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.