Volleyball nets largest headlines in 2010
Redondo Beach native Sean Rosenthal won the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open and the U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball championships. Photo
Ironically, the South Bay sports story of the decade had its final chapter written in 2010 when the financially troubled Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) filed for bankruptcy in October.
It wasn’t long after Manhattan Beach native Mike Dodd took over as new AVP Commissioner in the spring that changes began to unfold. The tour was reduced in size with seven of the 12 events being held in California. NIVEA was named as the tour’s new title sponsor, yet there was speculation from players and fans alike regarding the stability of the association.
The top seeded teams of Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers and Jennifer Kessy/April Ross won the AVP NIVEA Tour Hermosa Beach Open in July, but shortly before the tour was to return to the South Bay for the sport’s marquee event – the Manhattan Beach Open — the rug was pulled out from beneath the players’ feet.
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.
Fortunately for the tight-knit volleyball community, the City of Manhattan Beach and the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) stepped up to keep the Manhattan Beach Open tradition alive.
Folding chairs and beach towels replaced stadium seats and classic, white leather Wilson volleyballs were used. Matches were played on long courts with side-pout scoring to 15 points.
Many of the top players, used to competing under international rules, boycotted the event, leaving competition for the Manhattan Beach Open with 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.
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.
Local athletes were also 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.
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.
On Dec. 15, the Associated Press reported that the majority owner of the AVP has retained control of the pro beach volleyball tour in a bankruptcy auction.
RJSM managing director Nick Lewin said that the firm used its $3.8 million of debt to purchase the assets of the tour Wednesday, including the brand and the rights to all of its intellectual property.
Lewin told The Associated Press that there will be a tour next year, with a different financial model.
Mira Costa’s Savannah Pio ran to CIF and State championships. Photo
Run to glory
Perhaps no individual athletes enjoyed more success in 2010 than runners. Monder Rizki, of Belgium, won the 5K and 10K races at the 32nd annual Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10K event in February to kick off the local race season that featured outstanding performances from runners of all ages.
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.
Higley and fellow Redondo Beach runner Jimmy Wills were the female and male winners of the Hermosa Beach 5000. The win was the second straight at the event for Higley.
Running in sandals, Patrick Sweeney, 31, of Manhattan Beach enjoyed a successful 2010 at a variety of distances. He began by winning the Palos Verdes Marathon with a time of 2:37:14. In June, he won the Manhattan Beach Summer 5K in 16 minutes, 42 seconds and in October, Sweeney outpaced defending champion Rick Weis, of Hermosa Beach, to win the 33rd Manhattan Beach 10K with a time of 32:43.
Redondo’s Chloe Curtis won CIF Division II titles in the girls 800 and 1,600 races before winning the state championship in the 1,600. Photo
The high school track and cross country seasons included two of the best female runners to come from the Beach Cities.
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.
The freckled red-head went on to win CIF Division II titles in the girls 800 and 1,600 competition. She completed her prep career as one of the greatest athletes in Sea Hawk history, running a personal best to capture the CIF State Championship in the 1,600 with a time of 4:46.63.
Mira Costa sophomore Jenna Tong provided a glimpse of what was to come in the cross country season when she won the women’s 5K division at the 14th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
With Redondo and Mira Costa ranked second and third, respectively, in the CIF Division 2 poll, Mira Costa’s Savannah Pio won the first Bay League cross country meet but it was Redondo that claimed the first girls team title.
Mira Costa’s girls cross country continued to improve, capturing the South Bay Cup for the third consecutive year, but Redondo won the second Bay League meet despite the performance of Pio, who was the individual champion for the second consecutive meet.
With Pio leading the charge, Mira Costa overtook Redondo to win the Bay League girls cross country championship. After winning the CIF Southern Section championship, Pio placed first in the Division II State Championships 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.
Dominance at the net
In the sand and on a hardwood court, local high school volleyball players excelled in 2010.
In the spring season, Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team went undefeated to win the Redondo/Mira Costa Varsity Classic tournament before capturing its second consecutive Bay League championship.
Head coach Mike Ninnis led the Mustangs to the CIF Southern California Regional Championship, defeating San Diego Section champion Mt. Carmel in four sets behind the strong performance of middle blocker Eric Mochalski.
During the summer, Mochalski started for the United States team that captured the NORCECA Junior Continental championship in Quebec, Canada and advanced to the 2011 FIVB Junior World Championships in Brazil.
Manhattan Beach athletes Christopher Orenic, Michael Mullahey and Tony Ensbury won gold medals at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships held in Wisconsin.
On the beach circuit, Orenic was named the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Beach Volleyball Male Player of the Year.
Outside hitter Lara Dykstra became the first volleyball player from Redondo Union High to be named CIF Player of the Year. Photo
Redondo Union High School’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.
Coach Tommy Chaffins’ team reached the CIF Division 1-AA championship match but fell to Long Beach Poly in four sets. Despite the loss, the Sea Hawks earned a fourth seed in the CIF Southern California Regional tournament.
In a rematch, Redondo came within one point of reaching the state championship match, losing to Long Beach Poly 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 19-17 in an epic battle.
Redondo’s Lara Dykstra became the school’s first volleyball player to be named CIF 1-AA Player of the Year. Joining her on the All-CIF first team were Sea Hawk setter Blake O’Brien and Mira Costa’s Emma White.
Chaffins felt junior libero Tiffany Morales was also deserving of first team honors. In August, Morales was a member of the U.S. Youth Olympic Team that competed in Singapore.
She also excelled on the beach, being named the AAU Beach Volleyball Female Player of the Year while qualifying for the Junior Olympic Games in Virginia Beach, VA at the end of July.
High school heroes
Mira Costa continued to excel in athletics, finishing the decade as No. 15 in the ESPN Rise Fab 50 that lists the top high school athletic programs in the country.
Mira Costa’s girls basketball team won its third straight Bay League title with an undefeated league record and the Mustang football team captured its third consecutive Bay League title in football with a 25-0 victory at rival Redondo.
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 and Redondo’s girls lacrosse team won its 16th straight contest to reach the LA/Orange County championship game.
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.
Aquamen
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 when he accomplished the feat in May.
Danny Ching, of Redondo Beach, celebrates his second win at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle. Photo by Pat Huber/Rainbow Sandals
Switching to a stand-up paddleboard the following month, 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.
Returning to California competition, Ching dominated the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle California held in Dana Point. The Redondo Beach resident 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.
In July, Tyler Anderson won his second consecutive Hennessey’s U.S. Paddleboard Championship and 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 in the annual event.
John Shearer, 55, of Hermosa Beach captured the Men’s Grand Championship at the 34th Annual World Bodysurfing Championships held in Oceanside.
Who’s on first?
On the diamond, a baseball coaching carousel had the heads of players, parents and fans swimming. After 20 years at the helm of the Redondo baseball program, Tim Ammentorp stepped down in 2009 and former UCLA star Cassidy Olson – a popular junior varsity coach at Mira Costa – took over as skipper of the Sea Hawks.
Enter Brady Thurman, a teacher at Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach and former pitching coach for the Sea Hawks under Ammentorp who had also applied for the head coaching position at Redondo High. Thurman threatened legal action when a discrepancy in the hiring policy was discovered.
Thurman was granted the position by the Redondo Beach Unified School District in an out-of-court settlement with the stipulation that Olson could complete the 2009 season.
Olson wasn’t off the diamond for long. Despite recording over 300 wins as a high school head coach, Mike Neily was released from his position as head baseball coach at Mira Costa at the end of the season and the job given to Olson. Neily had led his teams to the CIF playoffs in 16 of his 18 years as a head coach.
While Olson won a Bay League title in his first year as the Mustang’s head coach, Thurman experienced a tumultuous year and resigned after one season. He was replaced by former Long Beach Wilson pitching coach Jeff Baumback who will try to right the Redondo ship in the next decade. ER