High School baseball coach John Stevenson died at the age of 76.
21 – Mira Costa’s Kyle Nunn capped off his prep career by earning the Offensive Player of the Game award at the 45th Annual West Torrance Lions Club Senior All-Star football game.
28 – Redondo’s girls soccer team defeated Mira Costa for the first time in six years with a 1-0 victory.
February
11 – Monder Rizki, of Belgium, won the 5K and 10K races at the 32nd annual Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10K event.
18 – Mira Costa’s girls basketball team won its third straight Bay League title with an undefeated league record.
March
4 – West Coast Beach Tennis inaugurated two permanent courts at 14th Street and The Strand in Hermosa Beach.
11 – With a time of 28 minutes, 41 seconds, Redondo Beach runner Nathalie Higley won the 19th annual Brea 8K Classic which fielded a record 2,000 entrants.
18 – Manhattan Beach residents and Olympic silver medalists Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Quick help the L.A. Kings make a run for the Stanley Cup.
25 – Mira Costa sophomore Jenna Tong won the women’s 5K division at the 14th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
April
1 – With a time of 2:09.07, Redondo Union High School distance runner Chloe Curtis won the 800 meter race at the Meet of Champions at Azusa Pacific University, posting the nation’s best time among high school girls at that point in the season.
8 – Mike Dodd provided an in-depth look at his athletic career and new position as commissioner of the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).
8 – Redondo’s Jamar Cannon (basketball) and Mira Costa’s Eric Mochalski (basketball) and Kevin Kaplan (soccer) earned All-CIF first team honors.
15 – The AVP kicked off what might be its final tour with NIVEA as its new title sponsor and a number of new teammates.
22 – Redondo Beach runners Jimmy Wills and Nathalie Higley won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Hermosa Beach 5000. The win was the second straight for Higley.
22 – Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team won its second consecutive Bay League championship.
22 – Redondo’s Jazmin Ponce was named the Bay League’s Most Valuable Offensive Player in girls soccer, Mira Costa forward Jasmine Rutledge earned the Bay League’s MVP award in girls basketball, Mustang soccer star Kevin Kaplan was voted the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and in the pool, Mira Costa’s Laura Milstead was the Bay League’s Most Outstanding Player in girls water polo.
29 – Outscoring opponents 58-8, the Manhattan Beach/Hermosa Beach AYSO Boys Under-14 Division All-Stars won the California State Championship held in Bakersfield.
May
6 – Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team went undefeated to win the Redondo/Mira Costa Varsity Classic tournament.
6 – Youth football players were honored by Pop Warner football for their scholastic achievements.
13 – Redondo Union High School alumnus Danny Ching became the first non-Hawaiian paddler to win the 32-mile Steinlager Kaiwi Channel Solo OC1 (One Person Canoe) World Championship.
13 – Redondo’s girls lacrosse team won its 16th straight contest to reach the LA/Orange County championship game. Mira Costa’s boy lacrosse reached the finals by defeating Bay League rival Palos Verdes for the first time in three games during the season.
13 – Athletes from the Mira Costa and Redondo boys and girls track and field teams combined for 56 top-three finishes, including 19 event titles, in the Bay League finals.
20 – Mira Costa won the Bay League baseball title with a sweep over Palos Verdes.
20 – Patrick Sweeney, 31, of Manhattan Beach won the Palos Verdes Marathon with a time of 2:37:14.
27 – Redondo Union High School distance runner Chloe Curtis won CIF Division II titles in the girls 800 and 1,600 competition.
June
3 – Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team won the CIF Southern California Regional Championship, defeating San Diego Section champion Mt. Carmel in four sets.
10 – Chloe Curtis completed her prep career as one of the greatest athletes in the history of Redondo Union High School. The freckled red-head ran a personal best to capture the CIF State Championship in the 1,600 with a time of 4:46.63.
10 – Suffering through a year clouded with controversy, Bradey Thurman resigned as Redondo’s head baseball coach after only one season at the helm.
10 – Mira Costa teammates Parker Kelley and Devon Sousa won the prestigious USTA Boys 18’s National Doubles Championship.
17 – Hundreds of Redondo Union High School alumni returned to their former campus to compete in the Striff-Seifert Memorial Track Meet – Race of the Century.
17 – Hometown runner Patrick Sweeney won the Manhattan Beach Summer 5K in 16 minutes, 42 seconds.
17 – Redondo Beach men finished in the top three spots in the 6th annual Redondo Beach Triathlon. Jason May, a seven-year veteran of the Redondo Beach Fire Department, outpaced Brian Tasker and Mark Tripp.
24 – Redondo Beach resident Danny Ching swept the 5-mile Elite Paddle and the 10-mile Downwinder events to claim the championship at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle Hawaii held off the coast of Waikiki.
July
1 –Yoswany Falcon won the 49th annual Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, preventing local cyclist Rahsaan Bahati from winning his fourth consecutive title.
1 – Local athletes were the top winners in the Extreme Volleyball Professionals’ (EVP) King and Queen of the Beach tournament held in Hermosa Beach. Ticao Araujo, of Redondo Beach, and Arqum Iqbal, of Hermosa Beach tied for first in men’s competition while 40-year-old Michelle Hughes, of Redondo Beach, was crowned Queen.
1 – Mira Costa outfielder/pitcher Lucas Whitehill was named the Bay League’s MVP while earning a spot on the All-CIF Division 2 first team. Fellow Mustang Jake Jelmini was voted Co-Most Outstanding Player and teammate Drew Van Orden was selected as the league’s Pitcher of the Year. In softball, Mira Costa catcher Katie Saunders and Redondo infielder Linda Park were named Co-Most Outstanding Players in the Bay League.
8 – Jacques Sallberg, of Pasadena, and Daniela Alonso, of Los Angeles, won the men’s and women’s divisions at the Village Runner 4th of July 5K in Redondo Beach.
8 – Mira Costa volleyball standouts Eric Mochalski and Jace Olsen were selected as co-MVPs of the Bay League. Mochalski and teammate Kevin Donohue were named to the All-CIF Division 1 first team.
15 – Tyler Anderson won his second consecutive Hennessey’s U.S. Paddleboard Championship.
22 – Tiffany Morales, of Redondo Beach, was selected as the AAU Beach Volleyball Female Player of the Year. The junior libero at Redondo High was also named to the U.S. Youth Olympic Team that competed in Singapore.
22 – The top seeded teams of Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers and Jennifer Kessy/April Ross won the AVP NIVEA Tour Hermosa Beach Open.
22 – Redondo Union High School introduced Andy Saltsman as its new athletic director and Jeff Baumback as the Sea Hawk’s new head baseball coach.
August
5 – Thousands of competitors and spectators attended the International Surf Festival.
5 – Mira Costa schoolmates Rochelle “Rockie” Curdes and Chloe Kojima helped set a national record at the US Rowing Youth Nationals in Cincinnati, Ohio.
12 – Manhattan Beach athletes Christopher Orenic, Michael Mullahey and Tony Ensbury won gold medals at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships held in Wisconsin.
19 – The Golden Anniversary of the Manhattan Beach Open was tarnished when the AVP announced it was cancelling the remaining five events of its tour. With the assistance of the California Beach Volleyball Association, the City of Manhattan Beach would still hold beach volleyball’s most prestigious domestic event, but with an old-school feel.
26 – Chris Orenic, of Manhattan Beach, was named the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Beach Volleyball Male Player of the Year.
26 – A dream season ends for a Manhattan Beach baseball team when its 19-game winning streak is snapped by host Bangor, Maine in the semifinals of the Senior Little League World Series.
26 – With the absence of many of the beach volleyball’s top players, competition for the Manhattan Beach Open featured more of a local flair. Former Redondo Sea Hawks Sean Rosenthal and Aaron Wachtfogel partnered to win the men’s title while Redondo Beach resident Heather Lowe and Tealle Hunkus, of El Segundo, recorded their first major win in the women’s division.
September
2 – In only his second Catalina Classic race, Hermosa Beach paddler Adam Buckley won the 35th annual 32-mile marathon with a time of 5:34:06.
2 – Middle blocker Eric Mochalski, of Manhattan Beach, was a gold medalist for the U.S. Men’s Junior National Volleyball team.
9 – Led by all-tournament team member Emma White, Mira Costa’s girls volleyball team placed second in the prestigious Ann Kang Invitational Tournament in Hawaii.
16 – John Shearer, 55, of Hermosa Beach captured the Men’s Grand Championship at the 34th Annual World Bodysurfing Championships held in Oceanside.
30 – After winning the Manhattan Beach Open, Sean Rosenthal and Aaron Wachtfogel returned to the same courts to capture the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball championship. Britanny Hochevar, of Hermosa Beach, reunited with AVP partner Dianne DeNecochea to claim the women’s title.
30 – Mira Costa’s Savannah Pio won the first Bay League cross country meet but it was Redondo that claimed the first girls team title.
October
7 – Manhattan Beach native Patrick Sweeney outpaced defending champion Rick Weis, of Hermosa Beach, to win the 33rd Manhattan Beach 10K with a time of 32:43.
7 – Mira Costa’s girls cross country captured the South Bay Cup for the third consecutive year.
14 – Redondo Beach stand up paddler Danny Ching dominated the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle California held in Dana Point. Ching defeated defending champion and nine-time world paddleboard title holder Jamie Mitchell in the elite race before capturing the 10-mile distance race the following day.
21 – Redondo’s girls cross country team won its second Bay League meet despite the performance of Mira Costa standout Savannah Pio, who was the individual champion for the second consecutive meet.
28 –Brendan Sofen kicked three field goals to give Mira Costa’s football team a leg up in the Bay League race with a critical 15-7 win at Palos Verdes.
28 – Players from the Beach Cities Sports flag football league donned pink attire while raising nearly $15, 000 for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation during breast cancer awareness month.
November
11 – A month after the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) filed for bankruptcy, USA Volleyball announced it had partnered with IMG Action Sports and will hold the Beach Championship Series in 2011. The series will include up to six events, including one in Hermosa Beach, and play a role in the Olympic qualifying process.
11 – Redondo’s girls volleyball team swept rival Mira Costa to earn a share of the Bay League championship, its first league title since 1987 when the Sea Hawks were in the Ocean League.
11 – Led by Savannah Pio, Mira Costa overtook Redondo to win the Bay League girls cross country championship.
18 – Mira Costa won its third consecutive Bay League title in football with a 25-0 victory at rival Redondo.
25 – Redondo’s girls volleyball team reached the CIF Division 1-AA championship match but fell to Long Beach Poly in four set. Despite the loss, the Sea Hawks earned a fourth seed in the CIF Southern California Regional tournament.
December
2 – In a rematch of the CIF Division 1-AA girls volleyball championship, Redondo came within one point from reaching the state championship match, losing to Long Beach Poly 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 19-17 in an epic battle.
2 – Girls cross country standout Savannah Pio won the CIF Division II State Championship while leading Mira Costa to a second-place team finish and a berth in the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, OR where the team finished 14th.
9 – Mira Costa tennis standout Maegan Manasse suffered her first defeat of the season. The sophomore lost in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Individual Tennis Championships completing her season with a 68-1 record.
16 – Host Redondo captured the Silver Bracket championship of the Battle at the Beach girls basketball tournament with a 64-46 victory over Inglewood.
16 – Lara Dykstra became the first player in the history of Redondo volleyball to be selected as the CIF Player of the Year. The Nebraska-bound Dykstra joined teammate Blake O’Brien and Mira Costa’s Emma White on the All-CIF Division 1-AA first team.
23 – Justin Unno, 16, of Palos Verdes outpaced Mark Tripp, of Redondo Beach, to capture the Manhattan Beach Yuletide 5K with a time of 16:40. Annie Seawright, 45, of Hermosa Beach, was the first female finisher with a time of 20:15.