Three Sea Kings make big splash

A certain sense of pride could be heard in the tone of voice from Aaron Chaney, the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo coach who is entering his eighth season. He usually has good reason to be proud around this time of year.

Wednesday was Signing Day, a time for prep athletes to commit to colleges with a National Letter of Intent. Kate Baldoni, Vicotoria Kennedy, as well as Heather Van Hiel made quite a splash for Chaney and CdM with their signings. The Corona del Mar seniors are headed to big-time programs with Baldoni and Kennedy going to Stanford and Van Hiel set for UCLA.

“For me that is rewarding as a coach,” Chaney said. “Just as much as winning CIF titles, it’s just as great seeing your girls wanting to continue and play in college. There’s about a dozen of them [from CdM] out there [playing for NCAA Division I programs].”

Now, two of them will go play for Stanford, where Coach John Tanner is excited to bring them on.

Baldoni was named Most Valuable Goalkeeper at the 18-and-under Global Championships in Brisbane, Australia this past July, as part of the U.S. junior national team that won the gold medal. Baldoni was also part of the U.S. 20-and-under squad that won the Global Championships in that division in Los Alamitos.

Baldoni was also the Pacific Coast League MVP and a first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division I first-team selection.

“Kate has great range and explosive legs, allowing her to make exciting saves,” Tanner said in a release. “She is equally skilled blocking interior and perimeter shots, and plays with great confidence even against national team level shooters.”

Van Hiel was also an All-CIF Division I first-team selection, while Kennedy, a two-meter player, earned All-CIF Division I second-team honors.

“All three of them are such hard workers,” Chaney said. “There are no cutting any corners for them. They just work day in and day out.”

The trio weren’t the only local athletes to announce their commitments Wednesday.

Newport Harbor senior Alice Cope is headed to Cornell to play volleyball, Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. The Sailors also have Mary Buckingham going to UC Berkeley and Jennifer Palmquist plans to play for Princeton.

Newport Harbor junior Kirby Burnham announced earlier this season she has verbally committed to USC.

Chris Freeman, a Costa Mesa resident who is a senior at Mater Dei, signed a National Letter of Intent to play tennis for University of Wisconsin-Madison.