Newland’s quest for 700 on hold

Legendary UC Irvine men’s water polo coach Ted Newland, will need to

return for his 39th season to reach the 700-victory plateau, after

the Anteaters suffered a 9-8 overtime loss to UC Santa Barbara in the

seventh-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

tournament Sunday at Belmont Plaza in Belmont Shore.

Newland, whose ‘Eaters finished 12-17, is 698-331-5 at UCI,

including national championships in 1970, ’82 and ’89.

UCSB senior Doug Arthur scored with 27 seconds left in overtime

for the game-winner. It was the Gauchos’ first win over the Anteaters

in four attempts this season.

UCI junior Rick Merlo gave the Anteaters a 7-6 lead with 6:28

remaining in the fourth quarter, but UCSB’s Joe Ferguson sent the

game into overtime on a goal with 29 seconds left in regulation.

Arthur scored with 2:28 left in the first three-minute overtime

session to give UCSB an 8-7 lead.

UCI senior Phil Garcia’s goal with 42 seconds left in the second

three-minute extra period tied the game.

Merlo led the Anteaters with three goals and Garcia scored twice.

Sophomore goalie Joe Wynne had five saves for UCI.

*--*

MPSF tournament

Seventh-place game UCSB 9, UC Irvine 8 OT

Score by periods

UCSB 2 3 1 1 1 1 - 9

UC Irvine 2 2 2 1 0 1 - 8

UCSB - Arthur 3, Alexander 2, Ferguson 2,

Traverso 1, Dale 1. Saves - Wright 13. UC

Irvine - Merlo 3, Garcia 2, Noon 1, Masterson

1, Hutten 1. Saves - Wynne 5.

*--*

Thune Lion of Week

* CROSS COUNTRY: Vanguard University junior Jenny Thune, who

finished 34th at the NAIA cross country championships last week, has

been named Lion of the Week by the school’s athletic department.

Thune’s finish, the second best at nationals by a Vanguard woman

runner, left her just short of All-American honors that go to the top

30 runners. Her time was 18 minutes, 39 seconds.

Thune excelled all year for the Lions. She set a new personal

record with a time of 18:28 on an Oregon course in the third meet of

the season, and later earned All-Region honors with her second-best

time of the season, good for a ninth-place finish at the Region II

championships.

It was Thune’s second Lion of the Week award this fall.

Pirates edged in OT

* BASKETBALL: The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team

fell to Contra Costa, 69-67, in overtime in the third-place game of

the Ventura tournament Sunday at Ventura College.

Freshman Rhondi Naff led the Pirates (3-4) with 22 points, while

sophomore Alisa Carillo added 21.

Santa Ana bests OCC

* BASKETBALL: The Orange Coast College men’s basketball team fell

to Orange Empire Conference rival Santa Ana, 67-61, in the

consolation championship game of the Citrus College tournament

Sunday.

Aaron Bobik led OCC with 18 points and Jason Sanford added 13.

Jesus Miranda had 19 points for the Dons, for whom Nedim Pajevic,

a freshman from Newport Harbor High, had five points, three rebounds

and three assists.