With six seniors leading the way, the Mission Bay High School (MBHS) field hockey team is looking to reach new heights in 2011. “We’ve got some great senior leadership on our team,” said head coach Kris Auer. “We’re a middle-of-the-pack team as we have been for the last three or four years and we’re just trying to climb up to the upper echelon of quality teams in the county.” After qualifying for CIF play last season, the Bucs lost in the first round. In fact, they have yet to ever get beyond the opening round. While Auer says there is no guarantee MBHS will make it to CIF playoffs, he knows that every senior on the team would love to etch their names in the record books as the first to make a significant run. “I think mostly we want to make it to CIF and get past the first round,” said senior captain Maile Saili. “I’d love to leave a footprint here.” Saili has been in the program all four years and the combination of her physical power, coupled with her ball skills, has made her a solid center midfielder the rest of the squad can rely on. “She’s our center mid and she’s definitely a well-rounded player,” Saili’s teammate and co-captain Varanee Chinnapong said of her. “She makes great passes and she’s a great supporter for our team to keep things positive on the field.” Chinnapong, a forward, has been playing varsity field hockey her entire four years at MBHS and would like nothing more than to make a defining run with her team as her career winds down in the coming months. “We’ve improved a bunch since my freshman year. We communicate better and are getting open for the ball. We play more as a team,” Chinnapong said. “I’m looking forward to maybe going all the way or just getting to playoffs and battling it out.” Though diminutive in size, Chinnapong regularly uses her quickness and juke moves to get past defenders and score goals. Other key players on the Bucs’ roster include seniors Leslie Espinoza and Jackie Moran, who is the team’s goalie. In his eighth season at the helm, Auer is hoping his group of girls can beat the odds and help move the program up in the standings. Auer noted that a full-year commitment from players as opposed to just a three-month stint during the season would go a long way in accomplishing that goal. “We’re constantly struggling to break the reputation that Mission Bay is not one of the elite,” said Auer, adding that what his team really stands for is maximum effort both on and off the field. “First and foremost, they’re great student athletes. I just love these girls. They’re fun to coach and they are positive examples of what a student athlete should be,” he said.