College Update: Former Crescenta Valley High standouts faring well at next level
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Nick Dragovich (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) Chapman basketball senior: Thanks in big part to the efforts of Dragovich, Chapman snapped a three-game losing skid and survived for a 65-64 win on Wednesday over La Verne in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
Dragovich garnered his third double-double of the season in scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Chapman improved to 9-6 with the win and evened out at 3-3 in conference as it was set to host Occidental in a conference tilt Saturday evening.
Dragovich, one of four players on Chapman to have started in all 15 games thus far, is averaging 10.2 points a game (third-best on the team) and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game. For a post player, he’s also putting up solid numbers with 1.2 assists and 0.8 steals a game. Having made his first two collegiate starts as a junior, he’s transitioned nicely into a starting role and is joined on the team by another former Falcon, his brother Davis Dragovich, who has seen action in 13 games so far.
Sabrina Hatzer (Crescenta Valley High, 2012) L.A. Valley water polo sophomore: The former All-Area Athlete of the Year put together another monster season for the Lady Monarchs en route to garnering Western State Conference Player of the Year, All-American and All-Southern California Regional first-team honors.
Hatzer led the Monarchs to a WSC title as she posted huge numbers, leading her team with 104 goals, 105 steals and 61 assists.
L.A. Valley, which is piloted by former Crescenta Valley Coach Pete Loporchio (the WSC Coach of the Year), won the WSC tournament with a 13-5 win over Ventura and a 9-5 win over Pierce.
It lost in the Southern California Regionals at Cerritos College, scoring an 11-5 win over Grossmont before losses to Golden West (15-2) and Fullerton (6-5 in overtime).
In Valley’s final game – the 6-5 loss to Fullerton – Hatzer led her team with three goals and four steals.
In three regional games, Hatzer scored 12 of her team’s 18 goals and added 10 steals and an assist.
L.A. Valley concluded its year with a sterling 22-5 record.
Nayiri Kechichian (Crescenta Valley High, 2012) L.A Valley water polo sophomore: In her final season with the Lady Monarchs, Kechichian was an All-American, a first-team All-Southern California Regional selection and a first-team All-Western State Conference pick.
Kechichian was second on the WSC champs with 94 goals and added 60 steals and 30 assists.
She was joined by a handful of former Falcons that included Breanna Lawton and Jennifer Wagner.
Lawton, a freshman, was a first-team all-conference pick whose 54 assists and 81 steals were each second-best on the team. She also scored 16 goals.
Wagner, a second-team all-conference selection, had nine goals, 13 assists and 20 steals.
Mariquita Lopez Engelman (Glendale High, 2013) L.A. Valley water polo sophomore: The former Nitro was outstanding in the cage for the Lady Monarchs, totaling 314 saves and garnering a slew of accolades in the process.
She was a first-team All-Western State Conference honoree before notching second-team All-Southern California Regional honors.
The goalie was joined by former Glendale players Biyouregh Boghozian, a freshman, and Jacqueline Jones, a sophomore.
Both Jones and Boghozian were second-team all-conference picks.
Boghozian tallied 50 goals, 17 assists and 21 steals, while Jones notched 20 goals, 39 assists and 17 steals.
Aaron Sugimoto (Flintridge Prep, 2013) Occidental College cross-country freshman: Sugimoto concluded his first season with the Tigers on Nov. 2 with a 44th place finish at the SCIAC Championships in the men’s 8K, finishing in 27 minutes 57.93 seconds. His top finish of the year came at the SCIAC Multi-Dual on Oct. 18, taking 29th in 27:20.24.