WINNING EDGE: Some of the country’s best...

WINNING EDGE: Some of the country’s best community sports programs are in Orange County. Few are better than Golden West College’s women’s volleyball, which hasn’t lost a conference match since 1986. The streak has reached 81, but Coach Al Gasparian says he doesn’t pay much attention. “I don’t even think about it,” Gasparian said. “The whole idea of conference is to qualify for the playoffs with the highest seed possible.” Golden West has won three state titles during that span.

NO. 1: Saddleback College’s Ken Swearingen became the winningest community college football coach ever earlier this season when he recorded victory No. 242. But Swearingen has had some trouble extending the record. After he was honored before an Oct. 9 home game against Mt. San Antonio College, he said, “I’m a little embarrassed by all this. I don’t think this table full of awards is going to impress Mt. San Antonio.” He was right; the Gauchos, who last year went undefeated and won the national title in one poll, were routed, 40-12.

LOCAL TALENT: Rancho Santiago College renewed hope for Southern California men’s cross-country teams recently by defeating Riverside. With runners from places such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, Riverside hadn’t lost in the regular season since 1986. Rancho Santiago did it with a local cast: No. 1 runner Fidel Zavala (bottom) went to Santiago High, Francisco Vazquez (not pictured) and Jose Torres (left) are from Santa Ana Valley, Rudy Hernandez (right) went to Saddleback and Tyrrell Wynn (top) to El Modena. “A parent asked me about Riverside,” Coach Al Siddons said. “I just told them that their district is a lot bigger than ours.”

WATER POWER: With the unmatched success of Golden West College, Orange County has been most dominant in water polo, winning 16 of 29 state titles since playoffs began in 1962. . . . Golden West has won 11, and coached by Ken Hamdorf, they have a strong shot at another. . . . The Rustlers are California’s top-ranked team and shooting for their fifth title in a row.