One of the hottest prospects in diving is 15-year-old Kelly Markle of Laguna Niguel. Markle is competing in her first senior nationals this week in Pasadena but here’s the catch: the freshman-to-be is moving away from Orange County.

Markle, who trains with Crown Valley Divers and has attended St. Margaret’s as a pre-high schooler, is set to take off early next month for national powerhouse club The Woodlands in Texas.

Markle said if she wasn’t moving, Mission Viejo would have been her pick for high school. That’s right, the home of the two-time CIF-SS Division I champion Lady Diablos. Mission Viejo already has Crown Valley standout Haley McNamara and with Markle on board, that might have meant some serious points at CIF.

I’m sure the Division I teams chasing Mission Viejo (Edison, Fountain Valley to name two) will not shed any tears from this report.

San Clemente senior-to-be diver Kelsey Heiken has scheduled an official recruiting trip to the University of Texas in September, she said Tuesday at the Kaiser Permanente National Diving Championships.

Is it just me or does this week’s Elite 11 quarterback camp seem a whole lot less elite when Mater Dei’s Matt Barkley is not there to mix it up with the other passers?

Here’s a list of this year’s participants, which includes Mission Viejo senior-to-be and Cal-commit Allan Bridgford

Aliso Niguel kicker Mike Bowlin has committed to Oregon, said Brad Bohn, his kicking coach with the West Coast Kicking Academy.

Bohn said Oregon was the first school to offer Bowlin. “He’s probably the most complete field goal and kickoff guy in California,” Bohn said.

Servite’s Mike Loftus, who works with Bohn, earlier committed to SMU. So while this might the year of the quarterback in the county (Barkley, Bridgford, Evans), don’t forget about the kickers in 2008. There are a few more gems out there.

Orange Lutheran has hired former Concord De La Salle coach Eric Borba has its baseball coach, Lancers athletic director Mark Davis said moments ago.

Borba coached DLS the past five seasons. The Spartans captured two North Coast Section titles under Borba. Orange Lutheran’s new skipper also won a North Coast title at Analy High in 2000.

Sounds like the Lancers found an excellent coach who knows something about being successful at a school known for football.

To check out my report, go to www.ocvarsity.com and look under high school highlights or click here:

 http://www.ocvarsity.com/ocvarsity/hshig…

Los Alamitos senior-to-be quarterback Clark Evans (6-6, 233) has committed to Colorado, he said Saturday at the Edison passing tournament.

HUNTINGTON BEACH Behind the steady play of junior-to-be quarterback Matt Viles, Edison won its highly-regarded passing tournament for the second consecutive year on Saturday. The Chargers beat Valencia of Valencia in the final. I’ll have a more detailed report on ocvarsity.com later tonight. I’ll also have updates on Edison, Los Alamitos, Mater Dei, Tesoro and Orange Lutheran.

On the adjacent field, Corona Centennial defeated Mater Dei in the final consolation game of the tournament. Between to the two fields, there were at least 1,000 folks watching some great skill players, including Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley. And with no admission, there wasn’t a better deal in the county on Saturday.

I stopped by Newport Harbor earlier this week and left really impressed.

The Tars should score some serious points in the fall. They return a scholarship-caliber quarterback in the improved Andrew McDonald, two very good wide receivers in Cecil Whiteside and J.B. Green, two solid running backs in Michael Helfrich and Danny Miller and three returning offensive linemen.

McDonald will certainly be a key and I think he will really surprise in the fall. The Sailors do need to develop another defensive lineman or two but other than that, they look very good.

I was on the CIF-SS website tonight, voted on their poll about the association rule and received these stats:

http://www.cifss.org/get_poll_email.php?suc=partcipate&action=view&id=26