SanLuisObispo.com: Sports

Cal Poly football: Longtime teammates ready for another title shot

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:51 PDT

In high school, Ryan Mole was Santa Maria’s version of Booby Miles.

The details of the Righetti High running back’s devastating shoulder injury was the flukish equivalent to the tale of Miles’ season-ending knee injury in the pages of the best-selling book Friday Night Lights.

His team was up big. He was probably only moments from being taken out of the game. One final handoff derailed a promising senior season.

Atascadero High senior Nick Tenhaeff headed to San Diego State

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:52 PDT

The high school football season hasn’t started, but for Atascadero senior Nick Tenhaeff, he already knows he has a future beyond this year.

On Thursday, Tenhaeff told The Tribune he has made a verbal commitment to play next year at San Diego State.

“I sat on the offer for a few weeks and talked to my family a lot and I talked to (San Diego State) head coach (Chuck Long) a few times,” Tenhaeff said. “It seems like a really good fit for me. It’s somewhere I’d really like to spend the next few years of my life.”

Basketball recruit Anthony DiLoreto, who allegedly participated in a Wisconsin bank robbery, won’t be a Mustang

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:53 PDT

In the wake of his bond release on charges of bank robbery and gun possession, a Cal Poly men’s basketball recruit decided to cut ties with the university Thursday, Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone said.

Anthony DiLoreto — who prosecutors allege drove the would-be getaway car in a bank robbery in Danbury, Wis., earlier this month — was arrested in his family’s Minnetonka, Minn., home hours after the robbery.

According to the conditions of his bond, DiLoreto, an 18-year-old 7-foot center, could have come to San Luis Obispo to enroll at Cal Poly. On Wednesday, Mustangs coach Kevin Bromley told The Tribune if DiLoreto were his son, he’d advise him to stay home to face his charges.

Cal Poly basketball recruit charged in Wisconsin bank robbery released, could enroll at Poly

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:21 PDT

Anthony DiLoreto, the 7-foot Cal Poly men’s basketball recruit charged with bank robbery in Wisconsin, can travel to San Luis Obispo to attend college, according to a report by the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Though DiLoreto was released on $25,000 bond Tuesday, he must return to court Sept. 12 and returns to his family’s Minnetonka, Min., home uncertain about his future at Cal Poly, which begins classes Sept. 22.

Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone, who learned of DiLoreto’s bond status Wednesday, said no decision had been made whether to honor DiLoreto’s scholarship but that he had already been admitted to the school.

Former Morro Bay High football standout Jerome Long likely to see time against Poly

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:22 PDT

Jerome Long found the perfect way to shed that baby-faced-freshman look.

He grew a goatee.

Camouflage for the only thing babyish about the 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive tackle from Morro Bay High, the facial hair seems to have convinced coaches at San Diego State to promote him to second string.

Fishing Report: Big money up for grabs in Patriot Sportfishing’s fourth-annual lingcod contest

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:54 PDT

There’s some big money up for grabs in Patriot Sportfishing’s fourth-annual lingcod contest.

Up for grabs will be $6,000. The contest begins. The contest runs through Nov. 30 when the rockcod/lingcod season ends.

The angler catching the largest lingcod wins $3,000. Second place pays $2,000 and third place pays $1,000.

Cal Poly Volleyball: Hailey Fithian ascends to the top

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:28 PDT

The women of the Cal Poly volleyball team have so many reasons to enjoy their pre-practice runs from Mott Gym to the concrete Poly P, something they’ve never done before this summer.

The nearly 1-mile inclined hike up the hill behind campus has its exercise aspect — “scientific” as fourth-year coach Jon Stevenson puts it.

There’s also the team-building aspect. Navigating some of those twists and turns leave plenty of time for female bonding.

Cougars double up Mustangs in Poly’s opener

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:33 PDT

With her body hurling parallel to the grassy field, Kristina Condon- Sherwood’s wide open eyes watched a black and white blur all but graze her forehead.

The next thing she knew, she was picking herself out of the soccer net, fractions of an inch away from scoring the would-be tying goal. Instead the Cal Poly women went on to lose their season opener 2-1 to BYU on Friday night.

“It went right in front of my forehead,” Condon-Sherwood said. “I didn’t feel a whoosh, but my eyes were open. And then the next thing I knew, my foot was stuck in the net and nobody was cheering for a goal.”

Team USA is Hungary for gold

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:33 PDT

BEIJING—It has the potential to rank just behind only what Michael Phelps accomplished in a swimming pool here.

But for a team that had just pulled off one of the biggest victories in its history, unquestionably arriving at the highest point in the past 20 years in the sport, U. S. water polo players were rather subdued Friday night.

“We were meant to be here,” said Rick Merlo, reflecting the quiet confidence of his teammates. “This tournament was meant for us. We’re all very excited but we all expected to be in the gold medal game. Our whole mot-to the last four years was to get back to the podium. This has been our focus. And we’re not done yet. We have one more step to go.”

Cal Poly women's soccer team is set on finishing its games this season

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:00 PDT

Three years removed from its last conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team watched its latest shot at the postseason fade away in gut-wrenching fashion last November.

An overtime shootout loss to Cal State Fullerton in the finals of the Big West Tournament was the lasting impression from a turnaround season where the Mustangs (8-9-3) won just one of their first 10 games before going on a six-game tear.

It marked the second time in two seasons the Titans knocked Cal Poly out in the tourney final.

Cal Poly basketball recruit allegedly played part in bank robbery

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:05 PDT

Authorities rushed by helicopter to the scene of a deadly ATV crash Saturday, though this was worlds away from the Oceano Dunes.

Police in Danbury, Wis., were swamped by separate but nearby alerts to a gasoline theft and a robbery at Bremer Bank, which stood just across the street from the ATV fatality.

And 120 miles from home, Anthony DiLoreto, a 7-footer, a late-bloomer, “a real quiet kid” — an 18- year-old heading to Cal Poly on a basketball scholarship this fall — was somehow right in the middle of it.

Barden, Tolver earn preseason Great West football honors

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:55 PDT

After flirting with the NFL Draft last spring, Cal Poly receiver Ramses Barden came back to school for a handful of reasons.

Projected as a fifth-rounder, the All-American receiver who owns nearly every major receiving record in Mustangs history wanted to improve his draft stock.

He knew the team had a strong offense returning with nine other starters. And he could improve his speed while running track at Cal Poly.

Cal Poly’s Day fails to clear 6-2 1 /4, finishes 24th in Olympic debut

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:56 PDT

Sharon Day finished tied for 24th place today in the women’s high jump qualifying at the Beijing Olympics, failing to qualify for Saturday’s final.

Day, who graduated from Cal Poly, struggled from the beginning today in the rain at the Bird’s Nest in her Olympic debut.

Day missed her first attempt at the opening height of 5 feet, 10 ¾ inches, then cleared the height on her second attempt. She then made 6-0¾and then missed three times at 6-2 ¼.

Powers, U. S. men ready for medal round in water polo

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:55 PDT

They’ve been classmates, teammates and even roommates, forming bonds on land that now, more than ever before, are keeping them brilliantly buoyant.

Staying afloat, you should know, is the first requirement of water polo, a sport where those who stop moving sink.

And it’s a lot easier for the group to keep its head in view when all those legs that can’t be seen churn in unison.

Beijing Diary: Stephanie Brown Trafton has golden memories that will last a lifetime

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:56 PDT

Editor’s note: Stephanie Brown Trafton is an Arroyo Grande High and Cal Poly graduate. On Monday, she won the gold medal in the women’s discus at the Beijing Olympics.

Well, we did it! I came to China with two throws on my mind, one throw to make it to finals and one more to seal the deal and win a medal. My last throw of the qualification round shot me to the top of the list for finals and my first throw of finals took home the gold medal.

The past few days have been so hectic for me that I still have not had the time to process the significance of the achievement. I set a standard in my first throw in the finals of the Olympics and no one had and any fight left in them to get the lead back. Remember when I said, “if you make the finals at the Olympics, anything can happen?” One of those “anything” scenarios included me tossing a great throw for those stadium conditions followed by a weak response from the rest of the field. The story here is never underestimate the power of a big first throw.

Stephanie Brown Trafton will hang this gold medal in the garage while she eyes another in four years

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:16 PDT

While Stephanie Brown Trafton has achieved the ultimate in Olympic competition, she’s not content with just one gold medal.

The Cal Poly and Arroyo Grande High graduate, who won the gold in the women’s discus competition in Beijing this week, said she plans to compete again when the Olympic Games move to London four years from now.

On the fourth day of its track meet Monday, the United States team had still not won a gold medal — until Brown Trafton threw a discus 212 feet, 5 inches on her first attempt. That toss gave the U. S. team the gold in an event that had long been dominated by Eastern-bloc countries.

Two San Luis Obispo County men tee off at U.S. Amateur

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:20 PDT

A whirlwind of a month is almost over for Danny Lee.

First, he became only the sixth player in the 106-year history of the Western Amateur to sweep medalist and match play honors, joining a group that includes Phil Mickelson and Curtis Strange.

Then came a tie for 20th over the weekend in his PGA Tour debut at the Wyndham Championship. Those performances leave the 18-year-old player from New Zealand as one of the favorites in the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, where he opened with a 1-over 71 in the opening round of stroke play Monday.

Van Ostrand, Canada coming up just short

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:21 PDT

BEIJING—One is the loneliest number. Listen to the testimony of Jimmy Van Ostrand, formerly a Cal Poly standout and now playing for Canada in the Olympics.

“Obviously it’s an honor to be a part of this and it’s the biggest sporting event in the world. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great time,” he said Saturday at Wukesong Baseball Field. “But at the same time you see what goes on here today — our third straight one-run loss. It’s definitely tough.”

Saturday’s one-run loss, 5-4 to Team USA, dropped Canada’s record to 1-3. And, yes, all the losses came by one run. With only four of the eight teams moving past round-robin

Fullerton feels at home at strong safety

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:06 PDT

It’s been three positions in three seasons for David Fullerton.

Linebacker, free safety and now strong safety.

But if Saturday’s scrimmage—the first live action of training camp for the Cal Poly football team—is any indication, he might not have to go four for four next year.

Brown Trafton saves her best for last

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:36 PDT

Stephanie Brown Trafton said before the Beijing Olympics that she was treating her second Olympic Games like a business trade.

Business went from bust to boom with one throw Friday.

The Arroyo Grande High and Cal Poly graduate qualified for Monday’s discus final at the Olympics with the best throw of the day, 205 feeet, 11 inches, which she reached on her third and final attempt.