Boys’ Water Polo Preview: Flintridge Prep aiming for third straight Prep League crown
For the past two seasons, the Flintridge Prep boys’ water polo team has enjoyed success, culminating in two straight Prep League championships.
The Rebels don’t want their run to end.
Flintridge Prep will attempt to continue it dominant run with an eye on a third consecutive league title. The Rebels split it with rival Chadwick in 2014 before winning it outright last season under coach Dan Hare. Flintridge Prep is 19-1 in league over the last two seasons.
“We are definitely ready to go,” said Hare, whose team lost in the second round of Division IV play to Righetti. “It’s just a matter of being able to work together and be smarter.
“We have a lot of guys who have a high water polo IQ. We have a lot of depth in case we need to plug in a hole or two. I think we can win league again and our guys know what it will take, but we will get some good competition from Chadwick and Brentwood.”
Flintridge Prep, which will remain in Division IV, return junior driver Kasen Barraclaugh, senior hole/set Scott Fordham, senior utility Evan Havunjian. Barraclaugh picked up All-Area and All-CIF recognition after posting 63 goals and 54 steals last season.
Also in the mix for the Rebels are junior utilities Sami Chmait and Aidan Schraeder, junior defenders Ian Tien and Harry Burke, sophomore driver Ryan Huntley and junior goalkeeper Conrad Oakes.
After missing the playoffs for the first time this century, La Cañada will look to begin another playoff run.
The Spartans finished tied for third in the Rio Hondo League with Temple City last season. However, the Spartans were outside of the playoff bubble after losing both head-to-head match ups against the Rams.
Last season also saw a coaching change, as Josh Rodriguez took over for Christian Flores with three matches remaining.
Rodriguez said there’s no reason the Spartans can’t regroup in 2016.
“We’re definitely hungry to get the season going,” Rodriguez said. “We had some good workouts throughout the summer and I like our fit.
“I like our league and there’s going to be a lot of talented teams in it. We’re just going to have to work even harder.”
La Cañada will bring back senior attacker Luke Stefan, senior utility Wyatt Lowe, senior defender Toby Chung and junior goalkeeper Reed Funter. The quartet picked up all-league honors last season, with Stefan and Lowe being selected to the first team.
La Cañada moved down a pair of divisions to Division V after the CIF Southern Section office released its playoff groupings for 2016.
The area will welcome a new team on to the pool deck.
St. Francis will begin its first season at the varsity level. The Golden Knights, who fielded a junior varsity squad last season, will be a freelance team for at least this season under coach Brady Lowdermilk.
Lowdermilk said evaluations will be ongoing for a squad that will go up against elite teams like Hoover, Crespi and others.
“We might struggle at times and we have guys who are new to the game,” Lowdermilk said. “I just want to see progress being made at practice and in the games. I’d like to see them put up a good fight so we can see how close we are to being ready to get to the next level.”
St. Francis’ core players will likely be senior driver Elijah Havens, senior hole/set Aidan Marick, sophomore Maclean Ireland and freshman goalkeeper Cole Marston.
