Beaumont High Cross Country, Volleyball, Tennis Teams Hope to Contend for MPL Titles

Beaumont High has Mountain Pass League title contenders in cross country, tennis and volleyball.

This fall should be busy for dozens of athletes on these Cougars teams.

Cross country

Beaumont’s cross country program has become the dominant team in the Mountain Pass League.

Beaumont’s girls' team has won the MPL each of the past four seasons. And Beaumont won the boys' MPL four of the past five seasons.

“My cross country team should be quite good again this year,” Beaumont cross country coach Brandon Tedrow said. “Both teams are currently ranked in the top 8 in Riverside County and the boys have a chance to be ranked in CIF Division 2 by the end of September I hope.”

Winning another MPL title, however, may be a toughest task for the girls' team. It lost two runners to graduation and three others chose not to run.

The team does have three returners: Jazmin Romero, who clocked her fastest 3-mile time, 17:56, at the Arcadia Invitational; Alexa Gozzip, who also clocked her fastest time, 18:10, at Arcadia; and Hannah Gallup, who ran an 18:44 at Arcadia as well.

Returning runners include junior Scott Oseguera, who ran a 15:32 at Arcadia, sophomore Zach Gross, 15:46, and junior Doug Palmer, 15:57. The remaining spots in the lineup will be contested by senior Jaime Guzman, sophomore Steven Silva and junior Justin Coleman. Freshmen Andres Vizcarra and David Gozzip have looked good in practices, Tedrow said.

“The boys should be able to win league over Hemet which should be our closest competition,” Tedrow said. “The girls are favored as well, but Hemet, Tahquitz and San Jacinto all have girls that are hungry to knock us off so we have to be ready for some stiff competition.”

Beaumont cross country key meets:

Saturday, Sept. 17, 4 p.m. - @ Woodbridge Invitational (Irvine)

Saturday, Oct. 8, 7:30 a.m. – Inland Empire Challenge (Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino)

Saturday, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. – Mt. SAC Invitational (Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA)

Volleyball

Last season Beaumont finished third in the Mountain Pass League standings and lost in the first round of the CIF Div. 4 playoffs.

Second year coach Eric Benitez would like his team to do better than that.

“We want to win league,” Benitez said. “I’d like to see us move up from third and make CIF. We want to go as far as we can.”

Beaumont returns four players from last season’s team. That group includes middle hitter/team captain Melina Schuelke, outside hitter Christine Vanderbilt, and defensive specialists Kahrlee Tucker and Serena White.

Those seniors are joined by three juniors and eight sophomores.

Last season Beaumont finished with a 6-4 league record and was 10-11-1 on the season. The Cougars struggled early in the season, losing five of their first seven games. But they rallied late, winning four of their last seven games, to qualify for the playoffs.

Beaumont volleyball key matches:

Thursday, Sept. 8, 4:30 p.m. – Season opener @ Cathedral City

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 4:30 p.m. – Home vs. Def. MPL champion Hemet

Sept. 16, 21 and 22, 4:30 p.m. – Three game home stand vs. Valley View, Jurupa Hills and Twentynine Palms.

Tennis

Beaumont coach Caroyln Owens has a solid group of returners to work with and a four match home stand early in the season only helps her cause.

Beaumont  will be anchored by 10 returning players, including doubles player Michelle Yang, and hopes to take advantage of playing at home in seven of its first nine matches.

Beaumont opens the season at Palm Springs and then hosts consecutive matches against Yucaipa, Cathedral City, Rancho Verde and San Gorgonio.

“We start off with some pretty good matches and the hope is that it will get us ready for tough matches in the season,” Owens said. “San Jacinto and Hemet are tough matches and we need to play in competitive matches to know how to play when we get into tight situations.”

Yang was a doubles semifinalist in last season’s MPLfinals.

“Right now we are figuring out what to do in terms of her partners,” Owens said. “She leads the pack in doubles. She has some pretty strong volleys’ and is an aggressive player. We will look to her to win
us some matches.”

Last season Beaumont (6-4, 12-8) finished third in the MPL.

Beaumont Tennis key matches:

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 3:15 p.m. - @ Palm Springs

Sept. 7, 8, 9 & 12, 3:15 p.m. – Four match home stand against Yucaipa, Cathedral City, Rancho Verde and San Gorgonio.

Thursday, Oct. 6, 3:15 p.m. – Home vs. San Jacinto.