BREAKERS ROUNDUP: Estancia stuns Laguna in meet

The Orange Coast League cluster cross-country meet Oct. 30 at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa ended with a first for the Laguna Beach High boys’ cross-country team.

The Breakers, competing without their No. 1 and 2 runners, finished second to Estancia at the varsity level. It was the first loss suffered by Laguna in league competition since the formation of the Orange Coast League at the outset of the 2006-07 school year.

Matt Neev didn’t run the meet due to nursing a minor injury and Coach Dave Brobeck said he chose to give Casey Finnerty “one final race off,” before the squad begins its “CIF push.”

Tommy Newton-Neal crossed the finish line first for the Breakers and took third place with a time of 16 minutes, six seconds, two seconds ahead of teammate Blake Hofmeister. Andrew Shapero and Richard Mattingly also earned top-10 placements by finishing ninth (16:39) and 10th (16:41), respectively.

“Estancia fired on all their cylinders, going out very hard and commanding the race early,” Brobeck said. “They earned the win, but our varsity boys should give them a much better race at league finals.”

In the girls’ varsity league cluster meet, Laguna raced for the first time competitively in nearly a month and scored 27 points. Estancia finished with 28 points.

The Orange County League finals were held Thursday at Fairview Park. The results weren’t available at press time.

? Girls’ Tennis

Laguna completed its third straight undefeated Orange Coast League season on Oct. 30 by defeating Costa Mesa, 15-3, on the Laguna courts.

Maddie Jaeger, Claire Jaeger and Bianca Sganga, competing for the first time in singles play, swept in singles action. The team of Lauren Michaels/Haley Moss swept at No. 1 doubles as Laguna ended league play with an 8-0 record.

The Breakers, ranked seventh in Division I, moved to 15-3 overall.

In a previous match, Laguna fell, 14-4, to visiting Corona del Mar, the top-ranked team in Division I, in a nonleague match on Oct. 29.

Laguna next will compete Tuesday in the opening round of the CIF Division I playoffs. The Breakers will learn the identity of their first-round opponent Monday when the playoff pairings are announced.

? Boys’ Water Polo

Laguna, ranked fourth in Division III, finished play at the Servite Tournament on Saturday with a 19-4 rout of San Dimas.

Robbie Quellmalz, Nolan McConnell, Preston Head and Sean Spera all scored three goals to lead the high-scoring attack.

Victor Alcone led the team with six steals and Erik Henrikson finished with seven saves.

Laguna, champions of the Orange Coast League, begins CIF playoff action next week.