Division Ii

Cecil Whiteside of Newport Harbor High took first place in the Division II discus throw today at CIF Southern Section finals at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. The result should be high enough for Whiteside to advance to the CIF Masters meet next week at Cerritos College, but that decision won't be finalized until all the Division I throwers are done. The top 12 throwers across all divisions advance to Masters. Whiteside finished seventh in his division in the shot put with a throw of 51 feet.

Three girls water polo players from Newport Harbor High, a CIF Southern Section Division I finalist last spring, along with two from Division II champion Corona del Mar, were selected to the United States women's junior national team announced Tuesday. CdM senior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen, who earned Division II Co-Player of the Year honors, along with sophomore teammate Katie Indvik, join Newport seniors Ashling Taylor, Melissa Wheeler and Leah Robertson on the 23-player team.

SANTA ANA -- Kyle Thorsness notched a game-high six goals, but the Costa Mesa High boys' water polo team fell to Mater Dei, 15-10, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs on Friday. Thorsness kept the game close by drawing several ejections and capitalizing on them. Sam Edman added two goals for the Mustangs, who took second place in the Golden West League this season. It marked the first playoff win in school history for Mater Dei, which has three Newport Beach residents on its roster -- Brendan O'Hara, Ryan Gladych and Nick Leonard.

The Splash Aquatics swim team, which trains at Estancia High, won the Division I title at the Orange County Swim Conference Linda Kamps Memorial Pentathlon at El Toro High July 17. With 1,422 points, Splash defeated both Dolphin Aquatics of Laguna Niguel (763 points) and Cerritos Aquatics (646 points). After winning Division II of the Pentathlon for the last three years, including the overall title at the OCSC championships last year, Splash was moved up into Division I. "We were worried about competing against these Division I teams because they have some amazing swimmers, but our kids came through with flying colors," said Coach Cynthia Bandaruk.

The last time the Costa Mesa High girls’ water polo team headed north up Highway 101, it was a very positive experience. In early January, the Mustangs went to the Arroyo Grande Tournament, and on the way up they played at Dos Pueblos of Goleta. Costa Mesa lost to the Chargers, now the top-seeded team in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, 14-2. At the Arroyo Grande Tournament, the Mustangs finished 11th, beating Morro Bay and Chadwick and losing three other games.

Corona del Mar High, the defending CIF Southern Section Division II boys? volleyball champion, opens the season with the top ranking in the preseason coach?s poll. Newport Harbor is ranked No. 2 in Division I, while Sage Hill is ranked No. 4 in Division V. CdM went 33-2 last season to claim its second section title in three years. It was the fourth crown for Coach Steve Conti, entering his 13th season at the helm. Senior middle blocker Gus Ellis, who has committed to Stanford, figures to be a key asset for the Sea Kings, who lost setter Phil Bannan, outside hitter Blaine Nielsen, and opposite hitter Brad McCoy to graduation.

NEWPORT BEACH - The high-tech scoreboard is not currently working at the Newport Harbor High pool. The score was kept at the table during Tuesday afternoon's nonleague game against Long Beach Wilson. Each time one of the teams found the back of the net, someone at the scorer's desk flipped over a red or blue number to show the updated tally. Every so often someone would walk over from the bleachers to glance at the score. In the first half, it wasn't really necessary.

Cal State Stanislaus uses quickness, three-point shooting to hand UCI its first loss to a Division II school in 26 seasons.IRVINE -- Just 10 days after they played the role of giant killers, UC Irvine men's basketball players and coaches were taken down a few pegs Tuesday by Division II Cal State Stanislaus. The Warriors (3-0) built a 16-point lead late in the first half, led, 57-46, at halftime, then survived a late surge by the hosts to earn a 91-90 nonconference win. It was UCI's first loss to a Division II school since falling to Assumption College of Massachusetts, 67-65, in December of 1979.

Blake Bakkila said she's a more complete tennis player in her senior year at Newport Harbor High. Part of it may be natural progression for the Sailors' No. 1 singles player, but part of it is also because she didn't have a choice. For a few months earlier this year, Bakkila's biggest weapon - her two-handed backhand - just wasn't an option. This was because Bakkila had surgery on her left wrist in March to take care of some torn ligaments. "Toward the end of the season and beginning of CIF [last year]

Chris Yemma The high school soccer talent pool runs deep in South Orange County. The boys and girls teams of Santa Margarita High, Trabuco Hills and San Clemente are all ranked in the top 10 of CIF Southern Section Division I, while added to that list just in the girls division are Aliso Niguel, Capistrano Valley and Dana Hills. And, in Division II, you can add the defending CIF champion Tesoro girls soccer team to the list. That's who the Corona del Mar girls visited Tuesday, in the second Pacific Coast League meeting between the two teams this season.

Every year high school cross-country teams prepare for the challenges presented by the hilly course at Mt. San Antonio College - the site of the CIF Southern Section Division Finals - to improve their chances of advancing to the CIF State Meet. All that training was for naught this season because of rain Friday night and some light drizzle on the day of the Division Championships on Saturday, which pushed the event onto an alternate course that's flat and mostly paved. While some runners favored the switch, it spelled disaster and an end to the 2012 season for every local but Newport Harbor's Paige Tennison.

NEWPORT BEACH - The Sage Hill School girls' tennis team had never lost before the quarterfinals in CIF. Visiting Pasadena Westridge had never made the quarterfinals of CIF. Something had to give Friday afternoon at The Tennis Club. After nearly four hours of tennis, the teams were deadlocked in sets, 9-9. But Westridge won on games, 79-66, ending the Lightning's season in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 second-round match. The visiting Tigers roared back, even after being down, 4-2, after the first round and 7-5 after the second round.

Vanguard University Athletic Director Bob Wilson said the positives outnumber negatives when it comes to the reformation of the Golden State Athletic Conference, and increased conference championship opportunities for the Lions are foremost among the former. After the 2011-12 school year, Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene left the conference to join the NCAA Division II ranks, just as former GSAC member Cal Baptist did one year earlier. The seven remaining GSAC schools - Vanguard, Biola, Concordia, Hope International, San Diego Christian, The Master's and Westmont - will be joined by incoming member Arizona Christian in an eight-team alliance beginning in 2012-13.

All the pressure seemed too much for Paige Tennison. The Newport Harbor High junior was competing in her first CIF State Meet. In addition, high expectations were set on Tennison, viewed as one of the top runners in Division II. She was intimidated, she admitted. But it wasn't enough to totally knock her off her game. Tennison medaled at Woodward Park, finishing sixth in 17 minutes, 49 seconds on the 5K course Saturday in Fresno. The Corona del Mar girls came in eighth in Division III and the Sage Hill boys finished eighth in Division V. "I kind of psyched myself out of it," Tennison said by telephone Saturday afternoon.

IRVINE - The Corona del Mar and Long Beach Wilson high school boys' water polo teams played for the third time this season Saturday. Corona del Mar had won the first two games in overtime. This one was more important, as the traditional powerhouses played with the CIF Southern Section Division II title on the line. Wilson Coach Tony Martinho figured his No. 3-seeded Bruins had more than an outside shot against the top-seeded Sea Kings. The outside shot of junior Maxwell Irving was almost all Wilson needed to pull the upset.

ARCADIA - The Newport Harbor High girls' tennis team has always relied on teamwork to get the job done. In the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, the Sailors have had to display that teamwork in a very tangible way. Senior team captain Blake Bakkila is currently unable to play at No. 1 singles due to a sprained right ankle suffered at Sunset League finals. Newport Harbor brought in sophomore Kate Knight off the bench to play singles. Bakkila has virtually become an extra coach for the Sailors, encouraging the team more than ever.

IRVINE - Who coined the phrase, "Third time's the charm?" For Corona del Mar High, facing Northwood for a third time this year resulted in beating the Timberwolves a third time. Can you believe Coach Barry O'Dea was nervous about a third matchup with a Pacific Coast League foe? He settled down when CdM took control and won, 9-5, and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division II boys' water polo finale for the second straight year. The Sea Kings are looking to be the kings of the pool again.

CORONA DEL MAR - Last year, the Corona del Mar High boys' water polo team had to travel to Riverside for its CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinal match against King. This year the Sea Kings won the coin flip. They still had to play a team from Riverside in the quarterfinals, Riverside Poly, but the match was at home. For the Sea Kings' eight seniors, Saturday's contest was the last possible home match of the season. They made it count. CdM cruised into the Division II semifinals after topping Poly, 18-8, behind a five-goal effort from senior two-meter man Ben Zepfel.

Of the three other seeded boys' water polo teams in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, top-seeded Corona del Mar High hasn't played two of them. Coach Barry O'Dea isn't worried about his Sea Kings not having faced second-seeded Villa Park and fourth-seeded Montebello. "They should be a little more nervous about not having seen CdM," O'Dea said. The Sea Kings begin their section title defense with a lot of confidence. The goal is to return to the top after O'Dea led CdM to its first section crown under his watch last year.

IRVINE - Cal State Dominguez Hills played Tuesday's exhibition game with the word D-E-F-E-N-S-E spelled across the back upper portion of their shorts. For host UC Irvine, such a visible reminder about that phase of the game is no longer necessary. Fourth-year UCI Coach Molly Goodenbour has drummed a defensive emphasis into her players and the results were clear in the Anteaters' 60-35 victory at Crawford Court. UCI held the Toros, an NCAA Division II team, to two-for-24 field-goal shooting in the first half (8.3%)