FIRST-TERM REPORT CARD : Corona del Mar, Edison Lead Times Orange County All-Sports Award Competition

Newport Harbor went undefeated and won a Southern Section football title.

The Sailors also finished atop some national high school girls’ volleyball polls after winning Southern Section and State championships with a 33-1 record.

And naturally, when it came time to tally up the points for The Times Orange County’s second all-sports competition, the Sailors were in . . . second place?

When it comes to well-rounded athletic programs in the fall, the Sailors are about as well-rounded--and as good--as they come. But the more sports a school excels at, the better, and that’s where the Sailors came up a wee bit short.

That was the major difference between Newport Harbor having the highest cumulative score in the county or trailing its cross-town and Sea View League rival, Corona del Mar.

The Sea Kings, for the second year in a row, had the county’s highest score through the fall sports season, leading the small-school competition with 153.3 points. And they did it without winning any section titles, which factor into the scoring. They did, however, finish runner-up in two sports--girls’ tennis and water polo.

In girls’ cross-country, Corona del Mar scored 25 points--23 more than Newport Harbor--and added a 17-point edge in girls’ tennis and a 14-point margin in water polo; that was more than enough to make up deficits to the Sailors in other sports, notably girls’ volleyball and football, which Newport Harbor scored a combined 79.7 points out of a possible 80. Newport Harbor had the county’s second-highest total, 143.9 points, putting the Sailors in the same spot they were last year, before they dropped to sixth place in the final standings.

“I think we’ll probably get more points out of the boys this year than last year (over the winter and spring seasons),” Newport Harbor Athletic Director Eric Tweit said. “And the girls will probably be about the same.”

The all-sports competition is designed to identify the county’s best all-around athletic programs in two enrollment classes: large school (1,200 or more students) and small school (fewer than 1,200).

Consider this fall the first of three grading periods, and at the end of the school year, the point totals for the fall (six sports, 240 possible points), winter (five sports, 200 points) and spring (10 sports, 400 points) will be totaled to determine large- and small-school champions.

Corona del Mar and Los Alamitos won last year’s inaugural competition, the first of its type in Orange County to try to determine the county’s best overall athletic program based on winning percentage, league standing, and performance in the Southern Section playoffs.

“It’s kind of like a report card and you’re getting a report card on your school athletic program,” said John Barnes, Los Alamitos football coach and first-year athletic director. “Very rarely do you get that (overall recognition)--maybe your baseball team sticks out or something. Our coaches and athletes were really proud (of winning last year).

“It’s easy to say we have a great football or tennis program, because we do, but it takes a schoolwide effort to win. It’s something to shoot for--athletics is about competition and trying to do your best, and any school, if they want a high-level program, would consider that kind of special.”

Among large schools, the fall leader is Edison with 137.8 points, about four points fewer than the Chargers’ had last year when they went into the winter sports campaign in second place behind Los Alamitos.

And what of Los Alamitos, which failed to win a section football title for the first time in four years? Would you believe sixth place with 107.9 points?

“Being the athletic director now, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking it would be nice to win again,” Barnes said. “But it will be a little tougher for us now in the Sunset League.”

Los Alamitos competed in the Empire League last year, but so did Esperanza, which finished second in the All-Sports competition last year. Both have since moved to the Sunset League, perhaps the county’s toughest overall, and joined Edison, which finished third last year.

The difference between Los Alamitos and runner-up Esperanza last year was 1.4 points; the difference between Los Alamitos and Edison was 7.7.

Maybe the most surprising school near the top of the current chart is Katella, which barely qualified for the large-school division with an enrollment of only 1,213. The Knights were 1-9 in football, but excelled in boys’ and girls’ cross-country and girls’ volleyball, and are third with 115.17 points.

That’s what happens when you put all sports on an even playing field.

Here’s a look at how Corona del Mar worked its magic and reached 153.3 points (rounded to the nearest 10th):

* Football: The Sea Kings finished 5-6 overall (.455 winning percentage) for 4.55 points, and earned seven points for a second-place finish in the Sea View League. They lost in the first round of the Division V playoffs, 43-21, to Villa Park, thus earning no points for the section championship performance. Total: 11.55.

* Boys’ cross-country: The Sea Kings went 4-1 in league dual meets (eight points) and won the league championship (10). Corona del Mar finished second in the section Division III-A finals (16). Total: 34.

* Girls’ cross-country: The team was 4-1 in league dual meets (eight points), finished third in league (5), and was third at the section Division III-A finals (12). Total: 25.

* Girls’ tennis: Corona del Mar finished its Sea View dual-meet matches at 10-0 (10 points) and in first place (10). The team reached the section Division I final, where it lost to Palos Verdes Peninsula, 17-1 (16). Total: 36.

* Girls’ volleyball: A 9-7 record was worth 5.62 points. The Sea Kings finished second in league (7), but lost in the first round of the section Division I playoffs (0). Total: 12.6.

* Water polo: Corona del Mar finished 22-5 (8.14 points) and first in league (10). The Sea Kings were defeated by Long Beach Wilson, 10-9, in the section Division I final (16). Total: 34.1.

With a much smaller lead going into this winter than last year, the question is, can Corona del Mar hang on?

“We’re very young (among the winter sports teams),” Corona del Mar Athletic Director Jerry Jelnick said. “We’ve got kids and coaches that are going to try their hardest, but whether we get results or not . . . The fall is a pretty hard act to follow. Our winter sports have always been right in the middle.”

Two other schools appear poised to make a run at Corona del Mar.

Third-place Brea-Olinda (121.3 points) again has an excellent girls’ basketball team and is the Orange League favorite in boys’ and girls’ soccer. The Wildcats finished third last year, 48 points behind Corona del Mar. However, Brea-Olinda made up 28.2 points in the winter and spring; this year, Brea-Olinda trails by only 32 points.

Another school that could catch Corona del Mar, based on past performance, is Laguna Hills, which finished second last year, 38.4 points back. The Hawks made up 23.1 points in the final two terms, and this year, the fifth-place Hawks trail by 46.1 points with their best seasons ahead of them; they are league favorites in boys’ and girls’ soccer and wrestling.

“I feel like our spring sports is always our strongest sports season,” Brea-Olinda boys’ Athletic Director Ron Hampton said. “And we could finish no worse than second in every sport this winter.”

Who will lead the large schools after the winter season? It’s a pretty good bet Mater Dei will make a challenge. The Monarchs are second among large schools with 123.12 points, and excel in three of the five winter sports; they are ranked first in Orange County in boys’ basketball and third in girls’ basketball; girls’ soccer is a top-15 program.

The Monarchs’ problem is consistency. They were in second place after the winter season last year, but scored only 52.6 points in the spring. That didn’t get the job done last year--they dropped from second to eighth place.

Edison might have enough to hold off Mater Dei and the rest of the pack, especially if it gets an effort to match last year’s, when it moved into the lead after the winter season on the strength of its two soccer teams and its boys’ basketball team--which made a surprising run through the playoffs before losing to Mater Dei in the section final. The Chargers are ranked ninth in girls’ basketball, and fifth in boys’ soccer; girls’ soccer was sixth in a preseason poll.

Esperanza might also be a factor. The Aztecs are fourth (108.5 points) and boast a top-flight girls’ basketball team (eighth), girls’ soccer team (third) and boys’ soccer team (top 15).

* This story researched by Don Turnbull

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The Divisions

Using enrollment figures from the Southern Section and individual schools, Orange County’s high schools were split into two divisions. The cutoff point was 1,200 students.

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LARGE SCHOOLS (37) 1. Servite/Rosary (1,056/886) 1,942; 2. Esperanza 1,854; 3. Los Alamitos 1,850; 4. Saddleback 1,835; 5. Santa Ana Valley 1,816; 6. Irvine 1,684; 7. Fountain Valley 1,650; 8. El Toro 1,610; 9. Century 1,609; 10. Santa Ana 1,581; 11. Orange 1,526; 12. Mater Dei 1,510; 13. San Clemente 1,480; 14. Marina 1,479; 15. Aliso Niguel 1,455 16. Dana Hills 1,453; 17. Sunny Hills 1,448; 18. University 1,422; 19. Westminster 1,411; 20. Capistrano Valley 1,410; 21. Santiago 1,390; 22. Woodbridge 1,373; 23. Mission Viejo 1,351; 24. Garden Grove 1,340; 25. Trabuco Hills 1,328; 26. Huntington Beach 1,327; 27. Anaheim 1,325; 28. Villa Park 1,304; 29. Edison 1,303; 30. Canyon 1,301; 31. Loara 1,294; 32. Valencia 1,276; 33. Santa Margarita 1,237; 34. Kennedy 1,227; 35. Foothill 1,217; 36. Tustin 1,216; 37. Katella 1,213.

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SMALL SCHOOLS (40) 38. Laguna Hills 1,198; 39. Cypress 1,194; 40. Los Amigos 1,190; 41. El Dorado 1,173; 42. Ocean View 1,162; 43. Brea-Olinda 1,150; 44. El Modena 1,133; 45. La Habra 1,099; 46. Buena Park 1,096; 47. Savanna 1,086; 48. Bolsa Grande 1,079; 49. Magnolia 1,072; 50. Troy 1,071; 51. Newport Harbor 1,064; 52. Sonora 1,036; 53. Western 1,025; 54. Fullerton 988; 55. La Quinta 938; 56. Rancho Alamitos 901; 57. Pacifica 892; 58. Estancia 861; 59. Costa Mesa 759; 60. Corona del Mar 707; 61. Laguna Beach 545; 62. Orange Lutheran 429; 63. Calvary Chapel 426; 64. Whittier Christian 420; 65 Brethren Christian 377; 66. Connelly 342; 67. Capistrano Valley Christian 148; 68. St. Margaret’s 139; 69. Southern California Christian 111; 70. St. Michael’s 100; 71. Claremont 87; 72. Orangewood Academy 77; 73. Fairmont 80, 74. Heritage Christian 63; 75. Liberty Christian 55; 76. Pacific Shores 50; 77. Bethel Baptist 27.

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Large School Top 20

School FB BCC GCC GT GVB WP Total 1. Edison 12.3 32.0 36.0 23.0 30.3 4.2 137.8 2. Mater Dei 40.0 34.0 19.0 11.0 14.5 4.6 123.1 3. Katella 1.0 38.0 32.0 15.0 25.5 13.7 115.2 4. Esperanza 13.4 15.0 31.0 2.0 9.7 37.5 108.5 5. Foothill 28.2 2.0 31.0 4.0 13.3 29.9 108.3 6. Los Alamitos 31.2 0.0 19.0 26.0 2.1 19.6 107.9 7. Sunny Hills 22.2 15.0 13.0 16.0 31.0 2.8 100.0 8. Servite/Rosary 33.9 2.0 0.0 20.0 9.1 32.7 97.6 9. Villa Park 23.3 27.0 4.0 20.0 5.3 14.1 93.8 10. University 9.1 15.0 11.0 27.0 8.3 21.7 92.1 11. Dana Hills 0.0 6.0 23.0 32.0 26.0 2.9 89.9 12. Trabuco Hills 26.7 0.0 36.0 0.0 1.5 21.1 85.3 13. El Toro 22.8 2.0 27.0 1.0 11.3 18.7 82.8 14. Valencia 19.6 15.0 4.0 12.0 17.8 9.1 77.5 15. Tustin 1.0 11.0 11.0 2.0 25.4 25.2 75.6 16. Saddleback 8.6 15.0 15.0 15.0 3.8 11.7 69.1 17. Orange 4.0 28.0 0.0 2.0 29.4 2.0 65.4 18. Santiago 4.0 18.3 11.7 20.0 3.5 3.1 60.6 19. San Clemente 4.0 4.0 0.0 14.0 4.7 31.0 57.7 20. Garden Grove 9.0 17.0 15.3 2.0 1.3 10.0 54.6

Small School Top 20

School FB BCC GCC GT GVB WP Total 1. Corona del Mar 11.6 34.0 25.0 36.0 12.6 34.1 153.3 2. Newport Harbor 40.0 23.0 2.0 19.0 39.7 20.2 143.9 3. Brea-Olinda 20.1 18.0 20.0 15.0 13.8 34.3 121.3 4. La Habra 3.0 36.0 20.0 2.0 23.9 26.8 111.8 5. Laguna Hills 29.7 36.0 23.0 4.0 12.9 1.7 107.2 6. El Modena 3.0 31.0 40.0 15.0 10.9 5.3 105.2 7. Laguna Beach 2.0 4.0 16.0 40.0 26.6 12.0 100.7 8. Orange Lutheran 33.9 11.0 32.0 3.0 11.9 0.0 91.7 9. Pacifica 5.0 10.0 20.0 0.0 23.2 12.4 70.6 10. El Dorado 0.0 4.0 11.0 36.0 2.0 15.0 68.0 11. Calvary Chapel 6.0 5.7 15.6 2.0 38.1 0.0 67.4 12. Los Amigos 15.2 3.3 3.3 15.0 13.9 15.5 66.2 13. Savanna 17.3 2.0 13.0 19.0 10.5 0.0 61.8 14. Ocean View 2.0 4.0 20.0 11.0 15.6 3.3 55.9 15. Cypress 4.0 8.0 11.0 3.0 9.4 10.0 45.4 16. St. Margaret’s 2.9 5.0 12.5 0.0 24.5 0.0 44.8 17. Rancho Alamitos 16.8 11.7 5.0 0.0 10.3 0.0 43.8 18. Troy 6.0 0.0 15.0 11.0 10.3 0.0 42.3 19. Costa Mesa 13.8 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 26.2 42.3 20. Sonora 5.0 9.0 0.0 19.0 2.7 6.0 41.7

KEY: FB--Football. BCC--Boys’ cross-country. GCC--Girls’ cross-country. GT--Girls’ tennis. GVB--Girls’ volleyball. WP--Water polo.

Values are rounded to nearest 10th. Rounding might create slight discrepancies between sum of individual figures listed and total.