Sports Shorts: Chargers Headed to South Coast Water Polo Tournament

El Toro High's boys water polo team will try to avenge its loss to Mater Dei in last year's finals of the South Coast tournament when the annual competition begins Thursday at four high school pools in Orange County. The championship match is set for Newport Harbor at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.

Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 coaches’ poll, is coming off a victory at the Santa Barbara Invitational on Saturday. The Chargers are ranked No. 3 behind the Monarchs and Newport Harbor.

Here are where the teams will begin their two days of pool play today. Quarterfinals will be held Friday at each pool, and winners will advance to Saturday’s semifinals, which will take place at 10:40 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. at Newport Harbor.

Capistrano Valley High -- 1. Mater Dei; 2. Laguna Beach; 3. Capistrano Valley; 4. Vista; 5. Northwood; 6. San Clemente; 7. Granite Hills; 8. Buena Park.

Foothill High -- 1. El Toro; 2. Loyola; 3. Santa Barbara; 4. Foothill; 5. Punahou (Hawaii); 6. Mission Viejo; 7. Santa Margarita; 8. University.

Newport Harbor High -- 1. Newport Harbor; 2. Los Alamitos; 3. The Bishop's (La Jolla); 4. Long Beach Wilson; 5. Servite; 6. Edison; 7. Dana Hills; 8. Redlands.

Corona del Mar -- 1. Corona del Mar; 2. Huntington Beach; 3. Villa Park; 4. Dos Pueblos (Goleta); 5. Riverside Poly; 6. Esperanza; 7. La Canada; 8. Long Beach Poly.

CHARGERS' FOOTBALL TEAM TRAVELS TO MONTEBELLO

El Toro’s football team plays at Schurr High in Montebello on Friday (7 p.m. kickoff) in the first of four road games in a row for the Chargers (2-1), who don’t return home until Oct. 21, for their homecoming game against Aliso Niguel at Trabuco Hills High.

It will be the home opener for Schurr (0-2), which beat El Toro last season, 29-28, and opened this season with a 22-0 loss to Cantwell-Sacred Heart, followed by a 50-14 loss to Downey last week.

Coach Robert Frith, in his second season at the helm of the Chargers' program, said in the spring that the team’s defense was strong but the “offense needed to improve” in order to compete for the Sea View League championship.

El Toro is certainly on the right path. After a 23-21 loss to Huntington Beach in their opener, the Chargers , and . Toro is averaging 41.3 points per game to Schurr’s 7.

Leading the way for El Toro are four juniors: quarterback Conner Manning has completed 73 of 118 passes for 821 yards and 9 touchdowns with 3 interceptions; running back Jacob Funari has carried 45 times for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns; wide receiver Cody White has 18 receptions for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns, and kicker Roger Howard has made 16 of 16 PATs and four field goals.

EL TORO RUNNERS EXCEL AT CROSS-COUNTRY COUNTY CLASSIC

El Toro High runners competed in the Cross Country Classic Friday and Saturday at Estancia High. The 31st annual meet was co-hosted by Woodbridge, Estancia, and Costa Mesa high schools and the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club, and was sponsored by Puma.

Here are results of races in which the Chargers scored among the top 10:

BOYS SWEEPSTAKES

Team Scores -- 1. Arcadia 72; 2. Great Oak 100; 3. Stockdale 143; 4. Long Beach Poly 145; 5. Trabuco Hills 160; 6. Cedar park 166; 7. Buchanan 227; 8. El Toro 261; 9. Del Campo 262; 10. California 268

DIVISION 1

Senior Boys Team Scores -- 1. Rocklin 122; 2. Crescenta Valley 140; 3. El Toro 158; 4. Arcadia 175; 5. Green Valley/Las Vegas) 207; 6. Desert Vista/Arizona 235; 7. Aliso Niguel 253; 8. Murrieta Valley 264; 9. Great Oak 273; 10. Shadow Ridge 281

Junior Boys Individuals -- 1. Harper (Tesoro) 15:21; 2. Torres (Tesoro) 15:22; 3. Mejia (El Rancho) 15:25; 4. Orozco (La Quinta) 15:26; 5. Esparza (Crescenta Valley) 15:30; 6. Morgan (El Toro) 15:33; 7. Angulo (El Rancho) 15:47; 8. Cota (Patrick Henry) 15:48; 9. Happy (Arcadia) 15:49; 10. Thomas (Arcadia) 15:49

Junior Boys Team Scores -- 1. El Rancho 86; 2. Arcadia 109; 3. Tesoro 117; 4. Aliso Niguel 152; 5. Great Oak 164; 6. Desert Vista/Arizona 216; 7. El Toro 239; 8. West Ranch 242; 9. Trabuco Hills 263; 10. Ayala 277

Varsity Girls Individuals -- 1. Henry (El Rancho) 17:45; 2. Diaz (Chula Vista) 17:57; 3. Welker (West Ranch) 18:06; 4. Fonseca (Vista Del Lago) 18:07; 5. Greif (Quartz Hill) 18:08; 6. Romine (El Toro) 18:09; 7. Phillips (West Ranch) 18:11; 8. King (Crescenta Valley) 18:12; 9. Lidie (El Toro) 18:12; 10. McCall (Saugus) 18:15

Varsity Girls Team Scores -- 1. El Toro 119; 2. Redlands East Valley 142; 3. Redlands 157; 4. Crescenta Valley 177; 5. Quartz Hill 211; 6. Great Oak 235; 7. Trabuco Hills 261; 8. El Rancho 270; 9. Hart 291; 10. Murrieta Valley 292

Sophomore Girls Individuals -- 1. Takeshita (J.W. North) 19:00; 2. Webster (Tesoro) 19:20; 3. Phillips (West Ranch) 19:34; 4. Turati (El Toro) 19:57; 5. Rinaldi-El Abd (Tesoro) 19:57; 6. Gomez (Warren) 19:58; 7. Bannister (Trabuco Hills) 20:00; 8. Peterson (El Toro) 20:04; 9. Neshiem (West Ranch) 20:08; 10. Pook (El Toro) 20:11

Sophomore Girls Team Scores -- 1. El Toro 73; 2. Trabuco Hills 100; 3. Tesoro 102; 4. Great Oak 107; 5. West Ranch 111; 6. Long Beach Poly 203; 7. Fountain Valley 204; 8. Warren 211; 9. Upland 242; 10. Murrieta Valley 254

Freshman Girls Team Scores -- 1. Great Oak 53; 2. Crescenta Valley 61; 3. Trabuco Hills 98; 4. Long Beach Poly 123; 5. Ayala 157; 6. Murrieta Valley 190; 7. Redlands East Valley 203; 8. Tesoro 214; 9. El Toro 262; 10. El Rancho 280

For complete results in all divisions, click here.

Coming up on Saturday are the Dana Hills Nike Invitational as well as the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.

WRESTLING OFFICIALS NEEDED FOR 2011-12 SEASON

The Orange County Wrestling Officials Assn. is looking to add officials to its rosters and is holding its first mandatory meeting for candidates for the 2011-12 high school season on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Room 240 (across from gymnasium) at Corona Del Mar High School.

For more information, contact Bruce Terry at (714) 876-7230 or drbruceterry@yahoo.com.

IVC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS 'DIG PINK' GAME

Proceeds from the Irvine Valley women's volleyball home match on Friday, Oct. 28, against Orange Empire Conference rival Golden West, dubbed the "Dig Pink" match, will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation, which raises awareness for breast cancer research nationwide through volleyball matches, clinics and camps.

Everyone who donates $5 will receive a pink T-shirt from ASICS and a pink spray cleaner from Simple Green. To check out the Side-Out Foundation’s website, click here.

If you have results or news that you'd like to share, please send it OC Patch sports Editor Bob Rohwer at bob.rohwer@patch.com.