Not a league championship banner, but a CIF title banner.
Many high schools put up league championship banners in their gyms as a way to show their athletic accomplishment.
No disrespect to the rest of the Pacific Coast League, but Corona del Mar High doesn't do that. The Sea Kings only put up CIF championship banners and state title banners.
As it is, the available wall space of the gym is getting smaller and smaller. And, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight.
Last year, 2006-07, was another banner year for the Sea Kings. CdM won CIF Southern Section titles in girls' tennis (Division I), girls' cross country (Division III), boys' basketball (Division III-A), boys' volleyball (Division II) and girls' track and field (Division III). The girls' cross country team, led by longtime coach Bill Sumner, also won the CIF State Division III title.
The five CIF Southern Section titles were the most in the entire section, and tied the CdM school record set in 2000-01.
"It's not just one sport; it's the whole spectrum," said Paul Orris, CdM's athletic director and former boys' basketball coach. "Corona del Mar High is a special place in Orange County. Across the board in Orange County, I don't know of another school that's come close to what we've able to do."
CdM has an enrollment of 2,182 students, but that includes the seventh and eighth-graders at the junior high. Whittle the enrollment down to just grades 9-12, and the Sea Kings won five CIF titles last year with just 1,453 students.
How do they do it?
The coaches play a big part. And it doesn't hurt to be in an affluent community.
Amid the success, the athletes also thrive in the classroom. They'll also be gearing up to meet the standard once again this year.
Today, the Daily Pilot features the coaches and the academic success.
THEY CAN COACH
