A trio of 3-0 Santa Cruz County football teams are atop this week’s roundup, which also includes local girls volleyball leaders, SCCAL girls tennis contenders and cross-country and water polo action.
Recreation & Sports
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Watsonville’s first new park in 20 years a boost to ‘underserved’ area
Santa Cruz County is getting its first new park in more than two decades after county supervisors voted unanimously late last month to approve the purchase of 35.5 acres of land at 188 Whiting Rd. in Watsonville.
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz Harbor’s anchovy invasion is over — for now
Thousands of anchovies have found their way back into Monterey Bay after they swarmed the Santa Cruz surfline and small craft harbor near Seabright Beach. Though harbor staff is not sure why this phenomenon occurs, they are glad this iteration was quick and that they do not have to oversee any large-scale cleanup efforts.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
High school sports roundup: Watsonville makes it 7 straight over Pajaro Valley in Belgard Kup
Nathaniel Aguilar tossed a pair of TD passes as Watsonville High shut out Pajaro Valley High 12-0 in their rivalry matchup. Elsewhere, Harbor High posted another football blowout, Scotts Valley defeated Monte Vista Christian in girls tennis and Harbor, Aptos, St. Francis, San Lorenzo Valley and Watsonville notched volleyball victories.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Uproar over ‘pickleball tax’: Players aren’t game for new app to reserve courts at Santa Cruz County parks
Santa Cruz County says that encouraging people to pay for and reserve time at pickleball courts through a new app will improve efficiency and access amid the sport’s booming popularity. Avid pickleballers aren’t convinced, saying that the old system worked fine.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
High school sports roundup: Sideline melee mars Harbor’s opening blowout of Santa Cruz
A scuffle that saw a pair of Harbor High School assistant football coaches ejected caused Friday’s rivalry game at Santa Cruz High to be called at halftime, with the Pirates winning 40-0. Elsewhere, Aptos and Soquel dropped their football openers, while Aptos and Harbor have found the winning track early in the girls volleyball season.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
High school sports roundup: Santa Cruz County football teams rev up for this week’s kickoffs at Jamboree
In Lookout’s first Santa Cruz County high school sports roundup, Thomas Frey has the scoop on who shined at the weekend’s Jamboree at Cabrillo College, previews football openers and checks in on water polo, cross-country and more.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Fight night at Santa Cruz’s KP Arena: Four hours in, hometown hero Danny Compton enters the Octagon
Forget pro wrestling, the five-hour card — with 11 bouts — Friday night at the Santa Cruz Warriors’ arena is a first-of-its-kind event in town. Mixed martial arts incorporates kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and any number of techniques of formalized hand-to-hand (or even foot-to-foot) combat. The contestants are quite a mix as well — strawweight, bantamweight, welterweight, including “The Cali Cowgirl,” one representing his home country of Kyrgyzstan. How bloody will this evening be, and how will the local guy perform in a make-or-break duel at the end of the evening?
Posted inRecreation & Sports
Daniel in the Warriors’ Den: Santa Cruz MMA pro faces a make-or-break fight, in front of his hometown
Kaiser Permanente Arena will be the scene Friday as Soquel High and Cabrillo College grad Daniel Compton headlines a mixed martial arts card with a bout against Renato Valente that could propel him into the upper echelon of the sport.
Posted inCoast Life
Selfies by the sea: Otter 841’s popularity renews concerns about humans encroaching on marine wildlife
The growing popularity of Santa Cruz’s Otter 841 is renewing concerns about the damaging ways that humans encroach on marine life. Researchers say ocean tourism, social media and portable cameras are enticing spectators to get closer to wild animals. Some are now raising the alarm that repeated human encounters are harming the animals’ predator-avoidance instincts.