Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame: Maureen McLaren, Newport Harbor

Barry Faulkner

A look back at the athletic career of 1992 Newport Harbor High

graduate Maureen McLaren is best done through kaleidoscope eyes.

But the eclectic tastes of this former three-sport prep standout, who

went on to win six NCAA team championships in two sports at Stanford, are

hardly limited to sports.

It would surprise many that the 26-year-old San Francisco resident now

teaches high school history, a subject she abhored her early years at

Harbor.

Those familiar with this tall and talented former Tar, however, would be

less aghast to learn McLaren speaks longingly of becoming a firefighter,

or, perhaps, chasing some Stanford chums into the rush for Internet

riches being mined in her virtual back yard.

“Education facinates me, but I’m still kind of figuring things out,” said

the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Famer. “I’m still young and there’s tons

of stuff going on. I like to keep my options open.”

Routine has never been a concept associated with the 6-foot McLaren, who

doesn’t so much rebel against the status quo, as embrace the serendipity

of life.

She said she hated basketball in junior high, but went on to become a

three-time all-league center and Orange County All-Star Game MVP in the

sport.

She resisted the regimen of club volleyball, even quitting one season,

only to relent when the doors to Stanford would open only if she

showcased her skills her senior club campaign.

She held no such ambivalence toward swimming, where her talent was,

perhaps, most transcendant. The sport, which she said saved her

collegiate athletic career, remains the “soulful” staple of her fitness

routine, and will be for life.

It was volleyball, however, for which she is most associated. A middle

blocker, she earned All-Sea View honors four times and was the league’s

Co-MVP as a senior. She was All-CIF Southern Section in Division 5-A as a

junior and a senior and was the MVP of the Orange County All-Star match.

After the aforementioned return to the Orange County Volleyball Club,

which she helped win national age-group titles in eighth and 12th grade,

she ventured to Palo Alto on a volleyball scholarship.

“Stanford was always my No. 1 choice,” she said. “I always sounded really

cool and my parents went there.”

The former Sea View League Female Athlete of the Year immediately took to

Stanford’s atmosphere of achievement, making lifetime friendships.

“The people are what stays with me most from my time at Stanford. They’re

all still my best friends. They’re the reason why I still live in the

area.”

Athletics were somewhat less fulfilling, at least individually.

She played a reserve role on the 1992 NCAA champion volleyball champions,

beginning what she termed a “difficult saga.”

She started at middle blocker and outside hitter as a sophomore, but wear

and tear from nearly a decade of year-round competition took a toll on

her knees and forced her to the sideline.

“My knees completely went bad,” she said. “I was taking gnarly pain pills

so I could practice and I couldn’t even feel my knees. That got a little

scary, and I decided that wasn’t something I should be doing if I wanted

to walk up stairs when I was 40.”

The Cardinal won another NCAA crown her junior season, but she never

again cracked the lineup.

She swam an All-American time (56.21) to finish second in the 100-yard

backstroke at the CIF 3-A finals her senior year at Newport, and was

encouraged to continue at Stanford.

She did not qualify for the NCAA championships her freshman year, but did

so the next three, helping the Cardinal win four straight national

titles.

She as 11th in the 100-meter backstroke and 12th in the 200 back as a

sophomore, then made the consolation final in the 100 back at the NCAA

championships as a junior.

As a senior, she finished second in the 100 and seventh in the 200

backstroke at the NCAA meet.

“Without swimming, my career as a college athlete would have been a much

sadder story,” McLaren said.

She obtained her degree in American studies and is in her second year of

teaching at Woodside High, just outside San Francisco.

She said much of her inspiration to teach came from Harbor volleyball

coach and history teacher Dan Glenn. She also credits former Tars

basketball coach Shannon Jokosky as a valued mentor.

“She’s one of the best athletes we’ve ever had,” Glenn said of his former

star.