BOYS' WATER POLO: SWIMMING IN THE DEEP END BALIKIAN, PARE HAVE MADE OAKS CHRISTIAN A TITLE CONTENDER.Byline: HEATHER GRIPP Staff Writer WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Ryan Balikian and Jonnie Pare remember the days when opponents would take their starters out after the first quarter, back when the Oaks Christian of Westlake Village boys' water polo water polo, swimming game encompassing features of soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. The object of the game is to maneuver, by head, feet, or hand, a leather-covered ball 27 to 28 in. team routinely used to lose league games by more than 10 goals. As the program's only four-year varsity players, Balikian and Pare can appreciate the Lions' progress better than anyone, and they are key reasons why Oaks Christian enters this week's Southern Section Div. IV playoffs with its first legitimate hope of a deep postseason run. The Tri-Valley League champion Lions will begin the playoffs Friday at home against Cabrillo of Lompoc. ``We've been building up to this for a few years,'' Balikian said. ``Coming into the season, I knew we were going to be right there in the CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). chase. Right now, we're playing up to expectations.'' Balikian and Pare are at the forefront of the success. As juniors, they were All-Southern Section selections and shared league MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. honors. That season, they were the first players in the history of the young program to score more than 100 goals in a season, each scoring 102. Balikian leads this year's team with 98 goals. ``I think they are the first real dominant players Oaks Christian's had,'' Lions third-year coach Stuart Craft said. ``Ryan's one of the best outside shooters in the CIF, and a great hole man. Jonnie's one of the quickest and most mobile.'' Balikian and Pare say they weren't alone in lifting the Lions to elite status. Michael Blanchard, who joins Balikian and Pare as the only seniors on this year's team, transferred from Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. as a sophomore and is one of the team's captains. The year Blanchard arrived, Oaks Christian had eight freshmen on the varsity team In the United States and Canada and UK, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, or high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of , a group that has grown into a cohesive cohesive, n the capability to cohere or stick together to form a mass. and talented corps of juniors. The team's depth was evident when Pare suffered an eye injury and was sidelined for nearly three weeks last month. The Lions posted the program's best record last season, when they went 28-2, but the team is more proud of this year's 23-6 showing against tougher competition. The recent Servite tournament exemplified how far Oaks Christian has come. The Lions defeated Carlsbad, the top team in the San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. Section, and Damien of La Verne La Verne (lə vûrn), city (1990 pop. 30,897), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1906. La Verne, which began as a citrus-processing center, now has varied manufacturing, including electronic components, apparel, hand , the No. 2 seed in the Div. III playoffs. ``Before, in our freshman year, we never even would have got invited to a tournament like that,'' said Pare. ``We get more respect now. Teams don't take us lightly anymore. They used to play their starters the first quarter, then put their subs in because they considered it an easy game. ``Even last year, you'd go on the message boards and see the stuff people were writing, they were still saying we weren't that good. ... That's changed this year.'' The next challenge is trying to get Oaks Christian past the second round of playoffs for the first time. The Lions finished the regular season ranked fifth in a tight division, in which local rivals Agoura and Royal of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. are the top two seeds for the postseason. ``The top five teams are all right there within a few goals of each other,'' Balikin said. ``It wouldn't be surprising to see any of them in the final, and the way we're playing now, I see us being there.'' heather.gripp@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 ATHLETE OF THE WEEK BOYS Lavelle Peterson, La Canada, Sr. Football Peterson rushed for more than 250 yards in the first quarter Friday in a 49-7 victory over Blair of Pasadena. He finished with a school-record 375 yards in the game, breaking the 300-yard mark for the third time this season. GIRLS Angela Villela, San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. , Jr. Girls' golf Villela shot a three-over 75 at Balboa Balboa, town (1990 pop. 2,751), Colón prov., in the former Panama Canal Zone, on the Gulf of Panama. The port for Panama City, Balboa was the administrative headquarters of the Panama Canal Zone. It was also the site of a U.S. navy base (closed 1999). Golf Course in Encino to finish third place overall and firstamong area golfers in the City Section finals. Villela advances to the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Regionals Nov. 13 in Murrieta. UP & COMER Liberty Miller, Simi Valley, Fr. Girls' cross country Miller clocked 18 minutes, 50 seconds over three miles Thursday to finish in fourth place at the girls' Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. Finals at Agoura High. Miller, the Pioneers' No. 2 runner behind senior Anna Sperry (first place, 17:23), was the only freshman to finish in the top 20. TRIVIAL MATTERS Few running backs in area history have been as productive as Grant of VanNuys' Fred Winborn on Friday night. Winborn rushed for area season-bests of 407 yards and seven touchdowns in the Lancers' 52-40 victory over Poly of Sun Valley. The last time an area back rushed for more than 407 yards? Grace Brethren of Simi Valley's Chad Kackert rushed for an area record 493 yards on Nov.19, 2004. Kackert's Lancers lanc·er n. 1. A cavalryman armed with a lance. 2. A member of a regiment originally armed with lances. 3. lancers (used with a sing. verb) a. A kind of quadrille. b. won 56-0 over St. Genevieve of Panorama City. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 7 boxes Photo: (1) Oaks Christian seniors Jonnie Pare, left, and Ryan Balikian have the Lions' boys' water polo team poised to make a deep run in the Div. IV playoffs for the first time. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (2) Lavelle Peterson, La Canada, Sr. (3) Angela Villela, San Fernando, Jr. Box: (1) ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (see text) (2) UP & COMER (see text) (3) TRIVIAL MATTERS (see text) (4) THEY SAID IT (5) BOYS' WATER POLO PLAYOFFS (6) DAILY NEWS RANKINGS (7) DAY PLANNER |
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