Two Malibu High School varsity sports made quick starts to the fall sports campaign last weekend. In the pool, the boys water polo team finished fifth out of 32 teams in the challenging 2012 “Conejo Classic” tournament. Meanwhile, sophomore Caroline Pietrzyk led a positive showing by the girls and boys cross country teams at the “Fastback Shootout” at Mount San Antonio College.
With a challenging 32-team field lined up the Conejo Classic, the Sharks knew the importance of setting the tone for their season. Leading 8-5 at halftime of their first game, Malibu jumped all over Yucaipa in the second half in securing a 16-9 victory in pool play.
Emmet Pierson and Owen Franz led the way with six goals apiece, while Pierson added four steals. Henry Buckley had six assists and Dan Sartorius, who played in goal last season, made the transition to offense a smooth one, scoring two goals and adding a game-high six steals.
The second game of pool play versus Newbury Park proved much tougher as the Sharks trailed the Panthers 6-4 at halftime. But MHS rallied behind Jordan Clarke, who scored four of his game-high seven goals in the second half as Malibu won, 12-9. Goalie Jack Thompson had seven blocks after posting eight in the win against Yucaipa.
After winning its first two contests of the season, Malibu suffered back-to-back losses in bracket play to Ventura, 15-7, and Leland, 14-11, taking the Sharks out of championship contention and placing them into the fifth place game against Westlake.
Facing a school with twice its enrollment, Malibu (3-2) found a way to win a hotly contested match against the Warriors, 14-12. The Sharks took a 3-2 lead after one period and extended it to 9-5 at the break behind the efforts of Sartorius, who returned to goalkeeper for the contest.
Sartorius was dominant all game, stopping 19 shots as Westlake refused to go away. Clarke scored five goals, Franz had three goals and four steals, and Pierson contributed three goals and three steals.
The Sharks will host next the “Malibu Tournament” from Sept. 20-22.
From the pool to dry land, the MHS cross country teams opened up their seasons in the ultra-competitive Fastback Shootout at Mount San Antonio College, where its challenging, hilly 1.9 mile course awaited. Making matters even tougher were the conditions, as the heat index reached 95 degrees during the races.
Sophomore Caroline Pietrzyk blazed through the course in 12:11.50 to finish second in her individual race and 16th overall in a girls’ field of 842 runners. Freshman Madeline Ward made her cross country debut by finishing 36th in her heat in a time of 15:53.90 and earning a medal for her top 40 finish.
Juniors Dyer Pettijohn and Aiden Pascucci led the Shark boys with times of 12:01.09 and 13:01.68, respectively, in a field of 1,005 runners.
The Sharks now travel to Irvine on Fri., Sept. 14, for the Woodbridge Invitational.