By Ed Piper
Marc Oriol, a leader on the La Jolla rugby team, is a critical part of the Vikings' offense, a consistent kicker, as well as a defender, and the junior is exerting his leadership in a quiet but forceful way on the squad.
For all of those reasons, "The Pipeline" is naming him the Athlete of the Month.
In La Jolla's two big wins in January, a 35-7 season-opening win over Mission Vista at home Jan. 13 and a 26-12 vanquishing of the Torrey Pines "B" team Jan. 21, Oriol played a major role, scoring on tries (worth five points each, kind of like a touchdown in football) on powerful runs, as well as being the Vikings' kicker on all conversions--the two-point attempt after the try.
On Friday night, Feb. 3, in La Jolla's narrow 31-26 loss to visiting Coronado, Marc showed his highly-developed kicking ability with a sky-high attempt off a tee that he placed at the point of teammate John Hartford's score on a try. It was way to the left (as you're looking at the south end zone at Edwards Stadium), at the corner of the yard-line and the sideline on the home side of the field.
Oriol's seemingly-impossible kick, from such a sharp angle that few football place-kickers would be able to successfully land a field goal from there, arched high in the air and bisected the space between the goal posts--though far above the posts, which is fully legal in rugby.
It was a mammoth feat, leaving a sportswriter staring in amazement, though the kick received hardly any recognition from the small crowd or announcer. At the time, Oriol's conversion tied the score at 26-26 with 3:20 left in a tight contest.
But Marc, the "Oriole", isn't one who busies himself with walking around the Viking locker room chattering with teammates or building himself up. At least on the rugby field, he seems very self-contained, content to let his play speak for itself.
Oriol also plays football for the Point Loma High Pointers, now coached by Joel Allen, who coached at Bishop's previously.
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