Page 8 August 16, 2018 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Eagles Celebrated Championships
Story and Photo by Gregg McMullin
With a mere week before the Eagles’ 2018
football schedule begins, let’s look back one
more time at El Segundo High School’s athletic
success earlier this year. Athletic Director
Steve Shevlin had to be pleased with league
championships in boys volleyball, baseball and
softball and a CIF championship in boys soccer.
Though the boys basketball team didn’t win a
league title, it advanced to the CIF Southern
Section Division 4AA playoffs.
Boys Basketball
Head coach David March, in his second
season, turned around a program that was
struggling. With a team short on size but big
with heart, March stressed the value of playing
defense. The result was holding teams to
an average of 38 points per game, making it
one of the stingiest defenses in Division 4AA.
With just four seniors on the roster, the
Eagles still had experience with a trio of
talented juniors and counted on four talented
sophomores to bolster the lineup. Seniors Kyle
Freeman, Jacob Franco, Matt Hunkins and
Ryan Booker all played significant roles in
leading the team. Three-year lettermen juniors
Miles Jones, Michael Lynch and Dylan Aubert
provided the backbone. Sophomores Robby
Pederson, Elijah Mark, Colin Dionne and Max
Quintana provided the depth.
The Eagles would start the season 5-0
and were off to their best start in years
with a 12-4 record before starting their
Ocean League schedule. The league schedule
was a challenge, facing three teams that advanced
to the postseason. The Eagles would
face the second-seeded Mark Keppel Aztecs in
the first round and fell in a close game 44-39.
Boys Soccer Wins CIF Title
The boys soccer team had a magical season
after an inauspicious start. The Eagles started
2-3-3 and didn’t look like the team that would
finish as champions. Things changed once El
Segundo started Ocean League play with wins
over Culver City and Beverly Hills. Mason
Bemis, Jack Finders, Malcolm Boltzmann-Cisse
and Casey Lund each scored goals to lead the
Eagles to an impressive 4-1 win over Culver
City, the defending Ocean League champions.
The Eagles would battle Santa Monica for
the Ocean League crown and both games the
two teams played against each other were
epic. In the first meeting, the Eagles and Santa
Monica came into their matchup both 4-0 in
league play. With so much on the line, this
game would turn out to be a chippy one that
the Eagles would lose 2-0. The Vikings’ game
plan worked with a better passing attack and
relentless pressure. After a scoreless first half,
the Vikings scored two second half goals. In the
rematch, Tyler Villalobos scored El Segundo’s
only goal and the Eagles fell 2-1 to enter the
playoffs as a second place team.
The Eagles were playing their best soccer
entering the playoffs. Before the championship
game, head coach Andrew Kelly pointed out
that the team had peaked at the right time. It
wasn’t an easy road to the championship game
for the Eagles, even if they had outscored
their opponents 11-6 in the first four playoff
contests. They defeated four league champions,
including fourth-seeded Baldwin Park, before
getting to the pinnacle of the season. They were
challenged by the long drive to Vista Murrieta
in a 3-3 win on penalty kicks. They forged
through a chilly game on the road that saw a
light dusting of snow against Oak Hills from
Hesperia with a 2-1 win to reach the final. In
the final, they would face a Hesperia team that
had outscored playoff opponents 9-1 and was
on a seven-game win streak.
The first half was a challenge to both teams
attempting to score. In the second half, the
Eagles broke through. While the Eagles were
pressing the ball up front, Denis Vezina fed
Ciaran Feeney with a pass and Feeney obliged
with a header out of reach of the goalie and
into the net in the 59th minute. In the 72nd
minute, Finders took a free ball and blasted
a left-footed shot to the back of the net for
a 2-0 lead to cap the scoring and the Eagles’
first CIF soccer championship/
El Segundo advanced to play in the
Southern California Region State Division
IV championship tournament. The
march towards greatness of being the top
team started with a 7-3 win over Robert F.
Kennedy Community, the City Section
Division 3 champions. Next up was a long
trek to Thermal to play top-seeded Desert
Mirage. The Rams, ranked 36th nationally
and 10h in California, did not intimidate
the Eagles. El Segundo would allow the first goal,
rallied to take a two-goal lead, lost that lead,
but then regrouped to eliminate the top-seeded
Rams 5-4 on penalty kicks. James Amerault’s
save on the Rams’ third attempt meant victory
for the Eagles and a date with Hesperia in the
finals. It would be the second time these two
teams would play for a championship.
In the Southern California Region State Division
IV finals, played at El Segundo on a cool,
rain-soaked night that saw no mercy of showers
stopping throughout the contest, the Eagles won
a thriller on penalty kicks. During penalty kick
phase, Logan Pismopulos scored on a shot to
the right corner, Malcolm Holtzmann’s blast to
the left corner was good and Finders’ finesse
made it 3-3. When Hesperia’s Cesar Roque’s
attempt went wide left, it all came down to Lund
to deliver the game-winner. Lund blasted it by
the goalie to cap a historic win for the ages.
Boys Volleyball
With success comes the rewards of playing
the best. For six of the past seven seasons
the Eagles have won at least 19 matches each
year, advanced to the CIF quarterfinals twice,
semifinals once and also came away with two
CIF Southern Section titles. So with so much
success the Eagles were been moved into
Division I, which is one of the nation’s top
high school divisions.
The Eagles faced 15 teams that advanced to
the playoffs. This prepared them to win their
fourth league championship in five years. Three
of the team’s losses came to Lakewood (ranked
second in Division 2), Division 1 top-ranked
South Torrance and sixth-ranked Palos Verdes.
The Eagles swept through their Ocean League
schedule and hosted Servite in the first round
of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs. However,
El Segundo fell short in a close match 18-25,
20-25, 22-25.
Softball
They weren’t supposed to win 17 games,
a league title was a long shot, defeating the
number one team was unthinkable, and visions
of a CIF Southern Section quarterfinal playoff
appearance were a dream. But that didn’t stop
the El Segundo High softball team from reaching
those levels this season. The Eagles had lost
five key players to graduation after a 12-15
record in 2017, so there were positions to fill.
The Eagles were loaded with talent and
experience and it started with senior pitcher
Monique Benjamin. The standout pitcher and
feared hitter, who will attend Columbia University
to play softball next year, was a four-year
decorated starter and team leader. When you
add in Kat Kakuske, Kaili Reitano, Gabby
Benjamin, Julia Chavez and Audrey Butler
-- all three-year players -- the experience and
talent were evident. Junior infielder Adri Hebert
and freshman shortstop Katie Croxall were key
newcomers added to an already loaded lineup.
The team was loaded offensively and hit
.380 overall, led by Hebert’s blistering .492
and team-leading four home runs and three
triples. Croxall hit .438 and Chavez had 32
RBIs and eight doubles.
The Eagles cemented their place in El Segundo
softball history by capturing the Ocean
League title. It marked the program’s fourth
league title since 2009 and gave second-year
head coach Megan McCann her first.
In the first round of the CIF playoffs, the
Eagles scored 10 first inning runs on their way
to a 13-0 win over Palm Springs on the road.
Next up was a trip to Thousand Oaks to face
top-seeded La Reina in the second round. Sporting
a 20-3 record and a stingy pitching staff
with a micro 0.77 team ERA, the Regents were
an obvious top-ranked team. The Eagles used
one good inning combined with lights-out pitching
by Benjamin to knock off La Reina 4-1.
The Eagles advanced to the CIF Southern
Section quarterfinals for the fifth time in 11
years (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2015) and faced
hot-hitting JW North, Riverside. The Huskies
came up with a two-run sixth and two-run
seventh to hold off the Eagles 6-2 to end El
Segundo’s season. Baseball
The Eagles are coming off one of the most
successful seasons in terms of wins in school
history. El Segundo went 27-7 in 2017 with
a roster filled with senior starters. So reloading
with a bunch of players with little varsity
experience meant filling some voids. Four-year
letterman Brendan Casillas, as well as two-year
players Jaime Galicia and Matt Romero along
with Mateo Camano, were the most experienced.
The Eagles used their stingy defense and
solid pitching to go 19-12 on the year. The
74 runs scored against them were the fourth
best among the 52 teams in the CIF Southern
Section Division 2. The team ERA was
a sparkling 1.85, led by senior right-hander
Galicia’s 1.07 mark.
The Eagles captured their 36th league title in
58 years and their second consecutive Ocean
League title under second-year head coach Billy
Traber. The Eagles were gunning for their 20th
win of the season in the first round of the CIF
Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Playing
in the Division 2 playoffs meant the highest
level the Eagles had competed in since1996
when Traber was a junior pitching for El Segundo.
The Eagles’ first round playoff game
paired them with Alemany, the third place team
from the Mission League. This game became
a classic pitchers’ duel between Galicia and
Alemany’s Blaine Traxel. Galicia pitched well
enough to win, but the Eagles’ offense came
up short and El Segundo fell 2-1 with the
winning run stranded on second base in the
seventh inning with two outs.
Now it’s time to get ready for another great
year of high school sports for the 2018-19
school year. It gets underway starting next
Friday night at 7 p.m. when the Eagles host
Peninsula in the opener of the football season.
Girls 10U Softball Team
in the News
The All Star season ended for El Segundo’s
10u Gold softball team in the Western National
USA Softball Championships. El Segundo lost
2-0 to Ventura and finished 13th out of nearly
40 teams vying for the title.
El Segundo -- with a roster that included
Allie Stevenson, Hina Usuda, Jacy Lindsay,
Ace Anderson, Charli Pages, Vanessa Rodriguez,
Taryn Walker, Sienna Mayer, Maven
Ding, Kalista McMillion, Ava King, Lily
Moser and Maggie Green -- played in a total
of eight tournaments over the course of the
all-star season, placed second twice and was
a semifinalist twice. •
One Cause Of Heart Disease That Might Surprise You
(BPT) - One in four deaths in the U.S. is
caused by heart disease. More than 610,000
people die of heart disease in the U.S. every year,
making it the leading cause of death for both
men and women, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. It’s no surprise
heart health is a priority for many people.
You know you need to eat a nutritious
diet, exercise and avoid smoking. However,
there’s a lot more you need to know to protect
yourself and your family. Consider these five
surprising facts about heart disease.
You may not have heard of familial hypercholesterolemia
(FH), a common, but
inherited genetic disorder that causes heart
disease. FH affects approximately one in 250
people worldwide, but 90 percent of people
born with this genetic condition are not
diagnosed. Individuals with FH have a high
amount of low density lipoprotein (LDL) or
“bad” cholesterol in their blood from birth.
This lifelong burden of cholesterol is a reason
FH leads to early and severe heart disease.
The good news is that FH is manageable if
detected and treated early in life.
Heart attacks have several major warning
signs and symptoms:
• Chest pain or discomfort.
• Upper body pain or discomfort in the
arms, back, neck, jaw or upper stomach.
• Shortness of breath.
• Nausea, lightheadedness or cold sweats.
Know the signs. Trust yourself. If you have
any of these symptoms or sense something
is just not right, call 911.
Many people think heart disease occurs
in old age, but it can affect people of all
ages. Even if you or your family members
are 30 years old or younger, you could be
affected, especially if you have risk factors
like high cholesterol or a family history of
heart disease. Keep in mind, each child with
a family member with FH has a 50 percent
chance of inheriting the disorder, which is
present at birth. Untreated individuals with
FH have up to a 20 times increased lifetime
risk of early heart disease, yet 90 percent of
people with FH are undiagnosed, according
to the FH Foundation.
Many adults are regularly screened for high
cholesterol, but it’s not as common for children
to be screened, although the American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all
children between the ages of 9 and 11 be
screened for high cholesterol. These guidelines
also recommend screening for FH as early
as age 2 if there is a family history of high
cholesterol, early heart disease or known FH.
Talk to your children’s doctor about screening.
FH is characterized by an LDL-C level of
over 190 mg/dL in adults, or over 160 mg/dL
in children. FH may also be confirmed with
a genetic test, although this is not necessary
for diagnosis.
Being diagnosed with high cholesterol, heart
disease or even FH is not a death sentence.
Every person’s health considerations are
unique, but by working with your doctor,
you can come up with a plan to help manage
your health and maintain the strongest heart
possible. This could include lifestyle changes
and medications to manage the LDL cholesterol
level in the blood. The key is to keep
asking questions, learn about your specific
health needs and stay dedicated to your heart
health plan. •
Seniors