Mater Dei, Laguna Hills Set to Defend Times All-Sports Awards : Athletics: The third year of competition for top honors begins this week and runs through the spring.

Mater Dei and Laguna Hills will attempt to defend their titles this school year as The Times Orange County again will crown All-Sports Award winners in the large- and small-school divisions.

Mater Dei defeated runner-up Sunny Hills by 12.9 points, 338.9-326, to win last year’s championship in the large-school division (1,200 or more students). Woodbridge finished third with 323.6 points.

The Hawks won the small-school division (fewer than 1,200 students), outdistancing runner-up Brea Olinda, 366.4-359.4. Servite/Rosary was third with 294.8 points.

The Times ranks the county’s 77 high school programs using a formula developed by the paper’s editors and prep sports staff.

Scoring is based on winning percentage, league finishes and section championship play for boys’ and girls’ team sports sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section. Individual championships will not be used.

Also, there are no points or consideration for placement in county, state or national polls or rankings or state playoff appearances.

Division champions are awarded a traveling trophy, a trophy to keep and a banner to display in their gym. Second- and third-place teams in each division receive trophies.

The Times’ competition is the county’s only comprehensive all-sports championship, rewarding not only playoff success but league finish and winning percentage as well.

Scoring:

* Ten sports will be scored on winning percentages from overall season records--football, water polo, boys’ and girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, baseball and softball. In these sports, records will count for the entire regular season and section playoffs.

* Eleven sports will be scored on winning percentages in league contests only--boys’ and girls’ cross-country, boys’ and girls’ tennis, wrestling, badminton, golf, boys’ and girls’ swimming/diving and boys’ and girls’ track and field.

* To determine a team’s winning percentage, take the record--including overall where appropriate--and convert it on a scale of 10. Example: A team is 20-10, .667 winning percentage, which is worth 6.7 points. A perfect score is 10 for an undefeated season.

* League performance: The top three league teams and at-large playoff teams earn extra points. A league champion gets 10, runner-up seven, third place five, and at-large teams three.

* Section performance: A section champion earns 20 points, 16 for section runner-up, 12 for semifinal losers, and eight for quarterfinal losers. In non-bracket playoffs (swimming, track and cross-country), 20 points for first, 16 for second, 12 for third and fourth, eight for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. Wrestling points will be awarded from dual-meet playoffs, not the section finals.

Teams forfeiting victories under Southern Section rulings will concede points earned from those victories.

Servite, an all-boys school, and Rosary, an all-girls school, compete jointly.

Records reported to and published by the Southern Section will be used for the following sports: baseball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, football, boys’ and girls’ soccer, softball, boys’ and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ volleyball and water polo.

Athletic directors must provide The Times with regular-season-ending results and standings in the following sports: badminton, boys’ and girls’ cross-country, golf, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ track and wrestling.

The information can be provided by calling (714) 966-5904, by faxing (714) 966-5663, or by mailing to The Times Orange County Sports Department, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, 92626. Please send them to the attention of Prep Sports Editor Bob Rohwer.

Failure to report a team’s record will result in zero points for the school in that sport.

The Times will publish all-sports standings after the fall and winter seasons as well as the final standings next spring.