Cif

GLENDALE — With each passing meet, the competition for local high school track and field athletes intensifies as the stakes grow higher and higher. Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College are expected to be no different. Nine athletes, led by a strong quartet who will race in multiple events, with local ties are slated to compete and all are hoping to keep their season alive and advance to the CIF Masters Meet next week.

Upon the release Tuesday afternoon of the 2011-12 All-CIF Southern Section football selections, St. Francis High senior Travis Talianko was listed among the Western Division honorees as a first-team receiver. But Talianko's receiving numbers took a large dip this year, as it was the San Jose State-bound standout's skills as a safety that truly came to the forefront. Nevertheless, one thing was once again abundantly clear and that was that Talianko was an All-CIF mainstay, as he concluded a phenomenal three-year varsity career at St. Francis with his third consecutive All-CIF postseason selection.

Madison Witt couldn't help but look up to Annika Lenz, but by the end of the CIF Southern Section Division III Diving Finals Tuesday their roles were reversed. A year after just being edged by Pasadena Poly's Lenz in her freshman season, Flintridge Prep's Witt came back and kept the standout Panther from ending her high school career with a fourth CIF championship. Witt jumped out to a slim lead after the sixth round and didn't give up any ground en route to capturing the Division III crown with 538 points, while Olivia Rosendahl of Immaculate Heart finished runner-up with 523.85 at Riverside City College.

Holy Family volleyball Coach Robert Bringas couldn't quite put his finger on the reason his Gaels lost, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21, to host St. Anthony on Tuesday night in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4-A playoffs other than the simple fact that, "it didn't click. " "We were there," said Bringas, whose team won a share of the Horizon League title and ended its season at 14-9-3. "We had various opportunities to close out and we didn't. " Tied at 15 in the opening game, Holy Family relinquished a 7-0 run to St. Anthony (13-8)

GLENDALE — Expected to be staples in the top half of the lineup, things couldn't have gone better for Crescenta Valley High's Troy Mulcahey and Royce Park of Flintridge Prep. The junior baseball players proved to be reliable at the plate, helping their teams finish second in their respective leagues. Backed by their solid offensive work, Mulcahey and Park were named to the All-CIF Southern Section first team Monday afternoon. Mulcahey was placed on the Division II team, while Park was named to the Division VI team.

A closer look at the 2007-08 Pacific League girls? water polo season will indicate that it proved to be remarkable for several area programs. The Crescenta Valley High squad captured its fifth consecutive league championship and ninth overall. Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Burbank also all advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs in February, marking the first time that three local schools from the same league advanced that far in the same postseason.

Hamlet Nalbandyan GLENDALE -- For the second straight year, two local teams could meet in the CIF Southern Section Division III boys' water polo finals, but that's the last thing on the minds of the Crescenta Valley and Glendale High teams. Both will be concentrating on their respective semifinal matches today, and if they could each win, then they face each other Tuesday at Long Beach's Belmont Plaza for the title. Last year, the Falcons faced La Canada in the championship and lost, 12-6.

GLENDALE — Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy's Lauren Wheeler had a tough time breaking away from herself, while Glendale resident Sarah Salvo had a tougher time breaking away from her teammate. In the end, both found their way to the CIF Southern Section Northern Individuals. Wheeler, a senior, shot a 20-over-par 93 on Thursday at the Mission League individual finals at Encino-Balboa Golf Course in Encino for a two-day total of 177, a fourth-place finish and the last qualifying spot.

In the words of Coach Jeff Andrews, Sage Hill School boys water polo players are extremely driven entering this season, in both mind and body. Andrews said Lightning players are hungry to improve upon last season's CIF Southern Section Division VI playoff berth, the first in the program's five-year history and advance past the first round. They boast the speed to increase their chances of reaching and moving through the postseason. "We're basically the same team we were last year, but this year's team is a lot faster," said Andrews, who played at UC Irvine and enters his third season at the helm.

CV-Saugus girls' volleyball story.Crescenta Valley's season comes to a close in 25-19, 25-8, 25-22 CIF Southern Section Division IA first-round defeat to Saugus.SAUGUS -- Despite the fact that her team's season had just come to its conclusion in three games, Crescenta Valley High Coach Jennifer Kunz Ryan couldn't have been happier with her Falcons. It came from knowing that, even in defeat, her team had saved its best effort for the last game of the year. "I'm so proud of this group of girls, that's what makes it hardest graduating nine seniors," said Kunz Ryan as she choked back tears after Crescenta Valley's 25-19, 25-8, 25-22 loss to host Saugus in an opening-round match of the CIF Southern Section Division IA playoffs on Tuesday inside a raucous Saugus High gym. After a second-game loss in which the Falcons (11-15)

Qualifying to Saturday's CIF Southern Section Track and Field Divisional Championships at Mt. San Antonio College required the local entrants who earned such advancement to turn in very good results at last weekend's divisional prelims all over Southern California. This weekend, however, the bar will be raised from very good to exceptional. Of course, that's to be expected as divisional championships and CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet berths are on the line with the trip to Cerritos College available for the top 12 finishers in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs and top nine in every other event.

LOS ANGELES - That the Holy Family High School softball team qualified for the playoffs is a victory unto itself. Considering there are no seniors on the Gaels' team and only one junior, that's a whole lot of freshmen and sophomores taking the field. Thus, there may indeed be a silver lining underneath Tuesday afternoon's postseason loss. “I know because I've seen it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year how they've progressed in so many ways,” said Holy Family sophomore shortstop Ginnes Paladini.

After recording a par on the first hole, Colin Morikawa encountered immediate difficulty. Participating in the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional on Monday at River Ridge Golf Club's par-72 Vineyard Course, the La Cañada High boys' golfer found himself in an unusual situation. The reigning All-Area Boys' Golfer of the Year quadruple-bogeyed the par-four second hole, seriously reducing his chances of extending his splendid season. Morikawa shook off the tough situation and finished with a 73 to finish in a seven-way tie for fifth at the event.

After seeing their attempts to lead their respective boys' golf teams past the CIF Southern Section team divisionals fall short, six area athletes will strive to achieve individual success. The group will migrate north to Oxnard to participate in the 18-hole CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional, which will be held at 8 a.m. Monday at River Ridge Golf Club's Vineyard Course. Among those expected to participate will be Paul Park of Crescenta Valley High, Vince De Pinto and Mike Mozilo of St. Francis and La Cañada's Collin Morikawa, Robby Stehlin and Joshua Suh. The top 30 plus ties from the Northern and Southern regionals will advance to the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship Tournament, which will be held at 9 a.m. May 20 at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc.

Six local schools participated Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Division prelims at various locations across Southern California. The following is a roundup of those who advanced to the CIF finals next Saturday. DIVISION I BOYS Crescenta Valley and Glendale at Trabuco Hills High: Michael Davis of Glendale and Gabe Collison of Crescenta Valley punched their tickets to the division finals on Saturday at Mount San Antonio College. Davis, who advanced to the state meet in the 200-meter dash last season, clocked 21.41 in the event Saturday to take third.

Things didn't start off too promising in the beginning of the season for the members of the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team. The Rebels were without several starters because of commitments to the school's basketball team that advanced to the state tournament. Once they returned to the court for volleyball, it took them about a week to get adjusted. Since then, the Rebels have captured the Prep League championship before winning a pair of playoff matches. Flintridge Prep's biggest test is likely to come at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it makes the 15-mile trip to Los Angeles to face top-seeded Cathedral in a CIF Southern Section Division IV quarterfinal match.

LA CAÑADA - A second-round playoff match is not supposed to be easy, especially after a five-game first-round match. Yet it was for the Flintridge Prep boys' volleyball team on Thursday night. The Rebels didn't face much of a challenge from visiting Salesian, needing just 66 minutes to eliminate the Mustangs with a 25-17, 25-14, 25-18 win in the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs. Prep (19-7) will next play top-seeded Cathedral or Katella in Saturday's quarterfinals.

GIRLS' SWIMMING Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy at CIF Southern Section Division I prelims: Kirsten Vose put herself in a good position to win her first CIF title Thursday at Riverside City College. The sophomore won both her preliminary races in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke in respective times of 2:03.47 and 1:03.27. The Division I finals will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. with the top nine finishers in each race Thursday swimming in championship races Saturday and the 10th to 18th swimmers taking part in a consolation final.

While the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team goes into the two-day CIF Southern Section Division II championship meet as the reigning champion, Falcons Coach Jan Sakonju sees his team in a much different light this year. Last season, CV just held off Damien, 301-293, to capture the Division II championship and waiting not much further behind was Los Osos (203). “I don't think [Los Osos is] the main contender, they're the favorite for sure,” said Sakonju, whose team has placed in the top three in Division II the last three years.