Coach’s absence is felt

Barry Faulkner

Members of the Orange Coast College men’s tennis team will be drawing

inspiration from their coach today, even though Glenn Morton,

critically injured Wednesday in an automobile accident, will not

attend the Southern California regional tournament at Cypress

College.

Morton, 49, was in critical condition at Western Medical Center in

Santa Ana Thursday afternoon, according to OCC Athletic Director

Barbara Bond, who had been in contact with Morton’s family.

Details on his condition were not available and calls to Morton’s

Costa Mesa home were not immediately returned. Morton was injured in

a head-on collision Wednesday morning when the Volkswagen van he was

driving westbound on Adams Avenue was hit by an eastbound vehicle

that had crossed lanes.

OCC singles standout Colby Morita said the team had not learned of

Morton’s accident until after a scheduled practice broke up Wednesday

afternoon.

“We practiced for about an hour, but coach never showed up,”

Morita said. “A friend of their family called me later [Wednesday]

and told me about the accident and I went in and told the athletic

director.”

Bond said she would attend today’s tournament as a representative

of the school.

Morita’s first-round singles match is scheduled for 8 a.m. and he

will pair with Spencer Solomon to compete in doubles, as well.

Hiroshi Muto and Scott Fielder are also scheduled to represent OCC in

doubles today.

“We want to play well thinking of him,” Morita, 32, said of

Morton. “I know coach would want us to give it our best effort and

come with our ‘A’ game as well as we can.

“We don’t really know much, other than it was a serious accident.

Hopefully, everything is going to work out. We’re all praying for

him.”

Solomon, who said he had gotten to know Morton even better during

a four-day stay at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament last week, said

the Pirates were still in shock over news of the accident.

“I like him as a coach,” Solomon said. “We got to know each other

real well on our trip to Ojai. He’s cool and has a very good outlook

on life.

“I’ll definitely be thinking about him [today],’” Solomon, 22, a

Costa Mesa High product, said. “This is the first time something this

serious has happened to someone close to me.”

Bond said Morton, a former longtime director of tennis at Mesa

Verde Country Club who currently is the teaching professional at the

Pacific Sands Cabana in Huntington Beach, made an instant and

substantial impact on the OCC program.

“He brought stability to a program that had had a revolving door

of part-time coaches,” Bond said.

OCC, 4-11 a year ago, went 12-3 this spring, 9-3 in the Orange

Empire Conference, finishing in a second-place tie with Saddleback.

Morton was named Orange Empire Conference Coach of the Year.

Morton’s son, Brian, a former Corona del Mar High star, is a

first-team All-Big West Conference singles and doubles player as a

senior at UC Irvine.

Morton’s daughter Heather is a junior who plays tennis and

softball at Estancia High, while daughter Melissa also played tennis

at Estancia.

Sam Sarria, a member of the tennis board at Pacific Sands, said

Morton had energized the tennis program there after joining the staff

two years ago.