Oros, Smith finish in top ten in CIF Masters wrestling tournament

Two Valley Center wrestlers finished in the top ten in the CIF Masters wrestling tournament this weekend.
Juan Oros finished sixth at 105 pounds and Dylan Smith finished seventh at 173 pounds to finish off the wrestling season for the Jaguars.
Oros, Smith and Dustin Miller (114 pounds) each earned All-Valley League first team honors for their outstanding seasons, while second team honors went to Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Damian Stehly (162 pounds) and Travis Weddington (217 pounds).

Oros wins section title, Jags finish second in CIF wrestling tournament

Juan Oros shows off his medal and winning bracket from the CIF tournament.

The Jaguars finished second in CIF Division IV this season.

Senior wrestler Juan Oros won the 105-pound division to lead the Valley Center varsity wrestling team to a second place finish in the CIF Division IV wrestling tournament at Olympian High School on Saturday.
The Jaguars tallied 179.5 points to finish just behind tournament winner Clairemont with 190 points, and will send eight wrestlers to the Masters meet on Saturday. The Jags beat out the rest of the top five: La Jolla in third with 170.5, Imperial in fourth with 164.5 and Olympian in fifth with 145.5.
Oros came back late in the match to pull out a 6–4 decision over Tirso Lara of Imperial in the championship round, after rolling through the first three matches of the day with lightning-fast pins.
Meanwhile, Dylan Smith finished second in the 162-pound division after falling to Matt Vasquez of La Jolla in a 4–3 decision that went to four overtime periods before a champion was crowned.
In the third place matches, both Dustin Miller at 114 pounds and Lorenzo Gomez at 287 pounds won to secure a top-three spot for the Jaguars. Miller won a 5–0 decision over Jerrick Ello of Olympian, while Gomez won a 3–1 decision over Lance Angulo of Holtville.
Four of Valley Center’s wrestlers made it to the third place matches, only to suffer losses because of the five-match rule. Those four Jaguars were Manny Boyle at 121 pounds, Daquota Avila at 137 pounds, Kyle Glennie at 191 pounds and Travis Weddington at 217 pounds.
Those eight wrestlers—Oros, Smith, Miller, Gomez, Boyle, Avila, Glennie and Weddington—will represent Valley Center in the CIF San Diego Section Masters Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Canyon Crest Academy.

(photos by Gabriel Santana)

Another big win earns share of Valley League basketball title for Lady Jags

The Valley Center varsity girls basketball team finished off the regular season with an impressive win, earned a share of the Valley League championship and advanced to the CIF playoffs this week.
The Lady Jaguars polished off Orange Glen in the season finale, earning them the league co-championship with Del Norte and the No. 7 seed in CIF Division III, which gave them a home game against Santana at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the first round of the post-season.
To get to the playoffs, the Lady Jags have been on a roll since mid-January, winning five of their last six games and eight of their last ten.
Finishing off the season at Orange Glen on Friday night, the Lady Jaguars dominated the first half and cruised down the stretch to take a 69–47 victory.
Lauren Gilster showed up in a big way for Valley Center, scoring the first 11 points of the game and leading the Lady Jaguars to a 13–9 lead after the first quarter.
Miriam Zabinsky took over for the Lady Jags in the second quarter, scoring 11 of Valley Center’s 28 points in the period, which extended the lead to 25 at halftime.
The Lady Jaguars pushed the lead out even further in the third quarter, even with the bench getting plenty of playing time, to put the Lady Patriots down by 28 heading into the fourth quarter.
Orange Glen played outstanding offense down the stretch, racking up 22 points in the final period, but the Lady Jags were solid inside and from the free throw line to hold on for the 22-point win.
Zabinsky’s 19 points led all scorers in the game, while Gilster added 18, Andie Wagner had 16, Sidney Reilly had seven, Vinessa Perryman had four, Kelli Imgrund had three and Darin Gilmore had two.
Valley Center finished the season with a 15–12 overall record and a 6–2 league mark. The Lady Jaguars will have played at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Santana in the CIF playoffs. The winner of that game will play again on Saturday against the winner of the game between Mt. Miguel and No. 2 La Jolla.
Be sure to check out the Valley Roadrunner’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/valleycenter for all the latest sports updates throughout the week.

Lady Jaguars win soccer season finale, host first round CIF playoff game

Valley Center’s varsity girls soccer team polished off an outstanding season with another win, making it four wins in the last six games for the Lady Jaguars, and earned a home game in the first round of the CIF playoffs this week.
With the win in the season finale, the Lady Jags earned the No. 6 seed in the CIF Division IV bracket, which means they will host No. 11 Mountain Empire (8–6–3, 4–3–2) on Wednesday night at 5 p.m.
The final game of the regular season was a home game against Orange Glen on Thursday, and a combination of consistent offense and solid defense led the Lady Jaguars to a 2–0 win.
Hannah Sanders scored in the first half on an assist from Michelle Nido to put the Lady Jags in front, then Amanda Nealis scored in the second half to put the game away. In goal, Taylor Yates made two key saves to get the shutout and the victory.
Valley Center posted a 10–6–2 overall record and a 4–3–1 league mark this season. The Lady Jaguars play at home against Santana on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the CIF playoffs. The winner of that game will advance to play at No. 3 Francis Parker on Saturday at 5 p.m.

CIF San Diego Section seeks nominations for inaugural Hall of Fame class

The CIF San Diego Section is seeking nominations for the inaugural class of the CIFSDS Hall of Fame in honor of 50 years of teaching sportsmanship.
This year the CIFSDS will induct its inaugural class into the CIFSDS Hall of Fame to recognize the athletic achievement of its scholar athletes. Selected athletes will be honored at a special event to recognize their achievement. Schools, coaches and the community are invited to nominate individuals and be a part of the process.
Log on to the CIFSDS web site at cifsds.org and click on the prompt to submit your nominations through March 4.
A person can be nominated once; multiple nominations will not affect the selection. Nominate current seniors, graduated athletes, coaches, officials, or community volunteers with significant participation to improving the sport. Provide the name, school, reason for your nomination and any contact information for the nominee. All nominations will be maintained for future consideration. A distinguished media panel representing every decade of high school competition will review nominations and select individuals to be inducted as the Class of 2011, based on their high school careers.
There have been glorious moments of athletic achievement and demonstrated sportsmanship during the past 50 years; it is time for the CIFSDS to celebrate its own and their accomplishments. The San Diego Section community is committed to the values of educational high school athletics and must honor those who have honored their schools and community.

CIF rules Madison football player ineligible; Division IV title still up in the air

The Valley Center High School varsity football team came so close to capturing its fifth CIF championship this season, falling to Madison 40–14 at Qualcomm Stadium in December.
But now, it turns out the game shouldn’t have happened.
The CIF San Diego Section has notified both Valley Center and Madison that an ineligible player was used by the Warhawks, which would wipe out 11 of Madison’s wins this season.
There is a 15-day waiting period for the schools to review the findings and appeal, if they so choose.
The big question is, what will happen to the CIF Division IV championship?
“It’s unfortunate for everybody,” said VCHS principal Ron McCowan. “We feel like everybody got cheated out of a championship—Madison, us, the other schools in Division Four—it shouldn’t have happened this way.”
No one seems to know whether the championship will be awarded to Valley Center by virtue of a forfeit, or if the title will simply be vacated. But McCowan says that’s not what he’s worried about.
“We’re not real interested in winning a championship that way,” he said. “What we are interested in is making sure that we’re all held to the same set of rules and that we have a level playing field for everybody. The rules we have in place are pretty good, but only if they’re followed.”
VCHS varsity football coach Rob Gilster echoed the concern for ensuring fair play in the future.
“To me, they beat us on the field with one ineligible guy, so it is what it is,” he said. “But, as a coach, if I’m held to a standard by my principal, my athletic director and my superintendent, I want to be sure that other coaches are being held to that same standard. We went through this same process with two players who were ineligible this year, and if it’s that way for us, it has to be that way for everybody.”
No matter what the final outcome is, neither McCowan or Gilster seems pleased by what’s happening.
“It adds a feeling of bitterness,” McCowan said. “Our kids don’t get to celebrate a championship, their kids don’t get to, and nobody wins.”
“Everybody loses,” Gilster added. “We try to teach these kids life lessons. Every day, you make choices, and we want to see them make good choices. This is a bad deal, but we have to look forward and ask, ‘Does this make all of us better next year?’ We just have to keep moving forward and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Videos: Valley Center vs Madison CIF Championship Game

Here are some video highlights from the CIF Division IV championship game between Valley Center and Madison, played at Qualcomm Stadium on Monday, Dec. 6 at 10 a.m.

Video by Dan Kidder

Beau Reilly rolls out and hits Shonta Chaloux in the flat for a good gain:


Madison throws it long, but Nico Carrasco is there for the interception for the Jaguars:


Madison runs the option pitch, but Kenny Thomas is there for the tackle:


Stehly Reden gets to the QB on a blitz, and the ball comes loose. It was ruled an incompletion, but the Jaguars thought it was a fumble. What do you think?


Jacob Beason breaks through the line and sacks the Madison QB:


Reilly avoids the rush, scrambles down the sideline, leaps in the air and gets flipped onto his back. He came out for the next play with the wind knocked out of him, but returned two plays later:


Travis Bernard plunges through the line for a one-yard touchdown run in the first half:


With under 30 seconds left in the first half, the Warhawks ran a middle screen that turned into a 71-yard touchdown, and proved to be the game's decisive play:


Thomas puts pressure on the Madison QB to force an incompletion:


Madison connects on a pass across the middle and the WR flips in for the score:


Chaloux makes a catch in the flat and fights for extra yards as the game winds down:


Taylor Oshinski makes the catch on a hook route and fights his way into the endzone for the final VC touchdown of the game:


VC tries an onside kick late in the fourth quarter, but the Warhawks scoop up the loose ball and return it for the game-icing touchdown:


VC head coach Rob Gilster shares his thoughts with the Jags in the locker room after the tough loss:

Photos: Valley Center vs Madison, CIF Division IV championship

The photos from the CIF Division IV championship game between Valley Center and Madison at Qualcomm Stadium can be seen on the Roadrunner's Facebook page here. Photos by Gabriel Santana, who did an amazing job for us this season. Be sure to check them out...

ESPN report: Dillon Baxter admits he's not working hard enough at USC

For those of you who watched the CIF Division IV football championship at the end of last season, you'll remember (painfully, if you're a Valley Center fan) that Mission Bay's Dillon Baxter ran roughshod through the muddied Jaguar defense for upwards of 400 yards.

At the time, I remember thinking that this kid was a prodigious talent, but I couldn't help but notice that his attitude seemed...a bit off.

For example, before the game started, both teams were out on the field warming up, each team on its own half. Baxter managed to situate himself right at the 50 yard line, closer to the Valley Center sideline than his own, and lo and behold, ended up in a bit of a jawing match with some of the Jaguars.

During the game, despite the fact that he was running around the field like a grown-up on the playground field with a bunch of kids, Baxter's teammates all but ignored their star on the sideline. Perhaps he purposely stood by himself, perhaps his teammates just didn't want to talk to him, perhaps it was a little of both. But it was in sharp contrast to Valley Center's recently-graduated phenom, James Johnson, who was always pumping up his teammates with encouragement, cheering on the team during the brief moments when he wasn't in the game, and talking with coaches about the game plan. Baxter seemed like he was already finished with Mission Bay (a theory supported by the USC beanie he was wearing after the game, which I noticed only after he was the absolute last player to go through the line to shake hands with the Jaguars).

He was pretty highly touted coming out of high school, and USC landed him. But this week, after a few disappointing efforts, this report came out on ESPN.com about Baxter's lack of effort.

He may be superbly talented, but as Johnson has shown at the University of Washington (earning a starting WR spot as a true freshman, but having been slowed by an ankle injury in his sophomore year) that hard work is what separates the great from the pretty good.