Crescenta Valley

PASADENA - It's right back to the semifinals of the Pacific League boys' tennis tournament for Emile Ohanyan. Drenched in sweat while playing through the escalating temperatures Monday, the Hoover High standout faced a stiff test during the second of two tournament rounds at Pasadena High. PHOTOS: Pacific League boys' tennis The fourth-seeded Ohanyan survived, posting a 6-4, 2-6 (10-2) second-round win against fifth-seeded Arin Meserkhani of Glendale. "The second round was really tough," said Ohanyan, who opened with a 6-0, 6-0 first-round victory against Young Peak of Crescenta Valley and will make his second straight appearance in the semifinals.

LA CRESCENTA - What could have very well been a lost weekend for the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team may turn out to be the opposite. Tired, twice-beaten and relegated to the seventh-place game in the silver division, the Falcons showed resiliency in rallying to defeat Woodland Hills Taft High's “B” team 17-25, 26-24, 15-10 in the final game of 12th annual Crescenta Valley Tournament on Saturday afternoon. “This weekend wasn't just about having fun, it was about getting ready for next week and hopefully the playoffs,” Crescenta Valley High senior Freedom Tripp said.

LA CRESCENTA - Ryan Muir let out a yell for all of the athletes at the CV CAN Games to hear. Muir had just finished a throw in the shot put competition at the Special Olympics qualifying event and was as thrilled as any other athlete, no matter where his shot put landed. He had reason to celebrate. He walked away with an award, as did all of the other athletes competing at the games Saturday at Crescenta Valley High. “You have to realize that 40 years ago, these guys never left the house,” said Sherry Netherland, Muir's shot put coach from Westside.

While eight schools will at least send one representative to next week's Pacific League track and field finals at Arcadia High, at least locally, the biggest contingent will hail from Crescenta Valley High. That's because the Falcons qualified 30 of the total 44 local competitors out of Friday's preliminaries held at Arcadia High. Overall, 16 qualifying positions were taken by Crescenta Valley girls, including five entrants in two events. Sophomore Megan Melnyk may represent the Falcons' best chance at taking home two events as the long-distance runner advanced in both the 1,600-meter run (second, 5 minutes 22.82 seconds)

LA CRESCENTA - For the first time, the Crescenta Valley High Varsity Boys' Volleyball Tournament expanded to include 20 teams in its 12th year. The Falcons will have to wait to at least one more year to add another first to their tournament - their first championship after going 1-2 in pool play Friday, the first day of the annual tournament. “We've never won this tournament - never,” Crescenta Valley Coach John Nelson said. “It kills me, but that's because we always have good teams here; it's just competitive.” Teams from as nearby as La Cañada and far away as San Diego came to Crescenta Valley for the tournament, which was bumped up from 16 to 20 squads this year.

GLENDALE - It was an opportune inning for one team as it was grueling for the other. One team's patience at the plate was the other's pitching hardships. The inning was the first of six in a shortened Pacific League ballgame between Crescenta Valley High and Hoover - a frame in which the Falcons loaded the bases three times and scored four runs all on a single hit. The Falcons capitalized on six walks and sustained the tone throughout the contest to defeat the Tornadoes, 11-1, Friday evening at Stengel Field.

PASADENA - Heading into the home stretch in the Pacific League, Paul Park is pleased with his overall play. Nonetheless, the way the Crescenta Valley High boys' junior golfer sees it, there's still room for improvement and Park's effort Thursday raised his confidence of doing that going forward. PHOTOS: Pacific League boys' golf “I'm doing a lot of things well right now, like striking the ball,” said Park, who shot a two-over-par 72 on Thursday in Pacific League match No. 4 at Brookside Golf Course No. 2. “That really helped me out today on some different holes.

BOYS' SWIMMING Flintridge Prep at Prep League prelims: The Rebels won 10 of the 11 events at Pasadena Poly Thursday. Carlo Sivilotti, Bruce Park and Marco Flores each had their hands in four victories for Flintridge Prep. Sivilotti, Bruce Park, Kevin Park and Marco Flores made up the Rebels' victorious 200-yard medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. They won both with CIF Southern Section Division IV automatic times of one minute 44.04 seconds in the medley and 3:23.89 in the freestyle.

GLENDALE - Its first game against Hoover High this season was a close contest. Too close for the Crescenta Valley High softball team. The Falcons needed a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a tie and defeat the Tornadoes in March. PHOTOS: Crescenta Valley vs. Hoover girls' softball Less than a month later, the Falcons made sure to jump ahead early instead of allowing the Tornadoes to take a lead like they did the first time. Crescenta Valley scored three runs in the third inning, but it was still close, as the Falcons withstood Tornadoes threats in the fourth and seventh innings en route to a 4-1 victory Thursday at Hoover.

ARCADIA - Each year the Crescenta Valley High swim teams look forward to their dual meet with Pacific League rival Arcadia. While the Falcons can usually count on the Apaches giving them their stiffest competition in league, it's not to say it's dramatic. Crescenta Valley dominated on both sides in its league dual meet finale Tuesday at Arcadia, as the Falcons boys and girls posted 114-56 and 119-51 victories, respectively. “There's that ongoing rivalry, Arcadia is still a quality team,” Crescenta Valley boys' Coach Jan Sakonju said.