Cummins, Zeringue earn all-CIF honors

Two of Fallbrook High School’s field hockey players earned Division I all-CIF recognition.

Brianna Cummins was selected to the all-CIF first team while Alex Zeringue earned a spot on the all-CIF second team. Both players earned first-team all-league honors.

“I was really surprised to get one on first team and one on second,” said Fallbrook coach Kathy Waite. “Most of those accolades go to those who make it into the semis and finals, so I was real pleased with that.”

Fallbrook lost in the CIF Division I quarterfinals. The Warriors were hampered by the mid-season loss of Claire Mulder, who tore her meniscus and was out for the season. In order to fill Mulder’s spot on the defense, Cummins was moved from a center-midfielder to a defender.

“She and Alex do great offensively together,” Waite said of Cummins, “but defense was just too important, so she had to switch.”

The switch to defense didn’t provide statistical evidence of Cummins’ dominance on the field, but it was noticed both by Waite and by opposing coaches. “Both of them had a very quality season this year,” Waite said of Cummins and Zeringue.

Both Cummins and Zeringue are juniors. “I feel really privileged that I was able to accomplish these goals,” Cummins said of her all-CIF selection and a first-team all-North County berth.

The all-league and all-CIF honors were the first of Cummins’ career. “This will help me out a lot in college, so it’s really good,” she said.

Cummins was a center-midfielder as a freshman on the junior varsity team and started on the varsity as a center-midfielder in her sophomore season. She noted that the switch to defense was an adjustment. “My teammates helped me out a lot,” she said.

Cummins was born in Long Beach and lived in Palm Springs before moving to Fallbrook when she was in second grade. She had never played field hockey prior to trying out for the Fallbrook squad as a freshman. She took up the sport on the advice of former player Erin Adams. “She was telling me how fun it was,” Cummins said.

Zeringue also never picked up a stick until trying out for the team in ninth grade, but her mother worked at the high school and Zeringue had attended field hockey games as a young child. “I always used to see the girls play out there at the high school,” she said. “Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always wanted to play field hockey.”

Zeringue moved to Fallbrook from Los Angeles at the age of three. She also played on the junior varsity squad as a freshman and joined the varsity team as a sophomore.

Zeringue, who has been a forward since her freshman year, led the team in scoring in 2004 with 11 goals and 9 assists. She also accomplished her goal of earning her first all-CIF and all-league berths. “I was really excited when I found out ‘cause that was what I worked for all season long,” she said. “This year that kind of was my goal, to make a league team and to make CIF.”

Although Zeringue didn’t have the adjustment of a new position, she has the off-field distraction of an uncle in Iraq. Her uncle, Marine Corps Captain Michael Studenka, went to Iraq in August. Zeringue turned the deployment into an inspiration. “Every time I played, I played for my uncle,” Zeringue said.

Zeringue’s goal for her senior year is to earn first-team all-CIF honors.

Waite noted that both Cummins and Zeringue will be in the Futures program between their junior and senior high school seasons. “They’re only going to get better,” Waite said.