Franco new head man at Estancia

Estancia High has hired Marcus Franco as its head softball coach, girls’ athletic director Jessica Gatica said Thursday.

Franco has been an assistant for Estancia but head coach Judd Fryslie stepped down earlier this month to focus on his career. Fryslie, a walk-on, will still be coaching girls’ basketball, Gatica said.

Gatica said Franco, 44, remains a math teacher at Costa Mesa High. He was the Mustangs’ head coach for two years, in 2008 and 2009. He led Mesa to a combined 25-26 record and a CIF playoff berth in 2009, which was the program’s first since 2003. The Mustangs have since made the playoffs the last two years under Coach Nichole Maddox.

Estancia had just three players with varsity experience this year. The Eagles finished 5-20, 2-8 in league.

Lynn introduced at Newport Harbor

Newport Harbor boys' aquatics coach Robert Lynn addresses the crowd Sunday. Photo courtesy of Doug Stevens.

Robert Lynn, the new Newport Harbor boys’ water polo and swim coach, was formally introduced at a meet and greet Sunday at the school.

A couple hundred people attended as Lynn, the former Harvard-Westlake water polo coach who played in the 2000 Olympics and is a senior national team assistant, was introduced by national team goalie Merrill Moses. Aquatics boosters president Doug Stevens said that Lynn also introduced his staff, including former Newport Harbor standout Clay Jorth. Jorth was the interim swim coach after former boys’ aquatics coach Jason Lynch was fired April 8.

The staff also includes Jacob McIntosh, Dylan Mobley and Pavle Filipovic, each of whom also coached with Lynn at Harvard-Westlake. Lynn then answered questions from parents as age groups for the newly-created Newport Beach Water Polo, Inc. got in the pool for a short practice.

Newport Harbor’s Stevens makes youth national team

Newport Harbor High sophomore Dan Stevens was named to the 2011 U.S. water polo youth national team Monday at the conclusion of the national selection camp at Newport Harbor.

Stevens was one of 63 athletes who competed over four days at the selection camp. He made the final 28-man roster for the second straight year.

Stevens, a center, was second on the Sailors last year with 55 goals. The youth national team is coached by the Sailors’ former high school coach, Jason Lynch, who was fired in April. Newport Harbor Principal Michael Vossen announced Friday that Robert Lynn was Newport Harbor’s new head coach.

Lynn in at Harbor

Robert Lynn has accepted the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo and swimming head coaching position, Principal Michael Vossen announced in an email to Newport aquatics families late Friday night.

“Coach Lynn comes to us with impeccable credentials that helped make him a unanimous choice with our interview panel,” Vossen wrote in the email. “His extensive experience in the sport and strong affiliation with the U.S. National Team will be a tremendous asset to our program. We look forward to working with Coach Lynn and supporting him as he takes the helm of a proud tradition at Harbor High.”

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Lynn appears headed to Newport Harbor

Newport Harbor High appears close to announcing Robert Lynn as its new boys’ water polo and swim coach.

A source said an announcement is expected to be made within an hour.

Lynn resigned as boys’ and girls’ water polo coach at Harvard-Westlake Friday, Harvard-Westlake athletic director Terry Barnum said Friday. Barnum said Lynn met with student-athletes on campus and said goodbye.

A source close to Newport Harbor aquatics told the Daily Pilot on Tuesday that Lynn had been offered the Newport Harbor position. The source said Friday that he talked with Ironman Water Polo League Los Angeles-area organizer Cari Kuprenas, who said, “You guys are going to love Robert.”

Sage Hill makes first tennis final

Robbe Simon helped Sage Hill advance to the CIF title match for the first time in program history. Photo by Scott Smeltzer/Daily Pilot

The Sage Hill School boys’ tennis team beat Cerritos, 11-7, on Tuesday in a CIF Southern Section Division III semifinal match. The Lightning advanced to the CIF finals for the first time in program history.

Robbe Simon swept in singles and the doubles teams of Kevin Marshack and Alex Manolakas, as well as Andrew Kurzweil and Ryan Lee, also swept for Sage Hill. Sage plays Valencia of Placentia in the Division III championship match June 1 at 11 a.m. at the Claremont Club.

Sage Hill had lost in the semifinals each of the past two years, including to eventual champion Cerritos in 2009.

Lynn has offer to become Newport Harbor coach

(Photo from USA Water Polo)

Robert Lynn has been offered the job to become the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo and boys’ swim coach, according to a source who requested anonymity.

He is close to deciding, the source said.

Lynn declined to comment on questions dealing with coaching jobs. A phone message with Newport Harbor Principal Michael Vossen has not been returned.

Lynn, a 2000 Olympian and an assistant coach with the 2008 silver-medal winning U.S. men’s Olympic team, has been the coach at Harvard-Westlake, where he was hired as boys’ and girls’ water polo coach in 2009.

Lynn remains an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s senior national team and he’s a co-coach of the U.S. junior national team, which includes Newport Harbor standout Farrel South, a senior-to-be who led the Sailors with 113 goals last season.

Continue reading: Newport Harbor offers Lynn boys’ water polo, swim coaching job

CdM’s Kim won’t swim at CIF

Corona del Mar High senior John Kim (sprained ankle) was not entered into the CIF Southern Section Division I swim championships, dealing a blow to the Sea Kings’ CIF title hopes.

Kim sprained his ankle early last week falling on stairs at home. He did not swim for the CdM boys Friday in the Pacific Coast League finals at Beckman High, but the Sea Kings still edged University by 1.5 points for their fifth straight league title.

The Northwestern-bound Kim was second in the individual medley and breaststroke events last year at CIF finals, helping CdM earn a third-place team finish.

This year’s Division I preliminaries are Wednesday at noon at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, with the finals on Friday evening.

Mustangs back in playoffs

Senior second baseman Sami Feinstein, left, and the Mustangs are back in the playoffs.

The Costa Mesa High softball team is headed back to the CIF playoffs after winning at Laguna Beach, 6-3, on Tuesday.

With one Orange Coast League game still to go, the Mustangs (7-15, 5-4 in league) have clinched third place in the six-team league. The top three teams are guaranteed CIF Southern Section Division V playoff spots.

Senior third baseman Itzel Flores was three for four with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs to lead Mesa on Tuesday.

Musselman commits to UCLA

CdM junior Alex Musselman

Corona del Mar High junior girls’ water polo goalie Alex Musselman has verbally committed to UCLA, she confirmed Wednesday night.

Musselman was the Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year this past winter for the Sea Kings. The two-year varsity starter earned a reputation as one of the best goalies in CIF, making 331 saves for the Sea Kings (21-8) and sparking the counterattack with her precise passes.

She was also named the Pacific Coast League’s Most Outstanding Goalie for league champion CdM, helping her team advance to the CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals. She was a first-team All-Division I selection.

Musselman said she loved UCLA during her visit to the campus, one of several unofficial visits she said she made to schools across the country.

“I wanted a school that had a strong combination of academics, water polo and campus life,” she said.