Richard Dunn
CORONA DEL MAR - As defending CIF Southern Section Division I boys
tennis champions, Corona del Mar High's Sea Kings realize everyone will
be aiming at them this season.
And it won't just be the teams in their new Pacific Coast League, or
other top contenders in CIF Division I, pointing rackets at them.
This year, with the launching of the CdMHS-Pavilions National High School
All-American Team Invitational, hosted by CdM March 16-18, some of the
best programs in the nation will put a target on the back of the Sea
Kings.
CdM, which features three nationally ranked players and returns a total
of five from last year's title team, has added two top players -- a
transfer from Texas and an exchange student from Australia.
Of the three players ranked among the nation's best in the boys 16s, one
did not play for Coach Tim Mang's Sea Kings in 1999, when they finished
22-1 and captured the school's eighth CIF team championship in the sport
(but the first in 16 years).
If the proverb about a "strong team not rebuilding but reloading" rings a
bell, it's because the 2000 version of the Sea Kings appears as solid as
ever with juniors Brian Morton, Randy Myers, Peter Kulmaticki, Michael
Bean and Robert Kennedy, and sophomore sensation Cameron Ball.
Add junior Hunter Jack to the mix -- a player ranked 75th nationally and
a former tennis academy student -- and Corona del Mar could rival last
year's star-studded lineup.
"That's what they're shooting for," Mang said. "They're going to see how
close they can come to last year's team, and it's going to be tough,
because last year's team had so much depth."
Led by seniors Parker Collins (USC), Christian Jensen (USC) and Sam
Shahmardi, CdM finished the '99 season ranked No. 2 in the nation,
according to the USA Today.
Corona del Mar was second in the Tournament of Champions at Overland
Park, Mo., which was won by Cardinal Gibbons of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The
team invitational in three weeks, directed by Mang and headquartered at
Palisades Tennis Club, will replace the now-defunct Tournament of
Champions on the national landscape.
"This isn't your average prep event, and it's the beginning of something
giant," said Mang, executive director of the National High School Tennis
All-American Foundation, a nonprofit corporation -- created by Mang --
that will operate the event.
While the Pavilions National High School All-American Team Invitational
will provide plenty of early-season excitement and possibly decide this
