Columnist Spencer Patterson: Silverado swimmers create tidal wave with win over GV

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 11:31 a.m.

Spencer Patterson's prep sports column appears Thursday. Reach him at 259-4085 or spencer@lasvegassun.com

Although Silverado's baseball and softball teams have been making most of the school's sports headlines this spring, another Skyhawk squad may very well have posted the school's biggest victory of 1999 last Friday.

The Silverado boys swimming team's 187-125 win over Green Valley marked the first time the Gators have lost a dual meet to an area foe since Green Valley High opened in 1991.

"I've been a competitive swimmer since I was 6, and this was one of the most exciting meets I've ever been to," Skyhawks coach Tara Crouch said. "There's a huge rivalry between us, and they'd never lost. The team was very excited."

Silverado, which has played second fiddle to the Gators since joining the Sunrise Division in 1997, won the meet by taking six of the eight individual events and all three relays.

Freshman Kurt Cady and senior Brady Hess led the way with two individual-event victories apiece, while sophomore Jon Ewing and senior James Mehling both finished first in one individual race.

The history-making win appears to be anything but a fluke. Already this season, eight of Silverado's 11 boys swimming school records have been broken, giving Crouch hope for a strong postseason showing.

"This is by far the best boys team we've had," Crouch said. "We have a lot of kids that have been with us for a while that we've been able to develop, and we've been able to make a lot of progress with some new kids."

* GAELS MOVIN' ON UP: Bishop Gorman's baseball team entered the top 20 rankings in two national publications this week, as USA Today and Baseball America both recognized the Gaels among the nation's best.

After adding Gorman to its West Regional rankings last week, USA Today has the Gaels at No. 14 in the country this week and No. 4 in the region. In Baseball America's bi-weekly poll, the Gaels climbed from No. 18 to No. 12 nationally.

Gorman's jubilation over the honors may be short-lived, however, as the Gaels dropped a 12-9 decision at home to Cheyenne on Tuesday and finish the regular season with games against fellow area powers Durango and Cimarron today and Friday.

Gorman's record now stands at 24-2 overall. The Gaels remained No. 1 in the Sun's state top 10 poll for the third straight week.

* BACK IN TOWN: New Northern Arizona University head basketball coach Mike Adras will be the keynote speaker at a banquet honoring 4A state boys basketball champion Cimarron-Memorial Friday night.

Adras, with Spartans head coach Hank Girardi as an assistant, coached at Bishop Gorman from 1984-90, winning state titles in 1987 and '88.

* HONOR ROLL: Green Valley senior golfer Joey Matyas has signed for an athletic scholarship with the University of Hawaii. Matyas, who finished fourth at last year's 4A state tournament and is among the favorites again this year, follows former Gator teammate Russell Minyard '96 to the Western Athletic Conference school. ... The no-hitters continue to pile up in local baseball and softball action this spring. Last Thursday, Cheyenne junior right-hander Justin Lochridge got things started with a five-inning no-no in a 16-0 win over Clark. Lochridge struck out eight and did not issue a walk. The next day, Durango sophomore Tisha Salamino struck out 14 of the 18 batters she faced in a five-inning 11-0 no-hit victory against Western. Also on Friday, Cimarron senior Mike Luczynski tossed a no-hitter to propel the Spartans to a 13-0 win over Mojave. ... Cimarron 's Aaron Alred posted a hole in one in his team's loss to Durango last week, sinking his tee shot on the par-3 fourth hole at Painted Desert. ... Less than a month after losing his school's single-game strikeout record to a teammate, Cimarron ace Mike Esposito struck out 18 batters in an 11-0 win over playoff hopeful Palo Verde to reclaim the record last Thursday. Teammate Geno Gonzalez punched out 14 hitters earlier this the season. ... Cheyenne senior Jake Laidlaw blasted a pair of home runs -- including a game-winning grand slam in the sixth inning -- to lead the Desert Shields to their 12-9 win over Gorman on Tuesday. With the win, Cheyenne becomes the clear favorite to claim the Sunset's final berth. The Desert Shields move up four spots in the Sun's state top 10 poll after a 4-0 week.