Irvine Team Finally Ranked Among the County’s Top 10

In the 21 years Greg Gray has coached the Irvine High boys’ water polo team, he has never had a team ranked in the Orange County Coaches Assn. top 10 poll. Until this year.

There have been some near misses; in 1993, for instance, Irvine was eliminated in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

“That ’93 group was a good group of kids,” Gray said, “and they did make it into the section polls. They played way over their heads and finished with a record of 19-9. But they’re not as talented as this [year’s] team. And they don’t have the ability like this group.”

Two weeks ago, Irvine was ranked 10th in the coaches’ county poll. This week, the Vaqueros moved into ninth place in the county and are ranked eighth in the section Division I poll.

The mainstays of Irvine’s lineup are five seniors--goalie Christian Munden, drivers Chris Peck, Jason Herzog and Jessi Turi and two-meter man Peter Schafer--and three juniors--two-meter men Michael Shapiro and Billy Swanson and goalie Brian McNabb.

Gray said there isn’t a weak link on the team.

“This is a very close group of players,” he said. “All of our starters from last year are back. They have been playing together since before their freshman year. And that’s what has made the difference.”

Peck agrees with his coach.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie on this team. We hang out together and do stuff,” Peck said. “We have a lot of confidence. We think, on a good day, we can beat anybody in the county, or at least keep up with them.”

This attitude is a big reason why Irvine is 10-1 and has turned some heads this year.

“Their starters are all back and I know for a fact that they have a very good team,” said Newport Harbor Coach Brian Kreutzkamp, whose Sailors are ranked No. 1 in the county and Division I polls.

Newport Harbor hosts Irvine on Wednesday in a Sea View League opener made even more important with El Toro’s move to the South Coast League this year.

Undefeated Newport Harbor has upset three-time Division I champion Long Beach Wilson twice in the last two weeks, but Kreutzkamp said his team is not taking Irvine lightly.

“They’re hungry,” he said. “And a hungry team can be tough to beat.”

Gray said he and his Vaqueros believe they should win every game.

“The only team that can beat these guys is themselves,” he said. “They have all the ingredients to make it all the way.”

BARNETT IS DOWN UNDER

Longtime Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett is in Australia with the U.S. national men’s water polo team.

Although not in an official capacity with the team, Barnett is assisting during the FINA Water Polo Cup in Sydney. The event is a pre-Olympic test that features the top eight teams in the world.

Barnett is expected to return home next week.

“[Bill] has been helping out [Coach] John Vargas and [the U.S. team] with the scouting by videotaping all the games,” said Kreutzkamp, who has filled in for Barnett at Newport Harbor. “We’re looking forward to his return.”

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

It has taken three weeks, but the Southern Section Division II teams have finally supplied their rankings to the section office.

“The deadline is Monday at noon,” section spokesman Thom Simmons said. “It’s been like that for a long time.

“They just haven’t been doing it. It’s a coach who’s supposed to supply us with the info, and he hasn’t been doing the job.”

The top 10 teams in Division II are from Orange County.

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Southern Section Polls

BOYS’ WATER POLO

Division I--1. Newport Harbor, 2. Long Beach Wilson, 3. Foothill, 4. El Toro, 5. North Hollywood Harvard Westlake, 6. San Clemente, 7. Villa Park, 8. Irvine, 9. Capistrano Valley, 10. Santa Ana Valley.

Division II--1. Servite 2. Corona del Mar, 3. Los Alamitos, 4. Laguna Beach, 5. University, 6. El Dorado, 7. La Habra, 8. Saddleback, 9. Esperanza, 10. Buena Park.

Division VI--1. Rowland Heights Rowland, 2. Chino Hills Ayala, 3. La Verne Bonita, 4. Palos Verdes Chadwick, 5. Brea Olinda, 6. Los Altos, 7. Cerritos Gahr, 8. La Verne Damien, 9. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 10. Magnolia.