Teenage prodigies aren’t limited to glamour sports

They exist among us, teenage sports prodigies, and they don’t play football, basketball or baseball.

They are the reason to celebrate what makes living in Southern California so wondrous. Whether on the golf course, in the pool or at the beach, they’re preparing to become college standouts, Olympians or even professional athletes.

Orange County was the home of Tiger Woods, and it’s the place where Patrick Cantlay of Anaheim Servite is proving to be one of the best 18-year-old golfers in America. He’s ranked No. 2 in the nation by Golfweek magazine.

He has become the standard for excellence in Southern California golf. If you want to win a high school tournament, you have to beat Cantlay, who shot a 68 last week to win the Southern Section individual title by four strokes. Last season, he went 22 under par for the last four CIF tournaments.

His parents are big USC fans, but he signed with UCLA, which made Bruins golf Coach Derek Freeman ecstatic.

“He’s a very accomplished golfer and keeps getting better and better every event,” Freeman said. “He just doesn’t make very many mistakes.”

Said Cantlay: “Normally, when I putt well, everything seems to fall into place.”

A terrific student and even better person, Cantlay talked about what he learned in his four years of high school. “I learned how important it is to be loyal to your team, and I learned how to balance golf and school, and that’s important to succeed in college,” he said.

Living in the South Bay is perhaps the No. 1 high school swimmer in the nation, 17-year-old Vlad Morozov of Torrance. Born in Moscow, he moved to Southern California three years ago. This month, he set national records in the 100-yard freestyle and the 50 freestyle. At the CIF Masters meet, he set records in the 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

“His arm turnover is unbelievable,” Coach Scott Peppard said.

Morozov didn’t speak English too well when he arrived from Russia.

“I could say, ‘My name is Vlad’ and ‘swim,’” he said. “That was about it.”

Now he speaks fluent English, will enroll at USC this fall and would like to represent the United States in the 2012 Olympic Games if he can become a U.S. citizen in time for the Olympic trials.

Since Steven Irvin of Los Angeles Loyola was 10 and started playing volleyball at the beach, he has had an idea what sport he might pursue. His father played at UCLA, an uncle played at USC and he’s headed to Stanford after leading Loyola to consecutive Southern Section Division 1 volleyball championships and consecutive Southern California Regional titles.

With a 4.3 grade-point average and the ability to send a volleyball crashing to the ground, the 6-foot-5 Irvin is an example of how Southern California’s weather and diversity help produce elite athletes for all occasions.

“Definitely, in Southern California, there’s a lot of options,” Irvin said.

Santa Barbara is home to the best girls’ water polo goalie in America, Sami Hill. Set to graduate from Goleta Dos Pueblos and enroll at UCLA, Hill was the goalie for the junior national team that traveled to Siberia last summer and earned a bronze medal at the junior world championships.

“It was real cool,” Hill said. “It was total culture shock.”

She also has traveled to Holland and Australia representing America. This season, she helped Dos Pueblos finish 31-0 and win a third consecutive Southern Section championship.

Her dream is to play in the Olympic Games.

“That would be amazing,” she said.

Cantlay, Morozov, Irvin and Hill are proof Southern California is filled with teenage prodigies in many different sports.

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