Even Coach Thinks Valencia No. 10 Ranking Is Ridiculous

Valencia High’s varsity football program is 14 games old, and its team is relatively small and injury plagued.

But after the Vikings staged a 20-point rally last Friday to defeat historically weak Canoga Park, 34-33, Southern Section pollsters have decided that Valencia is among the best teams in Division II.

The Vikings (2-0) are ranked 10th this week, only five spots behind defending section champion Hart.

Valencia Coach Brian Stiman was astonished, calling the ranking “ridiculous.”

“Somebody must be putting names in a hat and pulling them out,” he said. “I’m proud of my kids, don’t get me wrong. But we’re nowhere near where we have to be to compete in the Foothill League.”

Even stranger is that Palmdale (2-0) was excluded from the top 10 despite its 26-19 victory over No. 8 Saugus last week.

“Wow,” Palmdale Coach Jeff Williams said. “But that’s OK. I’m not into that ranking stuff anyway. Look what it did to Nebraska.”

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

GIRLS

Zuzana Stunova

SCHOOL: Rio Mesa

SPORT: Tennis

YEAR: Senior

LAST SEASON: Stunova, a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic, blasted her way to a 52-1 set record and won the Southern Section singles crown. She showed a knack for raising her level of play in big matches, dethroning Channel League champion Kara Warkentin of San Marcos then knocking off top-seeded Faye DeVera of Villa Park in the Southern Section final.

WEEK AT A GLANCE: Stunova, ranked ninth in the Southern California Tennis Assn. 18-and-under division, opened her season by winning six sets against Camarillo and Newbury Park without losing a game. Those victories included a sweep of Camarillo’s Darian Chappell, ranked 13th.

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BOYS

Leon Pimky

SCHOOL: Granada Hills

SPORT: Football

YEAR: Junior

SEASON AT A GLANCE: A starting guard on the Highlander basketball team as a sophomore, Pimky played his first varsity football game in the season opener against Hart two weeks ago. Playing tight end and running back, Pimky caught five passes for 54 yards and gained 27 yards in eight carries in a 45-14 loss to Hart.

WEEK AT A GLANCE: Pimky scored the winning touchdown in a 28-26 victory over Royal, completing an 82-yard pass play from Ricky Mathiesen with 26 seconds in the game. The victory snapped a 12-game Highlander losing streak, dating back to 1994. Pimky also scored on an 85-yard pass play in the first quarter. He finished with six receptions for 239 yards.

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Down to three: Seniors Jarron and Jason Collins, who led the Harvard-Westlake boys’ basketball team to a Division III state championship last season, have narrowed their college choices to three: Arizona, Stanford and UCLA. The twins, who plan to attend the same college, are expected to make a decision within the next month, Harvard-Westlake Coach Greg Hilliard said.

“They’ve had the home visits and now they’re going to visit each of those colleges,” Hilliard said. “They want to see the players and get to know the people.”

The twins also have spent the summer slimming down. Jason, who averaged 18.2 points and 11.9 rebounds last season, recently weighed in at 244 pounds, about 16 below his playing weight last season. Jarron, who averaged 14.3 points and 9.1 rebounds, weighs 238. Both stand 6 feet 10.

“Jason got the message from the college guys that they wanted him in the 240-range,” Hilliard said. “He’s much quicker now. But he’s still a very big man.”

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Bonus point: Harvard-Westlake, which is expected to have nine returning players, received an additional boost when junior point guard Victor Munoz transferred from St. John Bosco last week. Munoz is expected to make an immediate impact--specially since it appears starting point guard Leo DaCosta will be academically ineligible until January, Hilliard said.

“He really fell into our laps,” Hilliard said. “From what I’ve seen, he looks awful quick.”

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Moving on: Nichole Victoria has resigned as softball coach at Camarillo High to take an assistant position with Oregon State.

Victoria, 24, who led Camarillo to the Southern Section Division I championship game in June, will assist Oregon State Coach Kirk Walker, who was an assistant at UCLA when Victoria played there.

Victoria, a Camarillo graduate who played at UCLA from 1991-94, led the Scorpions to a 23-3-1 record in her only season as coach and was selected as The Times’ Ventura County Coach of the Year.

Camarillo players knew for several weeks that Victoria was looking for a Division I job so news of her resignation was not surprising.

“Whatever’s better for her,” said junior pitcher Cindy Ball, a returning All-Southern Section selection.

“We’re happy for her because she got a good job.”

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Roster bolster: Nick Garcia, a senior shortstop at Banning High, has made a commitment to attend Cal State Northridge. Garcia, an All-City Section selection the past two seasons, made the All-Area Code team during last summer’s Area Code Games.

Northridge also has bolstered its roster with two Division I transfers--Andy Wilson, a senior outfielder who played at Arkansas last season, and Clark Parker, a senior second baseman who played at UC Santa Barbara.

Wilson played at Thousand Oaks High and Oxnard College.

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Bad break: Northridge cross-country coach Don Strametz is “99% sure” junior Andrea Bruins will redshirt this season due to a nagging tendon injury in her knee.

Bruins was expected to be the Matadors’ No. 2 runner behind junior Jamie Whitmore.

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Dad’s home: Channel Islands High boys’ volleyball Coach Dave Chavez has resigned to spend more time with his family and to pursue business ventures.

Chavez and his wife, Beverly, recently had their first child, Zandler.

“The baby needs a coach more than the school does,” Chavez said. “That’s the way I look at it.”

Calendar

There’s plenty of drama. Suspense, too. And this is only the Marmonte League volleyball opener tonight for Westlake and Thousand Oaks High.

Most eyes will be on Thousand Oaks’ Jenn Detmer, who accepted a scholarship to Stanford, and Westlake’s Courtney Miller, who transferred from Thousand Oaks during the summer.

The bottom line: the winner gets a jump in the race for the league title. The match is at Westlake and begins at 6:30 p.m.

Other high school events today:

Girls’ Volleyball: At 5:30 p.m., Thacher at St. Bonaventure.

Girls Tennis: At 2:45 p.m., Tehachapi at Palmdale. At 3 p.m., Calabasas at Canyon. At 3:30 p.m., Laguna Blanca at Nordhoff.

Water Polo: At 3:30 p.m., Culver City at Alemany.

Cross Country: At 3:30 p.m., Paraclete at Lancaster.

Regional college events include:

Women’s Volleyball: At 5 p.m., Pierce at Antelope Valley.

Women’s Soccer: At 4 p.m., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Cal Lutheran.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Southern Section Division II Top 10

High school football rankings:

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RK LW Team (League) Rec. 1 1 Peninsula (Bay) 2-0 2 3 Antelope VAlley (Golden) 2-0 3 4 Dominguez (S. Gabriel Vly) 2-0 4 5 Diamond Bar (Sierra) 2-0 5 2 Hart (Foothill) 1-1 6 9 Nogales (Sierra) 2-0 7 6 Quartz Hill (Golden) 1-1 8 7 Ayala (Sierra) 1-1 9 NR Paramount (S. Gabriel Vly) 1-1 10 NR Valencia (Foothill) 2-0

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