A stunning comet streaks through the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, Southwestern College’s streaking Jaguars have their eyes on the earthly comets of Palomar College. After sweeping a three-game series against Imperial Valley, the Jags (15-7) lost two of three against league-leading Palomar. SWC is hanging just one game back as it awaits an April 16th showdown with its long time rivals. SWC feasted against IVC, winning 6-0, 8-6 and 3-0 with three quality starts and a timely save …

Gabrielle Beasley is a softball triple threat. She’s an intimidating pitcher, a slick shortstop and excels in the classroom. Her numbers are huge. Averaging eight strikeouts per game, she leads the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference with a total of 181. She leads all short stops in fielding with a .945 mark. Best of all her GPA is north of 3.0. Southwestern College head coach Yasmin Mossadeghi said when she saw Beasley dazzling opponents at Steele Canyon High School, it was …

Baseball coach Jerry Bartow refuses to act his age and his 2013 Jaguars refuse to lose. Strong defense and clutch hitting, two things that were missing last year, has the septuagenarian Bartow making like a 20-year-old and busting out his headfirst “victory” slide into home, much to the delight of the fans and horror of his older friends. It is early in the season, but Southwestern (11-4), is already thinking playoffs. Bartow’s dirty uniform is proof of that. SWC notched …

Athletes have to be strong from the neck down. Competitors need healthy minds, too. Unfortunately, professional sports organizations have been surprisingly slow to make the mind-body connection. Stress, pressure and brutal challenges await young professional athletes, and many need support for their psyche they cannot get on the training table. America’s sports landscape is littered with the sad stories of gifted athletes who crumbled in the spotlight. Mental health can take a beating in the brutally competitive arena of professional …

Playoff perennials, the Southwestern College men’s basketball team endured a tough rebuilding year and a 10-7 season. “I’m so glad we won 10 games,” said head coach John Cosentino. “But I’m thinking how did we win 10 games? We had a tough schedule and we were not the most talented team in the conference this season. Other teams celebrated when they beat us this season, because we’ve been the best team for so long. We’ve won for so many years that this season was a shock.” SWC got off to a good start with strong non-conference wins against tough teams, three of those wins against teams who made the playoffs last year. But things began to go sour after a …

There is nothing soft about softball star Gabrielle Beasley. The hard-hitting, hard-throwing shortstop-pitcher works hard, plays hard and is hard to ignore. Beasley is leading her hard-charging teammates on a playoff run worthy of last year’s historic season when the Lady Jags made its first-ever post-season appearance. After a pedestrian start to the season, SWC has become downright hard to beat. Beasley almost single handedly destroyed the Victor Valley Rams. She hit a two run triple and pitched a shutout …

For 80 minutes the men’s soccer team played the Beautiful Game beautifully, holding last season’s state champions scoreless. It was the last 10 minutes that got ugly. Mt. San Antonio College scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to complete a 3-0 romp that knocked SWC out of the Pacific Coast Conference playoffs. “They were an exceptional team,” said head soccer coach Cem Tont of Mt. SAC. “They are the defending state champs. We played flat and tired.” Mt. …

His Airness Michael Jordan once said, “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” SWC’s men’s basketball team could take a hint from royalty. In the second round of the Cuyamaca/SWC Tournament, the Jaguars (4-6) took on Barstow Community College (1-7) in the consolation bracket and won, 68-64. “I am not a stats person,” said freshman forward Lamar Weston. “All I do is look for that W, and I’m happy when I do.” Barstow was oversized, but SWC was not overmatched. Barstow was first to score. Minutes later, Weston put the Jags on the scoreboard with a jump shot, 2-2. The Jag defense held Barstow from taking the lead. With 10:12 to go in …

A proverbial catfight occurred in the Southwestern College gym when the Lady Jaguars basketball team took on the Taft College Cougars. Taft’s size and strength on the post was too much for the Lady Jags who lost, 68-61. SWC (4-5) leapt to a quick 6-0 run to start the first half before Taft answered back to take the lead, 8-6. In the closing minutes of the half freshman guard Alexis Harris sank back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Jags within two, 24-22. Sophomore Kayla Payne brought the first half to a close with a drive to the paint that tied the score at 26. Taft (5-6) wore down SWC during the second half behind 6-foot post-player Crystal Faletoi, who received pass …

“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.” — Mary Kay Ash Like most fighters Nick Newell entered the octagon to defend his undefeated record and to compete for the Xtreme Fighting Championships lightweight title with the intention of leaving it all in the cage. When the bell was struck, Newell went quickly to work on his opponent delivering a right-handed shot, then another and another. After choking his opponent out, Newell raised his right hand in victory. Newell’s right hand is his only hand, due to a congenital amputation, a condition preventing his left arm from developing past his elbow. Newell’s success is a strong message for …