Prep Column: Comings and goings on

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Unlike Texas, where the running joke declares the

two major sports are football and spring football, the Newport-Mesa

District is rife with outstanding sporting fare this spring.

The Back Bay boys volleyball showdown, Round 3, looms Friday at

approximately 5:45 p.m. at Newport Harbor, and league finals in the

Pacific Coast and Sea View will keep track and field athletes and

swimmers, not to mention their fans, busy this week.

But the Newport Harbor High football program made news once again last

week, with the transfer of another former starting lineman from Santa

Margarita.

Ian Banigan, who will be a senior next fall, started at center and made

second-team All-Serra League for Santa Margarita last fall. He was listed

at 6-foot-2, 215 on the Eagles’ 1999 roster, but Newport Coach Jeff

Brinkley estimates his size at 6-2, 225.

“I think defensive end may be more his natural position, and he can play

fullback or tight end, because he runs pretty well,” Brinkley said.

Banigan, whose first day of classes at Harbor was April 24, joins former

Santa Margarita starting offensive tackle Scott Lopez (6-2, 270) in the

Newport fold with spring practice set to begin later this month.

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In other Harbor football news, Brinkley finalized the schedule filling

open dates with Claremont (Week 5) and Cathedral City (Week 9).

Both games will be on the road and Brinkley said some boosters have

already begun making plans for a golf weekend after the Friday night

Cathedral City encounter.

“It shouldn’t be too hot there in early November,” Brinkley said.

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Speaking of doings in the desert, Newport junior track and field standout

John Peschelt narrowly averted disaster during a recent trip to Palm

Springs for spring break.

While on a training ride on his mountain bike, the reigning Sea View

League high jump champion, who is also favored to win the 800 at Thursday

night’s finals, was cut off when a car turned right abruptly in front of

him.

Peschelt collided with the back of the vehicle and flew off his bike.

Though being thrown in such a fashion frequently results in a broken

collarbone, Peschelt escaped with a strained lower back and a nasty

abrasion on one shoulder. Neither injury affected his ability to compete.

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Estancia boys basketball coach Rich Boyce said Friday he will know by May

12 if he will take a similar position at Edison High. Boyce said he was

still pondering the move, which some believe is only awaiting word from

Edison about creating a teaching opening for Boyce.

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While one valued coaching presence may be on the way out at Estancia,

another deserves praise for his work with the Eagles this spring.

Doug Deats, who rescued the Costa Mesa High baseball program from a

woeful state just a few years ago, is earning the respect of Pacific

Coast League rivals for the competitiveness his Eagles have shown this

season.

Though a 6-5 nonleague loss to Brawley Monday dropped the Eagles to 8-12,

half of their PCL losses were by a single run.

The eight wins equal the combined total produced by the last two Estancia

teams.

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While the Corona del Mar High boys volleyball team’s victory at the Santa

Barbara Tournament of Champions boosted the Sea Kings into a tie for the

No. 1 ranking in CIF Southern Section Division I (with Marina and

Irvine), Newport Harbor, which fell to CdM in three games Saturday at

Santa Barbara High, catapulted itself from unranked to No. 4 in the

Division I poll.

To have not ranked Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors would have defied logic,

since they’ve beaten top-10 teams Irvine, Mira Costa (No. 5), San

Clemente (No. 7), Santa Margarita (No. 8) and Royal (No. 10).

Should the Sailors upset CdM Friday, it would be the third time they

would have knocked off the No. 1 team in Division I. They previously

posted wins over then-No. 1-ranked Irvine and Mira Costa.

The Sea Kings, however, appear more than capable of defending their newly

earned top ranking. Coach Steve Conti’s squad also seems bent on avenging

its Division I title match loss -- to the Sailors -- last spring.