grunion sports 11-10-11

B November 17, 2011

On The Run.Casper Ware helped start Long Beach State’s season with a win. Page 2B

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BMoore League Roundup Page 7B

LBSU Adds To Hall Of Fame Page 9B

Diego Says Goodbye To Rams Page 10B

Men’s Soccer In The Cards? Page 12B

Athletes Of The Week Page 14B

By The Books Page 14B

On The Water Page 5B

Sports Calendar Page 15B

F I N D T H E B E S T V I D E O S , C O L U M N S , G A M E G A L L E R I E S A N D M O R E AT

GAZETTESSPORTS.COM

By JJ FiddlerSPORTS EDITOR

In postseason soccer, you’re only good as your goalkeeper. And right now, Long Beach State women’s soccer is pretty darned good with senior Kaitlyn Gustaves between the posts. After dropping back-to-back Big West Conference games in late October, the 49ers were faced with fi ve must-win games if they wanted to host a Big West Confer-ence Tournament game and reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. Gustaves led the way from the back, allowing just two goals during the fi ve-straight wins (four shutouts) that have extended a historic season for Long Beach State women’s soccer.

In fact, Gustaves has played better the more important the games have been as she collected 12 saves last Saturday when the 49ers beat Pepperdine, 1-0, in overtime for their fi rst NCAA Tournament victory in school history. That came just a week after she had fi ve saves in the BWC champion-ship game at UC Irvine in a 1-0 win that in-cluded a heart-stopping save on a set piece to preserve the victory. The 12 saves at Pepperdine ties her for the fourth-best game in team history and it was her 10th shutout this season, which is the third-best for a single season. She also now has 76 saves on the year, which is also third-best in program history. “These have been huge wins for us, and to make history is great too,” says Gustaves,

who had to travel a long road to end up in her backyard for what could be her fi nal soccer games in goal. “I’m trying to enjoy every last minute… it took me awhile to get comfortable (with this team) and every game I’m getting more confi dent and com-fortable.” The fearless Long Beach native nearly earned her black belt in tae kwon do be-fore starting her soccer career at 10 years old with the local AYSO. The tall, lanky youngster immediately felt at home in goal with the big gloves on and started club soc-cer at the age of 12 with Claudio Ingrassia (LBSU head coach Mauricio’s brother) and attended Stanford Middle School and Wil-son High School.

Gustaves Guards Goal With Passion

—Gazette photo by John FajardoSPECTACULAR. Long Beach State senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gustaves has come up with big time saves this season, like this one against CSU Fullerton earlier this year.

By JJ Fiddlerand Mike Guardabascio

SPORTS EDITORS

Everything past is prelude to this. It’s the CIF Pac-5 Playoffs, and four Long Beach teams have high hopes of winning four games over the next four weeks to take the crown in arguably the fi nest high school football division in the nation. However, it’s going to be a tough road for the Jackrabbits, Lancers, Jaguars and Bruins as the Moore League is forced to play the top two seeds in the fi rst round with a possible match with the third best team in the second round and an away game for the No. 2 seed in the league. But never fear football fans, the Moore League loves being underestimated.Poly vs. Newport Harbor, 7:30 p.m. Friday @ Veterans Memorial Stadium Poly hasn’t seen Newport Harbor since they defeated the Sailors 35-14 in the 2007 playoffs, on their way to winning a CIF championship. This year, if they want to win the school’s 19th title, they’ll have to get through Newport Harbor, again. It’s the games after that drawing the most talk, as a seeding decision by the CIF means Poly likely has to beat Santa Mar-garita, Mission Viejo and Servite to win a title (provided all the favorites win out). But, of course, before any of that happens the Jackrabbits will have to beat Newport Harbor. The Sailors are a run-heavy team, which plays right into Poly’s strengths (they haven’t given up a 100-yard rusher since their game against Mission Viejo seven weeks ago). Newport Harbor runs twice as often as they pass, with most of the carries going to Titus Hasson, a senior running back who’s averaging more than 100 yards per-game and more than fi ve yards per-carry this season. They’ve turned to Hasson most in their big games, as he got 30 carries against Marina last week to qualify for the play-offs, and 35 times in a 14-point win over Los Alamitos two weeks ago. In those two games, when they needed him most, he had more than 400 yards and three TDs. The 5-5 Sailors are giving up an aver-age of 22 points per game, to Poly’s 13. Their defense has been led by linebacker Ethan Cochran, who had 85 total tackles this year. The biggest point of concern for Poly is likely Newport Harbor’s pass rush, which has gotten them big plays in recent games. That’s yet another reason for the

By Tyler HendricksonSTAFF WRITER

In what has become less of a soccer sea-son and more of a movie script, the Black & Gold on the pitch continue to entertain and astound. After a thrilling journey into the NCAA Tournament fi eld, the 49ers had the chance to do something truly special on a stage where Long Beach had not previously found success. The trip north to Pepperdine turned into a hard-fought battle in which the 49ers proved themselves one of the best soccer teams in the nation by defeat-ing the #7-ranked Waves 1-0 in overtime. The historical signifi cance of the victory cannot be overstated, fi tting with what this team has done all year. After struggling on offense through regulation and the major-ity of the fi rst overtime period, the defi ner came with 13 seconds left on the clock, from a predictable source of magic. Na-dia Link made her run up the left sideline, moved past a defender to her right, setting

up an opening with her off foot. She then fi red a bending bullet past the keeper and fi rmly into the side netting for the 49er win. The value of that goal meant more than just a victory at Pepperdine. It meant that

the 49ers would celebrate their fi rst NCAA Tournament win in program history, thanks to their fi rst NCAA Tournament goal ever. Moreover, Link tied a school record for single-season scoring with her 16th goal of

49er Soccer In Historic Territory

—Photo by Matt GuardabascioCONQUERORS. Nadia Link and Kaitlyn Gustaves wave the Beach sign over Pep-perdine’s home fi eld after their victory.

CIF PLAYOFF TIME

WinOr GoHome

(Continued on Page 4B)



B | gRUNION gaZeTTe | November 17, 2011

the year, joining Annette Fernan-dez, who had 16 in 1984. The ‘Niners also got a tremen-dous effort in goal by Kaitlyn Gustaves to keep the Waves score-less. The senior had 12 saves, tied for fourth-most for a 49er in one match. Of the 12 saves, there were some serious highlight reel plays that saved the day multiple times. It was the first home loss for Pepperdine this season, end-ing their 21-game home winning streak. If one win is good, two is bet-ter, and the next one just might be easier to come by. The 49ers (16-5-1) will now meet Miami (FL) (10-7-1) in round two in Los Angeles, as UCLA will serve as a regional host at 5 p.m. this Fri-day. UCLA plays San Diego in the other matchup, and if the roll continues, Long Beach would play the winner of that match in round three, on Sunday.Men’s Basketball The time is at hand for one of the most highly anticipated basketball seasons ever at The Beach. Without an end in sight to the NBA lockout, the 49ers are now a prime attraction on the hardwood, and quite possibly the best basketball team in Southern California. That title will need to be earned throughout the season, but step one was successful as the ‘Niners defended their home court with a 69-61 win over Ida-ho. Long Beach was looking not

only to entertain the homecom-ing crowd, or to defeat head coach Dan Monson’s alma mater, they were also looking to enter-tain “49er Darrell.” LA Clippers super-fan Clipper Darrell has made some marquee appearances at the Pyramid lately, and will be following this team very closely now that his Clippers aren’t in action. He’ll be easy to spot in his half-black half-gold suit com-bined with the ability to get the crowd jumping. Long Beach had some trouble adjusting to the varying defenses of the Vandals including the zone looks. When the shots didn’t fall in the first half, Idaho was able to build a narrow halftime lead that had the 49ers a little nervous. But in the second half, Casper Ware and Larry Anderson came through in the big moments to get the win. Ware led the team with 20 points, while his understudy at point guard, freshman Mike Caffey, played very well in his first college game with six points and no turnovers in his 25 valu-able minutes. Another newcom-er, JC-transfer James Ennis, was in the starting lineup for the 49ers but struggled a little on the big stage while showing flashes of his potential. T.J. Robinson lived up to his reputation as a double-double machine with 10 points and 11 boards, while Anderson did some damage from unfamiliar waters by making all three of his three-point attempts en route to 16

(Continued from Page 1B)

LBSU Notebook


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November 17, 2011 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 3B

As a Bruin, Gustaves started in goal all four years and won four straight Moore League titles while being twice named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year. However, the 6’0” senior did not get many real NCAA offers be-cause she is a September birthday and therefore was younger than her CRSC Infinity Club team-mates. When Oklahoma State came knocking with a hefty offer, Gustaves packed her bags. “In retrospect, I wish I had looked around more and waited,” admits Gustaves, who says the homesickness was almost imme-diate. “Not to take anything away from OSU because I am grateful for the experience, but it’s a dif-ferent culture out there and I had difficulty adjusting… One day my roommate asked if I liked it there, and I remember saying, ‘I think so’.” In spring 2009, after mak-ing just 10 appearances in more than two years for the Cowboys, Gustaves repacked her bags and

came home — but soccer was still a priority. “I wasn’t ready to be done with soccer,” Gustaves says of that summer. “I had a friend of a friend tell (LBSU) that I was looking to transfer, and the rest is, well…” The history being made now after two years at The Beach is a product of a lot of hard work, and Gustaves is familiar with the process. One team doesn’t make history in one season. It’s a program’s success over a few years with a multitude of players. Gustaves has been on both sides of the equation. In 2007 as a senior at Wilson, Gustaves was training with un-derclassman Bruins like Emily Dillon (West Virginia) and goal-keeper Lacey Heck (Pepperdine). “We had so much talent,” Gustaves says of the 2007 team that got knocked out of the play-offs. “You could tell they were going to do something great because we worked so hard (in 2007).” In 2008, while Gustaves was a freshman at Oklahoma State,

Wilson girls’ soccer won the CIF, State and Soccer America’s Na-tional Championships. In 2010, when Gustaves finally put on the Black & Gold for real, it was her turn to reverse the roles and push fellow goalkeeper, se-nior Emily Kingsborough, in practice. “I learned so much from Em-ily,” says Gustaves, who appeared in four games and made two starts that season. “It was frustrating to be on the sideline most of the time, but Emily is such a great competitor and I’ve never seen a better attitude while working so hard… We pushed each other and I’m reaping the benefits now.” The 49ers will face the Univer-sity of Miami on Friday (5 p.m.) at UCLA’s Drake Field in the sec-ond round of the NCAA Tourna-ment. “I know this could be it for me, so I’m going that much harder to make sure that doesn’t happen soon…,” she says. “We’re confi-dent and if we play our game, I think we can beat anyone in the country… if you believe, the pos-sibilities are endless.”

points. Anderson also tied a ca-reer-high with seven assists and earned Big West Player of the Week honors. Things are already starting to get tough for Long Beach as they take their show on the road. This weekend they’re taking on the Aztecs of San Diego State, last year’s homecoming opponent, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.Women’s Volleyball With little fanfare or excite-ment, overshadowed by other 49er squads closer to home, this team has done something spe-cial while out on the road. With a pair of wins this weekend, the ‘Niners are up to 11 in a row, and have clinched sole possession of the 2011 Big West Conference championship. That accomplishment ensures that Long Beach will make an appearance in the NCAA Tour-nament for the 25th consecutive season. The clinching victory came over Pacific in a dominating 25-

10, 25-20, 25-10 sweep. Things were kept closer against UC Davis, with the 49ers winning in four sets, but it offered a fan-tastic performance from Caitlin Ledoux. She posted 20 kills and 16 digs to headline a fantastic weekend in which she had two double-doubles and 32 combined kills. Lauren Minkel moved up in the record books for the 49ers as her 19 kills on Saturday put her in second place in career digs at LBSU. In the final conference match-up of the year, the 49ers will host UC Irvine at 7 p.m. Saturday in the ’Myd. Then Long Beach will host three non-conference NCAA tune-up matches the fol-lowing week, starting with LMU at 7 p.m. Wednesday.Women’s Basketball The 49ers got a big 75-43win in their home opener against Utah Valley before falling 81-42 on the road at Syracuse. Ella Clark led the team, combining for 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 blocks in the two games. LBSU now are on the road until Dec. 8.


Gustaves(Continued from Page 2B)

LBSU Notebook


Jackrabbits to look to keep the ball on the ground when they’re on offense — the fact that they’re averaging more than 10 yards per carry in their last two games is an-other.. The danger as always with Poly, especially when they enter the playoffs at the No. 3 seed in the whole bracket, is that the team will follow the Jackrabbit fans in looking too far down the road.

The potential challenge of a team as big and physical as Santa Mar-garita in the second round would certainly encourage that — but in order to take the second step, they’ll have to take the first, and that means taking care of business against the Sailors.Lakewood @ San Clemente, 7:30 p.m. Friday With youthful exuberance and some big plays, the Lancers sur-prised most critics in a “rebuild-ing year” after a group that went to back-to-back CIF Pac-5 Semifi-

nals (head coach Thadd MacNeal and nine NCAA DI athletes) left this summer. First-year head coach Vince Lobendahn made a commitment to the future this year by playing an unprecedented number of sophomores, and they have not disappointed, especially in the defensive secondary. The only returning coach from the MacNeal era, defensive coor-dinator Wayne Schmida, started five sophomores in safety Jaleel Wadood, linebacker Chandler Le-niu, defensive lineman Jared Utu-po and cornerbacks Elijah Moody and Naijiel Hale. Leniu leads the team with 116 total tackles, Wa-dood is second with 87 and Utu-po is sixth with 51 to go with six sacks. Hale leads the team with seven interceptions and Wadood has five. The Red Swarm aver-aged almost four sacks per game to go with 22 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries. On offense under first-year of-

fensive coordinator Zack LaM-onda, the pistol/spread look has been almost perfect for senior quarterback Brock Dale and his uber-talented receiving corps. As a transfer and first-year starter, Dale got comfortable very quick-ly to the tune of 1,900 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, five in-terceptions and a 56% comple-tion percentage. Despite missing a few pre-league games with in-jury, senior Darius Powe led the team with 33 catches, 516 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Malik Gilmore and junior X’avier Shepherd both had more than 400 yards receiving and six touch-downs each while sophomore Jer-emy McNichols made a name for himself with 399 yards receiving and five touchdowns. The numbers look gaudy com-pared to what some other Moore League teams did this season, but Lakewood had a setback off the field during the league schedule. After accidentally playing an in-eligible player against Compton, the Lancers had to forfeit their 54-0 win. That didn’t affect their No. 2 finish in the Moore League after Cabrillo lost to Poly, but the three losses might be the reason they are traveling this Friday. The Lancers knocked the San Clemente Tritons out of the play-offs last season, 24-7, who had put up 328 points last season be-fore the first round game when the Lakewood defense held them to 84 yards in the first half and forced four turnovers while San Clemente went 0-for-7 on third down. A staggering 17 seniors are coming back from that team for the Tritons, so Lobendahn knows, “this is going to be an emotional game.” Lakewood had the bye in the last week of regular season play, so after the bracket was released on Saturday, Lobendahn said, “it kind of felt like the season was over, but we have to work our way out of that in practice this week.” Schmida said he the week off was good for a young team because,

“we can heal up, get our special teams together and get right men-tally… We’ll be ready to roll.”Cabrillo @ Mission Viejo, 7:30 p.m. Friday The Jaguars re-wrote their own record books this year under first-year head coach Jason Brown and made the Pac-5 Playoffs for the first time in school history. They also won seven games for the first time and put up a record 256 points and 4,201 yards of to-tal offense. Even with all that and their three losses coming to state-ranked San Clemente, Lakewood and Poly, the Jaguars were seeded as the 15th-best team out of the 16 in the bracket, even though they had a better record than three teams seeded higher than them. “It’s tough, but we knew it would be tough,” said Brown on Saturday of the seeding. “I’m a little surprised we’re playing Mis-sion Viejo, but it’s the first success the school has had in a while and the name recognition isn’t there yet. I did expect to have a little better ranking with three losses, all to top teams in the state, but it is what it is in this division… if you throw a rock, you’re going to hit a good football team.” Cabrillo will need a huge game from senior quarterback Derek Stewart, who wowed local foot-ball fans this year with 2,317 yards passing, 401 yards rushing, 20 touchdowns passing, seven touchdowns rushing and a 63% completion percentage. However, he’s going up against a Diablo defense that’s only given up 140 points this season — 45 of which came in their two losses to Don Bosco Prep (arguably one of the best teams in the nation) and Red-lands East Valley (10-0). They are lead by senior linebacker Ryan Harris (#40, 6’0” 210 lbs.) who had a team-high 10 tackles in the Mission Viejo win over Poly ear-lier this season.Wilson @ Servite, Cerritos Com-munity College, 7:30 p.m. Friday The Bruins opened this season


Football


COASTAL ALLIANCE COASTAL ALLIANCE


By Chris Ericksen Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s Holiday Series has roots going back to the very deepest parts of ABYC’s history. In the early days of regattas, ABYC conducted sailing events in conjunction with major holidays. The members would race not only on the week-end adjacent to the holiday but the very holiday itself. That meant only the Labor Day Regatta offered three consecutive days of racing, as both Memo-rial Day and Independence Day fell on specific dates. Members would race Memorial Day, for example, and then go back to work or school. They’d finish the regatta on the adjacent weekend. By the 1970s, the Holiday Se-ries consisted of four events — the regattas around Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving. The lat-ter event took place the week-end before Thanksgiving. As far as records show it did not occur during the holiday weekend. And they were two-day events, not even lapping into the holiday when laws made Memorial Day part of a three-day weekend. Fleets would come to these events as parts of their schedules. The Thistles made ABYC a des-tination during the Fourth of July Regatta, for example. The Lasers made the Labor Day Regatta their district championship. But the Turkey Day Regatta be-came the largest event of the year.

Some years there were more than 200 boats taking part. That means upwards of 400 folks wandering around the end of the Peninsula. The club laid on shuttle buses to run sailors up and down Ocean Boulevard. Traffic management plans for boats and trailers were developed. And there have been three courses laid (as opposed to the usual two) for almost 20 years now. So this weekend’s 2011 Turkey Day Regatta is the last big hurrah of the racing season for ABYC. Running Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 19 and 20, the event brings not only one-design keelboats and dinghies to the courses in the Long Beach Outer Harbor off the Peninsula but also beach cats. A new feature at ABYC regattas is the Optimist dinghy, the most popular training boat in the world. There is now a fleet at Long Beach Yacht Club, and they join the Naples Sabot and Lido 14s on a course on Alamitos Bay. Go to the ABYC website, www.abyc.org, for details. There is a link to the event webpage in the Events column on the homep-age. Or you can call Alamitos Bay Yacht Club at 434-9955.Racing Clinic ABYC will be busy over

Thanksgiving weekend as well as the California International Sail-ing Association (CISA) returns to Long Beach for an advanced rac-ing clinic. This event will focus on smaller fleets of the International 420 and 29er, both double-handed spin-naker boats that are raced by ju-nior sailors internationally. CISA pioneered both boats in Southern California and continues to lead the push to develop top-level So Cal kids in these classes. The clinic will run from Friday, Nov. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 27. As with the ABYC regatta, go to the club’s website, www.abyc.org, to find a link to the event webpage, or you can call ABYC at 434-9955. Information on CISA, the California Interna-tional Sailing Association, can be found at www.cisasailing.org.

Turkey Regatta Closes Race Season

under first-year head coach John Janzen with the motto “Better or Bust” because the program has made a habit of going .500 and getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs by a highly-ranked opponent. With close losses to Lakewood and Cabrillo this season, Wilson is in a familiar stop they didn’t want to be in. “The draw is not surprising at all,” Janzen said. “As long as Servite beat Santa Margarita, we knew we’d be playing them. Up front they’re very strong, and we’ll need to be physical to stay with them. We’ve seen the best there is in terms of athleticism in the Moore League, but up front is a different story.” Up front has been the key to

the Wilson success this year with the experienced offensive line of senior Colby Weist, sophomore Bruce Yun, senior Austin Lyse, senior Jacob Armstrong and ju-nior Kyle Smith in front of three-year starting quarterback Brett Harper. The senior passed for 1,191 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for 500 yards and 16 touchdowns. The offensive line cleared the path for a stagger-ing 31 rushing touchdowns this season from running backs like Tonny Lindsey (736 yards, 6.19 avg., 9 TD) and Da’Mon Wade (444 yards, 5.92 avg., 3TD). If the Bruins want to hang with the Friars, they’re going to have to slow down a Servite of-fense that’s put up 324 points and rushed for almost 2,000 yards. As a team, they have rushed for more than 150 yards in six games and have 27 rushing touchdowns.


Football

B | gaZeTTe NeWSPaPeRS | November 17, 2011


By Mike GuardabascioSportS Editor

the first week of the CiF fall playoffs were up and down for the Moore League schools. After the dust had settled, just a handful of teams remain as we head towards CiF semifinal and championship action, which you can follow day-by-day at GazettesSports.com. the teams still standing as of print time are Wilson boys’ wa-ter polo, the poly boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, Wilson’s girls’ tennis teams, and all four of the Moore League’s football teams, as their first games are this Friday.Boys’ Water Polo Wilson looked right at home last thursday in the Long Beach State campus pool in the second round of the CiF playoffs, han-dling Murrieta Valley 12-8. the Bruins led 8-3 at one point and weren’t seriously tested after the first quarter. As usual, it was strong defense and fast swimming for Wilson. “it’s the name of our game,” said Wilson coach tony Martinho. Strong press defense clearly wore the Nighthawks down in the first quarter, and in the sec-ond Wilson scored three straight goals on counters and breakaways where there were no defenders be-tween the scoring player and the goalie. those scores effectively gave them the game, putting them up 7-2. it was thomas Martinho early, Jackson Kimbell in the middle of the game, and Willis Allen down the stretch who did the bulk of the scoring, each fin-ishing with a hat trick. Martinho also had a trio of assists and three steals. the Bruins were buoyed by goalie Nick Hoy’s 14 saves in the cage, including some fantastic efforts to deny Murrieta Valley man-ups. in the quarterfinals over the weekend, defense had a little less to do with it. Wilson Bruins got four goals from Allen, Max-well irving and Kimbell to beat University High School, 14-13. Wilson fell behind early but outscored University 4-1 in the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead into the halftime break. irving led the team with three steals, Kim-bell led with two assists, and Hoy made 12 saves including some huge stops late in the second half.

the Bruins move on to the CiF playoff semifinal for the second straight year and were taking on Villa park at the Woollett Aquatic Center last night, Wednesday.Girls’ Volleyball the Moore League champion Wilson Bruins started the CiF playoffs with a bang, in a fairly dominant sweep of visiting ro-sary, 25-16, 25-18, 25-22. the match was sloppy on both sides of the net at times, and the Bru-ins may have made it a little more exciting at times than it needed to be, but they were able to over-come their own struggles. “i think we pressed a little too much,” said Wilson head coach Carlos Briceno, noting the play-off atmosphere and intensity. “We need to remember that we don’t need to be perfect, just make smart plays.” A lot of those smart plays were coming from Wilson’s middles,

Maddie Wilhelm and Lauren Howard-Chavez, who proved on tuesday that Wilson’s attack isn’t just limited to rebecca Strehlow. Strehlow finished with 15 kills, but Wilhelm and Howard-Chavez each took a lot of swings, com-bining for 17 kills. Wilhelm also proved her prowess in the service game, with three straight aces. After that, Wilson went on the road and couldn’t overcome a quality opponent in the second round of the playoffs, as they fell to thousand oaks, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-16.Lakewood Freshman Megan Kruidhof was exactly that for the Lakewood girls’ volleyball team in their two matches. the Lancers got 25 kills and five aces from Kruidhof as they swept visiting Chaminade, 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 in the first round of the CiF playoffs. in a very telling stat line, Lakewood

tallied 10 aces on the night while Chaminade committed seven ser-vice errors. “this is a young team and we had to pull back in and regroup,” said Lakewood head coach Mike Wadley, who rotated the start-ing lineup to put in the freshman Kruidhof, freshman Sarah Miller, freshman Megann delgado, ju-nior Heather Eggers, sophomore

pam Fa’alata and junior tiffany Cobian. the young Lancers — or what Wadley called “next year’s lineup” — proceeded to go on a 8-3 run to tie the set at 13-13. that’s when Kruidhof took over, scoring 15 of the Lancer points in the 25-19 set one victory. despite strong performances from Megan Kruidhof, Heather

MOORE LEAGUE: NOTEBOOK

—Gazette photo by Stephen DachmanWILSON GOES DEEP. Wilson’s Zac Polmanteer puts pressure on a Murrieta Valley attacker; a stifling Wilson defense led to a 12-8 win last Thursday. The Bruins play in the semifinals this week.


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Eggers and CC Sauni, the Lanc-ers fell in straight sets to top-seeded Edison, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21. Kruidhof had 17 kills, Eggers had 14 digs, and Sauni had 25 assists in the loss.Poly Last Friday, after a season that saw as many as six of their top seven players injured for stretch-es, Poly’s starting setter Zhane Bender walked across the class-room and felt her knee lock up. She’s been on crutches since, just another injury added to the long list for Poly this year. “Honestly, I’m stoked that we still competed even with all those injuries,” Poly coach Leland Mc-

Grath said of the final match. The third-seeded Jackrabbits got a tough draw in the CIF play-offs, with a rematch of their CIF title match and CIF SoCal Re-gional last year, against Redondo Union. Poly fell on the road in four sets, 25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20.Cross Country Poly’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams advanced to the CIF Southern Section Finals thanks to strong team runs in the prelims. Poly’s boys’ team time on the “rain course” at Mt. SAC last Saturday was 75:35, led by Cameron Ford’s 14:52. The Poly girls ran a team time of 89:44, led by Jessica Gonzales’ 17:45. The CIF Finals are at 9:05 and 10:05 a.m. Saturday at Mt. SAC.

—Gazette photo by Harry SaltzgaverBIG TROPHY. City manager Pat West holds a trophy, presented by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation last Thursday, be-tween co-chairs Ray Burton, left, and Tom Shadden.

Aquatic Citizen


Moore League



it was a great night to be a ‘Niner at the Long Beach Hilton on Wednesday last week, as Long Beach State ushered an historic class of inductees into its presti-gious Hall of Fame. First was big-time pitcher Jered Weaver, the most decorated player of the modern Long Beach State dirtbag era and a star pitcher with the Angels. Weaver joked that he took a recruiting trip to Ful-lerton while still in high school, “But they were into fighting and smoking, and that’s not my forte.” Weaver also met his fiancée while at the university, particularly meaningful nine years later be-cause the pair were wed in a cer-emony that took place four days after his induction. Le’Gretta Smith-Hinds, the best sprinter in school history, was ac-tually only the second most-re-cruited hurdler at her high school. Her friend, the top hurdler, was recruited to USC. “(Coach) Andy Sythe took a chance on me,” she

said. “And i never lost to her again, so i think he made a good decision.” Alan Knipe was inducted as a player on the 1991 men’s vol-leyball national championship, but as he’s a successful coach of the 49ers and current coach of the men’s national team, he may be re-inducted in the future as a coach. “When you see all these faces, you realize how special this place is,” he said looking out at the large crowd. “i have this wonderful job, traveling all over the world, but you don’t have that special connection you have at home.” After that Cheryl Weaver, one of the finest volleyball players in school history, recalled a recent walk into the pyramid. “there was this feeling of nostalgia, and then my heart stopped like, ‘it’s game time.’” Weaver had a pow-erful remembrance of what Gim-millaro did for her life. “He had all these ideas about what i could do. “He saw greatness in me, and

i didn’t think those things were possible. He brought it out of me every day in practice.” in the most powerful moment of the evening, the 1989 women’s volleyball team, which won Long Beach State’s first-ever NCAA national championship, was in-ducted as a whole. A short high-light video of their dominant title win over Nebraska played with Gimmillaro’s narration, as he told the crowd. “We were Long Beach State — they lined everyone up and we beat them all.” No team in the national championship had previously had more than one Af-rican-American player — Long Beach State started five. Softball pitcher Meredith Cer-venka, point guard Margaret

Mohr, fullback Mark templeton, tennis player/coach peter Smith, and longtime administrator doug

robinson were also inducted in the largest — and arguably stron-gest — class of 49ers ever.

LBSU Ushers Historic Inductees Into Hall Of Fame

—Gazette photo by Mike GuardabascioBIG CLASS. The 2011 class of the Long Beach State Hall of Fame gather last week for a group photo.


By Ryan ZumMallenStaff Writer

Minutes after the final game of William Kirk Diego’s tenure as head coach of the Millikan rams, a 40-16 home loss to the Comp-ton tarbabes, he assembled his flock, and a sea of blue and yel-low jerseys knelt before him. Soggy eyes focused up on the face that had guided the program for 12 seasons — one now cov-

ered in white stubble along a hard jaw line, under the wide brim of a savannah hat in the cool Novem-ber night. Diego placed each hand on the shoulder pad of a player di-rectly under him, and two of his longtime assistant coaches placed one hand on each of his. “and now let’s bow our heads and thank whichever god you choose,” he said. and they did. “if you wish to leave, feel free

to do so,” he said. But no one did, so he led them in prayer. Diego is a man of strong faith, and it takes many forms. as a coach, he makes no secret of his belief in his players — to perform to the highest of their ability, to reach their full potential as men, citizens, people. and yes, he is deeply religious, and his faith and his football are not always sepa-rate.

Diego began his coaching ca-reer with stops at idaho State, his alma mater Downey High and eventually Lakewood High before coming to Millikan as an assistant in 1999. after one season, he took over the program as head coach and viewed the promotion as a sign from above. Without chil-dren of his own, Diego treated the position as a gift from God, found renewed strength in his faith, and spent his days trying to live up to Him and the needs of his players. He built a program on the founda-tions of teamwork, responsibility, family and, not coincidentally, belief. that run came to an end this season. two days before the Compton game, Millikan admin-istrators informed Diego that he would not return as head coach in 2012. the news saddened Di-ego, but did not surprise him. the rams finished this season with a record of just 1-9, and 0-6 in the Moore League. the program had

fallen on hard times, but many supporters stood behind Diego. “i’m upset to see that caliber of coach go, he was a great inspira-tion to me,” says alden Darby, a former star player for Diego who is now a sophomore defensive back at arizona State. Darby noted that Millikan is not always as competitive as other teams in the Moore League, but that Diego inspired players to bring out the best in themselves, and focused on building men as well as football players. that resonated with Darby, himself the son of a preacher, who under-stood and connected with Diego’s belief in his faith and his team. their connection eventually led to the team’s most dramatic game in two decades, against Long Beach Poly in 2009. “He came to me and told me, ‘You know what Darb, i know we can beat these guys and you can lead us. Go out and have

Diego’s Faith Fueled Millikan Tenure


—Photo courtesy Millikan High SchoolLISTEN CAREFULLY. Millikan Head Coach William Kirk Diego addresses the team in 2005 after a 27-19 victory over Warren.


By Tyler HendricksonStaff Writer

No one is quite sure what to make of this football team. Just when you think you’ve got it fig-ured out, they’ll flip the script on you and leave you scratching your head. as people began to jump on the Viking bandwagon, thanks to a 4-0 league mark that clinched them the conference title, they turn around and offer up a forget-table showing, losing 28-9 to Cit-rus College. We previously thought this would be a championship match-up, but thanks to some forfeits by Citrus, Long Beach already knew that the Central West Conference crown was theirs. the absence of focus on the Long Beach side was exemplified on special teams, where the visit-ing Owls had three separate drives lengthened by fake punts, two of which would later result in touch-downs. the third drive ended in a Citrus fumble that LBCC’s ariel arguello scooped up and returned for an apparent touchdown. in-stead, two Viking penalties took away the score. the Viking offense was less than great. With backup quarterback Marcus Montero at the controls, things didn’t run very smoothly. Montero was coming off a four-touchdown performance in the previous game, but it didn’t carry over against Citrus. the one bright spot for the of-fense and for the passing game was an end-around wide receiver

pass in the fourth quarter as Wil-lie Bobbitt threw one deep and connected with travon Payne for a 60-yard touchdown. it was a good moment on what was oth-erwise a rather frustrating day for Payne, who ended up with seven receptions for 129 yards and that touchdown, his 13th of the sea-son. even with the loss, Long Beach will get to play in a Bowl game thanks to that conference cham-pionship. they will play Golden West, the team that beat the Vi-kings 42-0 in their home opener, in the Central Championship Bowl, which gives the Vikings a chance at revenge. a win in that game will allow this team to re-deem themselves again by going completely full circle. the game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Or-ange Coast College.Men’s Water Polo the road to the ninth state title in program history is now very simple for the Vikings. Win twice this weekend, and they will be the No. 1 team in California. in the SoCal regionals last weekend, Long Beach took care of business against Cerritos and Cuesta before ultimately losing 9-8 in overtime of the final against Golden West. the finals appearance earned Long Beach entry into the four-team State Championship field, where they will be the #2 seed from the South. the Vikings (26-3) will play the North’s top seed, West Valley College (22-11) at 10:30 a.m. friday at Cerritos Col-lege. a win there sets up the state

title game against the winner of Golden West and Diablo Valley at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.Soccer Both men’s and women’s teams

finished the home schedule with shutout wins over Pasadena. the men got a pair of goals from tim Harty to get the 2-0 victory. in their final match, the Vikings lost 4-2 at el Camino, finishing the year 7-7-6 overall, 4-2-4 in con-ference.

the women’s team finished 13-6-1 and was second in their con-ference with a 9-4-1 league re-cord. the Vikings beat Pasadena 4-0 behind two goals each from Kylee Daly and Claudia toledo, and then they got a 2-1 win at el Camino to end on a high note.

fun,’” Darby said. “Him saying that made me know that he had the confidence in us. it gave me the feeling that he knew that we could win.” Darby and his teammates didn’t disappoint. the senior led the rams to a shocking 35-34 overtime victory over Poly, the first time that had happened in 25 years, the crowning achievement of the Kirk Diego era at Millikan. the rams had been selected to finish last in the Moore League, but finished with a magical sea-son, making the Cif playoffs. Diego agreed that the Poly victory will always be special to him, but predictably deflected credit to his players. “Usually, the coach is the lead-er, but [Darby] was every bit the leader i was that night,” he says. But the shine has worn off since the joy of that victory. Over two seasons in 2010 and 2011, the rams won just two total games, and did not pick up a single Moore League victory. this sea-son, Millikan matched up against nearly every opponent with a dis-tinct size disadvantage, allowing 435 points and only scoring 88. “the scoreboard tells you nothing about who you are,” he told his players after the Comp-ton loss. Points have never been the most important thing to Di-ego. “i’ve done this for 33 years and the good Lord gave me you. the good Lord gave me you. You guys are something special.” His speech finished, Diego spent more than 30 minutes ac-cepting hugs and congratulations

from former teammates and play-ers returned to pay their respects. He issued goodbyes to every player on the team, some of them long and emotional. When the parade finished, Di-ego instructed the team to orga-nize the traditional Walk of fame that takes place after the last game of each season. Underclassmen form a tunnel and the outgoing seniors walk through, exchanging high-fives, hugs, advice and memories. it’s an emotional but memorable moment for all involved, espe-cially since this time, they would be joined by an outgoing head coach. “it’s always been my play-ers’ last,” Diego announced in a signature voice that drawls out slowly, as if filtered through gravel. “it was never going to be mine. i was always going to do it again. and praise God that you’re my last.” He paused, directed his gaze downward, closed his eyes for a moment. His time coaching at Millikan has been built on the belief that God wanted him there, to serve others but also to save himself. Now, that time had ended. He may stay and teach at Millikan, or he may pursue other coaching jobs. Just a few years short of retirement, it would be difficult to leave the school dis-trict. the future is unclear, but Diego says he believes he will be shown the way. He looked back up and sur-veyed the sea of eyes locked onto his words, his direction, perhaps for the last time. “Go take your walk,” he said. and they did.


Coach Diego

Long Beach City College: Notebook



if you walk the Long Beach State campus and take note of the school gear worn by students, you’ll probably notice a darkly ironic streak. the school has renowned vol-leyball and baseball programs, and many others that compete with the best in the nation. But far outnumbering the shirts or hats worn to support those teams, are gag t-shirts that read, “Long Beach State Football: Undefeated Since 1991.” the joke, of course, is that 1991 is the year when the school sus-pended its football team for eco-nomic reasons. Since the moment that happened, there has been a steady hum of conversation about it. Why did it happen? How could

a team be brought back? Some have said it’s better to focus on the sports the school is capable of competing in, like the two men-tioned above, and men’s basket-ball, among others. But the issue has never gone away — just last year, a student-led referendum went on the ballot calling for a voluntary fee increase to pay for a football team (it was defeated). However, anyone following the Big West knows that there is one sport that Long Beach State could compete in almost immediately, and undoubtedly successfully. it’s just not football — it’s futbol. Yes, men’s soccer has become an elite sport in the Big West, and the conference is among the country’s best, although only seven of its nine members offer the sport. When the NCAA divi-

sion 1 men’s soccer brackets were released on Monday, the confer-ence didn’t just have two teams in the field, as they did for women’s soccer; they had two teams num-bering among the nationally-seeded top 16. Both UC Santa Barbara (No. 15) and UC irvine (No. 8) rank above Northwestern, duke, Xavier, West Virginia and South Carolina, all large universi-ties with athletic programs much more visible than the Gauchos’ and Anteaters’. “We do view men’s soccer as one of our marquee sports,” says Big West commissioner dennis Farrell. “At the administrative level, we consider it very impor-tant to our brand.” And it’s easy to see why. the Gauchos won an NCAA cham-pionship in 2006 and hosted the

finals in 2010, and they haven’t failed to reach at least the sec-ond round of the tournament in more than a decade. their rivalry with Cal poly is the nation’s pre-mier grudge match in the sport, with seven of the top 20 attended games in NCAA men’s soccer history, including an 11,000+ match in 2008 that stands as the largest regular season game atten-dance in the NCAA in more than 20 years. And the Gauchos aren’t the only big-name program in men’s soccer. this year, irvine defeated them in double overtime in an instant-classic Big West champi-onship. the sport is custom-made for California, with the state’s year-round training weather and vast recruiting pool, and it’s custom-made for a “mid-major” confer-ence like the Big West. Schools that don’t have football programs have a much easier time find-ing crowds for Saturday soccer games. Unfortunately, you’re not much more likely to see a men’s soccer team in Black & Gold in the next few years than you are to see a football squad. “We’d love to have it,” says Long Beach State athletic direc-tor Vic Cegles, “But it’s like your personal life — you have to look at the reality of what you can af-ford.” And with 9.9 scholarships to be divided among 20-plus play-

ers, the cost of coaches’ salaries, travel, trainers and dorm living expenses for the team, there is little doubt that Long Beach State can’t afford it, at least not without cutting a sport. there are certainly more pain-ful effects that the California bud-get has dropped onto the school than preventing Long Beach State from adding men’s soccer, but the sad part is, there’s almost no doubt Long Beach could be a national-level team in short time. the re-cruiting pool for both players and coaches in the area is talent-rich, and soccer at the Beach is on an uptick already, as the women’s program has just made history with their first ever NCAA win, and three NCAA appearances in the last four years. in the Big West championship (at UC irvine) and that first-round NCAA game (at pepperdine), Long Beach State fans solidly outnumbered and vastly out-shouted the home team crowds. “We’re building a bit of a soc-cer culture at the school,” says women’s soccer coach Mauricio ingrassia. Unfortunately, unless a donor steps up with, oh, say a few million dollars for the cost of the team, coaches, travel, stadium renova-tions and the burden of adding ten scholarships to a women’s sport to keep the athletic department title iX compliant, we may never know exactly how much that cul-ture could have grown.

Forget Football, Where’s CSULB’s Futbol Team?

November 17, 2011 | GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS | PAGE 13B

www.KeithMuirhead.com [email protected] 2012 11th Annual Historical Calendars & Tide Charts Now Available



With all the fall sports now in the postseason, no new rankings will be released for those teams for the rest of the year. preseason winter polls were just released for a few sports, but since none of them are playing, this week’s column is going to focus on the seeding and bracketing process for the CiF Football postseason. We’ve been talking all year about the importance of having a top four spot, because only the top four teams are technically seeded, meaning they start in op-posite corners of the bracket and are guaranteed to not have to face each other until at least the semi-finals. poly had claimed one of those spots at No. 3 earlier in the year, and as they won out, they were unlikely to relinquish it. in fact, when the brackets came out, poly was No. 3. the top two spots were the same as they’ve been all year as well, with Servite No. 1 and Mission Viejo No. 2. Where there was a mixup, and a minor controversy, was at the No. 4 spot. Santa Margarita, the number two seed from the trinity League (they finished behind Servite and above St. John Bosco) was re-moved from the seeded teams, and Alemany was inserted in-stead. it was surprising that Santa Margarita dropped a spot, from No. 4, in the final week, because they lost to CiF champs the reason that it matters lo-cally is that with where the Eagles were placed in the bracket, they would face poly in just the sec-ond round, should both teams ad-vance out of the first round. Giv-en that nobody who has watched both Alemany and Santa Margar-ita can imagine that Alemany is a better or more complete football team than the Eagles, it’s a sur-prising move in the seedings, and a difficult one for poly. Should the favorites win out, they would

need to defeat, in order, Newport Harbor, Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo and Servite to claim their 19th championship. CiF commissioner rob Wigod said that Santa Margarita was swapped for Alemany for ease of bracket construction as much as anything. the one seed and four seed always start out in the same half of the bracket, a problem with Servite and Santa Marga-rita since the CiF rules state the one seed and the two seed from the same league must be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. However, CiF rules also state that if a one seed and a four seed are from the same league, the four seed may be switched with a three seed to make the bracket work. Preseason Winter Polls the first CiF polls for the win-ter are out, with the winter sports season just a week away from beginning, and as usual, it looks good for the Moore League. Bas-ketball polls won’t be out until next week, but in soccer there are a lot of local teams. Wilson’s girls’ soccer team will begin the season after their CiF runner-up campaign last year ranked No. 2 in division 2. Mil-likan’s boys’ team is ranked No. 9, and Cabrillo is listed as “Also receiving votes.” Wilson’s girls’ water polo is ranked No. 8, and poly’s team is listed as “Also re-ceiving votes.” And in wrestling, the CiF coaches are predicting two Moore League teams among the best four teams in division 3, as Millikan is ranked No. 3 and Lakewood takes the No. 4 spot.LBSU Volleyball there is some good news for Long Beach State volleyball fans. We’ve reported that every week the team has been inch-ing a little closer to reappearing in the NCAA Coaches’ top 25 poll since the disastrous loss to UC riverside that knocked them out of it. this week, after their 10th and 11th consecutive vic-tories (they’ve only even gone to five sets once since that river-side match) they finally made it, ranked No. 24 in the nation.

Matt Rowe, Poly Football Matt Rowe, a senior linebacker for the Jackrabbits, had a phenomenal game Friday despite battling a number of nagging injuries. He led his team in tackles in a league cham-pionship game against Cabrillo, and, more importantly, had an interception return for a touchdown to help seal it. The pick-six (one of three Poly interceptions on the night) was the first of the year for the Arizona State commit.

Nick Hoy, Wilson Water Polo The Bruins won two playoff games to put them back into the CIF semifinals this year, and Hoy had a large hand in both wins. First, against Murrieta Valley, he had 14 saves in a 12-8 win; then in the quarterfinals, facing University, he had a dozen saves. The Bruins needed every one of them as they ended up winning the game 14-13.

Kaitlyn Gustaves, LBSU Soccer Gustaves, a former Wilson Bruin, played the game of her life on Saturday. Offensive play-ers usually win awards, but Gustaves’ “We can’t lose if they don’t score” attitude came in handy, as she had 12 saves in the shutout against Pepperdine, which ties her for the fourth-best game in Long Beach State history. It’s her 10th shutout of the season, which is the third-best single-season total in school history.

Nadia Link, LBSU Soccer With just 13 seconds remaining in the first overtime of Long Beach State’s first ever NCAA Tournament win, Link scored arguably the biggest goal in team history. Not only did it give them their first-ever NCAA win, it was their first-ever goal in the NCAAs, and it was Link’s 16th of the season, tying her with An-nette Ferndandez for the most goals in a sin-gle season in team history.

HIgH ScHOOl BOyS cOllege wOmeN

athletes of the week is a proudsponsor of:


By JJ FiddlerSPORTS EDITOR

Almost all of the Long Beach teams will be road warriors this weekend as the high school foot-ball scene enters the playoffs and Long Beach State women’s soc-cer is looking for more history.FRIDAYCIF Pac-5 Playoff Football Games After 10 games and 11 weeks of working towards this moment, four Long Beach high school football teams will begin the CIF Pac-5 Playoffs tonight. Poly will be the only team playing in town as they entertain Newport Harbor at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Lakewood will travel to face San Clemente, who the Lancers knocked out of the playoffs last year. Cabrillo will have to visit the highly touted Mission Viejo Diablos while Wilson travels to see the No. 1 team in the bracket, Servite, at Cerritos Community College. Make sure you follow the live score updates on Friday night at GazettesSports.com. All games start at 7 p.m. and you can read more about them in the High School Notebook.LBSU Women’s Soccer vs. Miami, NCAA Tournament Second Round 5 p.m. @ UCLA Drake Stadium After beating one of the best teams in Southern California last weekend in overtime, the 49ers will try to keep this historic sea-son alive in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA. They will be taking on one of the best teams from Florida, the At-

lantic Coast Conference’s Uni-versity of Miami. The Hurricanes (11-7-1, 3-6-1) are one of nine ACC teams in the tournament, by far the most of any conference. In the fi rst round of the tourna-ment last weekend at home, Mi-ami held off Alabama with a 3-2 win in overtime. The Tide was up 2-1 in the 77th minute when ju-nior Kate Howarth (#1) netted her team-high 11th goal of the season on a beautiful back corner header. Senior goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo stepped up and made some huge point-blank saves to preserve the tie, and in the second over-time, freshman Ashley Flinn (#5) played the role of hero on a nice lead ball from Howarth that she slotted into the side netting. Howarth leads the team in goals, and Flinn is tied for second with just fi ve. That stat typifi es the Hurricane offense, which only amassed 187 shots and 28 goals this season — Long Beach State has scored 47 goals on 264 shots. That inconsistent offense has put a lot of pressure on senior Alon-zo. The Texas native has played in 77 games during her four years at Miami and has 350 saves to show for it. She had 114 stops as a freshman and had 77 this season. That recipe of few chances and record save numbers has forced the Hurricanes to play two kinds of games. When they were on a seven-game winning streak in the pre-conference schedule, Miami made a habit of scoring fi rst and playing defensive soccer. They outscored their opponents 18-to-

5 in the stretch. However, when they reached the ACC schedule, they were playing from behind and their offense suffered because of it. They were outscored 11-to-23 while going 3-6-1 in confer-ence play and only once did they score more than one goal in a loss all season. Make sure you follow the live score updates at GazettesSports.com on Friday night, and come back Saturday for full coverage including a highlight video.SATURDAYLBSU Women’s Volleyball vs. UC Irvine, 7 p.m. @ Walter Pyramid The 2011 Big West Champion 49ers (19-6, 13-2) start their year-ending home stand with their fi nal Big West game of season against the Anteaters (10-16, 4-10) who have lost four of their last fi ve matches. It was the Oct. 4 game at Ir-vine that turned the Long Beach

State season around. Struggling with injuries and coming off an upset loss to UC Riverside, head coach Brian Gimmillaro shuffl ed the lineup and the 49ers haven’t lost since. The 11-game win-ning streak has Long Beach State headed for a record 25th straight

trip to the NCAA Tournament.LBSU Men’s Basketball, 1:30 p.m. @ San Diego State The roles are reversed for the 49ers (1-0) and Aztecs (3-0, as of Monday) as Long Beach State makes the drive down Inter-state 5.

Belmont Shore Rugby, one of the top rugby or-ganizations in the country, perhaps the world, is launching a high school rugby team. “Rugby is returning to the Olympics in 2016, which means today’s high school players will be of prime age to play for the USA in upcoming Olym-pic competitions,” said Allan Law, director of youth rugby. “With this in mind, in order to give our local students the chance to obtain Olympic glory, a high school boys’ rugby club has been created in Long Beach.” Professional rugby player Gavin Hickie has been recruited to coach the high school rugby team. He will be assisted by Ray Egan, Belmont Shore Rugby Club’s head coach and former director of the

Munster Rugby Academy in Ireland. Players must be enrolled in a high school in the Long Beach Unifi ed School District, carry a mini-mum 2.0 GPA and meet participation requirements. Registration with USA Rugby is included. The fi rst practice will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28. The team starts its league schedule with a game on Saturday, Dec. 10. Rugby is a full contact sport that requires strong physical conditioning with virtually nonstop action. The league includes teams from all over Southern California. For more information about the club and how to sign up, go to www.bshrfc.org.

Top Rugby Organization Starts High School Team

O N T H E W E B~ It was a fantastic Saturday for the 49ers, and if you haven’t already, go to GazettesSports.com right now to watch the extended highlight videos from Long Beach State men’s basketball Homecoming win and Long Beach State women’s soccer overtime win at Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament. You can watch any video on our YouTube Channel under GazettesSports.~ Make sure you come to GazettesSports.com Thursday at 12:00 p.m. to listen to SportsNight LIVE on the KBeach Global Radio airwaves. SportsNight is the one and only sports talk show in Long Beach where we will have previews of the local high school football playoff games this week and a mailbag full of your questions, which you can leave in our comment section, or send to fi [email protected].~ Is this weekly print edition not enough Long Beach sports for you? Sign up for our daily email newsletter from GazettesSports.com. Every morning you can wake up to a rundown of everything on the web site right there in your inbox just like a daily sports section. To sign up you can enter your email address in the “Sign up for our Email Newsletter” box below the advertisements on the right side of the page.

~ It was a fantastic Saturday for the 49ers, and if you haven’t already,


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BELMONT SHORE44 Corona AvenueUpper 1 Bed 1 BathDining Area, NewerCarpet, Fresh PaintRefrigerator, Stove

$1100 a monthstreet parking only

ALAMITOS BEACH445 Bonito AvenueLower 1 Bed 1 Bath

Fresh Paint & CarpetRefrigerator, Stove +On Site Laundry andSmall Courtyard $795Cat OK with deposit

DOWNTOWN345 Chestnut Avenue

New ConstructionUpgraded Classic Charm!

Lower & UpperStudiosHardwood,

Stainless Appliances,Fireplace & Flat TV’s!

only $695 & up

224 Atlantic AvenueUpper Studio Unit

Newer Carpet, FreshPaint, Refrigerator

Stove + On Site Laundry$695/mo., parking avail

Attn Property Owners:We Offer THE BESTProperty Management& Personal Attention

To You Than Other Co’s!No One Can Rent YourLong Beach PropertyFaster Than We Can!

Our Location Gets20 Walk Ins A Day!Save Time & MoneyCall 562-434-9911LBBrokerage.com

Alamitos Beach1700 East Ocean BlSteps To The Sand!

Studio $880 a monthWith Lease!

1 Bedroom 1Bath$1099 a month

All Include ParkingAnd Access to Beach!

+ Pet Friendly!Call (562) 951-7171

Beach Front Studio inBelmont Shore! KitchenetteSec Bldg $820/mo utils paidgar avl $80., 562-439-4554

Beach Studio ~ 20’s Charm1528 E 1st St Stove, Refrig

Lndry, sharp landscapd bldg!$725/month (562) 433-9501

Belmont Heights425 Coronado AvenueFew Blocks To Ocean

IMMACULATE!Studio & 1 Bedroom

Large Balcony, Large BathrmWall to Wall Vanity MirrorFull Kitchen, Disposl, DW

Refrig, Stove, Dinnette AreaClosets & Shelving, ElevatorLaundry, Garage, StoragePool & Rec Room in Quiet

sec entry bldg $885 - $1050Call 562-439-0551

[email protected]

Belmont Shore233 1/2 Granada Av #CBlocks to Ocean & 2nd StClassic Spanish Style BldgCommon Front Patio! GreatLocation! Large Studio, Full

Bath, Renovated KitchenRefrig, Stove, Fresh Paint

Hrdwd Flrs, Lots of WindowsPriv Balcony/Porch. no pets$900 inc utils 562-201-3308

Belmont Shore & Heights80 Bennett Avenue

Upper Studios, Full Bath& Kitchen with Refrig &Stove + Laundry $895

3516 East 3rd StreetStudios with Full Bath

& Kitchen with Refrig &Stove $775 a month

No Pets 562-438-9758JTM Property Mgmnt

Blocks to Ocean1245 East Appleton St

Remodeled StudioFull Bath, Full Kitchen

New Carpet, Fresh PaintRefrigerator and Stoveplus On SiteLaundry

in Secure Building$795/month, Gas Paid!

Fernando (562) 704-9468

Blocks to Ocean956 East Appleton StSharp Studio with

Full Bath, Full KitchenDining Area, Walk InCloset, New Carpet &

Paint, Refrig, Stove + OnSite Laundry in Sec Bldg$750/month, Gas Paid!Fernando 562-704-9468

HOLIDAY SPECIAL!December FREE withYour Pay Check 3xRentWalnut Pacifica Apts

1060 WALNUT AVENUEStudio, balcony, fresh paint

carpet, dw, refrigerator, stoveelevator, laundry & gar prkng

Marcus at 562-599-0650Or Cell 323-356-2200

only $750 a month

Naples Large StudioGarage Apartment ,Steps from the Water!2 Closets, Private Bath,Kitchenette, Storage &

Laundry Facility. PerfectFor The Professional,

Active Single. $1050/mo+ dep. Includes Utilities,Cable & Wi-Fi. No Pets.Available December 1st.Call 562-209-3769

OPEN HOUSETuesday - Saturday

4467 1/2 Le Park DriveLe Park South Apts

in Bixby KnollsStudios & 1 Bedrooms

On Site Laundry inGated Area $850 - $950.,Call for Appointment

562-595-8217Professionally ManagedGJ Property Services Incgjpropertyservices.com

Open Sat 1:30 -2:30p3024 East 3rd Street

Belmont HeightsVery Spacious StudioNew Carpet & PaintNew Tile in Bathrm

Large Full Kitchen wDining Area & Stoveplus On Site Laundry$695/month, No Pets

Call Jeremy562-437-0111 x5063Yvette 562-624-2450

ROSE PARK AREA2611 East 4th Street5 Blocks To Beach,

On Bus Line!FREE UTILITIES!

Large Studio UnitFull Kitchen Fresh PaintRefrigerator and Stoveplus On Site Laundry.$795/month Cat OK

Call 562-230-8575or 562-301-9377

ROSE PARK AREA2611 East 4th Street5 Blocks To Beach,

On Bus Line!FREE UTILITIES!

Large Studio UnitFull Kitchen Fresh PaintRefrigerator and Stoveplus On Site Laundry.$795/month Cat OK

Call 562-230-8575or 562-301-9377

Studio, Huge walk in closet laundry 3211 E 2nd St no pet$825., 987-3812, 437-6997

Upper Studio with View!1044 Appleton Street

with Appliances $675/mo562-436-8888

$100 Move In 1st MonthRec Park Area

1205 Bennett Avenue(2) 1 Bed Apts Available(one has enclosed yard)both have Carpet, StoveRefrigerator + On Site

Laundry & Parking Spc$950 & $1050/monthCall 562-597-4991

4645 BELLFLOWERNEAR

Long Beach City CollegeUpper 1 Bedroom

Ceiling Fans, CeramicTile, Stove, Refrigerator+ Coin Laundry On Site

$900 a monthagt 562-881-5555

See it on YouTube

BELMONT SHORERemodeled Private 1 Bed

In Back Over Garages!236A CORONA AVENUE

$1250 no pets 562-857-8000

4 Blocks to Ocean!377 Freeman Avenuenear Buses & Shopping!

1 Bedroom Unit withNew Carpet, Fresh PaintRefrigerator and Stove!

$925 a monthGarage AvailableMike 562-235-6786

Professionally Managed ByGJ Property Services Incgjpropertyservices.com

Across From Park1422 Orizaba AvenueRear Tri Plex downstairs1 Bedroom 1 Bath with

Small Private Back YardGranite Countertops

Stove + On Site LaundryLow Rent For QualifiedTenant $825 a monthJohn 562-799-1870

Alamitos Bch 3800 Ocean1 Bed Parking $1150 incldsAll Utilities 562-552-7288

Alamitos Beach108 Gaviota Avenue

Block To Ocean/Downtown!Charming Spacious 1 Bed1 Bath, Hardwood FloorsDining Room, Fresh PaintCeiling Fans, Mini BlindsStove + On Site Laundry

1st Month FREE!! $1050/moCall 1 (800) [email protected]

Alamitos Beach1328 1/2 East 1st Street

1 Block to Ocean1 Bedroom 1 Bath Apt

with Clean CarpetRefrigerator plusWasher/Dryer in

Private Laundry RoomStorage and AssignedParking $1095 a month

no pets (562) [email protected]

Wrigley Area2401 Magnolia Ave

2 Story BuildingRemodeled 1 Bed1 Bath, Hardwood

Floors, Fresh Paint +On Site Laundry &Pool! $850 a month

Call Jim 562-209-7045

Alamitos Beach330 1/2 Hermosa AveCharming Spanish Style1 Bedrm ApartmentDogs & Cats Welcome!$950/month IncludesGarage, Gas & ElectricBlocks to Beach, Bars

& Restaurants!Call 408-203-5855

Alamitos Beach Cottage1733 E 3rd Street 1 BedroomGarage, Fireplace, w/d hk up$1200., pet ok 562-433-6509

Bargain 1Bed 815 E. 9th St.Recently Renovated! $775

Small Pet OK 562-673-5859

BEAUTIFULBelmont Heights

100 Mira Mar AvenueSpacious and Bright

1 Bedroom 1 BathHardwood FloorsStove, Refrigerator

Coin Laundry On Site& Single Car GarageLots of Light! Walk to

Beach & Belmont Shore$1295 a month

AGT 562-881-5555SEE IT ON YouTube

Hey Bob Jones, Thank youfor my experience with the Grunion Gazette.

My Ad which started Friday, Spectacular View aTop Signal Hill, is rented. Wow, that was fun and

fast. The fellow that rented it is an avid reader of thepaper, and told me about the coupons that you also

print out for the keys made at Ace Hardware.Which Ido alot. So I’ll have my Mom save them for me. I stillhave the apartments to rent, so we will see how those

do. Once again, pleasure doing business with you.Thank you, Cheri Hoffman

Alamitos Beach Quiet Lwr1425 Appleton 1Bed 1Bath$1000 Move In Special! Catok 562-208-4475 439-9172

BEAUTIFULBelmont Heights

100 Mira Mar AvenueSpacious and Bright

1 Bedroom 1 BathHardwood FloorsStove, Refrigerator

Coin Laundry On Site& Single Car GarageLots of Light! Walk to

Beach & Belmont Shore$1295 a month

AGT 562-881-5555SEE IT ON YouTube

Beautiful Bluff Park1835 East 1st Street

Large 1 Bedrm 1 Bathwith Refrigerator and

Stove plus On SiteLaundry! $1150/mo

No Pets 562-438-9758JTM Property Mgmnt

Belmont Heights232 Termino Avenue2 Blocks to Beach!

Bright Airy Upper 1 BedsOverlooking Courtyard!

with New Granite CountersNew Electric, Ceiling Fans

New Stove, New RefrigeratorOn Site Laundry $1195/moor $1095/mo., sml pets ok

Call 702-499-1975

Belmont Heights233 Newport AvenueUpper 1 Bed 1 Bath

Carpet or HardwoodFloors, Fresh Paint

Refrig, Stove + On SiteLaundry $975 to $1075.,Includes ALL Utilities

PET FRIENDLYCall 562-433-2050or 562-505-1779

Belmont Heights4312 East 2nd Street #16

@ Bennett AvenueOpen Saturday 12-4 PM

Beautiful 1 Bed 1 Bathin 1 Story Spanish

Courtyard Complex!Hardwood Floors,

Refrigerator, Stove + OnSite Laundry. Block to

Belmont Shore & Ocean!$1095 a month, Water& Gas Paid. No PetsSharon 562-439-2148

Pabst - Kinney Assoc’s

Belmont Heights4545 East Shaw St

Spectacular Ocean View!2nd Flr Remodeled Condo

2 Bedrooms 1 BathNew Carpet, Fresh Paint

Refinished HardwoodFloors, Dishwasher

Refrigerator, Stove +FREE laundry & privateGarage $1950/monthCall 562-881-2514

COMMERCIALREAL ESTATE

REAL ESTATE

REAL ESTATE

RENTAL ALL

RENTAL ALL

RENTAL ONE BEDROOM

RENTAL ONE BEDROOM RENTAL ONE BEDROOM

PAINTING

PLUMBING

PAINTING PAINTING

PAINTING & HANDYMAN PLUMBING

PLUMBING

PLUMBING

(562) 522-6680

PLUMBING & HEATING ROOFINGROOFING

PAINTING

MURAL/CUSTOM ARTMOVING AND STORAGELIGHTING

ROOFING

Let OUR Business Help YOUR Business GROW ITS BUSINESS! Call Jessica (562) 433-2000 to advertise in the Service Directory!

WINDOW CLEANINGWINDOW CLEANING THIS SIZE SPACE

FALL SPECIALGrunion, Downtown & Uptown = 67,000 Distribution + ONLINE

$712 = 12 Weeks

CALL JESSICA (562) 433-2000Let Our Business Help Your Business Grow its Business!

THIS SIZE SPACEFALL

SPECIALGrunion, Downtown & Uptown =

67,000 Distribution + ONLINE

$356 = 12 WeeksCALL JESSICA (562) 433-2000

Let Our Business Help Your BusinessGrow its Business!

THIS SIZE SPACE

FALL SPECIAL

Grunion, Downtown & Uptown

= 67,000 Distribution + ONLINE

$712 = 12 Weeks

CALL JESSICA (562) 433-2000

Let OUR Business Help YOUR Business

GROW ITS BUSINESS!


C O M M E R C I A L P R O P E R T I E S

BIG HOME, SMALL PRICE!LONG BEACH $489,000Private, highly upgraded corner home in gated community. Custom wood staircase, custom mar-ble FP & remodeled kitchen are just a few features. No work - Just move & enjoy! (516369) CALL (888) 335-8628

GIANT, 6BR, 4BA BEAUTY!LONG BEACH $675,000Live the good life in this gorgeous home - impres-sive entry, spacious family room, romantic FP in master suite, 2nd master down & private putting green! (516657) CALL (800) 387-5430

NAPLES FIXER!LONG BEACH $699,000Great potential on 2BR, 2BA home in Naples just steps from marina & yacht club. Over 1,250 SF of living space + 3-car garage. Rare opportunity to own in Naples at bargain price! (516386) CALL (888) 305-9043

BELMONT PARK BEAUTYLONG BEACH $995,0003BR, 3BA w/family room, FP & custom kitchen. Ideal location: Within walking distance to Lowell, Rogers & 2nd St. shopping. Move-in ready! (516362) CALL (888) 308-1309

PAGE 24B | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 17, 2011

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