365-Day dominance

Barry Faulkner

The top 25 Newport-Mesa sports stories of 2003, as selected by the

Daily Pilot sports staff:

1 Sharon Day reaches rare heights -- The 2003 Costa Mesa High

graduate left a sparkling legacy as a prep athlete, then began

building her legend as a two-sport performer at Cal Poly San Luis

Obispo.

As a senior, she captured Golden West League, Orange County and

Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Female Athlete of the Year laurels for

noteworthy performances in track and field, soccer and volleyball.

In track and field, she won the second of her two CIF State high

jump titles and her season-best leap of 6 feet, 2 inches was tops in

the nation among her prep peers, as well as an Orange County and CIF

Southern Section record.

She was CIF Southern Section Division III Offensive Player of the

Year for leading the Mustangs to a division co-championship in

soccer, as well as the program’s first league crown and a 22-1-3

record that included a season-ending 23-game unbeaten streak.

She was also league MVP in volleyball and track and field, leading

the Mustangs to Golden West titles in both sports.

She finished a brilliant four-year varsity soccer career with 83

goals, 71 assists and 57 victories, then picked up where she left off

at Cal Poly, earning Big West Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

Her six goals and six assists, good for 18 points, ranked second

on the Big West Conference champion Mustangs and tied for sixth among

all Big West performers.

Considered by many the best female athlete ever produced by Costa

Mesa High, she is also slated to continue her high jump career when

the indoor season begins in February.

2 UC Irvine men’s volleyball ascends to No. 1 national ranking --

A 10-0 start earned Coach John Speraw’s Anteaters the No. 1 ranking

and helped draw a record crowd of 3,235 to the Bren Events Center for

a Jan. 31 match with No. 2-ranked Hawaii.

The Anteaters’ 20-11 record, the program’s most successful season

ever, included a record nine home wins, a 12-10 mark in the Mountain

Pacific Sports Federation and an unprecedented quarterfinal victory

in the MPSF championships.

The No. 1 ranking lasted two weeks and the Anteaters finished at

No. 5, as Speraw joined three other candidates for national coach of

the year honors.

Junior outside hitter Jimmy Pelzel became the school’s initial

first-team All-American after setting a school single-season record

with 593 kills. He was MPSF Player of the Week three times and

national Player of the Week once.

Libero Greg Ford was third-team All-MPSF and set a school

single-season record with 243 digs, while Nic Vislay set school

single-season standards with a .411 hitting percentage and 133 block

assists.

3 Misty May is half of a beach volleyball dynasty -- The Newport

Harbor High product added to an already brilliant career by teaming

with Kerri Walsh to win all 39 matches (and eight tournament titles)

on the AVP Nissan Series professional beach tour.

The duo’s dominance earned it the Team of the Year honors and the

eight AVP tournament victories produced more than $70,000 for May.

A former two-time NCAA Player of the Year at Long Beach State, May

proved she had fully recovered from reconstructive knee surgery late

in 2001 by blitzing the competition in her first season on the

revitalized AVP circuit.

She and Walsh also won five FIVB tournaments in 2003, including

the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

She turned 26 during the summer season and eagerly awaits

competing with Walsh, a four-time first-team All-American while at

Stanford, in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

May also helped the Irvine Valley College women’s team reach the

state final four this past season as an assistant coach.

4 Craig Fertig energizes Estancia football program -- The former

USC quarterback and assistant coach, who was also a head coach at

Oregon State, was a surprise hire in February to become the Eagles’

third coach in four years.

His homespun motivational techniques produced immediate success as

participants increased and the Eagles, 1-18 the previous two years

under Jay Noonan, won their first two games and three of their first

four last fall. A six-game losing streak ended the season, but

Fertig, who had been out of coaching since leaving Oregon State after

the 1979 season, has committed to returning next year.

5 UC Irvine women’s volleyball breaks new ground -- Coach Charlie

Brande’s Anteaters rebounded from a disappointing NCAA tournament

snub in 2002 by not only making their first tournament appearance

since 1988, but earning the program’s first tournament win.

A five-game triumph over Missouri in the NCAA tournament opener

was UCI’s eighth win in nine matches. But they bowed out with a

second-round loss to host UCLA to finish 24-10.

The 24 wins were a school single-season record and the 12-6 mark

in the Big West, good for a second-place tie, was also unprecedented

in Anteater annals.

Junior outside hitter Kelly Wing, who became the program’s career

kills leader (1,649), earned third-team All-American honors.

6 The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team wins first

state championship -- Losses in its final two regular-season games

made Coach Mike Thornton’s Pirates a longshot to survive the state

tournament, but things came together behind sophomore point guard

Nancy Hatsushi.

“We needed 100 things to go right for us to win the tournament and

almost all 100 of those went right,” Thornton said after a 69-61

title-game triumph over Contra Costa March 16 at the University of

San Diego.

Hatsushi, a Costa Mesa High product bound for Concordia

University, had 20 points, including five three-pointers, in the

title game. The first-team All-Orange Empire Conference performer was

named MVP of the state tournament, which included OCC’s semifinal

upset of top-seeded and three-time defending state champion Ventura.

OCC’s historic season ended with a 30-7 record.

7 The UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s third straight 20-win

season ends in NIT snub -- Coach Pat Douglass continued to guide the

team to the upper echelon of the Big West Conference, but, after a

second-place regular-season finish, the ‘Eaters lost in the

conference tournament semifinals for the third straight year.

Just days later, Douglass expressed disappointment when he learned

his team (20-9) would not be playing in the NIT for the third

straight season.

“I thought we got jobbed,” Douglass said.

UCI senior Jordan Harris completed his career with first-team

all-conference honors.

8 The Vanguard University women’s basketball team reaches the NAIA

Final Four -- Coach Russ Davis’ Lions made their fifth trip to the

NAIA tournament, but their first to the semifinals, before falling to

Southern Nazarene from Oklahoma, 62-49, to finish 28-10.

Senior Robbin Dittenbir and sophomore Jennifer Wilcox were both

All-GSAC selections and Davis was named GSAC Coach of the Year. Davis

also garnered Region I Coach of the Year laurels and was among six

candidates for national coach of the year.

9 Rodger Davis wins the Toshiba Senior Classic -- The Australian

entered the final round with a two-shot lead and wound up winning by

four strokes over runner-up Larry Nelson at the ninth annual PGA

Champions Tour event at Newport Beach Country Club.

Davis, who had never before won on American soil, parlayed a

pre-tournament chipping lesson into a 16-under-par score over 54

holes. His score missed the tournament record, set by 2002 champion

Hale Irwin, by one stroke.

Davis pocketed $232,500 for his effort and, for the fourth

straight year, the tournament donated $1 million in proceeds to

charity.

10 Taylor Dent’s breakthrough season includes three ATP tournament

wins -- The Corona del Mar High product, just 22, earned $544,457 and

the No. 32 final singles ranking with a strong campaign that included

wins in Moscow’s Kemlin Cup, the Thailand Open and the Kroger St.

Jude tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

His final victory in Memphis was a 6-1, 6-4 verdict over Andy

Roddick and Dent’s win in Moscow (a $142,000 payday) pushed him to

$1,099,287 in career winnings.

11 Aaron Peirsol continues to make a big splash -- A 2003 Newport

Harbor High graduate and the world record holder in the 200-meter

backstroke, he earned NCAA Swimmer of the Year laurels after winning

four NCAA titles (three relays and his 200-yard back specialty) at

the NCAA championships in March.

He also claimed five Big 12 conference titles and was named the

conference’s Freshman of the Year, but he wasn’t done yet.

At the World Championships in Barcelona in July, he won gold

medals in the 200-meter back, the 100 back and the 400 medley relay,

to up his international medal count to 13.

12 April Ross has banner senior year at USC -- The former Newport

Harbor High volleyball standout leads USC to its second consecutive

NCAA crown and a 35-0 record.

USC’s winning streak reaches an NCAA-record 47 matches and Ross, a

6-foot-1 senior, is named first-team All-American and Pac-10

Conference Player of the Year.

13 Matt Fuerbringer has breakout beach volleyball season -- The

former Estancia High basketball star and volleyball All-American at

Stanford becomes AVP Rookie of the Year.

The 6-foot-7 standout, paired with Casey Jennings, earned four

second-place finishes on the beach and amassed nearly $36,000 in

winnings.

14 Eddie Johnson reaches the NFL -- The Newport Harbor High and

Orange Coast College product is drafted in the sixth round by the

Minnesota Vikings, then becomes the starting punter.

He averaged 46.3 yards in two seasons at Idaho State, where he

earned All-American honors and was twice All-Big Sky Conference.

15 CIF Southern Section champions -- Corona del Mar High boys

tennis, Costa Mesa girls soccer and CdM girls water polo all claimed

section crowns in their respective divisions.

The CdM boys tennis team caps a 24-0 season with the Division I

crown.

The CdM girls water polo squad collects the Division II title in

2003 with a 26-5 mark.

The Costa Mesa girls share the Division III crown. It is the

program’s first CIF title.

16 World Team Tennis returns to Newport Beach -- Nine years after

the Newport Beach Dukes completed a five-season run, the Newport

Beach Breakers represented Newport Beach in the 10-team WTT.

A three-week regular season ended with a 7-7 record and a

second-place finish in the Western Conference. Lindsay Davenport was

the Breakers’ marquee player, but 16-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova

carried them to a brief stint atop the standings.

17 Scott Beerer drafted 47th overall by Colorado Rockies -- The

former Newport Harbor High and Orange Coast College baseball star was

tabbed in the second round of the major league draft.

Beerer, out of Texas A&M;, was joined in the pro ranks by former

Newport Harbor stalwart Charlie Waite (taken in the 23rd round out of

Mississippi by the Phillies) and former OCC standout Luke Allen (a

32nd-round pick of the Rockies).

18 Vanguard men’s basketball coaching carousel -- Lions Athletic

Director Bob Wilson fired Stephen French Jan. 30, then guided the

team as interim coach the rest of the season.

Wilson then hired Jim Degroot to guide the program in April, only

to have Degroot resign in September, without having ever coached a

game.

Wilson, a veteran college coach, returned to the bench for the

2003-04 campaign.

19 Chris Sorce resigns as Estancia High boys basketball coach amid

controversy -- After a four-week ordeal, Sorce resigned Oct. 15,

citing personal reasons, though many believe the well-respected

coach, who had gone 40-40 in three seasons, was forced to step down

over concerns about the use of program funds.

School and Newport-Mesa Unified School District personnel declined

to address specifics of the personnel matter.

20 Will Tipton, Bob Lovejoy win Jones Cup IV -- The Big Canyon

Country Club’s Director of Golf (Lovejoy) and men’s club champion

(Tipton) defeated the Mesa Verde duo of pro Tom Sargent and amateur

Steve Rhorer by one stroke to win the fourth edition of the annual

showdown between local golf clubs.

Lovejoy and Tipton shot 3-under 68 at Mesa Verde Country Club Aug.

1 to earn Big Canyon its third straight Jones Cup triumph.

21 Two local youth football teams have unbeaten championship

seasons -- The Jr. Midget Seahawks (ages 12-3) became the first

Newport-Mesa Jr. All-American team to go unbeaten, capping an 11-0

season with a 19-16 win over the South County Patriots in the

league’s Super Bowl Nov. 29.

The Jr. Pee Wee Division Black Mustangs, representing Costa Mesa

Pop Warner, became the league’s first team in 33 years to finish

13-0. They capped their season with a 28-7 win over a Hawaiian team

in the Dec. 13 Pineapple Bowl in Las Vegas.

22 Marianne Towersey wins another Tea Cup Classic -- The 19-time

Santa Ana Country Club women’s champion tops the four-player Tea Cup

field for her fifth title in the event’s seven years.

Her 5-over-par 76 at Mesa Verde Country Club July 25 is two

strokes better than runner-up Akemi Khaiat (Mesa Verde CC).

23 Orange Coast College duo dominate respective sports --

Sophomore Michelle Icban repeated as state 5,000 meters and 10,000

champion and was named Orange County Female Athlete of the Year by

county sports information directors.

Meanwhile, OCC freshman Sherry Tsai set three national and six

state records in winning four individual events and contributing to

two relay wins at the state swimming championships, won by OCC.

24 Pilot Cup thrives -- Volunteer tournament director Kirk

McIntosh supervised some 1,800 players on 96 teams, representing 24

public and private Newport-Mesa schools, who competed in the five-day

soccer tournament at the Costa Mesa Farm Complex.

This year’s champions were: Rea (boys grades 5-6), Carden Hall

(girls 5-6), Mariners Christian (boys 3-4) and Andersen (girls 3-4).

25 Prep spring windfall -- Newport-Mesa high schools had

unprecedented spring success.

Team titles were claimed in boys volleyball (Estancia, Newport

Harbor and Corona del Mar), girls swimming (Corona del Mar and Costa

Mesa), boys track and field (CdM and Estancia), girls track and field

(Mesa and CdM), baseball (CdM), boys swimming (Costa Mesa) and boys

golf (CdM), to go with numerous individual league champions in

swimming, tennis, golf and track and field.