Shadowlands

Looking back, 5 years ago this week.

Six former Newport Harbor High Sailors are competing for four-year

colleges in 1996. Former Newport-Mesa District Defensive Player of the

Year Steve Gonzales opens his major-college career at the University of

Hawaii. Punters Doug Stuckey (Oregon State) and Gregg Kaiser (UTEP) are

also displaying their talents for Division I-A programs. Linebackers Matt

Burns (Wagner College) and Dan McDonough (St. Mary’s College), as well as

quarterback Ryan Smith (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) round out the contingent

of Tars playing at four year schools.

The 19996 Paralympics in Atlanta is a bittersweet time for longtime

Newport Beach resident Dr. John Ross-Duggan. He comes away with a bronze

medal at the Games, which brings together the world’s best handicapped

athletes. Ross-Duggan, a 41-year-old neuroradiologist, is paralyzed from

about the bottom of his rib cage down since a 1978 auto accident. His

condition, known as C-7 quadriplegia does not stop him from becoming the

most skilled sailor with the highest degree of disability in the world.

Besides taking the bronze, Ross-Duggan also claims the National

Championships in Chicago on Aug. 2 -- his 41st birthday. Those are the

high points of a month that also claims the life of his mother, Gay

Thomas Henderson. She dies from a rare blood disease while Ross-Duggan

was competing in Atlanta.

The Xtreme, an under-17 soccer team made up of mostly local girls from

AYSO Region 97, win the Arsenal Tournament championship in London,

England. They advance to the championship match in one of the hotbeds of

world futbol and defeat the hometown heroes, Chelsea, for the prestigious

Arsenal Cup. After battling to a 1-1 tie, the Xtreme claim the trophy by

winning an exciting shootout, 4-3. Derek Lawther, former coach of Corona

del Mar High boys soccer, coaches the Xtreme. Team members include Sasha

Ritter, Bonnie Watson, Ginny Warmington, Sabrina Tweedy, Piper Phillips

and Jenny Humphrey.

Looking back, 10 years ago this week.

Danny O’Neil, a Corona del Mar High product, wins the much publicized

starting quarterback job at the University of Oregon. “It’s nice not to

have to worry about the competition any more,” says O’Neil, who is

awarded the job the same day his chief rival Brett Salisbury suffers a

hernia in practice. “I was No. 1 after spring and never lost the No. 1

spot this fall. It was limited to two quarterbacks and I was still No. 1

when Salisbury got hurt.” O’Neil, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound redshirt freshman

starts for the Ducks when Washington State visits Eugene in the

season-opener for both schools.

Jeff Gardner, an Estancia High product, is called up to the major

leagues by the parent club, the New York Mets. Gardner, who is batting

.291 for Tidewater in triple A circles, closes out the season with

Tidewater during the week, then reports to the Mets before they host the

Atlanta Braves. It is the first call to the majors for the 27-year-old

Gardner after a seven-year run in the minors.

Despite a valiant performance in a semifinal, the United States is not

able to compete for any medals in the Junior World Water Polo

Championships. The U.S., featuring Corona del Mar product Chris Oeding,

uses a strong defensive effort in the second half against Bulgaria to

cruise to a 14-8 victory, temporarily keeping their hopes of winning a

medal alive. To qualify for the medal round, the Americans must win their

game by more than five goals and for a Hungary victory over Spain. They

win by six, but all joy turns into horror as the U.S. stands by and

watches Spain defeat the previously undefeated and heavily favored

Hungarians. Oeding notches three goals in a 13-4 win over Japan, earlier

in the week.

-- compiled by Steve Virgen