VC track & field teams solid against Escondido and at Sundevil Invite

Kaylee Hudson set a new school record in the 3,200 at the Sundevil Invite.

Valley Center’s varsity track and field teams put together another group of outstanding individual performances this week in a dual meet against Escondido on Thursday, followed by the Sundevil Invite at Mt. Carmel on Saturday.
The Jaguars hosted Escondido on Thursday, and after winning a total of 15 events in both the boys and girls events, ended up splitting the meet with the Cougars.
Valley Center won the girls meet 71–64 behind phenomenal performances from triple-winner Sidney Reilly and four more first-place finishes for the team.
Reilly won the 100 hurdles (16.39), the 300 hurdles (47.92) and the long jump (16-feet-3) to lead the Lady Jags, while also taking second in the triple jump after tying the top mark but coming up just short on her second-best attempt.
Sidney Reilly was a triple-winner for the Lady Jags against Escondido.

Meanwhile, Leina Villemez was the winner in the 100 (13.29), Caty Alvarez won the 200 (28.03), Kaylee Hudson won the 400 (1:02.77) and Lauren Gilster took first in the discus (106-0 3/4). The Lady Jaguars also won both the 400 relay (52.62) and the 1,600 relay (4:24.57) in the meet.
Gilster also took second in the shot put, while Vinessa Perryman took second in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. In the sprints, Alvarez and Villemez finished one-two in both the 100 and 200, while Hudson ran strong in the distance events to also take second in the 800.
The boys team, however, lost their meet 75–51 despite wins in six of the 15 events.
Jean-Marc Brierre dominated the throwing events, winning both the shot put (42-6) and the discus (133-6), while Ronnie Bourguignon won the 200 (23.07) and took second in the 400, Logan Fiddler won the 3,200 (10:13.65), Armando Diaz won the triple jump (39-0) and Nick Villemez won the pole vault (10-0).
The Jaguars also posted five top-ten individual finishes in the Sundevil Invite on Saturday, including two top-five overall finshes.
Reilly won her heat in the 300 hurdles (46.37), which gave her fourth place overall in Division II, while Hudson finished third in her heat in the 3,200 (11:20.49), good for third place overall in the division and a new school record.
Also for the Lady Jaguars, Gilster took second place in the discus (100-6) and eighth place in the shot put (32-1), while for the Jaguars, Nicasio Westlund took fourth in his heat in the 800 (2:01.69).
Both Jaguars teams will be back in action on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at Del Norte to open league competition.

Lady Jaguars clinch Valley League water polo title with undefeated season

With a pair of wins this week, the Valley Center varsity girls water polo team posted an undefeated season in the Valley League and clinched the league championship.
The Lady Jaguars earned the No. 6 seed in the CIF Division III playoffs, which means they will play against Santa Fe Christian at Westview High School on Thursday at 4 p.m.
To clinch the league title, the Lady Jags defeated Canyon Crest last Tuesday, then finished off the undefeated league season with a big win over Del Norte on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Lady Jags played a steady, consistent game to take a 9–4 win over Canyon Crest.
The Lady Jaguars had a slower start in this game against the Lady Ravens than they did in the first meeting, but still managed to take a 3–1 lead after the first quarter. Canyon Crest was able to score two in the second, allowing two for the Lady Jags, giving Valley Center a 5–3 advantage at half.
The Lady Jaguars were only able to score one in the third, but held Canyon Crest scoreless to lead 6–3 entering the fourth. The Lady Jags were able to score two goals while only allowing one to hang on for the win.
“This was a tough game for the girls against an improved Canyon Crest team,” head coach Kyle Kline said. “We missed some opportunities and were playing with some sick girls but they battled through to earn a league title.”
Maddy Daugherty had a big game with five goals, six steals, and one exclusion. Carina Favela had two goals, two steals. Makayla Markey was playing sick, but still had one goal and two steals. Nicole Marler had five steals, one assist, and one block. Nikki Paredes playing sick had three steals. Sarah Mitchell had one assist. Dani Lettice had one assist. Danielle Moran played the first quarter in goal with three goal saves and two assists. Melissa Persichetti had five goal saves and two assists.
Valley Center took on its final opponent of the regular season on Thursday, and after taking a big early lead, the Lady Jaguars went on to beat Del Norte, 13–5, to seal the undefeated league season.
The Lady Jags had an outstanding start, taking a 6–1 lead in the first quarter. Del Norte came back in the second to score two, while allowing only one for the Lady Jags, giving Valley Center a 7–3 lead at half.
The Lady Jags picked it up a notch in the third, scoring three goals and allowing none, to lead 11–3 going into the fourth. Del Norte scored two goals in the fourth, but the Lady Jags put away three to cap the comfortable win.
“Going undefeated in league was a goal for the girls and it was great to see them set the goal, work hard and achieve it,” Kline said. “They played solid team defense in coming up with sixteen steals and were able to turn many of those into goals. Finishing off strong like this will give the girls momentum heading into the playoffs.”
Favela had a great game with six goals, one assist, six steals, and earned one exclusion. Daugherty had three goals, two assists, two steals, earned two exclusions, and converted on two penalty shots. Lettice had two goals, one steal, earned two exclusions, and earned one penalty shot. Marler had one goal, one steal, and a huge block. Paredes had one goal, one assist, two steals, and earned one exclusion. Mitchell had one steal and earned one penalty shot. Markey had one steal, earned one exclusion, and earned one penalty shot. Macy Morrison had one assist. Maggie McGlynn had one steal. Kaylee Hudson had one steal. Persichetti had eight goal saves and four assists.

Lady Jaguars win two of four in water polo

The Valley Center varsity girls water polo team had a busy week with a league match against San Dieguito last Tuesday and three games to close out the San Diego Open Tournament this weekend.
The Lady Jaguars played well, earning two wins in the four games, including an outstanding 15–0 shutout against San Dieguito.
In that game, the Lady Jags took a 7–0 lead in the first quarter and didn’t look back, smothering the counterattack and rolling to the big win.
Maddy Daugherty had three goals, one assist, and three steals. Nikki Paredes had three goals. Makayla Markey had three goals. Dani Lettice had two goals, one assist, five steals, and three blocks. Carina Favela had one goal, three assists, two steals, and earned one exclusion. Nicole Marler had one goal, two assists, two steals, and earned one exclusion. Macy Morrison had one goal, and one steal. Kaylee Hudson had one goal, one assist, and one steal. Melissa Persichetti had 12 goal saves, four steals, and one assist.
Valley Center finished off the San Diego Open Tournament this weekend with one win in three games.
On Friday, the Lady Jaguars faced Granite Hills, and after falling behind early, suffered an 11–1 loss.
Granite Hills had a solid start, taking a 5–0 lead at half. The Lady Jags were able to put away one goal in the third, while allowing two, to trail 7–1 entering the fourth. Granite Hills scored four more while allowing none to put the game away.
“We were a little out of sync and could not generate any offense against a solid Granite Hills team,” said head coach Kyle Kline. “The girls played hard but could not match Granite who went on to take third in the tournament.”
Lettice had Valley Center’s only goal, while Paredes had five steals and Persichetti had a good game with nine saves and five steals.
The first game Saturday was against La Costa Canyon (LCC) and once again the Lady Jaguars couldn’t overcome an early deficit and lost, 12–8.
LCC came out strong in the first quarter to take a 3–2 lead. The Lady Jags had a slow second quarter and were unable to score, while allowing three more for LCC, to trail 6–2 at half.
The Lady Jags gained some momentum in the third by scoring five goals and allowing three to trail 9–7 going into the fourth. But LCC was able to put away three more goals while the Lady Jags could only earn one.
“This was a tough game and we had some defensive breakdowns with two starters fouling out,” Kline said.
Daugherty had a good game with five goals, one assist, two steals, and earned one exclusion. Favela had two goals, one assist. Elsie Emanuel had one goal. Persichetti had seven goal saves and one assist.
The final game of the tournament was against Scripps Ranch, in a rematch of an earlier tournament game that Valley Center lost by two goals. This time, the Lady Jaguars came out fired up, took an early lead and got a clutch goal late to take a 7–6 win.
The Lady Jags took a 2–1 lead in the first, then picked it up in the second by scoring three goals while allowing one to lead 5–2 at half.
Scripps Ranch was able to score two in the third while allowing one for the Lady Jags, giving Valley Center a 6–4 advantage heading into the fourth.
Scripps Ranch scored two goals in the fourth, but the Lady Jags were able to put one away to take the one-goal win.
“This was good for the girls to finish off with a hard earned win,” Kline said. “They did an awesome job at this tournament, earning three big wins against Santa Fe Christian, University City, and Scripps Ranch. They played some of their best polo yet, which will give them a huge boost heading into the end of league play and the playoffs.”
Daugherty had two goals, two assists, and one steal. Markey had two goals, one assist, and four steals. Favela had one goals, one assist, and one steal. Lettice had one goal, one assist, and one steal. Paredes had one goal, one assist, and one steal. Marler had three steals. Persichetti had 12 goal saves.
The Lady Jaguars play their final match of the regular season on Thursday at Del Norte at 3:45 p.m.

Water polo league play opens with two wins for Lady Jaguars

The Valley Center varsity girls water polo team kicked off league play this week with a pair of dominating wins on the road.
The Lady Jaguars’ week started last Tuesday with a solid 13–1 win over Orange Glen. The Lady Jags had a great start taking a 7–0 lead in the first quarter. After slowing things down a bit, the Lady Jags put away three goals in the second to lead 10–0 at the half.
The Lady Patriots were able to put away one goal in the third, while allowing zero for the Lady Jags. But Valley Center was able to hold the Lady Patriots scoreless in the fourth, while putting away four goals to take the big win.
“This was a good start for the girls,” head coach Kyle Kline said. “We were able to work on defense and counterattacks.”
Captain Dani Lettice had three goals, one assist, and two steals. Fellow captain Carina Favela had three goals, one assist, five steals, and earned two exclusions. Maddy Daugherty had three goals, one steal. Makayla Markey had three goals, one assist. Nikki Paredes had one goal, two assists, two steals, and earned two exclusions. Macy Morrison had one assist and five steals. Captain and Goalie Melissa Persichetti had seven goal saves, three steals, and two assists.
The Lady Jaguars took on San Dieguito Academy Thursday at Adams Park, and after taking an early lead, went on to take a big 17–3 win.
The Lady Jags had another great start, taking a 7–1 lead in the first quarter. Valley Center held San Dieguito scoreless in the second, while putting away five more of their own, to lead 12–1 at the half. The Lady Jags slowed things down a bit, putting away five goals in the second half and allowing two more for San Dieguito to cruise the win.
“The girls played well and showed discipline against a young San Dieguito team,” Kline said. “We worked on some different plays on offense and defense with the emphasis on defense.”
Favela had three goals, two assists, one steal, and earned one exclusion. Daugherty had three goals, two assists, and two steals. Elsie Emanuel had three goals. Lettice had two goals, one assist, and two steals. Sarah Mitchell had a good game with two goals, four steals, and earned one exclusion. Nicole Marler had one goal and five steals. Kaylee Hudson had one goal, one assist, and two steals. Markey had one goal, one assist, and three steals. Maggie McGlynn had one goal. Persichetti had six goal saves, four assists, and one steal.
Valley Center is now 9–7 overall and 2–0 to start league play. On Thursday, the Lady Jags face Canyon Crest at Adams Park at 3:45 p.m. in what should be a good game after the Lady Jaguars were able to come away with a one-goal win in the teams’ first match-up this season.

Jaguar cross-country teams run well in CIF section finals and state finals

Valley Center’s varsity cross-country teams wrapped up an outstanding season with stellar individual performances and solid team results at the CIF San Diego Section Division III Championships at Morley Field on Nov. 20.
The Jaguars took second place in the boys varsity race with 74 points, behind only Cathedral Catholic with 48, and ahead of El Capitan in third with 122.
Leading the way, as he has all season, was senior Nicasio Westlund, who finished second on the 3.04-mile course with a time of 16:24, just one second behind the race winner, Alex Eve of La Jolla. Stephen Lopez also ran well for the Jaguars, finishing in 12th with a time of 17:00.
In all, the Jaguars ran well enough to send seven runners to the state championship race, which will be held on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The seven runners headed to the state meet are Westlund, Lopez, Nick Vanderpoel (17:10), Daniel Henderson (17:18), Travis Robey (17:22), Jon Larson (17:45) and Genaro Rodriguez (17:57).
Meanwhile, the Lady Jaguars took sixth place as a team, finishing with 216 points, behind the top three teams; Clairemont in first with 52, Cathedral Catholic in second with 55 and University City in third with 88.
Kaylee Hudson finished sixth overall to lead the Lady Jags on the 2.75-mile course, with a time of 17:04. Hudson was the only Lady Jaguar to qualify for the state meet.

The Jaguars sent eight runners to the state meet in Fresno on Saturday and put together another round of outstanding individual times.
The previous weekend, the Jaguars competed in the CIF San Diego Section finals at Morley Field, where the boys team finished second in Division III and posted a team score good enough for sixth overall.
Individually, the Jaguars earned seven spots in the state meet, while Kaylee Hudson, who took sixth in the section final race, was the lone state qualifier for the Lady Jags.
At the state meet, the Jaguars ran well as a team and finished 13th, with a total time of 1:21:56, the best state meet finish for a boys team in Valley Center High School history.
Leading the way, as he has all season, was senior Nicasio Westlund, who finished 16th out of 205 runners with a time of 15:44 on the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park. Nick Vanderpoel finished 72nd (16:22), followed by Daniel Henderson in 73rd (16:24), Stephen Lopez in 84th (16:28), Travis Robey in 123rd (16:58), Jon Larson in 134th (17:04) and Genaro Rodriguez in 171st (17:36).
Hudson, meanwhile, finished 37th in the girls race, with a time of 19 minutes flat, giving her the third-best overall time for a Lady Jaguar runner in school history. Five of the seven Jaguar runners also moved into the school’s top ten list as well.
“It was a great couple of weeks for us,” said head coach Mike Cummings. “Congratulations to the team for their efforts. All of the hard work paid off.”

Both Jaguar varsity cross-country teams finish in top five in Jaguar Invitational

Valley Center’s cross-country teams brought home a pair of top-five finishes after hosting the Jaguar Invitational at Kit Carson Park on Friday.
The Jaguars boys varsity team finished third in the large school division with a final score of 80, behind Mt. Carmel in first with 41 and Woodbridge in second with 66. La Jolla took fourth with 131 and Westview finished fifth with 151 behind the Jags.
Individually, Nicasio Westlund led the Jaguars with a ninth-place finish on the 3.1-mile course (16:26), while Stephen Lopez finished ninth (16:51).
For the Lady Jaguars varsity team, Kaylee Hudson was the lone top-ten finisher on the 2.6-mile course, as she finished second (16:07).
The Lady Jags finished fifth in the small school division with 198, behind Canyon Crest Academy in first with 23, Del Norte in second with 61, Our Lady Of Peace in third with 83 and San Dieguito Academy in fourth with 124.

Jags sweep top five to down Canyon Crest in cross-country

The Valley Center varsity boys cross-country team ran to another win this week against Canyon Crest Academy to remain undefeated in league so far this season, while the varsity girls team posted some strong individual performances but couldn’t get its first win of the year.
The Jaguars captured the top five spots in the race in taking a 15–44 win on the 3.1-mile course at Kit Carson Park on Friday.
Nicasio Westlund won the race for the Jaguars with a time of 16:45, followed by Stephen Lopez in second (17:09), Daniel Henderson in third (17:19), Nick Vanderpoel in fourth (17:33) and Travis Robey in fifth (17:37). Also placing in the top ten for the Jags was Genaro Rodriguez in eighth place (18:24).
For the Lady Jaguars, top finisher Kaylee Hudson took second place with a time of 16:03 on the 2.6-mile course, just one second behind the race winner. Meanwhile, Dani Lettice took sixth (17:53) and Bama Velasquez finished seventh (18:05).
The boys JV team also ran well to take a win, as Jon Larson, Logan Fiddler and Daniel Caballero took the top three spots in the race.
The boys varsity team is now 2–0, while the girls varsity team is 0–2 and the boys JV team is 1–1. The next meet is the Kit Carson Invite on Oct. 22.

Jags Take First, Post Solid Times In South Bay Invite

Valley Center’s cross-country teams enjoyed a successful week at the South Bay Invite on the 3.1-mile course at Rohr Park in Chula Vista on Saturday, an event consisting of 24 teams from San Diego County.
The varsity boys team had its best race so far as a team and captured the first place trophy with a total of 54, followed by Bonita Vista with 60 and Otay Ranch with 66.
Nicasio Westlund (16:17) continued his strong season placing third, while Daniel Henderson (16:33) was not far behind in sixth. Nick Vanderpoel (16:56) and Stephen Lopez (17:07) were 12th and 13th, respectively, while Travis Robey (17:16) finished out the Valley Center team scores in 20th place. Alex Sanchez and Genaro Rodriguez both set personal record times for 3.1 miles in finishing 41st and 43rd.
The boys JV team also raced well, finishing fifth as a team. Daniel Caballero was the top finisher in 19th place, with Juan Cisneros taking 21st. Sam McCuskey, Nick Mendoza, and Trevor Ryback placed 48th, 49th, and 52nd, respectively, out of 218 runners.
The girls varsity team finished tenth on the 2.5-mile course, behind a second-place effort from Kaylee Hudson (16:09). Meanwhile, Dani Lettice (16:50) stepped it up for the second week in a row to take tenth place.
Caty Alvarez and Daniela Troncoso place 97th and 99th, respectively, in the race of 144 participants.
The Jaguars open their league season Friday at Del Norte at 3:15 p.m.