Sea Kings

The 13th annual Daily Pilot Cup is quickly approaching. Elementary school soccer teams, comprised of third- through sixth-graders, are practicing and preparing for the weeklong tournament that begins May 29. At some schools, teams are still forming. Registration forms are available at the local elementary schools and at our website: http://www.dailypilot.com/sports/pilotcup. The tournament is such a fun time for the community. However, there is one new rule to keep in mind this year.

CORONA DEL MAR - Saturday's match had almost everything the Corona del Mar High boys' volleyball crowd could want, especially in a nonleague regular-season match. The defending national champion and No. 23-ranked team in the nation, according to the Powerade Fab 50 ESPN Rise rankings, hosting this season's No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the Loyola Cubs? Check. A playoff atmosphere, with a sizable crowd coming from both teams and a large Sea Kings student section? Check.

IRVINE — One of the highlights at last weekend's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival occurred in the set by rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, when a hologram version of the late Tupac Shakur rose up onto the stage and began performing. Corona del Mar High senior Jared Namba went to Coachella again this year. The CdM boys' swim team needed the real Namba, not a hologram, in its key Pacific Coast League meet Wednesday at University High. Namba and the Sea Kings, fresh off spring break, responded with a big victory.

Corona del Mar High boys' golf coach Mike Starkweather has reason to be giddy. The Sea Kings began the week 16-0, the best start in team history with the season nearing the final turn before CIF play. The Sea Kings have seniors John Davenport, whom Starkweather said is headed to Columbia to play golf, and Mike Moorhead, a USC commit, with junior Chase Wheatley. Starkweather said Wheatley is recording low round after low round. Brian Mull, Hale Furey and Karick Brown are also part of the Sea Kings' lineup.

Nobody could call Corona del Mar High senior Hollace Barden a latecomer to swimming. She's been swimming since she was 4 years old, always having fun with it. In the summers, she has been a staple for the Newport Hills Killer Whales neighborhood swim team. She made the varsity swim team at CdM as a freshman. But Barden was also playing water polo and volleyball, and soon she had to make a choice. "It was way too much," Barden said Tuesday from Kusadasi, Turkey, where she and her family were in the midst of a 10-day European vacation.

BOYS' GOLF Tournament of Champions INDIO - Corona del Mar High finished sixth out of 38 schools with a four-player score of 911 in the two-day 54-hole tournament that concluded Thursday at the Golf Club at Terra Lago. Chase Wheatley (73-77-73 - 223) and Hale Furey (74-77-72 - 223) shot the low on the par-72 course for the Sea Kings. The tournament had teams of five players and used the score of the top four from each team. CdM shot 300 as a team in the final round, which was the second lowest score of the day behind Diamond Bar. Mike Moorhead (78-78-77 - 233)

One of them made controlling the midfield look effortless, speeding past the opposition to set up scoring chances for herself and others. One of them offered invaluable leadership in the back as a sweeper, as well as booming free kicks that also set up scoring chances. Without Annie Alvarado and Sydney Raguse, the Corona del Mar High girls' soccer team doesn't have its most successful year in Coach Bryan Middleton's 10-year tenure. Having them on the Newport-Mesa Dream Team was a no-brainer.

Four of the five local high school baseball programs played their second game in the Beach Pit Classic on Monday. When the four-day tournament ends on Wednesday, Corona del Mar, Estancia, Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa will return to play in their respective leagues next week. For Sage Hill, the only local team not in the tournament, league restarts Tuesday. The Lightning, ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division 6, are in a battle for first in the Academy League right away.

Many times during her three-year high school basketball career, Karléh Wilson wondered if it was all worth it. Transferring in to Corona del Mar High from Louisiana, she said it was hard to fit in during her sophomore year. "There was this power struggle thing going on," Wilson said. "I wanted to be more vocal but I felt like I couldn't. My track career was going a lot better than I thought it would, so I thought I would have to quit basketball so I could focus on track. " Last year she became an elite thrower in track and field.

Three weekends in a row last November, Molly Rovzar traveled to the East Coast. Rovzar racked up the frequent flier miles with her XTeam club girls' lacrosse team. First there was a tournament in Maryland, then another tournament in Maryland, then a tournament in Florida. The grind did not wear on Rovzar. In fact, the Corona del Mar High junior didn't consider it a grind at all. "It was crazy, but it was the best lacrosse I've ever played," she said. "It was so much fun, and so intense.