Sea Kings move on up to D. 1

After four consecutive CIF Southern Section Division II championships — and a Division IV title the year before that — Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo moves to Division I this year.

The move means little in terms of strength of schedule, Coach Aaron Chaney said, because the Sea Kings have always had a strong schedule.

What it does, he said, is makes the regular-season games more important for the Sea Kings, ranked No. 3 in Division I in the CIF Southern Section preseason poll.

“The games will mean more, because they count toward our seed in CIF,” said the sixth-year coach. “All of our Division I games now will mean a lot more, and the playoffs themselves are going to be a lot more competitive. It’s definitely tougher to win Division I than it was Division II.”

And the Sea Kings have lost a lot of weapons. Gone are Dream Team Player of the Year Camille Hewko, now at Cal, and goalie Tumua Anae, the 2005 Pacific Coast League Goalkeeper of the Year who is now at USC. Hewko and Anae shared the CIF Division II Players of the Year award last season.

Two-meter defender Ashley Chandler, who made last year’s All-Pacific Coast League first team, is now at UC Davis, and Chelsea Lyman is now at UC Santa Barbara.

“We lost four pretty formidable starters,” Chaney said of last year’s team, which went 28-3.

But the Sea Kings have had losses before and still managed to win. Every year, Chaney has been coach, CdM has walked away with a section title.

This year, the Sea Kings boast three returning starters, including senior driver Katie Indvik, who has already committed to USC.

Indvik, who earned first-team All-CIF Division II honors last year, and senior driver Cari Levine have been starting since they were sophomores. Senior driver Sarah Hutchison is also a returning starter; both Levine and Hutchison were second-team All-PCL last season.

Although Chaney said he is unsure of an exact starting lineup, the three returners highlight a strong senior class — nine of CdM’s 14 players are seniors.

“I’m really looking to the seniors to be leaders,” Chaney said. “That’s what we’re working on right now. A team is only as strong as its leaders.”

Other Sea Kings seniors include Kate Murphy, Annie Claster, Leilani Livingston, Paige O’Brien, Hailey Prickett and Taylor Harkins. Providing depth are junior Allison Peotter and sophomores Heather Van Hiel, Victoria Kennedy and Elise Molnar.

The CdM girls had a strong summer, winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Pan Pacific youth tournament in New Zealand in July. They went on to place 12th in the Junior Olympics in Ventura in August, and fifth in an open women’s tournament in Los Alamitos this past fall.

Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor are two of the few schools that keep their high school teams together virtually year-round in club competition.

“You can take your hits in the summer playing against club all-star teams, but it really pays off during the school year,” Chaney said. “I know [Newport Harbor Coach Bill] Barnett feels the same way.”

The Sea Kings should be strong contenders to repeat as champion in the Pacific Coast League, which includes holdovers Beckman and University and newcomers Irvine and Laguna Hills.

“I think it’s a little stronger this year,” Chaney said. “It should be a pretty competitive league.”

CdM opened its regular season on Friday with a win against Arlington and will play host to Long Beach Wilson today.