CdM, Laguna Beach to join Sunset League

The days of Corona del Mar High and Laguna Beach dominating many sports in their respective leagues might soon be over.

The Sea Kings are leaving the Pacific Coast League and the Breakers the Orange Coast League, and they are both heading to the Sunset League for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years. The Sea Kings will join the Sunset League in all sports, and the Breakers in every sport, except for football, after school and league representatives voted to reconfigure some of the leagues in Orange County on Monday.

The changes affect the makeup of the local schools in the Sunset League, as well those area schools in the Orange Coast League and Golden West League.

With CdM and Laguna Beach moving, the Sunset League becomes an eight-team conference in sports outside of football. Edison athletic director Rich Boyce said not every sport will have an eight-team conference, some will be divided into two four-team leagues.

“It will be interesting how it will all play out,” said Boyce, who is also the boys’ basketball coach at Edison. “Having two great schools coming into your league with great teams, administration, and fan support can only add to an already great league.”

The Sunset League for football will feature six schools, current locals Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor, as well as Los Alamitos, with CdM replacing local Marina.

The addition of CdM makes the Sunset League one of the most dynamic for football in the CIF Southern Section. The Sea Kings have gone undefeated in the Pacific Coast League the past five years, winning three section titles during the stretch, including a CIF State championship in 2013.

Edison claimed a section crown last year in football for the second time since 2012, while Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor played in the section final in 2013, with the Oilers winning it.

“The Sunset League has been a premier league in the Southern Section and will continue to be with the addition of CdM,” said Huntington Beach football coach Brett Brown, whose team finished in fourth place last year in league, three games back of champion Edison.

Marina struggled in the Sunset League in football. At one point, the Vikings lost 60 straight games in league, until they ended the skid this past season.

With Marina out of the Sunset League for football, it goes to the Golden West League, which will become an eight-team conference. Marina and Laguna Beach will be in the conference only for football, as the rest of their sports will be part of the Sunset League.

The Golden West League for football will have local Ocean View, and Garden Grove, Godinez, Segerstrom, Western and Westminster in it. Garden Grove comes from the Garden Grove League, Godinez from the Orange Coast League, and Western from the Empire League.

The rest of the sports in the Golden West League will have six schools, Ocean View, Garden Grove, Godinez, Segerstrom, Western and Westminster.

Locals Costa Mesa and Estancia remain in the Orange Coast League, along with Calvary Chapel and Saddleback. Orange and Santa Ana come in from the Golden West League.

The Orange Coast League loses Laguna Beach, which in sports such as boys’ and girls’ volleyball, boys’ and girls’ water polo, and girls’ tennis it has won the league every time in its 11-year existence. Going into the spring of this year, Laguna Beach had won almost 70% of all the titles since the inception of the Orange Coast League in 2006-07.

Having Laguna Beach join the Sunset League, along with CdM, won’t make things easier in boys’ volleyball.

“Right now the Sunset League is maybe the toughest [volleyball] league in CIF. They just made the league even tougher,” said Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball coach Rocky Ciarelli. “‎It is bad in this respect. [Fountain Valley] and Los [Alamitos are] two pretty good teams [that] did not make the playoffs. Now you are adding two more good teams in the mix.”

The Sea Kings are looking forward to the challenge in the Sunset League. For years, they have ruled the Pacific Coast League in boys’ and girls’ volleyball.

The CdM volleyball programs went into this school year not having lost in league for quite sometime, the boys since 2006 and the girls since 2008.

Under CdM boys’ volleyball coach Steve Conti, the Sea Kings went perfect in league for the 11^th time in a row. They have won 106 consecutive matches in league, an Orange County record.

Conti has led CdM to the section finals in the top division the last two years. They’re the No. 3 seed in the Division 1 playoffs right now, ahead of No. 4 Newport Harbor. Edison is ranked No. 7 and Huntington Beach No. 8.

When it comes to league prowess, the CdM girls were almost as impressive as the boys were. The Sea Kings’ 81-match winning streak in league ended this past season, yet they finished as the outright champion for the 11^th straight season.

“I am really excited to move into one of the toughest volleyball leagues in the county, if not the country,” CdM girls’ volleyball coach Steve Astor said. “There’s no doubt that the league will make us have to compete each and every night. You cannot afford to have an off night and win the new Sunset League, so that will make our athletes have to work harder and be more focused, which I think is great for growth. Personally, I think we should strive to compete against the best competition we can. The Sunset League for girls’ volleyball is certainly perfect for that.

“If you can find a way to qualify for the playoffs from this Sunset League, you’ll be much more battle tested for the playoffs. With us being in Division 1 of CIF for the foreseeable future, we need a tough league to best prepare us for the toughest CIF division in the country.”

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Twitter: @ByDCP