Alumni Report: CDM Alum Looking to Mix It Up for Fighting Irish Lacrosse

If the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team is even only a couple goals and a few minutes better than it was in 2010, its 2011 season will be a banner one.

The Fighting Irish led Duke, 5-4, in last year's NCAA tournament title game in Baltimore with 8:44 remaining to play when the Blue Devils tied the score. Duke scored the winning goal only five seconds into sudden-death overtime for the championship victory.

 One of the newest members of the Fighting Irish's squad this season is freshman Ryan Mix from Newport Beach. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound attacker out of Corona del Mar High, was named a 2010 prep All-American by U.S. Lacrosse.

Note Dame, ranked sixth nationally by Inside Lacrosse, begins its climb back against, you guessed it, Duke, ranked fifth, in the inaugural Sunshine Classic on Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will be televised live by ESPN at noon Pacific time.

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While Notre Dame and Mix open their season against the 2010 NCAA champions, Michael Duenes and the Air Force Academy's men's lacrosse team opens Sunday against Syracuse, the 2009 NCAA champions.

Duenes, a resident of San Juan Capistrano who graduated from St. Margaret's, is a 6-0, 180-pound senior midfielder who had onegoal, two assists and 10 loose ball recoveries last season.

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Another St. Margaret's alum and a 2010 prep All-American, Chris Adams, is a freshman lacrosse player at UC Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos, who play in the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Assn., feature a roster chock-full of local products, including Los Alamitos graduates CJ Jacobs and Kenny Smith, both sophomores; Corona del Mar’s Alex Swigert (freshman), Alex Mainthow (freshman) and Andrew Noto (sophomore); Mission Viejo’s Kassius Boswell (sophomore), and Laguna Hills' Tommy Finley (sophomore).

UCSB knocked off Utah, 17-10, Thursday to improve its record to 3-1. Noto made 15 saves in goal and Jacobs scored once against the Utes. The Gauchos, runners-up in the SLC last season, will look t0 beat defending conference champion Chapman when they travel to the Orange campus on April 23.

The Panthers' roster includes freshman Matt Lyons, sophomore Ryan Hellmich and seniors Eric Baril and Andy Salcido, all El Toro alums. Chapman lost to Michigan in the semifinals of the 2010 MCLA Championship tournament.

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The women’s lacrosse season fires up this holiday weekend as well. Junior Lauren Ciccomascola of Ladera Ranch (St. Margaret’s) will start for Denver, No. 20 in NCAA Division I rankings, in its season opener against No. 17 Florida on Sunday in Gainesville, Fla.

Ciccomascola was named All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last season, when she started all 18 games and finished with a team-leading 27 goals. Majoring in biology in preparation for medical school, Ciccomascola was also named to the MPSF Academic All-Conference team.

Former Los Alamitos High teammates Amiya Moretta and Shaina Denny make their debuts Wednesday when the Whittier women's lacrosse team travels to Redlands for a 7 p.m. game. Moretta was a prep All-American as a senior.

Lining up opposite the former Griffins will be Redlands' freshmen Helen "Veigh" Redwine from Trabuco Hills High and Jacky Craycroft from El Toro.

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The second-ranked UCLA men's golf team took top honors at the "Battle at the Beach" at The Resort at Pelican Hill Tuesday behind overall second-place finisher Patrick Cantlay. The Los Alamitos resident (Servite alum) finished five under par with rounds of two-under, one-under and two-under par 70.

The No. 2 Bruins, who also feature freshman Corey Tomlinson of Foothill Ranch (Trabuco Hills) on their roster,  return to action on Feb. 28 and March 1 in the USC Invitational at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

The cross-city rival Trojans finished fourth in the UC Irvine Anteater Invitational two weeks ago. USC's roster includes Bo DeHuff from Coto de Caza (Santa Margarita High) and Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach (International Junior Golf Academy).

DeHuff, a red shirt senior, is averaging 75.5 through nine rounds, while Hagestad, a sophomore, is average 77.11.

The UC Davis men's golf team finished 10^th in the 13-team "Battle at the Beach" field. San Clemente High graduate Austin Graham finished 11 strokes over par, the second lowest showing for the Aggies. Graham, a senior, has a team-best 72.8 average through 18 rounds this season.

Also on the UC Davis roster is San Clemente alum Geoff Hunter, but the freshman has yet to compete this season.

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The 11th-ranked Boise State women’s gymnastics team scored the 11^th highest team total in program history Friday against Utah State. Helping the Broncos achieve that milestone was sophomore Hailey Gaspar, who registered 9.875 points on the vault.

The Los Alamitos resident (Cypress High) had an exceptionally strong week, coming off scores of 9.95 on vault, 9.725 on beam and 9.875 on floor exercise against. San Jose State on Feb. 11.

Utah State's Amelia Montoya (Mission Viejo High) did not compete Friday against Boise State. The sophomore's last performance produced an 8.975 on the uneven bars and 9.075 on floor exercise Feb. 11 in a meet against Sacramento State. She has an all-around average of 38.6 on the season.

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Victories have been few and far between for the University of San Diego men's basketball team this season, but Wednesday produced a big one. Red-shirt sophomoe center Chris Gabriel, a graduate of JSerra, had 10 points, six rebounds and a blocked shot as the Toreros knocked off No. 23 Saint Mary’s, 74-66, in a nationally televised game.

The USD roster also includes sophomore guard Taylor Wetherell of Aliso Viejo (JSerra High) and sophomore forward Chris Manresa of Rancho Santa Margarita (Tesoro High).

Dana Hills High alumna Lauren Schute and the Richmond Spiders' women's basketball team are jockeying for position in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Shute, a 6-3 freshman forward, has six points and three rebounds in appearances in nine games for the Spiders (15-10). At Dana Hills, she was an All-CIF Southern Section selection as a senior, when she averaed 16 points and 9.7 rebounds.

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Is there a local alum we should know about? Contact Kyle Kensing at kkensing@gmail.com