Local girls vye for spots

Nine water polo players from Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high

schools have made it past the first cut for the girls Orange County

youth team, said Bill Barnett, coach of Newport Harbor and the Orange

County youth team.

Newport Harbor’s Anne Belden, Melissa Wheeler, Ashling Taylor,

Leah Robertson and Kally Lucas, along with Corona del Mar’s Brittany

Fullen, Jordan Anae, Camille Hewko and Katlin Kubas, are among the 25

who have a chance to make the final 14-player roster.

The group of 25 was selected during tryouts March 12-13 at Newport Harbor. Players on the Orange County youth team (born in 1987 or

later) are eligible to qualify for the national team, which will play

in the Junior World Championships in New Zealand.

Barnett said he will have 11 field players and three goalies for

the Orange County zone team that will compete in a national-team

qualifying tournament in San Diego during the last week of May.

-- Steve Virgen

Tars split in tourney

* SOFTBALL: The Newport Harbor High softball team split two games

Saturday in the Northwood tournament at Bill Barber Park in Irvine.

After dropping a 6-5 decision in the opening round to San Marino,

the Sailors defeated Northwood, 4-2, to advance to Saturday’s

consolation semifinals at 4 p.m., against an opponent to be

determined.

Half of the Tars’ six errors led to three unearned San Marino runs

in the last of the seventh to erase a 5-3 lead.

Sophomore shortstop Sasha Grumman went 2 for 3 with a triple and

two RBIs for the Sailors.

Against Northwood, Ashley Gleason tossed a five-inning

three-hitter and was also 2 for 2 with an RBI to help the Sailors

improve to 6-4.

*--*

Northwood tournament

First round

San Marino 6, Newport Harbor 5

Score by Innings

Newport 200 030 0 -- 5 5 6

SM 010 002 3 -- 6 3 2

Gleason and Bass; Clark and Stone. W --

Clark. L -- Gleason, 3-2. 2B -- Stone (SM).

3B -- Grumman (NH).

*--*

*--*

Consolation quarterfinal

Newport Harbor 4, Northwood 2

Score by Innings

Newport 001 30 -- 4 5 1

N’wood 110 00 -- 2 3 2

Gleason and Bass; Gaudier and Carter. W --

Gleason, 4-2. L -- Gaudier. 2B -- Bass (NH),

Singley (N).

*--*

CdM alumni match set

* VOLLEYBALL: The Corona del Mar High boys volleyball program is

encouraging former players to participate in the alumni match,

scheduled Saturday at 7 p.m.

Coach Steve Conti asks interested alumni to contact him at (949)

515-6008, ext. 4024.

Estancia trio shines

* WRESTLING: Three Estancia High wrestlers earned fourth-place

finishes March 13 at the Western States kids and cadets folkstyle

wrestling tournament at Clovis High in Fresno.

Sophomore Juny Panduro was fourth in the 135-pound cadet division

(ages 15-16). He defeated Lucas Killian of Alaska, 13-0, to advance to the third-place match, where he lost to Wes Gunn of Clovis.

Freshman Gabe Thaler was fourth in the 145-pound schoolboy

division (ages 13-14). He defeated Duran Gonzales by a 15-0 technical

fall, then pinned Daltyn August of San Jose, before losing to

Atascadero’s Brandon Spain, 7-2, in the third-place match.

Sophomore Patrick Conlon was fourth in the 130-pound cadet

division. In his final match, he was bested, 17-3, by Freddy Vargas

of Buena Park.

Sailor boys victorious

* SWIMMING: The Newport Harbor boys frosh-soph swim team won six

of seven events Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Relays at

Belmont Plaza, winning the meet with 108 points.

James Jackson, Clay Jorth, Trevor Armstrong, Kyle Sherman, Danny

Furman, Telford Cottam, Parker Gregory, Nick Yeager, Evan McLain,

Carson Hill, Sean McDonald and Aaron Blei were the Sailor swimmers on

winning relays.

Lions top scholar-athletes

* BASKETBALL: Three Vanguard University women’s basketball players

top the list of 23 Golden State Athletic Conference scholar-athletes

recognized in the sport for the 2003-04 season.

Junior Lisa Faulkner, the GSAC Player of the Year, is joined by

junior teammate Lacey Mills as the only players with a 4.0

grade-point average among the 23 athletes honored.

Vanguard junior Jennifer Wilcox, who missed virtually all of this

season with a back injury, was also recognized. Her 3.9 GPA in

Biblical studies was the third-best of the group.

Faulkner, a sociology major, was averaging 12.9 points and an NAIA

Division I-leading 10.1 assists heading into Tuesday’s GSAC

tournament championship game.

Mills, a biology/pre-med major, was averaging 10.7 points through

29 games, with a team-leading 83 three-pointers.

4 VU scholar-athletes

* BASKETBALL: Sophomore guard Brian Kim, who led Vanguard in

scoring in the regular-season, tops a group of four Lions named

Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball scholar-athletes

for the 2003-04 season.

Kim, who averaged 17.4 points and had a team-leading 73

three-pointers through 30 games, has a 3.66 grade-point average as a

communications major.

Sophomore guard Isaiah Barney, who scored two points in six games

this season, has a 3.88 GPA in marketing.

Junior center Greg Enns, who averaged 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds,

boasts a 3.67 GPA as a math major, while Junior Brendan Cotter, who

scored 10 points in 12 games, has a 3.65 GPA in business

administration.

Vanguard’s four honorees on the 10-player list is tops in the

conference.