Top 10 Long Beach Area Sports Stories

It's odd when a Top 10 list of the year in Long Beach sports is devoid of high school football, and the story with perhaps the longest impact is a continuing one that involves the legacy and structure of prep coaching in the city.

That said, there were champions aplenty, some breakthroughs at Long Beach State, and a pair of notable comebacks.

1. Poly boys basketball wins CIF

The 68-52 final score in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA title game against Corona Centennial doesn't reflect how lopsided the game was. Poly led 62-29 in the second half before calling off the 'rabbits. It was Poly's first boys hoop title since 2004 and reinforced the good work Sharrief Metoyer has done in maintaining the sense of class and performance around Poly basketball he inherited from Ron Palmer. His current team is a contender to repeat.

2. LBSU scores in soccer

The 49ers women's soccer program has been taking steps toward the high end of the sport for several years and it took a major leap this year by advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament before being stopped by Duke. It beat Pepperdine, Miami and San Diego on its way to North Carolina.

3. LBUSD coaching muddle

The recession that has played havoc with everyone caused the Long Beach Unified School District its own pain as it started issuing pink slips like a pizza company hanging menus on door knobs. The end result was a lot of quality

teachers/coaches moving on for secure jobs, while increasing the number of walk-on coaches, who can't be the steady campus presence a full-time teacher/coach can be. Moore League football has just one head coach with more than two years on the job. On the plus side, rowing great Joan Van Blom, the P.E. curriculum leader for the district, helped organize a fund-raising drive to save Middle School sports, which had been trimmed from the budget.

4. Prep dynasties abound

Poly winning a fourth straight CIF state girls track and field title wasn't exactly unexpected. But when the boys team won its title the same day, it set a bit of state history. Only three times have the state team titles been won by the same school, and Poly has done it all three times. In a historic three-peat, Poly diving sensation Deon Reid won his third consecutive state title and set a new state record in the process for the third straight time. It was without question, though, the year of consecutive CIF titles. The Downey girls volleyball team and wrestling team, St. Anthony girls basketball team and Paramount boys soccer team all won their second title in as many years. Lakewood's Kimo Napohaku won his second straight CIF wrestling title, too. St. John Bosco's Danny Martinez won the CIF State individual cross country championship. Other champs included Gahr boys basketball, Valley Christian boys volleyball, Los Alamitos girls volleyball, and Wilson boys water polo.

5. Mike Conway's comeback

Mike Conway won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in April, but what made his victory more special than usual was that just 11 months earlier, in May 2010 at the Indy 500, he was in a vicious crash in which he suffered a broken leg and compression fracture of one of his vertebrae and did not compete the rest of 2010. It was the kind of crash in which the driver is lucky to survive.

6. Well-traveled Chase DeJong

The junior pitcher led Wilson to the CIF-SS boys Division I baseball semifinals with a 10-2 record and 1.08 ERA, then went bouncing across the world for more baseball - a Perfect Game showcase event in Florida, a return to Long Beach for the American Legion season, to Cary, N.C., for the USA Under 18 tryout camp, back to Long Beach for the Area Code Games, then back to Cary for the final camp and then a trip to Cartagena, Colombia, for the World Championships. Next: A possible top-10 selection in the 2012 major league draft in June.

7. Local boxing champ

Professional boxer Abner Mares of Hawaiian Gardens, an Artesia High grad, became a bantweight world champion when he won a majority decision over Joseph Agbeko in Las Vegas. Mares became Golden Boy Promotions' first world champion from the ground up, having signed with Oscar De La Hoya's company right out of the amateurs. Mares repeated the win in a rematch against Agbeko on Dec. 3 at the Honda Center.

8. More gold for Misty?

The Long Beach State volleyball icon essentially retired after the U.S. domestic season folded in 2010, but chose to make a comeback in January with an eye on a third Olympic gold medal with partner Kerri Walsh at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Misty and Walsh finished second on the FIVB tour this year and are assured a trip to London.

9. Big West goes back to the future

The conference added Hawaii to its lineup earlier in the year, giving the previously all-California contingent greater depth and more potential in many notable sports. Then, this month, San Diego State returned to the fold, the league agreeing to take all of the Aztecs' programs starting in 2013. On the flip side, reports about financial woes at Cal State Northridge, CS Fullerton and UC Riverside leaves the conference wondering if it may lose someone sooner than later.

10. Longoria's moment in time

The final day of the 2011 baseball season was considered one of the greatest days in baseball history, with playoff spots changing within minutes. In Tampa, former Dirtbag Evan Longoria played a pivotal role. Down 7-0 and needing a win and Red Sox loss to earn the AL wild card, Longoria hit a three-run home run to draw within 7-6, then won the game in the 10th inning with a home run moments after the Red Sox were beaten.

- Dave Felton, Bob Keisser, Robert Morales and Dave Werstine

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_19650799?source=rss_viewed

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