Briefs: Sailors receive supreme honor

Newport Beach residents Bill Ficker and Dave Ullman are 2016 inductees into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in Annapolis, Md.

The ceremony will be Oct. 30 at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.

Ficker, 88, served as co-helmsman on Columbia in the 1967 America’s Cup trials and went on to skipper Intrepid through its successful defense of the 1970 America’s Cup over Australia’s Gretel II. He became the first West Coast skipper to win the America’s Cup, prompting Ted Turner to quip: “Flicker is quicker,” which became a popular slogan.

Ficker won the Southern California Yachting Assn. midwinter championship, won the 1958 North American Star Championship, and was second in the 1957 North American Star Championship.

Ullman is a yachtsman and sailmaker who began making Ullman Sails in 1967.

His international sailing career included four world championships, and 34 national and hemisphere championships.

He has served on the board of the Balboa Yacht Club and is a past member of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Committee.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports

Ciarelli coaches Olympic thrower

Newport Harbor High throws coach Tony Ciarelli will have one woman discus thrower competing at the Olympic Games in Brazil next month.

Seema Antil will represent India in Rio de Janeiro after she surpassed the Olympic qualifying mark of 200 feet, 13 inches en route to winning the Pat Young Throwers Classic at Hartnell College in Salinas in May. At the event, Antil heaved the discus 205-41 and won the gold, defeating 2008 Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton, from the U.S.

Ciarelli, who is also an assistant football coach at Newport Harbor, coached Antil during the 2012 London Games. Antil trained at Newport Harbor earlier this year.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports

Back Bay alumni tourney on tap

Back Bay rivals Corona del Mar High and Newport Harbor will hold a combined alumni boys’ basketball tournament at CdM on July 30.

Organizers are looking for 12-14 teams, half from each school. Entry is $200 per team.

In the past, the schools held separate alumni tournaments, but they have joined forces for the first time.

Prospective participants or potential sponsors may contact CdM’s Geoff Hunt at (301) 906-4697 or geoffreycharleshunt@gmail.com, and Newport Harbor’s Chase Cameron at (714) 651-5086 or chasen.cameron@prosportstack.com.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports

Ex-’Eater shines

Justin Johnson, who played basketball at UC Irvine before becoming a two-time Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year at Concordia from 2009-2011, was voted MVP of the National Basketball League of Canada Finals completed June 13.

Johnson, the NAIA Player of the Year in 2011, led the Halifax Hurricanes to a 125-117 title-clinching victory over the London Lightning by scoring 41 points in Game 7.

Johnson, a two-time NAIA All-American at Concordia who played the previous four seasons in the NBA Development League, averaged 17.4 points this season.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports