Laguna Hills’ Haneef Selected State’s Top Female Athlete

Tayyiba Haneef, who helped lead the Laguna Hills girls’ basketball team to the state Division II championship and won the high jump title at the state track and field finals earlier this month, was named Cal-Hi Sports’ girl athlete of the year.

Haneef, a 6-foot-6 senior, averaged 13.9 points and 10.4 rebounds for the basketball team, which was ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. She cleared 5 feet 10 1/2 inches--the state’s top high jump mark of the season--but won at the finals with a jump of 5-9. She received first-team Times’ all-county honors in both sports.

But it’s girls’ volleyball, a sport in which she has no section titles, no all-county honors and few accolades, that she loves most and will pursue, having signed to play at Long Beach State.

Haneef said one of her goals is to compete in the Olympics in volleyball and track and field.

“I’ve thought a lot about it,” Haneef said earlier this year. “In the high jump, I’m so close. The qualifying mark for the trials is 6-1. But it will take a lot of hard work in volleyball. Maybe, the high jump in 2000 and volleyball in 2004, or later.”

Cal-Hi’s boys’ athlete of the year is Ken-Yon Rambo, a senior who helped Long Beach Poly win the state track and field title with a first-place finish in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Rambo, 6-1, 180, was also a standout wide receiver on the Jackrabbits’ football team and signed with Ohio State.

Olympian Amanda Beard of Irvine High is Cal-Hi’s girl sophomore of the year. Beard continued to dominate high school swimming at the Southern Section Division I finals, where she not only finished first in her specialty, the 100 breaststroke, but also in the 100 freestyle.

For the third time in six years, Cal-Hi named Mater Dei its state Division I school of the year based on the Monarchs’ performance in the state rankings. Cal-Hi ranked Mater Dei’s football team No. 2 in the state behind Concord De La Salle, though the Monarchs were USA Today’s top pick.

Mater Dei was the state’s only school considered by Cal-Hi for the top honor to rank among the state’s top 10 in five sports: football, boys’ basketball, boys’ soccer, baseball and softball.

Santa Margarita, which ran away with The Times Orange County’s All-Sports award for the second year in a row, was Cal-Hi’s selection for Division II school of the year. The Eagles won five section titles, more than any other school.

Calvary Chapel, which won another state title in wrestling and fielded strong programs in softball, girls’ volleyball and boys’ basketball, was named Cal-Hi’s Division IV school of the year for the fourth consecutive time.

Amanda Freed, who was 20-0 in leading Pacifica to the section Division III title, is Cal-Hi’s state softball player of the year.

Freed, a junior who was also The Times Orange County’s player of the year, pitched nine no-hitters, including one in the finals of the playoffs.

Freed struck out 263 in 154 innings for the Mariners, who finished 31-1-1 and top-ranked in the state.

Coach Alan Dugard, who led Woodbridge to its third section title in the 1990s, was named Cal-Hi’s coach of the year--an honor he received when the Warriors won section titles in 1992 and ’95.

The state’s baseball player of the year was Granada Hills Kennedy’s Jon Garland, a right-handed pitcher who finished the season 9-3 with a 1.21 earned-run average and 111 strikeouts in 80 innings.

Garland was the 10th player selected in major league baseball’s recent amateur draft. He signed last week with the Chicago Cubs and received a $1.25-million signing bonus.

Gerald Laird, The Times Orange County player of the year, was Cal-Hi’s top junior selection. Laird, who batted .505, set a county single-season record for hits (56) and finished with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in.

Dave Brunell, who led Santa Maria St. Joseph to a 29-0 record and a victory over Brethren Christian in the section Division V finals, was named baseball coach of the year.

Here are the county players selected to Cal-Hi’s all-state softball and baseball teams for 1997:

BASEBALL

First team: Gerald Laird (La Quinta), Jr., catcher; Nathan Choate (Esperanza), Sr., pitcher; Mike Kolbach (Mater Dei), Sr., pitcher; Tommy Nicholson (Esperanza), Sr., infielder; Garrett Atkins (University), Sr., outfielder.

Medium schools: Gerald Laird (La Quinta), Jr., catcher; Greg Young (Magnolia), Sr., pitcher; Shaun Larkin (La Quinta), Sr., infielder.

Small schools: Jonathon Rouwenhorst (Brethren Christian), Sr., pitcher; Aaron Ireland (Brethren Christian), Sr., utility.

Underclass team: Ryan Garko (Servite), Soph., catcher; Brian Wolfe (Servite), Soph., pitcher; Nick, Harvey (Laguna Hills), Jr., infielder; Clemente Bonilla (El Toro), Jr., infielder; Skip Schumaker (Aliso Niguel), Jr., utility.

SOFTBALL

First team: Amanda Freed (Pacifica), Jr., pitcher; Christy Robitaille (Woodbridge), Jr., pitcher; Jaime Clark (Foothill), Soph., infielder; Lizzie Lemire (Woodbridge), Sr., infielder; Lauren Bauer (Foothill), Sr., outfielder; Kelly Hauxhurst (Westminster), Sr., outfielder; Toni Mascarenas (Pacifica), Sr., utility.

Medium schools: Jenny Topping (La Habra), Jr., catcher; Traci Hensel (Kennedy), Sr., pitcher; Adrienne Ratajczack (Western), Sr., infielder; Tracy Riddle (Sonora), Sr., utility; Laura Fulton (Rosary), Sr., utility.

Small schools: Lori Przygocki (Calvary Chapel), Sr., pitcher; Christy Ring (Calvary Chapel), Soph, infielder.

Underclass team: Jenny Topping (La Habra), Jr. catcher; Christy Robitaille (Woodbridge), Jr., pitcher; Suzanne Guy (El Toro), Jr., pitcher; Amanda Freed (Pacifica), Jr., pitcher; Tia Bollinger (Mater Dei), Fr., pitcher; Kelsey Kollen (Mater Dei), Jr., infielder; Edell Layden (Irvine), Jr., outfielder; Marissa Young (Mater Dei), So., utility.