Girls water polo: CdM’s Hewko, Chaney top All-CIF honorees
Barry Faulkner
Corona del Mar High junior Christina Hewko, who led the Sea Kings
to the CIF Southern Section Division IV girls water polo championship, is
the Division IV Player of the Year.
Hewko, the Pacific Coast League MVP this year and a first-team All-CIF
performer each of her previous two seasons, highlights a dozen Back Bay
players chosen All-CIF by section coaches.
Six CdM standouts have been recognized, as has CdM’s Aaron Chaney, who
is Division IV Coach of the Year.
Senior Katherine Belden rounds out a four-time All-CIF career to top
five Newport Harbor standouts honored in Division I.
Joining Hewko on the Division IV first team are fellow juniors
Danielle Carlson, Brittney Bowlus and Daniela DiGiacomo.
Belden, as well as Harbor junior Jenna Murphy are first-team choices
in Division I.
Representing Newport Harbor on the Division I second team are senior
goalie Leah Grocki and junior Annie Wight, while Harbor junior Paige
Lansing is a third-team choice.
Senior Jessica Fries is a second-team Division IV selection from
Corona del Mar, which placed senior Alexa Miller and senior goalie
Jessica Wells on the third team.
Hewko, a tenacious two-meter performer who often seems impervious to
the physical pounding opponents dish out in the hole, scored seven goals
in a 14-6 semifinal win over Tustin. She led her team with 85 goals and
was second among her teammates in assists (34) and steals (60).
Chaney, in his first season taking over for John Vargas, who left CdM
in January to become the men’s coach at Stanford, made sure the team did
not miss a beat. A longtime prep coach in Hawaii, Chaney’s emphasis on
having fun and competing over winning, helped keep the heavily favored
Sea Kings relaxed and focused during their playoff run. CdM finished
24-7, including its first victory over Back Bay Rival Newport Harbor.
Belden, bound for UCLA, led the Tars to the Division I semifinals,
where they were eliminated by eventual champion Foothill to finish 23-7.
She scored a team-leading 69 goals, and also led the team with 71 steals,
while adding 32 assists. Her brilliant prep career included Sea View
League Player of the Year honors her junior and senior seasons. She was
also first-team All-CIF both of those years, after earning second-team
honors as a sophomore and third-team recognition as a freshman. Her
freshman season included a section crown for the Sailors and she
contributed to three Sea View titles, as well.
Belden adds to an All-CIF family legacy, after older brother Peter,
now at UCLA, was Player of the Year in both CIF Division I and the Sea
View League as a senior the fall of 2000, when the Tars won their first
boys section crown since 1984.
Like Hewko, Carlson, the Sea Kings’ quarterback in the pool, is a
three-time first-team All-CIF performer. She has been perfectly willing
to sublimate her scoring chances to help set up teammates, but can also
find the net with an accurate outside shot. She has also been first-team
All-PCL her three varsity seasons, all of which have resulted in at least
a share of the league crown. She led CdM with 66 steals and 43 assists
and her 62 goals were second only to Hewko.
DiGiacomo, who guards two meters and also contributes offensively, was
a second-team All-CIF choice last season. She collected 42 goals, 19
assists and 41 steals this season.
It is the first All-CIF recognition for Bowlus, who shares time with
Hewko at two meters and adds an imposing defensive presence. She scored
54 goals, while adding 26 steals and 13 assists.
Her older brother Garrett was CIF Division II Co-Player of the Year
after leading the CdM boys team to a section crown the fall of 2000.
Murphy helped Coach Bill Barnett’s squad earn the No. 3 seed in
Division I and along with Wight and Lansing, will be the nucleus for what
should be another extended postseason run next season.
Murphy posted 42 goals, a team-leading 44 assists and 53 steals.
Wight had 40 goals, 14 assists and 46 steals, while Lansing
contributed 27 goals, 30 assists and 23 steals.
Fries and Miller were senior role players, who stepped up in the
postseason to insure the program its first CIF crown. Fries had 17
steals, eight goals and four assists, while Miller chipped in 25 steals,
14 assists and six goals.
Grocki and Wells were the last line of defense for their respective
teams. Wells made seven of her 151 saves in the 11-6 title-game triumph
over El Dorado. Grocki amassed 179 saves, along with 15 assists and 14
steals.
Foothill junior goalie Emily Feher and Santa Margarita senior Kristina
Kunkel share Player of the Year laurels in Division I.
Foothill Co-Coaches Dan Klatt and Dave Mikesell share Division I Coach
of the Year honors.
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