Theriot, Waldron honored

ROGER CARLSON

When there is a meeting of the eagles, functions like the National

Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s annual scholar-athlete

awards dinner, there are some things that are taken for granted.

Class and style go to the forefront and in the middle of the first

row is always Paul Salata’s table, this year stocked with nine Orange

County products who just happen to have been part of USC’s ascent to

No. 1 in college football.

The 35th annual celebration of Orange County’s best -- based on

recommendations from coaches and principals who consider athleticism,

excellence in the classroom and contributions on the campus and in

the community -- was Monday before some 400 guests at the Anaheim

Convention Center. But there was something missing. Humor.

That’s right, Salata was AWOL and the usual dropping of the jaws

from the honored guests was missing because there were no Salata

jokes, only the news that he was absent because he had undergone left

hip replacement surgery a week earlier.

“Even a sissy like me can get through this,” Salata said on

Tuesday from the Flagship Healthcare Center, adjacent to Hoag

Hospital.

After a week, he’s up and down the halls and he said, if

necessary, he could be at the office of Irrelevant Week by today.

The National Football League’s college draft weekend is April

23-24 and when asked if he would be at his customary post to announce

Mr. Irrelevant, the last player to be drafted, he said, “Of course.”

* Some 49 tuxedo-clad student-athletes were honored Monday for

their endeavors, and among them were Costa Mesa High’s Jeff Waldron

and Newport Harbor’s Trevor Theriot.

Waldron, a tight end-linebacker, was All-Golden West League for

two years, the team MVP and was on the principal’s honor roll every

semester.

With a 4.0 GPA, he’s headed for Brigham Young University.

Waldron, as well as Theriot, were among the select list of 20 who

received an additional $1,000 scholarship award.

Orange Coast College legend Dick Tucker, who guided the Bucs’

football team for 24 years (including perfect seasons in 1963 and

‘75), along with Orange County Chapter President Paul Cannon,

presented the awards.

Theriot, known around the Harbor campus as “Moose,” was a

fullback-tailback-linebacker with a 3.9 GPA. He is headed for UCLA.

One of 12 finalists for the Wendy’s High School Heisman, he was

the Daily Pilot’s Dream Team MVP and the Co-Offensive Player of the

Year in CIF Division VI circles.

Both, based on their individual intensity and drive, appear to

have solid chances to excel on the four-year level.

* Among the chatter at the table was, of course, the recent

elevation of Newport Harbor to the Sunset League in a releaguing

meeting, which places the Sailors in Division I circles for the first

time since 1980.

I kept waiting for Coach Jeff Brinkley to “blink,” but it didn’t

happen.

The Sailors and Huntington Beach will swap places, Huntington

Beach joining the Sea View League, in the fall of 2006 for the

four-year cycle.

Irvine and Laguna Hills will leave the Sea View for easier

pastures, making room for El Toro and Trabuco Hills.

Northwood goes from the Pacific Coast to the Sea View, while Aliso

Niguel leaves the Sea View for the South Coast.

All of this seems to make sense in terms of physical capabilities.

Except ...

Why does Mission Viejo, No. 1 in the nation, remain in the

Division II South Coast League, while Newport Harbor, a power in

Division VI, leapfrog over Division V, Division IV, Division III and

Division II to become a Division I school?

Travel time is the only excuse, and one wonders if it’s a

legitimate excuse. It certainly wasn’t for Esperanza.

It’s but one more chapter in the dominance of the South Coast

League, which seems to rule the roost in Orange County.

* Also a part of the evening was the announcement of the coaches

for the Orange County All-Star Football Game at Orange Coast July 8.

John Barnes of Los Alamitos returns for another shot as the North

coach after a 1988 stint.

Jim O’Connell of Tesoro is the South coach.

Waldron and Theriot would appear to be logical choices for spots

on the South team.

* It was also announced that Loara High’s coaching legend, Herb

Hill, was a recent recipient of the 2004 Western Region Leadership

Award at national convention ceremonies in New York City.

Hill, whose Saxons dominated the competition in the 1970s, resides

in San Jacinto.

* Jake Wheeler of Laguna Beach High, was named the 2004 Western

Region High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the same function

in New York.

* Newport Harbor High football defensive coordinator Tony Ciarelli

will be taking Trevor Theriot and Kurt Klanz with him to the national

junior weightlifting competition in Minneapolis April 1-3.

Each gets three lifts in both the clean and jerk and the snatch.

Ciarelli and the nationals have been a “thing” since 1991 and it’s

generally conceded the Sailors’ success over the last few years can

be traced to the weight program initiated by him and now overseen by

assistant coach Mike Bargas.

* Mission Viejo has been Newport Harbor’s preseason scrimmage

opponent for several years, but not so this fall.

The Diablos will be in Seattle for an early nonleague game against

a Northwest power. Thus, Newport will scrimmage Trabuco Hills this

year before entering its final season in the Sea View League.

“After this year with Trabuco we’d like to go back to Mission

Viejo,” Brinkley said.