Richard Dunn
As the only Corona del Mar High head coach of a CIF Southern
Section girls track and field championship team prior to this year, Steve
Kaczynski can relive those memories of 12 years ago like it was
yesterday.
Kaczynski, a teacher at Ensign Jr. High for the past eight years,
oversaw one of the school's greatest collection of track athletes, a
group that captured the CIF 3-A title and challenged the top teams at the
state meet.
"That was a special time," Kaczynski said of his eight-year stint as
CdM's girls track coach and six-year assignment as assistant varsity
football coach under Dave Holland.
Kaczynski was part of the gridiron staff in 1988 and '89 when the Sea
Kings won CIF Division VI championships, the only back-to-back section
titles in Newport-Mesa School District history.
"That time (in football) went by real fast, but we sure had the hot
hand for awhile," Kaczynski said. "We couldn't do anything wrong -- (but)
good players tend to make that happen."
Kaczynski, however, is best known as a track guru, having rebuilt the
CdM girls team beginning in 1983, and, from 1987 to '90, going undefeated
in Sea View League dual meets.
The Sea Kings were 1-6 in dual meets in '83, Kaczynski's first year as
head coach, then moderately improved to 2-5 the following year.
But, during the ensuing fall, the Class of 1988 showed up as freshmen
on Kaczynski's doorstep and the Sea Kings never played the dormant role
again.
With standout runners Laurie Sawin and d'Layne Kerr starting in the
spring of '85, the Sea Kings went 5-2, 6-1, 7-0 and 7-0 in league dual
meets, including the unforgettable CIF crown in '88 when they were
seniors.
Corona del Mar also went 7-0 in dual meets in 1989 and '90, then
Kaczynski exited on top, desiring to spend more time with his family and
ending one of the most impressive girls track runs in district history.
CdM, which captured a CIF Division III team title under Coach Bill
Sumner this year, featured a 1,600-meter relay team that still holds the
Orange County record of 3:48.28.
The relay won the CIF 3-A title the previous year in 1987, then
finished third at the '88 state meet behind perennial '80s state powers
Hawthorne and Locke. CdM's clocking that year was also the seventh
quickest in the nation.
"The difference between first place and third place at the state
meet," Kaczynski said, "was about two yards."
That day at the '88 state finals at Cerritos College was also the
night of CdM's prom, which meant their dates were waiting for them in
tuxedos.
