Foothill League girls track and field preview: Turnover effects

Three new coaches, three CIF state qualifiers graduated and a couple of athlete transfers. It's fair to say the 2013 version of the Foothill League in girls track and field is far different than the previous year. But that doesn't mean the league will lack talent or excitement. Defending Foothill champion Canyon is proving it's not just a flash in the pan, but the second and third place finishers from last year, Golden Valley ...

Foothill League boys track and field preview: Separation time

Splitting a Foothill League crown isn't a way to make everyone happy. None of the three teams who split it last year, Canyon, Golden Valley and Hart, were thrilled about it. If one of those teams want to win it outright this year though, it will take some serious retooling. Just about every team in the league lost a major contributor, including three CIF state qualifiers who are all now graduated. Teams ...

West Ranch's Tanner Skabelund: Only one way

Tanner Skabelund grew up in an environment that demanded a lot. The West Ranch High senior grew up in a devoutly Mormon family, which required him to spend several hours a week with church, volunteer work and various types of training and studying. When it comes to his religion, Skabelund says, there was never any option other than a highly devoted, head-on commitment. It sounds awfully similar to the way the senior has approached his ...

Foothill League 2013 boys volleyball preview: Teams have a lot to live up to

It's hard to figure out which team has more pressure on it. Is it the team with two unprecedented streaks to uphold in Foothill League play? Or is it the team everyone is picking to end those streaks? Valencia, winners of its last 112 league matches and the last 12 league crowns, comes into Thursday's Foothill openers as an underdog. That's according to a poll of the league's coaches, who picked West Ranch as the ...

Saugus baseball wins the hard way

Saugus Centurions baseball took one of the more stressful routes to victory. But in the Foothill League opener against a talented Hart Indians team, the Centurions will take it. Saugus had to fend off multiple comeback attempts on the way to a 5-4 win over Hart after 10 back-and-forth innings on Wednesday at Hart High School. "I think we age 20 years with each game," said Saugus head coach John Maggiora. He was referring to ...

Santa Clarita Valley NFL players hit the open market

Even before the NFL free agency period began, a few blockbuster deals were already made, according to reports around the league.

The Master's College's Jacqui Marshall: Compatible pursuits

All the other schools that tried to recruit Jacqui Marshall were aggressive and almost pushy.

Hart High boys volleyball jumps out to early lead

Toward the end of last season, Hart High boys volleyball was playing at a high level and showing signs of vast improvement from earlier in the year.

COC hoops: The ride comes to a stop

For a while, it looked like College of the Canyons men's basketball was going to keep this ride going.

Golden Valley boys volleyball hits reset

With a new head coach coming in at the last minute and a young team trying to recover from graduation losses, Golden Valley boys volleyball has its work cut out this season.

Canyon boys volleyball's rallying cry

Canyon boys volleyball is a team trying to develop trust among one another. The Canyon Cowboys made plenty of progress in that category on Tuesday night, coming back from a two-game deficit to beat the Burbank Bulldogs 3-2 at Canyon High School. After losing the first two games 25-22 and 25-23, Canyon rallied back to win 25-13, 25-20 and 15-12 thanks largely to 20 kills, 24 digs and three aces from senior Lance Ayson. "You've ...

Prep boys hoops: Trinity gets a last shot

Don't close the book on this season just yet. Trinity Classical Academy boys basketball hits the road toward the Fresno area to face Tranquillity High on Wednesday night in the first round of the CIF State Division V Basketball tournament. The state tournament brackets were released Sunday night. On Saturday, the Trinity Knights fell short of a CIF-Southern Section Division VI title after losing 47-40 to Rio Hondo Prep. Given their performance in the Southern ...

COC basketball: One common thread

All three athletes had their separate reasons for taking the paths they took. But they all had the same reason for ending up at College of the Canyons - basketball. Valencia graduates Terrez Scott and David Horst and Saugus graduate Ron Harris all took significant breaks from the sport after high school, but they've converged onto the same team years later. "We all had things that were happening in our lives and it took time ...

Youth sports: Local AYSO teams make state

Even some of the coaches and parents in the community didn't realize a state championship existed for the American Youth Soccer Organization.

Colllege basketball: Upping the ante

It wasn't the win itself, it was the reaction that said it all. This year's College of the Canyons men's basketball team is accomplishing more than it has in recent years, and it's because the players compete for each other. COC players flew off the bench to congratulate their teammates after a come-from-behind 71-68 win over Allan Hancock College on Friday in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoff at COC. COC, which ...

Canyon track and field's Devin Baldwin: Endless tenacity