Zirkle Still an Orangeman at Heart

Dave Zirkle’s heart may still be in Orange, but during the school year his body commutes more than two hours each day to Murrieta Valley High.

After working as athletic director and teacher at Orange High for 34 years, Zirkle took over the athletic program at Murrieta Valley two years ago.

However, he didn’t want to move from Orange, where he was born and reared.

“I bleed Orange,” said Zirkle, a 1966 graduate of Orange High who played basketball and tennis for the Panthers.

“I live six blocks from Orange High School,” he said. “I’ll live here until I’m 100 years old. But the school I’m at now is a different type of school. It’s seven or eight years old and has 4,000 students.”

The mid-life challenge of establishing a winning tradition at Murrieta Valley proved irresistible, he said. This fall, the Nighthawks finished first in the five-team Southwestern League in five of six sports.

Zirkle estimates 50% of his staff at Murrieta Valley has Orange County ties.

Darin Mott, the Nighthawks’ baseball coach, is the son of Don Mott, retired El Modena High athletic director. The boys’ basketball coach, Steve Tarabida, was a former assistant at Villa Park High and his assistant, Randy Forgette, is a former Fullerton High coach.

And the football coach, Wally Clark, has experience at Troy and Mission Viejo.

“It’s kind of like Orange County has been transplanted out here,” Zirkle said. “There are a lot of growing pains because this used to be a small school district and it has grown so fast that people haven’t adjusted. There are new challenges day in and day out.”

ZEROED IN

Former Magnolia High and UC Irvine guard Zamiro Bennem is still enrolled at Irvine as he ponders his future in basketball.

Bennem, who would have been a junior this season, started 10 games and averaged 5.4 points and 2.1 rebounds last season for the Anteater men’s team. He got less playing time as the season progressed, missed four games in the second half of the Big West Conference’s schedule because of personal problems and requested a redshirt season this year, which Coach Pat Douglass denied.

Bennem said he contemplated playing at Irvine Valley College but decided to stay at UCI to continue his education.

“Apparently it wasn’t a good decision from a basketball standpoint because I may have to sit out another year if I transfer [to play again],” Bennem said. “I hope [the NCAA] will understand what I did because it was all about education. I had to weigh the opportunities at school versus getting another chance to play Division I basketball right away. I just couldn’t pull myself to drop out of Irvine.”

Bennem, who said he is staying in shape by playing in local gyms and park pickup games, said he has attended several Anteater games this season and stays in touch with former teammates.

“I was their roommate and I still watch them and support them,” he said. “They’re still my friends.”

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