Lewis, Evans Among Best and Brightest

In a decade filled with stars and star-quality performances, a few stood out above the rest.

BADMINTON

Boys: Ferdinand Rivera (Pacifica). Rivera, a native of the Philippines, won three consecutive Southern Section championships from 1983-85. Rivera, who was 5-feet-3 and 120 pounds as a senior, had a 40-1 record in his final year at Pacifica.

Girls: Tracy Hudson (Garden Grove). Hudson had a 154-5 record in her four-year career at Garden Grove. She won three consecutive Southern Section singles titles, and the junior national championship triple crown (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) in 1987. Hudson died in October 1987 in a single-car accident the day after playing in a tournament at Arizona State, the college for which she competed.

BASEBALL

Bill Dodd (Capistrano Valley). Dodd, a 6-3, 200-pound right-handed pitcher, was twice named The Times’ county player of the year (1983-84). Dodd had a 28-2 overall record with 300 strikeouts in his three-year career. He led Capistrano Valley to three consecutive South Coast League titles, and in 1983 was named the 2-A player of the year after leading his team to the 2-A championship. As a senior, Dodd went 10-0 in the regular season with a 1.72 earned-run average, and batted .425 with a county-leading nine home runs. He played for Arizona State one season and then one season for Saddleback College before signing with the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

BASKETBALL

Boys: Tom Lewis (Mater Dei). In his senior year, Lewis averaged 32 points and 11.7 rebounds in leading the school to the 1985 5-A championship. That year, Lewis received the same honor--being named the Southern Section player of the year--as two other Mater Dei players in this decade: Matt Beeuwsaert (1983, 4-A) and LeRon Ellis (1987, 5-A). In addition to leading Mater Dei to the 1985 5-A title, Lewis helped the Monarchs to the 1983 Southern Section title as a sophomore. In 1984, he led them to the 1984 title game, which they lost to Long Beach Poly in overtime, 45-44. “He was probably the only guy that played on a team that dominated like we did for three years,” Coach Gary McKnight said.

Girls: Aimee McDaniel (Brea-Olinda). At 5-6, the senior point guard has become the best player in Brea’s illustrious history. McDaniel, The Times’ county player of the year as a sophomore in 1988 and the Division III player of the year in 1989, is an exceptional outside shooter, but her greatest strength perhaps is her tenacity. Nicknamed the Baby-faced Assassin, McDaniel has stared down--and outplayed--a number of the state’s older, bigger and stronger players. “We had Carrie Egan (the 3-A player of the year in ‘87), but we couldn’t beat anyone (on the national level) with Carrie,” Brea Coach Mark Trakh said. “With Aimee, we’ve beat teams that are powers outside (Orange County). Aimee’s the best impact player we’ve ever had.”

CROSS-COUNTRY

Boys: Jon Butler (Edison). Although Butler ran only one season in the 1980s before graduating, that one season proved more impressive than those of any other county runner in the next nine years. In 1980, Butler was undefeated, winning the 4-A title at Saddleback College in 14:56. Butler went on to become a two-time All-American at UCLA.

Girls: Polly Plumer (University). Plumer was plagued with injuries throughout her career, but when she was healthy, she was nearly unbeatable. She won two Southern Section 4-A titles (1980-81), and ran the Mt. SAC course in 17:27, still the fastest time for any county girl. Although her best sport was track--a three-time state champion at 1,600 meters and she still holds the national record in the mile at 4:35.24--Plumer was the most talented female prep distance runner in the county since Mary Slaney, who attended--but did not compete for--Orange High School.

FOOTBALL

Bret Johnson (El Toro). Johnson passed for 6,627 yards in his career--2,458 in his senior season--but his best statistic perhaps is that he never lost a game he started in his junior and senior seasons. As a junior in 1986, Johnson was the county’s highest-rated passer during the regular season with 20 touchdowns and two interceptions. That year, he led El Toro to a 14-0 record and the Southern Conference championship, and was named The Times’ quarterback of the year. As a senior in 1987, Johnson, now at UCLA, missed four games with a knee injury that required surgery, but still finished as the county’s second-leading passer (after Capistrano Valley’s Todd Marinovich). He finished with 1,369 yards and 15 touchdowns in leading El Toro to its second consecutive Southern Conference title.

GOLF

Boys: Chris Tidland (Valencia). Tidland won the Southern Section individual title in 1989, becoming only the second county player to do so in the ‘80s (Matt Baugh of Huntington Beach won in 1988). Tidland was named The Times’ golfer of the year as a junior in 1989. He won the highly competitive Orange League title that year with a scoring average of 73.6, and averaged 1.79 putts a hole. He had only three double bogeys all season.

Girls: Kim Saiki (Ocean View). Saiki won the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. regional championship twice (1983, ‘84) and was the runner-up in 1982. She was the only county girl to win the tournament.

SOFTBALL

Michele Granger (Valencia). Granger, a three-time Southern Section player of the year (1986-88), has been called the best softball pitcher in the world on several occasions. In high school, Granger set national career records for strikeouts (1,635), no-hitters (36) and perfect games (nine). She set national single-season records for strikeouts (509) and perfect games (three), and tied national single-season records for no-hitters (11) and consecutive strikeouts in a game (21). Perhaps her most impressive statistic, however, is her 71 high school victories, of which 36 were no-hitters. A two-time Times’ county player of the year, Granger, who is now attending Cal, won several championships on the national and international levels, but her high school team never won a Southern Section title.

SOCCER

Girls: Julie Foudy (Mission Viejo). A three-time Times’ county player of the year and a three-time Southern Section player of the year, Foudy, a 5-6 midfielder, was the key to Mission Viejo’s domination from 1986-88. In that time, the Diablos won three Southern Section 4-A titles (the ’86 title was shared with Edison). In addition, Foudy led Mission Viejo to 84 consecutive games without a loss--a national record. Foudy, now playing at Stanford, is considered among the finest women players in the nation--on any level.

Boys: Joe-Max Moore (Mission Viejo). Last March, Moore led Mission Viejo to its first Southern Section title in the 3-A division. Despite being one of the smallest players around (5-7, 130 pounds), the midfielder was nearly unstoppable. Now playing for UCLA, Moore led the South Coast League in goals (25) and assists (10) in 1989 and was named player of the year in the league and the county.

SWIMMING

Boys: Darren Ward, (Sonora). Ward set Southern Section records in the 200-yard individual medley (1:48.83) in 1987, a national record at the time, and the 100-yard freestyle (45.31). Both records are still current Southern Section bests. Ward, who now attends UCLA, won the 3-A 200 IM and 100-yard freestyle in 1985, ’86 and ’87. Last year, Ward swam for the Canadian Olympic team.

Girls: Janet Evans (El Dorado). Many Olympic swimmers wouldn’t even bother competing at the high school level, but Evans, who won three gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, was a team player all the way. She competed in four Southern Section championship meets at El Dorado, where she won 10 section titles (including relays). Evans, now swimming at Stanford, set national high school records in the 200-yard IM (1:59.96) and the 500 freestyle (4:38.34). Even though Evans became an international swimming star, she said high school competition offered her some things Olympic competition never could. “I got to swim the 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke (in high school),” she said. “I could never do that on the international level.”

TENNIS

Boys: Mike Briggs (Corona del Mar). A three-time Times’ county player of the year, Briggs was a four-time Sea View League singles champion and won the Southern Section individual title as a sophomore. Although he lost in the semifinals as a junior and senior, those were his only losses those seasons. Though it is not a Southern Section-sanctioned event, winning the Ojai tournament was probably Briggs’ greatest accomplishment during high school. Briggs went to UC Irvine, where he played his freshman and sophomore years, but left school last year to play professionally.

Girls: Keri Phebus (Corona del Mar). Last year as a freshman, Phebus became the first county girl to win a Southern Section individual singles title. This fall, she won the title again. She also has led Corona del Mar to the last two section team titles. “She’s the best player I ever saw out of this county,” her coach, Dave Heffern, said. Phebus, The Times’ player of the year in 1988 and ‘89, has lost only two high school matches--she was undefeated this year--but is considering skipping high school competition next year to concentrate on national and international tournaments.

TRACK AND FIELD

Boys: Brian Blutreich (Capistrano Valley). Blutreich set county and state records in both the shotput (69-feet 6 1/2-inches) and discus (210-8) in 1985. He won the Southern Section, Masters and state shotput titles in both 1984 and ‘85, and Southern Section, Masters and state titles in the discus in ’85. In the 1985 Keebler Invitational, he won both the shot and discus events, becoming only the second athlete to win both in the meet’s history. Other county weightmen pale in comparison to Blutreich--none have tossed the discus more than 191 feet, and in the ‘80s, the athlete to come closest to his mark was San Clemente’s Jim Doehring, who had a toss of 64-11 3/4 in 1980. Blutreich is currently competing for UCLA.

Girls: Natalie Kaaiawahia (Fullerton). Kaaiawahia is the only athlete, male or female, to win four state titles in the same event, as she did in the shotput from 1980-83. She added two more state titles in the discus in 1981 and ’83. Most impressive, though, is her national prep record in the event, 53-feet 7 3/4-inches set in 1983, which has not been threatened. Kaaiawahia owns the nation’s top 10 girls’ throws of all time. Her 10th-best throw--51-8 1/2 as a sophomore in 1981--would still be a national record by 4 1/2 inches. Kaaiawahia also holds the county record in the discus (174-9), which is 10th on the national list. Kaaiawahia went to Arizona State, but after failing to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, she left school a year later, and is working as a reserve police officer in Grover City.

VOLLEYBALL

Boys: Dan Hanan (Edison). Newport Harbor’s Dan Glenn has coached some of the county’s best boys’ players, but he singles out Hanan, the 1986 4-A player of the year, as the best. Hanan, a senior playing at Stanford, never played volleyball until high school, but quickly adapted to the game. A 6-4 middle blocker, Hanan was an All-Southern Section selection as a junior and senior, and was The Times’ player of the year in 1986.

Girls: Bev Oden (Irvine). The third of three talented volleyball-playing sisters, Oden helped lead Irvine to three Southern Section finals and two Southern Section and state championships. In her senior season in 1988, Oden, a 6-2 middle blocker, was named the player of the year in the South Coast League, Southern Section and state. At the state championship, she recorded a state-record 25 kills in Irvine’s victory over Davis High. Oden, who started at Stanford this year as a freshman, also was a state finalist in the shotput.

WATER POLO

Chris Oeding (Corona del Mar). Oeding, the 1988 Southern Section player of the year, was a two-time high school All-American (1986-87). He led Corona del Mar to two Southern Section titles. In 1987, he was selected first-team All-Southern Section, and in ’86 was selected to the third team. Oeding, a second-team collegiate All-American for Stanford this season, played for the U.S. national youth team as a high school senior.

WRESTLING

Steve Lawson (El Dorado). Lawson won Southern Section and state titles in 1986 at 191 pounds, leading El Dorado to second place in the state. He had impressive take-down abilities; his best performance might have been in the state finals, when he pinned his opponent in the championship match. “Steve Lawson was absolutely the most dominant wrestler and probably the toughest (in Orange County),” Canyon Coach Gary Bowden said. Lawson wrestled for the Army for two years before going on to Cal State Bakersfield.

(Note: All selections were based on accomplishments in high school only).