Brief

Castillo tops honorees

Newport Harbor High product Nate Castillo tops a list of seven local players named All-Orange Empire Conference in men’s water polo.

Castillo, a sophomore at Golden West College who played football at Newport Harbor, is the conference MVP after leading the Rustlers to conference, regional and state championships.

Orange Coast sophomores Casey Sullivan, Adam Thomas and Antonio Dominguez are first-team honorees, as is Golden West sophomore Colin McKibben, a former Newport Harbor standout.

OCC is represented on the second team by sophomore Kyle Thorsness and freshman Shardad Djahangiry.

Golded West Coach Scott Taylor, a former Costa Mesa High star who also coached the Mustangs, is Coach of the Year. He guided the Rustlers to a 26-6 record.

Sullivan led the Pirates (20-10) with 66 goals and 38 steals. He also added 24 assists.

Thomas, a second-team All-Southern California performer in 2008, had 53 goals, a team-best 33 assists and 37 steals to help the Pirates advance to the second round of the Southern California Regionals.

Dominguez produced 42 goals, 30 steals and 28 assists for Coach Monte McCord’s Pirates.

Thorsness, a former Costa Mesa High standout, had 53 goals, 13 steals and seven assists.

Djahangiry had 26 goals, 17 steals and eight assists.

— Barry Faulkner