This past week, Fillmore's Cross Country split squads traveled and competed in the Ventura County Twilight Meet at Lake Casitas in Ojai and the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Ventura County Twilight group competed on Wednesday and the second group competed on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Fillmore athletes competed on a short course of 1.85 miles or a 3 mile race in their respective gender race. The first race was the boys 1.85 mile run. Fillmore did not field a complete team in this race. Juan Ramirez led the Flashes by placing 38th in 11:01.8, followed by Juan Carlos Laureano 51st in 11:20.4, Jesus Cadena 158th in 13:00.9, and Samuel Kafka 201st in 13:30.8.

In the girls 1.85 mile the team was led by Jackie Chavez who finished in 21st place in 13:11.2. She was followed by newcomer Ebony Venegas 40th in 13:46.1, Allison Recancoj 57th in 14:23.1, Marisol Ramos 187th in 17:02.8 and Emma Ortiz 207th in 17:48.5. Jackie Chavez was the lone medal winner and the girls finished in 9th place as a scoring team.

Joseph Magdelano led the boys over the 3 mile course finishing in 108th place in 20:09.4, he was followed by Erik Hernandez 123rd in 20:27.1, Andrew Otineru 128th in 20:31.4, David Bustos 160th in 21:06.1, Luis Leon 180th in 21:51.4, Erick Gutierrez 184th in 21:53.2, Gustavo Valdez 188th in 22:01.6, and Daniel Cruz 208th in 22:45.4. In the team competition, the Flashes placed 13th.

In the final 3 mile race Arielle Estrada led the Lady Flashes to a 9th place team finish. She finished in 42nd place in a time of 23:31.2, and was followed by Emma Orozco 47th in 23:54.1, Jacqueline Ruiz 56th in 24:15.6, Lorena Izarraras 57th in 24:16.2, Michelle Reyes 66th in 24:42.6, Liliana Felix 113th in 27:28.9, and Eva Vieyra 130th in 29:30.5.

At the Clovis Invitational, Fillmore fielded 3 teams. The races were run over a mostly dirt 5000 meter course, with several major hills.

The Varsity girls had the early race and were led by front running Carissa Rodriguez who improved her time placing 10th in a time of 19:02.3. She was followed by Diana Perez 24th in 19:25.7, Vanessa Avila 36th in 19:53.5, Giselle Perez 72nd in 20:45.3, Anahi Pascual 78th in 20:53.2, Nicole Gonzalez 92nd in 21:14.7, and Cecilia Cisneros 145th in 22:47.3. Both Carissa and Diana were medal winners. In the team competition the team placed a creditable 5th. Two hundred and seven girls competed in this race.

The second race for Fillmore featured the Varsity boys. There were 217 competitors in this race. The Flashes were led by Michael Sanchez who worked his way up to 21st passing 10 competitors in the last mile and finishing in a course best time of 16:35.4. He was followed by Everardo Magana Garcia 44th in 17:00.7, Johnathan Ordaz 67th in 17:25.7, Sergio Perez 78th in 17:33.8, Juan Ramirez 128th in 18:24.4, and Antonio Villalobos 185th in 19:52.5. Michael Sanchez was the lone medal winner in this race. The boys placed 10th in the team competition.

The final race of the day for the Flashes saw a strong group of 132 Frosh-Soph athletes toe the line in the Boys Division 3-4 race. Quick improving Freshman, Jesse De La Cruz ran to a fine 9th place finish in this very competitive race. He posted a time of 17:46.8 and was Fillmore’s top finisher on the day. He was followed by Fabian Del Villar 23rd in 18:16.3, Davis Flores 44th in 18:51.3, Juan Carlos Laureano 52nd in 19:10.7, Jesse Martinez 55th in 19:13.3, Matthew Munoz 64th in 19:40, and Rey Laureano 70th in 19:51.3. Jesse De La Cruz and Fabian were medal winners, and the team finished in 5th.

The Flashes will next compete at the second of three TCAA meets to determine league standings and which Varsity teams will represent our league at the Division 4, SS CIF Prelim Meet. This meet will be held on Wednesday, October 12th at Elkins Golf Course in Fillmore with the first race commencing at 4 P.M.

California United’s Marlene Gonzales taking a shot at the goal during the game this past weekend.
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Submitted by Coach Tony Hernandez

U-11 Girls - California United took on Barcelona for the first time ever and kept its winning streak alive with a 6-2 win.

The first half got off to a slow start as the teams figured each other out and ended in a 1-1 tie, but California United broke out fast in the second half and kept the pressure on the rest of the game. Marlene Gonzales had another big game with 4 goals as Jadon Rodriguez and Tori Pina each had 1 goal apiece. Current record, 5-0-0. U-13 Girls - Also taking on the Barcelona club, this California United group was able to keep its own unbeaten streak intact with a 3-1 victory. The goal scoring was pretty spread out in this game as Isabella Regalado, Emely Garcia and Daisy Jimenez each had one goal. Current record, 4-0-1.

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A note from Coach Bowman
Last week we played against Villanova Preparatory school in Ojai, California. The final score was Fillmore 3, Villanova 10. I was hoping for a cloudy day as the “weatherman” had promised. It was hot like Fillmore. I encouraged the girls to hydrate before and after they played a set of tennis. On that day, the players who were accustomed to playing singles, were playing doubles and vice-versa. Do the players get nervous when all of the sudden they have no partner as in doubles? Probably. In singles, they learn to rely on themselves to face their opponent; to be independent. They have been practicing and training for months for these events. Playing doubles matches is also good as learning to communicate will make a better team in the long run. By the way, I have been told by an observer that the players on Fillmore High school tennis team look “fit,”as other teams slow down in the end and look tired. Good work girls!

Submitted by Coach Tanya Gonzales

Thursday September 28th FHS Girls Volleyball hosted Bishop Diego High School. Final scores Frosh 25-11, 25-14, JV 25-23 and 25-17, Varsity lost in 4, 25-23, 18-25, 17-25, and 18-25. Standout players were; Dezeray Zavala with 16 digs and 5 kills, Tori Gonzales had 22 assists, 3 aces, 7 kills and Kasey Crawford had 1 ace, 13 digs, and 7 kills.

Tuesday October 3rd the girls took on Carpinteria, Frosh won 19-25, 26-24, and 15-7 Despite inconsistent serving we had Ashley Yepez keep the serves in and we managed to pull off some great plays. JV won 25-19, 24-26, and 18-16 We had a number of great plays and pulled together as a team to gain the win. April Lizarraga had some strong hits and Alexis Sanchez did great with serving, once again.

Varsity lost 22-25, 27-29, and 13-25. It was a hard fought battle at the start. Dezeray Zavala kept the other team on their toes with excellent serving (6 aces out of 25 total serves) she also had 12 digs and 2 kills, Kasey Crawford had 14 digs and 4 kills and kept a number of hits in play, and Tori Villegas had 9 serves in, 6 kills, and 3 assists.

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A note from Coach Bowman.

As I am entering my second year of coaching tennis I would like to share some of the questions about the game that “come up” during the season. “Coach, can my opponent reach over the net with the tennis racket after they strike the ball? Is a player allowed to stand so close to the net?” Here is the rule as far as I know; Imagine a player (a doubles player in this image) standing very close to the net. A ball is hit to this player (the player standing close to the net) and a volley stroke is returned. When this player finishes her volley stroke, the stroke of the racket is completed over the net (because she was initially standing very close to the net) on the opposite side of the tennis court. Is this legal? Yes, it is legal as long as the volleyer did not strike the net when the stroke was completed. In addition, if the volleyer strikes the ball before it enters her side of the court, it is illegal. In other words, a tennis ball must reach the other side of the net before it is struck by the opponent. This makes sense. Lastly, if a player strikes the net at any time during play, the point belongs to the opposing player or team.

More and more frequently during these competitions, the players are asking more and more questions as they compete against other teams. They are becoming confident as they stop the game to “find the coach” as conflicts or questions arise during a set of tennis. My favorite question of the year is, “Coach, can they sing during a set of tennis?” No! That is distracting and or an impolite strategy on the court. Words that can be spoken to your partner are for example, “yours,” mine,” and “get back.” Other necessary communicative words are acceptable. When an opponent or team is intentionally distracting by singing an opera song, then it is time to call “time out” and “find the coach.” There will be more stories stranger than this during the season, l.o.l.

Changing the topic from rules of the game to our actual competition taking place, we competed against Santa Clara on September 28, and lost 7-11. Do not be disillusioned by this score, for the girls tennis team is pretty remarkable. Speaking of remarkableness, Maria Gonzalez, a new player for this year, took up the challenge of playing singles during this competition. She played a total of three sets, one set against the number one, two, and three player. She was competitive and she was out there to win! Maria came very close to beating the number one player for Santa Clara as the score 4-6, could have gone either way. I was thrilled as a coach to see her determination. Next time Maria! During this match against Santa Clara, the team had some great wins along with hard to swallow losses. This means, to me as a coach, that they are getting more and more confident out there on the court with the drive to play their personal best. We will compete this week against Laguna Blanca, and Villanova. All for now.

Submitted by Coach Tony Hernandez

U-11 Girls. The California United team came out looking confident and disciplined this last week versus Morelia which paid off with a 3-0 win. It was a great team effort with goals by Marlene Gonzales, Athena Sanchez and Kari Terrazas while Ashley Hernandez had an assist. As we’ve come to expect from this defense there were no goals scored as Gaby Martinez and Mikayla McKenzie shared time at goalkeeper. Current record 4-0-0.

U-12 Boys. This was a hard fought game the whole way through with California United edging out VC Galaxy in a 1-0 victory. The defense faced a tough challenge throughout the entire game, but they stepped up and held on to the shut out with some great goalie work along the way. The lone goal, and game winner, was scored by Oscar Fuentes for California United. Current Record 4-0-0.

U-13 Girls. Lots of scoring going on in this shoot out against The Pumas that ended in a 4-4 tie. The top California United scorer for the day was Valeria Jaimes with 2 goals while Isabella Regalado and Emily Garcia each had 1. Isabella also added 2 assists while Emily and Daisy Murillo had 1 assist each.

On Wednesday, Fillmore Cross Country teams traveled to El Camino Real Park in Ventura to compete against 11 boys teams and 12 girl teams who along with Fillmore comprise the Tri-County Athletic Association. This meet along with two other league meets will determine league champions and which teams will represent TCAA in the Division 4 CIF Southern Section Prelims on November 10th in Riverside.

The first race of the day was the Junior Varsity boys. Fillmore’s Jonathan Ordaz won this race running from the front in a time of 17:05.9, he was followed by Davis Flores 6th in 17:41.2, Jesse De la Cruz 9th in 17:50.09, Fabian Del Villar 12th in 18:05.55, Jesus Martinez 17th in 18:19.27, Alexander Recancoj 30th in 19:09.22, Matthew Munoz 35th in 19:24.25, Eric Hernandez 38th in 19:47.03, Luis Leon 52nd in 20:11.20, Joseph Magdaleno 55th in 20:15.45, David Bustos 56th in 20:19.53, Andrew Otineru 63rd in 20:53.13, Daniel Cruz 67th in 21:06.94, Samuel Kafka 74th in 21:36.41, and Erick Gutierrez 75th in 21:37.87. In the team competition Fillmore finished in second place behind Foothill Technology.

The second race of the day the Varsity girls featured the number 2 ranked team in Division 4 CIF Southern Section, the Foothill Technology Dragons. True to form the Dragons won the team competition, scoring an impressive low point total of 21 points. Fillmore finished second in the team competition. They were led by Carissa Rodriguez who finished in 3rd place recording a finishing time of 19:09.62, she was followed by Vanessa Avila 8th in 19:35.92, Diana Perez 10th in 19:39.77, Giselle Perez 20th in 21:26:21, Cecilia Cisneros 24th in 21:51.27, and Allison Recancoj in 22:07.56. Fillmore’s 2 through 6 runners improved last year's time on this course.

The third race of the day, featured 2nd place CIF D4 ranked Foothill Technology, and 3rd place CIF D3 ranked Thacher. Foothill won this race with Thacher placing second. Fillmore followed in 3rd and was led by Jesus “Chuy” Castro. This was Chuy’s first time leading the Fillmore squad placing 7th overall in 16:30.5. He was followed by Everardo Garcia Magana 10th in 16:34.1, Michael Sanchez 11th in 16:37.31, Sergio Perez 16th in 17:05.96, Rey Andres Laureano 21st 17:24.43 and Antonio Villalobos 51st in 19:06.05. The top 5 Fillmore runner on the day were separated by an excellent gap of under one minute, 35.46 seconds.

The final race of the day was the Girls Junior Varsity. They finished in 2nd behind winners , Foothill Technology. They were led by Nicole Gonzalez who finished in 10th in 21:37.9. She was followed by Arielle Estrada 12th in 21:49.8, Emma Orozco 18th in 22:21.54, Jacqueline Ruiz 22nd in 23:02.22, Lorena Izarraras 23:32.91, Michelle Reyes 26th in 23:40.03, Yakeline Magana 28th in 23:59.99, Sandra Murillo 50th in 25:50.20, Liliana Felix 54th in 26:21.78, Eva Vieyra 65th in 27:33.05, Emma Ortiz 73rd in 29:00.12, and Marisol Ramos 74th in 29:05.18.

The Flashes will next compete on Saturday 9/30 in Portland, Oregon at the Portland Invite. Fillmore's next TCAA meet will be on October 12th at Elkins Golf Course at 4:00 P.M.

Part of the great CU defense, Isabel Hernandez (left) and Mikayla McKenzie as Brooke Nunez (middle) takes it back the other way. Photo courtesy Evelia Hernandez.
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California United player Ivan Espino sets up the play on the sideline versus a lone Torino defender. Photo courtesy Irma Espino.
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Submitted By Coach Tony Hernandez

Through three weeks now, the California United Futbol Club continues its unbeaten streak and impressive combined record of 8-0-0 to start the winter season.

U11-Girls - This California United team took on the Oxnard Nacional team in a 1-0 win. Scoring was at a premium as the California United team had plenty of opportunities, but just as many near misses. Marlene Gonzales was able to connect on the lone goal of the game which turned out to be the game winner. The defense held their own as usual with another shut out as Gaby Martinez and Mikayla McKenzie shared goalkeeping duties. Current record 3-0-0.

U12-Boys - This week’s opponent was the Torino FC with a final 5-0 score in favor of California United. The big offensive stats go to Ivan Espino, who had 4 goals (hat trick + 1 ) and 1 assist for good measure. Fernando Pastrana had a hand in 3 of those goals with the assists and scored 1 goal as well for the great team win. Current record 3-0-0.

The U13-Girls had a bye week and stand with a 2-0-0 record.

A note from Coach Bowman.

This article is dedicated to the parents and friends of the Fillmore High school girls tennis team. On 9-26-17, we played against Santa Paula at their high school courts. What made this event so special was the parental support of the team, not to mention Mr. Ito’s (Principal) appearance at the match. A special thanks to my friends, Sara, Gae, Joy, Ray, and Doug who showed up to watch the match. This is our foundation and a necessity for the team. This explains and reinforces the enthusiasm I see on the courts. I’m sure the parents were amazed to see their daughters playing the very technical game of tennis. Tennis is a skill based sport and takes a considerable amount of time to learn. I say that it takes about three months to learn all of the basic strokes; some may have a different idea. What is also great about this sport is the future opportunity to play with parents and friends down the road as tennis is a social sport and can b e played at all ages. Yes parents can learn too. Back to the team members; I am particularly amazed at two of my first year players, Ashley Tamayo and Jessica Flores, as they are tackling singles this season. This is a huge accomplishment to have the confidence to be on the court solo. Instilling confidence with this sport is always a positive outcome of athletics. Most of the girls are playing a sport they have never played before and are having fun! Briana, Karime, Maria, Marisa, and Amairani are getting better by the day. Good job team. We have work to do, lines to run, serves to master as we have more competitions down the road.

Submitted by Coach Tanya Gonzales

(9/21/17) Fillmore vs Santa Paula and all 3 teams came home with a victory!

Frosh scores: 25-22, 25-17, JV scores: 26-24, 25-15, Varsity scores: 20-25, 25-22, 25- 23, and 25-12. Key players were Johana Garcia with 3 serving aces, 5 kills, and 6 blocks; Dezeray Zavala had 8 serving aces, 15 digs, and 4 kills; Lindsey Brown walked away with 21 digs, a serving ace, and 2 kills; Tori Gonzales had 3 serving aces, 10 digs, 3 kills, and 17 assists.

(9/26/17) Fillmore vs Santa Clara all 3 teams won. Frosh scores: 25-21, 25-21; JV scores: 25-8, 25-17, Varsity scores: 25-12, 17-25, 25-17 and 26-24. Standouts were Johana Garcia 4 kills, 3 blocks; Lindsey Brown 13 digs, 1 ace, 5 kills; Dez Zavala 3 digs, 6 kills; Tori Gonzales 16 assists, 3 aces, and even though there are no stats Tori Villegas had a great offensive game.

Submitted by Coach Lindsey Cota

The Fillmore Boys Water Polo team’s first game this year was against Villanova on 09/13/17, and was a shut out, with Villanova taking the win. However, as a team we hung in there and grew from the experience. We had our second game of the season on Friday 09/15/17 against Nordhoff, and performed a lot better than we did against Villanova. Nordhoff left with the win, but we gained valuable experience and were proud to get some points on the board. Our high scorers for the game were Sam Guzman, and Juan Perez.

This is only the second year our school has had a program, and it's a very new sport to many members of our community. We are a very young team, and several of our 10 players have just learned to swim during our practices over the past few weeks. A few of them have just gotten to a point where they'll jump into the water, and allow their heads to be submerged. It's obvious that they have a desire to improve, and they strive to get better everyday. The tasks that lay ahead of them at the start of the season were definitely daunting for our non swimmers, and not everybody could handle the amount of effort and sheer will that they needed to have to make it this far. Two of our players in particular have improved by leaps and bounds. Jorge Lizarraga, and Eddie Rodriguez both began a few weeks ago as players who had to hold on to the wall and couldn't swim more than a few feet at most without stopping. Both players have now played in games, and Eddie plays for a full quarter at a time, at 100% effort without needing or asking for a break. The advancements they've made have been nothing short of spectacular and I'm very impressed by them.