Mira Costa Mustang Round-Up

A Weekly Update of Athletic Events

Quick Links Week of September 14 2010

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MCHS Website From Mira Costa's Athletic Director, Paula Spence

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Dear Mustang Families and Fans,

It hardly seems possible to me that I am already welcoming you

Upcoming Athletic
back for another exciting season of Mustang Athletics! Surely just a
Events!
few short weeks ago we were celebrating our first ESPN ranking at
the 2009/10 year opening with representatives from all of our 25
amazing teams at our home opener football game, but alas, here
Cross Country we are ready to start another year. I am so very excited to be part
Thurs - Sept 23rd of Mustang Athletics again and I cannot wait for the games to
Bay League Meet #1 begin.
@ West High School
2:30pm Let's remember the wonderful experiences from last year -two CIF-SS
Champions, three CIF-SS finalists, two CIF-SS semifinalists, four CIF-SS
quarterfinalists and 13 other teams who made it to the second round of the
Saturday
playoffs or sent individual athletes on to higher competition! That's simply
September 25th amazing! Your efforts last year have brought Mira Costa Athletics to the
Stanford Invitational national stage once again as we were named ESPN's #15 athletic program
Palo Alto CA in the nation for the 2009/10 season!
7:30pm
It is my great pleasure to be your Director of Athletics again this
year. Countless times the athletes have impressed me with their
talent and dedication in the classroom and on the field of play. Our
Football parents and fans have demonstrated unwavering support of all of
Thurs - Sept 16th our athletic programs and our coaches have worked hard to bring
Serra us through yet another winning year in 2009/10, and I expect
@ El Camino College 2010/11 to be more of the same. I am so very proud of all of you
and so honored to be part of Mustang Athletics. I couldn't imagine
 7pm a better school or a better group of people to be associated with.
The athletes, coaches, and parents of Mira Costa Athletics are truly
Girls Golf my extended family. You have welcomed me into your lives and
shared with me every up and down along the way; I have agonized
Tues - Sept 21st
over every injury, cheered every win, and felt the devastation of
South Torrance
every defeat. Thank you for the honor of sharing that with you.
@ Chester Washington
This year, we'll continue to incorporate the themes of the Pursuing Victory
Thurs - Sept 23rd With Honor (PVWH) campaign into our athletic programs. This successful
South Torrance nationwide program reinforces the need for sportsmanship in athletics. We
will again hold PVWH trainings for all head coaches, assistant coaches,
@ Los Verdes
athletes, and parents to discuss the themes and importance of PVWH.
These trainings will continue as we move through this school year and will
Girls Volleyball continue in the future. Included in the discussions were the themes and
Sept 24 - 25th
mission of PVWH, guidelines for behavior and the examples we expect our
athletes, coaches, and spectators to set at athletic events, and ways to help
Durango Invitational
student-athletes incorporate PVWH into their lives. As a representative of
Las Vegas NV ours, your actions are scrutinized by family and friends, opposing fans, the
local community, and the media. They will reflect back upon us. Good
Girls Tennis sportsmanship will say positive things about you and our school and remind
us all that in the end, sport is meant to be fun. Here's to another amazing
Thurs - Sept 16
year!
Beverly Hills
@ Beverly Hills
Go Mustangs!
Mon - Sept 20th
Mater Dei
@ Los Caballeros

Tues - Sept 21st

Orange Lutheran
@ Anaheim TC

Boys Water Polo

Tues - Sept 21
Laguna Beach
@ Laguna Beach

ESPN RISE FAB 50

15th Best High School
Athletic Program in the
USA!!! You Should Know that....
Mira Costa Boys finised 10th in the CIF Southern Section
Come out and see the Commissioner's Cup standings for this past year with a CIF title in
Mustangs! football and runner-up finishes in water polo and volleyball.

Boys Volleyball
As usual, the boys were busy during the summer - Christopher
Orenic, Michael Mullahey and Tony Ensbury won Gold Medals at the
USA Volleyball High Performance Championships held in Wisonsin
this summer; they competed in the International Youth Division.

Chris Orenic was named Male Beach Volleyball Player of Year by

the Amateur Athletic Union - congratulations, Christopher!

Girls Volleyball
The girls also kept up a hectic schedule although a trip to Hawaii
isn't usually called "hectic." The girls participated in the Ann Kang
Invitational at Ioloani School - a great preseason tournament with
lots of talented teams in attendance - and the girls finished in
second place!
The girls opened their regular season with a stiff non-league match
against 4th ranked Edison, losing 25-23, 25-19 and 25-23 this past
Wednesday at Costa.

Cross Country
The Mustang Round-up welcomes back Boys Cross Country coach
Bob Fish; Coach Fish returns after a year regaining his health and
his voice, a voice that combines the best of a foghorn and
a loudspeaker - Welcome back, Coach!

Kelli Sugimoto finished 2nd with a great early season time of 17.54
in the junior race at the Laguna Hills Invitational while Savannah
Pio cruised to a victory in the senior race.
Adam Perez secured 2nd place in the Divsion II senior race,
posting a time of 15.56

Football
The 2010 edition of Costa football kicked off Friday, September 3rd
in front of a sold-out crowd, with members of last year's CIF
Southern Section Western Division championship team on the
sidelines, playing perennial rival, Loyola. Both teams had trouble
moving the ball; however, the Costa defense looked in mid-season
form as Loyola only gained 83 total yards for the night. The
Mustangs fell 10-7 to the Cubs, but Costa football looks ready to
make a great run thru the Bay League!
Come out to a game!

Boys Baseball
The Manhattan Beach Little League Senior All Stars, composed of
mainly of members of the Costa baseball team, took 19 straight
games in All Star competitions this summer, eventually losing in
the semi-finals of the Senior League World Series to host Bangor,
Maine.

Coach Carlos Rojas and his All Stars dominated tournaments on

their way to the nationals and ultimately, could not overcome the
home town team and home town fans in Bangor, but this is the
first-ever World Series appearance for Manhattan Beach Senior
Little League and we congratulate them!
 The All Stars are made up of players from the Manhattan Beach
and Hermosa Beach Senior Leagues and Mira Costa High School
teams and includes Anthony Lombardo, Autin Henning, Braden
Casady, Bret Collins, Brett Clark, Carter Casady, Ian McLoughlin,
Jack Hadley, Jackson Casady, Jackson Lipps, Morgan Ascher, Ryan
Erickson, Ryan Franklin, Sam O'Melia, Trent Hammon and Turner
Conrad.

Boys Golf
Lawrence Ree captured his first American Junior Golf Association
tournament this earlier this summer; Lawrence claimed the AJGA
Junior All Star at Marshallia Ranch Golf Course near Vandenbeg Air
Force Base with a 4 under par 212 over the 54-hole tournament.

Swimming
Three Mira Costa students won gold medals this summer while
representing Los Angeles County at the Junior Lifeguard regional
and national championships.

Marisa Purcell, Meriel Mitsakos and Sarah Crist competed at the

California Surf Lifesaving Association Junior Regionals in San Diego
in July and the Nationals competition in Huntington Beach in
August.

At the regional event, Purcell won the 16-18 age group distance
swim and was part of the winning swim relay. Mitsakos won the
run/swim/run and was a member of the winning swim relay team
for the 14-15 year olds. Crist was part of the paddle board relay
winning team.

Boys Water Polo

The Boys Water Polo team opened the season with a 10-6 win
over Santa Barbara last Friday. Jake Miller had 4 goals, Trevor
Tarte and Justin Pratt each had to while Dana Tuttle had 10 saves
for Costa

Girls Water Polo

Costa graduate Laura Milstead and returning seniors Summer
Flanders and Marisa Purcell stayed wet this summer, playing for
 the LA Water Polo club that won the golf medal in the 18 and
under S&R Sport Junior Olympics at USC.

Badminton
Chad Naramore, a member of the Costa Badminton team, won the
U17 Boys Doubles championship at the 18th Annual Junior
International Badminton Championships this summer

More Mustang News!

And You Should Also Know About...

ESPN FAB 50 All - Sports School Rankings

Athletic Director Paula Spence is proud to announce that

Mira Costa High School has been ranked as the 15th best high
school sports program in the nation for the 2009 - 2010 year by
ESPN RISE.

Launched last year with an eye toward rewarding schools for multi-
sport excellence, the ESPN RISE All Sports rankings are based on a
point system for each final FAB 50 team produced by each school
during the year.

Sports included are football, girls volleyball, baseball, softball, boys

track, girls track, boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, boys cross country,
girls cross country, boys soccer, girls soccer and softball.

Costa was 11th in last year's rankings but fell to 15th this year;
Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Long Beach Poly, Gardena Serra, Loyola,
Dana Hills, Corona del Mar and Esperanza were Southern California
schools ranked ahead of Costa - Go Mustangs!

NCAA Eligibility
Now is the time for college-bound student-athletes in your junior
class to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center if they plan on
participating in college athletics. Early registration promotes
positive planning and involvement and helps college-bound student
athletes avoid issues that may delay their academic certifications.
Registration is easy and can be done by:
Logging on to the Eligibility Center's new Web Site at
http://www.eligibilitycenter.org
Selecting the "Fall 2010 or After" icon;
Selecting the "new Account" tab at the top of the screen
Beginning the registration process.
Support Costa Athletics!