Top 10 Female Athletes: Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Kirsten Vose has one last brilliant effort

It was an impressive year for La Cañada Flintridge athletes in many different sports. There were brilliant efforts across the board with individual championships and personal-best records highlighting many of the accomplishments.

Here is the list of the La Cañada Valley Sun’s top-10 girls’ athletes in 2014-15.

1 Kirsten Vose, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming, senior — In her four years at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, swimmer Kirsten Vose seemed near untouchable.

The senior racked up league championships and area accolades, while helping her team climb up the Division I totem pole.

In her final season, Vose left a lasting impression, particularly in the postseason.

The USC-bound senior went undefeated throughout her career while setting three league meet finals at the Mission League finals on April 28 at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center.

Individually, Vose set the 200-yard individual medley record of 2 minutes, 2.33 seconds and the 100 freestyle mark of 50.04, while joining with teammates Kate Herrill, Caitlin Smith and Christina Campbell to establish a new 200 freestyle relay time of 1:48.79.

The quartet also swam together to win the 200 medley relay in 1:37.72.

As a squad, Vose helped push the Tologs to their fourth straight Mission League title.

Despite her overwhelming success at league finals, Vose still had an even more brilliant performance yet to come.

At the CIF Southern Section Division I finals at Riverside City College, Vose captured a championship in the 200-yard individual medley in a school and Division I record of 1:56.07, which was also the third-fastest high school time and fifth-fastest overall mark in the nation at the time.

“It was incredible,” Vose said. “I was not anticipating that at all, so I was like, ‘I can’t believe it and my coach is telling me, ‘Oh my God, that’s awesome.’”

Perhaps lost in all the excitement of a championship, Vose also took second in the 100-yard breaststroke in a school-record time of 1:00.57, while later helping the 200-yard medley relay team take eighth.

The efforts helped Flintridge Sacred Heart finish ninth with 114.50 points, which marked the third consecutive year the program placed in the top 10 of Division I.

For a third consecutive year, Vose was named the All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year.

“Incredible,” Vose said when asked to describe her final year at Flintridge Sacred Heart. “I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. Obviously, it was a great way swimming-wise to go out with a bang.”

2 Sophia Coffey, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball, senior — Coffey further elevated her overall skills during her final season with the Tologs. The Seton Hall-bound Coffey showed she could handle an assortment of responsibilities while playing setter for a Flintridge Sacred Heart squad that took second in the Mission League and reached the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs.

The four-year varsity starter paced the area with 1,175 assists, which averaged out to 11.3 per game, and added 117 kills, 191 digs, 34 blocks and 30 aces. Coffey picked up all-league and All-CIF first-team nods before being selected the All-Area Girls’ Volleyball Player of the year for the second straight season.

In the Tologs’ final regular season match, Coffey, a former softball player, helped the Tologs recover from a potential upset defeat, as she notched 49 assists, 10 digs, nine kills and one ace in Flintridge Sacred Heart’s 3-2 win against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. In a five-game defeat against Corona del Mar, Coffey matched her season-high with 58 assists and added 13 digs, six kills and two aces.

Flintridge Sacred Heart finished 28-7, 6-2 in league.

“When people will talk about the turnaround of this program, they’re going to have to talk about Sophia Coffey,” Flintridge Sacred Heart Coach Ernest Banaag said. “She did everything we asked from her and more. What can you say, she served the program well.”

3 Ally McKenzie, La Cañada tennis, senior — The senior entered the 2014 season as the reigning Rio Hondo League champion and was the Spartans’ No. 1 singles player for the regular season.

Perhaps her biggest regular season victory was a 7-5 win over eventual All-Area Singles Player of the Year Lilit Vardanyan of Burbank, 7-5, in nonleague action.

Before the start of the postseason, however, Ally McKenzie paired up with her sister, Spartans’ No. 2 singles player Cassie McKenzie, to form a doubles team for the Rio Hondo League tournament and beyond.

The move paid off, as the sisters defeated San Marino’s twosome of Madeleine Gandawidjaja and Sophia Lee, 6-2, 6-0, at Live Oark Park in Temple City on Oct. 30 to win the Rio Hondo League doubles championship.

From there, the McKenzies received a few challenges in the CIF Individual Tournament before falling in the semifinals at the Seal Beach Tennis Center on Dec. 8 to Santa Barbara’s Matta Kilstofte and Madison Hale.

Despite the brief pairing, the duo posted a 7-1 record and was named the All-Area Girls’ Tennis Doubles Team of the Year.

“It was great that I was able to play with Cassie and we were able to go far in CIF my senior year,” Ally said.

4 Cassie McKenzie, La Cañada tennis, junior — It was a strong season for the junior, who paired with older sister Ally to make a deep postseason run.

While Cassie McKenzie served as the Spartans’ No. 2 singles player during the regular season and Ally was the team’s top singles players, the sisters joined up for the Rio Hondo League finals.

The McKenzie sisters went 3-0 through the Rio Hondo League Tournament and defeated San Marino’s top pair at the league finals on Oct. 30 to win the title.

The La Cañada duo then advanced to the CIF Individual Tournament, which opened at Andulka Park Tennis Center in Riverside.

It took only two wins to earn qualification to the next stage at the Seal Beach Tennis Center on Dec. 5 with a round of 16 victory against Anan Tifera and Kaylee Kang of Troy, 6-1, 6-1.

In the quarterfinals, the McKenzies battled and bested the Bolsa Grande pair of Tracy and Tammy Van, 6-2, 6-3.

Their season ended Dec. 8 after a semifinal defeat, 6-4, 6-3 to Santa Barbara’s Matta Kilstofte and Madison Hale.

Overall, La Cañada finished 10-7 and took second in the Rio Hondo League.

As for the sisters, they were named the All-Area Girls’ Doubles Team of the Year.

5 Lauren Savo, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer, junior — The Tologs struggled during the 2013-14 season, missing the playoffs — a rare occurrence.

However, backed by Savo’s leadership and defensive skills, the Tologs rebounded to take second in the Mission League and reach the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs this past season.

Savo was the Tologs’ top defender, as Flintridge Sacred Heart finished 10-6-5 and 4-2-2 in league.

Savo received all-league first-team and All-CIF first-team recognition and was named the All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year. She was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com California Winter All-Stars list.

6 Megan Reilly, La Cañada soccer/softball, junior — It was a pretty terrific year on the field for the junior, whether playing soccer or softball.

Reilly was first named the Rio Hondo League Defensive Player of the Year after helping her soccer team finish with 10 shutouts and an 11-7-3 overall record and 6-3-1 mark in league for third place in the Rio Hondo League.

The All-Area first-team selection was also a force on offense as she contributed eight goals and 12 assists.

As for softball, Reilly earned her share of acclaim, including being named to the Rio Hondo League’s first team as an outfielder with a .431 batting average, 21 runs and eight RBI.

Reilly was part of a Spartans teams that won six straight league games to conclude the league season and help La Cañada leapfrog Monrovia for a league title.

For her efforts, she was also named to the All-Area team as an outfielder.

7 Kayla Lund, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball, sophomore — While Lund will be a big part of the program for the next two seasons, her first two seasons have been outstanding for the Tologs.

Lund shined during her sophomore season. The outside hitter helped the Tologs take second and advance to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs. Lund was named the All-Mission League Most Valuable Player and earned a spot on the All-Area first team.

The 6-foot-1 Lund had a penchant for hitting the ball hard past opponents. She collected a team-best 566 total kills and added 245 digs, a team-best 54 aces and 50 blocks. Lund had 20 or more kills in 12 matches.

8 Christina Campbell, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy swimming, sophomore — The youngster had a breakout effort at the Mission League finals on April 28 at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center.

While teammate Kirsten Vose received a bulk of the attention with four league titles and three league records, Campbell quietly won league titles in helping propel the Tologs to a fourth straight Mission League title.

Campbell won two individual titles in the 500 freestyle (5 minutes, 7.94 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:51.89), while joining the winning 200 medley relay (1:48.79) and 200 freestyle relay (1:37.72) teams.

At the CIF Southern Section Division I championships at Riverside City College, Campbell joined with Kirsten Vose, Caitlin Smith and Kate Herrill to finish eighth at the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:46.49.

9 Kayla Grahn, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy cross-country/track and field, senior — Maybe no runner was as big a closer as was Grahn during the cross-country season.

The Tolog started her postseason with some magic as she upset league favorite Mariah Moro of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at the Mission League finals at Van Nuys’ Woodley Park on Nov. 5 in a time of 18 minutes, 19 seconds to become her school’s first league champion since Erin Hartwig in 2007.

Buoyed by that success, Grahn continued her postseason surge by finishing fifth at the CIF Southern Section Division IV finals at Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 22 in a personal-best mark of 18:12, which advanced the senior to the season-ending state meet in Fresno.

In Central California, Grahn cemented herself as one the state’s top Division IV runners by placing 11th in 18:43 on Nov. 29 at Woodward Park. Grahn earned an All-Area Cross-Country selection for her efforts.

During the track and field season, Grahn captured a Sunshine League 3,200-meter championship with a time of 11:03.50 on May 8 at Occidental College.

From there, Grahn finished second in Division IV in the 3,200 with a personal-best time of 10:59.76 at the Division Championships at Cerritos College on May 23.

10 Sammy Jedrey, La Cañada softball, junior — The slugger played a big role in La Cañda’s second-half revival as the Spartans won six straight league games to capture the Rio Hondo League championship.

Jedrey was named the Rio Hondo League’s Most Valuable Player, batting .486 in league and .369 overall. That stat was bolstered by seven home runs, 26 runs batted in, 18 runs and six doubles.

Jedrey was also named to the All-Area First Team.

Honorable mention: Lacy Coan, Flintridge Prep, basketball/cross-country/track and field; Maia Cohen, Flintridge Prep, cross-country/soccer/track and field.