HIGH SCHOOL WATER POLO PREVIEW : Toring Bids to Steer Harvard to 3-A Title : Wolverines’ Two-Time All-American Complemented by Contingent of Skilled Juniors

Rich Corso has coached many outstanding water polo players, but he believes Harvard-Westlake High junior Jim Toring has hit a high-water mark for talent.

“He’s head and shoulders above anybody in his class,” said Corso, Toring’s coach at Harvard and the coach of the Canadian national team and three-time national champion Harvard Water Polo Foundation club.

“But we’re not looking to develop a good high school player in Jim. That’s too narrow of a focus. With Jim, we’re looking to develop a good player at the international level.”

Toring’s credentials at the high school level are impressive for a 17-year-old: He twice has been named an All-American and last season was named to the All-Southern Section 3-A Division team.

But the prep accolades are small potatoes for Toring. He spent the summer of 1990 in Puerto Rico as a member of the U.S. national junior team in the Junior Pan American Games, then, this summer, was one of the last cuts on the 20-and-under 13-man national junior team headed to the World Championships. Only one high school player made that team, Jeremy Laster, a San Clemente senior.

“It’s not hard to psych up (to play high school matches),” said Toring, whose team competes in the San Fernando League. “If I come out too aggressively, I’ll just have to make that adjustment. It’s a matter of feeling out the refs and seeing if they’ll let you play aggressive.”

Toring benefits from being a year older than an average high school junior. When he was 7, his parents--both teachers--took a yearlong sabbatical and the Toring family traveled around the United States.

When the family returned, Toring began swimming and playing water polo for the first time. Now, as a lanky 6-foot-4 player who can both drive and set up in Harvard’s offense, he plans to use his water polo skills to land a college scholarship. Toring said he would not leave California to play water polo, and listed UCLA, Stanford and California as possible schools.

Currently, Toring is set on helping Harvard in its drive for a 3-A championship. The Wolverines are ranked No. 2 in the 3-A behind La Serna, which knocked out Harvard in last year’s quarterfinals.

“He wants to do well academically, he wants to do well in college and he wants to make our national team,” Corso said.

TEAMS TO WATCH

Harvard (3-A): With Harard off to the best start in school history at 7-0, this might be the best Harvard squad since 1988, when that year’s team won the 2-A championship. In addition to Toring, the Wolverines feature an array of top-flight juniors. There is only one senior starter.

Corso knows the opposition will be making a big mistake if it relies on too many men to guard Toring.

“That’s what we want people to think,” Corso said. “That we’re a one-man team.”

Juniors Ryan Salceda, Alan Paul, Lance Weidner and senior Mark Townsend helped lead Harvard to the championship of last week’s prestigious Millikan tournament, including wins over 4-A powers Capistrano Valley and Villa Park. Goalie Peter Kiefer, the grandson of 1936 Olympic gold medalist Adolph Kiefer (100-yard backstroke), is a sophomore.

Royal (3-A): The Highlanders are favored to win their 11th consecutive Marmonte League championship.

A strong nucleus returns for 12th-year Coach Steve Snyder. Royal finished second in the Irvine tournament earlier this month, losing to 4-A power Irvine in overtime in the championship match.

Returning all-league player Mike Radka is versatile enough to play as the two-meter man and driver and senior Chad Templeton is “a prolific shooter with a lot of potential,” according to Snyder. Defensively, Myles Bozinovski (6-3, 185 pounds) guards the opposition’s two-meter man. Junior Jack Kocur is the team’s leading scorer. Kocur, unlike most water polo players, competes in baseball in the spring instead of swimming.

In the goalie cage, sophomore Ralph Radka, younger brother of Mike, has filled the void left by Paul Krueger, the 1990 Marmonte League player of the year. “Ralph is a terrific athlete,” Snyder said. “He’s a coach’s dream.”

Royal will be looking to snap its 10-year playoff jinx. In Snyder’s tenure, the Highlanders have yet to advance past the second round. “This has to end,” Snyder said with a laugh. “I mean, when the streak started, some of these juniors were just 6 years old.”

Agoura (3-A): After making it to the Southern Section quarterfinals last year under Coach Mike Mulligan, the Chargers (3-2) would seem to have the best chance of ending Royal’s stranglehold on the Marmonte title.

Junior driver Terry Polapink is the team’s leading scorer and “an excellent outside shooter who likes to hit the corners,” according to Mulligan. Senior goalie Adam McGinnes is a key player with excellent lateral movement. The Chargers’ best defensive player is driver Jeff Bissell, who also is the team’s second-leading scorer.

Buena (2-A): Second-year Coach John Siman, a member of the U.S. Olympic team from 1976 to 1984, is set on building Buena into a Channel League power. The Bulldogs finished fourth last year, but Siman says the best is yet to come.

“Last year I was trying to develop a team for the future,” Siman said. “Now, I have an excellent group of kids.”

Buena (2-3) figures to battle Santa Barbara, Ventura and Dos Pueblos for the league championship. If Buena makes its charge, senior captains Cameron Leavens and Richard Marquez will lead the way. “They are my 1-2 scoring punch,” Siman said.

Sophomore Danny Slaton is a smart, crafty player who makes things happen. Buena’s league test comes early: The Bulldogs open by playing host to Dos Pueblos, ranked fourth in the Southern Section 2-A poll, on Tuesday.

Crespi (3-A): Crespi lost 11 seniors to graduation from a team that split with rival Harvard last year. Coach Jeff Thornton says his team faces a more difficult task this year.

Thornton points to hole man Kris Behrens as the team’s most dangerous player but said inexperience and lack of talent might keep Crespi down. The Celts’ 2-4 start includes a 15-5 loss to Loyola on Tuesday.

“We’re trying real hard, though,” Thornton said. “Our goal is to turn it around by the league season.”