Nine Back Bay stars earn All-CIF honors

Back Bay boys water polo rivals Corona del Mar High and Newport

Harbor had nine players named All-CIF Southern Section Division I by

section coaches.

In addition, first-year Corona del Mar coach Sam Bailey, is the

Division I Coach of the Year.

Clay Jorth, a Newport Harbor junior driver, is the lone repeat

selection. Jorth, a second-team All-CIF performer as a sophomore, is

joined on the first team this fall by freshman teammate Nate

Castillo, as well as Corona del Mar seniors Thomas Pearson and Gaston

Sanford.

CdM’s Bryan Buhagiar and Tom Money, as well as Newport Harbor’s

Michael Robinson are second-team picks.

On the third team are Newport Harbor’s Jovan Vranes and Corona del

Mar’s Jacob Murphy.

Pearson, a two-meter man, and Sanford, a goalie, helped the Sea

Kings win the Pacific Coast League championship and advance to the

CIF Division I semifinals, where the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings were

defeated by the No. 3-seeded Foothill to finish 20-9.

Both Pearson and Sanford were all-league selections as juniors.

Pearson led the Sea Kings in scoring this season, while Sanford

anchored the defense.

Jorth, a two-time first-team All-Sea View League selection, scored

three goals in two playoff games.

Castillo, a left-handed driver, scored four goals in the playoffs,

as the Sailors, runners-up to Foothill in league, defeated Mission

Viejo in the first round, before being eliminated in the CIF Division

I quarterfinals by Harvard-Westlake. Newport Harbor finished 18-11.

Robinson, a senior goalie, earned first-team All-Sea View

recognition this season, after collecting second-team all-league

laurels as a junior. He had 17 saves in the playoffs, including 10 in

the victory over Mission Viejo.

Money, a junior who led the Sea Kings in steals, was a second-team

All-Pacific Coast League honoree as a sophomore.

Buhagiar, the fastest swimmer in Bailey’s lineup, will return as a

senior next season.

Vranes, a senior, was a first-team all-league performer for Coach

Jason Lynch. He scored four goals in the playoffs.

Murphy, a junior, will join Money and Buhagiar in attempting to

lead the Sea Kings to the program’s 13th section championship next

season.

Bailey, named the third CdM coach in three seasons on Aug. 18,

helped the program rebound from an 8-19 campaign in 2003.