Orange County Roundup : UCI Rowing Team Honors Old, New

The UC Irvine rowing team will host “Henley on the Bay,” an open house at the Anteater boathouse on Shellmaker Island in Newport Beach Sunday at noon.

The occasion will also serve as UCI’s alumni day. The Anteater crews from 1966 and 1976 will be honored, and the new varsity eight-oared shell, the “Ruth Hynds,” will be dedicated.

Costume for the day will be modeled after the attire worn at England’s Henley Royal Regatta, one of the world’s most prestigious regattas. Weather permitting, women are invited to wear hats, gloves and tea dresses. Men are invited to wear boaters, blazers and white Oxford bags. Champagne, strawberries and cream, cucumber sandwiches and tea will be served.

The UCI boathouse is located on Back Bay Road, just past the Newporter Inn off Jamboree Road. For additional information, call UCI Coach Larry Moore at 856-6405.

Some of the world’s best cyclists will compete Saturday in the Coto de Caza Criterium, which begins at the Ziggurat building in Laguna Niguel at 7 a.m.

U.S. Olympians Thurlow Rodgers, Steve Hegg and Nelson Vails will ride in the men’s professional competition. Olympian and world champion Rebecca Twigg Whitehead will ride in the women’s pro race.

The Criterium will have a range of events for novices to professionals. The course is 1.55 miles and has a small hill on the back side. All turns are smooth and clean with no sharp corners. The Ziggurat building is located 3.5 miles west of Interstate 5 on La Paz Road.

Teresa Mergens, a 6-foot 2-inch middle blocker, has announced she is transferring to UC Irvine from Nevada Las Vegas and will play volleyball for the Anteaters.

Mergens was a freshman redshirt at UNLV last season. The Rebels are discontinuing their women’s volleyball program so Mergens will be eligible to play at UCI next fall. She was an All-Grossmont League player at El Capitan High School in Lakeside.

“Teresa gives us depth and creates new options,” UCI Coach Mike Puritz said. “She had tremendous development during her redshirt year and will battle for a starting spot.”

The Southern California Acro Team (SCATS) will host the first Elite Zone Gymnastic Meet Saturday and Sunday at Marina High School.

Top gymnasts from California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada will compete in compulsory and optional routines in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise events.

Gymnasts who score an all-around total of 72 or more will advance to the Elite National Meet, which will be held in Utah in April.

Competing for SCATS will be Amy Thorne, 14, of Huntington Beach; Sophie Aguilera, 14, of Carson; Kristine Johnson, 14, of Pasadena, Doe Yamashiro, 16, of Garden Grove; and Misty Rosas, 12, of Elsinore.

The competition will begin at 5:30 on Saturday and 11:30 on Sunday. Admission Saturday is $1 for those 12 and under and $2 for adults. Admission Sunday is $3 for those 12 and under and $5 for adults.

For more information, call 895-2909.

Costa Mesa’s Jerry Guerin and two others climbed to the summit of Argentina’s 22,834-foot Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres, last month.

Also successfully completing the climb were David Sliney of Huntington Beach and Guerin’s regular hiking partner, Bill Bundy of Hermosa Beach.

“It snowed almost constantly after we reached 16,000 feet,” Guerin, 39, said. “That made it a lot tougher.

“It’s tough enough without the weather we faced. The snow made for a lot more misery.”

Guerin’s team stared the climb Feb. 2 and reached the summit Feb. 14.