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Class of 2018 Takes a Step Forward

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The Class of 2018 has turned its tassels at Burbank and Burroughs highs.

Once again both schools graduated a number of fine student athletes, some of which will continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level.

The following is a sampling of what to expect in the immediate future for the now graduated Bulldogs and Indians.

Burbank

Leading the Bulldogs class is multi-sport star and class salutatorian Melissa Daniel, who will attend Stanford University and play beach volleyball.

Melissa Daniel goes for the kill. She will attend Stanford. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Class valedictorian Jonathan Ragheb will attend Harvard University and may attempt to walk on the men’s volleyball team.

Lauren Ryan will attend Hawaii Pacific University, where she will compete in cheer. Nikki Howell will also compete in cheer, but stay a little closer to home by attending Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. Anna Leonetti will be attending Riverside City College, where she plans to continue in cheer and stunt.

Softball player Bene Snyder will continue her career at Trinity University in Texas.

Fellow softball player Anysia Gonzalez will continue her career at La Sierra University in Riverside.

Bulldog baseball player Abiezer Delgado will continue his career at Hope International University in Fullerton.

Burbank will be represented once again by the presence of a number of football players going to the community college route.

Moorpark College is getting Drew Pendleton, Kaydon Spens and Andrew Rovira. Anthony Lira will attend Los Angeles Valley College. Christian Fajardo is going to Pasadena City College and Darnell Williams will continue his career at College of the Canyons.

Drew Pendleton will play football at Moorpark College. Photo By: Edward Tovmassian

Jessie Czarneki will continue her track and cross country career at the University of Antelope Valley.

Noemi Apreza and Phoebe Forsyth will both continue their distance running careers at Glendale Community College.

Brandon Wilson will continue his water polo career at L.A. Valley College. Lexi Lyneis will continue her water polo career at L.A. Valley College.

Rory Rickey will hope to continue his volleyball career as a walk on at UC San Diego.

Burroughs

The Indians have several athletes who will play major college athletics, led by senior volleyball player Marin Grote.

The 6-foot-5 outside hitter will continue her career at the University of Washington.

Marin Grote will wear purple in college as a member of the Washington Huskies.

Distance running star Jagdeep Chahal, who recently won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title in the 1,600 meters, will continue his cross country and track career at UC Santa Barbara.

Emily Virtue, who was a cross country national finalist as a sophomore, will continue her career on the opposite coast at Columbia University.

Pole vaulter Elizabeth Switzer is undecided, as she also has the option of going back to gymnastics, which has her first sport.

Also from the girls’ volleyball team, Lauren Zedlar will attend Washington College in Maryland. Sabrina Sullivan will continue her volleyball career at the University of La Verne. Lizzy Jessen will play volleyball at Wellesley College and Ricki Patenaude at College of the Canyons.  Mia Staub, the class salutatorian, will play volleyball at Wheaton College in Chicago.

Jagdeep Chahal will run for UC Santa Barbara.

From the football team, Jacob Real will continue at Glendale Community College.

Basketball player Amir Montgomery is undecided but may be leaning toward Glendale Community College, per coach Allan Ellis.

Volleyball player Diego Rosal will walk on the men’s volleyball team at Pepperdine, where he will join former Indian Max Chamberlain and coach David Hunt, who grew up in the Glendale-Burbank area.

Fellow volleyball player and Pacific League MVP Cole Kaitz will attend Cal State Northridge, but has not decided if he will attempt to walk on or not.

Star distance runner Alex Hirsch will attend Harvey Mudd and run for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Softball pitcher Presley Miraglia plans to continue her career at Cal State Long Beach.

Fellow softball player Jessica Amaya is considering continuing her career Mission College in Sylmar.

 

Burroughs Girls Water Polo Fends Off Stubborn Burbank 12-5

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By Rick Assad

 

A better and more efficient start would have been preferred by the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team when it faced host Burbank.

With 5:40 left in the second quarter of Tuesday’s Pacific League match, it was tied after the Bulldogs scored, but the Indians then rattled off four consecutive tallies that included an 8-1 run and collected a 12-5 victory.

“We made some adjustments here and there,” Burroughs coach Jacob Cook said. “We shut them down from there. It was a good game overall today.”

Burroughs (6-4 and 2-1 in league) held Burbank (4-7 and 0-3 in league) to one goal in the third quarter and none in the fourth period.

Burbank, shown warming up in a recent match, played visiting Burroughs tough early, but fell 12-5. (Photo by Rick Assad)

With 4:10 on the clock in the second period, Burroughs senior utility Gwendolyn Turla scored on an eight-footer that made it 5-4 and with 3:29 remaining the lead swelled to 6-4 on a goal by junior utility Aleah Orozco from close range.

“I think we came in a little bit, maybe overconfident,” Orozco said, “and then we came to the realization that Burbank is a tough team and we need to get it together in order to play against our rival school and I think once that happened and we got in the right mental state, then things started to go our way.”

Orozco said she noticed early that the Bulldogs were aggressive. “I feel like in any type of sport, once it becomes more intense, you try to be more aggressive and they became a lot more aggressive,” she noted, “but we became back equally aggressive.”

The Indians’ lead became 7-4 when Turla scored on a five-footer and with nine seconds left before halftime, a 25-foot floater from senior attacker Cameron Flores pushed the margin to 8-4.

Gwendolyn Turla, with the ball, scored a match-best five goals for the Indians in a Pacific League win over the host Bulldogs. (Photo by © Ross A. Benson)

A goal from 10 feet by Burbank senior utility Lexi Lyneis evened it at 4-4 in the second quarter.

Lyneis collected her initial goal with 1:59 left in the first quarter on a 20-footer that tied it at 3-3.

“We just made a few mistakes that they capitalized on,” Burbank coach Allyson Young said. “We were making mistakes and too close together and they were making the steals.”

It took a while before a goal was scored in the third quarter as Turla found the back of the net on an eight-foot penalty shot that made it 9-4 as 3:19 remained.

With 1:15 left in the same frame it became 10-4 on a five-footer by senior setter Bianca Sanchez, but Burbank, which committed 19 turnovers, sliced it to 10-5 on senior driver Sune Aghakian’s 10-footer with 1:01 left.

In the fourth period it was all Burroughs which pulled ahead 11-5 with 3:52 left on a tally from three-feet by junior attacker Samantha Leano.

Thirty-eight seconds later a goal from five-feet by Sanchez shoved the Indians ahead 12-5.

The Bulldogs marched in front 1-0 on junior utility Patil Minassian’s three-footer with 5:58 showing, but twenty seconds later it was deadlocked at 1-1 on Turla’s 10-footer.

Sanchez’s short-range rocket with 4:56 left made it 2-1, however, the Bulldogs evened it at 2-2 on junior driver Michelle Morlock’s point-blank bullet and 4:06 on the clock.

Turla’s nine-footer with 2:12 left gave the Indians a 3-2 edge and Sanchez’s eight-footer with 1:05 on the ticker capped the period as the Indians led 4-3 heading into the second period.

Burbank junior goalie Suzie Misiryan and Burroughs’ junior goalie Isabella Erickson and sophomore net keeper Emmanuella Nathan all played well.

Burbank Girls Water Polo Loses 13-7 To Pasadena

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By Rick Assad

 

Similar overall records promised a fairly close and competitive Pacific League girls’ water polo match on Tuesday when Burbank High hosted Pasadena.

Despite failing to score in the first quarter, Burbank rallied in the third period and came within three goals late in the frame, and one goal early in the fourth period, but ultimately fell 13-7 in the league opener.

Burbank Coach Allyson Young likes how her team played in the third quarter. (Photo by Rick Assad)

Three players scored for Burbank (4-5 and 0-1 in league) with senior utility Lexi Lyneis and senior driver Sune Aghakian each knocking in three goals and junior driver Michelle Morlock adding one.

“If we would have had a better start and worked together and not put so much pressure on each other, would have made safer passes and protected the ball, it would have been a lot closer in the beginning,” Burbank coach Allyson Young said.

Young then added: “The third quarter they played great, but then the fourth quarter they all fell apart again. So what we need to do is expand that third quarter to all of our quarters,” she said.

Burbank outscored Pasadena 4-2 in the third quarter and a tally from 10 feet by Lyneis and 2:51 left cut Pasadena’s edge to 9-4.

A 15-foot blast by Lyneis with 2:04 remaining shaved it to 9-5 and her five-footer with 1:09 on the clock made it 9-6.

Morlock’s eight-foot dart with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter shaved Pasadena’s lead to 9-7.

Aghakian’s strike from five feet with 2:27 on the ticker in the second quarter sliced Pasadena’s advantage to 5-1 and Aghakian’s 15-footer with 11 seconds left before halftime saw Burbank move within 7-2.

Young liked what she saw in the third quarter and wants to see more of it. “They were communicating,” she said. “They were swimming down and driving. They were working together. They were playing as a team rather than a bunch of individuals.”

The Burbank girls’ water polo team warming up before Tuesday’s match with Pasadena. (Photo by Rick Assad)

Pasadena (4-6 and 1-0 in league) was led by senior Fernanda Alvarez with a match-best five goals, including two tallies in the first and second quarter.

Senior Shannon Brierty added three goals for the visitors, who led 3-0 after the first frame and 7-2 at the intermission.

“We did come out quick. We knew we had some fast swimmers that could do counter attack,” Pasadena coach Sean Phillips said. “Be pretty dangerous as far as offense goes. So we knew we’d get quick goals in the beginning, at least have the possibility.”

Phillips went on: “In the first half, I was really pleased with our girls. Pretty tenacious. But you got to hand it to Burbank for their resiliency. They had that comeback. It made me really nervous in the third quarter, especially.”

Pasadena scored two goals in the third frame with Brierty knocking one home from five-feet with 6:24 left that made it 8-2 and sophomore Nicole Wallius from five feet with 5:43 left for a 9-2 edge.

Pasadena pulled ahead 1-0 on senior Calypso Brenard’s goal from 10 feet and 5:01 left.

Alvarez scored back-to-back tallies including one with 1:30 left on a 10-foot backhander and a three-footer with 1:02 remaining that made it 3-0.

Pasadena increased its advantage to 5-0 in the second quarter on a 10-foot goal from senior Sara Winsky with 4:40 left and a 10-footer with 3:22 showing from Brierty.

Alvarez scored with 2:06 left from three-feet that made it 6-1 and then added another three-footer with 1:34 showing for a 7-1 edge.

Pasadena ended the fourth quarter by scoring four straight goals that included a tally from Brenard from six feet with 5:19 left that made it 10-7, Wallius locating the back of the net from five feet at 4:59 for a 11-7 cushion, Brierty drilling one from three feet and 3:19 left for a 12-7 margin and Alvarez’s bullet from five feet with 1:58 left for a 13-7 lead.

Burbank, Burroughs Girls Water Polo Have High Expectations

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By Rick Assad

Expectations are genuinely upbeat for the Burbank High and Burroughs girls’ water polo teams.

“I am very excited for our upcoming season,” Burroughs coach Jacob Cook said. “We have a lot of talented and experienced members returning who are well-rounded and play well together.”

Spearheading the Indians, who went 10-9 overall and 5-3 in the Pacific League with an opening-round setback in the CIF Southern Section playoffs a season ago, is senior utility Gwendolyn Turla.

Senior Gwendolyn Turla led the Indians in scoring with 67 goals. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

An offensive threat every time Turla had the ball in her hands, she tallied a team-high 67 goals and averaged 3.5 goals per game, with 22 steals and 12 assists.

Four seniors join Turla, who had 140 shots on goal, and they include attacker Cameron Flores, attacker Alice Martinez, setter Bianca Sanchez and attacker Andrea Silva.

Ten juniors will be asked to contribute offensively and play defense and they are attacker Amy Berberyan, attacker Leann Bermudez, attacker Samantha Leano, attacker Madeline Lingad, attacker Brianna Meneses, utility Aleah Orozco, attacker Camilla Panoza, attacker Isabel Rosado, attacker Katie Vlick, goalie Isabella Erickson, and Emmanuella Nathan, a sophomore, will play goalie.

The Indians are 0-1 this season after losing to San Marino 9-8 in the Burbank Tournament and will launch their league campaign on Jan. 9 when they host Crescenta Valley and will visit archrival Burbank on Jan. 16.

Burbank coach Allyson Young also thinks the Bulldogs will have a successful campaign.

Burroughs will face host Burbank on Jan. 16. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

“I expect to have a better season than last season because I have a lot of returners,” said Young, whose team went 6-18 overall and didn’t make the playoffs after finishing fifth in the league.

Young will have six returners and they include senior driver Sune Aghakian, who tossed in a team-best 49 goals and senior utility Lexi Lyneis, who had 38 tallies.

The others are senior driver Tara Goodwin, junior utility Patil Minassian, junior driver Camila Salas and junior driver Michelle Morlock.

Young said that she is counting on this group of veterans to help the other players who have less experience.

“I think they can be good leaders because they understand what it takes to play on the varsity level,” Young said.

The Bulldogs, who are 3-1 after defeating host La Salle 16-3, losing to host San Marino 6-5, then knocking off Louisville 9-7 and Torrance 8-3 in the Burbank Tournament, commence league play on Jan. 9 against Pasadena.

The remainder of the squad includes senior driver Valentina Abadjian, senior driver Angelica Perez, senior driver Melissa De La Cruz, junior goalie Suzie Misiryan, sophomore driver Sera Saahbazian, sophomore driver Sophia Brice and sophomore driver Michelle Mirzoyan.