Corona Del

All 6,000 pounds of the green and bronze Centennial Time Clock hovered over the asphalt as workers readied the 24-foot clock tower to be lowered into its home at the future site of Centennial Plaza. A small audience drawn largely from the Corona del Mar Centennial Foundation's ranks looked on from a parking lot near the corner of East Coast Highway and Marguerite Avenue as a work crew under the supervision of contractor Paul Keohane strapped the clock tower to a crane, lifted it from a flatbed truck and turned the tower upright.

The Corona del Mar High girls cross country team, with all five runners finishing in the top 20, took first place at the Clovis invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno Saturday. In the process, the Sea Kings set a course record, clocking in with a time of 91 minutes, 21 seconds, smashing Sultana's 2002 mark of 91:53. "I was shocked when I found out we broke the course record, because I know the history of this course -- we've been here for the state championships 18 years in a row," Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner said.

The Corona del Mar High girls tennis team looked dominant coming into the season, and it still could be. But the Sea Kings, who captured their eighth consecutive Pacific Coast League title and reached the CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals last year, will try to win without No. 1 singles player Jill Damion -- at least for a while. The junior phenom tried to play through a sore shoulder this summer, but an MRI about a month ago detected a slight tear in the rotator cuff of her right shoulder.

Before his team's game against Long Beach Wilson High Tuesday night, Corona del Mar Coach Barry O'Dea joked about how Wilson was probably mad after losing to Newport Harbor. Indeed, the surprise trouncing the Newport Harbor boys water polo team administered last week got Long Beach Wilson attention. It's no wonder the defending CIF champion Bruins turned things up a notch in ensuing practices and came out Tuesday night on fire. Wilson took out its frustrations on Corona del Mar High, swimming to a 16-9 nonleague victory at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

o7The following schools made the largest gains this year in the percentage of students scoring as proficient or advanced on standardized tests. f7 SCHOOL GRADE 2003-04 2004-05 INCREASE ENGLISH Paularino Elementary 2 30% 62% 32% Killybrooke Elementary 5 26% 54% 28% Andersen Elementary 2 63% 87% 24% Eastbluff Elementary 2 64% 84% 20% Newport Coast Elementary 3 51% 70% 19% TeWinkle Middle School 6 25% 37% 12% Corona del Mar High School 11 48% 70% 22% Corona del Mar High School 8 56% 70% 14% Costa Mesa High School 8 27% 47% 20% MATHEMATICS Killybrooke Elementary 5 14% 46% 32% Mariners Elementary 5 62% 87% 25% Victoria Elementary 3 40% 63% 23% Ada Middle School 4 27% 48% 21% Wilson Elementary 3 34% 54% 20% Pomona Elementary 3 15% 34% 19% Eastbluff Elementary 2 75% 94% 19% Eastbluff Elementary 5 60% 78% 18% Kaiser Elementary 5 36% 54% 18% TeWinkle Middle School 6 19% 31% 12%

GLENDALE - The Hoover High boys' basketball team found out quickly that Friday's playoff opponent was nothing like its competition in Wednesday's opening round. That was bad news for the Tornadoes. After getting away with playing a sub-par game in the opening round against Firebaugh, the Tornadoes didn't have much leeway against third-seeded Corona del Mar. Hoover fell behind early and couldn't catch up, falling, 55-32, at home in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3-AA playoffs.

If the Corona del Mar High football team is going to capture the Pacific Coast League title, it's going to do it with a dominant, play-making defense. Corona del Mar's league opener Friday night was a good start. The Sea King defense intercepted four passes, picked up three fumbles and scored three touchdowns in a 40-0 victory over Calvary Chapel at Newport Harbor High. The Sea King defense took over the game in the third quarter, coming up with turnovers on each Eagle possession.

The Estancia High girls volleyball team opened the season on the right foot, defeating host Irvine, 25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16, in a nonleague match on Thursday night. Jaye Hellmich led the way with 10 kills and five blocks. Taylor Brown tallied seven kills and Stacie Watson added four aces for the Eagles (1-0). Corona del Mar rolls TENNIS: The Corona del Mar High girls tennis team opened its season with a 14-4 victory over visiting Mater Dei on Thursday afternoon in a nonleague match.

Katie McKitterick is the type of athlete that would excel in any sport she chose. As a freshman at Sage Hill School, she played tennis, soccer and softball and did well in all of them. "She's a tremendous athlete. She played three sports at Sage Hill and she was voted the school's Most Outstanding Athlete as a freshman," Corona del Mar High girls golf Coach Mike Starkweather said. "When she came to us, she just wanted to play golf." That was fine with Starkweather.

While the physical hardship of practicing twice a day can promote cohesion among high school football teammates, first-year Costa Mesa High Coach Jay Johnson went a step further in the annual bonding ritual. Johnson, whose Mustangs kicked off preparation for the 2005 season Wednesday, spent the night with his players Wednesday and Thursday nights in the school gymnasium. It's a throwback to days of yore, when a handful of schools would have players spend the first week of practice, known formerly as Hell Week, at school.

GLENDALE - The Hoover High boys' basketball team found out quickly that Friday's playoff opponent was nothing like its competition in Wednesday's opening round. That was bad news for the Tornadoes. After getting away with playing a sub-par game in the opening round against Firebaugh, the Tornadoes didn't have much leeway against third-seeded Corona del Mar. Hoover fell behind early and couldn't catch up, falling, 55-32, at home in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3-AA playoffs.

NEWPORT HARBOR — Simply stated, the season-long ills for the Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ soccer team when it came to finishing translated into the finish of the Falcons’ season. Despite its always-sturdy defense and plenty of scoring chances, the Falcons could not find the back of the net nor a repeat ticket to the quarterfinals, as Crescenta Valley was defeated by host Corona del Mar, 1-0, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs on Wednesday.

GLENDALE — When the girls’ soccer teams from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and St. Lucy’s met in a nonleague scrimmage in November, nobody even kept score. The competitive tone of today’s CIF Southern Section Division II second-round match between the Tologs and Regents will be ratcheted up a few notches, to say the least. Meanwhile, Crescenta Valley will look to keep the scoring one-sided in its favor, as it has all season, when the Falcons continue their journey through the Division II bracket in a second-round match against Corona del Mar. Both teams will hit the road for 3 p.m. games, with second-seeded Sacred Heart and St. Lucy’s squaring off at Damien High in La Verne and fourth-seeded Crescenta Valley traveling to face the Sea Kings on their home field.

GLENDALE — In the afterglow of winning the program’s first CIF championship, the members of the Crescenta Valley High boys’ water polo squad will get set for another first: Competing in the Masters Tournament. The Falcons, who spent the past couple of days celebrating and receiving congratulations from fellow classmates following a 10-9 victory against top-seeded Rio Mesa in the CIF Southern Section Division VI title match on Saturday, learned Monday from the CIF office that they had been invited to take part in the prestigious tournament.

Send AROUND TOWN items to the Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; by e-mail to o7lindsay.sandhamf7o7@latimes.comf7; by fax to (714) 966-4667; or by calling (714) 966-4625. Include the time, date and location of the event, as well as a contact phone number. THROUGH OCT. 22 Project Playhouse, a six-week event with elaborate kid-size playhouses on display and sold at public auction, will be held at Fashion Island Center in Newport Beach.

The Corona del Mar High girls cross country team, with all five runners finishing in the top 20, took first place at the Clovis invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno Saturday. In the process, the Sea Kings set a course record, clocking in with a time of 91 minutes, 21 seconds, smashing Sultana's 2002 mark of 91:53. "I was shocked when I found out we broke the course record, because I know the history of this course -- we've been here for the state championships 18 years in a row," Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner said.

Hirings and firings are common in the fickle world of the National Football League, so coaches' families are used to moving from one city to another at a moment's notice. "This was different," said Cathie Sheppard, whose husband, Mike, began this year as offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Hurricane Katrina forced the family out of its New Orleans home of more than three years. After stops in Cleveland, Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle and Buffalo, Cathie Sheppard said the family was enjoying a period of normalcy.

Since the 2001 season, Northwood High has been the gold standard in Pacific Coast League football. Corona del Mar, which meets the Timberwolves tonight at 7 at Irvine High, may find out if its league title aspirations this season are merely fool's gold. The Sea Kings (3-2, 1-0 in league), ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division IX, have pinned their hopes on a sterling defense that last week recorded the program's first shoutout in 62 games, dating back to 1999.

SOCCER Region 120 Boys under 16 Costa Mesa 4, South Irvine 0: Juan Becerra scored two goals. Defenders Matt Kirchberg, Luu Nguyen and Jacob Hurd were hard to stop and hard to score on. AYSO Region 57 Girls under 16 Corona del Mar 2, Costa Mesa Code Blue 0: Corona del Mar remained undefeated, beating host Blue Code in a competitive match. Bayley Sprowls scored in the midst of traffic. In the second half, the defensive play by Taylor Rhodes, Chelsea Giger, Ariana Condon and Alix Condon led the way. Julie Kramer scored the final goal of the game with an assist from Breezy Brewster.

If the Corona del Mar High football team is going to capture the Pacific Coast League title, it's going to do it with a dominant, play-making defense. Corona del Mar's league opener Friday night was a good start. The Sea King defense intercepted four passes, picked up three fumbles and scored three touchdowns in a 40-0 victory over Calvary Chapel at Newport Harbor High. The Sea King defense took over the game in the third quarter, coming up with turnovers on each Eagle possession.