La Rochelle leads Cal into Stanford dual

By Marty James

NOTES AND QUOTES for a Thursday in the Napa Valley:

UC Berkeley will honor Natalie La Rochelle and the other seniors on the women’s swimming and diving team when the Golden Bears battle visiting Stanford in a Bay Area showdown at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday at noon.

It’s the final dual meet of the season for La Rochelle, a Vintage High School graduate and Napa resident, and the four other departing seniors.

“All five have represented Cal with honor in and out of the pool — either as All-Americans, NCAA champions, Pac-10 champions, Olympians, school record holders or academic standouts,” Cal said on its athletic Web site.

La Rochelle is a two-time U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier. She is also on the student athletic committee, which represents all the scholarship athletes at Cal, and is responsible to report to the chancellor as the senior athlete representative.

Stanford has won its last 18 consecutive Pacific-10 Conference dual meets, a streak dating back to the opening of the 2006-07 season.

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Jimmy Cacho tied for sixth and his younger brother, Danny finished in a tie for 67th for the Santa Clara University men’s golf team at the Mardi Gras Invitational, hosted by the University of New Orleans. The Broncos, who were starting the spring portion of their schedule, took sixth place at the TPC of Louisiana Golf Course.

Jimmy shot 73-73-73 — 219. It was his best tournament finish of the season. Danny had rounds of 82, 77 and 82 for a 241 total.

The Cachos attended Justin-Siena and play out of Green Valley Country Club in Fairfield.

The Broncos return to action March 9-11 at the Palmas Del Mar Classic at the Flamboyan Resort in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

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In its baseball outlook, Nebraska said Jordan Roualdes “could be one of the sleepers on the 2009 Husker pitching staff.”

The Justin-Siena graduate “provides the Huskers with a veteran left-hander as NU looks to rebuild its weekend rotation.”

Roualdes pitched at South Mountain (Ariz.) Community College, going 5-1 with a 3.13 ERA last season. In 15 appearances for the Cougars, he struck out 64 and walked 26 over 72 innings of work.

He “showed good command and a strong work ethic during the fall and could potentially fill a void in the weekend rotation,” the Huskers wrote on their athletic Web site. In addition, Roualdes “has the potential to develop into a quality starter from the left side this season, as he adapts to Division I baseball.”

Nebraska starts its season Feb. 20 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

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Freshman Tessa Mini won her singles match in the No. 6 spot for the University of Portland women’s tennis team as the Pilots swept visiting Linfield 7-0 last week at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

Mini, a Vintage graduate, was a 6-1, 6-1 winner.

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Brian Cole won the 1000-meter race for the Williams College track and field team Saturday at the MIT Invitational

Cole, a St. Helena High graduate, was fifth after 800 meters, then unleashed a powerful kick to score the win.

He also won the 3000-meter race in a time of 9:05 during the Williams Invitational last month in Williamstown, Mass.

Cole is expected to be a frequent scorer in middle distance events for Williams. He also runs cross country.

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Tom Bonfigli, a former Justin-Siena boys basketball coach, has Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa at 24-0 on the year, including a 12-0 North Bay League record.

Newman is No. 13 in this week’s Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area Top 20 and No. 11 in the San Francisco Chronicle Top 20.

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Several more players from Santa Rosa Junior College and Solano Community College-Fairfield are transferring to four-year schools to continue football.

Moving on from Santa Rosa are Terrence Brannic, defensive back, Western New Mexico University; Tobin Cameron, offensive lineman, Old Dominon University; Shane Clancy, linebacker, Northern State University; Brandon Driver, DB, San Jose State; Riordan Gomez, OL, Humboldt State; Ryan Jensen, OL, Old Dominon; Everett Johnson, DB,     Nichols State; Don Pritchett, defensive lineman, Fresno State; and Brandyn Reed, wide receiver, Cal State Sacramento.

Leaving Solano are Darnell Grier, DB, Fort Hays State University; and Samson Zebronski, DL, Arkansas Tech.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.

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