Jackson Harlan, a senior at Corona del Mar, is the Orange County Outstanding Competitor of the Year. Harlan, pictured at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach on Monday, June 16, 2025, is a standout in water polo and boys basketball. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
ORANGE COUNTY BOYS OUTSTANDING COMPETITOR 2024-25
This award recognizes an Orange County athlete who was a standout in multiple sports, a team leader and someone who also excelled in areas outside of sports.
Name: Jackson Harlan
School: Corona del Mar
Year: Senior
Sports: Water polo, basketball
Notable highlights: It’s not unusual for two-sport athletes to participate in sports that have similarities.
Sometimes excellent basketball players are excellent volleyball players because the jumping skills are similar. Football offensive linemen get into wrestling because hand-to-hand combat is found in both.
Corona del Mar senior Jackson Harlan was a star in water polo and basketball. That is an unusual two-sport combination.
Jackson Harlan, a senior at Corona del Mar, is the Orange County Competitor of the Year. Harlan, pictured at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach on Monday, June 16, 2025, is a two-sport standout in water polo and boys basketball. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
In water polo Harlan was an All-Orange County first-team selection and was selected to the All-CIF Southern Section Open Division team. An attacker, Harlan scored a school single-season record 139 goals and added 37 assists to lead Corona del Mar to the CIF-SS Open Division semifinals.
He recently withdrew his commitment to UC Santa Barbara for water polo to accept a scholarship offer from UCLA.
Harlan used his 6-foot-6, 210-pound frame to score those goals in the pool and to get rebounds and score inside on the basketball court. He averaged 13 points and seven rebounds a game for the Sea Kings, who finished 21-9 overall and placed third in the challenging Sunset League.
Harlan’s ability to grab just about every rebound in his area impressed Corona del Mar boys basketball coach Jason Simco.
“When coaches watched game film together,” Simco said, “we’d see Jackson get a great rebound and we’d say, ‘Holy moly, how are we gonna get that rebound next year?’”
Corona del Mar forward Jackson Harlan, right, gets in front of Los Alamitos’ Liam Gray to score a basket in a Sunset League boys basketball game in Newport Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Corona del Mar’s Jackson Harlan (23) goes up for a shot over Fountain Valley’s Miles Dayley (11) during a Sunset League basketball game between Fountain Valley High and Corona del Mar High at Corona del Mar High School on Friday Jan. 4, 2025…..(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Jackson Harlan, a senior at Corona del Mar, is the Orange County Outstanding Competitor of the Year. Harlan, pictured at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach on Monday, June 16, 2025, is a standout in water polo and boys basketball. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Corona del Mar’s Jackson Harlan (23) finds himself surrounded by Barons during a Sunset League basketball game between Fountain Valley High and Corona del Mar High at Corona del Mar High School on Friday Jan. 4, 2025…..(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Corona del Mar junior forward Jackson Harlan is double-teamed in CIF-SS Division 2A semifinal action against Long Beach Poly on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, at Poly High School in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
Corona del Mar junior Jackson Harlan scored 19 points with 11 rebounds Tuesday in the Sea Kings’ win in the CIF Southern Section Division 2A quarterfinals. (Photo by Michael Huntley, The Orange County Register/SCNG)
Corona del Mar’s Luke Mirhashemi, left, and Jackson Harlan, right, attempt to take a rebound from Newport Harbor’s Dash Bastedo, center, during the game between Newport Harbor vs. Corona del Mar in a nonleague boys basketball game at Corona del Mar High School on Saturday January 20, 2024. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)
Corona del Mar’s Jackson Harlan, left, grabs a rebound from Newport Harbor’s Riggs Guy, right, during the game between Newport Harbor vs. Corona del Mar in a nonleague boys basketball game at Corona del Mar High School on Saturday Jan. 20, 2024. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)
1 of 8
Corona del Mar forward Jackson Harlan, right, gets in front of Los Alamitos’ Liam Gray to score a basket in a Sunset League boys basketball game in Newport Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Harlan leaves Corona del Mar with many great sports memories.
In water polo, it was scoring six goals against Battle of the Bay rival and CIF-SS Open Division champion Newport Harbor, and the Sea Kings’ win over Harvard-Westlake in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
In basketball, it was Corona del Mar advancing to the CIF-SS Division 2A semifinals.
