Southern Section OKs Realignment Proposal : Six Leagues Will Change in 1990-91; Santa Margarita’s Status Still Undecided

Santa Ana High School will move to the Sunset League, and traditional rivals Servite and Mater Dei no longer will be in the same league as part of a realignment proposal approved on Thursday at the Southern Section’s general council meeting in Buena Park.

Representatives from nine leagues in Orange County voted, 8-1, to adopt several changes, which will start in 1990 and last two school years. Six of the 11 current leagues involving Orange County schools will be affected by the changes. Alignment changes can occur every two years.

Gary Ernst, Huntington Beach High School principal and the Sunset League’s council representative, cast the only opposing vote against the proposal, which makes the Sunset a seven-team league.

“We now have an odd-numbered league, which will make it difficult for our football teams to schedule games in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh weeks of the season,” Ernst said.

“We’ll likely have to schedule games wherever we can find them, which will increase our travel expenses. Also, we are currently an all-district league (Huntington Beach Union High School District), and the addition of Santa Ana could create some philosophical differences somewhere down the road.”

Other changes include moving Woodbridge from the Pacific Coast League to the Sea View and Orange from the Pacific Coast to rejoin the Century after a three-year absence. Estancia will move to the Pacific Coast from the Sea View along with Century, which opened in Santa Ana this fall with 1,000 freshmen and sophomores.

The Garden Grove will remain the county’s only eight-team league.

Representatives from the parochial schools agreed to accept a proposal to place Servite and Mater Dei in different leagues and eliminate the traditionally powerful Angelus League.

Six of the strongest all-boys’ Catholic schools--Bosco Tech, Crespi, Loyola, St. Francis, St. John Bosco and Servite--were in the Del Rey League. The league will have a five-team alignment for football because Bosco Tech does not field a team.

Mater Dei joins the Mission, an eight-team league. Six teams--Alemany, Bishop Amat, Bishop Montgomery, Mater Dei, St. Bernard and St. Paul--will field football teams.

Still unresolved is the placement of Santa Margarita for 1990-92. The Southern Section’s Executive Committee voted last spring to place the school in the parochial sector, but the school is appealing the decision to the State Executive Committee. A meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Airporter Inn in Irvine.

Santa Margarita has asked to be placed in the Orange County area with public schools, noting that the distance to travel to compete against other Catholic schools would be costly and time-consuming. If placed in the Mission, the school’s closest competitor, Mater Dei, would have to travel 52 miles round trip. NEW LOOK FOR 1990

Southern Section realignment affecting Orange County schools, to take effect in the 1990-91 school year:

CENTURY LEAGUE

Remaining: Canyon, El Modena, Foothill, Santa Ana Valley, Villa Park

Joining: Orange

Leaving: Santa Ana

DEL REY LEAGUE

Remaining: Crespi, Loyola, St. Francis, St. John Bosco

Joining: Bosco Tech, Servite

Leaving: Alemany

MISSION LEAGUE

Remaining (from defunct Angelus League): Bishop Amat, Bishop Montgomery, Mater Dei, Rosary (all girls), St. Joseph (all girls) and St. Paul.

Joining: Alemany, St. Bernard.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Remaining: Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Trabuco Hills

Joining: Century, Estancia

Leaving: Orange, Woodbridge

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Remaining: Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Saddleback, Tustin, University

Joining: Woodbridge

Leaving: Estancia

SUNSET LEAGUE

Remaining: Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Marina, Ocean View, Westminster

Joining: Santa Ana