Multiple Escalon squads suited up for action this past week. Flag football, golf, cross country and volleyball are staying busy; following is a look at recent contests.
Flag Football
The Lady Cougars started off the week strong with a decisive win over Mountain House, with two touchdowns each from Rebecca Wampler and Jasmine Barron, and a deep TD pass from Jessy-Lynn Kesler to Ari Velasco. Aislyn Ingles was a standout defensively and senior Ashlyn Paxman had a sack and Lilliana Gonzalez contributed on offense.
Thursday, Sept. 19, Lodi was in town and a slow start hurt the Escalon squad, said coach Steve Largent, with the varsity girls down 12-0 at the half. A Velasco pass to Barron for a TD got them back in the game, but Lodi was able to pull away late to take the victory. Mia Arteaga, Isabella Alcala and Rachelle Barker paced the defense.
“Despite the scoreboard saying 24-6 in favor of Lodi, we were really in the game until the final couple minutes,” said Largent.
Trans-Valley League play is on tap this week; the girls head to Hilmar on Thursday, Sept. 26. The league features Escalon, Orestimba, Hilmar, Hughson Ripon and Sonora.
Golf
A hectic week for the golf girls saw them fall to Hughson at River Oak Golf Course on Sept. 16, 186-190. Scoring for Escalon were Elizabeth Allan, 41; Genevieve Casazza, 45; Rose Percey, 46; Taylor Bruns, 58.
“Hughson’s home course, the back nine holes of River Oaks Golf Course, is a deceivingly difficult course,” said coach Chris Casazza. “It always gives our girls a tough time. It seems like there are a million places to lose golf balls. It also has very few open fairways, and to top it all off, it’s right next to a river.”
Tuesday, Sept. 17, the girls were at Jack Tone Golf Course to face Ripon and lost there by a 172-186 final. Escalon scores were Casazza, 43; Allan, 44; Percey, 46; Samantha Bruns, 53.
“This was the first match of the year that I felt we were outplayed,” admitted the coach. “We achieved our team goal of under 190 strokes, though, which was great to see. We tipped our collective cap to Ripon for a great effort.”
The girls got back on the winning track at home, with a 162-224 win over Orestimba on Sept. 18. Allan had a 38 to pace the team, Percey came in at 39, with Samantha Bruins at 43 and Taylor Bruns at 44.
“It was nice to get to play at home after two losses away,” Casazza said. “We had a great team score, with the girls putting up some really nice individual scores.”
The team finished the first half of league play at 4-2, tied with Ripon and Hughson and behind league-leading Hilmar with a 5-1 mark.
Cross Country
Over 40 athletes make up the Cougar cross country team, with the squad taking part in the Flame Invitational at Lodi Lake and the first TVL meet at Mavis Stouffer Park. They are scheduled to take part in the second TVL meet on Sept. 25.
“Our top three boys include two seniors, Nate Millard and Calan Crumbley, and a freshman, Alexander Girardi,” said coach Arend Jones. “Our top three girls include sophomore Victoria Calderon, a senior Jocelyn Espinoza and a junior, Madelyn Fahey.”
The team overall, the coach added, is fairly young, but he is “looking for some big personal records as the season continues” and hopefully making a push into the top three teams in league by the end of the season.
Volleyball
The volleyball girls had a three-game week, the varsity falling in three to El Capitan to start the week, battling in the first two sets but losing momentum by the third.
“It was a disappointing loss; El Capitan had some big swingers and we just couldn’t shut them down,” said head coach Shay Beam.
Chloe Fraser had six kills, one block and two aces; Claire Barkus had four kills; Emma Strong, Lisa Murga and Karisa McNeil had two kills each.
They went to Hughson on Sept. 17 and took the first set 25-22, but “fizzled out” and lost the next three, said Beam, to take the tough 3-1 TVL loss.
“Karisa McNeil had a strong game, she had four aces, 21 digs and 19 assists,” the coach said.
She also said the outside hitters did a good job of putting the ball away, with nine kills from Fraser, seven from Strong and four kills from Chloe Green.
“Emma Rangel did well in the back row with 16 digs,” Beam noted.
Sierra came in for a non-league match on Sept. 18, the third game in as many nights for the team.
“After four losses in a row we were hungry for a win,” the coach said. “We came out focused and loose and got the job done in three sets.”
Barkus had 12 kills, two blocks and two aces; Fraser had 11 kills and three aces; Rangel had 17 digs from the back row. McNeil had 28 assists on the night.
No JV scores were reported as of press time.
The freshmen beat El Capitan in three sets, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9; beat Hughson in two, 25-14, 25-23, and wrapped up the week with a sweep, topping Sierra in two, 25-15, 25-12.
