CIF lauds CdM

At Corona del Mar High, the student-athletes are doing a pretty good job of being both students and athletes.

Three Corona del Mar teams are slated to be honored at Angel Stadium before the Los Angeles Angels-Detroit Tigers game April 25 for being 2006 CIF Southern Section Academic Award winners.

Among Southern Section high schools with an enrollment of 1,501 or more, the Corona del Mar boys’ cross country team, softball team and girls’ golf team each had the highest grade point average in their respective sports.

“We don’t do anything different, it’s a tribute to the kids in the athletic programs,” Corona del Mar High Athletic Director Jerry Jelnick said. “All the kids do a good job in the classroom, these ones just happened to be at the top this time around.”

The girls’ golf team, which boasts a grade-point average of 3.886, took first place with the highest mark of any team. The team is slated to receive a $500 grant from the Women’s Southern California Golf Assn.

The boys’ cross-country team, coached by Bill Sumner, had a section-best 3.693 GPA.

“Both my boys and girls are usually above 3.8 and that’s pretty consistent,” Sumner said. “Cross-country kids are notorious for being a little brighter than the rest. All those guys are pretty bright kids.”

The long-distance runners include seniors Kenny Wong, Paris Delgado, Jack Turner and Ryan Guthrie, juniors Tim Scott, Tommy Hutchison and Brian Licorish and sophomore Thomas Dialynas.

The softball team, coached by Nichole Thompson, had a first-place GPA of 3.636.

“We’ve been nominating teams for years, but I don’t remember the last time we won,” Jelnick said. “It’s been a while.”

To be considered for the Academic Award, teams must have a cumulative minimum grade point average of 3.0 in college-prep courses in the first semester of the 2005-06 school year.

The first-place teams receive a banner to commemorate their achievement. All student-athletes on nominated teams will get Academic Award certificates.

The Sea Kings were the only area school to be honored by the Southern Section.