OCC’s Icban, Finaldi set marks

* JC TRACK AND FIELD: Michelle Icban and Jennifer Finaldi each set or

tied Orange Empire Conference records in the first of the two-day

conference tack and field championships Thursday at Santa Ana

College.

Icban, the defending state champion in the 10,000 meters, broke a

record in the race with a 36:28.86, while Finaldi and Golden West’s

Elisa Liana each set the conference pole vault record with leaps over

11 feet, 6 inches. Icban finished in 36:42.42 to win last year’s

state title while Finaldi jumped 11-6 to earn the state crown a year

ago. OCC’s Zoila Gomez set the previous best in the 10,000 (37:20.80)

in 2000.

Lauren Cassity won the high jump (4-10) while Hanni Geider led a

quartet of Pirates that placed 1-4 in the heptathlon. Geider amassed

3,519 points followed by twin sister Jasmine (3,342), Cassity (3,237)

and Finaldi (3,097). Sandra Montoya finished second to Icban in the

10,000 (39:37.52).

OCC’s women lead after the first day with 118 points. Riverside

and OCC are tied at 54 points for the lead on the men’s side. Art

Diaz won the 10,000 (32:39.12) while Keinan Briggs placed second in

the long jump (22-8 1/2).

Tsai breaks OEC mark

* JC SWIMMING: Orange Coast’s Sherry Tsai set an Orange Empire

Conference record in the women’s 50-yard freestyle Thursday in 23.89

in an OEC preliminary heat at Saddleback College, where the OCC women

lead the nine-team field after the first day of competition. The OCC

men are in second place, behind Grossmont.

Tsai went on to capture the finals in the 50 free (24.28), while

the Pirates’ 400 medley relay set an OEC record in 4:01.92. Kimberlee

Frith won the 500 free (5:07.03) and Sara Natalizio the 100

individual medley (1:01.36) for OCC.

Matt Henry touched first in the 200 IM (1:59.76) for the OCC men,

while the Pirates’ 200 free relay won in 1:25.73. The OEC Championships continue through Saturday.

‘Eaters advance to semis

* MEN’S TENNIS: Third-seeded UC Irvine swept past No. 6 seed Utah

State, 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference

Championships at Danville Thursday. With the victory, UCI will face

No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara in one semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday. The

Gauchos defeated UC Riverside, 5-0, on Thursday.

UCI notched straight-set wins in singles from No. 1 Zoran Korac,

No. 2 Jon Endrikat, No. 3 Sean O’Connor, No. 4 Brian Morton and No. 6

Peter Surapol. Coach Steve Clark’s Anteaters improved to 12-9 overall

this season, while Utah State fell to 7-13.

Sailors sweep Aliso

* BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Senior Mike Toole contributed a match-high 14

kills while 6-foot-8 junior teammate Jamie Diefenbach added five

kills and two solo blocks in one game Thursday as the Newport Harbor

High boys volleyball team swept host Aliso Niguel, 15-4, 15-8, 15-8,

in a Sea View League match. Paul Toman added five kills and two solo

blocks, junior outside hitter Morgan Govaars chipped in with five

kills and Michael McDonald had four kills in his first stint on the

front row.

CdM beats Laguna

* BOYS VOLLEYBALL: Corona del Mar maintained its hold on the

Pacific Coast League lead with a 15-13, 15-5, 15-11, victory over visiting Laguna Beach Thursday. The Sea Kings (11-7, 6-0 in league)

were led by 13 kills from senior Eric Jones and 10 each from Miles

Yourman, Bart Welch and Kevin Welch. Tom Welch tallied eight. Jones,

Dominic Rubino and Bart Welch each had eight digs and Jones also

contributed four blocks. Greg Gabriel amassed 46 assists against

Laguna Beach (4-2 in league).

Zoelle spins gem

* SOFTBALL: Alissa Zoelle of Corona del Mar High tossed a five-hit

shutout and went 2 for 3 with one RBI at the plate as the visiting

Sea Kings edged Calvary Chapel, 2-0, in a Pacific Coast League

softball game Thursday.

Zoelle, who improved to 6-4 on the mound, singled to left field on

a line drive to score Jackie Manning in the top of the sixth to break

a scoreless tie, then CdM’s Amy Tyson scored on an error. Meaghan

Bunney was also 2 for 3 for the Sea Kings (7-6, 3-1 in the PCL).

Calvary Chapel fell to 4-12, 1-3. Corona del Mar will host Northwood

on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.

*--*

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 2, Calvary Chapel 0

Score by Innings

CdM 000 002 0 -- 2 5 2

Calvary 000 000 0 -- 0 5 1

Zoelle and Tyson; Wilt, Dugan (6) and

Merrell. W -- Zoelle, 6-4. L -- Wilt, 3-4.

2B -- Bunney (CdM)

*--*

Sherman leads CdM

* GOLF: Corona del Mar’s Nick Sherman continued his hot streak

with a 1-under-par 34 with two birdies Thursday as the Sea Kings beat

University, 187-209, in a Pacific Coast League boys golf match at the

par-35 Newport Beach Country Club.

Alex Chikovani (36), Brad Chamberlin (37), Rob Ury (38) and Ben

Tilsen (42) scored for CdM (10-4, 7-1 in league).