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.

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 — 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.

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.

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.

Having wrestled away the top spot in the Pacific League from longtime champion Arcadia High, Crescenta Valley also found itself atop the list of the All-Pacific League baseball team. As it related to the Pacific League Player of the Year, to the winner went the spoils, as the Falcons senior pitching duo of Kyle Murray and Elliot Surrey shared the honor ahead of teammates Ted Boeke, Troy Mulcahey and Cameron Silva claiming first-team accolades as part of a Falcons players contingent of eight all-league honorees.

Just like the championship, the Pacific League's Player of the Year award was likely still up for grabs with four teams in position to win the title coming into the regular-season finale. By the end of the night, the room for debate was closed when Ted Boeke hit a game-winning, three-run homer to lead Crescenta Valley over its league rival Arcadia in the top of the seventh inning, 5-4, on May 10 and to a share of the league title with Burbank. After the game in which there was so much on the line, Falcons Coach Phil Torres said Boeke's performance was exactly what a league MVP would do. It proved prophetic for Boeke, who reaped the league's top honor after a standout senior campaign.

ARCADIA - It appeared hope for capturing the Pacific League baseball title and avenging a previous loss against its rival was running low for the Crescenta Valley High baseball team Friday night. Down two runs headed into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Falcons appeared to be down to their final out after consecutive strikeouts. The second, however, came on a wild pitch to CV's Joe Torres that rolled to the fence. Torres beat the throw to first, representing the tying the run and bringing the potential winning run to the plate.

SOFTBALL Hoover 15, Muir 0 (five innings): The Tornadoes collected 12 runs in the first inning en route to a Pacific League home win on Friday via the mercy rule. Diana Palafox had two hits, three runs batted in and a run scored for the Tornadoes (8-11, 3-9 in league), while Alissa Barcena had four RBI and three runs, Karina Moreno had three RBI and two runs, Jessica Rivera had two runs and two RBI and Kaitlyn Williams had an RBI and two runs, with Jenesy Gonzalez and Anjel Bonilla also scoring twice.

ARCADIA - On an evening in which the Crescenta Valley High track and field teams proved themselves the dominant area program within the Pacific League, both Glendale and Hoover highs also enjoyed some success at Friday night's Pacific League Finals at Arcadia's Salter Stadium. A few victories came from multiple-event winners, including by the Falcons' super sophomore tandem of Megan Melnyk and Emmie Walker. Melnyk was dominant in the distances, coming from behind to clinch the 800-meter run, while holding off a hard-charging challenger in the 1,600.

BURBANK - Young Tae Seo couldn't have left the Pacific League any better. The dominant force on the Crescenta Valley High boys' swimming team the last four years wanted to leave a lasting impact on the league and he did just that, having a hand in setting three new league records - two individual and one relay - at league finals Thursday at Burbank High. PHOTOS: Pacific League Swim finals In his curtain call to the league, Seo left his name in the record books seven of the 11 league events when he swam the leadoff leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final race of the tournament.

BASEBALL Glendale 9, Muir 5: Josue Aguilera walked three times and singled in scoring twice and leading the Nitros to a Pacific League victory Wednesday afternoon. Jacob Funaro also singled and drove in three runs for Glendale (3-16, 2-9), while Javier Aguayo tossed all seven innings to pick up the win. The Nitros return to league action Friday against Burroughs. Campbell Hall 3, Flintridge Prep 1: Karlsen Termini went one for three with a run batted in for the Rebels, who had just two hits, in a nonleague road loss Wednesday.

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.

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.

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)