FOOTBALL:
Palomar at Orange
Coast
Nate Ong
will return as the Comets' starting quarterback on Saturday.
-- Photo by Rick Rowell.
Purchase Game Photos (Password: cometball)
Comets will try to keep
hopes
for playoff berth alive at
Coast
COSTA
MESA (11-7-09)
-- There will be a lot riding on the game on Saturday
when Palomar (7-2, 3-2 Southern Conference) plays its final
game of the regular season at Orange Coast (5-3, 1-3) at 1
p.m. at LeBard Stadium on the OCC campus.
The Comets,
ranked No. 17 in the nation by the J.C. Grid Wire of
Seattle, Washington and No. 18 by JCFootball.com of
Lake Forest, will be trying to keep their hopes for a
Southern California playoff berth alive. The Pirates, who
have a game at Long Beach City College remaining next week,
are attempting to finish the season bowl eligible.
"Both teams
have something to play for," Palomar coach Joe Early said.
"Orange Coast is very physical. Defensively, they're holding
opponents to 1.8 yards per rush. Offensively, they like the
run the ball, and they like to give it to their tailback
(Ray Holley, who is averaging 143.0 yards per game through
eight games and has scored 13 touchdowns).
"We will be
tested physically." Early added.
Nate Ong
will return as the Comets' starting quarterback in place of
Matt Christian, who sustained a fractured collarbone last
week against Fullerton.
Two teams
from the Southern Conference will receive playoff berths.
Palomar would tie for second in the conference if the Comets
beat Orange Coast and Saddleback defeats Grossmont a week
from Saturday, when the Comets have a bye. The Comets would
get an playoff automatic berth if they defeat Orange Coast
and Grossmont loses to both Santa Ana on Saturday and to
Saddleback (which has its bye this Saturday). But that
scenario would appear to be a longshot.
MEN'S SOCCER: Comets
4, Jaguars 3
Palomar rallies from 3-0
deficit
at half, wins on Topete
hat trick
CHULA
VISTA
(11-5-09) -- Pacific Coast Athletic Conference men's
soccer leader Palomar, trailing 3-0 at halftime, rallied to
beat host Southwestern 4-3 on Wednesday on a hat trick by
Johnny Topete (left).
Edgar
Aguilar (right) contributed three assists for the
Comets (9-6-2, 7-1-2), who remain two points ahead of
San Diego City College, a 3-1 winner over MiraCosta, in the PCAC standings.
Javier
Martinez tallied the other Palomar goal. Goalkeeper
Christian Negrete had eight assists.
W.
VOLLEYBALL: Palomar 3, SD Mesa 0
Latest sweep puts Comets
back
in tie for 1st in PCAC
SAN
MARCOS
(11-4-09) -- Palomar's defending Pacific Coast Athletic
Conference women's volleyball champions moved back into a tie
for first place with San Diego Mesa by sweeping the Olympians
25-13, 25-20, 25-22 on Wednesday evening at the Dome.
It was the
Comets' sixth straight victory, all by sweeps, since losing in
five sets to Mesa in San Diego on Oct. 9. Coach Karl Seiler's
team has won 10 of its last 11 matches, nine by sweeps.
Amanda Mendoza
(left) had five blocks and nine kills for Palomar
(13-4, 8-1). Shelley Morton had eight kills, Cashel White had
nine, and Aimee Bird contributed 27 assists after Seiler was
unsure she would be able to play due to the flu.
Alexandrea Davis
came off the bench and contributed what Seiler described as "a
real big kill on the right side" late in the second set as
the Comets rallied to win. "She didn't
get a lot of playing time (in the match), but that was huge for
us."
Palomar rallied
from a 6-0 deficit in the third set. The Olympians are 13-6,
8-1.
WOMEN'S WATER POLO:
Comets 19, Jets 8
Jackie
Puccino scores a goal for the Comets in Wednesday's victory
over visiting Miramar. -- Photo by Hugh Cox
Palomar closes regular
season
with 11-goal win over
Miramar
SAN
MARCOS
(11-4-09) -- Palomar warmed up for the Pacific Coast
Athletic Conference Women's Water Polo Tournament this
weekend in San Diego by beating Miramar 19-8 on Wednesday at
Wallace Memorial Pool.
The Comets
(14-10, 6-2), who will go after regular-season winner San
Diego Mesa in the PCAC tourney at the Joan Kroc Center, will
enter the postseason in second place.
Jackie
Puccino scored four goals to lead Palomar, which jumped out
to a 7-2 first quarter lead. Melissa Best and Sam
Seikkula each scored three goals. Nicole Pederson and
Carissa Gibbons had two goals apiece. Krystle Green, Gina
Ordille and Colette Reid each added a goal.
MEN'S WATER POLO:
Comets 20, Jets 6
Kyle
Smethurst, who finished with four goals and an assist,
controls the ball for Palomar against Miramar. -- Photo by
Hugh Cox
PC takes 8th win in 10
games,
takes momentum into
tourney
SAN
MARCOS
(11-4-09) -- Coach Brian Boynton's Palomar men's
water polo team closed out the regular season with its
eighth win in its last 10 games on Wednesday, routing
Miramar 20-6 at Wallace Memorial Pool.
Kyle
Smethurst came up big for the Comets with four
goals and two assists. Wesley Lacroix (four goals, two
steals), P.J. Worthington (four goals, one assist) and Mitch
Tenney (four assists, five steals) also contributed large
numbers for Palomar (13-11, 5-3).
Next up for
the Comets the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Tournament
on Friday and Saturday at the Joan Kroc Center in San
Diego.
WOMEN'S GOLF:
Conference Finals
ABOVE:
Defending Southern California champion Cora Busby follows
through on a shot on Monday. She carded a 78 on Tuesday.
BELOW LEFT: Second-day No. 1, overall tournament No. 1 and
conference Player of the Year Beth Sellers. -- Photos by Hugh Cox. BELOW
RIGHT:
Jessica Milner, Palomar's No. 1 player on Day 1.
Palomar sweeps field again
and heads to Regionals next
SAN
MARCOS
(11-3-09) -- Palomar completed a two-day domination of
the Foothill Conference Women's Golf Championships on Tuesday at
Lake San Marcos Country Club.
The Comets won
by 49 strokes over runner-up Mt. SAC over Tuesday's 18 holes and
finished 106 strokes ahead of the Mounties for the tournament's
full 36 holes. Both teams advance to the Southern California
Regional tournament on Sunday and Monday at Los Serranos Country
Club in Chino Hills.
Palomar's Beth
Sellers took medalist honors on Tuesday, shooting a 76, and was
named conference Player of the Year. The Comets' Mark Eldridge
was Coach of the Year. Cora Busby, with the second lowest
scoring average in the conference behind Sellers on the year,
joined her on the All-Foothill first team along with Jessica
Milner and Meagan Pechner. Lienati Leniu and Kayla Sotelo were
second-team selections.
The Comets
finished at 326 Tuesday, 27 strokes off the Palomar record of
299 they shot on Sept. 21 but plenty good enough to win easily.
Mt. SAC check in at 375, followed by College of the Desert
(415), Long Beach City College (439) and Mt. San Jacinto (no
score).
Behind Sellers'
medalist score on Tuesday, Busby shot a 78 for the Comets,
Pechner 84, Milner 88, Leniu 89, Kaylynn Ward 89, Sotelo 93 and
Hannah Gelormini 102.
Because the conference tournament is technically
two 18-hole events, the Comets picked up four more wins and are
now 45-0 on the season, 44-0 in conference.
Palomar placed second in Southern California and
third in the CCCAA State Championships last season.
-----
Milner leads
Comets to 1st on
Day 1 by 57
strokes over MSAC
SAN
MARCOS
(11-2-09) -- First-place Palomar remained unbeaten for
2009 and finished 57 strokes ahead of Mt. SAC on Day 1 of
the two-day, 36-hole Foothill Conference women's golf finals
on Monday at Lake San Marcos Country Club.
The Comets,
the host team in the tournament on an unfamiliar neutral
course, had a 320 total, followed by the Mounties at 377,
College of the Desert (422), Long Beach City College (435)
and Mt. San Jacinto (no score).
Jessica
Milner led Palomar with a 76. Beth Sellers had a 78, Meagan
Pechner 82, Cora Busby 84, Lienati Leniu 89 and Kayla Sotelo
95.
FOOTBALL:
National, State
Rankings
Comets are ranked 17th,
18th
among nation's CC teams
SEATTLE,
WA / LAKE FOREST, CA -- The J.C. Grid-Wire
of Seattle, Washington ranks Palomar 17th in the nation this
week, while JCFootball.com of Lake Forest ranks the
Comets 18th.
Palomar
dropped from the Grid-Wire's No. 10 to the 17th spot
after losing 20-17 to current No. 4 Fullerton last Saturday.
The Comets (7-2) are six points from being unbeaten.
The
Grid-Wire's Top Ten teams are No. 1 Navarro (Texas), No.
2 Mississippi Gulf Coast, No. 3 East Mississippi, No. 4
Fullerton, No. 5 Fort Scott (Kansas), No. 6 Mt. SAC,
No. 7 Blinn (Texas), No. 8 Cerritos, No. 9 College of San
Mateo and No. 10 Bakersfield.
JCFootball.com's Top Ten are No. 1 Navarro (Texas), No.
2 Fort Scott (Kansas), No. 3 Mt. SAC, No. 4 Mississippi Gulf
Coast, No. 5 El Camino, No. 6 East Mississippi, No. 7
Bakersfield, No. 8 Blinn (Texas), No. 9 Fullerton and No. 10
Cerritos.
-----
Palomar is
fell from sixth to a tie for 11th with Grossmont in the
California Community College Coaches Association state poll.
The state's Top Ten are No. 1 Cerritos, No. 2 Foothill, No.
3 Mt. SAC No. 4 San Mateo, No. 5 Fullerton, No. 6 City
College of San Francisco, No. 7 El Camino, N. 8 Bakersfield,
No. 9 Allan Hancock and No. 10 Butte.
In the
Southern California Coaches poll, Palomar is ranked eighth.
The Top Ten teams are No. 1 Cerritos, No. 2 Mt. SAC, No. 3
Fullerton, No. 4 Bakersfield, No. 5 El Camino, No. 6
Hancock, No. 7 Grossmont, the No. 8 Comets, No. 9 Los
Angeles Harbor and No. 10 Saddleback. Orange Coast, the
Comets' opponent on Saturday afternoon in Costa Mesa, is
13th.
BASEBALL:
Division I commitment
Palomar catcher B.K. Santy
commits to U. of Washington
SAN
MARCOS
(11-2-09) -- Returning
starting catcher B.K. Santy has become the third baseball
player from Palomar's 2010 team to make an early commitment
to a Division I school.
Santy
(left), heading home after a home run against Mt. SAC,
selected the University of Washington.
Santy
(Rancho Bernardo High) batted .291 with nine doubles, a home
run and 22 RBIs last spring as a true freshman as the Comets
won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship and
made it to the finals of one of two Southern California
Super Regional tournaments.
That
Palomar team was ranked No. 11 in the nation (No. 6 in the
nation after the regular seaso) and No. 1 in Southern California and in California /
Oregon / Washington.
Earlier,
pitcher Scott Myers committed to the University of Oklahoma,
first baseman Alfonso Casillas to the University of
the Pacific.
PCAC: Men's Athlete of
the Week
Comets' Gabriel DaSilva Duarte
gets weekly conference honor
SAN
DIEGO
(11-03-09) -- Gabriel DaSilva Duarte, who has helped
lead the way for Palomar's first-place men's soccer team
this season, shares Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Men's
Athlete of the Week honors.
Duarte
(left) shares the honor with Southwestern football receiver
George Bell.
Duarte, a
freshman from Brazil, scored three goals last week as coach
Carlos Hernandez' Comets won twice, defeating Cuyamaca
2-0 and beat MiraCosta 4-1.
He tallied
both of the Comets' goals against the Coyotes and one goal
vs. the Spartans.
CROSS COUNTRY: PCAC
Finals
Avilez 5th in men's race while
PC women finish in 3rd place
SAN
DIEGO
(10-30-09) --
Palomar sophomore Alex Avilez
(left) ran 4.0 miles in 22:22.60 to place fifth in the men's
race Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Friday
at Morley Field.
Palomar's women
placed third among seven teams as Julie Heuring (right) finished
12th individually in 22:46.40 for 5K. The Palomar men's squad
was fourth in a five-team field.
Ana Nabor,
Veronica Leon, Jacqueline Kaste and Jana McAdams finished
14-15-16-18 for the Comets with respective times of 23:12.80,
23:39.90, 24:04.40 and 14:34.20. Megan Hicks was 22nd, Adriana
Paz 24th, Jasmine Rios 31st and Dana Martensen 38th.
In the men's
face, Brian Burke finished eighth for the Comets in 22:37.0.
Saleed Rihan placed 14th in 23:09.60. Dexter Wood was 22nd, Noah
Marsh 29th, Cameron Avilez 34th, Robert Putman 44th and Erick
Martinez 25th.
Southwestern
captured the men's championship. San Diego Mesa won the women's
title.
WALNUT