TOP 10 SPORTS STORIES OF THE YEAR: EATER
NATION�S ON TOP
UCI is prominent in the top
10 Newport-Mesa sports stories of 2007, chosen by the Daily Pilot sports staff.
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1
UC Irvine baseball:
Six seasons after resurrecting a program that had been dormant for nine
seasons, the Anteaters tied for third at the College World Series in
Before, the team had not won a Division I postseason game in four tries.
They finished the regular season tied for second in the Big West Conference,
before winning the Round Rock Regional hosted by the
UCI�s four games in
The list of heroes read like a lineup card as pitchers Scott Gorgen (third-team All-American) and Wes Etheridge, as well
as NCAA career saves leader Blair Erickson, helped pave the way.
Offensively, Cody Cipriano, Taylor Holiday, Bryan
Petersen, Ollie Linton, Matt Morris, Ben Orloff,
Aaron Lowenstein, Jeff Cusick, Sean Madigan and Tyler
Vaughn seemed to consistently share the spotlight, coming up with key hit after
key hit.
Dave Serrano, whose dynamic personality fostered a blend of competitiveness and
fun, was named National Coach of the Year by Baseball
Serrano left to take over the program at Cal State Fullerton in July, taking
valued assistants Sergio Brown and Greg Bergeron with him.
But the spotlight Serrano and his team helped shine upon the program could help
warm the UCI athletic landscape for years to come.
2
Corona del Mar High boys� basketball:
The school�s long, proud boys� basketball tradition was rekindled by a Sea
Kings squad led by star junior center Stefan Kaluz,
and guided by the coaching combo of head man Ryan Schachter
and assistant Jason Simco.
The Sea Kings won the CIF Southern Section Division III-A title and Kaluz, who plans to continue his career at
Kaluz, who averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds and 2.3
blocks, was supported by All-CIF honorees Joe Eberhard,
a junior, and
The section crown was the fifth in the program�s history, its first since 1995.
3
UCI men�s volleyball:
Coach John Speraw�s five-year plan came to fruition
perfectly as the Anteaters saved their best play for down the stretch.
One season after winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season
championship, only to lose both of their postseason matches, the �Eaters
finished third in the MPSF regular season.
However, they won the conference tournament, securing their second straight
trip to the four-team NCAA Championship at
Led by a cast of senior All-Americans Jayson Jablonsky, Matt Webber, David Smith and Brian Thornton, UCI
avenged the 2006 semifinal defeat by topping
UCI finished 29-5 and collected the school�s third Division I national
championship, adding to men�s water polo titles in 1982 and 1989.
4
Misty May-Treanor:
The Newport Harbor High alumna became the Queen of the Beach when she passed
Holly McPeak with her 73rd victory on the Assn. of
Volleyball Professionals tour May 20 at the Hermosa Beach Open.
May-Treanor and partner Kerri Walsh won 13 of 15 AVP
events they entered and won seven of the eight F�d�ration
Internationale de Volleyball tournaments in which
they competed.
May-Treanor was named MVP, Best Offensive Player,
Best Defensive Player and, with Walsh, Team of the Year at the 2007 AVP
postseason awards banquet. She now has a record 82 AVP wins.
May-Treanor and Walsh, three-time world champions and
the reigning Olympic gold medal winners, are also the winningest all-time women�s combo on the FIVB circuit. May-Treanor and Walsh won 129 of their 133 matches (AVP and
FIVB combined) in 2007.
5
Matt Barkley:
The Newport Beach resident and Mater Dei High junior quarterback earned
national recognition by winning the Gatorade National and State Football Player
of the Year honors as well as the inaugural Joe Montana Quarterback of the Year
award.
The third-year starter completed 213 of 346 passes (62.6%) for 3,576 yards and
35 touchdowns, while throwing nine interceptions for the Monarchs, who finished
9-2 and reached the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division
playoffs.
With such a noteworthy season, Barkley aligned himself with former Monarch
quarterbacks Matt Leinart and John Huarte, both of whom went on to win the Heisman
Trophy at USC and Notre Dame, respectively.
6
Allison Stokke:
The 2007 Newport Harbor High graduate was a pole vaulter
of some renown � she won the CIF State title as a freshman, won the CIF
Southern Section Division II crown as a senior last spring, then was fourth at
the State meet and was Newport Harbor High�s Female Athlete of the Year.
But her appearance on this list has to do with her becoming somewhat of a
reluctant national celebrity when photographs and video footage of her in
competition generated thousands of viewings and postings on the Internet.
The Internet attention generated national media coverage and added to the
ongoing debate about the objectification of female athletes simply based on
their looks.
Stokke is now a freshman at
7
Vanguard women�s basketball:
With all five starters back from a team that reached the NAIA Tournament
semifinals the season before, the 2006-07 Lions were favored to win the
program�s first national title.
But a 31-0 record and the No. 1 national ranking they had carried all season
meant little to the Lions in a 68-64 loss to
Vanguard settled for a 31-1 season in which junior Jessica Richter was named
NAIA Player of the Year. Senior Kelly Schmidt, the NAIA Player of the Year in
2005-06, joined Richter as a first-team All-American. Senior center Rachel Besse earned third-team All-American recognition, while
senior Lacey Burns received honorable mention in All-American voting.
Coach Russ Davis later won the NAIA Coach of Character award and Schmidt was
the NAIA Champions of Character award winner.
8
Toshiba Classic:
If any of the 13 champions ever had a right to chirp about victory in the
annual Champions Tour event at the Newport Beach Country Club, it was Jay Haas,
who amassed 20 birdies and just one bogey in 54 holes to shoot a
tournament-record 19-under-par 194 in March.
Haas� score bested Hale Irwin�s 2002 event record by two strokes, the same
margin by which Haas bettered runner-up R.W. Eaks to
claim the $247,500 first prize.
The tournament earned $1.31 million for
9
Football coaching turmoil:
Coaching high school football in Newport-Mesa included significant tumult in
2007.
Tom Monarch (Sage Hill) and Dick Freeman (Corona del Mar) were fired, before
and after the season, respectively.
Jeff Brinkley�s 22nd season at the
Brinkley, suffering from an irregular heartbeat, spent days in the hospital,
before being released and resuming his coaching duties without incident.
In addition, longtime
10
CIF team titles:
The boys� water polo and girls� cross country teams from Newport Harbor High,
as well as the Corona del Mar High girls� track and field and cross country
teams, and the CdM boys� volleyball squad, joined the
aforementioned CdM boys� basketball team in claiming
CIF championships.
The
The Sailors� boys� water polo squad won the Southern Section Division I title,
while the CdM girls� won the top Southern Section
prize in Division III in cross country, as well as track and field.
The CdM boys� volleyball team won the CIF Southern
Section Division II crown.
Individually, CdM�s Shelby Buckley and
OTHERS:
Aaron Peirsol, a Newport Harbor High product,
won the 100-meter backstroke at the world championships.
The Newport Beach Breakers of World Team Tennis sold out five of seven
home matches at 2,200-seat Breakers Stadium, a new temporary venue constructed
in the parking lot of the Newport Beach Country Club.
The Newport Harbor High football team, in its second season in the top
CIF Southern Section division, defeated perennial Sunset League power Los Alamitos to help earn a postseason berth, then upset Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the first round to
advance to the quarterfinals. The Sailors finished 8-4 with two of their losses
coming to eventual Division I state champion Long Beach Poly.
Shaun Mohler, a former Corona del Mar High football
standout playing his second season for
The Pelican Hill Golf Course re-opens.
The Anaheim Ducks, owned by
Big Canyon Country Club wins the Jones Cup.
� Compiled by Barry Faulkner