Vikings getting it done on links

The 2010 season didn’t get off to the greatest of starts for the Marina High girls’ golf team, but with just two matches remaining on its regular-season schedule, the Vikings are on the verge of completing a perfect Sunset League campaign.

Marina moved a step closer to a possible league championship Tuesday by scoring a 219-237 victory against host Fountain Valley at Mile Square Park Classic Course (par 36)

The win put the Vikings at 8-0 in league and 12-4 overall. They were sitting at .500 (3-3) early in the season before their turnaround.

“The girls are playing well right now,” Marina Coach Jim Morris said. “They’ve been very focused. Winning has helped with that.”

The Vikings lost three seniors — Ashley Greer, Chelsea Kasprowicz and Elizabeth Mulcahy — from last year’s team that finished runner-up in the Sunset race to Newport Harbor.

“I wasn’t sure how we’d do this year,” Morris said. “Things didn’t start out well, really. We were losing at home, not playing to our capabilities. But then we beat Edison in our league opener and after that win, the kids got excited and have been steadily improving since.”

Marina edged Edison, 218-220, in that league opener Sept. 15 at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. The team score was the then-lowest of the season for the Vikings, whose previous team low was 221 (against Downey),

Marina is led this year by seniors Halle Young, Casey Kang, Taylor Weber and Megan Howard, juniors Mackenzie McCollum and Kayla Pacot, and sophomore Haley Wian.

Young, a four-year starter and team captain who last year qualified for CIF, has been medalist in 12 of Marina’s 16 matches and has a season-low score of 34.

“Halle is a real unassuming player, a real sweetheart,” Morris said. “She leads by example. Her teammates love her, the teachers lover her. She’s just a great person.

“All of the girls have done well and made contributions to our success. They are really playing well right now.”

Prior to Tuesday’s win against Fountain Valley, Young shot her season-low 34 against Cypress on Oct. 6 as the Vikings scored their season-low team score and in the process handed Cypress its’ first loss, 213-214, at Meadowlark Golf Course. The following day, Young was medalist at 39, Wian shot 43 and Pacot shot 44 in a 220-227 win Oct. 7 against Newport Harbor.

Marina has two more league matches to play before the Sunset League finals Oct. 20 and 21 at Lakewood Country Club. The Vikings host Los Alamitos today at Meadowlark, then face Huntington Beach on Tuesday at David L. Baker Golf Course.

The Vikings have already secured a berth in the upcoming CIF Central Division Team Championships on Oct. 28 at Jurupa Hills Golf Course in Riverside.

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Cross-Country

Fountain Valley’s girls’ varsity team edged out Coronado of Nevada on Saturday to win the Division 1 title of the 29th annual Central Park Invitational it hosted at Huntington Beach Central Park. The Barons took first place with 111 points. Coronado finished second with 112 points. Fountain Valley was led by Stephanie Fedele (18 minutes 50 seconds) and Amber Bragdon (19:02), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Fountain Valley’s boys’ team finished third in its Division 1 competition. Luis Emilio Morales (15:46) ran to a fourth-place finish for the Barons, who finished third behind first-place Trabuco Hills and second-place Westlake.

In the girls’ Division 2 race, Huntington Beach’s Amanda Honn (19:15) finished in sixth place and the Oilers were in 10th place in the team standings. El Dorado won the girls’ Division 2 title.

In boys’ Division 2, Huntington Beach finished in seventh place in a division won by Buena Park. Freshman Danny Vargas (16:48) and junior Krystian Lahage (16:50) placed 20th and 21st, respectively, for the Oilers.

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Boys’ Water Polo

Edison picked up two victories at the Newport Rib Co. Tournament to advance to the Saturday’s semifinal round at Costa Mesa High.

The Chargers first downed Ocean View, 11-1, getting four goals from Brent Bazzell and three from freshman Troy Oates. Goalie John Mroch had 14 saves. The Chargers followed that win up with a 9-4 victory against Estancia. Tony Morelli led the scoring with three goals.

In a nonleague match, Edison defeated Brea Olinda, 13-4. Morelli and Greg Carter both scored four goals and Mroch had 11 saves.

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Field Hockey

Huntington Beach used a strong offensive output Friday to score a 6-0 Sunset League win against visiting Westminster at Sheue Field.

Huntington sophomore center midfielder Kayla Wigney scored two goals and assisted another, senior forward Jessica Van Arsdale scored once with an assist, senior outside midfielder Corinne Clegg, sophomore forward Hannah Rodriguez and junior center-midfielder Lindsey Walter all scored once and junior Danielle Brear had an assist.

A series of well-orchestrated passes midway through the first quarter highlighted the Oilers’ third goal. A cross pass by senior center midfielder Brooke Berns to junior outside midfielder Lettie Guerrero on the right side of the field led to a long pass by Guerrero into the center of the circle to Van Arsdale. The senior forward then sent a short pass on the left post to Clegg, who netted the third goal.

In previous league action, Huntington blanked Edison, 4-0. With 7:13 left in the first period, after multiple passes in the circle, Berns scored for the left side to make it 1-0. Early in the second period, Clegg sent a back-handed shot into the goal from just inside the circle off a pass from Walter. A minute later, Walter scored on a long shot from the top of the circle. With two minutes left in the game, Rodriguez scored the final goal off a push into the circle from Van Arsdale.

Today’s Sunset League field hockey schedule has Huntington tentatively hosting Newport Harbor, Fountain Valley traveling to Edison and Marina playing at Westminster. On Tuesday, Marina hosts Edison and Huntington is at Fountain Valley.