EL SEGUNDO HERALD June 3, 2021 Page 3
Eagles Shock Soccer World with
CIF Championship
By Gregg McMullin
Inside the El Segundo high school gymnasium
is home to banners hanging high on
the walls, depicting league championships
and CIF championships. It just got a little
more crowded with the girl’s soccer team’s
shocking 2-1 win over previously undefeated
San Dimas in the CIF Southern Section Division
4 in the CIF-SS finals. It was the first
for the girl’s program, and the third soccer
CIF championship for the school; the boys
won back-to-back CIF championships in
2018 and 2019.
El Segundo’s road to the finals started with
a third-place finish in the Pioneer League
and ended as the Cinderella team invited to
the big dance. The Eagles’ grueling playoff
schedule saw them take three long bus
rides, two matches that went to overtime,
and face three of the top four seeded teams.
They trailed in three of the five matches.
The Eagles extended one game that went
into overtime with a goal in the last thirty
seconds of stoppage time. It wasn’t fate but
rather the team’s sheer determination that
came from the entire roster; this indeed was
a team with destiny on its side.
In the finals, the Eagles would travel to San
Dimas to face the top-ranked and undefeated
(19-0) Saints. This was the classic David
and Goliath tale where the Eagles weren’t
supposed to survive, but this team didn’t get
that memo and played brilliantly. In front
of a crowd of an estimated 950 fans, the
Eagles were loose and filled with confidence.
Head coach Skip Jones said, while his team
warmed up before the game, “They’re ready,
and they’ve earned the opportunity to play
for a title, and they aren’t intimidated by
whoever they face.”
San Dimas, which boasts a couple of Division
1 commits, including UCLA-bound
attacking midfielder Ally Lemos, pressured
the El Segundo defense and controlled most
of the first half. But the Eagles responded
with the game’s first score. Michaela Turner
spun a defender and fired off the upper right
netting for a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. “I
had a clear shot and made it count,” she said.
See Eagles, page 11
Plans for “The Plunge”
Move Forward
By Liz Spear
In a 3-2 vote, the El Segundo City Council
opted at its regularly scheduled meeting
Tuesday night to move forward with plans to
redesign the city’s legendary Urho Saari Swim
Stadium, fondly known as “The Plunge.” The
stadium was built in 1940 and named after a
highly regarded swim coach who came to El
Segundo in 1941 and coached US Olympic
water polo and swim teams, and the aging
two-pool facility is frequently closed for
repairs and in need of renovation. The 3-2
vote authorizes city staff to return to City
Council with a proposed agreement for the
next phase of design services.
Tuesday night, City Council was presented
with plans for three different renovation
options at various price points. Staff from
the Mithūn Architect agency gave options
raining in cost from $3,970,551-$8,433,063
based on the level of work selected. City
staff noted that approximately $2,500,000 is
available for the Plunge renovation project.
Additional funding will need to be obtained.
Mayor Drew Boyles and City Council
member Lance Giroux did not vote to move
forward with the renovation project, sticking
to their guns to be provided with more precise
financial information on the costs to build and
operate any of the three renovation options
presented. Boyles’ concerns centered on a
cost study on recreation programs currently
in progress that is expected to be completed
in two months. He said his “No” vote was
“because I think it would be more responsible
to do the study first.”
Council members Carol Pirsztuk, Scott
Nicol, and Mayor Pro Tem Chris Pimentel
voted to authorize city staff to negotiate a
consultant contract for engineering design
services for the swim stadium’s renovation.
“I do feel that, you know, this pool is
iconic for El Segundo,” said Pirsztuk, “and
memories are made at pools like this, and
memories from a lot of people, myself.
And I’m sure that if we rebuild, many more
memories would be made. It’s important. I
know it seems like a big-ticket item, but if
we don’t build something, if we don’t have
a plan and build it, we will never get it.”
“And I think one of the concerns that I’ve
had is that we have been wanting to fix this
Plunge for many, many years. And it kept
being pushed off and pushed off and pushed
off, and that’s why the Aquatics Center was
even designed, was because it kept getting
pushed off. We have to, at some point, invest
in our community. And this is a community
pool, and I think it’s real important that we
do invest in this pool,” she explained.
“So, I think, we have to try for our community.
Because if we just turn away from
this, we’re going to have a lot of people that
are going to be upset because we did promise
this community that we would fix this Plunge.
The people did not want the Aquatics Center
on the east side of Sepulveda, PCH and the
promise was that we would do The Plunge.
And we cannot turn back on that promise.”
In other news from Tuesday night, City
Manager Scott Mitnick said the city would
acknowledge Juneteenth, the oldest nationally
celebrated commemoration of the ending of
slavery in the United States, with a proclamation
at its next meeting on June 15th. Tuesday
night, the city clerk read emails from several
residents asking for a Juneteenth proclamation
during public comment. Juneteenth originated
in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, marked by
the observance of June 19th as the African
American Emancipation Day, and now
commemorates African American freedom
and emphasizes education and achievement.
City Council also delivered special presentations
marking June as LGBTQ+ Pride
Month, hearing in person in council chambers
from a youth resident who thanked the city
for doing so and from El Segundo resident
and screenwriter/TV personality John Pickhaver
via Zoom.
The meeting began with El Segundo resident
Shelly Effler presenting the city council
with her concerns about the gym project at
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See City Council, page 7