Irvine Valley, OCC Teams Make Marks Off Field, Too

So much is made of the on-field accomplishments of local community college athletes that sometimes it’s forgotten that they are students as well.

But the Irvine Valley women’s cross-country program and the Orange Coast water polo program offered a reminder recently, when both won scholar team awards for the fall of 1992.

The Irvine Valley team, coached by Bill and Julie Leach, had a grade-point average of 3.40. Irvine Valley won the Orange Empire Conference team title as well.

“It’s a double plus,” said Cely Mora, Irvine Valley’s athletic director. “It shows they can take care of business equally on the field and in the classroom. So often the only news you hear about athletics is about the ones in trouble academically. We don’t hear often enough about the athletes who are doing it right.”

Don Watson’s Orange Coast team had a GPA of 3.33. OCC was 19-9 and finished second in the Orange Empire Conference.

The men’s and women’s swimming teams at Orange Coast, also coached by Watson, won similar awards last spring.

“When you consider how many athletic programs there are around the state and how many awards we have won,” Watson said, “I really can’t help but be proud of this.”

Santa Barbara won for women’s soccer and Fresno for women’s volleyball.

*

More academics: Six local players were on the J.C. Grid-Wire’s preseason scholar-athlete team that was announced last week.

Jess Gomez and George Burge, both offensive linemen at Rancho Santiago, made the list. Scott von der Ahe, a linebacker at Saddleback, defensive backs Scott Caringella (Golden West) and Antoni Davis (Orange Coast) and punter Justin Soggoan (Orange Coast) also made the list.

*

Football: Palomar (5-0) and Mt. San Antonio (5-0), both of which had convincing victories over Orange County teams Saturday, remained the top two teams in the Southland Poll.

Palomar, the top-ranked team, beat Rancho Santiago, 51-38, and No. 2 Mt. San Antonio routed Saddleback, 40-12.

Bakersfield (4-0) is third, Long Beach (5-0) fourth, Cerritos (4-0-1) fifth, L.A. Valley (3-0) sixth, Moorpark (3-1) seventh, San Bernardino Valley (3-1) eighth, Desert (3-1) ninth and Orange Coast (2-2) 10th.

*

Laser power: Irvine Valley held on to its No. 1 ranking in the Southern California women’s cross-country poll with a victory Friday at the Irvine Invitational.

Orange Coast, which has shown improvement recently, is No. 2. San Diego Mesa is third, Mt. San Antonio fourth, Cuesta fifth, Glendale sixth, Santa Monica seventh, El Camino eighth, Golden West ninth and Rancho Santiago 10th.

Mt. San Antonio is the top-ranked men’s cross-country team. Riverside is second, Cuyamaca third, El Camino fourth, Glendale fifth, Rancho Santiago sixth, Long Beach seventh, Irvine Valley eighth, Orange Coast ninth and Los Angeles Trade Tech 10th.

Notes

Ruben Oronoz, a Cal State Northridge basketball recruit from Rancho Santiago, had surgery for a herniated disk and is expected to miss the entire season. Oronoz, a 6-foot-7 swingman, led Rancho Santiago in scoring last season with an average of 16.7 points.