Big week for CSUMB golf

Both the men's and women's golf teams at CSU Monterey Bay took steps forward this week.

The Otter men recorded their second consecutive tournament championship on Tuesday, earning a four-shot victory in UC San Diego's SoCal Intercollegiate at Carlton Oaks Country Club. It was a team effort as CSUMB had four golfers in the top 10. Ray Richards led the way for the Otters with a fourth-place finish, just two shots behind co-medalists Adam Stone (CSU East Bay) and Dalen Yamauchi (Hawaii Hilo).

CSUMB's Brandon Hortt finished tied for fifth, just two shots behind Richards. Carr Vernon took seventh place, ending a shot behind Hortt, and Fredrik Jullum took eighth for the Otters.

"We have a lot of good players that are learning to score even when they don't hit their best," CSUMB coach Jason Owen said in a statement.

The last time the Otters won two tournaments in a row was 2013 when CSUMB won the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship and the NCAA regional. The Otters ended up reaching the NCAA match play quarterfinals that year.

The Otters won the Notre Dame de Namur Argo Invitational at Poppy Ridge two weeks ago. The CSUMB men's golf team will try and make it three in a row next week in CSU East Bay's Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo.

While the women's golf team at CSUMB wasn't able to match the men with a victory, the team took huge strides in its Otter Invitational tournament that concluded at Bayonet Golf Course on Tuesday. The Otters led their tournament after one round, but finished things up in third place.

"It was a great tournament for us," CSUMB coach Darcy Milligan said in a statement. "I know the players are disappointed that they couldn't hold on to their first-round lead, but we're very young and learning how to finish is part of the growing process. We're going to be a better team with the experience we gained this week."

The result was the best for the Otters since their own tournament last year when they took second. Arielle Swan-Smith led CSUMB by taking fourth place, three behind medalist Mailen Domec Chantry of Nova Southeastern. Trinity Christian alumna Katrina Mendez matched Swan-Smith for the best round by an Otter on Tuesday with an 80.

The Otters return to action April 3 in the Mustang Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.

MPC men's golf team in first place

After getting out to a hot start, winning three of four conference tournaments, the Monterey Peninsula College men's golf team has continued to roll this year.

The Lobos started March out competing against some of the top teams in the state in the Point Conception Invitational at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc. After playing through heavy winds and rain on the first day, MPC had the lowest score of the second day. The Lobos took third as a team. Taylor Daniels finished third and Will Cross finished fifth for MPC.

Last week, the Lobos finished 31 under as a team against Reedley College at Rancho Cañada Golf Club. Brandon Hoskins led the way for MPC by carding a 65. Will Cross was two back at 67 and both Greg Moreno and Taylor Daniels finished at 68 for MPC. The Lobos are currently the leaders of the Coast Conference.

MPC swings back into action on Monday when the Lobos compete in a conference tournament at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin.

AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association: Blackhorse Tournament

Alec Phillips of Santa Cruz shot 2-over 74 at Blackhorse Golf Course in Seaside to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association's Boys Platinum flight on Sunday, edging George McNeely of Carmel by one shot.

Sunny Yan, a Stevenson School senior who is headed to Columbia University in the fall, shot 4-over 76 to finish third.

In the Girls Gold flight, Megan Yang of Saratoga carded a 5-over 41 to earn medalist honors. Antonia Malate, a Stevenson student from Seaside, was one shot back at 42. Marina's Melissa Morales finished third at 46.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association's next event is the Peter Hay Spring Championship on April 25 at Peter Hay Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

Golf: Junior Tour of Northern California, Spring Series I

Danville resident Kevin Velo shot 1-over 143 to win the boys title and Yealimi Noh of Concord shot even-par 142 to win the girls title at the Junior Tour of Northern California's Spring Series I Championship held Saturday and Sunday at par-71 Stockton Golf and Country Club and Elkhorn Golf Club.

Daniel Kim of San Jose and Joshua McCarthy of Danville pushed Velo until the end, finishing one stroke off the pace. McCarthy, the runner-up at the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, wrapped up the tournament with pars on his final nine holes.

Noh faced little competition on top of the girls leaderboard, posting identical rounds of 71 to defeat the field by eight strokes. Sabrina Iqbal and Angela Liu, both of San Jose, finished at 8-over 150.

The Spring Series continues with the Spring Series II Championship on Saturday and Sunday at Windsor Golf Club in Windsor.

End of an era for North Salinas High girls hoops

A group of five seniors who changed the course of the North Salinas High girls basketball team played their final game together Wednesday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Vikings gym.

Nicole Hermosillo-Wright, Monae Hobson, Adea Prime, Alyssa Springs and Aliyah Urzua came up as freshmen on the North Salinas varsity squad. Most of the group played together in middle school and set a goal to win two titles on the high school team. By their sophomore year, they won their first of three consecutive Gabilan Division titles.

Based on their size, the group could be considered over-achievers. While their height may have been the difference in a season-ending loss in the NorCal Division I playoffs against Oakland Tech, the Vikings made up for their size with blistering speed and a passion for defense rarely seen at the high school level. 

While coach Darren Jackson brought the program its first Central Coast Section Division I girls title back in 2010, he was able to coach up the current team to bring the program to its peak. The team bought into Jackson's system and the girls had the skill and intelligence to run it flawlessly. The Vikings didn't go down with a whimper against Oakland Tech. Despite going down two scores with just over seven seconds left, North Salinas fought relentlessly until the buzzer sounded. 

The emotion on the Vikings' faces showed how much their cared about this team. The crowd reflected that as well. It was clear Wednesday that the North Salinas community knew how much the girls had invested themselves in this team. It was clear the crowd appreciated the passion the Vikings put out on the court, day in and day out. While some gyms sit half-empty for both boys and girls postseason basketball games, the huge crowd at North Salinas was electric.

It's clear that the group of five seniors, coined the Jackson 5, can be successful in whatever awaits them now that their varsity hoops careers are over and graduation is only a few months away. If they put in the effort and embrace it with the passion and hard work they put into their run of back-to-back CCS titles, anything's possible. While Jackson will have a tough time finding replacements, junior Jordyn Enos matched the level of intensity of her senior counterparts. 

I only got the chance to watch this group together a handful of times, but their passion for the sport they love was inspiring. Congratulations to the Vikings on all of their accomplishments.

Leading off

Ever since I came to the Monterey Herald nearly three years ago, I've wanted to start up a blog. That day has finally come as today marks the premiere of The Lead.

While the lede (first paragraph) of a newspaper article should be direct and to the point, this blog will be all over the place. First and foremost, I wanted a place for all of my leftovers from stories that I cover. My first post after this introduction will look at the North Salinas High girls basketball team, which I covered Wednesday night.

In addition, I plan on writing about our local Monterey County high school and college sports teams, advanced statistics in sports, golf from Pebble Beach and the surrounding areas, motor sports at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, action sports like mountain biking and bicycle motocross, a touch of coverage and analysis on the pro and college teams from the Bay Area, and anything else sports related that's on my mind.

Thanks for checking out The Lead and here's to many posts to come.