Sports Flash Beginning of March

Demonstrating the proper form for the Javelin throw is critical.

Courtesy Signum Yearbook

Demonstrating the proper form for the Javelin throw is critical.

Hello, ILS!

Track: ILS Track and Field team kept it rolling as they had another strong meet this past Thursday at Palmer Trinity. The Royals placed 2nd out of 14 for the Girls’ team, and 2nd out of 16 for the Boys’. The Girls’ team was led sophomore Candy Cruz who placed 1st in Javelin and 2nd in Discus, and a helping hand from senior Alfonsina Santucho who placed 1st in the Shot Put and 2nd in Javelin. The Girls’ team also received help from junior Emilie Reyes, placing 2nd out of 35 girls in the Long Jump. The Girls’ Relay team also had a great showing placing 1st in 4×200 meter relay, 1st in 4×400 meter relay, 2nd in distance medley relay, and 3rd in 4×800 meter relay.

The Boys’ team had a very strong meet as they were led by senior Alexander Toledo placing 1st in the triple Jump and 3rd in the Long jump. The Boys’ also had some strong help from junior Lawrence Finley placing 2nd in the 400Hurdles and setting a new school record. The Boys’ also finished with a very strong performance in the relays placing 1st in the 4×100 meter relay, 1st in the 4×400 meter relay,1st in the Distance medley and 2nd in the 4×800 meter relay.

Baseball: Varsity Royal Baseball notched another win 7-3 vs Downtown Doral. The team was led by Luis Peñate who went 4 for 5 with an RBI double and Guillermo Machin 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Troy Rodriguez also had an RBI double. The pitching was led by Alain Alonso and Alex Corzo who combined for 5 shutout innings in relief to secure the come from behind win.

They did drop their first two games of the season, losing to a good Riviera team but still put up a fight. After being down 9-2 they stormed back with a chance to win bringing it within 1 run but fell short 10-8. They also dropped another heart-breaker in extra innings to Dade Christian 5-3. They will bounce back!

Lacrosse: The Lacrosse team fought hard even with some major injuries to the team, but dropped their matches this week. The team continues to improve and looks to pick up a big win.

Softball: The Varsity Softball team dropped their games against some tough opponents. They look to come back to continue their early success.

Beach: Beach Volleyball traveled to Keys Gate, ending in a clean sweep of 5-0. The team faced Westminster, and although the turnout was not what we wanted, the Girls demonstrated their massive improvements from last year.

Boys VB: The Boys’ Varsity Volleyball team picked up its first win of the year against International Studied Charter High School. They won 25-16, 25-14, 19-25, and 25-22 in the varsity only volleyball match. It was an overall effort from the entire team as they only dropped one set.

Tennis: The Tennis team had their busiest week of the season with four, back-to-back matches.  At a home match against Downtown Doral Charter Upper School, the girls had no issues dispatching them with a comfortable 7-0 win. Francesca Abdo and Sophie Andux stepped into the number 4 and 5 spot to earn their first single wins of the season. The Boys had a slightly tougher matchup but still came out on top with a narrow 4-3 win. Great wins from Gianmarco Punzo and Josh Hernandez as our number 1 and 2, along with a great win at number 5 for Elio Gonzales, who helped get the team the wins they needed.

The team played against another new opponent in Archbishop McCarthy. As the team would have two district matches the following two days, the lineup was mixed around to give some of the players some rest. The girls still made a great match even though they were missing their number 1 and 2 and narrowly lost the match 4-3. Juliana Hawley continues to earn some great wins, even when moving from the 5 spot up to the 3 spot for this matchup. The boys had another great game with some exciting matches across all 7 ties. It came down to the doubles match, and our Number 1 pairing of Gianmarco Punzo and Elio Gonzales got a great comeback win in the tiebreak, winning it 8-7 (10-5).

We played Key West where the Key West girls came into the game undefeated, but our girls changed that with a comfortable 6-1 victory. The only loss came at the number 3 spot, with Valeria Macineiras losing a close one 9-7. Isabella Rojas dominated in an 8-0 victory, with the rest of the girls getting solid wins in all positions. The boys also had no issues sweeping Key West 7-0 and only losing a combined 9 games across all 7 matches.

The team played district rivals MAST Academy in one of the most important matches of the season, as it would give us an idea of how we would do in districts. Hopefully, this match served as a wake-up call to the players as the game did not go well at all. Even though there was some great tennis, and everyone played very well, it was clear to see that the majority of the MAST players were just a little sharper. Could this be due to having played 3 matches prior? Possibly. But this should be the motivating factor that helps the team push and improve over the last few weeks of the season before we play districts. Isa Rojas on the girls’ side got a win with a retirement, which should see her be seeded as either the 1 or 2 when it comes to districts as she tries to go back-to-back-to-back state appearances, and Simon Munera also got a great win in the number 5 spot.