EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 5, 2017 Page 7 El Segundo Sports from page 5 Slate Davis, Kalan Smith, Ryan Winkler and Kelly Reynolds helped the team to another successful season. The Plunge celebrated its 75th birthday to honor this grand old building that opened on November 13, 1941. Five Olympians who swam and played water polo in this iconic pool also were in attendance. From the 1952 Olympic water polo team, Bill Dornbalser attended with his wife Rosalie; Jim Norris with his wife Lynn; and Pete Stange with his wife Louise. From the 1964 Olympic water polo team, Ned McIlroy and his wife Mary were there, along with Ned’s brother Chick McIlroy and his wife Mary. The El Segundo High surf team started its season with the Annual Kickoff Classic. Representing the squad in the short board division were Sean Tennien, Chase Wood, Victor Knopp, Shane Frontino, Lukas Roscoe, Adam Masson, Cooper Sutherland and Gavin Lueck. Austin Sorensen surfed in the longboard division. The girls’ tennis team had a successful season. The Lady Eagles finished with a 5-1 Ocean League record to propel the team into the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs. Senior Kristin Villanueva and freshman Lauren Davis won the Ocean League doubles title. The girls’ volleyball team had a great season in finishing behind Ocean League and eventual CIF champion Culver City. The Lady Eagles entered the CIF playoffs as the fourth-seeded team and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinals. Maddie Kurke, Meghan Owens, Khyrese Cleavland, Alyssa Pearson, Kylee Glickman and Raquel Hewitt led the team this season. The El Segundo High football program has been among the best in the South Bay. The Eagles completed another successful season by defeating seven teams that eventually went to the playoffs. They defeated Mira Costa 18-14 for their first win over the Mustangs in over 30 years. The Eagles shared the Ocean League title with Culver City and Lawndale and went 10-2 overall. Thanks to a wide open offense that featured alternating quarterbacks Jake Palmer and Kobee Lagarde, the Eagles averaged 32 points per game. Coupled with a defense that allowed a meager 12 points per game, this was certainly one of Steve Shevlin’s better teams in his 22-year coaching career. The Eagles had one of the South Bay’s most electrifying offensive players in running back Taz Tauaese, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and posted 16 rushing touchdowns. They also had a talented receiver in Haamid Brookes, Jr., who averaged 27 yards per catch and had nine touchdowns. There was a lot of optimism for a deep run in the playoffs. El Segundo faced Canyon (Anaheim) in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 7 playoffs. The Eagles would face the defending CIF champions and State Bowl runners-up from the year before. In front of a standing-roomonly crowd, this game would go down in the annals of El Segundo football history as one of the most exciting comebacks wins ever when the Eagles prevailed 17-10. For 47 minutes, the Eagles fought to stay close and trailed 10-9 with a minute remaining in the game. Lagarde found Billy Brasher open for a 65-yard gain to the Canyon five-yard line. Three plays later, Palmer scored on a quarterback draw with a mere 26 seconds in the game to put the Eagles ahead 15-10. Then Palmer found Mark Binder open in the end zone for a two-point conversion and the Eagles escaped with a 17-10 win. Things went terribly wrong in the second round game when the Eagles were without a number of key offensive and defensive players for various reasons and fell to Golden Valley 28-7. Finally, Laura Robinson is in her final stages of her 1,700-mile walk along the Pacific Coast from the Canadian to the Mexican border. She’s making the walk because she says it will challenge her physically, mentally and spiritually. Laura, who paces herself at approximately 10 miles per day and has taken the Old Highway 99 (the I-5 corridor) through northern Washington and then the 101 from Olympia, Washington through Humboldt County, Cali- Maddie Kurke helped lead her team to the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals. fornia, finished up in the Santa Barbara area before taking a short hiatus for the holidays. So, with so many teams to root for, help support the athletes in our community in 2017. On behalf of Herald Publications, Happy New Year! • The Eagles, who were once the top-ranked team for the first time in the school’s history, had a great season and finished 10-2 overall. Kyle McMullin of the Stars made an ESPN highlight catch to help his team reach the Babe Ruth League championship game.
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