December 4, 2024

OC Sports Zone: Community First

OC high school re-leaguing plan includes big shake-up for Pacific Coast Conference

Most Orange County high school teams will be in newly reconfigured conferences and leagues for the 2024-25 athletic season starting in August.

One of the conferences greatly affected is the Pacific Coast. In the past, it has been a conference for some sports such as football and volleyball and a league for others such as baseball.

The plan, shared with OC Sports Zone by Sage Hill Athletic Director Megan Cid, is for two school years.

Separately, OC football squads will be grouped in conferences, except for the Trinity League which remains the same. Other sports will be included in conferences based on their most recent league finishes in a plan that aims to establish competitive equity.

There will be some adjustments. New teams added to the mix are Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s and former Trinity League member Rosary (for girls sports only). Rosary is an all girls academy in Fullerton.

St. Margaret’s, which moves from the Orange Coast League, does not field teams in some sports so will not be included in the configuration of some leagues.

Beckman is no longer part of the Pacific Coast Conference after being a competitive member for many years. Beckman will be in the Coast View Athletic Association with South County schools. “We will be in the Sea View League for most sports, but some will go directly to the South Coast League,” said Athletic Director Steve Fischel.

Beckman, which is located in Irvine and part of the Tustin Unified School District, has been especially strong in boys volleyball, baseball and softball. Laguna Hills also moves out of the Pacific Coast Conference.

Girls and boys sports will vary. For instance, baseball teams will be one league while softball squads will be divided into two, noted Woodbridge Athletic Director Rick Gibson.

Gibson added that leagues will be adjusted each year.

“The last place finisher for the Pacific Coast moves to the Pacific Hills and the first place finisher from the Pacific Hills moves to the Pacific Coast,” he said. “The overall alignment will only last for two years.”

A breakdown by sport:

FALL

BOYS WATER POLO

(School and CIF power ranking)

Laguna Beach 16.82, Irvine 10.33, Portola 9.77, Northwood 7.31, University 6.71, Sage Hill 4.99 and Woodbridge 1.41.

(Single round, plus carousel tournament end of season)

GIRLS TENNIS

University 24.7, Portola 22.03, Sage Hill 19.18, Northwood 19.07, Woodbridge 18.65, Laguna Beach 16.23, St. Margaret’s 11.99, Irvine 11.07, Rosary 10.89.

(Single round plus league individuals tourney)

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Pacific Coast League: Northwood 2.502, St. Margaret’s 2.056, Irvine 1.586, Rosary 1.537 and Laguna Beach 1.297.

Pacific Hills League: Woodbridge 1.225, Portola 0.6, University 0.4 and Sage Hill -0.047

(Double round, no crossover)

GIRLS GOLF

(Teams and handicaps)

Pacific Coast League: Northwood 0.63, Sage Hill 4.3, St. Margaret’s 4.53 and Woodbridge 5.286.

Pacific Hills League: University 5.4, Portola 6.51, Irvine 8.4, Laguna Beach 16.81 and Rosary 17.5.

(Double round, no crossover)

GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL

Pacific Coast League: Woodbridge, Northwood, University, Portola, Irvine, Rosary, Laguna Beach and Sage Hill.

(Double round)

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Pacific Coast League: Portola, Northwood, University and Woodbridge.

Pacific Hills League: Irvine, Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s and Sage Hill.

(Two league meets, preview/cluster meets and finals)

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Pacific Coast League: Portola, Northwood, University, Woodbridge and Irvine.

Pacific Hills League: Laguna Beach, Rosary, St. Margaret’s and Sage Hill.

(Two league meets, preview/cluster meets and finals)

WINTER

GIRLS BASKETBALL

(School and CIF power ranking)

Pacific Coast League: Sage Hill 16.73, Portola 15.04, Rosary 13.95, St. Margaret’s 13.23 and Woodbridge 12.63.

Pacific Hills League: Northwood 10.94, Irvine 10.93, Laguna Beach 9.07 and University 9.05.

(Double round, no crossover)

BOYS SOCCER

Pacific Coast League: Woodbridge 3.769, Northwood 3.148, University 2.739, Portola 2.289, Irvine 2.175, Laguna Beach 1.878, St. Margaret’s 1.821 and Sage Hill 0.33.

(Double round)

BOYS BASKETBALL

Pacific Coast League: Woodbridge 13.6, Northwood 13.43, Sage Hill 12.1, Laguna Beach 11.52, St. Margaret’s 11.38, Irvine 11, Portola 9.65 and University 9.54.

(Single round, league tournament)

GIRLS SOCCER

Pacific Coast League: Rosary 5.131, Woodbridge 5.112, Northwood 3.948, University 3.881 and Laguna Beach 3.821

Pacific Hills League: Portola 2.7, Sage Hill 1.789, Irvine 1.489 and St. Margaret’s 0.697.

(Double round, no crossover)

GIRLS WATER POLO

Pacific Coast League: Woodbridge 8.96, Woodbridge 7.12, Irvine 6.85, University 6.45, Portola 6.25, Northwood 5.86 and Rosary 5.64.

(Single round, carousel tournament)

GIRLS WRESTLING

Pacific Coast League: Laguna Beach, Woodbridge, University, Northwood, Irvine, Portola and Rosary.

(Single round plus tournament)

BOYS WRESTLING

Pacific Coast League: Laguna Beach, Woodbridge, University, Northwood, Irvine and Portola.

SPRING

Note: Athletic directors are waiting for more info to determine conference breakdowns.

School and CIF power rankings

GIRLS LACROSSE

St. Margaret’s 12.51, University 4.22, Woodbridge 4.08, Laguna Beach 1.75, Northwood 1.16, Portola 0.37, Rosary -2.74, Irvine -13.18 and Sage Hill 19.58.

(Double round, no crossover)

BOYS TENNIS

University 38.71, Portola 28.14, Woodbridge 26.96, Sage Hill 22.78, Northwood 18.39, Irvine 13.47, St. Margaret’s 12.76 and Laguna Beach 10.76.

BASEBALL

Woodbridge 646.8, Northwood 590.7, Laguna Beach 548.3, Irvine 458, University 440.97, Portola 399.6, St. Margaret’s 392.05 and Sage Hill 328.75

(Double round)

SOFTBALL

Rosary 10.96, Woodbridge 9.63, Irvine 8.39, Northwood 7.69, Portola -5.2 and University -8.44.

(Double round)

BOYS LACROSSE

St. Margaret’s, University, Northwood, Woodbridge, Irvine, Portola and Laguna Hills.

(Double round)

BOYS GOLF

(Schools and handicaps)

Northwood 3.2, Portola 2.77, St. Margaret’s 2.98, Irvine 3.6, Sage Hill 4.02, University 4.1, Woodbridge 4.94 and Laguna Beach 7.82.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Northwood 21.32, Laguna Beach 23.46, Portola 20.31, St. Margaret’s 24.64, University 21.16, Irvine 17.87, Woodbridge 20.42 and Sage Hill 16.07.

(Double round)

GIRLS BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Laguna Beach, Irvine, Sage Hill and St. Margaret’s.

(Double round)

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Northwood, Portola, University, Woodbridge, Irvine, Rosary, Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s and Sage Hill.

(Single round plus tournament).

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Northwood, Portola, University, Woodbridge, Irvine, Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s and Sage Hill.

(Single round plus tournament)

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING

Portola, Woodbridge, Northwood, University, Irvine, Laguna Beach, St. Margaret’s, Sage Hill and Rosary.

(Single round, crossover and tournament)

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING

Northwood 124.41, Woodbridge 112.91, Portola 109.8, University 108.7, Sage Hill 95.38, Irvine 91.94, Laguna Beach 80.33 and St. Margaret’s (ranking not available).

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com