The year in sports

Mike Sciacca

As is the case in any year when you review what happened on the local

sports scene, the emphasis always seems to fall upon winning and losing.

In sports, there is no way around that fact. More importantly, however,

it really is all about how you play the game.

Several teams and several individuals played their respective games

well during 2001. Others might not have won, yet still given it their all

and had fun in the process.

For instance, Julio Gonzalez of Huntington Beach showed his tenacity

and his pride, when he went the distance against Roy Jones Jr. in July’s

world light-heavyweight title fight at the Staples Center. Jones, the

eventual winner, held a commanding lead throughout the evening but

Gonzalez refused to go down for the count.

A victory in defeat.

The Edison High athletic program twice was featured on center stage

within a seven-month period in CIF Southern Section competition. In June,

the Charger baseball team followed the school’s unwritten 10-year rule

with a championship game appearance. Edison also made it to the title

game in 1981 and 1991, but in 2001 the Chargers won the school’s first

baseball title, defeating Riverside Poly, 5-0, in the Division II final

at Dodger Stadium.

A few of those baseball players suited up for football in the fall and

helped lead Edison to a memorable season. The Chargers tied for the

Sunset League championship -- their first since 1990, and reached the

Division I championship final losing to defending champion Long Beach

Poly, 42-28, at Edison International Field.

“It has been a phenomenal year for our sports programs,” said Edison

Athletic Director Bruce Belcher. “It has been really great to achieve

these accolades. We have a great senior class of kids, not only in terms

of athletics, but they also are great kids.”

A story of the human spirit unfolded when 13-year-old Trevor Schulte

rebounded from a near-fatal accident -- he was riding his bike near his

Huntington Beach home when he was struck by a car that left the scene --

to make the Huntington Valley Little League Junior League All-Star team.

Schulte broke 11 bones, had his blood replaced two times in a 24-hour

period and overcame nine operations to play in the 2001 Little League

season. He went on to finish with three hits and a walk in the three

District 62 tournament games.

Some of the defeats went beyond the playing field -- way beyond. This

loss hit hard.

Seventeen-year-old Jordan Connolly, a fun-loving athlete who played

three years of varsity football for Huntington Beach High, died when the

car he was a passenger in was in a head-on collision with a big rig the

morning of April 19.

In his final year of Oiler football, Connolly, one of the team

leaders, had 19 solo tackles, assisted 15 other tackles, had two sacks

and two fumble recoveries.

“The best thing I can say about Jordan is that he was just a real good

kid,” said Huntington Beach teacher and boys’ and girls’ volleyball

coach, Rocky Ciarelli.

Here are some other key sports highlights that unfolded during 2001:

WINTER

* Edison High’s girls’ soccer team reaches CIF Southern Section

Division II semifinal round.

* Scott Schauer of Huntington Beach wins six events in boy’s 11-12

Division competition at the Southern California Junior Olympics held at

Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, setting three new Southern California

records in the process. His sister, Alexis, won five of six events in the

girls’ 10-and-under competition.

* Eric Fober of Huntington Beach wins gold medals at a national

qualifier karate competition.

SPRING

* The Crushers, a girls’ under-10 Division soccer team out of AYSO

Region 143, won the All-Star Tri-Section Tournament championship.

* Marine View Middle School track and field athletes bring home 103

medals from the Mt. SAC Relays and also are awarded the Sophia Clarke

Spirit Award, which is given to the school that encourages fellow

athletes, supports teammates and shows the good character of true

athletes.”

* Huntington Beach’s Maryn Ciarelli claims gold at the Junior Pan

American Championships in the weightlifting.

* Sean Simpson is named the new head football coach at Ocean View

High, replacing Harold Eggars who became the head coach at Norwalk High.

SUMMER/FALL* Huntington Beach’s Bryan Osuna qualifies for the Cadet

National Wrestling Championships in Fargo, N.D.

* Huntington Beach’s Dane Jankowiak wins 17-18 Division road race at

U.S. Junior National Championships.