By Mike Cohen
The defending Division 2 CIF championship 4 x 400 relay team won the honor again, May 11, at the CIF prelims in MoorparkCentaur senior Jonathan Moniz teamed with sophomores Brandon Hassen, Stanley Norman, and Isaiah Jewett at 3 minutes 21 seconds to advance to the All-Division Finals, May 18, at Mt. San Antonio College. Sophomore Donovan Davis ran the anchor leg in the first heat.
Moniz also qualified for the finals in the individual 400 and 800 meter events. He ran 48.70 seconds in the 400 to win the CIF championship and won his heat in the 800 at one minute 57 seconds.
“Jonathan had an amazing performance, winning the relays and having the energy to do really well in the 400 and 800 meter runs to advance,” said Greg Goodyear, who coaches several track and field stars on the Centaur football team.
Hassen qualified in the 200 meters with a second place time of 21.61. He also advanced in the 100 meter dash (10.78) for third place.
“Brandon ran a great 200 meter race, one of his best of the year. He had a good 100, too,” said Goodyear.
Senior Kenia Bonilla won the title in the girls 400 meter run at 56.40, giving her a high seed in the CIF finals. She had a personal best 24.65 in the 200 to advance for Saturday’s races with a third place finish.
Bonilla took sixth in the 100 meter sprint (12.62) and did not qualify.
Jewett finished fourth in the 800 (1:58) and did not qualify. Senior Kourtney Broadnax placed seventh in the 400 at 50.64 for seventh place.
Ryan Bull was a non-qualifier with a third place finish at 48:52 in the 300 meter hurdles.
Kevin Beachem, who won the boys high jump competition in the Ocean League championships, opted to compete instead in the long jump. His leap of 21’ 2” rewarded him as an alternate for the finals. He did not qualify in the triple jump.
“Kevin went up against a strong field of triple jumpers this year. He jumped over 41 feet, which is very good,” said Goodyear.
Young Centaurs doomed by slow starts
By Joe Snyder
Slow starts plagued the Culver City High School baseball team as it was swept in its Ocean League championship showdown series last week by Santa Monica, dropping the Centaurs in seeding for the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs, which begins this week.
The Centaurs lost to the Vikings, 3-1, on May 7 in Culver City. At Santa Monica last Thursday, Culver fell short of the Vikings, 7-4.
Even though the Centaurs (18-7 overall and 8-2 in league) lost their first game to Santa Monica (21-10, 10-0), they had a shot at sharing the league title with the Vikings which would have been their third consecutive.
The Centaurs scored first in the top of the first inning when Darian Sylvester scored on an error, but Santa Monica tied the game in the bottom of the first when Conner Greene singled in a run. The Vikings let loose for six more runs in the bottom of the second, including a two-run double by Lino Lares and a run-scoring double from Nobu Suzuki.
Culver continued to trail, 7-1, through four innings, before making it a game with one run in the top of the fifth and two in the seventh.
In the seventh off Santa Monica closer Andrew Brown, Jay Sterner led off the inning with a walk, followed by a single by Daniel Hennessy and a walk to Tim Stewart, loading the bases. Kelvin Murillo followed with a base on balls, bringing home Sterner, then Nate Matthews hit a sacrifice to center field, scoring Hennessy.
Freshman Michael Netzel singled to load the bases, but Moises Amador struck out, and Louis Ortega grounded out to shortstop ending the threat.
Sylvester went 2-for-4 and scored a run.
“Sylvester (a junior utility player) is definitely one of the better players in the Ocean League and South Bay,” Prieto said.
Another slow start plagued the host Centaurs in their loss to the Vikings on May 7.
Santa Monica scored two of their three runs in the bottom of the first and Culver had a lot of trouble against Viking junior pitcher Alex Gironda, who surrendered only two hits and one unearned run.
Freddie Norris had three hits and two runs batted in for the Vikings.
“Nobody gave up. We played aggressively for being young,” Culver City head coach Rick Prieto said.
The Centaurs are headed to the competitive CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs, which begin this week.
“The playoffs will give us a second chance,” Prieto said.
The Division III is led by top seed La Verne Bonita, which includes two pro and major college prospect pitchers. Second seeded Gardena Serra has a few prospects on its squad, including University of Southern California commit Dominic Smith. From the always tough Bay League, champion Manhattan Beach Mira Costa is an early favorite. The Centaurs lost to the Mustangs 6-3 in non-league play in March at Mira Costa.
OUT AT HOME: Centaur catcher Daniel Henessy blocks the plate and tags out Viking runner Alex Turner. Santa Monica swept Culver City last week to drop the Centaurs into second place. Playoffs are this week.
Photo by George Laase