Pacific League

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Pacific League prelims at Arcadia High: Numerous area athletes qualified for Friday's upcoming Pacific League finals with top-nine, or in some events, top-12 performances on Friday. Area winners included Glendale's Michael Davis in the 100-meter dash (11.06 seconds) and 200 (22.08), Burroughs' Anthony Monroy in the 1,600 (4:22.55) and Crescenta Valley's Josh Strachewski in the 110 hurdles (15.75) and 300 hurdles (41.29). Other qualifiers for CV were James Maturan in the 100 and 200, Hayden O'Burke in the 100, Justin Springfield in the 200 and 400, Alex Damla in the 400, Adam Akopyan in the 400, Mike Duncan in the 800 and 1,600, Nick Beatty in the 800, Aaron Esparza in the 800 and 1,600, Davit Shahamanyan, and Cody Heidenreich in the 110 hurdles and Mike Jaramillo in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

GLENDALE — Having made staggering contributions both at the plate and in the circle, a case could have been made that Crescenta Valley High's Erin Ashby proved to be the most versatile softball player in the Pacific League. A case was made that she was the most valuable player and it concluded with the junior standout being voted the 2010 All-Pacific League Player of the Year by the league's coaches. "It was an honor to be granted that award with all the great players in the league," said Ashby, who played an instrumental role in the Falcons going 18-9 overall and finishing second in league with a 12-2 mark that included 10 consecutive league wins in which they avenged earlier losses to league champion Burroughs and Burbank.

ALHAMBRA - The Pacific League was competitive with its share of talented players and teams even before this season in girls' golf. But with La Cañada High joining the league this year, that competition got inherently tougher. Most of the league coaches figured with the addition of the Spartans, league placement among the other teams would likely get jostled around, and the fight for individual and teams' postseason spots would become more difficult. That premise held to form Wednesday in the opening Pacific League match at Alhambra Golf Course with the Spartans tying for third with San Marino.

BURBANK - Even when the six Pacific League girls' golf teams aren't involved in a league match, they still find themselves competing against each other. It happened Thursday afternoon, as Crescenta Valley High, Arcadia, Burbank, Burroughs, La Cañada and San Marino participated in the Magnolia Park Optimist Club Invitational at De Bell Golf Club. Most of the teams turned in excellent performances, highlighted by La Cañada's Jennifer Kim edging Crescenta Valley's Jocelyn Chia in a card-off in the A Flight competition and three area teams posting top-10 finishes in the 21-team team competition.

GLENDALE — Glendale High baseball Coach Jesus Osuna and his team spent their Monday afternoon practice session getting ready to play Burroughs High in a Pacific League game on Tuesday only to find out shortly after practice that the matchup would never take place. Saying there were "bad decisions made," Burroughs Principal Emilio Urioste said Tuesday that he canceled the Indians' baseball season and fired the school's varsity baseball coach and his three assistants after discovering that one of them served players beer during a recent Arizona trip.

ARCADIA ? With the addition of two new teams to the Pacific League this season, Claire Collison and Rachel Lange still figure to have several memorable races. The two athletes for the Crescenta Valley High girls' cross-country team showed why they are arguably among the elite in the league, and the duo provided a glimpse that many close races might be in store between the two during the next two months. Collison edged Lange by one second on Thursday to win the league's first meet at Arcadia Park.

BURBANK ? While its monumental dual-meet winning streak had fallen to the wayside, the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team had one streak left to maintain. And the Falcons did just that, claiming a share of their 14th consecutive Pacific League title, swimming past archrival Arcadia by a 658.5-603 tally in the league finals on Thursday at Burbank High. Just a week earlier, the Apaches had handed the Falcons a dual-meet loss, claiming a share of the league title and ending Crescenta Valley's mammoth dual-meet win streak at 42 in the process.

Mirjam Swanson GLENDALE -- Odds and ends from the local high school girls' water polo scene: Livin' large in Pacific League: While Glendale, Arcadia, Pasadena, Hoover and Muir highs all fight for the No. 2 and 3 spots in league and thus the automatic CIF playoff berths, Coach Peter Kim's Crescenta Valley contingent will be fighting simply not to lose its edge. Because the Falcons' nonleague schedule was no joke. Bell-Gardens. Harvard-Westlake.

Hamlet Nalbandyan GLENDALE -- o7 The following is a preview of the Pacific League in girls' basketball, which begins Tuesday:f7 THE FAVORITE Muir High was head and shoulders above the rest in the Pacific League last year, finishing 9-1, with its only loss coming to an upset-minded Glendale High squad, 38-35. But as dangerous as the Mustangs, who at one point were ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division III, were last year, they will be even tougher this year.

GLENDALE— With five local Pacific League basketball teams making postseason trips, it is fair to say that the 2006-2007 season was successful in many ways for area teams. Behind much of that success was the play of some outstanding individual athletes. For their accomplishments, five local players were selected to either the All-Pacific League first or second team. After guiding the Crescenta Valley High's girls' team to a third-place league finish, Falcons forward Molly Roach was selected to the first team.

For the first time since 2008, the Crescenta Valley High baseball team captured the Pacific League championship this season. The last time that happened was also the last time the Falcons (20-7) advanced past the first round of the playoffs. Whether or not history repeats itself this season will depend on how well the Falcons match up with Tustin, which visits Stengel Field at 4:15 p.m. today for a CIF Southern Section Division II first-round game. The first key, according to Falcons senior right fielder Troy Mulcahey, a veteran of the last three CV teams, is to approach the game with an appropriate level of focus and urgency.

As the regular season wound down and the league tournament finals took place, Jack Bouchard and Andrew Cho each had something in common - earning a potential spot in the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional. The duo clearly needed to be at their best in their respective league individual finals for that to happen. Bouchard and Cho passed their tests and will next compete in the event, which will begin at 8 a.m. Monday at Las Posas Country Club in Camarillo. The top 30 plus ties will advance to the CIF Individual Finals at 8 a.m. May 21 at Victoria Country Club in Riverside.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Technically speaking, Crescenta Valley High's baseball team assured itself a share of its first Pacific League title since 2008 on Tuesday afternoon with a lopsided win over last-place Muir. But Friday night was truly the Falcons' night. After a league-title drought and a seven-game losing streak against archrival Arcadia, Friday was most assuredly still circled on the Falcons' calendar, having clinched a share of league or not. And thanks to seven brilliant innings from Kyle Murray, plenty of timely hitting and a cavalcade of CV momentum, the Falcons wrapped up the league crown all for themselves with a resounding 7-0 win over the Apaches at Stengel Field.

BOYS' GOLF Crescenta Valley in CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional: The Falcons placed 16th in the 19-team event Monday at Soule Park in Ojai. Playing without three regular scorers, the Falcons shot a 431. Andrew Cho paced Crescenta Valley, which finished second in the Pacific League, with a five-over-par 77. The Falcons also received an 83 from David Moreno, 87 from Andy Kim, 91 from Michael Rinder and a 93 from Cody Renfro. "They did OK, and it was an opportunity for some of the others to play and get more experience," said Crescenta Valley Coach John Pehar, who said the Falcons were without Adrian Chia, Paul Park and Patrick Kallas because of advanced placement testing.

There won't be much time for the four playoff-bound area boys' volleyball teams to prepare for their first-round matchups, which were revealed by the CIF Southern Section Saturday morning and will be played at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. Two Pacific League teams, Burroughs and Crescenta Valley, will open play in Division III, while St. Francis faces an uphill climb in Division I and Providence will measure its progress against a team it faced earlier this year in Division V. Burroughs hasn't met up with its first-round foe, Village Christian, since last April at the Crescenta Valley Varsity Tournament.

LA CRESCENTA - All smiles and walking to the team bus, Glendale High softball player Esmeralda Winland looked at teammates Meghan Spencer and Janette Avina and rhetorically asked, "Did we just beat CV?" They absolutely did. For the first time since March 31, 2005, Glendale defeated Crescenta Valley, handily upending their Pacific League rival, 6-0, on Friday at CV. "I feel like I could conquer the world," Winland told her teammates. Her teammates, one with her armed taped with ice and the other still in disbelief, were the leaders of a team that stunned the Falcons and all but knocked CV out of the race for the league championship.

SOFTBALL Mayfield 9, Flintridge Prep 8: Chelsea Johnson nearly led the Rebels to a Prep League victory on the road Wednesday. Johnson went two for three with a home run, four runs batted in, three runs scored and three stolen bases for Flintridge Prep, which also had Rachel Simon go two for three with two RBI. The Rebels dropped to 2-14, 2-7 in league. Hoover 12, Muir 0 (five innings): Kaitlyn Williams, Sarah Hill and Melissa Garcia each had run-scoring hits in the first inning to lift the visiting Tornadoes to a Pacific League road win Wednesday.

ARCADIA - Before the season began, Andrew Cho inquired about becoming a member of the Crescenta Valley High boys' golf team. But Cho needed some work on his overall game to improve his chances of making the up-and-coming squad. Once he refined his technique, the results started to show. Cho likely enjoyed his finest moment of the season Wednesday afternoon after he shot a seven-over-par 78 at the Pacific League individual final at Santa Anita Golf Course and grabbed the seventh and final spot to advance to the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.

PASADENA - Throughout the regular season, Emile Ohanyan proved he could compete with many of the best players in the Pacific League. Now, the Hoover High boys' tennis player is looking to do the same in the league tournament. Ohanyan passed his first two tests Monday afternoon at Pasadena High, winning his first two sets to advance to the semifinals. Ohanyan, the fourth seed, started off with a 6-1, 6-1 win against 13th seeded Charbel El Khouri of Pasadena and then netted a shortened 5-1 second-round win against fifth-seeded Michael Whelan of Burroughs.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Pacific League prelims at Arcadia High: Numerous area athletes qualified for Friday's upcoming Pacific League finals with top-nine, or in some events, top-12 performances on Friday. Area winners included Glendale's Michael Davis in the 100-meter dash (11.06 seconds) and 200 (22.08), Burroughs' Anthony Monroy in the 1,600 (4:22.55) and Crescenta Valley's Josh Strachewski in the 110 hurdles (15.75) and 300 hurdles (41.29). Other qualifiers for CV were James Maturan in the 100 and 200, Hayden O'Burke in the 100, Justin Springfield in the 200 and 400, Alex Damla in the 400, Adam Akopyan in the 400, Mike Duncan in the 800 and 1,600, Nick Beatty in the 800, Aaron Esparza in the 800 and 1,600, Davit Shahamanyan, and Cody Heidenreich in the 110 hurdles and Mike Jaramillo in the 110 and 300 hurdles.