Phillies sign UCI’s Szabo

UC Irvine outfielder Jordan Szabo has ended his collegiate career by

signing a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, the

school announced Monday.

Szabo, a junior this spring, hit a team-high .357 fo the

Anteaters, who made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA

Division I regionals.

He paced the team with 80 hits, was second with 39 runs scored and

also had 26 RBIs, 10 doubles, five home runs and two triples.

Szabo was a second-team All-Big West Conference selection.

Rappa lands with Lions

* BASKETBALL: Tami Rappa, a former Estancia High girls basketball

coach who was fired by the school March 23, has been hired to coach

at Junipero Serra High, a, a private catholic school that opened in

the fall of 2003 in San Juan Capistrano.

Rappa will teach English, as well as coach the boys and girls

tennis teams.

The Lions girls basketball team was not in a league and played a

freelance schedule last year.Item

Irwin to be honored

* TRIATHLON: Al Irwin, a stellar athlete and coach in the

Newport-Mesa area for years, will be honored by Pacific Coast

Triathlon organizers for his contributions to the community and

sports when the seventh annual race is held July 25 at Crystal Cove

State Park.

Bill Leach, race director and founder, will present Irwin, who

earned 16 letters in sports at Newport Harbor High in the 1930s, with

a plaque at 9 a.m. on race day.

Irwin coached Newport and Orange Coast College football teams

before turning to coaching aquatics at Coast and UC Irvine. Irwin was

also a lifeguard in Newport Beach for 30 years.

“We are privileged to do this each year for somebody,” said Leach,

who swam and played water polo for Irwin at Coast and UCI. “He is

modest and humble and I never heard him say a negative word about

anybody.”

Leach expects 1,200 athletes -- professionals and amateurs -- to

enter the ocean at 6:45 p.m. July 25 to start the half-mile swim,

followed by a 12-mile bicycle ride and three-mile run.

For the first time, the race will feature a junior elite division

for competitors ages 15-23, in addition to the age-group regional

sprint championship.

A sports and fitness expo will begin at 10 a.m. July 24 at the

Crystal Cove Promenade.

Parking for the July 25 race is available at the Crystal Cove

Promenade.

Call (949) 760-9229 or (949) 675-3498 for information.

UCI women honored

* WATER POLO: Seven UC Irvine women’s water polo players have been

honored by the American Water Polo Coaches Association as members of

the 2003-04 All-Academic women’s team.

The seven recipients are senior Michelle Carey, junior Molly

Feeney, senior Melissa Fernandez, freshman Robyn Kaake, junior Erica

Nicholson, junior Alicia Weider and senior Rebecca Wedemeyer.

The entire UCI team was honored by the AWPCA for maintaining a

grade-point average greater than 2.75. To be honored as an

individual, a student-athlete must be a starter or major contributor

with a GPA greater than 3.20.