Local teams shine

Mike Sciacca

The 2003-04 athletic year at the four high schools in Huntington

Beach brought many successes -- both for various teams and

individuals -- in 22 sports sanctioned by the CIF-Southern Section.

Although no team was able to garner a Southern Section

championship in the past nine months, there were league championships

to be won, including some coming to programs for the first time in a

long time.

Below is a look at what transpired in the athletic arena for the

four local schools.

Fall

A new era in Ocean View High School football was ushered in when

the Seahawks played their first varsity, home, night game in their

new stadium on Sept. 19 against Tesoro High School.

A loss to the Titans couldn’t dampen the spirit of the fans who

had packed the place for the debut of the one-sided stadium.

Huntington Beach High runner Eugene Kim was seriously injured when

a light pole at Harvard Park in Irvine, which was loose due to

corrosion at its base, snapped back from runners whipping around it

and hit Kim in the back.

Marina High’s boys cross country team earned a third-place finish

at the Orange County Championships at Irvine Regional Park.

In what the school called an “historic opening,” Huntington Beach

unveiled its newly renovated football locker room located beneath the

visitors bleachers on the south side of Sheue Field.

The Oilers scored a rare football victory over Esperanza. Their

14-10 triumph over the Aztecs was a first in Sunset League play

between the schools.

Edison reclaimed The Bell from archrival Fountain Valley and

Marina retained The Trophy from rival Huntington Beach, in two of the

bigger football games on the local scene.

The Chargers ended the season with a charge and shared the Sunset

League title with Los Alamitos.

Edison and Los Alamitos also would share the Sunset League girls

volleyball championship.

Winter

Jim Harris, in his 26th year as boys basketball head coach at

Ocean View, recorded his 500th victory with the program when the

Seahawks defeated visiting Costa Mesa, 57-50.

The Ocean View boys and girls team, both coached by Harris, each

won the Golden West League championship with perfect records.

Edison’s girls earned a share of the Sunset League basketball

title along with Esperanza.

Edison won the Sunset League team wrestling championship and

claimed its first title in 15 years. Eleven Chargers qualified for

the Division II meet.

In boys basketball, Marina advanced to the CIF-Southern Section

Division I-A championship game at the Pond of Anaheim, where the

Vikings fell to Mission Viejo, 64-57.

“I am so proud of our guys for reaching the finals the old fashion

way, a way that doesn’t happen anymore, by being a neighborhood

team,” Marina coach Roger Holmes said. “Every player on our team

lives in our attendance area and came up through the ranks playing

with and against each other. It was nice to see kids that worked so

hard together be able to reach the end of the season playing for a

CIF title. You look at other programs with their year in and year out

transfers and wonder how much satisfaction comes from that.

“Our program is based on character and work ethic and the run we

had was a great example of what those qualities can bring to you if

you have the talent that is willing to work hard enough. It was great

because of the quality of people that our seniors were. These were

such genuinely good kids that it was sweet that they had the

opportunity to play on such a big stage.”

SPRING

It was a long time coming -- and a rare occasion, too -- but

Huntington Beach captured the Sunset League baseball championship for

only the fourth time in school history.

Huntington last won a Sunset title 12 years ago and previously won

it in 1988 and 1983.

“This group had really good team chemistry,” Huntington coach

Benji Medure said. “They’ve been together for a while and they have

really fed off each other. It’s been a pleasure to watch them grow as

a team.”

Huntington also earned a portion of the Sunset League boys

volleyball crown, sharing it with Fountain Valley.

Marina’s baseball team won the prestigious Wienerschnitzel Big

West Invitational.

Ocean View won a share of the Golden West League baseball title,

then advanced to the quarterfinal round of the CIF-SS playoffs in

Aaron Kavanagh’s first year as head coach.

Ocean View’s young but talented boys volleyball team made a

surprising run to the quarterfinal round of the Division III

playoffs.

Edison claimed the boys track and field championship for the first

time in three years.

At the CIF State Track and Field Championships in Fresno, Edison’s

Tori Pena and Huntington Beach’s Eki Faagai earned top-10 finishes by

placing seventh in the girls pole vault and eighth in the boys

discus, respectively.