College of San Mateo's Laughlin, relay teams star at Stanford Invitational

CSM used the elite competition to improve its 4 x 400 meter relay track rankings, too. The Bulldog men ran 3 minutes, 17.72 seconds to move up to No. 2 in Northern California, just a few tenths behind season leader Diablo Valley (3:17.34).

Comprising the Bulldogs quartet were leadoff Evan Forsman (51.8) out of Riordan High, Donovan Garcia (49.8) from Hillsdale, Liam Kilbridge (49.0) from Serra, and Hillsdale’s Johnny Goode (47.1). Garcia had given the Bulldogs the lead on the second leg and they held it until the anchor for Simon Fraser University lunged at the tape to just nip Goode by .02.

The San Mateo women’s relay ran 4:11.87, a more than six-second improvement to No. 3 on the NorCal season list.

That group consisted of Elizabeth Demafeliz (63.8) out of Terra Nova, Evelyn Contreras (63.8) from San Mateo High, Shannon Dorn (66.3) from Westmoor, and anchor Sarelis Villalobos (58.0) out of Milpitas High.

The Bulldogs now lead the Coast Conference in both relays.

County baseball teams resume Coast North play

Following a week of non-league crossover games, San Mateo County’s three community college baseball teams return to Coast North Conference play this week.

Third place Skyline (6-3, 20-7) engages County rival fifth place Cañada (2-7, 6-22) on Thursday in Redwood City and on Saturday in San Bruno.

Runner-up College of San Mateo (6-2, 15-11-1), trailing West Valley (8-1, 18-11) by just a game in the loss column, had a Tuesday date hosting the pacesetting Vikings in San Mateo before playing fourth place Chabot (4-4, 16-10) on Thursday (in San Mateo) and on Saturday (in Hayward).

Skyline started those crossover games well, running past Hartnell, 15-0 — before dropping close encounters with Mission, 4-3, and Cabrillo, 7-3.

San Mateo had a tough week, including a pair of weekday contests that totaled 26 innings. The Tuesday game with Mission ended in a “final” 5-5 darkness tie after 14 innings in San Mateo. Host Cabrillo scored a 3-2 walkoff in 12 innings on Thursday in Aptos. CSM then hosted state top-ranked Ohlone on Saturday, losing 8-3.

Cañada had given West Valley its only league loss, 9-3, and entered the crossover break with a two-game wining streak. But the Colts failed to handle Coast South foes Cabrillo, a 5-3 loss in 10 innings; No. 1 Ohlone, 11-1; and Monterey Peninsula, 7-4.

Ohlone (27-2) has the state’s only significant winning streak, 25 games.

CSM softball streak reaches 17

The College of San Mateo women’s softball team outscored three foes by a 24-1 margin last week to extend its current winning streak to 17 games.

CSM (28-2) vaulted past Coast Conference foes Monterey Peninsula, 7-0, and Hartnell, 9-1; then won a non-league contest with Modesto JC of the Big 8 Conference, 8-0.

San Mateo leads all teams in the state with a .396 batting average and .631 slugging mark – led by Sara Giles (.559 and . 899, respectively) and Lafu Malepeai (.486 and 1.014).

CSM also has a pacesetting 31 home runs (11 by Malepeai) and 237 RBIs (35 by Malepeai and 34 by Giles). The Bulldogs are second with 87 stolen bases, led by Jada Walker and Malepeai — each with 15.

CSM beach volleyball two Coast Conference teams, 9-1

College of San Mateo’s beach volleyball team swept a pair of Coast Conference foes last week. The Bulldogs shutout Gavilan College, 5-0, and defeated Monterey Peninsula College, 4-1. The Lady Bulldogs (2-2 Coast, 6-4 overall) travel to the valley on Friday to meet host Fresno City College and De Anza College on the Rolling Hills Sand Courts in Madera.

Only three teams in Northern California have better overall records than CSM: Cabrillo (9-1), Sierra (8-2), and Feather River (7-3).