Concordia University

Estancia High senior Kohl Jones has been named to the Boys’ Senior South team for the Orange County High School All-Star basketball games, which are today at Concordia University. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m., the final of six games on the schedule for today. Sage Hill School seniors Kevin Schaefer, Frank Shapiro and Connor Gaughan have been named to the Boys’ Senior Small Schools South team. They play at 11 a.m. Estancia junior Kassie Stratton and Newport Harbor junior Alex Morton are on the Girls’ Elite Underclass South team that plays at 1 p.m. Cosa Mesa senior Olivia Scheidt is on the Girls’ Senior South team that plays at 3 p.m. The games are sponsored by the Orange County Optimists and the Efusjon Energy Club as a charity event.

Jeff McDaniel, a physical education teacher at Costa Mesa High, has been named coach of the Mustang boys' basketball team. McDaniel, 25, played basketball at Concordia University in Irvine from 2001 through 2004. He was a graduate assistant on the Concordia men's team the following year, then an assistant coach for the Temecula Valley High boys' basketball team last season. McDaniel takes over for Ryan Schachter, who left the Costa Mesa boys' program after two seasons in June to take over as boys' coach at Corona del Mar High.

COSTA MESA - Concordia University pounded out 17 hits and took advantage of six errors to win, 11-3, over host Vanguard University in Golden State Athletic Conference baseball action Tuesday. Kevin Candelaria went 2 for 4 with an RBI, while James Dent smacked a solo home run for the Lions (1-7, 1-5 in conference). Jeff Curcio had three RBIs, Derek Patterson had three hits, including a home run and two RBIs and Tom Powell had three hits and an RBI for the Eagles.

Taylor King is on the move again, and this time he's going overseas. The former Mater Dei High School basketball standout has decided to skip his final year of college eligibility and play professionally in Germany, according to his last college coach, Ken Ammann of Concordia University. “He got some good offers and so he decided to go travel,” Ammann said. “It's a good opportunity for him. I heard he got a deal in Germany and there were still more on the table. “I think he had to make a decision before school started and he decided to pursue that.” Ammann said he also believed that King would have had to earn some college units during the summer to remain academically eligible, but he didn't take those required classes.

Taryn Flamson, a senior at Concordia University who played previously at Orange Coast College and Newport Harbor High, was named first-team All-Golden State Athletic Conference by women’s soccer coaches. Flamson, a 5-foot-7 midfielder, had two goals and one assist for the Eagles, whom she helped post a 12-5-1 record and reach the NAIA Region II playoffs. Flamson, who started all 18 games for the Eagles in 2007, was a three-year starter at the Irvine school, where she finished with seven career goals and seven career assists.

COSTA MESA ? Erin Ladd and Rachel Bomgren each drove in three runs as the Vanguard University softball team salvaged a nonconference doubleheader split against Whitworth College on Friday. The Lions (16-15) lost the opener, 7-6, when Whitworth (10-8) scored a run in the top of the seventh inning. Vanguard rebounded with a 7-4 victory in the second game. Bomgren hit a two-run double in the second inning to put Vanguard (16-15) up for good in the second game. Ladd hit run-scoring singles in the first, fourth and fifth innings.

Men GOLDEN STATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Concordia University 72, Vanguard 71 Vanguard - Keane 27, Boys 11, Burgess 10, Cablay 8, Goldman 6, Candelaria 6, Beeler 2, Curtis 1. 3 pt. goals - Burgess 2, Keane 2, Cablay 1. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none. Concordia - Friesen 23, DeGrenier 19, Soliday 10, Pacana 6, Mannon 4, Law 4, Williams 2, Genung 2, Clausen 2. 3 pt. goals - DeGrenier 5, Friesen 5. Fouled out - none.

Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry was recently named the director of Concordia University's new Center for Public Policy. Curry, who will continue his part-time position on the Newport Beach City Council, recently retired as a managing director of Public Financial Management. The Irvine-based Concordia Center for Public Policy will hold events and conduct research about the "contemporary issues facing Orange County public sector leaders," according to a news release. Its first event will be an "annual report" on the state of the county on Nov. 17 with County Supervisor Bill Campbell.

IRVINE - The Vanguard University women's volleyball team dropped a College of Notre Dame de Namur, 30-28, 30-24, 30-17, in the first round of the Crown-Plaza Labor Day Volleyball Festival Friday at Concordia University. Megan Godfrey and Carly Birkhauser each had nine kills for VU (1-2), while Jennifer Johnson paced the attack with 16 assists. Later in the afternoon, the Lions dropped a five-game thriller to Briar Cliff (Iowa) College, 26-30, 30-25, 23-30, 30-21, 15-12, at Concordia University.

Concordia University's undefeated women's basketball team added visting Vanguard University to its nine-game winning streak as Eagles captured a 74-55 Golden State Athletic Conference victory Saturday night. It was 12-12 through the first seven minutes of play, but from there Concordia went on an 18-2 run. The deficit for Vanguard continued to mount until Concordia had a 23-point edge before Vanguard cut it to 50-33 at halftime. Maree Vincent led Concordia with 25 points, hitting 10 of 10 free throw attempts, eight assists and seven rebounds.

The NCAA may have coined the phrase "March Madness," but it has nothing on the NAIA's version of a national basketball tournament. Concordia University men's basketball team boarded a plan Sunday morning for Kansas City, Mo., where the NAIA will host the 32-team tournament. But while the NCAA Tournament lasts weeks, the NAIA's gathering will be finished in less only six days. Concordia, which is seeded No. 4, will play in the first round against Oklahoma Christian on Thursday.

If someone were to tell See's Candies Chief Executive Brad Kinstler that the path to riches was through Christian holidays, there would be no debate. That's because his South San Francisco-based company makes the bulk of its annual revenue on Christmas and Easter, Kinstler said at the ninth annual Concordia University Faith and Business Forum on Thursday at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel. "In part, I can be troubled by the amount of profit made by Christian holidays," Kinstler said.

There never was any moment when Ken Ammann "decided" he wanted to be a coach. In a way, it was always a given, it was in his blood. Ammann's parents taught and coached at Edison and Fountain Valley high schools, so it was natural for Ammann to find his way back to school after he completed his own education. Even his time as a kid when he roamed the sidelines as a ball boy for Edison football games along with future NFL quarterback Todd Marinovich was an experience from which he learned.

Dan Fisher's cell phone still starts with area-code 808, even though he moved from Hawaii to take the women's volleyball coaching job at Concordia University several months ago. He really hasn't had time to do much of anything other than coach, virtually hopping off the airplane and landing in his new digs at the Irvine campus just in time to meet his players, the administration and get started. The Eagles had a remarkable season, going 18-0 in winning the Golden State Athletic Conference and rising to the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA poll.

SATURDAY Plant Sale TeWinkle Middle School holds its "Holiday Plant Sale" from 8 a.m. to noon at the TeWinkle campus, 3224 California St., Costa Mesa. Divorcees In This Economy The Women's Institute for Financial Education will offer a free program featuring a panel of experts, "What Women Need to Know About Divorce in the Current Economy. " The event is from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Merrill Lynch offices, 4695 MacArthur Court, Suite 1500, Newport Beach. For more information, call (949)

Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry was recently named the director of Concordia University's new Center for Public Policy. Curry, who will continue his part-time position on the Newport Beach City Council, recently retired as a managing director of Public Financial Management. The Irvine-based Concordia Center for Public Policy will hold events and conduct research about the "contemporary issues facing Orange County public sector leaders," according to a news release. Its first event will be an "annual report" on the state of the county on Nov. 17 with County Supervisor Bill Campbell.

Concordia University women's volleyball coach Dan Fisher said a couple months ago he didn't expect to have it all "figured out" this season, the first at the school for himself and his coaching staff. Coming from the University of Hawaii where he was the associated head coach, Fisher, 35, knew he was coming to a good program with support from the administration and talent on the team, but he also knew it was a very young team. There are no seniors and only four juniors on the roster.

Taylor King is on the move again, and this time he's going overseas. The former Mater Dei High School basketball standout has decided to skip his final year of college eligibility and play professionally in Germany, according to his last college coach, Ken Ammann of Concordia University. “He got some good offers and so he decided to go travel,” Ammann said. “It's a good opportunity for him. I heard he got a deal in Germany and there were still more on the table. “I think he had to make a decision before school started and he decided to pursue that.” Ammann said he also believed that King would have had to earn some college units during the summer to remain academically eligible, but he didn't take those required classes.

The glow of Concordia University's national championship in baseball a few months ago has not dimmed, but there is another team on campus that is looking to keep the spotlight on the Irvine school. Concordia's women's soccer team was ranked No. 7 in the national NAIA poll earlier this week, the highest ranking in the program's history. But the team's goals are bigger than that. The Eagles have national championship aspirations, and their fast start has reinforced their belief it can be done.

Traci Weamer doesn't even own a TV, but she'll be on it Sunday. Airing all day Sunday on the CBS Sports Network will be The Alt Games: College Action Sports Championships, and Weamer — a 2009 graduate of Concordia University in Irvine — will be among those featured for winning the beach volleyball competition with partner Jane Chafeh. The Alt Games include competition in sports such as skateboarding, wakeboarding, flowboarding, beach volleyball and surfing. More than 1,300 competitors from more than 100 colleges across the nation competed in recent months in different locations leading up to this weekend's broadcast on CBS Sports.