Titles Come With Help From Unlikely Sources

Orange County colleges won two State titles Saturday and in both cases, lesser-known athletes made key contributions.

Golden West won its fifth consecutive water polo championship by beating Grossmont, 14-12, in the title game. It was the 12th State championship for the program since 1977.

Irvine Valley won the women’s cross-country title.

Golden West was 31-4 this season and has an all-time mark of 655-138.

Daniel Julson came off the bench to score three goals for Golden West in the final game. Jude Allan and Curt Bowman had four goals each in the title game.

But the play by reserves was key in the second half, when Golden West’s Alfred VanDorp and Curt Bowman were ejected after receiving their third kick-outs.

“The bench played great like they have all year,” said Don Mahaffey, Golden West’s assistant coach. “Mike Rubottom and Julson especially gave us some real quality play.”

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Irvine Valley won its first outright and second overall women’s cross-country state title in the three-year history of the program Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The Lasers were undefeated in the regular season. But the State meet was no sure thing because Mayra Medina, the team’s top runner, had been bothered by a leg injury for about a week.

But Medina overcame the problem to run her usually strong race, finishing 11th. Irvine Valley was helped greatly by a strong performance by No. 2 runner Summer Gingrich who finished 19th.

“We had a great team overall,” said Julie Leach, who with her husband Bill, coaches Irvine Valley’s program. “Summer finished 19th and that was the real key to the win. This was a dream season, not only winning the State championship, but going undefeated all season. The girls may never have a chance to do this again.”

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Post-season pairings: Golden West was seeded No. 1 and Saddleback and Fullerton also earned berths in the Southern California women’s volleyball playoffs.

Golden West (21-0) plays host to No. 16 Rio Hondo. Saddleback (14-3) is at Grossmont (13-6) and Fullerton (9-9) is at Cuesta. All games are at 7 tonight.

The second round of regional play is Nov. 30 and the four finalists from Southern and Northern California meet at the State tournament Dec. 3-5 at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.

Women’s soccer: Cypress, the top-ranked team in the state, plays host to Mt. San Antonio Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Southern California playoffs. Orange Coast will be at El Camino at 7 p.m. Friday in the other first-round game. The winners meet Nov. 30. The winner of that game advances to the State title game Dec. 5 at Orange Coast.

Men’s soccer: Irvine Valley was seeded second and Orange Coast seventh in the men’s pairings. Irvine Valley (15-3-4), the Orange Empire Conference champion, plays host to No. 7 Moorpark (7-3-5) at 1 p.m. today. Orange Coast travels to No. 3 East Los Angeles (19-1-2) tonight at 7. The second round is Saturday and the State tournament is at OCC, Dec. 4-5.

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Orange Coast, which won six of its last seven football games, plays Antelope Valley (6-4) in the Dec. 4 Simple Green Orange County Bowl at OCC. It’s the third bowl appearance for the Pirates and Coach Bill Workman in the last four years.

Mt. San Antonio (8-2) was invited to play Orange Coast but Monday opted to take a berth in the Southern California Bowl against Citrus.

The 1 p.m. game in the Simple Green doubleheader matches Riverside (6-4) against Cerritos (7-2-1). Riverside made the most dramatic turnaround of any team in Southern California this season. The Tigers started the season 0-4 but won the last six.

Tickets for the games are on sale in the athletic department of the four colleges.

Community College Notes

Palomar (10-0) finished in the top spot of the Southland football poll. Bakersfield (10-0) was second and Mt. San Antonio (8-2) third. San Bernardino Valley (9-1) was fourth, Long Beach (9-1) fifth, Moorpark (8-2) sixth, Cerritos (7-2-1) seventh, Orange Coast (7-3) eighth, Riverside (6-4) ninth and Los Angeles Valley (8-2) 10th.