Mike Briggs Gets Set for New Game : Corona del Mar Senior Eager to Start Over--in Big Time

Like most high school seniors, Mike Briggs will have more than pomp and circumstance on his mind as he graduates from Corona del Mar High School Thursday.

There’ll be memories of a Sea King past. There’ll be hopes of a successful future. And, underneath it all, a tiny voice that’s says: Get me outta this place!

Don’t get Briggs wrong. Corona del Mar, he says, was a great place to spend four years of prime-time adolescence. Particularly when you’re the winningest tennis player in Sea King history.

But it is this reason that sparks Briggs to bigger and better things. Namely, playing Division I tennis with his soon-to-be teammates at UC Irvine.

“I had a good time, but I’m happy that it’s over with,” Briggs said. “I’ve been looking forward to playing tennis with the big boys for a while.”

What made Briggs happy to be “over with,” would make most happy to start:

A Sea View League title as a freshman. A Southern Section individual title as a sophomore. A finalist in both the Southern Section individual and Ojai tournaments as a junior. And a senior season that has surpassed all who have contributed to Corona del Mar’s rich tennis tradition.

Briggs began the year by sweeping his way to the Sea View League title. In April, he won the Ojai tournament, considered by most the equivalent of a California high school state championship.

“I think Ojai was my biggest accomplishment ever at Corona,” Briggs said. “That, and winning CIF as a sophomore. The worst thing, I think, was never winning a (Southern Section) team title.”

The Sea Kings lost in the semifinals in Briggs’ freshman and senior years, and in the quarterfinals his sophomore and junior seasons.

Briggs finished the 1987 season 64-1, losing only to Bill Miller of Santa Barbara, 6-3, 6-3, in the Southern Section individual semifinals.

For these accomplishments, Briggs is, for the third consecutive year, The Times’ Orange County Player of the Year in boys’ tennis.

“Without a doubt, Mike is the most talented player that has come out of Orange County in years,” said UC Irvine Coach Greg Patton, who won a recruiting battle by signing Briggs over such collegiate tennis powers as UCLA and USC.

“And I don’t think he’s even scratched the surface of his talent. He’s a total player, loves to play hard and compete. It’s always hard to tell where a kid will be a year from now, but I honestly think Mike has the ability to make a major impact in college tennis his freshman year.”

Such words seem to matter little to Briggs, who would rather carve his future with a swift slice of his racket.

Primarily a baseline player as a freshman and sophomore, Briggs developed his serve/volley game to the point that almost every rush to the net has netted success.

Briggs effectively blends a serve, which was once wild and unreliable, with his speed on the court. But Patton sees something else as the key to Briggs’ tennis future.

“Mike’s greatest strength is his attitude--he’s a happy warrior,” Patton said. “He’s got a fun, refreshing outlook. You see a joy in him when he plays. You see how much he loves it out there. Every time I watch him play I think, ‘This happy warrior is going to make me a happy coach.’ ”

But before college tennis, comes summer. And with it, summer satellite tournaments, beginning with a Midwestern segment in July that runs from Lawrence, Kan. to Lexington, Ky. Briggs will be traveling with some of his new teammates, including Anteater All-Americans Mark Kaplan and Trevor Kronemann.

“This is what I’ve been looking forward to,” Briggs said. “When I was a sophomore, winning CIF was so fun because I didn’t have these great expectations on me, and I didn’t put them on myself. By the end of this year, I created so much pressure by not ever losing, the season seemed like it went on forever. Now, it’s like I have a chance to get out there and just start all over in tennis.”

THE TIMES’ ALL-COUNTY Tennis Team Singles

Mike Briggs Corona del Mar Carlos Bustos University Dan Turbow Foothill

Doubles

Willi Dann University Pete Bohan University Neel Grover Dana Hills Stan Sanders Dana Hills Grant Hughes Laguna Beach Brad Magers Laguna Beach

Second Team Singles: Carsten Hoffmann (University); Jeff Belloli (Servite) and Ryan Gately (Dana Hills).

Doubles: Steve Arnott/Dave Moore (Edison); Jamil

Atcha/Blake Denison (Capistrano Valley) and Jason Chung/Mark Gothard (Servite).