Page 4 September 12, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
School Spotlight
Sports
Cross Country Teams
Reload for 2019
By Gregg McMullin
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The El Segundo High School cross country
teams are set to make another run at history.
Both teams had successful 2018 seasons and
have reloaded to make this another potential
banner year. Head coach Marcos Bolanos
says this season’s teams have depth and
experience and are highly motivated.
The boys have the deepest and most talented
group where as many as 12 who are
all capable of running a varsity meet this
year. This will allow the team to have some
flexibility in racing fresh legs. Leading the
Eagles will be team captain Arend Verfaillie,
Arend Verfaille will lead a deep Eagles roster. James Matlosz is a co-captain for the seventh-ranked Lady Eagles.
who is coming off a successful junior season
in both XC and track. He set several school
records during his junior year and looks to
take down some more this season.
Midsummer standouts that look to make
an impact include seniors Niall Glynn and
Lukas Lux. Senior standout Cobi Rifkin
returns as a top seven runner from last fall.
Marcus Ortiz returns for his junior year and
was one of the top seven from last year. Junior
transfer from Mira Costa Will Garrell brings
some serious talent and has posted a sub
16-minute in a 3-mile race. Also coming off
a huge track season are juniors Ryu Iguchi
and Cole Sterba. The Eagles are looking to
have five runners break the 16-minute mark
this season! Should that happen, it would be
unprecedented for the Eagles’ program and
make them legitimate contenders to advance
to the state meet.
The Lady Eagles continue to march along
with historic results. They have won four
straight Ocean League titles, won several
invitational meets, made it four straight years
to the CIF Southern Section finals as well as
three straight years to the meet state with top
10 finishes. Last season, they finished third
at the 2018 at the CIF state meet. They have
reloaded with talent despite losing two 4-year
mainstays in Nikki Fulcomer and Gabby Lee.
Led by senior co-captain James Matlosz
and Sophia Zago, the Lady Eagles, ranked
seventh in the CIF-SS Division 4, look to
storm back to the place they left off last
year. Matlosz and Zago are both coming off
strong track seasons and look to run in the low
17s for a 3-mile course. Behind them will be
a young bunch of talented runners including
sophomores Tyler Matlosz, Erin Rifkin, Ami
Jacobson and Isabella Mai. Tyler Matlosz is
the freshman record-holder for the 3-mile and
won three events for the track team. Rifkin
and Mai have plenty of experience and look
to be one of the top seven. Jacobson has had
one of the strongest summers and looks ready
to cement herself as a top seven runner. The
Lady Eagles continue their depth with two
returning seniors in Letina Daniel and Leah
Guziak, who both helped in the push to a
successful run to the league championship
and the CIF and state meets last year.
ESUSD
ES School Board OKs Middle
School Gym, Security Cameras
By Duane Plank
Two weeks into the start of the new school
year, the members of the El Segundo School
Board were privy to special presentations on
Tuesday evening, ranging from the second
effort from new student representative to the
Board Ella Tichy to a presentation from a duo
representing the architectural firm Westberg
White Architects (WWA), detailing their
proposed plans for developing the longsought
El Segundo Middle School (ESMS)
gymnasium project.
The Westberg White presentation, which
the Board ratified later in the meeting, began
by touting prior collaboration with the El
Segundo Unified School District (ESUSD)
and WWA. Accomplishments listed included
multiple projects at myriad school sites. The
presentation also lauded WWA’s successful
collaboration with the Redondo Beach Unified
School District in the construction of
similar gymnasium projects at Adams and
Parras middle schools.
Superintendent Dr. Melissa Moore said
the District was pleased to again partner
with WWA, and that she and the facilities
committee had visited the Adams modular
gymnasium facility and were impressed with
the results.
Assistant Superintendent of Educational
Services, Marisa Janicek, made a presentation
regarding District results in testing to comply
with the California Assessment of Student
Performance and Progress. In a nutshell, the
District students are progressing quite well.
“We are extremely pleased with the results
overall,” said Moore, noting how ESUSD
students, for the most part, are meeting or
exceeding state and county averages as well
as test scores of other “like” schools locally.
Chief Business Official Kim Linz next
spoke about the current numbers associated
with the District’s “Unaudited Actuals”
financial statement. Prior to the meeting,
Linz emailed, “Due to conservative budgeting
practices, the ESUSD remains on solid
financial footing. The ESUSD continues the
historical practice of careful fiscal planning
to ensure the continuance of quality programming
for students while still leading the way
with innovative curriculum that prepares our
students for the future.”
The ESUSD has for years faced a structural
budget deficit that occurs when a district has
expenditures that exceed revenues. Moore
said this budget deficit occurs because of a
“lack of adequate financing” from California
state coffers.
One of the consent items passed Tuesday
evening was the California School Funding
Coalition Participation agreement, which
ESUSD first entered in 2017, and has the
aim to promote legislative awareness as the
District continues to mine diverse sources to
adequately fund programs.
Consent agenda items that the Board passed
included a couple of mid-May assemblies at
Center Street Elementary School designed to
allow fourth and fifth grade students to participate
in a retelling of America’s beginning
by utilizing games, music and storytelling to
make history resonate.
The main action item approved was the
agreement with NIC Partners, to the tune of
$1,439,823, that will, according to Districtprovided
notes, “provide installation of a
new, comprehensive Cisco Meraki camera
solution” that will “enhance the Districtwide
electronic video surveillance system for
increased safety and security, and upgrade
the wireless access points and switches at all
sites.” The seven-year contract will be funded
by Measure ES Bond funds ($643,120), and
Sale of (Imperial) Site funds ($796,703).
In an email sent prior to the meeting,
Board President Nancy Cobb wrote, “It is
important to emphasize that the community
prioritized safety and security when we
updated our Long-Range Facility Master
Plan in 2018, which specifically identified
security cameras as a need.” She added that
subsequently, Bond Measure ES included
$10 million to address safety and security.
She reiterated that in June 2018, consultant
Dave Krug from Actus Consulting highlighted
the need to install state-of the-art security
cameras as one of his recommendations
to enhance security. Cobb also noted Dr.
Moore’s “comprehensive safety update” in
May, which detailed the improvements that
the District has made in programs, training,
personnel and facilities, including the
recommendation to pursue the installation
of security cameras. Cobb reported that
Executive Director of Information Technology
Danny Gauna had vetted the available
camera options, and that the Cisco Meraki
cameras proved to be the best fit.
Also passed was an agreement with El
Camino Community College to “develop
seamless pathways from high school to community
college for career technical education
or preparation for transfer.”
Moore then highlighted the upcoming
District informational calendar, including
See Sports, page 10 See ESUSD, page 9
el segundo
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