Tennis: CdM loaded again

Richard Dunn

CORONA DEL MAR - As defending CIF Southern Section Division I boys

tennis champions, Corona del Mar High’s Sea Kings realize everyone will

be aiming at them this season.

And it won’t just be the teams in their new Pacific Coast League, or

other top contenders in CIF Division I, pointing rackets at them.

This year, with the launching of the CdMHS-Pavilions National High School

All-American Team Invitational, hosted by CdM March 16-18, some of the

best programs in the nation will put a target on the back of the Sea

Kings.

CdM, which features three nationally ranked players and returns a total

of five from last year’s title team, has added two top players -- a

transfer from Texas and an exchange student from Australia.

Of the three players ranked among the nation’s best in the boys 16s, one

did not play for Coach Tim Mang’s Sea Kings in 1999, when they finished

22-1 and captured the school’s eighth CIF team championship in the sport

(but the first in 16 years).

If the proverb about a “strong team not rebuilding but reloading” rings a

bell, it’s because the 2000 version of the Sea Kings appears as solid as

ever with juniors Brian Morton, Randy Myers, Peter Kulmaticki, Michael

Bean and Robert Kennedy, and sophomore sensation Cameron Ball.

Add junior Hunter Jack to the mix -- a player ranked 75th nationally and

a former tennis academy student -- and Corona del Mar could rival last

year’s star-studded lineup.

“That’s what they’re shooting for,” Mang said. “They’re going to see how

close they can come to last year’s team, and it’s going to be tough,

because last year’s team had so much depth.”

Led by seniors Parker Collins (USC), Christian Jensen (USC) and Sam

Shahmardi, CdM finished the ’99 season ranked No. 2 in the nation,

according to the USA Today.

Corona del Mar was second in the Tournament of Champions at Overland

Park, Mo., which was won by Cardinal Gibbons of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The

team invitational in three weeks, directed by Mang and headquartered at

Palisades Tennis Club, will replace the now-defunct Tournament of

Champions on the national landscape.

“This isn’t your average prep event, and it’s the beginning of something

giant,” said Mang, executive director of the National High School Tennis

All-American Foundation, a nonprofit corporation -- created by Mang --

that will operate the event.

While the Pavilions National High School All-American Team Invitational

will provide plenty of early-season excitement and possibly decide this

year’s mythical national champion, CdM will also have its hands full in

Pacific Coast League action with University.

“Our new league will be really interesting,” said Mang, whose team

competed in the Sea View League for several years.

Morton, ranked 72nd nationally in the 16s, and Ball, ranked 140th and

playing a level above his age, are expected to be CdM’s top two singles

players, while Jack could play third singles, depending on how quickly he

recovers from a broken collarbone suffered during an early-January

snowboarding accident.

Last year, Morton played mostly doubles, compiling a 62-3 record.

“Brian and Cameron had fantastic summers in open tournament play,” Mang

said. “And, really great news with Brian is that he beat the No. 1 kid

from Peninsula (Goh Fukugaki) and also beat the No. 1-seeded player in

the 18s in Southern California (Fallbrook’s Ryan Redondo at the Fullerton

Open Tournament).”

Myers and Kulmaticki are two of Mang’s best doubles players, while

Kennedy, the exchange student from Australia, and Bean, a transfer from

Saint Stephen’s Academy in Texas, give Mang a lot of room for shuffling.

Vying for spots on the third doubles team are juniors Justin Ning, Shaan

Wadhwa, Ryan Stockwell, Landon Everson, senior Jay Reed and freshman Josh

Stuart.

“Our first and second doubles can be very strong, and I can’t see many

teams breaking them in Orange County right now,” Mang said. “And,

hopefully, our third doubles will be ready by the time the big time rolls

around.”

Last year, CdM knocked off Peninsula, 11-7, on the road at the Jack

Kramer Club in Rolling Hills in the CIF Division I semifinals, avenging

the Sea Kings’ earlier nonleague loss to the Panthers in games, 88-83,

after a 9-9 tie.

CdM faced Sea View rival Woodbridge in the Division I final and served up

a 12-6 hammering at the Palisades Club.

But the big test will come early this season for the Sea Kings, beginning

in the National High School All-American Team Invitational. Peninsula

will be seeded first, while the Sea Kings will be seeded second.

The event is sanctioned by the National High School Tennis All-American

Foundation and highlight many of the nation’s top teams, according to the

USA Today’s final 1999 rankings. The field includes several private

schools and teams from Arizona, Florida, Virginia, New York, Oregon,

Colorado and Connecticut, as well as California.

The event, which kicks off with opening ceremonies March 16, will be

played at several clubs in the area, with Palisades hosting the March 18

title match.

Proceeds from the tournament go toward recognizing high school tennis

All-Americans via the National High School Tennis All-American

Foundation.

Tickets are available through ETM at Vons and Pavilions stores. Call

(888) ETM-TIXS or purchase tickets online at www.etm.com.