Cif

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.

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.

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.

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.

LA CRESCENTA - With a full squad, the Crescenta Valley High boys' tennis team felt confident it could compete in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs. Unfortunately, the Falcons were without one of their top players in Patrick Meserkhani for Tuesday's wild-card matchup with visiting Redondo Union, a Bay League at-large entrant. Crescenta Valley Coach Sam Hyun, who is in his first year at the helm, had to switch players around and saw his unforeseen new lineup affect the team's strategy negatively in a 16-2 season-ending defeat.

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.

For a second season in a row, the Hoover High boys' tennis team finds itself in the CIF Southern Section playoffs and the Tornadoes find themselves with a daunting task. Hoover is set to face Harvard-Westlake, the third seed in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs, in the first round on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Elsewhere in Division I, Crescenta Valley will host Redondo Union in Tuesday's wild-card round, while Flintridge Prep, in Division II, will travel to face Walnut in a Division II wild-card matchup.

Following a rainstorm in the heart of Ventura County, Paul Park heated up. The Crescenta Valley High junior boys' golfer put things together nicely and proceeded to put on one of his best performances of the season. Park shot a two-under-par 70 to finish second overall in the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai. "Things worked out well for me on the course and I hit a lot of my shots on the greens," said Park, who finished behind Sean Croker of Westlake (67)