HIGH SCHOOLS / PAUL McLEOD : Cowen Suited for New Job

Dave Cowen has traded in T-shirts and coaching shorts for a suit and tie.

One of the county’s most respected athletic directors while at Woodbridge High, Cowen cut short last month’s vacation in Northern California, flew back to the county and accepted a position as vice principal at Magnolia High.

Even Cowen admitted there were those who thought he would never leave the Woodbridge athletic director’s job, which he held for 13 years.

But Cowen, 51, who came to Woodbridge as a baseball coach in 1980 from Pacifica and took control of the athletic department six years later, had quietly contemplated a move into administration for some time. For the last several years he was summer school principal at Woodbridge.

“This has been one of my professional goals,” he said. “I thought that somewhere down the line, I think I’ve got 10 or 12 good years left, I would make this move. It was either that or just be satisfied at doing what I was doing. I think it will be good for me to stretch myself a little bit.”

So Cowen, who loves a challenge, made a move that must seem totally foreign to a man used to shining facilities and consistent success.

Magnolia has struggled athletically. The Sentinels finished in a tie for 31st among small schools in the Times’ 1998-99 all-sports standings. Woodbridge finished third in the large-school division.

Maybe it’s no surprise, then, that one of Cowen’s new duties is to help steer the Sentinel athletic department out of its doldrums.

“He will bring a little different outlook,” Magnolia Principal Ray Chips said. “That is good and that’s why we sometimes hire these positions from outside the district. We expect him to work with our coaching staff and entire organization with the skills he brings. He will assist our athletic director and coaches. I see this as a 100% positive move.”

A past president of the Orange County Athletic Directors Assn., Cowen has also agreed to remain as its membership chairman so he can “keep my thumb on the pulse” of the county.

“I think this is going to be a good move,” Cowen said. “I will miss Woodbridge terribly but there’s a part of me that is excited. Sometimes, in order to move up, you have to move out. So far I’ve felt real comfortable here. I’ve been impressed with the good people I have met.”

Ralph Trigsted of Sunny Hills, the immediate past president of OCADA, laments Cowen’s move.

“For him, I’m excited, but for the organization, even though he is staying on for the time being, we are losing a hard worker and a great educator and athletic director,” Trigsted said. “He’s very, very good to work with. When we played them in sports the communication was just always at the top of the list. If we had a problem, we’d talk about it right away and handle it without complication. He was a top-notch athletic director and a person.”

POLO PROBLEMS

A replacement for Cowen has not been named, but according to Cowen, there will be no varsity boys’ water polo team at Woodbridge this season.

“It actually didn’t field a varsity water polo team last year either,” he said. “It just seems there’s a lack of interest.”

Cowen said, however, there are enough players on the lower level to field junior varsity and frosh/soph teams.

“Water polo has been an on-again, off-again thing for Woodbridge,” Cowen said, noting that the Irvine school didn’t have a boys’ varsity water polo team in its first seven years.

While the boys’ team is suffering from diminished numbers, the girls’ water polo team, founded two years ago, is enjoying a great deal of popularity, according to Cowen.

EAGLES GO TRIPPING

Santa Margarita’s boys soccer team, which has won three consecutive Southern Section Division III titles, has been invited to play in the Puma High School Invitational in Tampa, Fla., Dec. 20-22. Los Angeles Loyola is the only other Southern California team to receive an invite.

“We’re returning seven starters, so we should be able to have a good showing,” Eagle Coach Curt Bauer said.

Last year, the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America ranked Santa Margarita second. The Eagles will also play in Fresno at the Clovis West Invitational in early December.

HE TRANSFERS

Senior Steve Miller, the county’s second-leading scorer last year in boys’ basketball, has transferred to Anaheim High, Colonist assistant coach Stephen Magliocco said.

Miller, a 6-3 guard, averaged 23.7 points a game at Orange High.

Staff writers Erik Hamilton and Dave McKibben contributed to this notebook.