Football
Summer is over for football with fall practice commencing on Monday, July 28, and the scrimmage scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, at Portola High School in Irvine. This event will be a four-way scrimmage with the host Bulldogs, Laguna’s league rival – Western from Anaheim and Sonora High School from La Habra. Frosh Soph take the field at 4 p.m. First regular season contest is Friday, Aug. 23, at Green Street Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. Breakers were 10-3 last season and expect to be very competitive this season behind quarterback Andrew Johnson. Big Bear opens the five-game home schedule on Sept. 6.
Cross County
Tommy Newton-Neal has accepted the head job at Oxford Academy for cross country and track. David Brobeck is returning to assist Scott Wittkop with the defending CIF and state champion boy’s program this fall. Dave is a teacher at the high school and attended LBHS where he was a member of the 1989 State Champion squad that surprised McFarland for the D3 title. He was the Laguna Head Coach from 1998 through 2009 winning five league, one section, and two state titles. Season opens in late August.
Girls Indoor Volleyball
Summer camp started last Monday and continues to Aug. 8. Summer ends with the annual Queens Court Tournament on Aug. 10 & 11 at the ASC Facility in Anaheim. Breakers will be in the 16-team Elite Division along with Mater Dei and Corona del Mar. Laguna has made it to the finals in the top division twice.
Boys Indoor Volleyball – New Coach Announced
Athletic Director Lance Neal announced that Lance Stewart has been hired as the 14th head Indoor Boys Volleyball Coach and will direct 49th indoor season in 2020 pending LBUSD Board approval. The appointment is the third run for Stewart, who coached the team for three seasons in 1988-90 and again for eight seasons from 2004-2011. In his 11 total years at the helm, Stewart’s teams have won one section title, three state regional titles and seven league titles. His 1989 team finished the regular season ranked #1 in Orange County.
As a girls indoor volleyball head coach, Lance had also directed Laguna for two seasons in 1989 and 1990, winning two league titles, earning #2 and #3 final Orange County rankings, and a 37-7 overall record. After a year of college coaching, he took over the Corona del Mar program in 1992 and directed the Sea Queens to back-to-back CIF and State Division I titles. His 1992 and ‘93 squads were named as Mizuno-USA Today National Champions. Stewart was the Laguna head coach for a second run with the girls from 2004 through 2012, where his teams captured eight league titles, two CIF section titles and a State Regional crown.
His all-time Laguna won-loss record (Best of 3 or 5 matches) now stands at 211-90 for Boys and 242-95 for Girls. The overall girl’s record (Laguna and CdM) is 317-97.
Coach Stewart’s college coaching experience includes UC Irvine, Concordia, Santa Ana College and Irvine Valley College. At Laguna, he has been an assistant coach in Football (Offensive Coordinator – qualified for CIF) and Basketball. Coach Stewart was also the former Director and President of Laguna Beach Volleyball Club.
A 1981 graduate of Laguna Beach High School, Lance is among the most honored athletes ever to wear a Laguna uniform. A three-sport star, he quarterbacked the football team for three seasons (still ranks #11 in career passing) leading the Artists to a 15-13 overall record. In 1980, Laguna won the South Coast League over substantially larger schools and Stewart was named league MVP and All-CIF. As a basketball player, he led the 1980-81 team to a 17-7 record, second place league finish and earned All-CIF 2A honors. He was also twice named team MVP. As a volleyball player, Stewart was a 4-year varsity player helping Laguna to a 61-11 mark. As the setter in 1981, Laguna was undefeated and CIF champions with Stewart earning Orange County, Southern Section CIF, and State/Cal Hi MVP honors.
Lance went on to earn a degree in Fine Arts at California where he also led the Golden Bear’s volleyball squad to the first ever Collegiate Club National Championship. Lance is currently involved in real estate, health/wellness and is an active artist.
Coach Stewart and his wife Deanna (also an LBHS grad) have three children, Chanel – 26, Larry – 24, and Lance – 20.
Girls Water Polo
Summer season is winding down. On July 17, Newport defeated the Laguna B squad 7-6 at Santa Margarita. This past week, the players were competing for their club teams (Laguna 14’s and SET 16’s and 18’s) at the 50th annual Junior Olympics. Junior lefty, Emma Lineback missed the high school State tournament last week due to her commitment on the USA Water Polo Youth National Team. The USA squad will be in Trinidad Aug. 14-24 for the Pan Am games.
Boys Water Polo
Club JO’s concluded this past week with the fall 2020 season just two weeks away with practice starting Aug. 12.
Have notes on your team’s summer competition? Send to Frank Aronoff: [email protected].
