2005-06 SEASONS IN REVIEW:Lightning strike to capture two CIF crowns

Sage Hill School opened its doors in 2000, but the Lightning had never earned a CIF Southern Section team championship.

This year, then, was almost an embarrassment of riches.

The Sage Hill girls’ volleyball and tennis teams won CIF championships within a two-day span in November.

The girls’ basketball team kept it going in the winter, winning the Academy League and making it to the CIF Division IV-A semifinals.

The three teams highlighted strong performances by nearly all of the Sage Hill girls’ programs.

Volleyball: Senior Cat Dailey, the Newport-Mesa Player of the Year, helped lead Sage Hill (27-9) to the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A championship.

The Lightning outlasted Academy League foe St. Margaret’s in the final, 28-26, 25-23, 25-20, to earn the school’s first CIF crown.

Sage Hill went on to a five-game loss to The Bishop’s of La Jolla at the CIF State Championships, ending the team’s fine season.

Dailey, headed to Cal, was the CIF Southern Section Division IV Co-Player of the Year.

Junior Kelsey Lawler was first-team All-CIF, and senior Haywood Wright ? who also made the Dream Team ? was a second-team All-CIF choice.

Tennis: Singles players Sarah Geocaris, Stephanie Langer and Ashley Adams helped lead the Lightning to a 10-8 win over Aquinas in the CIF Division V championship match. The victory came just two days after the volleyball team won its CIF title.

The Lightning won 64 of 72 sets over the first four rounds of the playoffs.

Langer, a junior, won the league singles crown, while the junior tandem of Carissa Cummings and Salen Andrews were league doubles champions.

Geocaris did not compete in the individual postseason due to an illness, while Adams, a sophomore transfer, finished third in the league singles tournament.

Coach A.G. Longoria’s squad finished 22-3 and was ranked No. 1 in Division V all season.

The Lightning’s strong doubles team of juniors Allie Hsu and Erica Spivack also won two matches at the CIF Southern Section individual tournament.

Geocaris (singles), and the doubles tandems of Hsu and Spivak, as well as Cummings and Andrews were Dream Team honorees.

Basketball: Led by Wright, the Academy League Most Valuable Player, the Lightning (23-4) won league and made it all the way to the Division IV-A semifinals before bowing out to Brentwood.

Wright, a 6-foot-2 senior center, was also the Newport-Mesa Player of the Year for the second year in a row. The Yale-bound standout averaged 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks per game.

Senior guard Laura Schaefer also made the Dream Team and was first-team all-league. She averaged 8.6 points per game and set the school record for three-pointers in a season, canning 64 shots from downtown.

Cross country: Like its boys’ counterpart, the Sage Hill girls’ cross country team reached the CIF State Meet, finishing 13th in Division V.

Sophomore Katie McKeon finished 28th in 20 minutes, 26 seconds to lead the Lightning. Freshmen MacKenzie Muhonen (84th in 21:58), Aiyana Bobrownicki (85th in 21:59) and Cait Williamson (95th in 22:12) also contributed.

Senior Kelsey Rose finished 97th at the state meet in 22:19.

McKeon was also seventh in the Southern Section Division V finals to help Sage Hill finish sixth.

Soccer: The Lightning (19-4-1) finished second in league.

The No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs, the Lightning lost in the quarterfinals to Maranatha just a year after making it to the semifinals and recording the first playoff wins in school history.

Sophomore forward Kellee Kim, who scored the only goal against Maranatha, and Rose, a defender, were named first-team All-CIF Division VI.

Junior midfielder Emily Webb made the second team.

Rose, Webb, and Kim, as well as senior defender Jules McLaughlin were first-team all-league honorees.

Track and field: Sage Hill finished second to rival St. Margaret’s at league finals.

Rose won the 200 and 400 meters at the league finals, and Williamson was victorious in the 800.

Williamson moved on to the CIF Southern Section Division IV Finals, where she finished seventh in the 800.

Connor Carreras was sixth in the 1,600 at CIF Division IV finals.

Swimming: The Lightning showed improvement on the season, advancing two individual swimmers, as well as their 400-yard freestyle relay team to the CIF Southern Section Division IV consolation finals.

Senior Stephanie Roeser was third in the 100 free consolation final, consisting of the Nos. 9-16 qualifiers.

Sophomore Sarah Wesley was eighth in the 100 breaststroke consolation final.

In addition, the 400 free relay team of Roeser, Wesley, Dylan Conroy and Jordan Smith-Newman was fourth in its consolation final.

Golf: Sophomore Justine Chen helped lead the Lightning to a second-place finish in league.

The Lightning (11-3, 6-2) also received solid play from Emma Koh, Kimmie and Kelsey Venditozzi and Madison Gillis.

Chen finished eighth in the first round of the CIF Southern Section individual tournament, shooting two-over-par 74.

Softball: A young team tied for fourth in league with a 2-8 record against Academy foes, a year after making the playoffs.

Leading the way was senior shortstop-pitcher Rebecca Hembarsky, who had a team-high .412 batting average and has signed to play at Division I Lafayette College next season.

Sophomore second baseman Katie McKeon hit .389, and strong-armed senior third baseman Alison Gonzalez hit .321. The trio ? the only three returning starters from 2005 ? all made the Newport-Mesa Dream Team.

Hembarsky and McKeon were also named first-team all-league.

Water polo: A freelance school (not a member of a league), Sage Hill went 13-8 and failed to earn an at-large berth in the CIF Division VI playoffs.

Returning senior starters Roeser, Elle White and Karly Bennett helped lead the way. dpt-sagegirls21.IMGGraphicInfoBA1T5H7H20060721BA1T5H7HCaption: No Caption dpt.21-sh-dailey-BPhotoInfoVO1T5G1420060721ipb6h6knCredit: MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Cal-bound outside hitter Cat Dailey (7) was the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A Co-Player of the Year after helping Sage Hill School win the CIF Division IV-A championship. Dailey was also recognized as the Newport-Mesa Player of the Year. dpt.21-sh-wright-BPhotoInfoVO1T5GN020060721iyipfwncCredit: MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Haywood Wright (60) was two-time Newport-Mesa Player of the Year and an Orange County All-Star.