A start to remember

The Laguna boys' team finished in 14th place at the CIF Southern Section Division 4 meet at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut in November. The Breakers were represented on the all-league team by senior Jeff White.

In girls' tennis, the Breakers again won the league title, dominated the league tournament and reached the CIF playoffs under first-year Coach Don Davis. Senior Lauren Michaels won the league's singles title and was named league MVP. In doubles, the teams of freshman Kira Hamilton and sophomore Brooke Michaels won the league tournament title.

In girls' golf, the Breakers finished second to Estancia in the Orange Coast League and had three players named to the 2011 all-league team. Senior captain Taylor Weiss was a first-team player who finished runner-up to league MVP Cassie Stevenson of Estancia for the league's individual title. Niko Morok of Laguna was fifth at the league tournament and also made first team. Vivian Mendoza was eighth at league finals and made the second team.

The 2011 sports year ended on a high note for Laguna, which repeated as CIF Southern Section Division 3 champion in boys' water polo. Coach Ethan Damato's squad went wire-to-wire as the No. 1-ranked team for the season and capped its outstanding campaign in November by defeating second-ranked Damien, 14-8, for the second straight year in the division final.

"This is awesome," Damato said of capturing another Southern Section title. "I think the pressure has been on this team all year and our guys have responded so well to every challenge. This (title) is something we've been wanting all year. What really impressed me was that this entire team stepped up big when we lost two key starters. That says a lot about our guys."

Senior Nolan McConnell was named Division 3 Player of the Year and Damato was the division's Coach of the Year. Seniors Erik Henrikson (goalie) and Samer Alkateb, and junior Riley Thomas were named first-team All-CIF. Senior Tommy Renner and junior Camron Hauer were named second-team All-CIF and senior Nicky Brunner was third-team All-CIF.

michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca