SanLuisObispo.com: Sports

Van Ostrand has gone from badminton to Beijing

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:43 PDT

As a teenager in British Columbia, Jimmy Van Ostrand often entertained ideas of one day reaching the Olympics — in badminton.

“I never considered going with a baseball team,” he admitted.

But like a shuttlecock smashing over the net, Van Ostrand’s plans changed course quickly.

Seitz named to U. S. Olympic soccer team

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:02 PDT

Chris Seitz has been on some pretty good soccer teams over the years, but none quite like this.

The former San Luis Obispo High goalkeeper, who won an NCAA championship at the University of Maryland and currently plays for Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake, was officially named to the U. S. men’s Olympic team on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Seitz joins a squad made up of such stars as Brian McBride, Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley. It’s a team that is also bringing in veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan, the defending MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and likely starter for next month’s tournament.

Rattlers finish season series with Blues with win

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:02 PDT

The SLO Rattlers walked into their three-game series against the San Luis Obispo Blues this week having never beaten their tradition-steeped, crosstown baseball rival.

They walked out with two wins over the Blues in three days.

The Rattlers dealt the Blues an 8-2 loss Thursday night at SLO Stadium in the final meeting between the two summer collegiate baseball teams this season. They broke the game open with four runs in the eighth inning on their way to taking the series 2-1, although the Blues still won the season slate 3-2.

Fishing Report: Seven of nine teams that qualified for U.S. Angler's Choice Tournament of Champions have local ties

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:56 PDT

Seven of the nine teams that have qualified for U.S. Angler's Choice Tournament of Champions have local ties.

The event several months down the road will be at Clear Lake and that's a site that warms the hearts of bass fishermen.

Why?

Promising outlook for upcoming Port Side Marine Halibut Derby

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:53 PDT

There’s a promising outlook for the 15th annual Port Side Marine Halibut Derby, which is scheduled for July 26-27.

The outlook is markedly different than a year ago when just 13 halibut were caught by the 65 entrants in the two-day tournament.

Last week, private boaters out of Port Side Marine caught 22 halibut, but the two weeks prior to that 68 and 62 halibut were harvested.

The Blues bite back: San Luis Obispo blanks Rattlers, 7-0

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:13 PDT

The San Luis Obispo Blues bounced back from a historic loss to the SLO Rattlers on Tuesday with a 7-0 win over the Rattlers at SLO Stadium in a nonleague summer collegiate baseball game Wednesday night.

One day after their first loss ever to the second-year Rattlers—by a score of 9-2—the Blues outhit the Rattlers 12-4 Wednesday and broke the game open with three runs in the eighth inning.

The Blues (33-12) will try to clinch the three-game series when the two teams meet for the final time this season at 6:05 p. m. today.

North County's Gina Miles on her way to Beijing as part of equestrian team

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:57 PDT

Gina Miles didn’t make the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, but with the Beijing Games closing in, she has another Olympic opportunity in front of her.

The 34-year-old Creston resident was named to the five-member U. S. Olympic Team in eventing Monday and if everything works out this time around, she will compete in the equestrian meet in Hong Kong on Aug. 8.

The final team is pending U. S. Olympic Committee approval.

Rattlers pick up their first win over Blues

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:52 PDT

The third time proved to be charm for the SLO Rattlers.

Coming into Tuesday night’s summer collegiate baseball game against the San Luis Obispo Blues at SLO Stadium, the Rattlers had lost the previous two meetings to their crosstown rival. The Rattlers kept it from turning into three straight when they jumped all over Blues starting pitcher Matt O’Neal in the fourth inning.

O’Neal came cruising into the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead and had faced only one batter over the minimum, but he quickly ran into trouble.

Jordan Hasay has another strong showing on international stage, finishing fourth at world championships

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:01 PDT

It’s hard to imagine Jordan Hasay throwing elbows into the sides of her larger competitors but it’s that type of aggression which the star runner has been working on.

Over the past two weeks, Hasay has received a crash course in running with some older, larger and more experienced racers.

She had an outstanding showing at the U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Hasay demonstrated she is more than capable of holding her own against collegiate and professional athletes as a soon-to- be senior at Mission Prep.

Collegiate baseball: San Diego denies a SLO Blues sweep

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:01 PDT

Eric Massingham allowed only one run over six innings in the opener Sunday as the San Luis Obispo Blues split a Summer Collegiate Baseball doubleheader with the San Diego Mavericks on Sunday at SLO Stadium.

Massingham allowed six hits and one run in six innings as the Blues won 5-1. In the nightcap, the Blues led 6-1 after four innings but the Mavericks scored 10 runs in the fifth and San Luis Obispo (32-11) was unable to recover in a 12-6 loss.

In the opener, the Blues scored all the runs they would need in the first inning when they jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Jason Brooks had the big blow in the inning with a two-run single. He finished with two of the Blues’ six hits.

Motorcycle event to roll into Paso

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:57 PDT

Motorcycle enthusiasts in the North County have much to look forward to this week.

Motogiro, Italy’s historic vintage road rally on two wheels, will be on American soil for the first time as “Motogiro America,” and will use Paso Robles as a sort of home base.

Nearly 85 riders—about two-thirds of which ride on vintage bikes—are expected to arrive at Paso Robles’ downtown City Park sometime after 3 p. m. today, said Patrick Hayes, the route organizer for the event. The riders will then depart from the park Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings on various routes that will take them all over San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.

Noble is ready for his senior season at Poly

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:28 PDT

FORT IRWIN—James Noble’s final college football season will end with possibly the biggest game of his career in front of 80,000 fans at Wisconsin.

And that’s just the way he likes it.

“Against Wisconsin I really want to have my best game,” said Noble of facing the Badgers on their Senior Day on Nov. 22. “I kind of like that it’s like this for my last year. I can go out with a bang.”

Letters To Sports

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:28 PDT

No replays in baseball

Irecently became infuriated after hearing that Major League Baseball is seriously considering the use of instant replays as an umpire tool throughout the course of the game.

Not only that but it may be implemented this season and as early as Aug. 1. I would never stop watching baseball but if Bud Selig puts this to use, it greatly compromises the umpires’ judgment.

Sharon Day hits new heights by reaching Olympics

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:36 PDT

More than 20,000 people were rooting against Sharon Day.

Or at least, they were adamantly cheering on a woman who happened to be the final, painstaking roadblock between Day and the Olympic Games.

The women’s high jump final was the only event in progress the night of July 4 at the U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials when Deirdre Mullen prepared to take one last stab at clearing 6 feet, 3¼ inches.

Hasay makes it through first round

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:47 PDT

Some semblance of a Hayward hangover may have caught up with Jordan Hasay.

After wowing the crowd at Oregon’s Hayward Field and capturing the attention of a nationwide audience during last week’s U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., the 16-year-old Mission Prep senior-to-be lost some ground on her 1,500-meter race time Friday.

Hasay finished fifth in the fastest of three first-round heats at the World Junior Championships in Bogdyszcz, Poland. Her time of 4 minutes, 20.82 seconds was off the personal best and national high school record 4:14.5 she set in a banner trials semifinal but was more than good enough to earn a berth in Sunday’s final.

Blues rally to beat Rattlers

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:47 PDT

The SLO Rattlers will have plenty more chances to beat their so-called big brother in the future—even three games next week.

On Friday night, though, the San Luis Obispo Blues still walked a little taller.

The Blues went to 2-0 against the “visiting” Rattlers this season and all-time by rallying for a 3-1 win in front of a sparse crowd of 363 fans at SLO Stadium. This time, it was decidedly closer than their first encounter—an 11-4 Blues win June 13.

SportsRoundup

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:47 PDT

San Luis Obispo

Cal Poly head volleyball coach Jon Stevenson has been selected to lead the U. S. women’s junior A2 national team.

The junior A2 national team serves as the elite training squad below the U. S. junior national team.

Former SLO resident takes a most unusual route to Beijing Olympics

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:17 PDT

Ginny Farmer is no ordinary Olympian — though she did try the conventional route.

The San Luis Obispo High alumna helped deliver the Tigers a CIF-Southern Section divisional team title by the time she graduated in 1993.

She went on to appear twice in the NCAA Division I Championships and placed 15th in the country in the 200- meter individual medley during a four-year collegiate career at Rice.

Summer Baseball: Blues tune up for the Rattlers by topping Indians

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:17 PDT

Summer Baseball

Russell LaFleur hit a walkoff, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday night to propel the San Luis Obispo Blues to a dramatic 4-3 home win over the Santa Maria Indians in a summer collegiate baseball game at SLO Stadium.

LaFleur, a freshman left fielder from Missouri, was 3 for 5 and scored the game-tying run in the ninth.

Jordan Hasay heads for world junior meet less than a week after setting high school mark at Olympic Trials

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:04 PDT

Less than a week after her top-10 finish in the U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Jordan Hasay is on another high-profile track.

The 16-year-old Mission Prep phenom made headlines by improbably advancing to the finals of the 1,500-meter race amidst a field of the best professionals in the country.

This week, she takes on the world. After Sunday’s final at the trials in Eugene, Ore., Hasay flew to Poland, where she’s competing in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz. Her first-round heat of the 1,500 is scheduled for Friday morning, and with a nine-hour difference between time zones, it’ll be 1 a. m. in her hometown of Arroyo Grande when she hits the track.