Local briefs: Riverside GC team wins tourney

Published online on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

A 12-man team from Riverside Golf Course captured the 21st annual Team Match Championship on Saturday at Poppy Hills.

Riverside defeated Tehama Golf Course 19-17 in a combination of four-ball matches and singles matches. Riverside's Bill Duarte's two-putt par on the 18th hole in his match against Tehama's Bill Yakobovich clinched the championship for his team.

"This is the biggest victory the club has ever had," said Riverside team captain Manuel Herrera. "We were most definitely nervous, but we kept playing hard and waited to see what happened."

The Northern California Golf Association event concluded a summer-long competition involving more than 200 teams.

Sunbirds earn water polo win

Sascha Ludwig, a freshman from Buchanan, scored in the final two minutes as Fresno Pacific salvaged a win in the Santa Clara Tournament with a 12-11 decision over No. 19 St. Francis.

Senior Gabe Calderon scored seven goals during the weekend, including four against St. Francis, as the Sunbirds left with a win following losses to No. 13 Davis (9-5), No. 10 Concordia (15-5) and Brown (13-2).

Freshman Glen Lyon drew an ejection that set up Ludwig's decisive power-play goal against St. Francis, which led 7-4 at halftime.

Riley Warner, a junior transfer from Cuesta College, made 38 saves during the weekend, including five penalty shots for Fresno Pacific (13-9), which will visit No. 9 Santa Barbara on Nov. 7.

Mercer, DeLaCruz win Springville Apple Run

Porterville's Carey Mercer won the men's 5K run at the Springville Apple Run on Oct. 17 with a time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds.

Springville's Abigail DeLaCruz captured the women's 5K run in a time of 22:35.