Injury Puts San Clemente in Hot Water

The San Clemente boys’ water polo team will be without leading scorer Sean Staudenbaur when it plays today in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

Staudenbaur has a deep gash above his right eye in a nonleague game last week against Long Beach Wilson, the top-seeded team in Division I, and will not be available when the Tritons host Long Beach Millikan today at Lake Forest El Toro.

Staudenbaur told San Clemente Coach Marc Parker that the cut, which required 24 stitches, was the result of a deliberate punch thrown by Wilson’s Garrit Barth.

However, Barth’s father Klaus, an assistant coach for the Bruins, said Garrit told him he inadvertently hit Staudenbaur with his knee as he tried to pull loose of his grasp.

“It was unfortunate and we’re really sorry it happened,” said Klaus Barth, who is friends with Parker. “Hopefully, something like this never happens again. But this game is so intense, things like that happen.”

San Clemente, which finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the Division I poll, filed an incident report Friday with the Southern Section, which plans to review game films today.

No penalty was called on Wilson at the time of the incident and neither Parker nor Wilson Coach Tony Martinho said they saw any punches thrown. Because the incident happened away from the ball, Parker said nothing is visible on San Clemente’s game tapes or on those shot by Fox Sports West for its high school sports show. Klaus Barth said Wilson’s tapes also do not show any malicious activity.

“I’m going to trust my athlete,” Parker said. “Obviously, it’s a pretty big gash. I asked [Staudenbaur] what happened and he told me [he was punched].”

Thom Simmons, section administrator for boys’ water polo, was expected to receive an incident report and a videotape today from Wilson. Simmons said because the incident was not seen by the referees, his office had limited punitive options if, indeed, a Wilson player threw a punch.

“The only thing I can do is appeal to [Wilson’s] sportsmanship and appeal to them to discipline the player involved,” Simmons said.

-- Dan Arritt

Oxnard Hueneme forfeited football victories over Ventura Buena and Oxnard Channel Islands for using an ineligible player.

The forfeits drop Hueneme’s record to 2-7 and 1-3 in the Pacific View League. Buena improves to 8-1 overall and remains 4-0 in Channel League play. Channel Islands improves to 6-3 and 2-2 in the Pacific View League.

Manuel Ruiz of Sepulveda Monroe, a contender for the state Division I boys’ cross-country title, tops the list of runners who will compete in the City Section preliminaries at Pierce College today.

Ruiz, the defending City champion, has a best of 14 minutes 55 seconds on Pierce’s three-mile course. But he would like to break the school record of 14:50 set by Cesario Marquez in 1980.

The meet will start at 2:20 p.m. with the first heat of the boys’ freshman-sophomore division. The first varsity boys’ race is at 3:30 and the first girls’ heat will start at 4.

The City championships will be held at Pierce on Nov. 23.

John Ortega

Irvine High has hired Flip Lanard as its girls’ basketball coach and Steve Walker as its softball coach, Athletic Director Terry Henigan said. Lanard was a lower-level boys’ coach at Corona del Mar. Walker will be assisted by former softball coach Lisa Baker, who stepped down to spend more time to her family.