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Joseph Boo

It seems sudden, but the 1999 fall season has ended for frosh-soph

and junior varsity sports. Here are some names to remember from this

year.

Football: Remember how Ohio State’s Orlando Pace dominated on the

offensive line enough to become a Heisman Trophy finalist in 1997? Well,

Costa Mesa High’s Andrew Carich had that type of season for a 7-3

Mustangs football team, producing pancakes like IHOP.

The beneficiaries of Carich’s blocking were Jason Hurley and Kaeola

Aswega. Aswega led the team in yards, but Hurley’s powerful running and

blocking might lead to playing time on next year’s varsity squad.

As good as Costa Mesa was, Corona del Mar beat the Mustangs in the last

game of the season to win the Pacific Coast League championship. The Sea

Kings have a good running back, too, in Keith Long, whose speed and

receiving skills were problematic for the Mustangs in a 28-6 CdM win.

And quarterback Jonathan Hubbard looked like a veteran in the Costa Mesa

game.

The biggest testament to CdM’s talent, though, was a 20-6 drubbing of a

very good Newport Harbor.

The Sailors’ leader is in quarterback Michael McDonald. Like his father,

former USC signal caller Paul McDonald, Michael has shown poise in the

pocket.

For Estancia, brothers Brian and Alan Rayner were the most consistent

freshmen linemen.

Girls Volleyball: Yeah, the loss of April Ross and Krista Dill to

graduation will hurt next year, but Newport Harbor’s girls volleyball

program will still be loaded. The most towering talent, literally, is 6-2

freshman middle blocker Kristen McClune, who has been imposing on the JV

level. She and freshman outside hitter Claire Allen have been added to

the varsity team for the playoffs.

Boys Water Polo: CdM’s boys water polo team had a season to remember. The

Sea Kings won the prestigious Charger Cup this year, as well as the Grey

Lunde Tournament to finish the season 24-1.

Talent abounds, but the most promising is two-meter man Artie Dorr. Dorr

has simply been a force on the inside. He has been so impressive he spent

half the season with the varsity team, scoring goals in the S&G; Water

Polo Cup.

Newport Harbor’s JV team has two sophomores, Brian Pentz and Caine

Littrell, who should make a mark on the varsity team next year. Littrell

had a Wilt Chamberlain-like season, scoring 64 goals for a team that lost

two game all year.

Cross Country: Freshmen have made an unusually large impact on the

varsity programs. Estancia’s No. 1 varsity runner, Humberto Rojas, has

been the most impressive freshman this year, finishing 33rd at the state

finals.

Newport Harbor freshman Ashley Steen has improved enough to become a

scoring runner for the Sailors’ girls varsity program.

But the most promising freshman has been Jennifer Long, a member of CdM’s

freshmen girls team. Easily assuming the freshmen team’s No. 1 spot, she

finished 16th at the state meet and 10th at the Pacific Coast League

championship as a varsity runner. If not for a ridiculously deep CdM

varsity lineup, Long would have been one of the top varsity runners in

the area.

Tennis: This year’s best Newport-Mesa undergraduates not named Anne

Yelsey are Newport Harbor freshmen Kristen McIntosh and Jennifer Citro.

Both were cornerstones for a JV team that went undefeated in the Sea View

League. Look for both to be a big part of Newport Harbor’s varsity team,

which will lose eight seniors to graduation.

For CdM, look for Jennifer Wong to move up to varsity and make an impact

next year. She has played doubles matches at the varsity level. Another

JV player, Sarah Bryan, filled in at singles for the first two rounds of

the CIF Southern Section playoffs and has spent the most time on varsity

among JV players.

And Costa Mesa, which deals with a lot of inexperienced kids, is

improving rapidly enough to impress CdM JV Coach Pat Wilson. Shirley Peng

has been the leader of the Mustangs’ group, but half the JV doubles

lineup spent some time with the varsity. Mesa should continue its

improvement next year.