Estancia’s Castaneda wins at Yuciapa

Junior Ernie Castaneda captured first place and led an Estancia High

boys cross country contingent to a runner-up finish Saturday in

Division III competition at the Yuciapa invitational on a hilly,

three-mile course.

Castaneda won in 16:43, followed by teammates Alex Cahuantzi

(fifth in 17:10), Hector Gomez (11th in 17:42), Geo Rodea (17th in

17:58), Alan Reza (25th in 18:16) and Ben Morales (46th in 19:40).

Woodcrest Christian won the team title.

“It’s a Mt. SAC course,” Estancia Coach Charlie Appell said of the

hot, dusty and, at times, treacherous Yuciapa course, which reminded

him of Mt. San Antonio College.

The Eagles face Santa Ana and host Costa Mesa in a Golden West

League tri-meet Thursday, then travel to the Clovis invitational in

Fresno next Saturday.

Sailors topple Uni, 17-3

* WATER POLO: Jovan Vranes scored four goals and four other

players scored two each as the host Newport Harbor High boys water

polo team waxed University, 17-3, in nonleague action Saturday.

The Sailors (5-3) scored six goals in the opening quarter, then

added four in the second quarter for a 10-1 halftime lead.

Clay Jorth, Nate Castillo, Dan Furman and Justin Eakin each scored

two goals for Newport Harbor, which travels to Foothill at 3 p.m.

Wednesday for a Sea View League opener and likely barnburner.

*--*

Nonleague

Newport Harbor 17, University 3 Score by Quarters

Uni 0 1 2 0 -- 3

Newport 6 4 3 4 -- 17

Newport -- Vranes 4, Clay Jorth 2, Castillo 2,

Furman 2, Eakin 2, Wight 1, Auer 1, Gregory 1,

Hill 1, Cottam 1. Saves -- Robinson 3, E. McLain

2, B. McLain 5.

*--*

Eagle girls finish fourth

* CROSS COUNTRY: Estancia High’s girls cross country team placed

fourth Saturday in Division III at the Yuciapa invitational behind

the running efforts of Sydney Barloon (seventh in 21:08), Paula

Negrette (15th in 22:08), Karina Rios (22nd in 22:36), Lucy Leon

(23rd in 22: 37), Eunice Rodriguez (25th in 22:47) and Okairy Lomeli

(31st in 23:13).

CdM fifth in Chicago

* VOLLEYBALL: The Corona del Mar High girls volleyball team won

two of three matches Saturday to finish fifth in the gold division at

the Mother McAuley national tournament in Chicago.

The Sea Kings (12-4) defeated Wahlert of Iowa, 15-25, 25-15,

25-18, and Catholic Memorial of Wisconsin, 25-21, 23-25, 27-25, both

top-ranked teams from their respective states, in their final two

matches Saturday after falling to Downer’s Grove, 24-26, 27-29, in

their first match of the day.

Senior Lindsey Ensign led CdM, which finished 4-1 in the

tournament, with 14 kills against Wahlert while teammate Jordan Smith

tallied nine kills and 15 digs. Traci Lawson tallied 10 assists.

Ensign blasted 20 kills against Catholic Memorial while Smith,

selected to the all-tournament team, added 17 digs and 12 kills.

Senior Breanne Ogden added five aces to go with 16 digs. Lawson

tallied 16 assists.

Smith tallied 11 kills and 16 digs against Downer’s Grove while

Ensign slammed 10 kills to go with eight digs. Britta Nielsen had 13

digs to go with 15 assists from Kelly Christian.

The Sea Kings open Pacific Coast League play when they host Tesoro

at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

UCI downs Utah State

* VOLLEYBALL: The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team defeated

visiting Utah State, 30-16, 30-26, 26-30, 30-23, in a Big West

Conference match Saturday night as UCI (10-4, 4-2 in conference) won

its fourth straight.

UCI junior middle blocker Amanda Vazquez led all players with

eight blocks (two solo) while seniors Sami Cash and Dana Kurzbard

each had five block assists. Cash also had 12 kills.

Senior outside hitter Kelly Wing had 19 kills and five service

aces to become UCI’s all-time leader in aces (145).

The Anteaters host Long Beach State at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Kramer sparks Vanguard

* SOCCER: After a scoreless first half, Nathan Kramer of the

Vanguard University men’s soccer team scored 48:37 into the game on

an assist by Efrain Salcedo as the visiting Lions edged The Master’s

College, 1-0, in Golden State Athletic Conference action Saturday.

UCI splits in Stockton

* WATER POLO: The UC Irvine men’s water polo team split at the

Northern California tournament in Stockton Saturday, defeating Long

Beach State, 7-4, before losing to UCLA, 10-9.

Against Long Beach State, junior Dreason Barry led all scorers

with four goals. Rick Merlo, Chris Peters and Nate White also scored

for the Anteaters (8-4). Junior goalie Joe Wynne had 11 saves for

UCI.

UCLA outscored the Anteaters, 2-0, in the second quarter and that

proved to be the difference as the Bruins (8-2) prevailed in the

nightcap. Merlo led UCI with four goals, Andrew Dunn scored three and

Barry two. Wynne had six saves for UCI, which faces UC Santa Barbara

in a consolation semifinal at 8:10 a.m. today.