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A year of highs and lows

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Another year on the high school sports scene has come and gone, but not without local athletes again turning in outstanding performances.

Below are some of the highlights from the 2011 calendar that were reported to the Independent.

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January-June

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The only CIF Southern Section championship won by a local school during the 2010-11 school year came in girls’ basketball. It happened during late-winter and was captured by Edison. Senior Bonnie Samuelson stole an inbounds pass in the closing seconds and hit the winning shot before the clock expired to give the top-ranked Chargers an exhilarating 45-44 victory over No. 2 Troy in the Division 1A final March 3 at Anaheim Arena. Dan Wiley took Edison to a Southern Section final in his third year as head coach. Edison, which went 10-0 to win the Sunset League, won its first section title since 1987 and second overall.

“It happened so fast, that I wasn’t sure if it was real,” said Samuelson, who is now at Stanford. She went on to be named the division’s Player of the Year and Wiley was Coach of the Year.

In boys’ basketball, Edison shared the Sunset League title with Los Alamitos and Ocean View was in a three-way tie with Segerstrom and Loara for the Golden West League championship. The Chargers and Seahawks, along with Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Brethren Christian, all advanced to the CIF playoffs. Edison point guard Dylan Garrity, who ended his four-year varsity career as the program leader in four categories became the first player in the 42-year history of the Edison program to have his jersey (No. 5) retired.

Four wrestlers from the Sunset League won individual titles at the CIF Southern Section Individual (Inland Division) Championships at Roosevelt High in Corona. The champions were Dean O’Bourke (119-pounds) of Fountain Valley, Alex Anunciation (130) and Colin Navickas (140) of Marina and Brenton Visnoski (145) of Edison. Edison qualified four athletes and Marina and Fountain Valley one each to the CIF State Wrestling Championships in Bakersfield. Advancing to State from Edison were Visnoski (sixth place, 145), Erick Zumwalt (140), Cameron Bustos (152) and Greg Meline (160), Anunciation (fifth place, 130) of Marina and O’Bourke of Fountain Valley.

Edison, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Ocean View all reached the boys’ volleyball playoffs, but each fell in their opening matches.

Marina won the 2011 Sunset League boys’ tennis title. Parker Glore of the Vikings repeated as the league’s singles champion and teammates Roy Nielsen and Toma Harmelink took the doubles crown.

The Edison girls’ team easily captured a championship and Edison and Los Alamitos shared the boys’ title at the Sunset League Swimming and Diving Championships at Newport Harbor High. Marina’s Nick Soedel won the boys’ 50-yard freestyle in a league-record time of 20.57 seconds and also won the 100 free in 44.87.

Several local athletes won individual titles at the CIF Southern Division 1 Swimming and Diving Championships at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach. In the girls’ team standings, Edison finished fourth and Fountain Valley was eighth. In the boys’ team standings, Edison placed sixth, Huntington Beach was 30th and Fountain Valley 46th.

Fountain Valley’s Shelby Webber was a two-time CIF champ in the girls’ 200 IM and 100 free, Marina’s Nick Soedel won a title in the boys’ 100 free and Princeton-bound Michael Hauss of Edison won the 200 free in a personal-best time (1:38.14), the second-fastest time for an Edison swimmer. Hauss also placed sixth in the 100 free (45.66), which also is the second-fastest time at Edison.

The Fountain Valley’s boys’ track and field team captured the Sunset League championship. At the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Fountain Valley’s Hassan Ilyas won the Division 1 boys’ 300 hurdles and placed eighth in the triple jump, Marina’s Karl Baranov was sixth and Fountain Valley’s Luis Morales seventh in the 1,600, and Ramon Vargas of Huntington Beach came up with a pair of third-place finishes (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles).

In girls’ Division 1, Catherine Martinez of Fountain Valley was third in the 1,600 and Sara Van Dyke of Marina was fifth in the 800. In girls’ Division 2, freshman Amanda Honn of Huntington Beach took fifth in the 3,200, Oilers Ashley Donohoe was sixth in the discus and Amy Loschiavo was fifth in the pole vault. For Edison, Lauren Grego was ninth in the 800 meters, Anna Lindsey seventh in the long jump and Karen Snapper and Monica Danielson were sixth and ninth, respectively, in the pole vault.

Baranov, Vargas, Van Dyke and Honn all qualified for the CIF State Track & Field Championships in Clovis in May.

The Ocean View and Marina softball teams saw their title runs end in extra-inning losses in the quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs. The Seahawks and Vikings lost to teams (Dos Pueblos and Santiago/Corona, respectively) that would go on to win championships. During the season, Marina Coach Shelly Luth surpassed the 400-win mark at the school.

The Edison baseball team was ranked No. 1 in CIF Division 1 throughout the season, but the Chargers fell to Lakewood in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. In early June, Edison pitching sensation Henry Owens, who had committed to Miami in October 2010, was selected (36th overall) by the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball’s 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Christian Lopes, shortstop for Edison who had signed with USC, was taken in the 7th round (229th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays.

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September-December

The 2011 football season was special on several fronts. Edison captured the Sunset League championship and, along with Huntington Beach and Ocean View, advanced to the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The Chargers (8-3) were upended by Tesoro in the first round of the Pac-5 Division playoffs. Huntington, which finished runner-up to the Sunset title, reached the quarterfinal round of the Pac-5 playoffs before being eliminated by second-ranked Mission Viejo. The Oilers went 9-3 and turned in the program’s best finish since 1993.

As for Ocean View, the Seahawks (6-6) placed second in the Golden West League and hosted two Southern Division playoff games. The first was a momentous occasion for the program: their playoff opener against Santa Ana Valley marked the first time that an OV team hosted a postseason game on campus. The Seahawks’ 26-21 victory also was the school’s first playoff win. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals by a top-ranked Beckman team that finished runner-up to the division title for a second straight year.

In boys’ water polo, Huntington Beach, Edison and Ocean View all made it to postseason play. Coach Brian Anderson’s Oilers (25-6) went into the Division 1playoffs as the Sunset League’s second-place team and advanced to the quarterfinal round, where they were eliminated by Loyola. Edison was an at-large entry to the Division 1 playoffs and lost in a first-round game to eventual champion Mater Dei. The Chargers, who won a wild-card game to reach the first-round, had their best season under head coach Diggy Riley at 17-11. They also reached the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time. The Seahawks won the Golden West League title and made the quarterfinals of the Division 7 playoffs, where they were defeated by Don Lugo, 14-12.

Senior Noah Harrison of Huntington Beach was named to the All-CIF Southern Section boys’ Division 1 team and senior Steven Kornahrens of Ocean View was named to the All-CIF Division 7 team.

In field hockey, Edison, a year removed from finishing in last place, took third place in the Sunset League and reached the postseason under first-year Coach Becca Antongiorgi. Senior co-captain Lexi Coco was named the league’s top midfielder. Allyson Meyers and Ashley Ramey were named first-team.

In girls’ volleyball, Edison spent time ranked No. 1 in Division 1AA. The Chargers, who shared the Sunset League title with Los Alamitos, advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were knocked off by Mater Dei. Huntington, an at-large playoff entry from the Sunset League, lost in the first round to South Coast League champ San Clemente. Golden West League winner Ocean View reached the second round of the Division 4AA tournament, where it was eliminated by Patriot.

Cassie Strickland of Edison (Division 1AA) and Madie Williams of Ocean View (Division 4AA) were named All-CIF Southern Section in girls’ volleyball.

The Marina girls’ team ran all the way to the CIF State Cross-Country Championship at Woodward Park in Fresno in November and earned a third-place finish in Division 1. The Vikings place behind division-champion San Clemente and Vista Murrieta. Senior Laura Hollander turned in an outstanding performance and was Marina’s top finisher at the event. Hollander nearly won an individual title, finishing second with a time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds on the 3.1-mile course. She qualified for the 2011 Nike Cross Nationals at Portland, Ore.

Marina advanced to State after finishing fifth in the team standings at the CIF Southern Section Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. Also at the Mt. SAC meet, the Fountain Valley boys’ team placed 16th in Division 1. Individually, Marina junior Richie Soto placed 10th and Edison junior Jeff Thies was in 22nd place.

In girls’ tennis, Edison, the No. 3 team from the Sunset League and at-large entry in the Division 2 playoffs, lost a wild-card match to St. Lucy’s of Glendora.

The prep sports family lost a titan in late-October when Ocean View boys’ basketball Coach Jim Harris died following a battle with cancer. Harris, 67, put Ocean View basketball on the map in a career that spanned 33 years and gathered 665 victories, 19 league and three CIF Southern Section championships. Most important, it gathered countless friends and admirers.

“Coach Harris is Ocean View basketball, even Ocean View High School, period,” Seahawks Athletic Director and boys’ basketball co-head coach Tim Walsh said. “He created the basketball program, which today is looked at by so many as one of the best around. There was so much love around in whatever he did, whether it be basketball or at this school.”

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca

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