Titles and tribulations

Mike Sciacca

The past 12 months in sports -- by land and by sea -- brought plenty

of prestige and recognition to Surf City.

Local teams, both at the youth and prep levels -- as well as

professional athletes from here and around the world -- displayed

their talents in various avenues of sports action.

Here is a look at the more prominent local sports results to take

place this past year, beginning with January 2003:

WINTER

Ocean View High won its fifth consecutive Golden West League

championship in boys’ basketball. The Seahawks reached the Division

III-A semifinals, where they fell to Harvard-Westlake, 73-51.

Huntington Beach High record-setting running back, senior Patrick

Harrigan, was named to two All-CIF Southern Section football teams.

The area north of the Huntington Beach Pier was used to launch the

2003 Paintball Super 7 World Series. It was the first time the

extreme sports festival had landed in Surf City.

“I think it’s great,” said 19-year-old Brian Cole, a graduate of

Corona del Mar High and participant in the paintball event. “I’ve

competed all over the world, but it’s great to have something like

this close to home.”

SPRING

Three members of the Marina High boys’ soccer team -- Anthony

Ordonez, J.T. Searles and Josh Valerio -- as well as head coach, Jeff

Schofield, were selected to play in the 2003 Senior All-Star Soccer

Game.

Marina had advanced to play in its first boys’ CIF soccer final,

where it lost to unbeaten Long Beach Wilson, 3-2.

Edison won the Sunset League baseball title for the first time

since 1984.

Ocean View, meanwhile, claimed the school’s first Golden West

League title in baseball since 1991.

Huntington Beach won the Sunset League crown and Ocean View won

the Golden West League crown in boys’ volleyball. Both teams advanced

to the semifinal round of the CIF playoffs in their respective

divisions.

Huntington Beach senior outside hitter Kenny Markwardt, along with

Marina senior outside hitter Steve Klosterman, were named to the

All-CIF Division I First Team. Named to the Division III First Team

was Ocean View senior outside hitter Justin Roth.

Huntington Beach’s boys’ golf team won a CIF regional championship

and earned a fifth-place tie at the boys’ golf team finals at the PGA

of Southern California.

Edison’s tandem of Ryan Malawy and Thomas Shubert claimed the

Sunset League boys’ title in doubles play.

Marina’s Cara Walker set a new Division I record in the girls’

pole vault with a jump of 12-feet and 3-inches at the CIF Southern

Section preliminaries at Long Beach City College.

Walker, along with Huntington Beach discus athlete Katelyn

Ciarelli, qualified for the CIF State Track and Field Meet at

Cerritos College.

Marina capped the spring by winning the CIF Division I baseball

title. The Vikings outlasted Valley View, 1-0, in eight innings at

Edison International Field, to win the school’s first Southern

Section title since 1990.

“This was probably the easiest team I’ve ever coached,” Marina

coach Paul Renfrow said.

Senior Daric Barton was named co-player of the year and Renfrow

was named coach of the year in Division I. Marina pitcher Wes

Etheridge and Edison pitcher David Huff, each were named to the

Division I First Team.

SUMMER

A busy summer was highlighted by three world-class sporting events

held at the Huntington Beach Pier.

First up was the U.S. Open of Surfing, which was part of the

$225,000 Philips Fusion. The men’s winner also was a first-time

winner in the event, Floridian Cory Lopez.

The winner of the Honda U.S. Open of Women presented by O’Neill

was Chelsea George of Australia.

Also part of the Philips Fusion was the Soul Bowl, whose overall

winner was Westminster’s Brian Patch.

A surf competition was held for the first time as part of the X

Games. The East versus West format, featuring some of the sports’ top

athletes, went head-to-head at the pier.

The area on and around the pier was packed for a third consecutive

weekend when the Assn. Of Volleyball Professional’s Huntington Beach

Open came to town.

Misty May and Kerri Walsh capped an undefeated run by winning the

women’s final. Karch Kiraly teamed with Brent Doble to win the men’s

title.

For the first time in the program’s history, a team from

Huntington Beach Girls Softball, the 12-and-under Division All-Star

team, Surf ‘N Sport, qualified to compete at the Western National

Championships.

FALL

Edison won a piece of the Sunset League football championship.

The youthful Chargers shared the league title with Los Alamitos

and Fountain Valley. Edison advanced to the second-round of the CIF

Southern Section Division I playoffs, losing to eventual finalist

Long Beach Poly.

“The kids had a terrific year,” coach Dave White said. “We had

great senior leadership. But we were also very young, and we thought

we’d be a year away from doing big things.”

The newly renovated football locker room at Huntington Beach High

was opened on Oct. 29, the first time in more than half a century

that the facility had been updated, coach Mike Groscost said.

“We wanted to create some pride in the program, and this was a

great start,” Groscost said.

Ocean View played its first-ever home football game in Seahawk

Stadium, hosting Tesoro on Sept. 19.

The Nokia 500 Core Tour, an alternative sports and music festival,

held its final tour stop of 2003 at the Huntington Beach Pier.

The Jr. Midget Chargers of the Huntington Beach Pop Warner program

qualified to compete at the 2003 National Super Bowl Tournament at

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. It marked the first time that a Huntington

Beach team had qualified for the national tournament.

Golden West College reigned supreme once again in women’s

volleyball.

The Rustlers capped the fall season by winning the college’s 11th

consecutive state championship. Golden West (22-0) has now won the

state title 13 of the past 14 years and 15 times, overall. Sophomore

middle blocker Ashley Jensen was name state tournament MVP.

“This was about as smooth a season as I’ve ever had with a team,”

said Albert Gasparian, who completed his 21st year as head coach of

the Rustlers.