Shadowlands

Looking back, 5 years ago this week:

The United States men’s water polo team wins the gold medal at the

FINA World Cup, 8-5, over host Greece. The medal is the Americans’ first

since 1991, captured in the same event. In the final, the U.S. jumps out

to a 5-0 lead. Corona del Mar High product Chris Oeding scores two goals

to make the margin 6-1.

Estancia High product Dina Birch wins her first Adoption Guild Tennis

Tournament in the mixed open division with partner Desi McBride from the

Calabasas Tennis Center, defeating Nicole Elliot and David Roditi in

straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Birch trained as a junior at the Mesa

Verde Tennis Club and the Balboa Bay Club Racquet Club. In the same

tournament at the Newport Beach Tennis Center, 37-year-old Tim Downey

wins his third consecutive doubles title, teaming with former USC

standout and three-time All-American Sashi Menon, 46, to win in front of

an estimated 2,800 fans. The win marks Downey’s sixth championship in the

tournament.

Estancia High graduate Leah Braatz-Cochrane finishes her third season

with the University of Arizona softball team on a positive note, as the

Wildcats defeat the UCLA Bruins, 10-2, in the title game of the College

World Series. She notches first-team All-American honors for the third

time, finishing her junior year hitting .367 with 78 RBIs and 21 home

runs to lead the nation.

Two area golfers glide into the high school state championships at the

SCGA Members Club. In 110-degree heat, Corona del Mar High’s Chad

Towersey shoots par 72 to tie for fourth in the 122-golfer field, while

Newport Harbor’s Justin Shapiro tallies a 74 to tie for sixth, landing a

trip to the state championship.

Four Newport-Mesa athletes from three different high schools earn

trips to the state track and field meet in Sacramento after competing in

the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Long Beach City College. Costa

Mesa senior Eric Solis breaks his own school record in the boys 800

meters, finishing in 1:54.88. He set his previous-best time in the event

(1:55.90) a week earlier at the CIF Division III finals. Costa Mesa Coach

John Carney says he can’t remember a Mustang athlete qualifying for the

state meet. Corona del Mar’s Liz Morse qualifies with a time of 2:12.53

in the girls 800, breaking her previous-best time (2:14.25) accomplished

at last week’s CIF finals. Morse becomes the first state-meet qualifier

from CdM since Kelly Campbell in 1993. Newport Harbor freshman high

jumper April Ross and sophomore distance runner Alicia McFall qualify for

the state championships. Ross clears 5-2 on her first attempt, then

clears 5-4 on her second try to secure a berth in the state meet. McFall

qualifies for the meet after Nordhoff’s Elaine Canchola drops the girls

3,200. McFall (11:03.07) is sixth in the 3,200 but jumps up to join the

top five with her personal-best time.

Looking back, 10 years ago this week:

Due to budget constraints at the state and UC level, UC Irvine

athletic director Tom Ford announces the school is dropping baseball,

men’s cross country and men’s track and field. UCI suffers from a

$319,000 budget deficit. Ford decides against dropping UCI athletics to

Division II or Division III, citing “tremendous growth potential” at the

Division I level. Ford also announces that UCI will add a women’s crew

team for $8,000 as a non-NCAA sport. UCI baseball has been in existence

for 23 years, compiling a 643-565 record. The program became Division I

July 1, 1977, with its top Big West Conference finish being second in

1987. Cross country began in fall 1971, track and field in spring 1972.

UCI won NCAA Division II cross country titles in 1975 and 1976.

The Estancia High badminton team, guided by Lillian Brabander, in her

final match as coach, wins a CIF 4-A championship with a 12-7 victory

over Nogales at Cypress College. The Eagles complete their second

consecutive 20-0 season. The Eagles’ doubles team of Concha Gil and

Esther Viramontes sweeps, as does Doan Nguyen in singles. Estancia gets

off to a quick 3-0 lead, the clinching point coming when Estancia’s No. 2

boys doubles team of Dung Nguyen and Allan Tran down Nogales’ Porn and

Ram Chaturabul, 15-6, 15-6. The win marks the badminton team’s fourth CIF

4-A title. The Eagles won the title the previous year, 1985 and 1983.

Brabander, 60, retires after 29 years as Estancia’s girls athletic

director and 25 years as badminton coach. Her teams win 14 league

tournaments.

Newport Harbor’s Tony Mancuso finishes second in the shot put (58-10)

and fifth in the discus (163-5), a personal best, at the Masters Meet at

Cerritos College to qualify for the CIF State Championships at Cerritos

College. Mancuso is one of three Newport Harbor athletes in five events

to move onto the state championships. He hopes to reach 60 feet at the

state competition. Newport sophomore Gina Heads tosses the discus 142-7,

a personal best by about six inches, to win the discus, then throws 41-3

1/2 to qualify fifth in the shot put. Moments later, Newport freshman

Tina Bowman wins the Masters high jump title, clearing 5-6 on her first

try, the only Masters participant to do so.

The doubles team of Costa Mesa resident Ian Aler and Keith Evans wins

its second straight tournament in a week. The duo defeats Laguna Beach’s

Jon Leach and Chris Dunk, 6-3, 6-2, in the men’s open final of the 31st

Adoption Guild charity doubles tournament at Ron Pfahler’s Newport Beach

Tennis Club. They each win $2,000. Aler and Evans break Leach’s serve

twice and Dunk’s once en route to victory. They break Dunk in game seven

to go up, 5-2, and Aler follows with a dominating serve to clinch the

win. Aler, 26, played tennis at Corona del Mar High and lives in Costa

Mesa when he’s not traveling. Evans, 23, is from Cordova, Tenn. The duo

began playing together one year before at the GTE Grand Prix in

Indianapolis, and played for 40 consecutive days leading up to the

Adoption Guild semifinals.

-- compiled by Bryce Alderton