The talented Los Alamitos Griffins edged the Girls Varsity Cross Country squad 26-29 on Feb. 20 at the winner’s campus. Los Alamitos freshman Hallie Muniz won the three-mile race with a 18:13.0 time. Coco Reed was third overall to lead Laguna with an 18:43.0 time. Also scoring for the Breakers were Grace Wilson, Jessie Rose, Anoua Carrie, and Audrey Sutton.
Remaining Schedule
Feb. 27: Corona del Mar at Bonita Creek Park
March 6: Los Alamitos at Central Park, Huntington Beach
No official report on the Boys team (0-3) but we learned they did lose to Los Alamitos 25-35 despite a 1-2 overall finish by Mateo Bianchi (15:49.4) and Christopher Drews (16:19.5) on the three-mile course.
Boys Sand Volleyball
The seventh season of the sport got underway this past week as Laguna traveled to Huntington Beach on Feb. 24 to face Edison. Breakers have been unable to practice in Laguna due to city restrictions on sand volleyball being played on Laguna public beaches. Instead they practiced at Doheny in Dana Point.
The initial varsity roster is Gavin Campbell, Blake Draper, Riley Gapp, Laird Garcia, Trent Gilles, Oskar Hingel, Jake Mauro, Trey Ovens, Mack Pardun, and Gavin Zaengle. Breakers were 7-2 last season and 40-11 over the six seasons of play. Lance Stewart is the coach this season.
Outdoor Sports Return Afters State Revises Rules
After a nearly year-long shutdown, the California Department of Public Health and the Governor’s Office made sudden adjustments to their rules governing California high school sports.
Outdoor “high contact” sports, Football and Water Polo were reclassified to a less restrictive tier and a new rule was applied that will allow these sports to return to play if Orange County’s COVID-19 case rate falls to 14 per 100,000 residents or less. On Feb. 23, the OC Health Care Agency announced the County’s rate was now 11.7 cases per 100,000 clearing the way for outdoor high school sports to resume beginning Feb. 26.
Football has an additional restriction of requiring 14 days of practice before their first game and their season must end by April 17. Water Polo play will be limited to the month of March but the squads are optimistic a full Sunset League season can take place. The Laguna Girls Water Polo team has won their past fourteen straight league crowns and has not a lost league match since 2006 going 60-0. No Southern Section or State playoffs will be held for Football or Water Polo this season.
The new state guidelines appear not to help the prospect of an imminent return for indoor sports, including, Indoor Volleyball and Basketball. Girls Volleyball club season is already underway and the continued California ban on high school sports is making CIF less and less relevant for athletes. Basketball and soccer will be facing the same issue this spring.
The metrics now used by the State cleared Orange and Los Angeles high schools but still restricted outdoor sports in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
Spring Sports
Girls Tennis opens with 12-4 Win at Laguna Hills
Girls Tennis, a spring sport this year, returned to the court this past week with a match on Feb. 22 at Laguna Hills playing a two-round all-singles format. Sarah MacCullum, Jessica MacCullum, and Katelyn Smith dominated their play with 6-0 sweeps. Kendyl Beresford won her matches 6-0, 6-1 as did Chloe Gagne 6-3, 6-2. Also earning wins were Faith Ackley and Maddy Pikoos.
The squad also played on Feb. 25 at Dana Hills. Last season, the 2020 squad went 9-9 on the season and finished second in the Sunset Wave League. Rick Conkey is in his fourth season guiding the Breakers with his 2018 team making it to the Division 3 finals.
The Spring Sport season in California will begin in late March for Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Baseball, Track, Swimming, Boys Tennis, and Boys Volleyball
Girls Beach (Sand) Volleyball Update
The first CIF sponsored season will be Spring 2022 but the first CIF playoffs will not be held until 2023 as long as at-least 113 schools field a team in the initial CIF season next year. Breakers plan to have their eighth and final season as a club sport this spring.
Alumni Notes:
Jayd Sprague, a first-team, all-league selection for Laguna Beach Girls soccer last season, is a starting mid-fielder this season at San Francisco. The Dons are 1-0-1 with a win over Pacific and a tie with St Mary’s.
Email Breaker sports notes to Frank at [email protected].
