La Jolla High girls’ sports season opens on a high note

Compiled by Ashley Mackin

Several La Jolla High school girls’ sports had their first match-ups over the weekend, which proved to be a beneficial learning experience for the Lady Vikings.

Field Hockey

Junior varsity (JV) and varsity field hockey played their season opener against Point Loma on Aug. 30 at the Muirlands Middle School field, and both groups brought it home. JV won 4-0 and varsity won 5-0.

The field hockey girls will once again utilize the Muirlands field when they take on El Capitan 3:15 p.m. Sept. 6, and then return home to Gene Edwards Stadium play Hilltop 3 p.m. Sept. 9.

The cross country and varsity volleyball teams each started their seasons on Aug. 31.

Cross Country

During the cross country Vaquero stampede Invitational in Lakeside, in which the Vikings competed in freshman/sophomore and junior/senior groups, the freshmen turned out to be the shining stars. The freshman/sophomore group placed third as a whole and the junior/senior group placed sixth.

Coach Roger Karnopp reported less than half the team was there, and hot and humid weather contributed to their performance.

“However there were some fine performances by the freshmen,” he said. “Elise Roberts placed third in her race followed by Natasha Ninkovic, Allison Sweeney and Rylee Olson.” He added that sophomore Athena Dong also ran very well. The girls cross country team will not host any invitationals this season, participating in all meets at other schools.

Volleyball

The girls varsity volleyball team played at home against Vintage High School from Napa, but lost 3-2 after five sets. Coach David Jones said he was impressed with the competitive spirit and said the Vikings played well. La Jolla won the first two sets 25-16 and 25-19, but then lost the following three sets in equally narrow margins.

The Vikings varsity volleyball girls will be on the road for a while, and do not play another home game until Sept. 27-28, when they host the Beach City Invitational (though one “away” game is at The Bishop’s School on Sept. 24).

■ Full schedule of La Jolla High’s athletics:

LJHS.sandi.net

Golf

The La Jolla High girls golf team is playing great golf under the leadership of Coach Aaron Quesnell. In the second week of play, on Aug. 26 La Jolla High (239) vs. Mira Mesa at Torrey South (339). Medalists were Manci Rasmussen, 39 and Anna Law, 41.

On Aug. 28 La Jolla High (238) vs. Patrick Henry (290) at Torrey South. Medalists were Madeleine Garay, 42 and Erin Szabo, 48.

On Aug. 29 La Jolla High (202) vs. RB High (198) and Del Norte (208) at RBHCC. Daniela Anastasi, 38, and Madeleine Garay, 38, were low scorers for La Jolla High.

—Patricia Garay