2015 Top 10 Sports Stories: American Pharoah ends great drought with Triple Crown
Dominance was redefined by city athletes and sports personalties in what was a very successful and entertaining 2015.
From rare victories on the track and diamond, to greatness on the golf course, in the pool and on the cross-country paths, quite a few stories stood out.
Chosen by the Valley Sun sports staff, here is a list of the top 10 sports stories of 2015.
1 American Pharoah, trained by La Cañada Flintridge’s Bob Baffert, wins triple crown; goes out a winner
It was a historic season and then some for the 3-year-old colt, owned by Ahmed Zayat, ridden by jockey Victor Espinoza and trained by La Cañada Flintridge resident Bob Baffert.
American Pharoah became the first horse in 37 years to capture the famed triple crown when he won the Belmont Stakes on June 6 by 5 1/2 lengths.
Thirteen previous horses had tried and failed to close out the near four-decade-long drought that began after Affirmed won the triple crown in 1978.
The triple crown was Baffert’s first in four tries.
American Pharoah capped his career on Halloween when he went out a winner in claiming the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kent.
Baffert’s horse romped to a victory of 6 1/2 lengths in a course-record time of 2 minutes, 00.07 seconds, which shattered the old mark of 2:05.36.
In winning the Breeders’ Cup, American Pharoah became the first-ever horse to claim the “Grand Slam” of racing — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup.
American Pharoah ended his career having won nine of 11 races, while totaling winnings of $8,650,300.
On Thursday, American Pharoah’s magic ride was selected as the sports story of the year by the Associated Press.
“This horse was special and I’ve had a lot great ones. He’s so friendly. I’m waiting for him to start talking to me like Mr. Ed,” Baffert said. “Once he gets ready, though, he’s a different animal. He’s competitive, he’s confident, he’s just unbelievable.”
2 Flintridge Prep baseball wins program’s first CIF title
Maybe no area team showed more gumption throughout the season than the Rebels, who defeated St. Anthony, 3-2, in eight innings for the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship at UC Riverside on June 6.
The championship was the program’s first in the first visit to a CIF title game since 1951. The title was also the first for the area in baseball since 1998.
The crown seemed like a pipe dream when Flintridge Prep opened the season with an 0-7 record, losing to upper-division playoff teams.
Yet, the Rebels rallied to finish 17-12 overall and took second in the Prep League behind archrival Pasadena Poly.
In the postseason, Flintridge Prep rallied for victories in four of five contests, with the Rebels scoring game-winning runs in the final at-bat in three of those games.
Unranked Flintridge Prep defeated Foothill Tech (4-3), No. 3 Desert Christian (10-0), No. 10 Oxford Academy (4-3) and No. 7 Salesian (10-9) in successive rounds to reach the finals.
The Rebels fell behind, 1-0, against St. Anthony before rallying to tie and then scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning.
St. Anthony pulled within a run while loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth with one out. On the brink of losing, Rebels pitcher Robbie Leslie picked up his fourth postseason victory by inducing two infield pop outs to claim the title.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Flintridge Prep Coach Guillermo Gonzalez said. “We’ve battled all year with injuries and knowing what type of team we have, it’s been great. I think the thing that’s really helped this team is that they’ve realized just how long a baseball game is. There are 21 outs and when you fall behind or go ahead, you know you still have a lot of work to go.”
3 Flintridge Prep boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams taste success at CIF and state
Both the Flintridge Prep boys’ and girls’ cross-country programs have combined for plenty of success, including 11 Southern Section championships and seven state titles.
One of the few things the programs hadn’t accomplished was both winning Southern Section and state crowns in the same year. That was until this past season.
At the CIF Southern Section Division V championships at Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 21, both teams won in convincing fashion.
The girls demolished Pacifica Christian, 24-123, with six Rebels finishing in the top 10. The championship was the third straight for the girls.
The boys, led by individual champion Jack Van Scoter (15 minutes, 12.6 seconds), captured their second title in three years with a 37-68 win over Desert Christian.
At the following weekend’s CIF State Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park, the Rebels made history.
The girls rolled to a 67-143 victory over St. Joseph Notre Dame to claim the squad’s second consecutive state crown. The boys then followed suit in breaking an 11-year drought with an impressive 43-168 triumph over Marin Academy. Van Scoter finished second in the competition in 15:07.28.
Both teams also set Division V course records at Woodward Park, as the boys ran to a mark of 79:40.8 and the girls tallied a time of 95:58.9.
“I’m just so happy for these guys, especially our seniors, to be rewarded for all their hard work and focus,” Flintridge Prep boys’ Coach Ingrid Herskind said. “It’s been a long journey to get here and it hasn’t always been easy, but this group has been so committed to winning this title and I couldn’t be prouder of what they accomplished.”
4 David Olmedo-Barrera has year to remember
Simply put, it was a great 2015 for St. Francis High alumnus David Olmedo-Barrera.
The designated hitter was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th round with the 358th pick on the third and final day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft on June 10 and signed with the club shortly after.
The signing came after a college baseball season to remember for the Cal State Fullerton junior.
Olmedo-Barrera put together a great season for the Titans (39-25), finishing second on the team in batting average at .325, while hitting 10 of his squad’s 20 home runs along with 46 runs batted in, 45 runs, nine doubles, six triples and stealing 14 bases.
Olmedo-Barrera was named the Big West co-Player of the Year. Olmedo-Barrera was the 13th Titan to claim the honor and later was placed on the American Baseball Coaches Assn./Rawlings All-West Region team.
Perhaps Olmedo-Barrera’s biggest regular season effort came April 4, when he went two for two with a grand slam and tied a school record with eight RBI in the Titans’ 13-2 conference victory versus Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
While Olmedo-Barrera helped Fullerton to a 20th Big West Conference crown, his biggest heroics came in the postseason.
In eight playoff games, Olmedo-Barrera was 13 for 32 (.406) with two homers, eight runs, seven RBI, three doubles, one triple, five walks and two stolen bases
The La Cañada Flintridge resident was named to the Fullerton All-Regional Team and was the hero of the Titans’ 4-3 series-clinching victory over third-seeded host Louisville when he cracked a game-winning homer in the 11th inning to send Fullerton to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the first time since 2009.
“Besides the crazy environment of Omaha, I had plenty of people asking about the home run,” Olmedo-Barrera said. “I had people coming up and asking for my autograph and others who said they were so much happier to see us in the World Series than Louisville. It was a special feeling.”
Fullerton’s run ended with a rain-delayed 4-3 defeat to Vanderbilt on June 15 followed by a 5-3 setback to LSU the following day.
Olmedo-Barrera made his minor league debut July 5 with the Princeton Rays, the rookie league affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Olmedo-Barrera batted .288 in 44 rookie league games with four homers, 10 doubles, 21 RBI and 25 runs scored.
5 St. Francis football goes to semifinals despite three-game losing skid
At the start of the St. Francis High football season, nobody knew what to expect. Midway, through, it seemed as if disaster had arrived. Yet, when it all ended, the Golden Knights enjoyed a turnaround to remember.
Following the graduations of a slew of talented players and then the transfers of two All-Area returners, just how successful St. Francis would be was clearly in question. Certainly, the expectations paled in comparison to the season before when the Golden Knights were the odds-on favorites to win the Angelus League and the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division championship.
After St. Francis started the season at 4-0, all seemed well. But then came an agonizing three-game losing streak in which returning to the playoffs even seemed in jeopardy.
A 34-0 loss to Calabasas — the worst in years for St. Francis — ended nonleague play and an overtime defeat against Salesian followed by a Hail Mary loss to Harvard-Westlake began league.
With a matchup against league rival and then-top-ranked Cathedral looming, the season was on the line. But the Golden Knights prevailed, 31-14, to start a five-game winning streak that carried them into the semifinals.
“I told these guys [after the game,] the last five weeks, the way they responded and they came back from adversity from losing those three games, that’s gonna be with them forever,” Golden Knights Coach Jim Bonds said after the La Serna game. “That’s gonna make them better men; better husbands and better fathers.”
Led by standouts such as defensive end Sean Davitt, running back Areg Nazarian, linebacker Maxx Jakeway and cornerback Jacob De La Hoya, the Golden Knights downed San Gabriel Valley League tri-champion Warren, 21-19, and Pacific League champion Burroughs, 21-7, before concluding their season in the semifinals, losing to top-seeded La Serna, 24-10.
6 Kirsten Vose saves best for last
In a four-year high school career that included three straight Mission League titles, consistent improvement at the CIF Southern Section Division I championship and tons of team and individual accolades, it didn’t seem there was much more Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimmer Kirsten Vose could deliver in her final year.
Yet, the USC-bound senior, fresh off claiming four Mission League titles to conclude an amazing undefeated league career, had one last encore performance that included a twist.
At the Division I championships at Riverside City College on May 16, Vose’s swan song was magical.
The Tologs standout not only proved once again that she was one of the best swimmers at the meet and inside Southern California, but also one of her school’s best ever.
Vose set the Division I record in the 200-yard individual medley with a winning mark of 1 minute, 56.07 seconds, which was then the third-fastest high school time and fifth-best in the nation.
Vose also took second in the 100 breaststroke in a school record of 1:00.57 and was a valuable member of the Tologs’ eighth-place 200 medley (1:46.49) relay squad.
In taking first in the 200 IM and second in the 100 breaststroke, Vose overtook the school records of Andrea Kropp, who just graduated from the same USC that Vose enrolled in this past fall.
For a third straight year, Vose was the All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year and the La Cañada Valley Sun Girls’ Athlete of the Year.
7 La Cañada’s Katie Scoville pulls off CIF title stunner
If her freshman year wasn’t impressive enough, the sophomore season for Katie Scoville served as a coming-out party.
Scoville finished second (11:34.33) at the Fastback Shootout, second (18:38) in her Division IV race at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, ninth (17:476) at the Arcadia Apache Invitational and 19th (17:18.7) at the Woodbridge Invitational.
Scoville led her team to a slim victory over South Pasadena at Lacy Park on Nov. 5 for a second consecutive Rio Hondo League crown.
At that race, Scoville captured her second straight Rio Hondo League individual championship in 18:49.61.
However, Scoville saved her best effort for the CIF Southern Section championships at Mt. SAC when she became her school’s first section champion since 1998 when she took home the Division IV individual title in 17:53.6.
Scoville capped her sophomore season by finishing 10th in Division IV at state at Woodward Park in 18:13.9.
8 Morikawa ends phenomenal La Cañada career with best season yet
It was the season of ‘finally’ for the Spartans senior.
After three successive years in which the golfer came agonizingly close, but failed to advance to the season-ending CIF State Championships, Morikawa finally punched his ticket to the event June 3 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.
A sick Morikawa had to settle for the satisfaction of advancing as he struggled to finish in a seven-way tie for 29th with a seven-over-par 78.
Prior to that, Morikawa was a key factor in La Cañada winning a Rio Hondo League championship, while the senior clinched his fourth straight individual crown with a four-under-par 36-hole total of 138.
The Spartans then finished second at the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional in advancing to the CIF golf team championship.
Individually, Morikawa tied for second at the CIF Individual Tournament, 11th at the team championship and then earned his trip to state by placing fifth at the state qualifier at Brookside Golf Course with a one-under-par 71.
Not long after, he won his fourth consecutive All-Area Boys’ Golfer of the Year accolade.
9 Another group of McKenzie sisters makes CIF semifinal trip
While their time together was brief, the La Cañada sister duo of Cassie and Sophie McKenzie was brilliant, as the sisters finished 8-1 and advanced to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.
It was the second straight trip for Cassie, as the senior, had teamed with elder sister Ally the season prior before taking the leadership reins in 2015 with freshman Sophie.
The sisters’ run began at the two-day long Rio Hondo League Tournament that concluded Oct. 29.
The Spartans ran through the field, defeating San Marino’s Madeleine Gandawidjaja and Libby Chang, 6-3, 6-3 for the championship at Temple City’s Live Oak Park.
In the CIF Individual Tournament, the duo advanced to the round of 16 at the Seal Beach Tennis Center on Dec. 2, where the sisters turned in perhaps their best effort of the year.
After rallying to defeat Murrieta Valley’s Faith Pearson and Alana Andrews, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 16, the McKenzies faced a great challenge in the elite eight.
The sisters were a game away from defeat, down, 5-0, in the third set to Campbell Hall’s Dominique Stone and Jay Kim, before launching an incredible rally.
The sisters fought back, including fending off 12 match points, before rallying to win the set and the match, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).
The magic from that victory did not carry over into the semifinals the next day in Seal Beach, as the McKenzies lost to Harvard-Westlake’s Jenna Mustafa and Julian Simon, 6-3, 6-0.
10 La Cañada boys’ soccer makes semifinal run, then goes to regional
It was indeed a magical postseason run for the Spartans, who finished the year 13-9-5 overall and 5-2-3 in league, which translated into third place in the ultra-competitive Rio Hondo League.
Despite being the league’s third seed, La Cañada was a giant slayer in the CIF Southern Section Division VI postseason.
The Spartans opened with a 4-2 victory at Prep League champion Firebaugh on Feb. 20 that was followed by a 3-2 victory over visiting De Anza League titlist Desert Mirage five days later.
The biggest win of the postseason came Feb. 27 in the quarterfinals when the Spartans upset Mountain Valley League champion Vista Del Lago, the division’s No. 3-ranked team, at home, 2-0.
La Cañada’s run to a championship came up one round short in the semifinals March 3 as the Spartans lost to league rival and eventual division champion Monrovia in penalty kicks, 1-1 (4-2).
Even with the loss, the Spartans earned the school’s first-ever berth to the CIF Southern California Regional Division III playoffs, where the Spartans were the only squad to challenge champion Los Angeles Cathedral before losing, 2-0.
Honorable mention: St. Francis basketball has co-coach Jeff Stephens step down during season, co-coach Ray O’Brien leave after and then hires Todd Wolfson, who led Chaminade to section and state titles; Flintridge Prep girls’ basketball advances to semifinals ; Flintridge Prep boys’ volleyball advances to CIF semifinals, makes state debut; La Cañada football Coach Ramsey Lambert quits late in summer, stunning program and forcing chaotic situation; Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy softball has memorable playoff run; Flintridge Prep polo vaulter Barrett Weiss gets second chance at state, takes third; La Cañada boys’ water polo, girls’ volleyball and football all have playoff streaks end in fall; Eric, Mark Verso win NCAA title with Stanford soccer, with Eric turning in stellar season; Flintridge Prep football chooses to go back to eight-man.
Grant Gordon contributed to this story.
