New head coaches start off season

The Laguna Beach boys’ and girls’ cross-county teams opened their seasons Thursday and both did so under the guidance of new head coaches.

Scott Wittkop, who teaches at the school, is the new boys’ coach and replaces Dave Brobeck.

Steve Lalim, who teaches at Thurston Middle school, is the new girls’ coach and replaces Earl Towner.

Both inherit programs that have not only been a dominant force in league action the past several years, but also have had great successes at the CIF-Southern Section and CIF-State levels.

Laguna’s boys last year won the Orange Coast League title and earned a sixth-place standing at the CIF-SS Division IV meet.

Wittkop says the nucleus of the team lies in its distance runners, and the Breakers will “rely heavily” on Matt Neev, Casey Finnerty and Yann Panassie.

Matt Karam and Jesse Wang return in jumps, and the Breakers have a standout back in Sheldon Eaton, who last year was league champion in both the 110- and 300-hurdles. Wittkop said that there will be improvement in both the shot put and discus.

“Although we are a very young team our goal is to win another Orange Coast League Championship and complete for a CIF title,” he said.

For Lalim, he takes over a Laguna girls’ program from Towner that last year finished second in the Orange Coast League and qualified seven individuals and its 4 x 100 relay team for CIF.

Lalim served as an assistant coach to Towner in girls’ cross-country last fall and was a boys’ cross-country coach to Brobeck the previous three years.

“I’m really excited to be taking over the Laguna program,” Lalim said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to be coaching track.

“We’re a young team this year but there’s a lot of talent there.”

One key returner is Camille Borges, who last year as a freshman, finished ninth at CIF in the Division IV girls’ 3,200 event.

The Laguna teams began the season Thursday with a nonleague meet against Orange Lutheran. The scores weren’t available at press time.

The Breakers next compete Thursday hosting El Dorado at 3 p.m.