Surf and turf highlights

From the U.S. Open at Huntington Pier to Edison High’s league championship in football, 2005 was a year to remember.The 2005 athletic calendar was filled with milestones, upsets and expected results.

Below is a recap of some of the major accomplishments turned in by local athletes and teams during the past year.

January to March

The Edison wrestling team captured its first Southern Section championship by beating out 42 other schools to win the CIF Coastal Division team title.

Edison’s Romney Fuga (heavyweight), Dylan Jensen (130 pounds) and Jimmy Hynes (160), along with Huntington Beach’s Nathan Borden (152), pinned down CIF individual titles in their weight classes.

Fuga went on to a fifth-place finish at the CIF Masters and was fourth overall at the CIF-State meet.

“Finishing fourth at state was a good feeling,” Fuga said. “Next year, though, I’d like to win a state championship.”

Huntington Beach resident Bryan Osuna, a senior at Calvary Chapel in Santa Ana, wrestled his way to a sixth-place finish at state at 125 pounds. Osuna entered the state meet having earned Pacific Coast League, CIF and Masters titles in his weight class.

April to June

Tori Pena and Joe Gatel of Edison High earned second-place finishes in their respective events at the CIF state track and field championships in Sacramento.

Pena, a junior, cleared 13 feet in the girls’ pole vault. Gatel was second in the boys’ 1600 meters.

Pena won a CIF title in the girls’ pole vault with an effort of 12 feet 6. Tony Guadagnini of Marina also claimed a CIF crown by running a personal best 1:53.32 to win the Division I boys’ 800-meter race at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Twenty track and field athletes from Edison, Huntington Beach and Marina qualified for the CIF finals meet at Cerritos College.

Ocean View won an outright Golden West League baseball championship, and Marina shared the Sunset League title. It was the third consecutive league title for Ocean View.

Ocean View went on to win the school’s second Southern Section title in baseball by defeating Temecula Valley, 3-2, at Angel Stadium. The Seahawks ended the year with a 16-game winning streak and finished 25-5 overall. Golden West League MVP Jeff Roth of Ocean View, a senior, took CIF player of the year honors in Division III. Seahawks coach Aaron Kavanagh, who announced his resignation following the completion of the season, was named the division’s coach of the year.

“They made it to the big game, and that’s the biggest accomplishment,” Kavanagh said. “Winning it all is just icing on our cake.”

July to September

Six days of action-packed amateur surfing competition ended with nine surfers winning individual titles and USA Surf Team members selected at the Surfing America USA Championships at the Huntington Beach Pier.

The team went on to represent the United States at the International Surfing Assn.’s Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships in October.

The team of Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder continued their climb up the ranks of the Assn. Of Volleyball Professionals by defeating the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s team of Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Treanor in the women’s final of the Huntington Beach Open.

Karch Kiraly, the winningest player in beach volleyball history, and veteran Mike Lambert teamed to win the men’s final of the Huntington Beach Open. The duo defeated Sean Rosenthal and Larry Witt in the final.

Julia Christian of Carlsbad and Andy Irons of Hawaii won the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, at the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Irons also won the title in 1998.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” said Christian, who won only her second professional tournament.

Jacqueline Silva, of Florianopolis, Brazil, who had competed at the U.S. Open of Surfing, came back in September to win the women’s final at the Hello Kitty Boardfest at the pier.

October to December

Marina’s Jesse Morrill ran a 15:11 to win the boys’ varsity race at the Sunset League finals at Huntington Beach Central Park-West.

Hawaii won the gold medal, Brazil silver, the U.S. bronze and Australia copper at the Quiksilver International Surfing Assn. World Junior Championships at the pier. It was the first time the U.S. hosted the event.

Edison rolled up 10 straight victories and won the Sunset League football championship. It was the first outright league crown for the Chargers since 1990. The Chargers were ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division I for much of the season.

The Huntington Beach Oilers fell to Esperanza but still qualified for the playoffs.

Huntington Beach won the Western U.S. Pop Warner Football Pee Wee Division championship by defeating Mid-Valley, 39-14, in the title game. Huntington won the western U.S. title for the second year in a row.20051229ipoh49knCOURTENAY NEARBURG / DAILY PILOT(LA)Edison players celebrate around Victory Bell after a 34-0 defeat of rival Fountain Valley. The team went on to win Sunset League title.20051229ik9hscncDON LEACH / INDEPENDENT(LA)Daniel Jones of Hawaii gets some air while competing in the 2005 U.S. Open of Surfing in July. 20051229ihq9e9knMARK C. DUSTIN / INDEPENDENT(LA)Members of the Ocean View baseball team celebrate on the field at Angel Stadium after recording 3-2 a victory over Temecula Valley in the CIF-SS Division III championship game in June.