Frosh

ROGER CARLSON A recent inquiry brings to mind the role of freshmen and junior varsity teams on the high school level and the prevailing anonymity which they operate under. For youth all-stars, occasionally marked by trips to the sectional or regional, marked by recognition with bows at city council meetings and the sort, the distance from being the toast of the town to the freshmen baseball diamond is not only short, it's quick and out of sight.

The foundation for Newport Harbor High's success in girls water polo continues to grow deeper following the Sailors' conquest of the Lady Chargers Cup at El Toro, a 16-team invitational on the frosh/soph level. Coach Les Cutler's Sailors won it for the third time in four years with a flourish, besting Long Beach Wilson in the final, 8-4, after shelling El Toro in the semifinal, 9-2, on Saturday. Friday the Sailors punished Villa Park, 19-1, after a forfeit victory over no-show Long Beach Poly.

GIRLS' WATER POLO Frosh/Soph Championship Newport Harbor 8, CdM 7 Newport Harbor High’s frosh/soph girls' team overcame Back Bay rival Corona del Mar in a overtime victory at the frosh/soph championships held at El Dorado. Sophomore Ashley Erickson and freshmen Presley Pender each scored three goals and Maddy McLaren had two to lead the Sailors' offense. Down two goals with just over a minute to go in the fourth period, Erickson’s powerful backhand brought Newport to within one followed by Pender’s game tying goal with 10 seconds left in regulation against the defending champion Sea Kings.

The Corona del Mar frosh-soph girls’ water polo team had a successful season, finishing as undefeated Pacific Coast League champions and earning a record of 22-2. CdM also won a pair of tournaments, starting with the Newport Harbor frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 2. The Sea Kings beat Beckman, Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos before topping rival Newport Harbor, 2-0, in the final game. A week later, Corona del Mar also came out on top at the El Dorado frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 9. Corona del Mar defeated Los Osos, Riverside Poly and host El Dorado before again beating Newport Harbor, 5-1, in the championship game.

3 Sean Lynott, WR-DB, 5-11, 165, So. Up from frosh 4 Keola Asuega, RB-LB, 6-1, 190 So. Up from frosh 5 Brad Ayers, WR-DB, 5-7, 140, Jr. Newcomer 6 Kenny Bun, WR-DE, 5-9, 150, Jr. Up from JV 7 Luis Avalos, PK-DE, 5-6, 160, Sr. '99 all-district 8 Andrew Strickland, QB-LB, 5-10, 175, Jr. Up from JV 10 Marco Fuentes, TE-DE, 5-11, 165, Jr. '99 letterman 11 Patrick Hulliger, QB-LB, 6-1, 175, Sr. '99 letterman ...

The Corona del Mar High frosh-soph girls' soccer team defeated Laguna Beach, 2-0. Mackenna Ferguson scored her first goal of the season on an assist from Claire Schmidt. Lauren Belove scored the second goal off of a corner kick from Shaye Bastien. GIRLS' WATER POLO Newport Harbor High's junior varsity team completed an undefeated Sea View League campaign with a 15-1 victory over Laguna Hills on Wednesday. The Sailor's frosh-soph team also went undefeated in league, beating Laguna Hills, 7-0. Corona del Mar's frosh-soph team blanked El Toro, 3-0, in a nonleague game Friday.

TODAY Girls' Volleyball (all day) Laguna at Dave Mohs Tourney (host: Edison High) Frosh/Soph Boys' Water Polo (TBA) Laguna at Servite Tourney Football (7 p.m.) Laguna at Ocean View SATURDAY Cross Country (8 a.m.) Laguna at Woodbridge Invite Girls' Volleyball (all day) Laguna at Dave Mohs Tourney (host: Edison High) Frosh/Soph Boys' Water Polo (TBA) Laguna at Servite Tourney MONDAY Girls' Volleyball (TBA)

1 Eric Snell, WR-DB, 6-0, 190, Sr. '98 all-league 2 Bart Welch, QB-DB, 6-0, 152, So. Up from frosh 3 Sean Hildebrandt, WR-DB, 6-0, 146, Jr. '99 letterman 4 K.C. Rawlins, WR-DB, 5-8, 142, So. Up from frosh 5 Steven Ward, WR-DB, 5-9, 170, Jr. '99 letterman 6 Jeff Reed, WR-LB, 5-10, 160, So. Up from frosh 7 Matt Moore WR-DB, 6-0, 185 Sr. '99 starter 8 Joe Barber, QB-LB, 5-11, 182, Jr. '99 letterman ...

The Newport Harbor High frosh/soph boys volleyball team defeated Corona del Mar in the championship match of the Newport invitational last week. Newport defeated Mater Dei in the semifinals, while the Sea Kings defeated Laguna Beach to advance. CdM had a five-point advantage against Newport until the Sailors took a definitive lead to seal it. Girls track and field Junior varsity The long jumping of Cassidy Gayner and Laura Clayton was a highlight for the Newport Harbor High junior varsity girls track and field team at the Eagle invite March 5 at Santa Margarita High.

UC Irvine senior setter Ryan Ammerman and freshman opposite Carson Clark have been named first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in men’s volleyball. Clark is also the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Sophomore middle blocker Kevin Wynne was a second-team honoree, while sophomore outside hitter Jordan DuFault was a third-team pick. Clark leads the No. 1-ranked Anteaters (24-4), who won the MPSF regular-season crown with a 19-3 record, in kills (3.9 per set)

It took overtime, but the Newport Harbor High frosh-soph girls’ water polo team won the El Dorado Frosh-Soph Championships after a dramatic 8-7 overtime victory over Back Bay rival Corona del Mar Saturday . Sophomore Ashley Erickson scored the game-winner and finished with three goals. Freshman Presley Pender also added three goals for Newport Harbor, which received two goals from Maddy McLaren. Down two goals with just over a minute to go in the fourth period, Erickson’s powerful backhand brought Newport to within one. Then Pender tied the game with 10 seconds left in regulation against CdM, the defending champion.

GIRLS' WATER POLO Frosh/Soph Championship Newport Harbor 8, CdM 7 Newport Harbor High’s frosh/soph girls' team overcame Back Bay rival Corona del Mar in a overtime victory at the frosh/soph championships held at El Dorado. Sophomore Ashley Erickson and freshmen Presley Pender each scored three goals and Maddy McLaren had two to lead the Sailors' offense. Down two goals with just over a minute to go in the fourth period, Erickson’s powerful backhand brought Newport to within one followed by Pender’s game tying goal with 10 seconds left in regulation against the defending champion Sea Kings.

The Corona del Mar High frosh-soph girls’ water polo team won the El Toro Charger Cup Tournament this past weekend. The Sea Kings defeated Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, 6-4, in the championship game. CdM, coached by former standouts Christina Hewko and Vivian Liao, also beat Laguna Hills High, Woodbridge and Tesoro on its way to the title game. The team includes: Ashley Forman, Victoria Gabert, Devon Greenlee, Chloe Havercroft, Alyssa Hornby, Lauren Marks, Shannon McCormick, Yoko Morita, Diana Murphy, Alex Musselman, Victoria Pierotti, Maddie Schwartz, Brooke Stinson, Anna Venturini and Alanna Woods.

The Corona del Mar frosh-soph girls’ water polo team had a successful season, finishing as undefeated Pacific Coast League champions and earning a record of 22-2. CdM also won a pair of tournaments, starting with the Newport Harbor frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 2. The Sea Kings beat Beckman, Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos before topping rival Newport Harbor, 2-0, in the final game. A week later, Corona del Mar also came out on top at the El Dorado frosh-soph tournament on Feb. 9. Corona del Mar defeated Los Osos, Riverside Poly and host El Dorado before again beating Newport Harbor, 5-1, in the championship game.

Like many recent college graduates, Christina Hewko is now living at home in an attempt to save some cash. But “home” to the recent Stanford graduate could just as easily be described as the pool at Corona del Mar High. It was there that Hewko, 22, refined her skills as a two-meter player for the Sea Kings from 1999 through 2003. She went on to Stanford, where Hewko was a four-time All-American and twice a first-team All-American, including when she scored 38 goals as a senior in 2007.

Outside hitter Kari Pestolesi was named Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, headlining a quintet of Anteaters honored by the conference Tuesday and marking the first time that UC Irvine has had five all-conference honorees in women’s volleyball. Pestolesi is joined on the first team by outside hitter Lauren Kellerman with middle blocker Kristin Kelley, setter Taryn Robertson and libero Devon Sutherland all receiving honorable mention accolades. Pestolesi became UC Irvine’s first Freshman of the Year after leading the program in kills with 471 and service aces with 39. She is ranked fifth in the Big West with a 4.17 kill average and a .35 ace average.

NEWPORT BEACH — As the championship game matchup of the Gray Lunde Memorial Tournament became known, the Newport Harbor High boys’ frosh-soph water polo team assuredly realized all that was on the line. There was the Back Bay rivalry matchup with Corona del Mar for the title and also a chance to own the season series. And, as always, the Sailors wanted to win the tournament that is held in honor of the late Gray Lunde, who died of congenital heart failure on the pool deck his freshman year at Newport Harbor in 1995.

The Corona del Mar High frosh-soph girls' water polo team won the El Toro Classic on Jan. 13, edging Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, 5-4, in the championship game. Kate Berry and Erin McAdams each scored two goals for the Sea Kings. Elise Molnar added a goal and Amy Youngman made seven saves. McAdams had two steals and Molnar and Katie McCormick added a steal each for CdM, coached by Kyle Gorham. For Newport Harbor, McKenna Cottam scored twice and Mia Butera and Katie Jackson each added goals.

COSTA MESA ? If the freshman-sophomore football game between Costa Mesa High and Estancia serves as glimpse into the future, the cross-town rivals are in for some defensive battles. Thursday's encounter at Estancia was fought mainly on the ground, with the Mustangs holding an advantage, but the final score ended without any points, as a 41-yard field goal from the Eagles fell feet short as time expired. While the final score showed a tie in the Orange Coast League contest, it was Costa Mesa (3-3-2, 0-0-1 in league)