BREAKER SPORTS UPDATE
Summer Sports
Laguna Beach High School Athletics summer programs
Check out the programs for all sports at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics
Don’t miss out if you plan to play sports at Laguna Beach High School.
WATER POLO
Knepper MVP as SET wins 18’s at Junior Olympics
Recent Laguna graduate Ava Knepper concluded her local water polo career, leading Saddleback El Toro (SET) Water Polo to the top championship title at the recent Junior Olympics held in the Palo Alto area last weekend. The 17-player squad coached by Trevor Lyle (Laguna ’02) included recent grads Knepper (USC), Emerson Hensley (Brown), plus three Breakers returning next season: Kara Carver, Presley Jones and Siena Jumani. The team defeated Orlando 18-1, Clovis 14-9, Commerce 22-6, San Diego Shores 17-6, Legacy 8-5, SoCal Black 10-6 and finally Lamorinda 17-8 in the finals at Stanford’s Avery Pool.
SET 16’s which included a number of Laguna players finished a disappointing 9th going 7-2 with their run derailed early with a 6-4 upset loss to Stanford.
The local Laguna Club report from Mike Gruba
The Laguna Beach Water Polo 12U girl’s team also competed at the Junior Olympics with great teamwork, solid defense and hard work, sparking a solid sixth place in the top Platinum Division. The squad included assistant coach Cleo Washer, Annabella Dodge, Zia Bell, Abbie Kalmanovich, Riley Berberian, Kaley Belden, Evy Rubin, Jamison Jones, head coach Camron Hauer, Penny Jameson, Alia Marriner, Brooke D’Allman and Arya Rotabi.
The Laguna Beach Water Polo 10U boys also placed sixth in the top Platinum Division of the Junior Olympics. The team included David Kalmanovich, Mason Chaldu, Maxton Sebring, Greyson Kibbey, Nico Contursi, Ripley Ledger, Connor Geiger, Landon Gruba, Theodore Rayburn, Jack Wilson, Wes Peters and Will Dodge. Bridgette Alvarez was the head coach, and the assistant coaches included Eli Taub, Hutton Ledger and Camron Hauer. The 10U boys played great team defense and got at least one goal from everyone on the team, placing them among the elite teams.
The Laguna Beach Water Polo 12U boys placed sixth in the Junior Olympics Classic Division.
The boys played some of their best polo of the year to place much higher than expected, showing a lot of growth and improvement to end their season on a strong note. The team included Hayden Harper, Harlan Reed, Lance Sebring, James Seminoff, Campbell Neault, Christian Stringham, Mateo Yanes, James Wilson, Cal Dabbs and coach Luc Gregory.
Boys Volleyball
New Boys Volleyball Coach Announced
Laguna athletic director Denise Selbe recently announced the selection of Richelle “Richie” Danet as the 14th head coach for the Breakers since the sport was adopted by CIF in 1973. Danet replaces Laguna legend Lance Stewart, who retired after 16 seasons covering three different runs as the boys’ mentor.
Coach Danat is a popular area boys club coach who attended Dana Hills, where she earned 2nd Team All-County honors and later played at Saddleback College and Concordia as a setter. She has been the girl’s volleyball coach for the past seven seasons at Aliso Niguel, capturing the D-2 title in 2021, beating Huntington Beach in the finals after a thrilling five-set win over the Breakers in the quarters. She also earned the OC Register’s Coach of the Year honors in 2022.
LAGUNA FALL SPORTS:
Girls Volleyball
The 16th Queens Court Tournament will conclude summer training on Aug. 3-4 at the 42-team varsity event at Momentous Volleyball Club in Irvine. The Breakers are scheduled to open with Crescenta Valley at 8 a.m. and will then face Etiwanda. Laguna is also sending their JV and Frosh-Soph teams to compete in lower-level divisions.
Next week the team will have its traditional scrimmages on Aug. 8 with Dana Hills and Aug. 9 at Aliso Niguel. The regular season opens on Friday Aug. 16 at the Tesoro Tournament.
Flag Football
Season #2 gets underway on Monday, Aug. 19, with a home game with Estancia at 6:30 p.m. at Guyer Field. The Breakers will host Santiago/GG on Aug. 20 and Long Beach Wilson on Aug. 26.
90 Years of Laguna Football
The 2024 Season starts Aug. 23 at St. Margaret’s
Part 5: After 50 Years, Back to Competitive Leagues (2006-23)
The effects of the post-Disney urbanization finally abated in 2006 as Laguna entered a league based on competitive balance, not just geography. For the past 18 seasons, Laguna has been in the Orange Coast League for 12 years and the Pac 4 Division of the Golden West Conference for six seasons. As expected, the team was successful, with a 109-89-1 (.550) record, not quite matching the Guyer era golden years.
The initial success came in 2006 under the guidance of coach Jimmy Nolan with the talents of scrambling quarterback Charlie Bowman and the running of Zach Smith. The breakout season of 2008 with Austin Paxson and Chris Paul provided the first CIF playoff victory in 21 years with a 39-14 win over the Saints at the Santa Ana Bowl.
Laguna’s success under Mike Churchill in 2011 and 2012 assembled the best running and special teams in the school’s history. The backfield of Drake Martinez, Norton Penny and Robert Clemons was a force, with sophomore Nathan Lancaster proving his excitement off the bench. The 2011 team set the scoring record, averaging 45.2 points per game. The 2012 team set the STATE record with 12 touchdown on kick returns and 17 scores, counting all runbacks (interception and fumble returns). Not settling for the run at all times, Larry Stewart threw a school record 413 yards passing against Costa Mesa in 2011, a mark that lasted until Jackson Kollock arrived at Laguna. Nathan Lancaster set the Orange County single-game rushing record in 2013, running for 547 yards in regulation against Calvary Chapel.
The Mike Shanahan era (2016- ) survived COVID and saw a return to competitive balance post-season placement, with Laguna responding to their first CIF finals appearance in 60 seasons. CIF and Orange County are working to make football competitive for all schools, with 69 county schools participating in a conference of 12 leagues based on actual results that will shuffle every two years. For the third year, post-season will be determined based on the actual in-season results for the entire 374 schools playing 11-man football. Laguna won’t know its status until after the final regular season game, and placement is by individual school and not by league.
The 90th season opens a new chapter for Laguna football with Jackson Kollock’s senior season and the new dramatic league format for Orange County – exciting times ahead.
Have a note/question on Laguna sports/correction/update? E-mail Frank at Frank@twometer.net. Looking for the 2023-24 high school schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website.
