Don Watson

There wasn't a dry eye among the members of the Orange Coast swimming team as they celebrated their men's and women's titles at the three-day State championships, which ended Saturday at Cypress College. The OCC women won their sixth consecutive title and the program's 10th in the last 11 years for Coach Don Watson. Watson, selected the State women's coach of the year, was the first to be tossed into the pool at the end of the meet.

When Eric Keller came to Orange Coast College, he was tired of being a star. As a three-year varsity water polo player at Los Amigos High School, he was often in the spotlight. Only once in three seasons did the team fail to make the playoffs. And Keller, the Garden Grove League's most valuable player as a senior, was a big reason for the team's success. "I was basically having to do everything there (at Los Amigos)," he said.

When members of the Orange Coast College swim team start complaining about tough workouts, teammate Sharon Thompson just smiles. She understands the griping. But . . . "There are a lot of places they could be where life is a little more difficult than swimming laps and getting a nice tan," Thompson said. Like the Santa Ana Court of Appeal, for instance, where getting a decent tan is rather difficult. "Impossible," she said.

Should the Big One rock Southern California, there may be fewer foundations loosened, fewer burst water heaters and fewer bookcases smashed to the floor at the homes in one local city. A new earthquake preparedness program in Manhattan Beach provides free residential inspections to the first 900 homeowners who apply over the next four months. City building inspectors will spend an hour or more probing the interior and exterior of homes in search of hazards.

Center Antti Aalto and the Mighty Ducks agreed Wednesday to a one-year contract for $550,000, the result of an arbitrator's decision in Toronto. Aalto had seven goals and 18 points in 63 games last season, his second full season in the NHL. The deal leaves Pierre Gauthier, team president and general manager, with only two free agents left to re-sign before the start of training camp Sept. 9. Center Matt Cullen and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky still need new contracts.

When John Altobelli took over the Orange Coast baseball program last summer, he figured to make some changes. The first was in the look of the field. Thanks to a fund-raising campaign at Planet Hollywood restaurant, OCC's field now sports a $35,000 scoreboard behind the right-center field fence. Construction on an equipment building behind home plate started Monday. While these changes have been impressive, the biggest gain OCC has made this season is in the Orange Empire Conference standings.

Caltrans will take new noise-level readings in a Carson neighborhood where residents say they deserve a freeway sound wall. "We've agreed to come back and take some additional sound readings," said Don Watson, Los Angeles regional director of the state Department of Transportation, after a meeting with residents last week. "We want to satisfy the residents. We think our readings are valid, but we'll recalculate and if the noise levels turn out to be higher, we'll make a change," Watson said.

So much is made of the on-field accomplishments of local community college athletes that sometimes it's forgotten that they are students as well. But the Irvine Valley women's cross-country program and the Orange Coast water polo program offered a reminder recently, when both won scholar team awards for the fall of 1992. The Irvine Valley team, coached by Bill and Julie Leach, had a grade-point average of 3.40. Irvine Valley won the Orange Empire Conference team title as well.

Brandi Kossub decided to come to Orange Coast College long before she knew anything about the women's swimming program, which is the best in the state. Kossub, from Katella High School, said she was looking for a place that felt more like college than Fullerton and Cypress, where many of her high-school classmates went. "I didn't know anything about (OCC's team)," Kossub said. "I was going to come here anyway." But at Orange Coast, Kossub discovered much more than atmosphere.