San Luis Obispo

Laguna Beach?s Brian Lopes won the men?s competition at the Jeep 48Straight Mountain Bike Series dual slalom event at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo on Saturday. The event marked the finale of the 2008 Jeep mountain bike season, where athletes competed for a share of a record $100,000 cash purse and for the season champions, the keys to a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The overall 2008 season champions were Eric Carter of Temecula for the men and Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz.

Retired engineer became famous for discovering ancient skull of `Laguna Beach Woman.'Edmund Hayes Marriner -- who helped find the 17,000-year-old "Laguna Beach Woman" skull in 1933 -- died in San Luis Obispo on Nov. 20 at the age of 90. Born in Lincoln, Neb., on August 15, 1915, Marriner moved to Laguna Beach in 1924. In 1933, he accompanied his teenage friend Howard Wilson to an undeveloped area on St. Ann's Drive, where the two thought they could find Indian artifacts. They ended up digging up a portion of a skull that was identified some 35 years later as the oldest human in the United States -- at least 17,000 years old -- and would go down in archeological history as Laguna Beach Woman.

A crash landing in the opening round of the Saturday's race served as an omen to Laguna Beach resident Brian Lopes. Leading the pack in the first race of the Jeep King of the Mountain 2007 Mountain Biking World Professional Championships at The Canyons in Park City, Utah, a fellow competitor came underneath and made contact with Lopes, sending him to the terrain. It was an uphill battle from there for Lopes who did fight back to win the second round, but ultimately finished in sixth-place in the men's competition.

Something happened Tuesday night at Dugger Gymnasium that hadn't happened to the Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team in quite a while. The Breakers dropped a game. But despite what turned out to be a minor setback, things on the whole remained the same — Laguna won again. The Breakers moved out of the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs by scoring a 25-20, 25-14, 26-28, 25-20 victory over visiting San Luis Obispo. It was the 100th section playoff match for Laguna, which improved its postseason record to 72-28.

Junior Team Tennis registration underway Laguna Beach Breakers Junior Team Tennis currently taking registration for coed players. Registration is available for the 12-and-Under Advanced, Intermediate and Novice divisions, the 14-and-Under, Advanced and Intermediate divisions, and Boys 18-and-Under division. For more information, call Julie Heussenstamm, of the United States Professional Tennis Assn., at (949) 933-4850, or e-mail her at allcourttennis@hotmail.

A spill by Brian Lopes was one of several crashes Saturday that had a major effect on the outcome of the men?s competition at the Jeep 48Straight Mountain Bike Series dual slalom event at Diablo Freeride Park in Vernon, N.J. Lopes took a spill off his bike in the second race that knocked the Laguna Beach resident out of the event. The four-time world champion and nine-time U.S. national champion had easily raced by Open Qualifier and 16th-seed Lars Tribus of Milford, N.J., in the first race.

Locals top junior tennis series Two local tennis players, Alex Gromet and Teague Hamilton, captured first-place in their respective divisions at the first All Court Tennis Junior Challenger tennis series event of the year. The divisions were open to both boys and girls. 12-and-under Division Gromet and Fareed Ahmed of Irvine battled it out for first-place in the division. Each player won the same number of matches, but Gromet was able to claim the top spot by winning 14 games, overall.

In a match in which you would expect both teams to leave it all on the line, host and fourth-seeded Dos Pueblos was able to sneak past No. 5-seed Laguna Beach, 25-18, 25-27, 26-24, 26-24, last Friday in the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs at Goleta. At stake for both teams was a berth in the semifinals which were played Wednesday. Friday's quarterfinal round match was as intense as the final scores indicate. "What you like to be able to do is put yourself in position to win, and we were in a position to win this match," Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said.

WASHINGTON — I got a bird’s-eye view. Quite literally. And I had to brave a few moments of real panic as the crowd I got caught up in teetered on the ledge of a riotous stampede — more than once. I was warned to get to President Barack Obama’s inauguration early. The crowds would swell to enormous sizes. Not surprising. It’s been like that since I arrived. So I got to bed early Monday night. I sure didn’t mind after a long day chasing congressmen and their constituents in their offices.

Laguna Beach?s Brian Lopes won the men?s competition at the Jeep 48Straight Mountain Bike Series dual slalom event at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo on Saturday. The event marked the finale of the 2008 Jeep mountain bike season, where athletes competed for a share of a record $100,000 cash purse and for the season champions, the keys to a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The overall 2008 season champions were Eric Carter of Temecula for the men and Melissa Buhl of Chandler, Ariz.

A spill by Brian Lopes was one of several crashes Saturday that had a major effect on the outcome of the men?s competition at the Jeep 48Straight Mountain Bike Series dual slalom event at Diablo Freeride Park in Vernon, N.J. Lopes took a spill off his bike in the second race that knocked the Laguna Beach resident out of the event. The four-time world champion and nine-time U.S. national champion had easily raced by Open Qualifier and 16th-seed Lars Tribus of Milford, N.J., in the first race.

Beach volleyball classes set to begin The next series of beach volleyball classes will be offered at Main Beach starting March 8. Classes will be offered for beginning through advanced players, ages 16-and-older. Both the 9 a.m. beginning/ intermediate and 10:30 a.m. advanced sessions offer a workout emphasizing core skills, strength, flexibility and ball control in a fun and social setting. Novice players will learn the game in a relaxed environment and advanced players will get the opportunity to get in shape and hone their skills for tournament and challenge court play.

A crash landing in the opening round of the Saturday's race served as an omen to Laguna Beach resident Brian Lopes. Leading the pack in the first race of the Jeep King of the Mountain 2007 Mountain Biking World Professional Championships at The Canyons in Park City, Utah, a fellow competitor came underneath and made contact with Lopes, sending him to the terrain. It was an uphill battle from there for Lopes who did fight back to win the second round, but ultimately finished in sixth-place in the men's competition.

In a match in which you would expect both teams to leave it all on the line, host and fourth-seeded Dos Pueblos was able to sneak past No. 5-seed Laguna Beach, 25-18, 25-27, 26-24, 26-24, last Friday in the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs at Goleta. At stake for both teams was a berth in the semifinals which were played Wednesday. Friday's quarterfinal round match was as intense as the final scores indicate. "What you like to be able to do is put yourself in position to win, and we were in a position to win this match," Laguna Coach Lance Stewart said.

Something happened Tuesday night at Dugger Gymnasium that hadn't happened to the Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball team in quite a while. The Breakers dropped a game. But despite what turned out to be a minor setback, things on the whole remained the same — Laguna won again. The Breakers moved out of the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs by scoring a 25-20, 25-14, 26-28, 25-20 victory over visiting San Luis Obispo. It was the 100th section playoff match for Laguna, which improved its postseason record to 72-28.

Retired engineer became famous for discovering ancient skull of `Laguna Beach Woman.'Edmund Hayes Marriner -- who helped find the 17,000-year-old "Laguna Beach Woman" skull in 1933 -- died in San Luis Obispo on Nov. 20 at the age of 90. Born in Lincoln, Neb., on August 15, 1915, Marriner moved to Laguna Beach in 1924. In 1933, he accompanied his teenage friend Howard Wilson to an undeveloped area on St. Ann's Drive, where the two thought they could find Indian artifacts. They ended up digging up a portion of a skull that was identified some 35 years later as the oldest human in the United States -- at least 17,000 years old -- and would go down in archeological history as Laguna Beach Woman.