Briefly In Sports

Nederlander competes at nationals

Incoming Laguna Beach High freshman Taylor Nederlander advanced to the Round of 64 in both singles and doubles at the United States Tennis Assn. National 14-and-under Championships in Peachtree City, Ga.

Nederlander topped Kelly Walliford of Basking Ridge, N.J., 6-3, 7-6 (4) in her first singles match. Then, in the Round of 128, she topped Alexia Petrovic of Burr Ridge, Ill., 7-6 (1), 6-2.

Ninth-seeded Katrine Steffensen of Scarsdale, N.Y. eventually beat Nederlander Monday, 6-1, 6-2. Nederlander then fell in her first consolation bracket match to Savannah Wood of Woodstock, Ga., 6-4, 6-1.

In doubles, Nederlander teamed with Lauren Marker of Rancho Mirage. They won their Round of 128 match against Krizia Buck and Liza Fieldsend, 6-4, 6-2, before falling in the Round of 64 to No. 9-seeded Elizabeth Stewart and Sierra Stone, 6-3, 6-1.

New Laguna Beach High girls’ tennis coach Alec Horton said since he began working with her in March, Nederlander has increased her national ranking by over 450 spots to her current ranking of 218.

“She had a great tournament,” Horton said. “She’s really doing well.”

Lewis tunes up, finishes seventh

Laguna Beach resident Michael Lewis went back to his roots of kart racing last weekend, placing seventh at the Championship Kart International Grand Prix at the CalSpeed Kart Track in Fontana.

“I wanted to get tuned up for my next Formula BMW race this coming weekend at Elkhart Lake,” Lewis said in a release.

“The timing was perfect with the inaugural running of this CKI event at the CalSpeed Track, so I brought our Zanardi kart out of mothballs and went out and raced with the best karters around.”

It took a while to get going but after each practice session the times started to improve. By Sunday morning, Lewis and his mechanic found the setup sweet spot, and Lewis vaulted to the top of the speed charts. Lewis started 12th in the 12-lap pre-final and worked through the pack for a strong seventh-place finish.

For the 22-lap main event, Lewis started seventh and at the green flag slipped back to 13th because of a jam up in the first turn. He worked hard to get back to seventh by the checkered flag.

“It was a fun day, and it was good to get back in the kart and race with all the CKI drivers,” Lewis said in the release. “I am looking forward to going to Elkhart Lake for the Formula BMW race.”

Lewis will be driving for Team Eurointernational this weekend. He currently sits in second place in the Formula BMW Rookie Championship standings.

Laguna’s Mokhtar to walk on at USC

USC football has announced that Laguna Beach’s Ahmed Mokhtar is one of six walk-ons who have been added to the roster for Fall Camp 2009.

Mokhtar, a 2007 Mater Dei High graduate, was at Oregon State for a year before playing last year for Orange Coast College.

The 6-foot, 200-pound fullback still has three years of eligibility remaining.

While at OCC last season, he played in six games, rushing for 185 yards and a touchdown.

Grand Pre is one to watch

Laguna Beach High incoming senior Paulette Grand Pre has been named to the Under Armour Girls’ High School All-America volleyball watch list for the upcoming season.

Grand Pre, an outside hitter, led the Breakers in both kills (404) and digs (294) last season. She helped Laguna Beach win the Orange Coast League title and advance to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs.

This year’s watch list includes 383 players from 37 states and serves as the starting point for the Under Armour All-America selection process. In November, the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. will name 48 student-athletes as an Under Armour All-American, 24 each on the first team and second team.

First-team All-Americans will be invited to play in the Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition, Dec. 20 in Tampa, Fla.