Mission Viejo Is Cited for Violation

The CIF Southern Section Executive Committee has banned two-time defending Division II champion Mission Viejo High from hosting postseason football games next season and has ordered its coaching staff to attend an ethics seminar after the Diablos doctored a football in the section championship game last December.

Considered a strong candidate to challenge for a third consecutive title, Mission Viejo stands to lose thousands of dollars by the decision. But Mission Viejo Principal Marilyn McDowell, a member of the Executive Committee, said that the Diablos have to live with the decision.

“It’s as good as could be expected,” she said.

Meeting in closed session for more than two hours at Dodger Stadium, the executive committee determined that Mission Viejo altered the label of a Wilson football to make it appear as it if was a Spalding ball. The Southern Section has a promotional contract with Spalding and mandated that Spalding balls be used during the playoffs. Sixteen other schools violated the ball requirement, but they received no sanctions because they promised not to repeat the gaffe.

In another matter involving Mission Viejo, Commissioner Jim Staunton said that he has received a letter and a videotape from football Coach Jim Hartigan of Santa Margarita High that purports to show that Mission Viejo Coach Bob Johnson used undue influence to entice quarterback Mark Sanchez to transfer from Santa Margarita to Mission Viejo. The tape is from two years ago. Sanchez recently enrolled at Mission Viejo. Staunton said he will investigate.

McDowell said she could not comment because she has been out of town and has not seen the items or spoke to Johnson.

-- Paul McLeod

Tom Gorrell, who was The Times’ Orange County boys’ basketball coach of the year in 1995-96 after guiding Cypress to the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs, has been named coach at Anaheim Katella.

Cypress won Empire League titles in the final three seasons of Gorrell’s five-season stay. He left after the 1996-97 season to coach at Encinitas La Costa Canyon High. He was an assistant at Fullerton College in 1999-2000 and at Cal State Fullerton in 2001-2002.

Gorrell, 35, is Katella’s third coach in the last 37 years. He replaces Sal Glorioso, who coached the Knights the last four seasons. Glorioso had replaced Tom Danley, who now is athletic director for the Anaheim Union High School District.

-- Dan Arritt

David Torrence, a cross-country runner from Los Angeles Loyola, has committed to California.