Postiff back coaching at Mesa
There’s a familiar face on the pool deck at Costa Mesa High.
After two years away from coaching aquatics at the school, Tim Postiff is back as boys’ and girls’ swimming head coach.
Postiff, the former boys’ swim coach and also former longtime girls’ water polo coach at Costa Mesa, takes over for Kyle Thorsness. He’s been an English teacher at Costa Mesa since 2002.
Postiff, 41, said the Costa Mesa class schedule is now more conducive to him coaching for the high school. It also allows him to coach youth sports for his two sons, ages 8 and 6.
“We went to block schedule, so we can start practice between 1:30 and 1:45 [p.m.], which allows me to still get home and participate in my kids’ sports,” Postiff said. “It’s nice to be out here and being able to engage with the kids in a different manner, other than just teaching English.”
The Mustangs have a busy week to start off the season. They swam in a tri-meet against Tustin and Fullerton on Tuesday, and played host to Paramount in a nonleague meet Thursday. On Saturday, they travel to the co-ed Los Amigos Relays.
Postiff said he expects Mesa to do well in the Orange Coast League, where the boys finished second last year and the girls third. The boys have a strong nucleus led by seniors Jacob Petersen, Misael Andino and Nick Ly, as well as junior Augie Cunningham and freshman club swimmer Aidan Blair.
“I have expectations for every single kid on the team, and they follow the expectations,” Postiff said. “We have really good kids here, and they want to do well. As long as you provide them an atmosphere where they feel like they’re going to be successful, they’ll do what you ask them to do.
“We have a good, strong boys’ team. We have a good core of girls as well. There’s a lot of younger kids out here, so we have the numbers to start to build. The younger girls are showing up. They’re committed, just like the older kids.”
Cunningham said everything is going smoothly so far.
“He’s definitely a great coach,” Cunningham said. “I feel like he has a lot more structure to his practice. He runs it straight through, and everything has a solid structure.”
Some structure may not be a bad thing for the Mustangs, who also want to pick up CIF Southern Section Division 2 cuts throughout the season.
“[Postiff] coached my sister Hayley [in girls’ water polo],” Petersen said. “To this day they’re still friends, so I’m hoping to have a relationship like that with him.”
HB girls’ soccer to compete in regionals
The Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer team lost to top-seeded JSerra, 2-1, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals on Tuesday night.
A day later, the Oilers learned their season was not over. They were selected for the CIF Southern California Soccer Regionals, which begin with the first round next Tuesday.
The time, opponent and location are to be determined. Brackets for the regionals will be released Sunday.
“I am very happy for our HBHS girls’ soccer program,” Huntington Beach Coach Raul Ruiz said in a text message. “Most importantly for our seniors, our goalies Rachel Harris and Isabella Rizzo and defender Katie Martinez. I am blessed to have a group of players who have earned all my respect and deserve another opportunity.”
Huntington Beach, which advanced to the Division 1 semifinals for the first time in program history, also will be making its first SoCal Regionals appearance in program history.
Twitter: @mjszabo
