Leslie Can’t Fit Sea Kings Into Busy Schedule

Caylan Leslie, the fifth-ranked girls’ 18 player in Southern California, didn’t play for Corona del Mar last year because she chose to work on her game with her private coach.

Leslie wanted to be true to her school this fall, but her travelplans got in the way. Leslie is spending the first four, and possibly five, weekends of the tennis season visiting college campuses.

She already has seen Vanderbilt and Texas A & M. This weekend and next, she will visit North Carolina and Notre Dame. Leslie has scheduled a trip to Texas but is thinking of canceling it.

“It’s fun,” Leslie, 17, said of her journeys. “It’s kind of like all my hard work is paying off.”

Every Thursday after school, Leslie boards a plane and leaves her family, friends and former teammates behind.

“It was a really hard decision to not play this year,” said Leslie, who won a Southern Section Division I title as a sophomore with the Sea Kings. “I agonized over it. But I would have missed so many matches on Thursday and Friday. I just figured, ‘What good is that?’ Plus, I’m taking a lot of hard classes this fall. I just thought it would have been too much.”

Leslie sits next to Nadia Vaughan, Corona del Mar’s No. 1 singles player, in an English class, so she has been keeping up with her old team. So far, the sixth-ranked Sea Kings are only 2-4 and three of their losses have been decided by a set.

“I feel bad because I could be helping,” Leslie said. “But I don’t have time.”

TOUGH CHOICE

Had Leslie played for Corona del Mar, Ric Barth could have easily been her coach. In mid-August, Barth was in Corona del Mar Principal Donald Martin’s office, prepared to take the girls’ tennis coach position. But on the way out, Athletic Director Jerry Jelnick informed Barth that Joan Willett had resigned at Woodbridge. Barth, the girls’ junior varsity coach at Woodbridge the last two years, quickly asked Jelnick and Martin for more time.

When Barth got back to Jelnick, he told him he was taking the more familiar job at Woodbridge.

“When two jobs like that are dropped in your lap, it’s like, ‘Wow, how can I lose?’ ” Jelnick said. “Both are high-pressure programs with a tradition of winning. And at both schools, the parents expect a lot.”

Barth’s Warriors lost their season opener to Corona del Mar, but since have won three in a row.

TOUGH COMPETITOR

Sunny Hills senior Joseph Kao had an impressive summer on the junior circuit, which included a finals appearance at the Southern California sectionals. Now, it’s Kao’s younger sister, Joanna, who is making noise in the fall.

Joanna, a sophomore at Sunny Hills, is undefeated in 15 sets, including 7-6 victories over Newport Harbor senior Audra Adams and Corona del Mar’s Vaughan, also a senior.

“Joseph set the standard for her,” Sunny Hills Coach Steve White said. “And she’s got that same makeup. Last year, Joanna had all the talent. This year, she’s learning what it takes to win.”