San Marino’s Park Finally Wins Title

San Marino senior Andrew Park didn’t see the familiar face he was expecting in the Southern Section individual boys’ tennis finals, but it didn’t seem to bother him much. The top-seeded Park defeated Laguna Beach’s Aaron Talarico, 6-1, 6-2, Saturday at the SeaCliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach to win a section title on his third trip to the final.

Park, the nation’s No. 1 player in boys’ 18s, didn’t play last year because he was in Europe for a junior tournament. He lost to Palm Desert senior Eni Ghidirmic as a freshman and Corona del Mar freshman Taylor Dent as a sophomore. This year, he figured to meet Servite’s Ryan Moore, his future USC teammate and the tournament’s second-seeded player. But Moore was upset in the first round.

Instead, Park played Talarico, who upset third-seeded Jose Lieberman of Beverly Hills, a top-15 player nationally. Talarico fell behind Lieberman, 5-2, then ran off 10 consecutive games to win, 7-5, 6-1.

“I watched a couple of his games and he looked like he was in a zone,” Park said. “I figured if I could ride it out and make him hit a few balls, I’d be OK.”

“I thought I was fast, but he’s faster,” Talarico said of Park. “He’s like Michael Chang.”

In the doubles final, Palos Verdes Peninsula’s second-seeded team of David Gleiberman and Mauric Yu defeated teammates Seamus and Tiege Sullivan, 7-5, 6-3. It was the first time teams from the same school have met in the final since 1977, when two Corona del Mar teams played.