LOCAL NOTES : Oeding Named Orange Coast Water Polo Coach

Chris Oeding, a former Corona del Mar water polo player who was Division I player of the year at Cal in 1992, has been named water polo coach at Orange Coast College.

Oeding, 23, will coach at OCC for two years while training with the U.S. national team in Long Beach for the 1996 Olympics.

Oeding, an assistant coach at Corona del Mar last year, will fill in at OCC for Don Watson, who will be on sabbatical.

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Golden West College outside hitter Greg Reitz, who led the Rustlers to their first State championship, was named Orange Empire Conference most valuable player. Reitz led Golden West with 245 kills and 119 digs in conference play.

Two other Rustlers--setter Nathan Larsen and middle blocker Brian Gordon--were first-team all-conference selections. Orange Coast College outside hitter Jason Crone was also named to the first team.

Irvine Valley opposite hitter Jon Habben, OCC middle blocker Brad Callahan and Golden West opposite hitter Phil Tifrea received second-team honors.

Golden West’s Alan Knipe and Palomar’s Duncan McFarland were named co-coaches of the year.

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Irvine Valley College sophomore Jon Habben has signed a letter of intent to attend UC Irvine, according to Laser Coach Lance Stewart.

Habben led the Orange Empire Conference in blocks and was third in kills per game.

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Foothill’s Ryan Thompson has confirmed that he signed a letter of intent Friday to play tennis at Boise State for Coach Greg Patton, former coach at UC Irvine.

Thompson, the Century League most valuable player in singles, is ranked eighth in Southern California and has a 40-1 record entering the Southern Section playoffs.

As a junior, Thompson was an all-county second-team selection and advanced to the section quarterfinals.