Falcon earns WCC honor

The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.

Kevin Orozco (Crescenta Valley High, 2008) senior, University of San Francisco men’s soccer: After doing whatever was asked of him for the Dons defense, Orozco was rewarded with a honorable mention for the All-West Coast Conference team, which was announced Nov. 15.

“In his second season at USF, Kevin had a very strong year for us,” San Francisco Coach Erik Visser told the school’s website. “He showed his versatility by playing two positions and he did a very good job.”

The senior was a defensive anchor for the Dons. San Francisco sharpened its play defensively, as the team cut down on its goals allowed during conference play from 20 last year to 12 in 2011.

San Francisco still struggled throughout the season, due to a lack of offense, as the Dons posted six shutouts in the season, but could only muster a 6-10-3 record with a 4-6-2 conference mark.

Brian Trejo (Hoover High, 2009) junior, San Francisco State men’s cross-country: Trejo paced the Gators to their best-ever finish at a regional meet, dating back to 2000, in the NCAA Division II West Regional Championship on Nov. 5.

San Francisco State finished sixth out of 17 schools with 211 points. Trejo finished 29th overall, running the 10K course in 32 minutes 16 seconds. San Francisco just missed out on a berth to the NCAA Division II championships, by not cracking the top-five teams.

Alaska Anchorage took the regional crown for the second straight year with 37 points. Chico State (39), Western Oregon (126), Western Washington (128) and Northwest Nazarene (200) rounded out the top five.

Rane Colvin and Alan Dearman (Crescenta Valley High, 2011) freshmen, L.A. Valley College men’s water polo: After leading the Monarchs on a playoff run, Colvin and Dearman — along with a slew of other area teammates — hauled in their fair share of postseason awards.

L.A. Valley enjoyed a fine season with nine area players — four Crescenta Valley and five Glendale graduates — on the roster. The Monarchs finished the season as the fifth-ranked team in Southern California and saw eight players earn all-conference honors.

Colvin and Dearman garnered the highest honors of the bunch, as the former Falcons were selected to the Junior College Water Polo All-American, Southern California and Western State Conference teams.

Glendale High graduates Gor Asryan and Martin Narinyan received first and second team all-conference honors, respectively, for L.A. Valley.

Camille Coffey (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2011) freshman, Fairfield University women’s volleyball: The second-seeded Stags’ season came to a halt Sunday in a four-game loss to No. 1 seed Niagara University in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship match.

The Purple Eagles overcame a one-game deficit to defeat Fairfield, 23-25, 25-17, 34-32, 25-18, for the conference title. Coffey played in all four sets and finished with seven kills, eight digs and two blocks, but it wasn’t enough for the Stags to overcome Niagara (25-8).

Coffey played in 80 of 114 sets this season. She finished with 214 kills, 191 digs, 21 blocks, 20 assists and eight aces.

Fairfield (20-10) reached the finals with a dramatic victory over third-seeded Siena College, 18-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 15-10, on Saturday.

The win pushed the Stags’ match-winning streak to eight and secured their 11th 20-win season in program history and first since 2008.

Amanda Rose Johnson (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) sophomore, New Mexico Highlands women’s soccer: A playoff appearance for the Cowgirls was short lived, as they fell to No. 8-ranked Fort Lewis College, 3-1, in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs on Nov. 2.

Johnson played seven games in goal and started one for New Mexico, which finished sixth in conference.

She faced 40 shots, made 12 saves and allowed four goals throughout the year. Johnson posted a .750 save percentage and 1.25 goals-per-game allowed average.

The Cowgirls finished 10-8-1 with an 8-5-1 record in conference. Johnson finished the year with a victory and a loss. She might see a jump in playing time as a junior, as two of the four goalies currently on New Mexico’s roster are set to graduate this year.