Prep Review : Corona del Mar, Dana Hills Jockey for Position : County Cross-Country Powers Are in the Running for Honors Again This Year

Last year, Corona del Mar and Dana Hills high schools had the county’s top two boys’ cross-country teams.

Corona del Mar had the edge for most of the season, winning the Orange County Championships by less than a second. But Dana Hills, second-ranked all season, came on strong in mid-November to win the Southern Section 4-A title. The Sea Kings finished fourth in 4-A.

This season, Dana Hills, top-ranked in the 4-A, and Corona del Mar, ranked second, are again two of the county’s top teams.

But will it end up that way? It’s difficult to predict.

Consider Saturday’s Laguna Hills Invitational. Corona del Mar won the large-schools senior division race with 38 points, scoring an impressive victory over Dana Hills, third with 108.

Who was second? University--unranked in both the county and the Southern Section.

Some coaches think that Dana Hills, which ran without fifth man Chris Roberts (hamstring pull) and seventh man Tony Liu (broken ankle) Saturday, may be holding back for a late-season surprise attack like last year.

But Dana Hills Coach Tim Butler said the Dolphins aren’t hiding a thing.

“In the beginning of the year, I thought we had good depth,” Butler said. “Now I don’t know. . . . I was hoping in my heart (Corona del Mar) wouldn’t be that good. Now, they’re obviously the ones that should be ranked number one.”

Add Laguna Hills: With the return of No. 1 runner Kim Robinson, back from a bout with chicken pox, the girls’ cross-country team at Newport Harbor is at full strength.

The Sailors, the second-ranked team in the Southern Section 4-A, won the large-school division at the Laguna Hills Invitational with 65 points. Santa Ana Valley, fourth-ranked in 4-A, was second with 103, and sixth-ranked El Toro was third with 116.

Irvine’s Andrea Caminitti won the large-school race in 18:32, followed by Robinson (18:49), Terri Skeen of Capistrano Valley (18:55) and Teresa Beltran of Santa Ana Valley (19:16).

Woodbridge, third-ranked in 2-A, won the girls’ small-schools division with 66 points. The Warriors were led by Cathi Peck, first in 18:45, and Laura Peck, fifth in 19:24.

Second-Half Smash: Danny O’Neil, Mater Dei’s fast-improving quarterback, has spent the last two Thursday nights trying to play catch up.

O’Neil, a junior who had yet to take a varsity snap before this season, started slowly in the Monarchs’ season-opener against Fountain Valley Sept. 8. Though the Monarchs lost that game, 22-17, O’Neil showed much more promise in the second half.

It was much the same last Thursday. O’Neil--and the rest of the Monarchs--looked somewhat lost as Oceanside gained a 36-13 lead by halftime.

But Mater Dei came back in the second half, with O’Neil throwing three touchdown passes. It wasn’t enough, as Oceanside won, 36-34. Mater Dei Coach Chuck Gallo was pleased with his team’s effort nevertheless.

“Well, the conditions of the game dictated that we . . . had to go away from our normal game plan--mixing the run and the pass and be patient,” Gallo said. “There was no time for that. We had to accelerate everything. I think we threw 37 times (actually 28). I mean, we consider ourselves Air Monarch, but we don’t usually go bananas.”

Streak Dept: Which team currently has the longest streak of qualifying for the Southern Section football playoffs? Servite and Los Altos have advanced to the postseason playoffs in 16 straight seasons.

Lompoc has qualified 14 straight times, followed by Esperanza, Fontana and Santa Monica with 13 appearances, Lynwood with 12 and Long Beach Poly and Valley Christian with 11. El Toro, which has won the Southern Conference title two consecutive seasons, has qualified nine straight years along with South Hills.

Others include Bishop Amat and Valencia (eight) and Canyon Country Canyon, Carpenteria, Loyola and Hart with seven appearances.

Narrow Victory: Capistrano Valley, the third-ranked water polo team in the Southern Section 2-A, scored an impressive victory at the La Serna tournament last weekend.

Cougar Coach Don Cholodenko said he was especially pleased with the win because his team played well in an unfamiliar pool.

“It’s a narrow type of pool, much narrower than we’re used to in Orange County,” Cholodenko said. “It takes away from our counter-attack and swim speed. There’s not many like it anymore.”

Junior Paul Felton led the Cougars with 15 goals in the five-game tournament. Aaron Anderson scored 11, sophomore Kevin Eggert had 10 and junior Kevin McCalley had 9 goals and 12 assists.

Goalkeeper Nick Kittredge allowed 18 goals and made 26 saves.

More trainers: Orange football Coach Mark McMahon had been trying for two years to get walk-on assistant coach Scott Wilson hired to an on-campus position.

With no teaching jobs available, McMahon tried to get Wilson hired as a trainer. Wilson is certified as a trainer and performed those duties for the Panther football team, as well as working with the special teams.

However, the Orange Unified School District could not find the money for a trainer position.

Wilson was hired by the San Francisco Giants last week--as a trainer. He will leave this week to work in the Arizona Instructional League.

“I couldn’t think of a better job for Scott than full-time trainer,” McMahon said. “He is fully qualified for the job and the need is there. But the district said there was not any money for it.”

Whiz Kid: University’s No. 1 singles player Jeannette Fylpaa is one of the county’s top tennis players this season.

She’s also a freshman.

Fylpaa, ranked nationally in the United States Tennis Assn.’s 14-and-under division, has compiled a 10-2 record this season.

“It’ll be interesting to see how she does this week,” Trojan Coach Karen Speros said.

University plays Edison, one of the county’s top teams, Tuesday. Thursday, the Trojans take on cross-city rival Irvine.

Gone East: Brad McNamara, a former basketball coach at Western High School, has left for Doha, Qatar, a tiny Middle Eastern country near Saudi Arabia, to coach a professional basketball team for three years.

McNamara, 37, an all-Southern Section player for Sunny Hills in the late 1960s, will coach the El-Nahda Sports Club basketball team.