As the regular season schedule dwindles to a close, it’s time to crown league champions in a variety of high school spring sports and start preparing for the San Diego Section playoffs.
Baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls track and field, boys volleyball, boys and girls swimming, girls gymnastics, boys golf and boys tennis are all spring sports.
As the regular season schedule dwindles to a close, it’s time to crown league champions in a variety of high school spring sports and start preparing for the San Diego Section playoffs.
Baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls track and field, boys volleyball, boys and girls swimming, girls gymnastics, boys golf and boys tennis are all spring sports.
The section’s team finals in boys’ tennis wrapped up last Thursday and Friday at the Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma.
A total of 10 East County teams qualified to compete in this year’s draw, including six teams in the Division II bracket and four teams in the Division III bracket.
Grossmont, which finished 9-1 in league play, received the No. 3 seed in the Division II field, followed by fourth-seeded Steele Canyon (8-2 in league play), sixth-seeded Patrick Henry (7-3 in league play), seventh-seeded Helix (7-3 in league play), 12th-seeded Santana (4-6 in league play) and 15th-seeded Valhalla (2-8 in league play).
Grossmont, Steele Canyon, Patrick Henry and Helix advanced with first-round victories on May 2.
Grossmont defeated 14th-seeded Sage Creek, 10-8, while Steele Canyon blasted 13th-seeded El Camino 15-3. Patrick Henry smashed 11th-seeded Mater Dei Catholic and Helix eliminated 10th-seeded Serra both by 13-5 scores.
Only Steele Canyon and Patrick Henry were able to advance to the Division II semifinals with quarterfinal round wins on May 3.
Steele Canyon defeated fifth-seeded Mira Mesa, 12-6, while Patrick Henry eliminated Grossmont (14-4) in an all-East County matchup 10-8.
In semifinals on May 4, top-seeded San Marcos defeated Steele Canyon, 12-6, to end the Cougars’ season while second-seeded Olympian topped Patrick Henry 13-5.
Steele Canyon finished the season with an overall 12-4 record while Patrick Henry finished 13-5 overall.
Olympian eliminated two East County teams in advancing to the division championship game. The Eagles bested Helix (10-7) by a 10-8 score in the quarterfinals and shut out Valhalla (7-11) by an 18-0 score in the opening round.
Mira Mesa eliminated Santana, 15-3, also in the opening round.
San Marcos defeated Olympian, 10-8, to win the Division II championship last Friday.
Granite Hills (6-0 in league play) received the No. 6 seed in the Division III tournament and advanced as far as the division semifinals with wins over 11th-seeded Orange Glen (13-5 in the first round) and third-seeded Chula Vista (10-8 in the quarterfinals).
However, the Eagles (10-5) could not fly past seventh-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (10-9) in the next round as the Longhorns recorded a 14-4 upset win to advance to the finals.
Christian (4-0 in league) received the No. 13 seed in Division III, followed by Monte Vista (3-3 in league) with the No. 14 seed and El Cajon Valley (2-4 in league) with the No. 15 seed. Neither of the teams advanced past the first round.
Fourth-seeded Hilltop (12-8) eliminated Christian, 15-3, while Chula Vista eliminated Monte Vista (4-8) in a tiebreaker and second-seeded Otay Ranch downed El Cajon Valley 14-4.
Chula Vista and Monte Vista tied 9-9 but the Spartans advanced by winning 79-78 in total games. Christian finished the season 5-4 overall while El Cajon Valley finished 6-9 overall.
Top-seeded Bonita Vista (11-6) claimed its first CIF title in school history by defeating RBV, 12-6, in the championship round.
Second-seeded Torrey Pines (15-2) defeated fourth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (15-4) by a score of 12-6 to wear this year’s Open Division crown while top-seeded Coronado (17-3) edged second-seeded La Jolla County Day (11-11) by a score of 10-8 to capture this year’s Division I championship.
Championship lineup
The section’s girls lacrosse championships are set Saturday, May 13, at San Dieguito Academy. The Division II final starts at noon, followed by the Division I final at 2:30 p.m. and the Open Division final at 5 p.m.
The section’s boys lacrosse championships are set May 20, at San Marcos High School. The Division II final starts at 2:30 p.m. followed by the Division I final at 5 p.m. and the Open Division final at 7:30 p.m.
The section’s boy’s volleyball championships are scheduled May 19-20 at Montgomery High School.
Two finals will be played on May 19: Division IV at 5 p.m. and Division III at 7 p.m. Three finals will be played on May 20: Division II at 1 p.m., Division I at 3 p.m. and Open Division at 5 p.m.
The boys’ volleyball playoffs got started with Monday’s play-in round. Serra defeated El Capitan, 3-1, to earn a berth in the Division III field. The Conquistadors prevailed in the highly competitive match by scores of 10-25, 25-20, 25-22, 30-28.
Granite Hills received the No. 12 seed in the Division I bracket while Santana received the No. 7 in the Division II bracket, followed by No. 9 Steele Canyon and No. 11 Grossmont.
The Open Division playoffs are being conducted in a double-elimination format this year.
The section diving championship is set for Friday, May 12, at Mesa College. The combined girls field will start at 10 a.m., followed by the combined boys field at 2 p.m.
The section swimming championships are set Saturday, May 13, at Granite Hills High School. The Division II meet starts at 9 a.m., followed by the Division I meet at 3 p.m.
Play-in games for the section softball playoffs are scheduled Monday, May 15, followed by competition in six divisions starting Tuesday, May 16.
Section championship games are scheduled May 26-27 at UC San Diego.
The section team and individual boys’ golf championships are scheduled May 16 and May 18, respectively, at the Admiral Baker Golf Course. Division II and Division III teams will start at 7:30 a.m., followed by Division I teams at 1 p.m. on May 16. Individual play will start at 7:30 a.m. on May 18.
All team, individual, compulsory and optional championships in girls gymnastics will be conducted May 19 at La Costa Canyon High School, starting at 12:30 p.m.
The section track and field prelims are scheduled May 20 at Mt. Carmel High School, starting at 9 a.m. for girls’ events and 2 p.m. for boys’ events. The section finals follow on May 27 at the same site, with events in the combined field starting at 10 a.m.
Place-finishes will be determined in Division I and Division II fields for team scoring. The top three place-finishers in state-qualifying heats, plus those athletes who meet a predetermined standard, will advance to the state championship meet June 2-3 in Clovis.
The section baseball playoffs are scheduled to start with play-in rounds on May 22. Divisional play starts May 23.
There will be six divisional baseball championship games at two sites.
The University of San Diego will host two finals on June 2: Division III at 3:30 p.m. and Division I at 7 p.m. USD will host two finals on June 3: Division II at 1:30 p.m. and the Open Division at 7 p.m.
UC San Diego will host two division finals on June 3: Division V at noon and Division IV at 3:30 p.m.
