Swimmers Seize First Ever League Title
LBHS Spring Sports Roundup
By FRANK ARONOFF

Staff photos by Courtenay Nearburg School record holder Chelsea Wild races to another winning finish in the 200-yard freestyle during last Thursday's league finals. Laguna girls clinched the first league swim title in Laguna history. Below, Junior Preston Head, in white, Head takes off from the block in the 50-yard freestyle, where he took second. Head turned that around in the 100-yard free, taking first place and a spot in the CIF finals.

The Breakers girls swimming team won their first league swimming title in school history, taking the 2008 Orange Coast League crown last Thursday at the local pool. That title eluded Laguna since the sport was established here in 1958 for boys and became a CIF sponsored sport for girls in 1975. LBHS held off defending champs Costa Mesa 406 to 380.

Talented juniors Chelsea Wild, Andrea Reigel and Annika Dries all were double winners and earned a top 10 seed in the CIF Div-II meet being held this weekend. Individual Winners (Distances in Yards): 200 Free: Wild (1:57.99) 200 IM: Reigel (2:08,79) 50 Free: Dries (25.2) 100 Free: Dries (55.23) 500 Free: Wild (5:16.73) 100 Back: Reigel (59.18) Boys Finish Second; Individuals Topple Records

Costa Mesa won their sixth straight boys swimming league title with a 380.5 to 333.5 win over Laguna. Estancia finished third and Calvary fourth. Individual winners were Pierre Masson in the 200 IM with a time of 2:12.07 and Preston Head in the 100 at 49.11 Nathan McConnell and Head achieved long sought goals during the Orange Coast League prelims held Tuesday (4/29) at the community pool. McConnell, a senior, broke the school's 200 and 500 yard freestyle records with times of 1:47.61 seconds (previous 1:48.80 set in 2005) and 4:57.34 seconds (previous 5:01.60 set in 1998). Head, a junior, broke the LBHS 100 yard freestyle record with a time of 48.56 seconds. The previous mark was 48.77 seconds set in 2005. Boys Tennis Doubles Teams Sweep OCL Finals

Noah Michelon and Ben Biscarrat defeated the Laguna team of Jared Berkson and Graham Unterberger in straight sets to win the 2008 OCL Doubles Championships last week. Sean Ochwat and Mickey Rubel finished third with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Estancia's top squad. In Singles, Jake Michaels lost 6-1, 6-1 to Estancia's top player in the finals.

Staff photos by Courtenay Nearburg Handicapped by a hip injury, senior Nikki Clark suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the 100 and 300-meter varsity hurdles. After the 300, she collapsed at the finish line and was carried to the side.

The Breakers opened their quest for a CIF title yesterday when they hosted the winner of a Tuesday wild card match between South Hills and Ontario. Laguna is seeded fourth in the Div-IV playoffs behind Cerritos, Rowland, and Viewpoint. Should the seedings hold, the Breakers would face #5 Whitney on Tuesday, May 13. The Wildcats edged Laguna 10-8 in their meeting earlier this season. Track and Field Another Crown for the Boys

Laguna captured their second straight boys track title and their 15th in 74 seasons with a dominant victory on May Day at Orange Coast College. LBHS captured seven of the 14 individual events outscoring all league teams 218 to Costa Mesa's 108, Calvary's 102 and Estancia's 47 points.

Senior Sheldon Eaton, competing with a strained hamstring, was hard pressed to win the 300-meter varsity hurdles, but qualified for CIF finals despite his injury.

Laguna will send nearly its full squad to the CIF Div-IV prelims this weekend in Carpentaria.

The girls finished second to Costa Mesa 182-142 and may have taken the title if two of the team's key participants had been available. A fluke injury took out a major field participant and a runner violated school policy earlier in the day. Laguna will have a few athletes at the CIF prelims.

Boys Winners: 400M: Graham Harris (52.97) 800M: Yann Panassie (2:02.79) 3200M: Matt Neev (10:02.61) 100HH: Panassie (17.34) 300 IH: Sheldon Eaton (43.19) Javelin: Spencer Jones (39-4) Shot Put: Mitchell McMullen (43-5 ¼)

Girls Winners: 400M: Jessie Good Man (1:01.66) HJ - S. Thomas (4-10) Boys Volleyball Familiar Foes Line Trek to CIF Quest

Laguna (17-7) opens its 35th consecutive trip to the CIF playoffs and will travel a familiar road of opponents in the quest to reach the finals scheduled for Saturday, May 24. Laguna Beach hosts Crescenta Valley this Friday at Dugger Gym. The winner will match up with the winner of the Hemet and Beckman match. Dos Pueblos is the most likely quarterfinal opponent on that road with the winner likely facing national power, Valencia of Valencia (28-2) in the Semi's. Alumni Game

Senior Yann Pannassie celebrates a win in the varsity 800 meter run at the Orange Coast League final in Costa Mesa Thursday. Pannassie triumphed in the 110-meter high hurdles and took second in the 1600 meter run.

Last Friday, Laguna tuned up for the post season with the 25th annual Alumni Game at Dugger Gym. The "oldtimers" were led by Laguna's three state playersof the-year; Lance Stewart (1981), Rudy Dvorak (1982), and Leif Hansen (1983). Also playing were Chris Whiting ('85), James Kimball ('96), Griffin Cogorno ('97), Matt Anderson ('03), Nick Aronoff ('03), Trey Chapel (04), Andrew Chapel ('05), Luke Morris ('05), Xander Olson ('06), and Kal Mokhtar (2007). The Alum now hold a 23-2 "edge" in the series.

Photo by Ron Paxson The Breakers clinched the Orange Coast League JV Championship by winning 22-1 over the Costa Mesa Eagles. Coaches Brian Brubaker, Mike Bair and Randy Beckman with players, from left, Austin Paxson, Stevie Contursi, Ryan Raffo, Raphael Vickers, Keaton Jones, Jake Herbert, Taylor Preston, Kyle Jones, Jake Glazer, Michael Opera, Spencer Freidenrich, Tyler Pierce, Noah Hoffman, Sawyer Pierce, Alex Lebon, Logan Schoembs and Jackson Christie.

Game One was all alumni as Anderson and Cogorno each had 5 kills in the 26-16 win. The Alumni defense led by Leif Hansen and current USC libero Luke Morris always seemed to keep the ball in play. The varsity stepped up their play and took game two, 25-22. Shawn Merz was unstoppable for the Breakers. Luke Morris pounded out 7 kills to lead the Alumni Artists to a 25-22 win in the third game while the varsity jumped out to a big fourth game lead and coasted to a 25-15 win. Game fivesaw the grads jump out to a 10-3 lead and hold off the Varsity 15-10 for the match win. Blocks by Kimball, Cogorno, and Olsen were too much for the youngsters. JV Perfect at 24-0

The junior varsity volleyball players wrapped up a perfect 24-0 season capturing the OC JV Championships last Saturday at Newport Harbor. Laguna opened with a sweep of a tough Fountain Valley and culminated pool play with a rout of Santa Margarita 25-15, 25-16. In the playoffs, Laguna took Capo Valley 25-12, and a scrappy Dos Pueblos team 25-19. A highlight in that match was Chris Bailey getting the best of their 6-8 middle blocker late in the contest. LBHS closed out the tournament with games against the Sunset League co-champions Newport, which played inspired and led Laguna 21-16. That's when the JV responded with classic Laguna ball control defense to pull out the comeback win, 25-23. Coach Astor called the victory over the Tars one of the most exciting games he has ever known.

The final match of the year was the same opponent the team opened with this season and Laguna defeated Sunset League co-champ Edison 24-26, 25-13, 15-11. In games played this season, the JV defeated every one of the major OC league champions and had a 52-3 record in games.

The Coach's comments: "Chris Bailey was almost unstoppable throughout the day in the middle. Lance Knapp played tremendous defense, displayed great ball control, and was a steady force on the outside when we needed big kills. Alek Burk's ball control and steady attacking kept teams off balance all day.

"Robbie McKnight was near impossible to stop all day and was clearly the best opposite in the tournament. He and Caine Fair set a balanced offense all day. Fair was also very consistent attacking the ball throughout the day. Reed Thompson had many timely blocks and kills in clutch situations for us.

"Wilson Knapp provided stellar defensive play and ball control and changed momentum for us multiple times with clutch digs. Jon Anderson was steady off the bench and provided great depth at the OH position." Christian Kessler missed most of the tournament due to an academic commitment.

Laguna's Frosh/Soph team went 23-2 against a similar group of top teams this season. Baseball (13-15, 6-5)

The 70th season of LBHS baseball concluded this past Wednesday without a postseason playoff berth. A late-season surge by Calvary Chapel dashed Laguna's hopes. The Breakers finished third but only two league teams can advance to postseason in a league with four varsity teams.

Nonetheless, 2008 has been a successful season as the team played one of the school's most difficultschedules. Laguna should be returning returns plenty of strong bats for 2009 but developing pitching will be the key to next season's success.

Jake Deline went the distance allowing just two hits Monday in a 3-1 win over Estancia. It was his third win. Chris Paul and Will Burk led the offense.

Last Friday, the Breakers won a wild 14-11 game over Costa Mesa as Deline picked up the win in relief. Gabe Stansbury had eight RBI going 4 for 5 with two doubles and a home run. Paul, Jake Sganga and Dalton Sype had three hits as Laguna blasted the Mustangs with 20 hits.

The Baseball JV squad won the league title with a 7-2 record to provide future hope for LBHS.