PREP REVIEW : It’s a War of the Rezas When These Teams Meet

Last year, Joe and Eileen Reza spent many moments chatting about Los Amigos High School’s track and field teams. Track was a natural topic of conversation for the husband and wife because Joe coached the boys’ team at Los Amigos and Eileen coached the girls’ team.

But now, those friendly little chats have come to an end.

This year, Joe is coaching both the girls’ and boys’ teams, and Eileen is coaching the girls’ team at Santiago--a Garden Grove League rival.

Now instead of sharing information on their athletes, the Rezas are trying to hide what they know.

“It’s real interesting at times,” said Eileen, who left for Santiago because it offered a full-time teaching position with the coaching job. “He’ll bribe me for information sometimes. He says, ‘I’ll make you dinner if you give me your results.’ Of course, sometimes I fudge on our results.”

The Rezas, who met at a summer coaching clinic several years ago, will coach against each other for the first time on April 26 when Los Amigos travels to Santiago for its league season finale.

Call it the War of the Rezas.

“I’m psyching my girls up, of course,” Eileen said. “We are not going to lose to them.”

If their current records are any indication--Santiago is leading the league at 4-0, Los Amigos is 2-3--Eileen’s team may come out ahead.

But her former athletes are betting against it.

A few weeks ago, the Los Amigos girls’ team made a wager that Santiago couldn’t beat Los Amigos in the mile relay.

“The bet is dinner for our relay members,” Joe said. “Oh, and, of course, for me, too.”

Soldier boys: Every Tuesday through Sunday night, Tustin High School football players have donned shields, sandals and robes and wielded spears. No worries--it’s all in the name of fun . . . and fund raising.

The Tillers, along with their coaches, have been making twice-nightly appearances in The Glory of Easter, the annual Easter play that runs March 16-April 21 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

The Tillers are appearing in the play to raise funds for an August trip to Hawaii to compete in the Shawn Akina Memorial football tournament.

There also have been other benefits, says Tustin Coach Marijon Ancich. “It’s a bona fide unifier for the guys,” Ancich said. “And they’re dealing with real actors and wild animals, too. This is real big. They sold 40,000 presale tickets.”

The Tustin players work in shifts. There are two performances each night, Tuesday through Sunday. Each player works about two nights a week, 10 to a performance, and the money they earn goes to the team.

“Some of our guys play Roman soldiers, guards, scribes,” Ancich said. “Believe it or not, myself and some of the coaches are up there on stage, too. I’ve played Barrabus the Murderer.”

Ancich estimates that the team will earn about $5,000 for the five-week stint, which should cover most of the land costs for the Hawaii trip.

“It’s been a real positive deal, and the guys are hanging on pretty good considering they’ve been doing it so long,” Ancich said. “It’s tough; it’s a sacrifice. The guys are even bringing their books so they can do their homework (between shows).”

Holed it: Fountain Valley golfer Kevin Shimada has been playing golf for less than a year, but Tuesday he did what none of the Masters could do in Augusta, Ga.: He hit a hole-in-one.

Shimada’s ace on the 164-yard, par-three fourth hole at the Mile Square Park course in Fountain Valley came as a surprise to the senior, who’s in his first season on the golf team.

“I hit it and didn’t even think it was going to land on the green,” Shimada. “Then it hit the bunker, and I guess it just rolled in from there.”

Shimada shot eight-over-par 44 in the nine-hole match but finished with a 39 on the back nine. Ocean View defeated the Barons, 218-224.

Lacrosse country: In the East, it’s widely popular at both the high school and college level. In Southern California, it might often be confused with a game of cricket.

It’s lacrosse, which Webster’s Dictionary defines as, “a goal game in which players use a long-handled stick that has a triangular head with a loose mesh pouch for catching and carrying the ball.”

Basically, it’s a cross between hockey and soccer, with 10 players on each side.

In Orange County, four high schools--Estancia, Irvine, Trabuco Hills and University--field lacrosse teams. They’re members of the Orange County Youth Lacrosse League, which is currently midway through its inaugural season.

Mitch Fenton, a Long Beach, N.Y., native who coaches Trabuco Hills, founded the league. He also founded the Western Collegiate Lacross Assn. (of which UC Irvine has an affiliate) and the San Diego Youth Lacrosse League.

Fenton said he hopes to expand the league in Orange County, but more coaches are needed.

“Any time we’ve introduced it to a school, the kids have gone crazy over it,” Fenton said.

Boothby’s back: A few months ago, Esperanza runner Cyndi Boothby was dreading the future. Her father’s promotion at work meant that Boothby and her family would soon be moving from their Anaheim Hills home to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Esperanza Coach Al Britt wasn’t overjoyed with the thought of Boothby leaving either. Boothby, a sophomore, is the defending Empire League champion at 800 meters.

Boothby has been granted a reprieve--at least for now.

“We decided to stay here through the summer,” said Joan Boothby, Cyndi’s mother. “We’re really doing it for Cyndi. It’s really best for her to stay and finish up her season at Esperanza. Plus, we’re building a house in Ohio and it won’t be ready until August.”

Prep Notes

Mission Viejo’s Allison Axtell, the county leader in the long jump, will attend Stanford next year and compete in track. Distance runner Natalie Adam of Huntington Beach has made an oral commitment to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. . . . The San Jose State softball team, 13th-ranked in the country, plays at Cal State Long Beach today. San Jose features Woodbridge High School graduates Kim Johnson (catcher) and Lisa Wehren (pitcher). Canyon High graduate Chanelle Chambrone catches for Cal State Long Beach. . . . Former Western High School softball standout Ivy Pinkerton, now a freshman who plays second base, shortstop and third base for California, was ESPN’s Pepsi-Cola player of the game in Cal’s 2-0 loss to UCLA last week.