3 From UCI on Big West Soccer Team
Nicole Bucciarelli, who led the UC Irvine women’s soccer team in scoring with 33 points this season, was among three Anteaters named Wednesday to the All-Big West Conference first team. Bucciarelli, a junior, is joined by freshmen Stephanie Rigamat and Katie Sheppard.
Another freshman, goalkeeper Kristen Roy (Aliso Niguel High) was named to the second team, and seniors Michelle Kaping (Edison) and Tracie Manz (Estancia) were honorable-mention selections.
Irvine set a school record for single-season victories with a final overall mark of 15-7.
Cal State Fullerton junior Kelly Bogan (El Dorado) also was a first-team selection. Titan teammates Shawna Panter, a junior, and Michelle Rice, a senior, were second-team picks. Junior Dolores Browning, who was the conference’s player of the year last season, was an honorable-mention selection.
Sophomores Jill Nelson (Newport Harbor) and Andrea Sievers (Los Alamitos) from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo were second-team picks.
The player of the year was San Luis Obispo’s Gina Oceguera, and co-coaches were Alex Crozier (San Luis Obispo) and Keith Coleman (Pacific).
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Sarah Higham, a four-sport standout at Mission Viejo High, has orally committed to play soccer at Brigham Young this fall, her father, Douglas Higham, said.
Higham was a Times Orange County second-team selection after she had nine goals and a team-high 14 assists last season. She also was a third-team pick by the Orange County Girls’ Soccer Coaches Assn.
Higham, who finished fourth at the state finals in pole vault last spring, also has competed in volleyball and basketball for the Diablos. She will join a brother and three sisters at BYU.
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Calvary Chapel’s Christy Ring has signed a letter of intent to play softball at Oklahoma, Coach Rose Imbriano said.
Ring was the Southern Section Division V player of the year. Calvary Chapel’s MVP, Ring batted .548 last season. Calvary Chapel won its first softball section title last season.
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Edel Leyden, an outfielder from Irvine High, has signed to play softball at Illinois Chicago, Irvine Athletic Director Rick Curtis said.
Leyden was a Times Orange County second-team selection last season, when she batted .463, drove in 24 runs, hit four home runs and scored 23 runs. She was a first-team All-Sea View League and Southern Section Division I pick.
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Stephanie Bisera, an outfielder at Laguna Hills, has signed a letter to play softball next year at San Diego.
Bisera, a four-starter, batted .368 last season and scored 24 runs.
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Jimmy Dunn of Santa Margarita has signed to play golf for Loyola Marymount, his father, Jim Dunn, said. Dunn was a first-team All-Sea View League selection last season.
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The surfing team from Edison defeated Fountain Valley, 89-56, Wednesday in a Sunset Surfing League match at Huntington City Beach. Ben Moore, Todd Hutton, Emily Nehrig (girls), Brad McEvoy, John Kuhlke, Volcho Boney and Jeff Wiles won their heats for the Chargers.
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Jett del Mundo has resigned as girls’ basketball coach at Connelly.
Del Mundo said he resigned because of philosophical differences with the school’s administration.
Connelly, which was 13-8 last year and finished second in the Victory League, had its top eight players returning. Sister Francine Gunther, the school’s principal, said a search is in progress to find a replacement. She had no comment regarding del Mundo’s departure.
Del Mundo cited a lack of support from the administration when parents questioned his distribution of team awards, the players who made all-league teams, and his coaching strategy.
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Former major league baseball player Robin Yount has become a minority partner in San Clemente-based P-1 Racing, which fields a Toyota Atlantic racing team.
“Eventually, I want to be the guy with the headset calling the shots during the race,” Yount said.
The team has two new Swift 008.a Atlantic cars on order. The team expects to name a driver soon.
P-1 won two Toyota Atlantic championships, in 1990 (Mark Dismore) and 1991 (Jovy Marcelo).
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