The Castle Park High School girls soccer team made history by winning the San Diego Section Division V championship in 2015.
The Lady Trojans advanced to the second round of the Division IV playoffs in 2016 but did not qualify for postseason play last season while compiling a 6-11-3 record.
Castle Park is on the upswing this season after riding an 8-1-3 start to the 2017-18 season.
The Lady Trojans defeated Pacific Ridge, 2-0, to win the championship title of the Lady Vaqueros tournament on Dec. 22. Prior to that, Castle Park lost, 3-2, to eventual Limited/Classic Division champion Southwest in the semifinals of the Bonita Vista Barons tournament on Dec. 9.
Fifth-year head coach Victor Vargas noted the Lady Vaqueros tournament title was the first tournament championship for Castle Park girls soccer in school history.
The Lady Trojans defeated River Valley, Mount Miguel, Imperial Valley, Brawley and Pacific Ridge to capture the Bronze Division title in the Dec. 14-22 tournament.
Vargas noted the 8-1-3 start was also the best start in his five years on board as head coach.
“Last year was a disappointment not making CIF,” Vargas said. “We had moved up to Division III after moving from Division IV the year before.”
Castle Park is back in Division IV this season.
Sophomore Alayla Navarro and freshman Yasmin Hernandez each had six goals to lead the Lady Trojans in scoring through the opening 12 games of the season.
Castle Park kicked off South Bay League play with a 1-0 victory at San Ysidro on Jan. 3 and dropped a 2-1 match to visiting Mar Vista last Friday.
Sweetwater, Southwest, Hilltop and Mater Dei Catholic are also South Bay League members this season.
Southwest is off to a 4-3-1 start while Mar Vista is 5-3-5, Hilltop is 5-5-2, Sweetwater is 5-2-1, Mater Dei Catholic is 3-2-1 and San Ysidro is 6-7-0.
The 1-1 start in league play raised Castle Park’s overall record to 9-2-3.
“We are hoping to compete in league this year with competitive teams like Hilltop and Southwest,” Vargas said. “Also, qualifying for CIF is another goal for us after last year.
“We are now placed in Division IV which I believe is more appropriate for us considering student enrollment here at Castle Park. We are one of the smallest schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District.”
Vargas’ daughter Araceli, a junior midfielder, plays for league rival Hilltop. It will be Vargas vs. Vargas for the third consecutive year on Jan. 17 when the Lady Trojans host the Lady Lancers.
“Castle Park has yet to beat Hilltop and I’m hoping this year will be our year,” said the elder Vargas, a Hilltop alum. “It won’t be an easy task.”
Corner kicks
Southwest defeated San Ysidro, 1-0, to win its division at the Barons tournament.
Granite Hills edged Olympian, 1-0, to win the Open/Classic Division at the Bonita Vista tournament while Mt. Carmel topped San Diego, 2-1, to win the Unlimited Division championship.
Junior Varsity Division champions included Eastlake (Flight 1), Cathedral Catholic (Flight 2) and San Diego (Flight 3). Bonita Vista finished runner-up in Flight 2.
Freshman/Novice Division champions included Del Norte (Flight 1) and Eastlake (Flight 2).
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Boys Basketball
Mesa League
Friday, Jan. 5
Montgomery 83, Otay Ranch 81
Eastlake 96, San Ysidro 72
Mater Dei Catholic 89, Bonita Vista 65
Wednesday, Jan. 3
Otay Ranch 94, San Ysidro 67
Montgomery 84, Olympian 67
Non-League
Friday, Dec. 5
Chula Vista 57, High Tech High Chula Vista 56
Hilltop 63, West Hills 59
Girls Basketball
Mesa League
Friday, Jan. 5
Bonita Vista 81, Mater Dei Catholic 76
Eastlake 67, Hilltop 22
Montgomery 50, Otay Ranch 32
Boys Soccer
Mesa League
Friday, Jan. 5
Eastlake 1, Bonita Vista 0
Castle Park 2, Chula Vista 1
Non-League
Friday, Jan. 5
Mira Mesa 1, Olympian 1
Lincoln 3, Mar Vista 1
Health Sciences 7, High Tech High Chula Vista 2
Girls Soccer
South Bay League
Friday, Jan. 5
Sweetwater 1, Mater Dei Catholic 1
Mar Vista 2, Castle Park 1
Southwest 1, San Ysidro 0
Wednesday, Jan. 3
Hilltop 1, Mar Vista 1
Girls water polo: Eastlake Lady Titans win trio of games at Winter Classic tournament
Eastlake High School’s girls water polo team won its final three games in this year’s Winter Classic Dec. 14-16, defeating Serra, Steele Canyon and Mission Bay, to finish 3-2 in the pre-Christmas tournament.
The Lady Titans defeated Poway and Steele Canyon in a pair of non-league games on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 to run their winning streak to five games (and overall record to 8-6) to end the first semester.
Eastlake entered the week fourth in the San Diego Section Division II power rankings behind University City (6-4), Scripps Ranch (8-3) and Grossmont (5-5). Bonita Vista (1-1) was seventh while Otay Ranch (4-2) was 10th. Hilltop (2-3) entered the week 14th in the Division II power rankings while Mater Dei Catholic (3-0) was 18th.
San Ysidro (2-2) entered the week second in the Division III power rankings while Chula Vista (4-5) was fourth, Olympian (2-3) was seventh and Southwest (0-1) was ninth.
Mar Vista (0-4) entered the week 19th in the Division I power rankings.
