Cif

At first glance, it appeared as though the St. Francis and Crescenta Valley boys' golf teams would enter the season in a state of transition. The Golden Knights and Falcons changed their identity at the top by bringing in new coaches in Kyle Ostrom and Lee Pope, respectively, to revamp their teams. Looking to meet different expectations bestowed by Ostrom and Pope, St. Francis and Crescenta Valley struggled earlier on before seeing their fortunes change to put them in line for potential playoff contention.

There was no clean sweep in local boys' volleyball when the CIF Southern Section released its playoff pairings Saturday morning. Reigning Prep League champion Flintridge Prep will carry the torch as the lone postseason entry when the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs begin Tuesday evening. Flintridge Prep (17-7) will host Cerritos Whitney (14-5), the Academy League third-place entry, in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Even though the Rebels are no stranger to the postseason, there are still several unknowns.

LOS ANGELES - Since the end of last summer, Kayla Montgomery has experienced her share of discomfort. Forced to deal with nagging pains in her hip and both knees, the talented Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy track and field athlete has still managed to flourish in her multiple races. She temporarily brushed aside the soreness Thursday at the Mission League finals at Occidental College and managed to extend her season in several events. “I had to go out there and push myself through the pain,” said Montgomery, who qualified in the 400-meter race with a fourth-place finish in a personal-best mark of 59.02 seconds.

LOS ANGELES - Vince De Pinto had plenty of confidence entering the final round of the two-round Mission League Individual Tournament on Wednesday. One more solid 18-hole round would enable the St. Francis High senior golfer to be a part of the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament for the first time in his career. De Pinto punched his ticket into the postseason, as he carded a three-over-par 75 to finish fifth in league at Griffith Park's Wilson Course. “It feels great to be able to move on,” said De Pinto, who entered Wednesday's action atop the leader board after opening with a three-under-par 69 on Tuesday at Lakewood Country Club before finishing with a two-round score of 144. “I knew what I needed to do. “I made a lot of putts for par. The plan coming into the last round was to be aggressive on the first nine holes and see where I matched up with my opponents.

BURBANK - While waiting for the official scores of the Pacific League's Individual Tournament to be tallied, Paul Park leaned forward in a chair Wednesday on the deck at De Bell Golf Club eagerly awaiting word as to whether his latest result would extend his season. The Crescenta Valley High boys' golfer figured the odds were with him despite playing in a 16-player field that was dominated mostly by powerful Arcadia. When Park received confirmation he qualified for the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament, he immediately felt relief.

PASADENA - Leave it to the Hoover High boys' tennis team to break up a near Burbank city monopoly at Wednesday afternoon's Pacific League boys' tennis tournament finals. While the Tornadoes walked away without clinching either a singles or doubles titles, Hoover's Oleg Simonyan finished runner-up on the singles side and, in the process, earned advancement to the CIF Southern Section Boys Individual Tennis Tournament. “I'm proud of the way both Oleg and Emile [Ohanyan] played,” Hoover Coach Julie Hoppe said.

GIRLS' LACROSSE Chaminade 11, Glendale 4: Lymayre Aguilar finished with three goals Tuesday for the Nitros, who saw their season come to a close in a US Lacrosse CIF Southern Section North Division second-round road match. Elibeth Torres scored one goal for the Nitros, who finished 6-10. “We had plenty of opportunities, but we didn't shoot very well,” said Glendale Coach Joe Campbell, whose team picked up a 7-5 first-round home victory against Beverly Hills. “We had a young team and we made strides in getting back to the playoffs.” Against Beverly Hills, Aguilar collected a team-high three goals.

GIRLS' LACROSSE Glendale 7, Beverly Hills 5: The host Nitros (6-9) picked up a CIF Southern Section North Division first-round playoff victory Monday. Lymayre Aguilar finished with a team-high three goals for Glendale, which will meet Chaminade in a second-round road match at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Nitros received a pair of goals from Ahuiexel Lopez-Engleman and one apiece from Ariella Ruiz and Claire Bernardo. Glendale, which went 3-4 for third place in the Prep League, got five saves from goalkeeper Jenina Villabroza.

Roughly five years ago, Gabriel Isacson decided she would give water polo a shot. Five years later, on a team rife with talent, the unassuming Isacson, perhaps overlooked throughout much of this past season, stepped up and shined on the biggest stage that the Crescenta Valley High girls' water polo program has ever been upon. For a program that began under the guise of Peter Kim and Pete Loporchio in the 1996-97 season, Falcons girls' water polo built a tradition of Pacific League titles and lengthy CIF Southern Section postseason runs.

With an eye on the future, the CIF Southern Section remembered its past when it unveiled its “100 Athletes for 100 Years” on Saturday at a reception in Los Angeles. The list featured three former local standouts who helped blaze trails along the Glendale sports landscape. Frank Wykoff and Frank Albert of Glendale High and Hoover's Jack Davis, all of whom are deceased, were bestowed with recognition as being among the 100 greatest CIF Southern Section athletes.  Criteria for receiving the accolade included participation in a CIF Southern Section sport and having success at all levels (high school, collegiate, Olympic and professional ranks)