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EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 9, 2018 Page 5
Looking Back Before the New School
Year in Sports Kicks Off
By Gregg McMullin
With the 2018-19 school year a mere few
weeks away, it means fall sports will be upon
us before you know it. This is the time of
the year that the athletes playing fall sports
are working out in between texting friends,
hitting the beach and enjoying summer vacations.
Let’s journey back to last season’s fall
schedules and reminisce the ups and downs
of our athletes and their teams.
Football
The Eagles have put together quite a run over
the last decade and 2017 was no different with
another successful season. The Eagles went
8-3 and their only losses were to teams that
won at least 11 games -- including Lawndale
(11-1), Culver City (11-2) and CIF champion
El Modena (12-3).
The Eagles were an unknown entity with a
new quarterback, a revamped defense and a
running game that would be tested. Head coach
Steve Shevlin proved to the South Bay football
community that his program just reshuffled
the deck and came up with a winning hand.
Matt Romero started at quarterback for the
Eagles and made an immediate impact. He
threw for over 1,700 yards with 19 TDs and
completed 60 percent of his passes. He saved
his best game for the first round of the CIF-SS
Division 7 playoffs, throwing for 336 yards
and two TDs. Romero was a duel threat by
leading the team in rushing TDs and carries
as well as finishing second in rushing yards.
The running game, that was thought to have
question marks, displayed the same results as
in prior years. The team averaged 172 yards
per game for an average of 5.2 yards per carry
led by Danny McEntee, Kyle Freeman, Joey
Gorte and Dariush Sayson
The Eagles swept through their non-league
schedule with convincing wins over Leuzinger,
Oak Pak, Mira Costa, Torrance and South Torrance.
It marked the second consecutive win
over Bay League power Mira Costa.
El Segundo controlled the line of scrimmage
on both offense and defense against Mira
Costa. Jess Caravello, Gunnar Rogers, Justin
Delgado and Ben Rosas were outstanding
linemen going both ways. McEntee had two
rushing touchdowns, picked up key first downs
and scored on a 90-yard kickoff return. The
defense held Mira Costa’s explosive running
game to a net 99 yards on the ground and only
75 yards through the air.
The Ocean League schedule was more challenging.
Losing to Lawndale, one of the top
ranked teams in Division 5; and Culver City,
the top-ranked team in Division 11, were the
only blemishes heading into the CIF Southern
Section playoffs. The Eagles had returned to
the postseason for the 10th time in the past
11 seasons.
El Segundo met the top-ranked the El Modena
Vanguards in the first round. The Eagles would
face a program that had reached three consecutive
CIF-SS semifinal games so they had
their work cut out for themselves. In the end,
El Segundo was worn down by El Modena’s
size advantage and fell 38-22. The Vanguards
ran roughshod through an undersized Eagle
defense… but with sheer determination, El
Segundo trailed just 24-16 at halftime.
Even though the scoreboard was crooked
favoring El Modena, the Eagles held their own
offensively speaking. Romero had arguably his
best game of the season by completing 18 of 33
passes with two TDs and an interception. Taj
Balogun, a three-year starter, had a career-best
game offensively. The senior standout had nine
receptions for 144 yards and one touchdown.
McEntee had a career-best receiving with
seven catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Three Eagles were selected to the All-South
Bay Football First Team. Offensive lineman
Caravello, all-purpose back McEntee and
quarterback Romero earned the honors.
Boys Water Polo
In Riley Brady’s final season as head coach,
his team won the Ocean League and entered
the CIF playoffs with a 20-7 record. It marked
the third time in four years as head coach that
Brady’s teams had won 20 games. The two
seniors – four-year lettermen Kyle Crist and
Nolan Young -- helped pave the way for the
success of the team. Offensively the team was
led by Crist and Owen Hale, who both played
brilliantly throughout the season.
In the opening round, the Eagles faced
Orange County powerhouse Edison of Huntington
Beach. El Segundo’s 14-12 win over the
Chargers was played with as much emotion as
any this season. The Eagles faced top-seeded
Ayala High School. With confidence on their
side, the Eagles jumped out to an early 2-1
lead by the end of the first quarter behind goals
from Crist and Hale. The second quarter went
back and forth and it was tied 5-5 heading into
the second half. In the third quarter the teams
battled, but the Eagles fell behind 9-7. Perhaps
the turning point came when El Segundo had
an advantage power play but failed to score.
They turned the ball over and Ayala went on
to score. In the final period the teams traded
goals, but the Eagles couldn’t capitalize on a
couple of key opportunities and ultimately lost
11-9. Another successful season ended for a
storied water polo program.
Girls Volleyball
The Eagles had another successful season,
going 20-12 overall and finishing third in the
Ocean League behind CIF champion Culver
City and runner-up Santa Monica. Led by
four- year starter Maddie Kurke, the Eagles
advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division
4 quarterfinals.
Cross Country
Both the boys and girls cross country squads
swept to Ocean League titles at the challenging
Kenneth Hahn State Park course .Noah Fenton
led the Eagles and finished a close second in
16:43. Sophomores Ryan Hoerner and Elliott
Bijlsma finished fourth and sixth respectively.
Garrett Rifkin and Arend Verfallie finished in
the top 10, while Calvin Lang and Benjamin
Kooper ran well and should be ready for the
CIF prelims set for Saturday at the Riverside
City Cross Country Course.
The girls team had all seven team members
finish in the top 13 runners to win the Ocean
League title. Nicole Fulcomer led the Eagles
by placing third (19:50) while Sophia Zago
was fourth (19:51), James Matlosz fifth (20:17),
Gabby Lee sixth (20:30), Alyana Verfallie
eighth (20:46), Grace Hoffman 11th and Kate
Johnson 13th.
Silvers Attends First
Meeting as Wiseburn Leader
By Duane Plank
Since his selection as the successor to the
retired Tom Johnstone as the Wiseburn Unified
Scooters Not Just a
Summer Fling
By Rob McCarthy
Electric scooters have moved from a curiosity
in Venice to a cool, cheap way for South
Bay office workers to step out for lunch
without breaking a sweat and losing their
parking spaces. The sight of these speedy
people-movers on city streets and corners
caught some residents off-guard though.
People noticed the scooters in the beach
cities early this summer, sparking a debate on
social media about whether this transportation
for short trips will cure traffic problems
or create new ones for local drivers. The
scooters are rented for $1 and riders pay 15
cents per mile to the companies behind this
new rideshare option. One of the questions
people ask is who owns the scooters.
Right now, the rideshare company Bird is
making an aggressive move into the South
Bay with electric scooters for rent. Another
company called Lime competes with Bird.
Both rent their scooters through a phone app
that unlocks the two-wheeler and keeps track
of the mileage for each user.
Bird and Lime drop off the scooters around
town and near high-traffic areas, but they
don’t control where the scooters end up.
One El Segundo resident complained on
social media she nearly tripped over one
that was dumped on a sidewalk. After that
encounter, she sounded furious. “They are a
hazard,” she wrote, calling for city leaders
to designate parking places for scooters for
pedestrian safety.
Beverly Hills temporarily banned electric
scooters for six months to study the traffic
and safety issues, including riders not wearing
helmets and doubling up on the number of
passengers. Santa Monica also prohibits the
scooters within its limits until its city council
can study the risks and rewards.
One South Bay resident seemed resigned
to sharing the road with these two-wheelers.
“Well, they are probably here to stay,” she
wrote. Another person commented on social
media that scooters are like mopeds, and
should be safe as long as riders follow traffic
rules and wear safety helmets.
Another El Porto woman urged beach city
residents to think about the positives of having
nimble, low-emission scooters ferrying people
short distances instead of gas-guzzling cars
and SUVs. “People need to chill out. We need
other modes of transportation,” she wrote.
Just as the electric vehicles were gaining
notice, a local government organization invited
South Bay city officials to try the scooters
for themselves. The South Bay Cities Council
of Governments (SBCCOG) held an expo on
June 28 in its Torrance parking lot. The expo
also featured electric-powered bikes. “The
bottom line is that they are coming to the
South Bay … sooner than we might expect!
It’s clear that their deployment will affect not
only individual cities but also the region,”
the group reported in its summer newsletter.
The rideshare companies behind the scooters
had representatives at the expo to explain
their business models and hear any safety
concerns of city leaders. “Understanding and
engaging with these companies is a critical
step for our South Bay cities as they move
forward in crafting policies and regulations
that will guide the deployment and use
of these increasingly popular short-range
transportation options,” the SBCCG said
after the event.
The rideshare companies came with data
they will use before local city councils to
convince them to allow electric scooters and
bikes as a transportation option, the event
organizers said. Police departments, including
El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, assured
residents in social media posts that their
cities have restrictions on the operation of
electric scooters. They can’t be driven faster
than 25 mph and must stay in the bike lane
See Sports, page 13
See Scooters, page 13
School District (WUSD) Superintendent,
Blake Silvers has reported “an exciting start”
to the ramp-up to the new school year that will
commence later this month. “One beautiful,
rewarding thing about Wiseburn is that everybody
works so hard, it is so collaborative,” he
said. Silvers noted the benefit of being able to
work with “very, very smart people” who are
dedicated to putting the education of children
first and foremost. He also singled out his
administrative assistant Wendy Tsubaki, who
has helped get him acclimated to his new post.
“She has been instrumental in everything I have
done this first month.” Silvers called Tsubaki a
“beacon of light,” helping to guide him through
the byzantine “institutional issues” that a new
superintendent needs to get up to speed on at
the start of the job.
Silvers, who attended his first Wiseburn
School Board meeting as superintendent Tuesday
evening, gave kudos to teachers who didn’t
spend most of their time pursuing rest and
recreation after the classroom dismissal bells
clanged a final time in mid-June -- but rather
travailed to outposts like Milwaukee, Chicago
and Washington, D.C. to increase their professional
development. “Things don’t stop in the
summer,” he said. “It’s been a very productive
summer. I can’t believe how fast it was. An
action-packed month or so.” On replacing
Johnstone, who was an educational icon in
Wiseburn, Silvers said, “I am not trying to fill
his shoes. Just trying to take the confidence
that he gave me and step into my own shoes.”
Silvers has served the WUSD for the past
10 years as assistant principal, and then principal
at Dana Middle school. In March, the
School Board unanimously selected him to
follow Johnstone after interviewing the final
six candidates,
Silvers taught History and Spanish in the
Culver City Unified School District prior to
taking the assistant principal position at Dana
in 2008, and then ascended to the principal
post in 2013. Assistant Principal Kiana Brede
was promoted to Dana principal after Silvers
moved to the superintendent post. Silvers was
Loyola Marymount University-“trained” until he
attended the University of Southern California
to pursue his doctorate degree.
Asked about challenges facing the District
in the 2018/19 school year, which kicks off
for the middle and elementary schools on Aug.
28, Silvers said that any challenges upcoming
are positive. He emphasized that every school
year presents different opportunities, dealing
with the “changing landscape in curriculum.”
At the core of what the District does, he said,
is “teaching and learning.” He spoke of making
students “future-ready” and providing them with
the best opportunities in meeting the needs of
a changing world.
Silvers also provided an update on the ongoing
Phase II construction on the Douglas Street
acreage that includes the El Segundo Aquatics
Center, the gymnasium and the turf field. At
this point in the game, the pool is scheduled
for a late September opening, with the gym
slated for an end- of-October finish, and the
field ready for play post-gym completion.
Silvers extolled the virtues of the District’s
maintenance and custodial ground-crew staff,
who are not privy to an extended summer
break. “The schools [facilities] are amazing,”
he said, while also mentioning the folding-in
of new teachers to the District, calling it “a
See Wiseburn, page 13