Burroughs boys’ water polo’s Arakelyan leads wave of All-CIF locals
The memory of helping the Burroughs boys’ water polo team win its first CIF Southern Section Division V championship still remains bright for David Arakelyan.
The junior attacker played a key role in propelling Burroughs past San Juan Hills for the title on Nov. 19 at William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine.
For his accomplishments, Arakelyan was named the division’s player of the year after the CIF Southern Section office unveiled its first-team players for all seven divisions Monday.
“You’re always going to remember what it’s like to win CIF and it will be great to receive the championship rings,” said Arakelyan, who finished with 80 goals and 37 steals. “To be named player of the year is such a great honor because it took a lot of practices for me and my teammates to get better.”
Burroughs Coach Jacob Cook, who was named the division’s coach of the year, said Arakelyan had a quest to earn the accolade.
“He proved to be one of the top players within our division,” said Cook, whose team finished second in the Pacific League. “I think it was something that was a huge deal and once we got to the playoffs he figured he’d have a good shot at it.
“He just went out there and made a lot of big plays at both ends. You could see him making improvements.”
A large group of area players received All-CIF first-team honors: Aram Mordanyan and Marko Vucetic of Burroughs, Hoover’s Levon Haik Gukasyan and Reed Fundter, Luke Stefan and George Avakian of La Cañada.
Nordanyan, a senior utility, collected a team-high 95 goals.
“He’s another player who could have been considered for player of the year,” Cook said. “We knew he’d be a big part of the team and he scored so many big goals.”
Vucetic, a junior utility, provided the Indians with balance on offense and defense. Vucetic registered 94 goals and 31 steals.
“He went out there and played any position we needed him to,” Cook said. “He responded well to handling any role we gave him, plus he was a top playmaker.”
Gukasyan, a senior utility, helped Hoover win the Pacific League title for the first time since 1989. The Tornadoes reached the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs.
Gukasyan notched 49 goals, 56 steals and 38 assists.
“Levon proved why he’s one of the top defenders in our league and division,” Hoover Coach Kevin Witt said. “He went out there each day and put everything he had into it. He could perform well at two-meter and on the perimeter.”
Fundter, Stefan and Avakian paved the way for La Cañada to win the Rio Hondo League championship and make it to the Division V semifinals under Coach Josh Rodriguez.
Fundter flourished as a junior goalkeeper. He yielded just 28 goals in four playoff matches and made 17 saves in a semifinal match against Burroughs.
“I saw Reed’s game grow a lot throughout the season,” Rodriguez said. “He’s the one who drives our defense.”
Stefan, a senior attacker, and Avakian, a freshman two-meter, provided the Spartans with scoring balance.
“Luke found a way to make the clutch plays in order to score the big goals,” Rodriguez said. “George made a big splash in his first year and showed he could dominate the center of the pool.”
LJ Burns and senior goalkeeper Andre Abramyam of Burroughs and Hoover’s Jonathan Salandi were selected to the second team. They are joined by senior hole/set Wyatt Lowe and senior hole/guard Toby Chung of La Cañada.
Burns, a senior utility, finished with 16 goals and 19 steals. Abramyan, a senior goalkeeper, had 73 saves. Salandi, a senior goalkeeper, registered 312 saves, 45 assists and 26 steals.
Those named to the third team were Burroughs senior hole/guard Jerry Solano (15 goals), Hoover senior attacker Aren Sukiasyan (76 goals, 54 assists and 58 steals) and La Cañada sophomore attackers Alec Abrahamian and Vince Wardle.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
