Ringing out the old

YEAR IN REVIEW

The year of 2004 offered many special moments on the local sports

scene at the prep, youth and professional levels.

Beginning with the start of 2004, here’s a look back at some of

the major local accomplishments.

January-February-March

Ocean View High School’s boys’ basketball co-head coach Jim Harris

notched his 500th career victory at the school when his Seahawks

defeated Costa Mesa, 57-50.

“You don’t do this without having great players and great people

around you,” said Harris, who was in his first year of sharing the

head coaching position with his son, Jimmy.

Jim Harris, who was in his 26th year as head coach of the boys’

program, also served as head coach of Ocean View’s girls’ basketball

program for the first time in the 2003-04 season.

The Seahawks won Golden West League championships in both the

girls’ and boys’ seasons.

Edison’s girls’ basketball team shared the Sunset League

championship with Esperanza.

A new era in youth basketball was ushered in when new courts were

opened at Murdy Community Center. City officials used $1 million from

a 2000 bond -- the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air

and Costal Protection Act -- for improvements to the center.

Marina High School’s boys’ basketball team caught fire during the

CIF-Southern Section Division I-A playoffs and rode a senior-laden

team to a spot in the division final at the Arrowhead Pond of

Anaheim.

The Vikings fell to Mission Viejo, 64-57, in their first division

final since 1991.

April-May-June

The South Huntington Beach Rebels, a girls’ sixth-grade All-Net

team, placed sixth at the National Junior Basketball All-Net

tournament.

The National Surf League, composed of the region’s best surfers

from Orange County, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Ventura, made its debut

at the Huntington Beach Pier with the Hurley Game Weekend, which was

part of the California Cup.

Team Orange County won the first cup event.

Ocean View Little League opened its 2004 season by playing at its

new digs -- Murdy Park. The league had played baseball at its

previous home, located off Warner Avenue, east of Beach Boulevard and

west of Newland Street, for nearly 40 years.

Huntington Beach High School’s baseball team won the Sunset League

championship -- only the fourth time in school history that the

program has won a league title in the sport.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Huntington Beach Open

showcased a pair of firsts: the team of Jason Ring and George Roumain

won its first men’s title and the world’s No. 1-ranked team of Misty

May and Kerri Walsh won their 86th consecutive match, and record

15th-straight tournament victory, en route to the women’s crown.

July-August-September

Huntington Valley Little League laid claim to three championship

banners in Majors, Minor A and B division play at the District 62

Tournament of Champions.

Dwyer Middle School’s surf team won the National Scholastic

Surfing Assn.’s interscholastic national competition at Salt Creek

Beach in Dana Point.

The summer months heated up with the Bank of the West U.S. Open of

Surfing presented by O’Neill. More than 600 athletes from around the

world converged on Surf City for the action sports and lifestyle

festival.

A pair of Aussies, Chelsea Georgeson and Taj Burrow, won the

women’s and men’s surf titles, respectively.

It was the second consecutive U.S. Open title for Georgeson and

the first for Burrow.

A record crowd estimated at 100,000 came out to see the final day

of competition.

“Huntington Beach, man, you gotta love it,” Burrow said once he

reached sand after completing a last-minute comeback victory.

“The Game,” which pitted an all-star surf team from the East Coast

against one from the West Coast and was part of the 2004 X Games X,

was held at the pier. The competition was the first live telecast of

a surf contest in the history of the sport.

ESPN and ABC Sports carried coverage of the event.

The Golden West 18-and-under girls’ club water polo team won a

national championship at the Junior Olympics in Florida.

Nearly 50,000 spectators turned out to watch the Vans World

Championships of Skateboarding and Vans World Championships of BMX.

Also touching down in Surf City was the T-Mobile Core Tour Sports

and Music Festival at the north side of the pier.

October-November-December

Marina High School won its first-ever title in boys’ cross country

by running to the Sunset League championship at Huntington Beach

Central Park-West. The Vikings’ Robert Peck won the boys’ race in a

course-record time of 15 minutes, 23 seconds.

It was late in the fall that Edison High girls’ volleyball team

won the CIF-Southern Section Division II-AA championship. The

fired-up Chargers upended tournament favorite Mater Dei in the

division final.

Not only was it the school’s first section title in the sport, it

also was the only CIF championship won by a local prep team in 2004.

“We worked so hard this year,” said Ashley Collier, an outside

hitter for the Chargers.

Collier, who earned first-team All-Sunset League and second-team

All-CIF honors, is one of six seniors on Edison’s squad.

“We started practicing in July and we practiced six days a week,”

she said. “By the time the season started, we were ready. We went

into that Mater Dei game so determined. All that hard work paid off

in the end.”

Only one local prep team -- Edison -- advanced to CIF competition

in football.

It was an exciting and memorable season for one Huntington Beach

Pop Warner Football team, as the Jr. Pee Wee Green Chargers finished

runner-up on the national stage in the national championships in

Florida.

The Green Chargers ended their year with a record of 12-2. Along

the way, they won eight straight games and posted nine shutouts and

held three other opponents to a touchdown.

Huntington Beach defeated Rhode Island, 26-0, in a national

semifinal game, but fell in the division final to North Philadelphia,

32-13.

“We came up a bit short in the title game, but I am just so proud

of these kids,” Huntington Beach Coach Marc Dubois said.